I caught a bit of local news on TV after the football game this evening. I was appalled by the lead story about a group of young thugs who threw a cat off a fifth floor balcony.
Not once.
Not twice.
Not thrice.
Four times!
And they filmed the incident using their mobile phones.
According to the news report the cat managed to limp away after being dropped the fourth time, screaming in agony. The cat's owner who eventually found the wounded animal took it to a local vet and the cat was put to sleep.
The incident is thought to be first happy slapping incident involving an animal. Happy Slapping is defined by Wikipedia as a fad in which an unsuspecting victim is attacked while an accomplice records the assault (commonly with a camera phone). The name can refer to any type of violent assault, not just slapping.
The RSPCA managed to track down the thugs who today pleaded guilty to animal cruelty charges.
I'm afraid that the severity of the sentences handed out will not match the brutality of the crime.
Tags: Animal Cruelty, Animal Rights
Friday, June 30, 2006
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Just because we can't hear them scream doesn't make this right...
The New Zealand Department of Conservation writes:
The Sun gets to the heart of the matter from my point of view...
I'm realistic enough to believe that we probably can't stop all whaling but the barbarity with which it is undertaken is stomach turning.
David Attenborough is quoted as saying:
Tags: Whaling, Greenpeace, Animal Cruelty, Animal Rights
Despite a moratorium on commercial whaling since 1986, and two ocean sanctuaries to further protect whales, only a few whale populations are increasing. Slow reproductive rates and new environmental threats affect the ability of whales to recover, even in the absence of any whaling activities.The BBC in a report on the recent International Whaling Commission's annual meeting notes that:
Currently, Japan and Iceland kill whales under an IWC ruling which allows nations to catch whales for "scientific research".
Norway, which formally objected to the 1986 ban, openly conducts commercial whaling.
The Sun gets to the heart of the matter from my point of view...
And The Sun has obtained harrowing undercover footage which proves that whales suffer a torturous and lingering death when they have been harpooned.
The images, filmed by the World Society for the Protection of Animals and the Environmental Investigation Agency, show a Norwegian ship firing a grenade-tipped harpoon into a minke whale.
The whale takes two-and-a-half agonising minutes to die. Others can take more than AN HOUR.
Even the Norwegians admit that around 20 per cent of whales fail to be killed straight away. Japan has reported that almost 60 per cent are not killed outright.
I'm realistic enough to believe that we probably can't stop all whaling but the barbarity with which it is undertaken is stomach turning.
David Attenborough is quoted as saying:
“And there is hard, scientific, dispassionate evidence that there is no humane way to kill a whale at sea. Dr Harry Lillie, who worked as a ship’s physician on a whaling trip in the Antarctic half a century ago, wrote this:Shane Rattenbury, of Greenpeace’s ocean’s campaign, goes on to describe the cruelty he witnessed at first hand:
“ ‘If we can imagine a horse having two or three explosive spears stuck in its stomach and being made to pull a butcher’s truck through the streets of London while it pours blood into the gutter, we shall have an idea of the method of killing. The gunners themselves admit that if whales could scream the industry would stop, for nobody would be able to stand it.’
“Harpoons with explosive grenade heads are still the main technique used to kill whales today.”
“We saw how long it took for the whales to die.Call me a liberal, tea-smoking, hippy if you like but this isn't about the killing. It's about cruelty and a lack of respect for life.
“The worst example I saw was when a whale was struck three times. The time between being struck with the harpoon and ceasing to struggle to fight was 35 minutes.
“We also saw the whales being asphyxiated. This hasn’t been documented before.
“When they have harpooned the whale, they tie it to the side of the catcher ship and take it to the factory ship.
“They were being hung up by their tails with their heads under water so they couldn’t breath. That’s how they were dying. The whale normally breathes from the top of the head.
“You could see the whale tail flapping as it was being carried along — which is not the promised quick death from a harpoon.
“The Japanese claim these are scientific hunts. But no scientist could support such unsophisticated deaths. It is appalling. None of us had prepared ourselves for something like that.”
Tags: Whaling, Greenpeace, Animal Cruelty, Animal Rights
Up close and personal with an Eagle Owl
We spent a wonderful day on Saturday at the Althorp Country Show. Althorp is the ancestral home of the Spencer family, including Diana, The Princess of Wales.
One of the demonstrations was given by the Hawkeye Falconry Display Team, professional falconers with many years experience of showing birds of prey. As an opener they have an eagle owl fly over a line of children lying on the ground. They invite photographers to get in close and take pictures. I managed to capture this shot using my wife's new Canon EOS 350D in sports mode.
At this point the bird is just a second away from flying over my head to land on the trainer's glove.
Tags: Falconry, Canon EOS 350D
One of the demonstrations was given by the Hawkeye Falconry Display Team, professional falconers with many years experience of showing birds of prey. As an opener they have an eagle owl fly over a line of children lying on the ground. They invite photographers to get in close and take pictures. I managed to capture this shot using my wife's new Canon EOS 350D in sports mode.
At this point the bird is just a second away from flying over my head to land on the trainer's glove.
Tags: Falconry, Canon EOS 350D
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Attitude is everything...
Like most people I get copied in on viral emails making the rounds. I recently received this one:
Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"
He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?" Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.' I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."
"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.
"Yes it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."
I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body. I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?"
I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. "The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live.
"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.
Jerry continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, 'He's a dead man. " I knew I needed to take action."
"What did you do?" I asked.
"Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply... I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."
Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.
Attitude, after all, is everything.
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34
After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
I found support for this parable from an improbable source. I'm currently reading "The ultimate book of mind maps" by Tony Buzan. Buzan describes the human brain as a synergetic system, a system where the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts.
Thus a thought does not exist in isolation, it fits into a network of other thoughts and associations that exist only in your own brain. This network is a kind of internal super-mind map of your growing thoughts, ideas and memories. As you think, new connections between thoughts are forged and your internal mind map becomes more sophisticated, complex and powerful. In other words, more than just the sum of the individual thoughts.
The more you use your brain to think about something, through repetition, the more you strengthen the links between thoughts, making the mind map of these thoughts and ideas stronger. Everything you do or say or think or feel increases the probability that you will do, say, think, or feel in the same way again. If you do things well, speak and think positively, and generally feel good about yourself, others, the world and the universe, the probability continually increases that you will do better, talk and think better, and feel and be better. This is sometimes referred to as a virtuous circle.
The flip side of this is that if you do poorly, think and act negatively, practice inadequately, and regularly feel bad about yourself, others, the world, and the universe, then with every such thought and act you increase the probablity of a continuing and deepening downwards spiral.
Buzan concludes that the brain principles of synergy and repetition mean that our brains can be both infinitely creative and infinitely destructive, but the power to use you brain positively and to the greatest effect lies in your own hands.
It's your choice.
Key learning points summary:
(1) the synergy created by the ability to connect thoughts and ideas is a fundamental benefit of mind mapping tools such as MindManager
(2) that repetition is important to strengthen retention (mapping + repetition = better retention)
(3) mind mapping provides a powerful way to harness the potential of the brain
Tags: Mind Mapping, Mindjet, MindManager, Tony Buzan, LifeHack, Personal Productivity
Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"
He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?" Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.' I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."
"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.
"Yes it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."
I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body. I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?"
I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. "The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live.
"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.
Jerry continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, 'He's a dead man. " I knew I needed to take action."
"What did you do?" I asked.
"Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply... I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."
Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.
Attitude, after all, is everything.
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34
After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
I found support for this parable from an improbable source. I'm currently reading "The ultimate book of mind maps" by Tony Buzan. Buzan describes the human brain as a synergetic system, a system where the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts.
