There have been some changes to the sidebars and probably still more to come. One of these is the where am i? section near the top. As long as I remember to check in (which I can do via my iPhone), that will always tell you where I am in real time, and may even include a photo or note about my current location.
It's powered by Brightkite, a new location-based social network which I joined shortly after I heard about it from John, and was recently reminded to write about by Virtually Here's review. The basic concept is that you check in with Brightkite wherever you go, and you can see both who has been there in the past and who, if anyone, is there right now. Then you have the opportunity to post messages and photos and communicate with other Brightkite members near you. I signed up because it seemed like a good way for those of us who have trouble meeting people to break the ice in a less face-to-face medium.
It has definitely proven to be addictive, if not so useful for meeting people just due to lack of users in my area. It is still in beta testing, though, so I'm holding out hope that the number of local users will grow. I have found a few people nearby whom I've friended on both Brightkite and Twitter, but it hasn't led to anything offline yet.
If you're not on Brightkite yet but you use Twitter, you can follow CarlyBKite to see all of my Brightkite activity. I linked it to a separate Twitter account so as not to annoy my followers who aren't interested in where I am every minute, but still have a way to echo my activity onto the sidebar here. One note: if you are stalking me via the sidebar or via Twitter, then when I am at home or any other residence you will only see a city instead of an exact address. This is because I set these addresses to private. The only way to see them is to join Brightkite and become one of my "trusted friends". I have ten beta invites available, so if you'd like one you can e-mail me.
![[photo of me]](/glasses144.jpg)
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![[album thumbnail]](/photos/oregon2009/thumbnails/albumthumb.jpg)
