Summer brings back lots of fond memories from growing up for many people.  For some, it’s shore or lake houses with any number of water-related activities to partake in.  For others, it’s the nice weather and the pure joy of always having an excuse to go out and enjoy it.  For me, when I think about what I loved most about summers growing up, one thing comes to mind immediately: CAMP!

I went to or worked at various summer camps between the ages of 10 and 20.  Some were your traditional 4-week sleepaway camps, set in the wilderness, with weekly camp outs, one visiting day, and letters home and care packages.  Others were sleepaway camps but only during the weekdays; come Friday afternoon we got to go home as campers (a nice break) or were free until Monday morning as counselors (FREEDOM!).  Some were educational or purposeful, like the Governor’s School for Public Issues in New Jersey, where we learned about state governance and civil leadership, or the Urban Mitzvah Corps, where I volunteered at various great causes within the local community.  Looking back, some of my favorite memories were:

Pranks: Put a bunch of 14-year-old boys together, and mischief is bound to ensue.  We decided one night to sneak out and cover our counselor’s car with shaving cream.  As a testament to our skill at the art of pranking, we were able to sneak out, leave a shaving cream sculpture on our counselor’s car, and be back in bed undetected.

Or so we thought.  A few days later, returning from an all-bunk activity, something appeared odd in our living quarters.  One camper’s room was an elaborate maze of string, and he had to apply expert acrobatic skill to allow him to move to and fro in his room without tripping over 8 different kinds of shoe laces.  Another camper found all the furniture in his room (bed, dresser, table, etc.) upside down, which, judging by the camper, would have actually been an improvement on his room decoration skills.  I thought I was in the clear when I walked into my room and saw a bed, desk, and dresser all as I had left them.  However, upon further inspection this was my roommate’s furniture, not mine.  I would actually have to walk a few doors down to the bathroom to see my bedroom set (which actually is not a far cry from some of the apartment layouts I’ve seen here in New York City). It seemed we were not as sly as we thought, and we got as good as we gave in this case.

Color War: You knew the end of camp was coming when Color War broke out.  “Broke out” is an understatement, as color wars were more specifically launched to much fanfare with celebrity guests and elaborate celebrations.  Two specific break outs: my first summer at Timber Lake West was the same summer as the first Tim Burton Batman movie, so we knew something was up when the Batmobile from the movie came rolling through camp.  A few summers later, Mike Richter of the New York Rangers came to camp along with the Stanley Cup his team had just won.

And the list goes on.  Have any favorite summer camp moments yourself?  What would summer camp have been like had Meebo been around to keep people in touch when you were at camp, or what’s it like now if you’re currently at camp?  Drop us a comment and let us know.

Mike

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If Meebo looks different today, don’t worry, it’s not a bug. It’s an ad unit called a takeover, which we first talked about a few months ago.

The Meebo frontpage got a new treatment today, and if you haven’t already set a customized background, then you’ve probably got a new wallpaper with some hills and a Prius thrown in! As with all Meebo ads, you can click to hide the ad. To switch back to Meebo blue, just click the “Change back to blue” link on the left side of your screen.

As you may remember from my post when we tried out our first takeover ad, we planned to run this type of ad unit only occasionally, and we wanted to make sure it looked awesome and didn’t get in the way of doing the same things you always do with Meebo.

Last time around you all gave us tons of great feedback, and it was overwhelmingly positive, so we hope you feel the same way about this second take on the “takeover.” As you know, keeping Meebo a free service is important to us, so we have tried our best to incorporate your feedback into the ad products we serve to you, and will continue to do so.

We’ve been really lucky to work with great advertisers who agree with us that advertising should add to the user experience, so we ‘d like to thank all of you and our advertisers for giving us the opportunity to experiment and innovate in our advertising experience.

Don’t forget to tell us how we did. Does the ad look good? Did we strike a good balance between showing you the ad and not disturbing your use of Meebo? Are we running the takeover ad too often? Not often enough? Is there any advertiser you would really like to see in Meebo?

Thanks!

Seth

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oH hAi interNEATS!

It’s tawm, your loveable desktop support hero, shooting you my first blog evah! A couple of days out of the week I don’t fix computers and servers here at meebo. One of those days, Tuesdays to be exact, I work for the San Jose State University’s radio station 90.5 FM KSJS. In case you haven’t checked out my bio at the team page, my radio personality is Garlicjack and, sadly, I no longer have a pink beard.

