Tom's blog

Am I social enough for social networking?

It has been a really long time since I have written anything here, about 7 weeks, almost an eternity in blog-years. In fact according to all of the established blogging metrics, this blog is dead, it is no-more, it has ceased-to-be...but it really isn't...I have just been somewhere else.

Social Networking is apparently the thing to do nowadays. I have been hanging out on a platform called Twitter which is a micro-blogging platform. You can key in a little comment, random thought, link to a blog post or whatever, it just needs to be less than 140 keystrokes.

For me this begs a question. Am I Social enough for Social Networking? Do I really want to let people know when I am feeling grouchy, sick, bored, creating a powerpoint, on a conference call, plane, picking lint out of...whatever? At least with a blog entry, the theory is that you have something reasonably substantial to write about. But with something like Twitter (or the other mblog platforms), the very idea seems to lower the bar almost to the level of idle chit chat, all with the comfort of not actually having to have the conversation.

Not sure about this Social Networking malarci...but until I figure it out, I'll see you on Twitter or here, but a little more often.

business, collaboration, email, facebook, innovation, instant messaging, Lifestyle, Marketing, Twitter, Social Network

The alternate application

Here is a great site, Bad Banana, by Tim Siedell. Tim provides an interesting look at creativity and how some folks are doing some really interesting things around the world. One of these posts uses the map of the London Underground to expose some hidden animals (although I really do like the Armchairs too).

Perhaps someone got bored waiting for their train and spotted these in a few moments, but I suspect that had it been me in this position, I would not have spotted these images (or even thought about looking for anything other than my destination on a map like this). I guess I am just a left brained individual that never did very well in Art Class.

Creativity seems to be such a subjective thing, I consider myself to be a pretty creative guy. In my professional life, I work to to improve business process by the measured application of technology. Oftentimes, this has produced some interesting (and pretty effective) results in comparison to other solutions I have seen, where the business process was forced to adjust in favor of the technology.

A good book on the topic A Whack on the side of the head , talks about the development and application of creativity in all of it's forms. One of the mechanisms the author, Roger Van Oech, suggests to improve your level of creativity around your thinking, is to disrupt your normal patterns somewhat. For example: move your trash can (rubbish bin, to my English brethren); take a different route to/from work; sleep on the other side of the bed; visit somewhere that you normally wouldn't; wear you watch on the other wrist. These little shocks to your routine will help improve your mental agility and may help you generate some newer more creative solutions to the challenges you are presented with.

Here are the maps along with the overlaid animals, enjoy:

A Seal...

A Whale...

A Turtle...

and Finally, a Dog...

creativity, london underground

My new favorite band...

Once in a while there is just something that needs to be shared. This is one of those times. Watch this video below it features a band called "The Leningrad Cowboys" who are playing with the State Russian Choir. Now the State Russian Choir are a military unit of the Russian Army, uniforms and everything. The Leningrad Cowboys, well...they are just "The Leningrad Cowboys"...you'll see what I mean.

I especially enjoy the contrast between the Choir and the Cowboys, but I have to say, when you get past that. the funniest part of this whole homogenized mess is the choice of song...enjoy!

I wish I had hair enough for that kind of cut!

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You are out there...are you ready for that?

Have you ever Googled yourself? The results are often not quite what you are looking for depending upon your point of view. One thing is pretty certain however, as time goes by, you are more and more likely to start appearing in that voluminous resource of information.

Part of the challenge with that reference of information will be in the correction of mistakes, or improper in some regard (see my comments on that problem here).

Now that access to all of this "stuff" is so readily available, one of the challenges will be that of exposure. Everything you do is exposed, your web sites are out there, your public forum comments are out there, Opinion posts (fortunately I am not that opinionated), Blog comments are out there, photos (my Flickr account), videos, and sometimes some pretty personal stuff too. So for those with multiple identities (you know what I mean, one for business, one social, one historical etc.), how does your online bio stack up?

Now that everything is so widely published and especially with the advent of Web 2.0 and Social Networking (see former comment here), it is very easy to check up on people. You can see if they worked at blah blah inc. or you can see if they did win that silver medal for Ju Jitsu, if they really were under sniper fire in Tuzla or more importantly, you can see if they didn't. Authenticity is now a pre-requisite for everything and anything that you put out there, or it will come back to bite you in the backside.

Gary Vanerchuck produced this little social comment on the topic...