Thus a thought does not exist in isolation, it fits into a network of other thoughts and associations that exist only in your own brain. This network is a kind of internal super-mind map of your growing thoughts, ideas and memories. As you think, new connections between thoughts are forged and your internal mind map becomes more sophisticated, complex and powerful. In other words, more than just the sum of the individual thoughts.
The more you use your brain to think about something, through repetition, the more you strengthen the links between thoughts, making the mind map of these thoughts and ideas stronger. Everything you do or say or think or feel increases the probability that you will do, say, think, or feel in the same way again. If you do things well, speak and think positively, and generally feel good about yourself, others, the world and the universe, the probability continually increases that you will do better, talk and think better, and feel and be better. This is sometimes referred to as a virtuous circle.
The flip side of this is that if you do poorly, think and act negatively, practice inadequately, and regularly feel bad about yourself, others, the world, and the universe, then with every such thought and act you increase the probablity of a continuing and deepening downwards spiral.
Buzan concludes that the brain principles of synergy and repetition mean that our brains can be both infinitely creative and infinitely destructive, but the power to use you brain positively and to the greatest effect lies in your own hands.
It's your choice.
Key learning points summary:
(1) the synergy created by the ability to connect thoughts and ideas is a fundamental benefit of mind mapping tools such as MindManager
(2) that repetition is important to strengthen retention (mapping + repetition = better retention)
(3) mind mapping provides a powerful way to harness the potential of the brain
Tags: Mind Mapping, Mindjet, MindManager, Tony Buzan, LifeHack, Personal Productivity
Saturday, June 17, 2006
It doesn't sound like risk management as I understand it...
A BBC report suggests that the shuttle has been cleared to fly despite objections from both NASA's top safety official AND lead engineer.
NASA administrator Michael Griffin told a news conference:
Tags: NASA, Shuttle
NASA administrator Michael Griffin told a news conference:
"I can't possibly accept every recommendation given to me by every member of my staff, especially when they all don't agree."Adminsitrator Griffin describes the Flight Readiness Review as spirited. After the Columbia disaster and the following investigation I would have thought the top safety official would have a "golden vote", but apparently not.
Tags: NASA, Shuttle
Connecting to the bottom line...
Nick Duffill writes the always interesting Beyond Crayons blog. I wish he wrote more often. His recent post on how mapping software creates value inside organisations provides some good pointers for anyone who has ever tried to evangelise the introduction or use of mind mapping software in an organisation.
Tags: Mind Mapping, Mindjet, MindManager, Nick Duffill, Beyond Crayons
To understand the potential value of software mapping in your organisation, ask yourself: "What core processes are not working very well today because we struggle to describe and communicate fundamental concepts in a consistent and engaging way?" If the answer to this is "none", then it is probable that software mapping will remain a novelty at the fringes of your organisation. However, if you can produce a strong answer, then you have every chance of completing the value chain between the technology and the bottom line.I think you can extend the point to lots of software tools. If you can't connect the tool to the bottom line you can demonstrate exquisite functionality till you're blue in the face, but you won't get much traction.
Tags: Mind Mapping, Mindjet, MindManager, Nick Duffill, Beyond Crayons
We're a long way from the Bill Gates obituary...
Matthew Ingram has written a thoughtful analysis about what the Bill Gates announcement really means and comes to the conclusion: not very much! I can see his point; nothing is going to really change for the next two years, the announcement has had zero effect on the share price and the one really interesting signal was the strengthening of the positions of Ray Ozzie and Craig Mundie. The implication is that this lessens the grip of Steve Ballmer.
The story even made Newsnight here in the UK and you catch still catch the transmission over the weekend at the Newsnight website, click the "watch the latest programme" graphic. The BBC introduction took a few swipes at Gates (monopolist and Netscape murderer) and sums up the challenges that Microsoft faces today as; mobile computing, new devices that don't run Windows (i.e. Linux) and the free software movement.
In the discussion Microsoft were represented by my favourite geek blogger, Robert Scoble, which must have given the Microsft PR department heartburn, given that Robert recently announced he was moving on. Robert, in a comment on his own blog, suggests that he was chosen because 1) he was available, 2) the BBC don’t trust anyone that PR shoves in front of them and 3) they figured he'd tell the truth cause he's leaving anyway. Newsnight also fielded the economist Irwin Stelzer from the Hudson Institute to provide an "independant" viewpoint.
The discussion opened with the point that Gates used monopoly power to stifle innovation and competition. Robert countered that the rise of Google and Apple didn't suggest that Bill gets it all his own way. Stelzer made the point that Gates did stop some innovation and you can't escape the fact that the courts had upheld this view.
There was general agreement that Gates is a better man than some of the great capitalists of the past, that he did change the world, and that he is undoubtedly a very smart man.
Joel Spolsky remarks on meeting with Bill Gates some fourteen years ago:
Tags: Bill Gates, Robert Scoble, Newsnight, Joel Spolsky
The story even made Newsnight here in the UK and you catch still catch the transmission over the weekend at the Newsnight website, click the "watch the latest programme" graphic. The BBC introduction took a few swipes at Gates (monopolist and Netscape murderer) and sums up the challenges that Microsoft faces today as; mobile computing, new devices that don't run Windows (i.e. Linux) and the free software movement.
In the discussion Microsoft were represented by my favourite geek blogger, Robert Scoble, which must have given the Microsft PR department heartburn, given that Robert recently announced he was moving on. Robert, in a comment on his own blog, suggests that he was chosen because 1) he was available, 2) the BBC don’t trust anyone that PR shoves in front of them and 3) they figured he'd tell the truth cause he's leaving anyway. Newsnight also fielded the economist Irwin Stelzer from the Hudson Institute to provide an "independant" viewpoint.
The discussion opened with the point that Gates used monopoly power to stifle innovation and competition. Robert countered that the rise of Google and Apple didn't suggest that Bill gets it all his own way. Stelzer made the point that Gates did stop some innovation and you can't escape the fact that the courts had upheld this view.
There was general agreement that Gates is a better man than some of the great capitalists of the past, that he did change the world, and that he is undoubtedly a very smart man.
Joel Spolsky remarks on meeting with Bill Gates some fourteen years ago:
Bill Gates was amazingly technical. He understood Variants, and COM objects, and IDispatch and why Automation is different than vtables and why this might lead to dual interfaces. He worried about date functions. He didn't meddle in software if he trusted the people who were working on it, but you couldn't bullshit him for a minute because he was a programmer. A real, actual, programmer.Joel does go on to critique why he thinks things have gone wrong since those early days but he gives a sense of why Gates did succeed in the first place.
Tags: Bill Gates, Robert Scoble, Newsnight, Joel Spolsky
Thursday, June 15, 2006
What a search engine spider sees...
My minor research project on internet search continues.
A search engine comprises three major components:
(1) A spider (also called a "crawler" or a "bot") that goes to sites and reads them. The crawler copies everything (text, pictures, documents, everything) back to the second part of the system…
(2) The database and index - the database stores all data sent back by the spider and indexes of all the data are constructed to make finding information easier using...
(3) The front end - a program that accepts your search request, looks in the index and returns results to you.
When you search at a search engine your are searching the engine’s copy of the internet, not the internet itself.
If you ever wondered what a spider actually sees when it visits your site have a look at this tool which will scan a page and show you the results, as well as provide useful page data such as word density, meta keywords, links, and other bits of page information.
I found out about the spider tool via A Welsh View.
Tags: Search, Google, Yahoo
A search engine comprises three major components:
(1) A spider (also called a "crawler" or a "bot") that goes to sites and reads them. The crawler copies everything (text, pictures, documents, everything) back to the second part of the system…
(2) The database and index - the database stores all data sent back by the spider and indexes of all the data are constructed to make finding information easier using...