On my radio show, Cuttin’ the Cheese with Garlicjack, I spin what we call Subversive Rock; indie, punk, metal, progressive, shoegaze, psychobilly, electro-pop, I could go on and on but it is pretty much anything with drums and a guitar. We have so much music I can’t go an hour without finding some new band and three old ones that I love but had never heard of before.

And yes we literally spin. We don’t prerecord our shows like the current trend in mainstream radio. We sit in our 15×15x10-ft room surrounded by thousands of CDs, crates of vinyl, and towers of electronics to shoot out music to our lovely listener(s). Live radio is exciting but hectic. You have to stay at least 2 steps ahead of yourself but shut all of that out for when you talk on the air. You need to know what you’ve played, what you are about to play, any interesting facts you want to mention about bands, upcoming shows, worthy news, traffic, weather, and cram that all into a short and interesting 30 to 90 seconds.

The Subversive Rock department gets about 50 new CDs a week. I help out and review a few each week. This is really cool because I end up listening to music before it’s released to the public. Often times I’ve reviewed and played a new album on my show before I see it appear on pitchfork. The pretentious part of me likes this fact, then I realize they have a bigger audience than I do and my ego goes back in check.

I do other things for the radio station, namely: take part in promotional events like acting as a guest performer at a local improv comedy club, win donut-eating competitions, and handle lots of paperwork. I’m a manager in the traffic department (not car traffic). We setup the paperwork for the public service announcements and promotional pieces all of the DJs will play. Then we review what the DJs actually do and hunt down the people who messed up with our trusty chainsaw. Don’t worry it’s a fake plastic one. It does have a red button that makes a really annoying sound.

While the two jobs, Meebo and the radio, don’t seem very synergistic, I am picking up some Django programming and database management skills at Meebo that are helping me automate some of the paperwork tasks. This helps keep me focused on what I really enjoy about the station, the music.

Tawm

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I got a chance to visit my family back in Texas over Memorial Day weekend, and over dinner one night, my mom made reference to how excited my Dad was when his company got its first computer in 1982. “Of course, they had to build an entire room to house the thing, as it was the size of an elephant,” she facetiously remarked. This comment made me think about how compact technology has become just over the course of my lifetime. Computers that were once the size of an “elephant” can now be carried around in a medium-sized handbag, while flat-panel tvs are so thin they can be hung like a framed piece of art. And, why lug around a heavy book when you can download 1500 of them on a Kindle, or why even have a laptop when you have high speed internet from an iphone? It got me thinking about what we use every single day that will soon be smaller, mobile, or more efficient.

Here are a few memorable innovations from the early 1980s. We’ve certainly come a long way, and it makes me wonder, what’s the next big thing, or rather, what big thing will soon be really small?

Apple III, 1982, Retail price: $3819 ($8467 in 2009 USD)

Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, 1983, First handheld cell phone Retail Price: $3995 ($8858 in 2009 USD)

Sony CDP-101, 1982, First commercial audio CD player Retail price: $900 ($1995 in 2009 USD)

Suzie

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Meebo sees more visits from New York than any other state in the country. And New York City Meebo users far outnumber Meebo users from any other U.S. city (even three times the number from L.A.).

Jian and I were invited to AjaxWorld in New York City next week and the weather is cooperating perfectly for an outdoor Meebo meetup. Bryant Park is just a few steps away from the event and has a kiosk with ice cream, shakes, and floats. We’ll also bring Meebo tee-shirts and stickers to give away. We always return from Meebo meetups with interesting anecdotes and feature ideas. And when we’re planning our next steps, it’s nice to have conversations from the Meebo community fresh in our minds. If you’re in the area, we’d love to see you there and have an opportunity to say hello in person!

New York City Meebo Meetup
Bryant Park
5th and 42nd (look for the balloons)
3:30 Monday (6/22)

Take Care!
-Elaine

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The sun broke out from the rainclouds just in time for last Saturday’s Chicago gathering. We were a diverse group - a budding entrepreneur, a future journalist, a motorcycle enthusiast, and even a debate coach, among others. Conversations ranged from Zach introducing us to 16-inch softball to Sarah talking about her experience in the National Debate Championships. We drank lots of tea, gave away armloads of tee-shirts, jotted down Meebo suggestions, and congratulated our six prize-winning Bingo winners on their trivia prowess.