Remember...it is watching you!

business, collaboration, commercial, consulting, creativity, data, database, Decisions, facebook, google, Politics, social networking, youtube

Are you "Bleach" or "Water"?

A friend of mine described himself to me as 'Bleach, not Water' on Friday. His point being that he wanted to see instant action and instant results from the discussion that we had just had.

I think this opens up a much more interesting discussion that most people in any kind of service industry don't pro-activley consider on a regular basis, Ethics. I suspect we have all be involved with a business or organization that demonstrates these "bleached" traits. They will often recommend the solution that suits them the most, pays them the most or brings the largest, fastest result. For the customer, this often ends up leaving them disappointed, disenfranchised and almost certainly not with the warm and fuzzy feeling that will make them a repeat customer.

If you should be lucky enough to engage with a "Water" based individual or business, you will end up with a very different experience. The process will be very different also, they will take the time to walk through the requirements and underlying reasons. They will take the time to figure out what is going to provide the customer with the right solution for their problem. If they cannot help or provide you with the right solution, more often that not, they will tell you that.

To highlight the point, I have been watching a podcast, The Rest of Everest, by Jon Miller, who documented Ben Clarks' Everest attempt in 2003. This podcast documents the long trip from the US to the top of the mountain and back again, and that success really is the result of a long series of choices and decisions [all based around the inherent dangers of mountain climbing] that are designed to pay off in the long term. The statement that keeps popping up, "The Summit is a bonus". If we in business showed similar long term decision making skills based upon solid principals, we would end up with a lot more business. Repeat customers would be the bonus.

Back to my friend for a second. From my experience with him, he is a much more "Water" based individual than he might realize, and perhaps, with just the right amount of "Bleach".

Ben Clark, Decisions, Ethics, Everest, getting things done, happiness, John Miller, podcast, Rest of Everest

How much "Stuff" do you have?

Watch this video, The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard, it's 20 minutes long and talks about the Materials Economy Production System. [Click here if you don't see it below]

Interesting stuff huh? I found a some of facts from this short film pretty interesting, the fact that only 1% of products are in use after 6 months, the fact that for every single trash-can of household waste, something like 70 times that amount is produced in the production process.

There is an interesting blog at this site too. Check it out here.

Spread the word!

Databases and why you SHOULD NOT trust the data

Let me open by stating, I am not a terrorist, it's official and you can all relax now, Homeland Security says so.

We have all been the victim of incorrect information in a computer, but when you take a government department, multiple databases from other government departments and private industry, munge it all together, who knows what you will end up with. But I bet it's not right...I present my case your honor:

About a year ago, I notice that I started having problems getting on flights. Couldn't use the automated booths any more, couldn't check in on-line etc. After a couple of flights of this I asked one of the airline staff "Why?" and he said "Oh...your on the Homeland Security Watchlist...have a great flight!".

I made a couple of calls and was directed to the DHS TRIP Web Site, filled in the on-line TRIP form, sent digital scans of my various ID's, Passports, Licenses etc. and waited. The problems on the flights still occurred, some even had to make phone calls to let me fly.

After about 3 months, a letter appears in the mail, "sorry you didn't sign the form please start over"...interesting...it was a WEB BASED FORM. Next step, I found the form you normally mail, filled it out (on-screen), printed it, signed it, scanned it and e-mailed it back to them with the other documents.

Another 4 months pass, a letter appears in the mail, "sorry your form was illegible please start over"...but it was typed?...I gave up, resigned to a more irritating travel process at the airports.

Then, just a few days ago, and almost a full year after the first problems, a new letter. "We have reviewed your information and found that some of the data we used warranted an update. We are sorry for the inconvenience".

There apparently was a data issue, compounded with government inefficiency and incompetence. I wish I knew what was in their database about me, perhaps I'll file a Freedom if Information request...but I may be dead by the time I get a response.

On a separate topic, but still data related. I bought a product called "Neat Receipts" in the airport last week. It's a little software application and a small scanner that scans and reads store receipts. It also does business cards and stores the users information. Very neat piece of technology, pretty darned accurate too. If you are on the road a lot and you need to document expenses and such, get this it will save you a mountain of time.

Unexpected consequences.

We own a mini-van. It is the best vehicle we have ever owned (at least from my point of view), everything opens, the seat's lie flat in the floor and it holds 7 people when you need it to.