(3) The front end - a program that accepts your search request, looks in the index and returns results to you.
When you search at a search engine your are searching the engine’s copy of the internet, not the internet itself.
If you ever wondered what a spider actually sees when it visits your site have a look at this tool which will scan a page and show you the results, as well as provide useful page data such as word density, meta keywords, links, and other bits of page information.
I found out about the spider tool via A Welsh View.
Tags: Search, Google, Yahoo
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Getting fired for blogging on the increase
WSJ columnist Jeremy Wagstaff quotes a survey of large US companies:
Tags: Blogging, Naked Conversations, Robert Scoble, Shel Israel
Nearly 1 in 5 companies (17.3%) has disciplined an employee for violating blog or message board policies in the last year. 7.1% of companies fired an employee for such infractions. Ouch. 10% of public companies investigated the exposure of material financial information via a blog or message board posting in the past year.Truth be told I thought the principles of blogging were better understood than these statistics imply. A small investment in "Naked Conversations" sounds like a good idea for both the companies and the bloggers.
Tags: Blogging, Naked Conversations, Robert Scoble, Shel Israel
SnagIt users not immune to Flickr crackdown
Having recently posted about the new SnagIt to Flickr extension it was a blow to come across this article about a Flickr crackdown on screenshots.
Tags: Flickr, SnagIt
Online worlds collide as Second Life fans and Flickr spar over how to handle screenshots on the popular photo-sharing site.Whilst the crackdown arises as a result of the volume of Second Life screenshots being posted, it apparently applies to any account where more than half of the images in the Flickr account are screenshots or other types of non-photographic images, so it's worth knowing before anyone heads off filling their Flickr account with SnagIt screenshots.
At stake is a little-known Flickr policy of flagging accounts that contain mostly non-photographic images and preventing images from those accounts from appearing in public areas of the site, including search.
As a result, many screenshots on Flickr are AWOL -- at least as far as the general public is concerned. That's angering and confusing some of the people who carefully stage scenes in the popular virtual world and religiously post the results online.
Tags: Flickr, SnagIt
Google Me
The NY Times published an article on Sunday pointing out one of the downsides of social networking sites likes MySpace, FaceBook, and Bebo. A really quick overview of the article is that students should beware of what they are posting on these sites as recruiters are beginning to use these sites as an evidentiary source in hiring decisions as the students apply to join the world of work.
I found the article interesting in itself as a demonstration of the use of Web 2.0 by an industry in which I have more than a passing interest.
The importance of the message is magnified when you discover that MySpace is the 7th most popular website in the UK (3rd most popular in the US and 5th most popular in the world).
The same argument equally applies to any blogging platform. If you are identifiable from your blog profile or your blog content then your blog probably says something about who you are and what you stand for. It's worth a thought if you're thinking about applying for a new job what your trail of blog posts says about you.
Brings new meaning to the phrase "google me".
Tags: NY Times, MySpace, Facebook, bebo, social networking
I found the article interesting in itself as a demonstration of the use of Web 2.0 by an industry in which I have more than a passing interest.
The importance of the message is magnified when you discover that MySpace is the 7th most popular website in the UK (3rd most popular in the US and 5th most popular in the world).
The same argument equally applies to any blogging platform. If you are identifiable from your blog profile or your blog content then your blog probably says something about who you are and what you stand for. It's worth a thought if you're thinking about applying for a new job what your trail of blog posts says about you.
Brings new meaning to the phrase "google me".
Tags: NY Times, MySpace, Facebook, bebo, social networking
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Google not the only one with a China issue...
A report on Apple's iPod's factories suggests that Google aren't the only major player with a China issue.
Tags: Google, Apple, China
Tags: Google, Apple, China
Monday, June 12, 2006
The secret of success...
I'm doing some background research on the development of search. I found an interesting page on Yahoo which describes "how it all started". I see that Jerry Yang and David Filo, the Yahoo co-founders, started their "guide to the internet" in a campus trailer.
Google famously began life in a garage.
The secret of success is clearly to be consigned to really bad accomodation.
Tags: Yahoo, Google
Google famously began life in a garage.
The secret of success is clearly to be consigned to really bad accomodation.
Tags: Yahoo, Google
Sunday, June 11, 2006
I come to praise Robert Scoble, not bury him
Top story in blog circles today is that Robert Scoble has apparently decided to move on from his job at Microsoft. The blogosphere is awash with ill-informed hogwash as to Robert's reasons for moving on, so much hogwash in fact that Robert felt moved to correct some of the more scurrilous gossip.
I claim no great insight into Robert's reasons for moving on, but give the guy a break. He's doing what's right for him, what he feels will be best for his career and his life.
There have been few people in my life that have genuinely inspired me. I'm not embarassed to say that Robert is one of them. I've never met him, although I hope to remedy that at some point in the future, but I feel I know him better than some of the people I come into contact with every day.
Robert has done a great job at Microsoft and he deserves praise for his accomplishments. I wish him well as he sets sail in a new direction.
Congratulations, Robert.
Tags: Robert Scoble
I claim no great insight into Robert's reasons for moving on, but give the guy a break. He's doing what's right for him, what he feels will be best for his career and his life.
There have been few people in my life that have genuinely inspired me. I'm not embarassed to say that Robert is one of them. I've never met him, although I hope to remedy that at some point in the future, but I feel I know him better than some of the people I come into contact with every day.
Robert has done a great job at Microsoft and he deserves praise for his accomplishments. I wish him well as he sets sail in a new direction.
Congratulations, Robert.
Tags: Robert Scoble
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Creativity
From a post by Garr Reynolds over at Presentation Zen:
The struggle against mediocrity is an uphill battle. I found this to be a great insight into why it's worth it to strive to be different, and in particular why I have always sought to make my PowerPoint presentations out of the ordinary.
Tags: Presentation Zen, PowerPoint, Presentations, creativity
"Creative power" or "creative imagination" is not only for "The artists of the world," the painters, the sculptors, and so on. Teachers need the power of creativity too. So do programmers, engineers, scientists, etc. You can see the application of creative genius in many professional fields. Remember, for example, that it was a group of brilliant and geeky-to-the-core NASA engineers on the ground who in 1970 were able jury rig a solution to the life-threatening build up of carbon dioxide in the damaged Apollo 13 space craft. Their heroic fix, literally involving duct tape and spare parts, was ingenious improvisation, imaginative...and it was creative.Amen.
Back down here on earth, the seemingly mundane business or conference presentation, designed and delivered with the help of slideware, can be a very creative thing. A presentation is an opportunity to differentiate yourself, or your organization, or your cause. It's your chance to tell the story of why your content is important, why it matters. It can be an opportunity to make a difference. So why look, talk (bore?) like everyone else? Why strive to meet expectations? Why not surpass expectations and surprise people? Besides, audiences' expectations are quite low as far as presentations are concerned anyway (unless you're the "Steve Jobs" of your field).
The struggle against mediocrity is an uphill battle. I found this to be a great insight into why it's worth it to strive to be different, and in particular why I have always sought to make my PowerPoint presentations out of the ordinary.
Tags: Presentation Zen, PowerPoint, Presentations, creativity
Win a copy of MindManager at jkontherun...
Having just tagged a post with MindManager, I was looking at the Technorati Tag for MindManager and see that jkontherun is running a competition with 6 full copies of MindManager 6 as prizes.
To enter the competition you need to leave a personal productivity tip in the comments on the blog post which announces the competition.
I plan to enter, so I'm going to give my entry some thought over the course of today. The competition closes at the end of this week (June 15th).
Tags: Mindjet, MindManager, Mind Mapping, Personal Productivity
To enter the competition you need to leave a personal productivity tip in the comments on the blog post which announces the competition.