For those of you who missed it, here are meetup pics and two modified questions from Saturday’s JavaScript Bingo. Before you read on, I just want to add that these questions are supposed be a little funny (like a groan or a mild chuckle funny) and definitely not serious.

1. What word rhymes with one of the five JavaScript primitive types:
a) Purple
b) Silver
c) Orange
d) Slumber

2. If you were trapped on a desert island, which of the following would you prefer:
a) Venkman
b) Firebug
c) MS Script Debugger
d) Internet access

If you found either of those even mildly entertaining (or if you just like free tee-shirts), we’re hosting a meetup in New York next Monday (6/22). We’re looking for meetup location ideas and I’d love to hear any suggestions for folks who know New York City well - preferably somewhere with coffee, ice cream, or cupcakes. More details to come…

Take care,
-Elaine

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After the 2008 presidential campaign, it’s not a surprise that “change” has become a well-worn buzzword, loaded with emotions of last year’s election. Personally, when I hear the word, I think of the advertisement played on the radio when the San Francisco Giants call for a relief pitcher: “When it’s time for a change, think SpeeDee Oil Change and Tune-Up—Your oil change, tune-up, and smog experts.” Recently, though, I’ve been contemplating a pending change in my life, greater than any I’ve had yet.

In September, I’m packing up and moving to New York City. Moving isn’t a particularly uncommon occurrence for most folks, but this is my first. I grew up in San Francisco and went to college in the Bay Area, so the thought of uprooting and moving across the country is a bit scary to me. I love the Bay Area. I love biking in the foothills, grilling in backyards, and sitting in the cold fog of July in San Francisco. I love the people, the music, and the outdoor activities around here.

Soon, I’ll be trading hills for flat, backyard for Central Park, and fog for humidity. As sad as I am to leave, I know I’ll enjoy 24-hour public transportation, arguably the best food in the world (regardless of your price range), and having real seasons. I’ll meet new people, listen to new music, and have brand-new experiences. OK, I lied. I’m not sure if I’m going to enjoy having real seasons. The jury’s still out on that one.

One thing I won’t have to change is my job. Meebo has a small office in New York City, and I’ll be the first engineer to join the few members of our business team in the Big Apple. Even though I’ll be based in a different office, I’ll still be working with the same great team members on the same great projects. I’ve spent some time in the NYC office, and needless to say, I’m excited about being with the people who’re already out there. As a side note, I also won’t have to change my sports allegiances. The Yankees and Mets have enough fans as it is.

As expected, I’m a little nervous about the move, but I think it’s time for a new adventure. How about you? Have you had any leap-of-faith adventures? Started life anew?

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Our JavaScript team has some deep Chicago roots. Mention food to Jian and he will talk about his love of Vienna beef hotdogs and deep-dish pizza. Mention weather to Marcus, and he will talk about enduring four Chicago winters before venturing West to California’s welcoming sun.

Chicago beckons. We’re making a field trip to say hi to the Windy City and to host a fun get-together for Meebo fans and fellow JavaScript enthusiasts this weekend. We’ll gather at Argo Tea (16 W Randolph St) at 4:30pm on Saturday (6/13). In addition to passing out stickers and as many tee-shirts as we can carry, we’ll also host a round of JavaScript bingo (which is far more social than cut-throat - don’t be intimidated) and answer any questions anyone has about how Meebo’s code runs behind the scenes. Most importantly, we’re looking forward to connecting with all of you and learning how we can make Meebo better. Here are the important details…

Meebo/JavaScript Meetup
Saturday, June 13th @ 4:30
Argo Tea - Theatre District
16 W Randolph St, Chicago IL 60601

Hope you can make it!

-Elaine

P.S. We’re not bashful about saying that we’re hiring. If you’re reading this and thinking, “Why do only people in Chicago get to play JavaScript bingo?” then please feel free to email us at jobs@meebo.com with your name and resume. You’ll find good company here.

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Last week I posted my favorite JavaScript puzzler:

Write a function that takes any number of arguments and returns the arguments sorted. For instance, if given myFunction(’dog’, ‘cat’, ‘guinea pig’), the function returns the arguments alphabetized: ‘cat’, ‘dog’, ‘guinea pig.’

