Robert Forto

foursquare

Foursquare, goodbye

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Logo for Foursquare
Logo for Foursquare (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There comes a time in every man’s life when he just has to let go.

For some it is the 30 inch waist line they had back in high school when they woo’ed the girls in their acid washed jeans and pegged legs.

For others it is that hobby of collecting Beanie Babies that their neighbor announced on Facebook and he finally came out of the proverbial closet.

For me it is my ‘almost’ four year addiction to Foursquare.

I woke up last Sunday and realized, what in the hell am I doing? I am here collecting virtual badges for no other reason than to one-up my family and friends.

I was once the mayor of my hometown and several others across the country. I had almost 8,000 check-ins and left some, what I thought was valuable, tips at several locations and so many ‘friends’ that I reached my limit.

Why?

I have no idea. I never received any REAL benefit of playing this stupid little game. I did acquire a stalker or two though. One time a lady walked up to me at Home Depot and said she followed me on Foursquare. I don’t even know how she knew who I was since my profile picture was a cartoon of my dog. Another time a dog training client drove ALL the way to Willow so they could check-in at our place.

Like other addiction, I don’t know if I have quite hit rock bottom yet. I still have the app on my iPhone and I just might check in to leave that extra-special tip or maybe snag the next ulra-hip badge.

____________________

Robert Forto is mushin’ down a dream in the wilds of Alaska while with his wife and kids at Fortos Fort

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Iditarod 40: Mushing Radio premiere episode

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Last night we aired the premiere episode of Mushing Radio from the studios of KVRF 89.5 in Palmer, Alaska. With a few hiccups it went well and I am pleased with the results. The only drawback that I have is that we did not record this episode as a podcast so that folks can listen at a later date. I was assured that all future shows will be recorded starting with Saturday’s show where we will cover the ceremonial start in Anchorage

Our first guest was Greg Sellentin, the editor and publisher of Mushing Magazine. We spoke about the “state of mushing”. During our conversation we discussed how fans could best follow the sport: subscribe to Mushing Magazine of course! But also ask a lot of questions. New fans and novice musher’s alike will find that this sport has a great group of people that are willing to share their knowledge to anyone who asks.

This is an exciting time for the sport of mushing. With the influx of socail media and just about every team having a blog, website, and Facebook pages, it makes it very easy for fans and mushers to give updates, share pictures and stories and give advice.

We also spoke about the Iditarod and all of the festivities that surround the Iditarod circus, as I like to call it, leading up to the re-start in Willow on Sunday, March 4 at 2:00 pm.

Greg brought up some great points about not jumping into this sport too quickly and to take your time. We encouraged new mushers to find a veteran to work with for a time before they venture out on their own. During the show it was equal parts education and an overview of the sport.

The half-hour show went very quickly and we invited Greg back on any time. It was a great conversation.

Starting Saturday March 3, at 9:30 am we will cover the ceremonial start in Anchorage then on Sunday the re-start in Willow at 1:30 pm and our daily coverage at 6:30 pm up until the awards banquet, some ten days (or so) later. It should be a fun time and we look forward to your comments and questions.

I will be covering the Iditarod everyday on my website and on the radio. Please listen in. Please like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and check in with me on Foursquare.

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Super Swarm Sunday Badge on Foursquare for the Super Bowl

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Foursquare this afternoon released more information about their Super Swarm Sunday promotion with American Express and Pizza Hut. At the end of the post, they threw out one more tidbit of information: yes, there will be a badge this year.

This year’s badge will be a Super Swarm Sunday badge, featuring the usual swarm badge design, but the bees are replaced by tiny footballs. It doesn’t appear there’s any connection to the NFL for 2012, so you won’t see separate badges for your favorite team or for actually attending the game.

You’ll be able to unlock the badge when you check in to the worldwide “Super Swarm Sunday” venue from the foursquare app. It will begin appearing a few hours before the game and will be active for the remainder of the night.

Foursquare’s servers have come a long way in the past year. Hopefully we won’t see a repeat of last February when they saw numerous instances of downtime during the game brought on by the crush of people checking in to earn their badges.

Foursquare has come a long way in the last year. Take the Super Bowl for example: 130,000 people checked in last year during the game. Since then foursquare’s user base has more than doubled. With the combination of a compelling special (who doesn’t love pizza?) and a badge, we should see even better numbers this year.

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Groundhog Day, Ferris and Phil

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Not only is it a leap year but it also one of the coldest winters on record here in the Great White North. I don’t know if it is good or bad that ole’ Phil saw his shadow in the Keystone State today but I would bet that some wish he would have stayed buried in his little lair…

All joking aside, lets talk about what Groundhog Day truly represents. Only one of the greatest comedy film classics from the boys that brought you Ghostbusters. Enough said? Hardly….

One of my friends in college told me that groundhog day was one of the most spiritual movies ever made. Now that I am older, considerably a bit wiser, and liquid spirits are not clouding my judgement, I tend to agree with him.

Think about it: Hasn’t your life just become just another day of doing the same thing over and over? I think a lot of people live in groundhog day, doing the same thing again and again, not taking the best out of life. Just living without any consciousness. Not having enough time by their own fault, because time is a thing you can offer yourself by making other choices.

As the old saying goes: get busy living or get busy dying. I tend to enjoy the former. What about you?

So what are you doing with your life? Are you getting up every day at 6:00 to go punch the clock to work for “the man”? Or are you doing what you love? Doing what you are passionate about? Living life to the fullest or fulfilling your life with mundane emptiness?

As the great Ferris Bueller once said,

Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

Are you missing yours? 

Hey, look at it this way, even if you are stuck in that cubical you can check into Foursquare at any location and use the word “groundhog” in your shout and you will unlock this years ultra-cool badge.

Groundhog Day Badge on Foursquare

 

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Local Badge on Foursquare

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Who would have thought that my early days of checking in to our dog training school, Denver Dog Works on Foursquare would turn into the adventure that it has. I have checked in our Foursquare at some of the coolest spots in the country and it just keeps getting better!

The unlock text reads:

You’ve been at the same place 3x in one week!

 

Follow my news and updates on Twitter, my whereabouts on Foursquare and  relationship status on Facebook. Or send me a telegram.

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