I plan to enter, so I'm going to give my entry some thought over the course of today. The competition closes at the end of this week (June 15th).
Tags: Mindjet, MindManager, Mind Mapping, Personal Productivity
Maven Mapping
Through my participation in the Yahoo group for users of Mindjet's MindManager software I have found (and subscribed to) Maven Mapper's Information, the blog of Brett Bumeter. I've been reading back through his blog over the last couple of days to find that Brett writes intelligently about MindManager, as well as the latest trends in Knowledge Management, software and gadgets; all topics which are close to my heart.
I noted that we share similar views on:
(a) Online Meeting Software - Webex is expensive and clunky and for me GoToMeeting provides a better experience, more cost effectively.
(b) Visual Project Maps - as a potentially interesting solution to implementing project management methodology. I have a copy and and will probably write more on this product once I've given it a more thorough evaluation.
(c) NASA. I'm a big fan, and have been since childhood. As my career moved into project management I always looked to NASA as one of the pinnacles of the project management professsion. After all, these were the people who project managed putting a man on the moon.
Maven: Malcolm Gladwell used the term is his book The Tipping Point to describe those who are intense gatherers of information and impressions, and so are often the first to pick up on new or nascent trends. Gladwell also suggests that mavens may act most effectively when in collaboration with connectors - i.e.: those charismatic people who have wide network of casual aquaintances by whom they are trusted, often a network that crosses many social boundaries and groups. Connectors can thus easy and widely distribute the advice or insight of a maven.
Tags: Mindjet, MindManager, Mind Mapping, Brett Bumeter
I noted that we share similar views on:
(a) Online Meeting Software - Webex is expensive and clunky and for me GoToMeeting provides a better experience, more cost effectively.
(b) Visual Project Maps - as a potentially interesting solution to implementing project management methodology. I have a copy and and will probably write more on this product once I've given it a more thorough evaluation.
(c) NASA. I'm a big fan, and have been since childhood. As my career moved into project management I always looked to NASA as one of the pinnacles of the project management professsion. After all, these were the people who project managed putting a man on the moon.
Maven: Malcolm Gladwell used the term is his book The Tipping Point to describe those who are intense gatherers of information and impressions, and so are often the first to pick up on new or nascent trends. Gladwell also suggests that mavens may act most effectively when in collaboration with connectors - i.e.: those charismatic people who have wide network of casual aquaintances by whom they are trusted, often a network that crosses many social boundaries and groups. Connectors can thus easy and widely distribute the advice or insight of a maven.
Tags: Mindjet, MindManager, Mind Mapping, Brett Bumeter
Friday, June 09, 2006
PubSub drops off the radar
I was pondering blog posts I might write this weekend as I was driving home tonight and I was thinking about a kind of "whatever happened to PubSub" article. I came up with the idea as I was thinking about the things going on in the blogosphere as I began to take part in it back in March 2005. PubSub was a big thing back then, Robert Scoble seemed to mention them in every third or fourth of his posts, and they had the potential to be huge. The space they could have occupied is today filled by Technorati, in particular the watchlists feature. Today Technorati is almost as big a part of my daily online experience as Google and I suspect the same might be true for a great number of bloggers.
Before settling down to write I was checking out my feeds only to find out that TDavid over at "Things that... make you go hmmm" links to a Techcrunch post reporting that:
Tags: PubSub, Technorati, Robert Scoble, TDavid, TechCrunch
Before settling down to write I was checking out my feeds only to find out that TDavid over at "Things that... make you go hmmm" links to a Techcrunch post reporting that:
Blog search engine PubSub had massive layoffs today after last minute merger discussions with knownow fell apart. It looks like a shutdown is imminent.C'est la vie.
Tags: PubSub, Technorati, Robert Scoble, TDavid, TechCrunch
It looks like the paparazzi got there first...
Having read the novel and been to see the film of The Da Vinci Code, I enjoyed finding this page of interactive panoramic views of some of the main locations from Dan Brown's story. Quicktime is required to experience the panoramas.
I was particlarly struck by the panorama of The Mona Lisa. It's at least one of, if not the, most famous painting in the world and I guess I shouldn't have been suprised, but the crowd looks like an international gathering of the paparazzi. I guess I just had a mental picture that going to view the Leonardo's work would be a much more sedate and cultured experience.
Tags: Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown, Leonardo Da Vinci
I was particlarly struck by the panorama of The Mona Lisa. It's at least one of, if not the, most famous painting in the world and I guess I shouldn't have been suprised, but the crowd looks like an international gathering of the paparazzi. I guess I just had a mental picture that going to view the Leonardo's work would be a much more sedate and cultured experience.
Tags: Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown, Leonardo Da Vinci
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Google Office Top Ten Talking Points
Google have dominated the technical news headlines since Tuesday with the launch of Google Spreadsheets, and everyone seems to have an opinion. Just to be different, here are my top ten "Google Office" talking points:
(1) What has happended to the Writely acquisition? In order to "kill" Office you have to launch products, not just acquire them.
(2) When Writely has been "integrated into Google's systems" will it have interoperability with Word document formats?
(3) Not everyone will have the $500 dollars or so purchase price for Office 12. It's unrealistic to say that a Google Mail / Word Processing / Spreadsheet package that's free and offers document interoperbility with the Microsoft Office Suite will not be attractive to large numbers of non-corporate users.
(4) If the 80:20 rule appplies to Word and Excel, and you're in the 80% of users who use only 20% of the functionality, why would you pay for something you don't want, when what you need is free?
(5) If Micrsoft can secure Office 12 against the levels of piracy that previous versions of Office have suffered, non-corporate users are going to need a cheap (free) alternative.
(6) Startups with no IT department will find a (free) Google Office Suite an attractive proposition.
(7) Where's the Google Search in Google Spreadsheets?
(8) Will Google have a PowerPoint killer anytime soon?
(9) Is this Google strategy about competition or is it about disruption? Is some competition with Microsoft such a bad thing anyway? Competetion has generally driven Microsoft to produce better products.
(10) Would you bet against Google?
Tags: Google, Microsoft, Google Spreadsheets, Google Office, Microsoft Office
(1) What has happended to the Writely acquisition? In order to "kill" Office you have to launch products, not just acquire them.
(2) When Writely has been "integrated into Google's systems" will it have interoperability with Word document formats?
(3) Not everyone will have the $500 dollars or so purchase price for Office 12. It's unrealistic to say that a Google Mail / Word Processing / Spreadsheet package that's free and offers document interoperbility with the Microsoft Office Suite will not be attractive to large numbers of non-corporate users.
(4) If the 80:20 rule appplies to Word and Excel, and you're in the 80% of users who use only 20% of the functionality, why would you pay for something you don't want, when what you need is free?
(5) If Micrsoft can secure Office 12 against the levels of piracy that previous versions of Office have suffered, non-corporate users are going to need a cheap (free) alternative.
(6) Startups with no IT department will find a (free) Google Office Suite an attractive proposition.
(7) Where's the Google Search in Google Spreadsheets?
(8) Will Google have a PowerPoint killer anytime soon?
(9) Is this Google strategy about competition or is it about disruption? Is some competition with Microsoft such a bad thing anyway? Competetion has generally driven Microsoft to produce better products.
(10) Would you bet against Google?
Tags: Google, Microsoft, Google Spreadsheets, Google Office, Microsoft Office
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Why does mind mapping work?
I'm a member of the mindmanager group on Yahoo for MindManager users, where I'm involved in a thread about Use Your Head and why mind mapping works, in particular why mind maps are better than linear notes for aiding retention and recall.
