By Mike Fruchter of MichaelFruchter.com (Twitter/FriendFeed)

It's February, so it's also time for this months members on FriendFeed list to follow. As with the previous lists, which you can find below, this list highlights ten members on FriendFeed who I feel are unique in their own ways and add value to the community. Some of these names might be familiar faces, some might not. For those of you who have been around on the site for a while, you might already be subscribed to some of these members. With the exception of three to four people, I have been following most of these members since I joined FriendFeed, close to one year now. In previous lists, I never highlighted these members, so it's their turn now. You will also find some fresh faces on this list as well. There is a good chance the majority reading this are following me on FriendFeed, but if you're not, you're more than welcome to subscribe to me. As long as you add some value, and contribute to the community, I will usually sub back.

Previous FriendFeed members to follow lists can be found for the 2008 months of, July, September, November and December. The 2009 lists can be found for January.

1) Andy Brudtkuhl

Short Bio: Andy is the founder and chief web guru at 48Web, a small web startup in Des Moines, IA. Andy coaches and consults businesses on a broad range of solutions including internet marketing using social media, and search engine optimization. He formulates smart and effective web strategies to help businesses get going online. He is also a passionate blogger who blogs frequently about technology and social media. I have been following Andy on FriendFeed for close to a year now, and reading his blog for about the same. This guy is a smart thinker, and knows his stuff. This is someone I would feel confident and strong with in helping me formulate an effective online advertising and marketing campaign for my business. On FriendFeed he shares content ranging from social media, local news, tech and a little of everything else. You can always find something of interest on his feed at any given time.

What they find interesting: SEO, Tech, Web Design, Web 2.0, Social Media, Podcasting

FriendFeed: Subscribe | Blog:getanewbrowser.com

2) Anthony Farrior

Short Bio: Anthony has been in the computer field since 1999. During the day he provides desktop support services for the University of Penn Hospital. Anthony is a jack of all trades type. He is also an excellent freelance writer, previously writing for blackweb2.0 and thinkphillysports.com. Anthony has since started his own business, Solacetech LLC, which provides small businesses assistance with all facets of IT. He is Dell certified, strong with Windows and Linux, and can tackle any hardware/software/networking problem you throw at him. On top of all that, he blogs frequently on myphillynetwork.com about current news, technology, social media applications and whatever else comes to his mind. This guy keeps busy 24/7. Like Andy, I have been following Anthony on FriendFeed for close to a year. His feed is an eclectic mix of technology, social media, and current events.

What they find interesting: Technology, Social Media, Web 2.0, Hardware/Software

FriendFeed: Subscribe | Blog: myphillynetwork.com

3) Chris Charabaruk

Short Bio: Chris is a computer programmer with many years of development experience with games and open source projects. He is also an avid social media enthusiast. Chris hails from Pickering, Ontario, where in 2005 he co-founded the Toronto Independent Games Conference. TIGC provides educational and networking opportunities for game development professionals and those who would like to break into the game development industry. If you're looking for a talented, dedicated programmer, Chris is your go to guy. When I was playing games on my Commodore 64, Chris was writing code on it, enough said. Chris is very active on FriendFeed, and opinionated as well. If there is a technology or gaming thread going on, you can expect Chris to add his thoughts.

What they find interesting: Technology, Social Media, Gaming, Software Development

FriendFeed: Subscribe | Blog:coldacid.net

4) Derrick

Short Bio: Derrick is a coordinator in the film department at the Art Center College of Design, located in Pasadena, California. He is an avid writer, editor, blogger and bon vivant. Derrick is a popular and very creative FriendFeeder, a refreshing change from the social media side of FriendFeed where I happen to spend a majority of my time. On his feed there is always tons of likes and conversations ranging from food to Whitney Houston, to the evolution of Darwin's theory. If you're looking for the lighter side of FriendFeed, where people are conversating about things other than tech, head over to Derrick's feed, you won't be disappointed.

What they find interesting: Arts, Film, Food, Technology, Current Events, Humorous

FriendFeed: Subscribe | Blog:randomscreaming.com/blog

5) Joe Dawson

Short Bio: Joe provides product support at Barclays Clearlybusiness, located in the United Kingdom. Joe is another FriendFeeder who I have been following since I joined the site. This seems to be the common theme in this month's list. Joe is also an avid social media enthusiast. You can always count on Joe popping in on FriendFeed when he is not at work or spending time with his kids. Scanning his feed from time to time often leads to something I missed in my Google Reader. Joe's feed pretty much consists of technology and social media related content, and the occasional pictures of his kids. Who does not love kids? FriendFeed shouldn't be about business 24/7 all the time, yes I'm guilty of this, but I love random family and kids pictures as well.

