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On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we discussed topics ranging from Square beef up card reader security this summer to learn to correctly match your tie to your suits and dress shirts.

On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we discussed topics ranging from YouTube founders acquire delicious rom Yahoo to getting out of debt by switching to a cash-only policy.

On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we discussed topics ranging from Obama releasing his birth certificate to Qik video connect announced, allows for cross-os videochat .

On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we discussed topics ranging from uploading files to google docs just got easier to despite competitors, netflix earnings rise 88% .

On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we discussed topics ranging from google voice and sprint make a very nice couple to the Army just picked android over iPhone.

On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we discussed topics ranging from samsung countersues apple in patent slap fight to more rumblings about an amazon android tablet.

On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we discussed topics ranging from 6 common work habits that sabotage your productivity to the state of the mobile app world.

On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we discussed topics ranging from T-Mobile launches free voice calls via facebook to Is Obama smart to speak at facebook?.

A few weeks back, I was introduced to a new game based entirely on social networking. The game, "Empire Avenue," allows players to buy and sell shares of stock in people. As you can see in the image above, my current value is set at 40.79 eaves (or "e" for short).

Each day, the system determines the share value for each person based upon their activity online. Individuals that seek to increase their value need only to increase their social networking activity. More specifically, players should continue to write blogs, tweet, post updates on Facebook, comment on YouTube videos, and engage with connections on LinkedIn, to name a few. With each interaction, Empire Avenue determines your ever changing score.

Like the ebb and flow of the real life stock market, an individual's share value can go up and down based upon their online activity and overall reputation. The more people buy shares, the more valuable those shares become.

One benefit of playing Empire Avenue is the immediate desire to do better within your social networks. By interacting more often, as well as posting quality content, users are rewarded with comments, re-tweets, likes, and shares. The more this happens, the higher the score. It's really a win-win situation.

Additional benefits of playing the game include connecting with other active socialites and networking both in and out of your industry.

Parting Tips
Before I end this article, let me leave you with a few tips on how to increase your share price and net wealth.

• Be Active: Clearly, the name of the game is increasing value by being valuable. As with earning followers and friends, post good content and engage often with connections.
• Buy Active Users: Active users increase wealth by the very nature of their behavior. Therefore, do a little research and find out which of your friends are posting on Twitter, writing blogs, sharing pictures, and updating Facebook. These individuals are good candidates for purchase.
• Engage Online Friends: As with any good game, playing with friends is always a plus. In Empire Avenue, the more friends who buy your stock, the more valuable you become. Let's not forget, you also earn eaves for the referral.
• Connect All Social Networks: Empire Avenue is a game based on social networks. As a result, get the maximum credit for your activity by connecting all the sites you can. As of this article, you can connect Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr, YouTube, Facebook pages, and blogs.  

On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we discussed topics ranging from Apple sues Samsung over Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab to the 3 biggest stories in tech, social media & marketing this morning.

On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we discussed topics ranging from how to help your favorite band get major gigs by “Liking” & Following them to samsung promises a dual-core 2GHz smartphone 'by next year'.

A few weeks ago, I introduced a neat tool called iDoneThis. In that article, I describe it as, "a new web-based service [that] asks each night via email...'What'd you get done today?'...The purpose of the tool is to keep a record of your daily accomplishments. As a result, users should feel motivated to build on yesterday's successes and do even better today."

Looking back over my four submissions [yeah...I missed a few days], I could have finished more of the important things. Not that the few items I finished weren't good, it's just that I could have used that day to complete more meaningful tasks.

Clearly, some items that I finished were necessary. Tasks like cutting my son's hair, cleaning the house, and completing another episode of Room 3026 Live are important to-do items, but is that all I could have done with my day? The answer is "No!" I have a lot more to give.

If I have more to give, why didn't I do it? The answer, I believe, was caused by my lack of planning.

Each day, I had an opportunity to schedule tasks into my calendar. Using this time to pre-select important items from my to-do list would have allowed me to finish more important things.

Opportunities For Change
Moving forward, I need to consider changing some business practices. Below are a few ideas:

Plan ahead
Using a calendar, look ahead two weeks or more to determine important dates and upcoming deadlines. Are there things you can do to prepare for those events? If so, what? When I don't plan ahead, I find that I am often surprised by forgotten obligations.

Put to-do items into a time budget
Living a balanced life means making time for those areas that are important to you. For me, this means making time for God, family, school work, blogging, exercising, and the like. Most importantly, taking those pressing to-do items and placing them on the calendar. For more information on how to create a time budget, check out this article.

Schedule the most important things first
Earlier today, I read an article by Whitson Gordon entitled, "Learn the Difference Between Urgent and Important." The lesson I walked away with is that we need to take care of the important things first and then handle urgent (distractions) later. This process will ensure that we complete crucial things each and every day.

Feedback
What ideas have you employed to get those most important things done in your life? Leave me a comment in the discussion section below.

• What Have You Finished Today?
• Get More Done Today With 4 Steps to Budget Time
• Respect the Schedule and Follow Through On Plans

Photo by Valerie Everett

On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we discussed topics ranging from the rise of the planet of the apes to Intel set to go Android in Q3 2011.

On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we discussed topics ranging from how to spend your way to happiness to email marketing service iContact launches free edition.

I made the transition from a Blackberry to an Android last August. Going in, my heart was set on the HTC Evo, but the Sprint salesperson highly recommended the Samsung Epic 4G. After playing with it and reading trusted reviews, I left the store a proud Epic owner.