In the book Buzan asserts that:"In your brain there are 1,000,000,000,000 individual neurons or nerve cells. Each neuron can interact with from 1 to 100,000 other neurons in many ways. At the time of writing Use Your Head in 1974 the number of possible permutations had been been recently estimated as 1 followed by 800 noughts. The number of atoms in the known universe is 10 followed by 100 noughts. Thus, the number of possible thought-maps in one brain makes the number of atoms in the universe seem like a tiny number."
Whether the numbers would be considered accurate today or not, I think no one would question that there are a lot of possible connections in the brain. I also think the radiant nature of 1 to many connections in the brain means that mind maps are structurally a closer representation of how the brain makes links between ideas, thoughts, and words than linear notes. The concept that the human brain functions in a radiant, 1 to many connection fashion has some resonance with me as to why mind maps make information retention and recall easier than linear notes.
Does this make sense to you?
Tags: MindManager, Mindjet, Mind Mapping, information visualization, Tony Buzan, Use Your Head
In the book Buzan asserts that:"In your brain there are 1,000,000,000,000 individual neurons or nerve cells. Each neuron can interact with from 1 to 100,000 other neurons in many ways. At the time of writing Use Your Head in 1974 the number of possible permutations had been been recently estimated as 1 followed by 800 noughts. The number of atoms in the known universe is 10 followed by 100 noughts. Thus, the number of possible thought-maps in one brain makes the number of atoms in the universe seem like a tiny number."
Whether the numbers would be considered accurate today or not, I think no one would question that there are a lot of possible connections in the brain. I also think the radiant nature of 1 to many connections in the brain means that mind maps are structurally a closer representation of how the brain makes links between ideas, thoughts, and words than linear notes. The concept that the human brain functions in a radiant, 1 to many connection fashion has some resonance with me as to why mind maps make information retention and recall easier than linear notes.
Does this make sense to you?
Tags: MindManager, Mindjet, Mind Mapping, information visualization, Tony Buzan, Use Your Head
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Tips for Project Managers of all ages...
If Project Management is your thing I heartily recommend the NewGrange Mailing List. There's a thread on the list at the moment about "rules" for Project Managers. Blair Webster has responded to the thread with what he calls his "top 10 project management tips for young engineers"
Top 10 Project Management Tips
1. There is always a schedule. Corollary: The first date someone mentions has a tendency to become the due date.
2. Get it in writing. Corollary: The first one to write something down gets at least 80% of what they want.
3. Projects are a triangle of features, cost, and schedule. A change in one side of this triangle directly affects the others.
4. Understand the difference between "work" and "duration"; 40 hours doesn't necessarily mean one week.
5. Prepare for meetings; your engineering skills will be judged by your communication skills.
6. "Almost complete" is a schedule killer. Don't use that term, and don't let others use it on you. Corollary: "Done" is a binary term; something's either "done" and can be turned in, or it's "not done", and you need to know when it will be done.
7. Know who your customer is, and understand their criteria for the success of your project.
8. Manage change effectively; as soon as you recognize a delay, raise your hand and say so.
9. Plan for the unexpected.
10. The technical problems on a project are the easiest to resolve.
I'm sure I could make an argument that, at least in my world, number 10 isn't always true but I think, overall, it contains some sage advice for Project Managers, of all ages.
Tags: Project Management
Top 10 Project Management Tips
1. There is always a schedule. Corollary: The first date someone mentions has a tendency to become the due date.
2. Get it in writing. Corollary: The first one to write something down gets at least 80% of what they want.
3. Projects are a triangle of features, cost, and schedule. A change in one side of this triangle directly affects the others.
4. Understand the difference between "work" and "duration"; 40 hours doesn't necessarily mean one week.
5. Prepare for meetings; your engineering skills will be judged by your communication skills.
6. "Almost complete" is a schedule killer. Don't use that term, and don't let others use it on you. Corollary: "Done" is a binary term; something's either "done" and can be turned in, or it's "not done", and you need to know when it will be done.
7. Know who your customer is, and understand their criteria for the success of your project.
8. Manage change effectively; as soon as you recognize a delay, raise your hand and say so.
9. Plan for the unexpected.
10. The technical problems on a project are the easiest to resolve.
I'm sure I could make an argument that, at least in my world, number 10 isn't always true but I think, overall, it contains some sage advice for Project Managers, of all ages.
Tags: Project Management
Sunday, June 04, 2006
I'll have some of what he's smoking...
Seth Godin appears to have sparked a minor storm with his post explaining why he doesn't have comments on his blog, a post published immediately after his "how to get traffic for your blog" post.
Looking at the rules for getting traffic the following two stand out when thinking about comments:
Rule 27: Include comments so your blog becomes a virtual water cooler that feeds itself.
Rule 34: Don't include comments, people will cross post their responses.
I suspect the "how to get traffic post" is supposed to be taken as satirical, and the "no comments" post is some variant on Rule 10 - manipulate Technorati (by writing something controversial) and with the help of your readers.
I was almost tempted not to link, but hey, that was last month's route to sparking a controversy.
Tags: Seth Godin
Looking at the rules for getting traffic the following two stand out when thinking about comments:
Rule 27: Include comments so your blog becomes a virtual water cooler that feeds itself.
Rule 34: Don't include comments, people will cross post their responses.
I suspect the "how to get traffic post" is supposed to be taken as satirical, and the "no comments" post is some variant on Rule 10 - manipulate Technorati (by writing something controversial) and with the help of your readers.
I was almost tempted not to link, but hey, that was last month's route to sparking a controversy.
Tags: Seth Godin
Use Your Head
Use Your Head is one of the many books about Mind Mapping writen by Tony Buzan.
I've gone back to that book many times, and eventually mapped the book using MindManager. The multiple maps I created can be downloaded in a zip file using this link: [Link]
The central map, and the one you should open first is, unsuprisingly, called 'Use Your Head'.
The maps can never be a substitute for the book; which I would encourage anyone with an interest in mind mapping, information visualisation, developing a better memory, or mental literacy to read. They are, in effect, my book notes. Once you have read the book the mind maps can help with review and retention.
Tags: Use Your Head, Tony Buzan, MindManager, Mindjet, Mind Mapping, information visualization
I've gone back to that book many times, and eventually mapped the book using MindManager. The multiple maps I created can be downloaded in a zip file using this link: [Link]
The central map, and the one you should open first is, unsuprisingly, called 'Use Your Head'.
The maps can never be a substitute for the book; which I would encourage anyone with an interest in mind mapping, information visualisation, developing a better memory, or mental literacy to read. They are, in effect, my book notes. Once you have read the book the mind maps can help with review and retention.
Tags: Use Your Head, Tony Buzan, MindManager, Mindjet, Mind Mapping, information visualization
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Time for television networks to go global?
I gave my predictions for American Idol several weeks ago. I think I did fairly well, I predicted Talylor Hicks would be in the final three, although I picked Chris Daughtrey out as the likely winner.
Having watched the build up for several weeks I was really ticked off to find out before the final show was broadcast in the UK that Taylor was the winner. The news landed in my aggregator from Halley Suitt, not that I blame Halley for posting on what was going on in her world.
I also keep falling over spoilers for The West Wing on Dave Winer's blog. Again, I don't blame Dave.
What I don't understand is why can't we have ABC, NBC and Fox broadcasting concurrently in the UK. I'm sure someone will fill me in with all the really clever reasons why this can't happen, but with the globalisation of information via the internet and blogs, the failure of television networks to go global is an anachronism.
I assume IPTV and ever faster broadband speeds will make my issue go away sooner rather than later, but right now sooner can't come quickly enough.