The manufacturers included a really cool feature called "Stow 'n Go" seating. This is a bucket under the floor into which the seats fold up and stow. It has a a solid cover too. When the seats are up, this area can be used for storage. Cool feature...but there are some unexpected consequences with it also.

I took it to the local car cleaning place to was and vacuum it. Trying to do the best job, I opened the cover and uuuugggghhhh!. We have two you children, everything they eat when we are on the go, at least a small portion of it seems to have ended up being stowed in this bucket. It was nasty!. Most of it was a little too big for the vacuum to inhale and consequently I had to pick it all out by hand. Gross!

Heres an idea, given that 90% of the people who buy mini-vans, are families with young children, why not put a little liner in there. You can just pick it up and dump it in the trash. Make it out of rubber or a solid plastic, then I can wash it too. Now you would have thought the geniuses at Chrysler would have thought of that, given the market.

I officially rename "Stow 'n Go" seating to "Science Experiment" seating. It is written, it is done.

Technorati Tags: business, commercial, innovation, life, Minivan, Chrysler, storage

Nothing happens until there's a deadline

I have long been under the supposition that most things can be accomplished in a reasonable timeframe. The challenge comes in the determination of what is the reasonable timeframe.

Within the software industry (and many others of course) we suffer from the problem of setting artificial deadlines or worse, trying to build something without a deadline. Mostly these are always broken or missed, simply because there are no real consequences attached to them.

Now if you really want to focus some attention on a project or a topic, sell it, promise it or announce it to someone outside of your own organization. That action alone will create a real and actionable deadline. At that point, as Pam, from 'Escape from Cubicle Nation', writes, Priorities become instantly clear, You get a rush of positive creative energy and your expectations become much more realistic.

This very thing happened to me in the development of my own Web Site. I had been battling with an open source Content Management System for a couple of weeks (it was winning) and getting very frustrated. During this time I received an email from someone who needed to see valid web content in a very short time frame. Wow a deadline! I deleted everything and then rebuilt the entire site in HTML and Javascript in a day. During that day, I felt as if I had been released from gaol. I was able to express the look, feel and layout almost without any issue or challenge.

Looking back on this (and other event's like this), I believe that had I not received a kick in the pants in the form of an information request, and thus a now urgent deadline, I still would have been trying to work with a flawed and unwieldy solution.

Perhaps, it's just better to concentrate on things as you need them (or sell them, or whatever) prior to starting that kind of never ending busy work.

Email abuse?

I am sure like me, that you get a large number of emails that come from people who think you need to be cheered up. These emails will contain that latest joke, urban myth or funny picture and most likely will contain a huge amount of garbage text where they have been forwarded at least 3 or 4 times.

Most of the time, it's ok because you know the people who are sending these emails to you and because of your relationship with them, they have your permission (implied or otherwise) to send you this stuff. But what happens when a company sends you one of these things? This very thing happened to me just a couple of days ago and I was really quite surprised and left feeling somewhat abused by this uninvited extension of a purely business oriented relationship.

I know that I have given these folks my email address and I did agree to receive the occasional email from them, in fact, I really DO want to know about their new products in this area. But surely these emails should have to be related to their products and not the latest mix of funny urban myths? Or is it that, because I am interested in VoIP telephony, I must have with no life and thus need some comic relief?

Seth Godin writes about this sort of thing a lot and has a name calls this style of communication Permission Marketing and writes here about something similar he experienced with Amazon, i.e. I have given these folks permission to send me their latest marketing information. But this appears to be that permission marketing idea taken way too far.

I have written to these folks to see if I can get a response...I will let you know what they say.

Update: I got a nice note from Erin today who noted that I got this email by mistake. Apparently they have a 'tom' in the shipping department...anyway, my trust has been restored in the system over there.

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Here is the first few segments of the email:

Time once again to review the winners of the Annual "Stella Awards". The Stella Awards are named after 81 year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonald's USA. That case inspired the Stella Awards for the most frivolous, ridiculous, successful lawsuits in the United States.

Here are this year's winners from 5th to 1st place:

5th Place (tie): Kathleen Robertson of Austin, TX, was awarded $80,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The owners of the store were understandably surprised at the verdict, considering the misbehaving little toddler was Ms. Robertson's son.

5th Place (tie): 19-year-old Carl Truman...

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You get the general idea.

Technorati Tags: business, commercial, email, permission marketing, quality, seth godin, voipsupply