The most appealing features of the phone were its dynamic colors, slide out keyboard, 720p video recorder, and quick processor. Seriously, my Blackberry Curve could never keep up. Although, it didn't take long before I realized how little time the battery afforded me in between charges. By weeks end, I found myself looking for a power source in every place I went. For the record, there are no power plug-ins at any theater in Smithfield.

By January 2011, I was accustomed to living with my wireless phone's umbilical cord. It was a necessity. However, what I couldn't live with was the noticeable speaker issue. Sometime in December, the Epic's external speaker blew. To the best of my knowledge, I had done nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, I barely used the speaker phone at all. Unfortunately, the sound got so bad that I started missing telephone calls.

Eventually, I took it back to Sprint for a once over. Within minutes, the technicians informed me that they would order a replacement phone for free. Thank you, insurance policy!

Days later, my phone arrived. I traded my old phone for its successor and was out the door within the hour.

All was well until the speaker problem reared its ugly head again. Silently, I asked myself if this was the same phone. Was it something I did? Is this a known issue with the Epic? My friend Louis Gray, who is also an owner of the Samsung Epic, responded to the question by saying he hadn't heard of the problem before this incident. What are the odds that I would have two phones with the same issue?

Needless to say, I went back weeks later and requested another replacement phone. This now makes the third phone in less than a year.

Almost immediately after receiving the third phone, I had another problem. No, the speaker worked GREAT! This time, the phone randomly shut down for no apparent reason. If I allowed the phone to auto-sync accounts, it would shut down. With auto-sync off, it still shuts down, just less frequent.

I thought a software update would solve the problem, so I waited until Froyo (Android 2.2) came out and installed it on the phone. Not long after it finished installing, the phone locked up and shut down. Sometimes, it doesn't shut down at all. Instead, it merely locks up, goes black, and beeps. Talk about frustrating!

This past week, I go back to the Sprint store and explain my dilemma. The technicians inform me that a hard reset should do the trick. If not, I'll need another replacement phone.

Aware of the options, I allow the Sprint experts to once again wipe the phone clean and start over. Just so you know, every time they wipe the phone, I have to download my favorite apps and customize the phone for  personal use.

Within an hour after a hard reset, the phone acts up again. I guess this means that I'm taking it back for my 4th phone this year.

So, let me ask the question, "Is the problem with the Samsung Epic or is it with Sprint?" My first observation is that the only NEW phone I ever received was the first one. The original phone came with a box, instructions, and all the accessories. Every phone after the first came solo. This leads me to believe, I'm getting a refurbished phone. Most likely, the phone was broke, the company "fixed it," and redistributed it to people like me.

If that is the case, then maybe Sprint should rethink their technicians' ability to fix what is broken. I assume it's cheaper than handing out new phones to everyone, but at what point does this refurbishing program no longer work? Personally, I'm growing skeptical of Sprint's ability to fix stuff.

With that written, let me assume that Sprint is doing all it can and the problem rests with Samsung's device. None of my friends with an HTC Evo are having mechanical issues. Do I leave Samsung alone and go with an Evo?

At this point, I just want my phone to work. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if I should blame Sprint or Samsung for my less than perfect experience. What do you think? Are you having similar issues? Should I ask for a NEW phone, accept another replacement, or just leave the Epic alone for good? Whatever your thoughts, I'd love to hear about them in the comment section below.

Until next time...

Related Posts

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• Room 3026 Live: What Should I Buy, the HTC Evo or iPhone 4?

I am a longtime supporter of ColdFusion. In fact, I started using ColdFusion for Elizabeth City State University's web site back when it was owned by Allaire. We have been good friends, ColdFusion and I, but I'm beginning to wonder if maintaining this relationship is good for either of us.

As of late, we have been plagued with repeated JRun errors. The errors have gotten so bad that it cripples our university web site, www.nccu.edu. One minute, everything is up and running fine. In the next minute, nothing. Clearly, this cannot continue.

Both Web Services and the Server Team have been working diligently to identify the problem. Unfortunately, the error log doesn't tell us where the issue resides. The only thing we know with certainty is that when JRun stalls out, nobody can do anything.

To date, we've scoured the web for possible answers, but to little avail. We've played with memory settings, removed dynamic code, and adjusted every option within the ColdFusion Administrator. Still, as if in defiance, JRun stalls out again.

I'm not sure if it's me or ColdFusion, but for as long as I can remember, Java has always been an issue. From version 5 until today (we're using version 7), ColdFusion has a way of crashing. To the best of my knowledge, this doesn't happen with PHP. Which leads me to ask, should we consider leaving ColdFusion for PHP, Ruby, or something else?

Honestly, I'm not sure we can leave. We have so much invested in ColdFusion that it would put us back years if we were to change. Although, it doesn't stop me from thinking about it.

As far as a resolution, we're going to migrate up to ColdFusion 9 within the next day or two. My hope is that version 9 has resolved some of these JRun issues or at least provides better monitoring tools. If that doesn't work, we're in the processes of buying technical support from Adobe. Another potential solution is load-balancing, but that option is in a distant third.

Seriously, I wish that I could tell you more about our problem, but as it stands to today, we're at a loss. Hopefully, some of these minor tweaks will help and I can report a good bill of health.

So, do you have any idea what could be wrong? How about a potential solution? I'd love to get any assistance on this matter. If so, feel free to leave a comment below.

Until next time...

Related Posts

• NCCU Adopts Facebook Connect For Campus Portal
• MyCampus vs. MyEOL: War of the Campus Portals

On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we discussed topics ranging from facebook upgrading its commenting system to nintendo cutting wii price to $150 on May 15th.

On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we discussed topics ranging from poor Winklevii must keep $65 million settlement to evernote overhauls windows app with new social sharing features.