Tags: American Idol, Halley Suitt, Dave Winer
Having watched the build up for several weeks I was really ticked off to find out before the final show was broadcast in the UK that Taylor was the winner. The news landed in my aggregator from Halley Suitt, not that I blame Halley for posting on what was going on in her world.
I also keep falling over spoilers for The West Wing on Dave Winer's blog. Again, I don't blame Dave.
What I don't understand is why can't we have ABC, NBC and Fox broadcasting concurrently in the UK. I'm sure someone will fill me in with all the really clever reasons why this can't happen, but with the globalisation of information via the internet and blogs, the failure of television networks to go global is an anachronism.
I assume IPTV and ever faster broadband speeds will make my issue go away sooner rather than later, but right now sooner can't come quickly enough.
Tags: American Idol, Halley Suitt, Dave Winer
PowerPoint with a difference
This is a slide from my generic PowerPoint deck. I use it whilst I'm explaining why you won't see a bullet point during my presentations and why you will see lots of graphics. Bullet points are boring, images improve the transfer and retention of information. The panda is Tai Shan, resident of the National Zoo, Washington DC.
Tai Shan will be one year old on July 9th and you can often see him "live" on the PandaCam .
There is currently a campaign underway to make Tai Shan the official animal symbol of Washington DC. The details are over at the Pandafix Blog.
Tags: Tai Shan
Tai Shan will be one year old on July 9th and you can often see him "live" on the PandaCam .
There is currently a campaign underway to make Tai Shan the official animal symbol of Washington DC. The details are over at the Pandafix Blog.
Tags: Tai Shan
SnagIt to Flickr made easy
TechSmith have released a very powerful new (and free) extension to their world beating SnagIt screen capture tool. The extension loads new profiles to the application that, at the touch of a button, enable the familiar screen capture and editing capabilities of SnagIt but then add the capability to push the finished capture straight to Flickr. Awesome.
I picked this up on the Techsmith blog here. And here is a direct link to the screencast that demonstrates the new functonality.
I took a screenshot of one of my favourite web destinations, Pandora, which is here.
I'd love to see a similar extension for Blogger!
Tags: TechSmith, SnagIt, Flickr, Pandora
I picked this up on the Techsmith blog here. And here is a direct link to the screencast that demonstrates the new functonality.
I took a screenshot of one of my favourite web destinations, Pandora, which is here.
I'd love to see a similar extension for Blogger!
Tags: TechSmith, SnagIt, Flickr, Pandora
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Yawning
I love this picture. I think it's one of the best pictures that I've ever taken, which probably makes me not much of a photographer.
This is our cat Mulder, who looks like he's really angry in this picture. In fact this is him in mid-yawn.
This is our cat Mulder, who looks like he's really angry in this picture. In fact this is him in mid-yawn.
Development in C# and .NET
One of my geek colleagues at work, Tony Caruana, has started a blog about C# and .NET development. It's not my field of expertise at all so I probably won't understand a lot of what he writes, nevertheless, welcome to the blogosphere Tony.
Tags: C Sharp, .Net
Tags: C Sharp, .Net
Monday, May 22, 2006
The Da Vinci Code
Last night, Linda and I went to see The Da Vinci Code starring Tom Hanks and Audrey Tatou. The reviews have been pretty negative but I have to say we found it to be an excellent film and if you liked the book I'd definitely recommend it.
Tom Hanks has taken a fair amount of stick and to be fair he did look a little stilted, particularly in the early part of the story, but I think he was acting the role - of a bookish professor drawn into a murder mystery, a character a little out of his depth but doing his best to deal with the puzzles presented to him.
I think Ron Howard did a terrific job of bringing a complex plot to the big screen and I didn't walk out trying to work out what was missing from the book. This makes for a long movie but to be honest when I worked out we'd been in the cinema nearly three hours our first thought was about how fast the time had passed.
As for the controversy over the some of the ideas woven into the plot, when did we forget that fiction is a creation that does not represent actuality but has been invented?
Tags: Da Vinci Code
Tom Hanks has taken a fair amount of stick and to be fair he did look a little stilted, particularly in the early part of the story, but I think he was acting the role - of a bookish professor drawn into a murder mystery, a character a little out of his depth but doing his best to deal with the puzzles presented to him.
I think Ron Howard did a terrific job of bringing a complex plot to the big screen and I didn't walk out trying to work out what was missing from the book. This makes for a long movie but to be honest when I worked out we'd been in the cinema nearly three hours our first thought was about how fast the time had passed.
As for the controversy over the some of the ideas woven into the plot, when did we forget that fiction is a creation that does not represent actuality but has been invented?
Tags: Da Vinci Code
Thursday, May 11, 2006
SnagIt the wondertoy
I am a huge, huge fan of SnagIt, and am seriously enjoying the latest incarnation; SnagIt 8. Betsy Weber, Chief Evangelist at Techsmith (the creators of SnagIt) blogs over at the cunningly titled Techsmith Blog. She's at a conference in Vegas and making short screencasts with visitors to the Techsmith booth using another tool from the Techsmith portfolio, Camtasia. Very cool if you want to quickly see the power of what can be done with both SnagIt and Camtasia.
Tags: SnagIt, Camtasia, Techsmith
Tags: SnagIt, Camtasia, Techsmith
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Capturing a Dream
My best friend, who also just happens to be my wife, Linda has started blogging over at Capturing a Dream. She's planning to focus on her adventures with photography, Adobe Photoshop and all things digital. Welcome to the blogosphere sweetheart.
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Inbox Zero and the GTD Prayer
Merlin Mann has just finished up his 43 Folders series titled Inbox Zero, which contains some really good advice on getting your email under control. Here's a link to the wrap up post which contains the pointers to all the articles in the series.
Merlin has also linked today to the GTD Prayer. If you're not a GTD person then this will be pretty meaningless. For those who have embraced GTD you should find this to be pretty hilarious....
Merlin has also linked today to the GTD Prayer. If you're not a GTD person then this will be pretty meaningless. For those who have embraced GTD you should find this to be pretty hilarious....
The GTD PrayerTags: GTD, Merlin Mann, 43 Folders, LifeHacksOur lifehacks, which art in contexts,
Inbox zero be thy aim.
Thy Kinkless done.
Thy Mind Sweep fun, in @work as it is in @honeydo.
Give us this day our next action.
And forgive us our open loops, as we forgive those who delete our email.
And lead us not into web surfing.
Deliver us from IM.
For thine is the Moleskine, the Project and the Due Date
For someday/maybe,
Allen.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Second Life substituting for real life?
Halley Suitt poses a good question....
On the other hand I've always thought there's an element of addictive personality traits involved in being a geek and I'm sure there will be some who cross the line. In these cases Second Life will be a substitute for real life. Life, all life, is like that. There's the majority who tend to find a balance but at the ends of the spectrum there are people who get it all horribly wrong.
Tags: Halley Suitt, Robert Scoble, Kent Newsome, Eric Rice, Second Life
do the people who are all excited about Second Life actually have a first life, or any life at all?Given that Robert Scoble, Kent Newsome and Eric Rice are three names that spring to mind immediately as people excited about Second Life then I'd have to conclude the answer is that at least some of the excited people do have a first life.
On the other hand I've always thought there's an element of addictive personality traits involved in being a geek and I'm sure there will be some who cross the line. In these cases Second Life will be a substitute for real life. Life, all life, is like that. There's the majority who tend to find a balance but at the ends of the spectrum there are people who get it all horribly wrong.
Tags: Halley Suitt, Robert Scoble, Kent Newsome, Eric Rice, Second Life
Harry Potter
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, the latest in the JK Rowling series, has been named Book of the Year at the British Book Awards.
J.K. is quoted as saying....
I was a little suprised to find a link to a story that Gary Oldman hasn't been picked up to appear in "Order of the Phoenix". I wonder what that's all about?