What they find interesting: Social Media, Technology, Web 2.0

FriendFeed: Subscribe | Blog:joedawsons.com

6) Kipp Bodnar

Short Bio: Kipp is an account executive at Howard, Merrell & Partners, located in North Carolina. Kipp's background is in online public relations and web production including, Web site copy, podcasting scripts, blogging, and social media optimization. Kipp also co-hosts a weekly podcast at talksocialnews.com along with Wayne Sutton about news and innovations in social media.

What they find interesting: Marketing, Social Media, Social Networking, Web 2.0, Technology
7) Lindsay Donaghe
Short Bio: Lindsay currently works for GoDaddy.com as C# .Net Engineer. She has been a developer for over 14+ years, and is a true geek in terms of tech. Her first language is English, second is C#. She also has extensive graphic and user interface design experience. There is not much this girl can't do, and would make even the most techie of techs looks amateur. She is also married to Tad,who started the FriendFeed meme phenomenon and is technical wizard in his own right. Lindsay is a favorite to many on FriendFeed. She is very engaged in the community and very vocal, if she has an opinion she states it. Her feed runs the gamut from photography to current events, to odd and interesting content. What they find interesting: Programing, Technology, Design, Web 2.0, Humorous

FriendFeed: Subscribe | Blog:macrolinz.com/macrolinz

8) Lu Tao

Short Bio: Lu is a product director at ChinaHR, China's leading job board which happens to be a Monster.com company. Lu is always in the background, often in stealth mode. When you least expect it, he strikes. Lu shares content relating to technology, marketing, global events and corporation related news. He is pretty much all business on FriendFeed, and that's fine with me. He is more of an active liker than conversation starter. When he likes something, it's usually a must see and or something that I shouldn't have missed.

What they find interesting: Technology, Online Recruiting, Marketing, Web 2.0, Statistics

FriendFeed: Subscribe

9) Shevonne

Short Bio: Shevonne is a freelance writer. She has been assisting private companies, government agencies, and non-profit organizations with their writing and editing needs. She has written government proposals and documentation for agencies such as the Department of State and the Homeland Security Institute. She keeps busy writing and being a mother of two children who are ages five and seven. Being a full time writer, it's a natural fit that she has a passion for movies and books, you can read her reviews here. She is highly active on FriendFeed and truly a great asset to the community.

What they find interesting: Art, Movies, Books, Writing, Technology, Variety

FriendFeed: Subscribe | Blog:dcfemella.com/blog

10) V Mary Abraham

Short Bio: Mary is a Lawyer who works for Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, a New York City law firm. She also practices and is a top resource for knowledge management. Mary is a sharp thinker and is in a league of her own. When she is not working on corporate and tax knowledge managements at work, you can find her discussing KM on her blog. Head over to her blog and be prepared to learn something new. She is also becoming more active on FriendFeed. She is a lawyer, she cant be spending all day on the site, but when she is on FriendFeed, she adds value and insight to the community. She also recently reached the one year mark for blogging, and is someone who is always willing to listen and learn new things, see not all lawyer's are evil.

What they find interesting: Knowledge Management, Law, Social Media, Technology


Read more by Mike Fruchter at MichaelFruchter.com.

Image via Dreamstime.com
Maybe I am finally getting old - or maybe the days of staying up until 2 and getting up at 6 day after day are finally catching up to me. Maybe it's the twins. But for whatever reason, I have found that getting up earlier than normal has much more of an impact on my system than having stayed up late the previous day - even if the total hours having slept in between are the same. I don't believe it is an issue of perception, and I don't believe it is an issue of personal preference, but it has most certainly happened.

On Thursday, I had a 7:15 flight out of San Jose to Denver to meet with Lijit, and as a result, I had set my alarm to spur me awake by 5, so I could be up and ready and packed and on my way. I slipped out of the house in the dark, winking at the kids as they, luckily for my wife, stayed asleep. And by that night, I was dragging. It might have been a factor of the high elevation, or a full day, but I was flagged by 10 - an unthinkable sin for my usual standards of uptime.

