For long time listeners of the Geek Dads@ Home podcast, it has become somewhat of a running joke that towards the end of an episode we will end up with a segment about Twitter, and for some reason Jim Kukral.  No one really knows how, when or why it started but it always seemed that there was something relevant in the conversation where Jim’s name would be referenced.

So during  a conversation in Episode 17, Daniel mentioned that he was no longer following Jim on Twitter due to the amount and type of tweets he was making.  It wasn’t until Episode 19 that Jim happened to listen to the show and heard us retroactively mention Daniel and his unfollow sentiments. After hearing our show, Jim requested via Twitter and the Comments that he get his turn.  Hosts Scott Jangro, Joe Magennis and Daniel M Clark all agreed to devote this entire episode to The Jim Kukral Segment.

Jim was able to rationally communicate his strategy for how he uses Twitter as a means to get attention, and Scott had identified during the original episode that there was a conscious decision at one point to attempt to drive followers away.  Jim clearly states that he loves when anyone gives him attention on line, and that our little segments are only good for business.

Jim turns the tables on us and asks us to elaborate on the practical arrangements, particularly spousal expectations of working at home.  It is one of the biggest challenges we face as work at home dads where we need to identify the boundaries and time schedules so that the interruptions are minimized.

A key point that he shares is his motivation to accept the challenge of being successful at his business.  It was the day that he and his wife decided that she was going to stay at home with the two kids.  This pressure to be the sole provider for the family has kept him doing what he does every day.  He admits and accepts that it turned him into a different type of person who strives to be somewhere between Billy Mays and Tony Robbins.

For us Geek Dads we have to juggle the every day issues happening around the house and the work hours that we have to commit to our businesses.

At one point in this week’s episode Jim and Scott discuss “The Triple Jangro“, with Scott clarifying the rest of the story …..

Jim put the question to Daniel .. how could he get him back as a follower?

Jim cautions that he has incorporated auto tweets using Twitterfeed into his stream in order to continue to make posts that are intermingled with his personal stream.  It turns out that Shawn Collins has stopped following Jim due to this automation.

Daniel admits that he would like Jim to project the persona that he first saw in the Bratz Dolls video that he produced as part of his Daily Flip program.

Daniel recommends that Jim adopt a persona that takes the success of Billy Mays with the person that appears in the Bratz video.

A recommended Twitter app during the show comes up, TweetMic is a way to post to Twitter with an actual recorded message.  Check out the sound quality,  it is really good!

Breaking away from the use of Twitter in promoting Jim, we talk about using the Live Web as a means of distributing a brand message. Jim shares his use of his Ustream channel, wifi and his laptop to broadcast any public presentations that he is conducting.

And keep an eye on the new iPhone functionality as far as streaming and recording video.  It will make the live web jump to life with an easy on ramp for getting your content out there.

Finally .. we really want to thank Jim for coming on the show and contributing in a big way!  The whole premise of having conversations about Jim is all in good fun, and we really enjoy the camaraderie and sharing of great information, because we all love what is transpiring on the internet and can never get enough good dialogue.

Happy early Father’s Day to all Dads our there, whether Geek or At Home or non of the above … enjoy your time with your kids, and make every moment count!

This week the Geek Dads at Home wander through topics of live streaming on the web, to collectibles and family heirlooms, around Google and Twitter again (don’t we all), and finally finish off with everyone’s favorite segment “I can’t believe I did that to my child”.

Podcasting is one of our favorite topics, and Sam’s success this past week using Rogue Amoeba Nicecast has allowed Thinking.fm to stream live on the web.  He is building the community where listeners will be able to participate directly in the show via listening live and commenting on Twitter.

All of us who are looking to push for greater applications of web technology, we are at a stage of trial and testing to find the best approaches for moving into this next dimension of the web……  The live web.  Live streaming and direct interaction will enhance relevancy for niche audiences.

Following up on a theme that had begun earlier in the week, we were talking about baseball cards and how each of us had collections. There are unfortunate tales of collections getting tossed via yard sales and moms (grandmas).

It morphed into a conversation between Daniel and Sam about the state of comic book collecting and how as kids they would think about value and growth potential of their acquisitions.

Some collectible titles included:

Hawkman

Wildcats

Spawn

Shadowhawk

Savage Dragon

And of course, Aquaman

Daniel points out the Mike Buechele from 1115 Media is going to be doing a comics podcast.

As we make the case to Daniel about using GMail and other Google apps, an unfortunate search term puts Joe in jeopardy of appearing on a Federal watch list. If his tweets stop appearing … call the authorities!

Among other nefarious characters this week who are disappearing from the twitterverse are someone named Martin Boling and an employee of Jason Calacanis at Mahalo who wasn’t correctly vetted until he was recently convicted of  releasing a bot in his youth.

@Jangro and @SamHarrelson are going through the process of trimming down the followers list again. Both agree that the use of a mobile app with massive follower numbers is unrealistic and hinders the ability to have meaningful conversations.

Tweetie, Tweetsville and Twitterific are the suggested IPhone apps.

Sam points to a great Mashable post The Twitter Followholic: An Epidemic. The author points out the quality of the audience deteriorates at a certain large number.

Remember .. Follow Ideas not People!

And we send you on your way with Dads being Dads …