Tags: Harry Potter
J.K. is quoted as saying....
"I am enjoying writing the last book in the series and it's coming along nicely."Thank heavens for that, we are all having to wait long enough as it is!
I was a little suprised to find a link to a story that Gary Oldman hasn't been picked up to appear in "Order of the Phoenix". I wonder what that's all about?
Tags: Harry Potter
Google to disrupt Web 2.0?
Newsweek covers the growth of the "new web". The article picks out MySpace, Flickr, Facebook, Craigslist and YouTube as key examples of sites that exemplify the empowerment of communities.
(1) There is a LOT of speculation that Google are into operating systems, PC's and browswers. I must admit I always thought they are more into attention, because if they can grab your attention they can serve up advertising.
(2) MySpace and the other social communities offer huge platforms through which to serve advertising but interestingly Google have let Yahoo get in first to acquire a number of the leading sites, with the obvious exception of MySpace which was picked up by Rupert Murdoch.
I keep waiting for Google to disrupt the social web arena and Eric's quote is the first evidence I've seen that they might be up to something. I wonder what Larry and Sergey have in mind.
Tags: Web 2.0, Google, disruption
"The fact that our site is almost completely self-service and community-moderated allows our tiny staff of 19 to manage the seventh largest Web site in the world," says (Craigslist) CEO Jim Buckmaster.And then I spotted this fascinating quote from Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google....
YouTube, a year-old start-up whose 25 employees work in offices above a San Mateo, Calif., pizzeria, is competing toe to toe with giant media conglomerates by having its millions of users supply it with the 35,000 videos added to the site each day; visitors to the site view 30 million videos a day.
MySpace is preparing to pass Yahoo as the No. 1 site.
...(Eric) doesn't understand why people think his company wants to be the next Microsoft. "Everybody thinks we're building operating systems, PCs and browsers. They clearly don't get it," he says. So where does Google want to go? "Look at MySpace," he says cryptically. "Very interesting."Fascinating because....
(1) There is a LOT of speculation that Google are into operating systems, PC's and browswers. I must admit I always thought they are more into attention, because if they can grab your attention they can serve up advertising.
(2) MySpace and the other social communities offer huge platforms through which to serve advertising but interestingly Google have let Yahoo get in first to acquire a number of the leading sites, with the obvious exception of MySpace which was picked up by Rupert Murdoch.
I keep waiting for Google to disrupt the social web arena and Eric's quote is the first evidence I've seen that they might be up to something. I wonder what Larry and Sergey have in mind.
Tags: Web 2.0, Google, disruption
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
The power of American Idol
Speaking of American Idol, here's a little factoid for those that think that the program isn't credible.
Kelly Clarkson just became the first artist in the history of the Adult Top 40 to score five top 10s from the same album!
Link [via the American Idol News Feed]
Tags: American Idol
Kelly Clarkson just became the first artist in the history of the Adult Top 40 to score five top 10s from the same album!
Link [via the American Idol News Feed]
Tags: American Idol
Friday, March 24, 2006
Polishing my crystal ball
In our household you have two choices. You either enjoy watching American Idol and the X Factor or you grin politely, and quietly blog in the background.
Actually that's not entirely fair, because I do usually enjoy the closing stages of these shows and I enjoy laughing at Simon Cowell's better quips. Simon was interviewed recently by Larry King. You can find a transcript of the interview here. During the interview Simon gave his prediction for the final three of this season's American Idol as....
(a) Taylor, the guy with the grey hair
(b) Chris, bald guy (rocker)
(c) Kellie Pickler, southern girl
I don't completely agree, but we aren't far apart. Here's my view of the final three (in no particular order) :
(a) Taylor
(b) Chris
(c) Mandisa, diva
If you twisted my arm for a winner right now, I'd go for Chris. However I reserve the right to update my predictions when we get a bit closer to the finishing line.
Tags: American Idol, Simon Cowell
Actually that's not entirely fair, because I do usually enjoy the closing stages of these shows and I enjoy laughing at Simon Cowell's better quips. Simon was interviewed recently by Larry King. You can find a transcript of the interview here. During the interview Simon gave his prediction for the final three of this season's American Idol as....
(a) Taylor, the guy with the grey hair
(b) Chris, bald guy (rocker)
(c) Kellie Pickler, southern girl
I don't completely agree, but we aren't far apart. Here's my view of the final three (in no particular order) :
(a) Taylor
(b) Chris
(c) Mandisa, diva
If you twisted my arm for a winner right now, I'd go for Chris. However I reserve the right to update my predictions when we get a bit closer to the finishing line.
Tags: American Idol, Simon Cowell
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Are you always on?
Working smarter, not harder has always been an aspiration, although I'm not always successful in making it a reality. I was immediately drawn, therefore, to read Anne Fisher's article "Be smarter at work, slack off"
Anne goes on to suggest that in a knowledge work culture the companies that succeed might be those that facilitate the time for workers to think strategically. Google is already ahead of the curve on this issue with it's 20% time.
The CNN article also touches on another of my favourite themes: the always on, always connected, interruption driven, culture. One of my best lifehacks of recent times was to end the tyranny of email notification.
Tags: GTD, Lifehacks, Productivity
Scientists have only recently begun to realize that people may do their best thinking when they are not concentrating on work at all... immediately resonated with me. That's one of reasons I always have my Olympus Digital Voice Recorder handy. I have a one hour commute to work by car, and that time is generally my best, and most productive, thinking time. The fruits of that thinking get recorded as they happen, and get thrown into my GTD collection process when I'm at my computer.
Anne goes on to suggest that in a knowledge work culture the companies that succeed might be those that facilitate the time for workers to think strategically. Google is already ahead of the curve on this issue with it's 20% time.
The CNN article also touches on another of my favourite themes: the always on, always connected, interruption driven, culture. One of my best lifehacks of recent times was to end the tyranny of email notification.
The "time cost" of refocusing your attention may be only a few seconds with each switch, but the researchers found that, over time, it reduced people's total efficiency by 20% to 40%.And that's one of the ways I kick ass when compared to your average crackberry addict.
Tags: GTD, Lifehacks, Productivity
Saturday, March 18, 2006
I don't want a list, I wanna know how I kick ass with Vista
In a follow up to my question: "Why is Vista better than XP?", Robert Scoble has written two comments on his blog (here and here), which form a 30 second pitch for Vista. Farhan Ahmed took a similar approach here.
The problem with these lists is that they aren't telling me a story about how I'm gonna kick ass with Vista.
I don't say that to offend Robert (who I think is a true gentleman of the blogosphere), or anyone at Microsoft. I'm suggesting that Microsoft has some time to get the story right and turn me into a customer evangelist.
Tags: Vista, Microsoft, Robert Scoble
The problem with these lists is that they aren't telling me a story about how I'm gonna kick ass with Vista.
I don't say that to offend Robert (who I think is a true gentleman of the blogosphere), or anyone at Microsoft. I'm suggesting that Microsoft has some time to get the story right and turn me into a customer evangelist.
Tags: Vista, Microsoft, Robert Scoble
Friday, March 17, 2006
I knew there was a reason I work in IT.
Apparently computer nerds have been voted Britain's most popular people.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Are Blogs like sharks?
I'm a big fan of Garr Reynolds' Presentation Zen blog.
Garr recently published a post that contained this fab graphic:
...and it was accompanied by this sample narration:
Garr recently published a post that contained this fab graphic:
...and it was accompanied by this sample narration:
Blogs are like sharks. Sharks have to keep moving...or die. A blog has "to keep moving," keep progressing, be consistently updated...or it will die (as many blogs have)....