In contrast, the prior week, I had stayed up until 3:30 working on a writing project, and still managed to get up and get the family to church by 9 the next morning, with no downside, so far as I could tell. Had I instead opted to go to bed at midnight, and set the alarm for 4:30, to start the project, there is no doubt I would have been hitting the snooze bar enough times that I would have lost the opportunity.

After a high school job that had me working graveyard shift from 1:30 to 9:30 a.m. during the summers, and time at UC Berkeley spent as the online editor, when I would arrive as late as midnight, once the paper had gone to bed, posting through 4 a.m., and making morning classes, I just can't take the hit on the early side that I used to.

I've written about the issue of sleep, and how much of an impediment it is to my getting everything done. (See: Sleep Is a Waste Of Time and Insomnia - I Can't Get No Sleep)

The twins themselves are not really part of the problem any more. They, on a typical night, go to bed at 7:30 p.m. and wake up at 8 the following morning. It's perfect. And when Sarah woke up at midnight to 1 a.m. last night, I was delighted to get some one on one time. But had she woken up instead at 5:30 this morning, I'd have been bleary eyed and bitter for sure. While I recognize the change, and admit I probably need to plan on not carving into my mornings, I am fighting the change, as for me, it seems like a partial fail.

By Jesse Stay of Stay N' Alive (Twitter/FriendFeed)

In an announcement on the Twitter developers mailing list today, Matt Sanford, a developer at Twitter who has been leading the efforts to integrate Twitter API with OAuth, announced details on how the new OAuth would work. In the announcement, he released a preview of documentation for the new OAuth methods, how developers would integrate using a sample Ruby on Rails application, and what developers would need to know to integrate.
Read more by Jesse Stay at Stay N' Alive.

I make no apologies in terms of my Apple Mac fandom. Maybe it's the fact that I live 10 minutes from Cupertino, home base for what's arguably the world's most innovative computer company. Maybe it's because I'm stubborn and when I make a choice I stick to it. But whatever the reason, while my passion for their products can ebb and flow between product releases, I will never surrender my Apple fanboy card. And one of the most telling clues that I'm Steve Jobs disciple is worn on my wrist - every single day. You see... every single wristwatch I have sports the Apple logo. Two are the "Think Different" variety, with the numbers being presented in reverse order and the hands moving in counter-clockwise fashion. The other 4 are more traditional. Two are metal and the other two are leather banded.

In June of 2007, in a post for The Apple Blog, I gave Five Lesser-Known Tips on Being an Apple Fanboy. In that list, I said to "Present the Apple Logo in a Good Light", focusing primarily on how people use the sticker on their cars, but the same could extend to how you showcase the logo on the clothes you may wear, the watches you may have, or even how you position the product. A bad customer reference is no good - and know that as a Mac user, you are being watched at all times by curious PC drones who have always secretly wondered what it would be like "on the other side".


My Current Apple Watch Collection
My first Apple watch was the white face "Think Different" watch, which I ordered from Red Light Runner back in July of 2002, for a mere $49.95. The price for these increasingly-rare watches climbed to $79.95, $99.95, and later to nearly $200, before disappearing from the site, as well as its competition, at Missing Bite. But even as I knew my watch could score a few bills on eBay, I was not interested in selling, because to me, the value was more than a couple Benjamins.

The Apple logo watches may not all have the blessing of headquarters. One I got passed on from a former Apple employee who had been given it as an incentive award. Others I got from eBay or other sites. But even if they don't have the Cupertino seal of approval, I've gotten rid of all other watches. I can do without the databank watches from Casio, or the hipness of a Swatch, or the pretentiousness of Movado or Rolex. I don't need to do calculations with my watch, or peer at a compass, or convert units to military time. I just need to get the time, and promote a great brand while doing it. And just today, I took all the watches in for new batteries, and when needed, new bands - so they are in tip-top shape.

You've seen me be unequivocally promotional of sites and products I really like. But it was Apple that first won me over more than two decades ago, and it has been my single-longest obsession. You can get one of the few remaining available Apple watches out there and join the club by picking one up at Missing Bite for $59.95. There's no question in my mind it will be worth more soon - whether you sell it or not.

Think I'm nuts? And would anybody be caught dead with a Windows or Microsoft watch?