Sound easy enough? Now try to do it in one line.

300 responses later, I’m happy to report that 146 of you emailed a correct answer. The trick was to recognize that, unlike the Array object, arguments doesn’t support the sort method. It’s tempting to use a for loop to convert the arguments to an Array and then sort. And while that would work, that’s probably a very, very long line and not quite the solution we were looking for.

Mark F. from Florida provided the first correct answer minutes after the blog was posted:

function puzzler(){ return Array.prototype.sort.apply(arguments); }

While the sort method isn’t defined on the arguments object, we can access Array’s sort function through Array.prototype.sort and apply Array’s sort method to our arguments object to achieve what we want. There are many correct answers and a few of you (Andre G., Christopher G., Alex P.) even took things a step further to support numerical sorting too.

I’m happy to present the list of everyone who arrived at a correct solution last week. Thanks for participating and very well done!

Mark F.
Greg H.
Julian D.
Tim C.
Kyle S.
Mathieu D.
Andre G.
Ross D.
Alex P.
Arnar O.
Dharmesh P.
Perry S.
Dave H.
Brian M.
Ryan G.
Adrian C.
Tim B.
Ankur D.
Jonathan M.
Collin J.
Michael G.
Jeremiah S.
Wayne K.
David B.
Kevin J.
Kherry Z.
Ian H.
Zhang L.
David K.
Ofer O.
Kingsley J.
Akaine H.
Adam C.
Jon D.
Chris O.
Scott R.
Zig G.
Jesse C.
Kyle M.
Matthew D.
Philipp R.
Omid F.
Menno V.
Jonas P.
Dennis K.
Francis C.
Hunter C.
Josh
Bill W.
Vijay S.
Mick C.
Ralph H.
Ben A.
Eric K.
Paul I.
Graeme M.
Victor H.
Josiah J.
Mighty J.
Alexander T.
Jonathan H.
Tim D.
Justin A.
Haig E.
Jan M.
Shane W.
Christopher H.
Scott D.
David C.
Brian A.
Anders T.
Arief W.
Chinmay K.
Yoan B.
Andreas G.
Jason S.
Komlan A.
Wolfgang K.
Pascal B.
Martin
Tyson M.
Troy G.
Allen W.
Nestor T.
Pedro M.
John P.
Tom P.
Jillis T.
Ed C.
Jonathan L.
Anthony M.
Chris W.
Alex W.
Josh U.
Jeff S.
Eric
Ryan F.
Stephen B.
Jason S.
Greg F.
Nathan B.
Ben B.
Swetha D.
Eric R.
Raymond
Ken
Albert S.
Leandro C.
Emilio L.
Steve M.
Nathan T.
Evan J.
Ryan M.
Jonathan G.
Dave Y.
Ganesh
Alec H.
Taber
Josip L.
SQ S.
Andrew C.
Eric G.
Souless
A.T.
Anand P.
Mike C.
Smita
Jeremy B.
JD M.
Henry Y.
Kale M.
Xavier B.
Jakub S.
Thirukumaran V.
Kyle J.
Ragulan R.
Andre C.
Gabb
Nathan F.
Nicola R.
Olle B.
Bluemug
Andrew H.
Vibhu N.
Phred
Sriram R.

Happy coding!
-Elaine

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I’m a night person. When everyone else is turning out the lights, I get excited thinking about the day and what’s going to happen next. However, when I need to fall asleep and my mind is still stirring, I turn to puzzles (books and books of them) to give my mind something to focus on and gradually wind down.

It’s been a while since we’ve posted a JavaScript puzzler and we’re long overdue. For any other JavaScript insomniacs out there, I offer one of my favorite JavaScript puzzles that goes something like this:

Write a function that takes any number of arguments and returns the arguments sorted. For instance, if given myFunction(’dog’, ‘cat’, ‘guinea pig’), the function returns the arguments alphabetized: ‘cat’, ‘dog’, ‘guinea pig.’

Sound easy enough? Now try to do it in one line.

Please don’t spoil the fun by posting your answers here. We’ll post the first response and the names of everyone who got the correct answer at the end of this week. To toss your JavaScript hat into the ring, email puzzlers@meebo-inc.com with your answer.

Have fun!
-Elaine

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