I loved this for two reasons:
(1) It's a great lesson in the zen of PowerPoint
(2) It speaks to one my constant internal questions about blogging. Is it worth blogging if I can't be as consistent as I'd like, for reasons which are largely outside of my control?
Update: Shel Israel over at Naked Conversations suggests consistency is not as important as posting when you have something to say.
Tags: PowerPoint, Blogging, Shel Israel, Naked Conversations
Goblet of Fire DVD release date
Anybody mind if I'm momentarily ticked off that Goblet of Fire was released on DVD in the USA before it released in the UK? I mean, for heaven's sake, the film even premiered in the UK.
Tags: Harry Potter, Goblet of Fire
Tags: Harry Potter, Goblet of Fire
30 seconds on: Quitting Blogging
David Allen is halting his personal blog (for now). Dave Winer announced earlier this week that he will quit blogging by the end of the year. I have to say I found their need to make an announcement a tad egotistical. Why not just let their respective blogs tail off naturally. And just say something when they have something to say. I can't believe Dave Winer will have nothing to say, retired or not.
Now if only the other 280,000 members of the A-List would follow suit I might get to be a gatekeeper!
Tags: 30 seconds on, David Allen, Dave Winer, Blogging, gatekeepers
Now if only the other 280,000 members of the A-List would follow suit I might get to be a gatekeeper!
Tags: 30 seconds on, David Allen, Dave Winer, Blogging, gatekeepers
30 seconds on: Why is Vista better than XP?
Reading this post on Mini-Microsoft my immediate thought was that Robert Scoble and the many Microsoft Bloggers had better get the story straight pretty quickly on why Vista is better than XP. "...more stable, safer, and faster than XP" is not gonna have me queueing up for a copy. I thinks it's safe to say that the gauntlet has been thrown down.
Tags: 30 seconds on, Vista, Robert Scoble, Mini-Microsoft
Tags: 30 seconds on, Vista, Robert Scoble, Mini-Microsoft
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Blogging for Traffic
Kent Newsome makes some compelling arguments in the ongoing debate about traffic and linking behaviour.
I've made some of the same points myself recently here, here, and here but Kent wraps the whole debate up in a way that's difficult to take issue with. It's hard, for example, to argue with the following logic:
(a) Would I blog in a vacuum where no one reads my blog or links to it? I'd have to be very sad to say yes to that.
(b) Therefore readership (aka traffic) and links to my blog are a legitimate goal.
And Kent comes up with a clever counterpoint to those who argue that we shouldn't have at least a passing interest in traffic and links:
Tags: Blogging, Blog Building, Kent Newsome
I've made some of the same points myself recently here, here, and here but Kent wraps the whole debate up in a way that's difficult to take issue with. It's hard, for example, to argue with the following logic:
(a) Would I blog in a vacuum where no one reads my blog or links to it? I'd have to be very sad to say yes to that.
(b) Therefore readership (aka traffic) and links to my blog are a legitimate goal.
And Kent comes up with a clever counterpoint to those who argue that we shouldn't have at least a passing interest in traffic and links:
To tell someone that traffic and links don't matter at all is a little like a rich guy telling a poor guy not to be so concerned about money. I don't obsess about money, but making some is certainly one of my goals when I head out the door each weekday morning.I wish I'd said that!
Tags: Blogging, Blog Building, Kent Newsome
Friday, March 03, 2006
On the M List it's a little bit about traffic
My personal bit of news is that I've picked up a link from memeorandum. I don't know how long I was on tech.memeorandum and given that I don't seem to have had any traffic as a result then it can't have been long.
Dang.
It's okay for Steve Rubel and Robert Scoble to say that it's not about traffic but down on the M List, as Brian Clark points out, it's at least a litle bit about traffic.
Tags: Memeorandum, tech.memeorandum, Steve Rubel, Robert Scoble, Brian Clark, Blogging, Blog Building
Dang.
It's okay for Steve Rubel and Robert Scoble to say that it's not about traffic but down on the M List, as Brian Clark points out, it's at least a litle bit about traffic.
Tags: Memeorandum, tech.memeorandum, Steve Rubel, Robert Scoble, Brian Clark, Blogging, Blog Building
Requiem for Technorati
I'm basically a fan of Technorati. I think Dave Sifry is one of the most responsive CEO's I've ever come across. The functionality that Technorati advertises is functionality that I want. And I can see why I'd want to use [at least some of] the new features that keep coming along.
If you're expecting me to say "but" about now you'd be quite right. As self-appointed evangelist Kent Newsome puts it, the reliability factor is hurting Technorati.
The problems that I keep experiencing are:
(1) Disapearing Links: this morning Technorati reports that I have 11 links from 8 sites. The page then lists only 4 links.
(2) Assuming my Technorati ranking is related to the number of sites that link to me, my ranking hasn't moved in weeks, despite the fact that all my still visible links are less than a week old.
(3) Search and Tag Search are frequently unavailable at peak time as demand outstrips the site's capability to supply. Tag Search is very important to me when I'm writing and tagging my posts.
I think the Technorati blog should be keeping us in the picture about what's in the pipeline to address these issues. It's not like Technorati doesn't know about the tools to keep abreast of what the blogosphere is saying about them. They can't argue that they don't have the tools to respond to what is being said. So why the silence?
I really like what Technorati have done, what they have achieved and they are an important part of my daily experience of the internet and blogosphere. To stay that way they will need to get it together soon.
Tags: Technorati, Kent Newsome, Dave Sifry.
If you're expecting me to say "but" about now you'd be quite right. As self-appointed evangelist Kent Newsome puts it, the reliability factor is hurting Technorati.
The problems that I keep experiencing are:
(1) Disapearing Links: this morning Technorati reports that I have 11 links from 8 sites. The page then lists only 4 links.
(2) Assuming my Technorati ranking is related to the number of sites that link to me, my ranking hasn't moved in weeks, despite the fact that all my still visible links are less than a week old.
(3) Search and Tag Search are frequently unavailable at peak time as demand outstrips the site's capability to supply. Tag Search is very important to me when I'm writing and tagging my posts.
I think the Technorati blog should be keeping us in the picture about what's in the pipeline to address these issues. It's not like Technorati doesn't know about the tools to keep abreast of what the blogosphere is saying about them. They can't argue that they don't have the tools to respond to what is being said. So why the silence?
I really like what Technorati have done, what they have achieved and they are an important part of my daily experience of the internet and blogosphere. To stay that way they will need to get it together soon.
Tags: Technorati, Kent Newsome, Dave Sifry.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Who watches the watchers?
Boing Boing has gone to war with censorware in general and SmartFilter in particular. At the bottom of it all is the decision to classify Boing Boing as a "nudity" site, and when the team at Boing Boing made the case for re-classification SmartFilter, unwisely in my opinion, stuck to their guns.
Not a group famed for taking it lying down, Boing Boing have struck back with a guide to defeating censorware. The issue is important because of the number of readers and potential readers who are no longer able to access Boing Boing content, and given that Boing Boing is ad supported there is a revenue implication.
The thread has been interesting to me because of my own problems at work with Websense, which was implemented at the beginning of the year. Don't get me wrong, I understand why we would use a product like Websense. I don't mind that I can't get to adult rated material at work. Keeping us away from gambling sites seems like common sense. As we should get our entertainment fix at home. That all seems kind of right.
And then something like this happens:
Kent Newsome is a blogger I've mentioned a few times in recent weeks. I enjoy his blog and in the weeks I've been reading him he's picked up links from some A-listers, including Robert Scoble.
Newsome.Org is the site that hosts his blog and in my view it's been incorrectly classified, but what can Kent do about it? Kent's blog isn't ad supported so there is no revenue implication but this will impact his readership. If you argue it won't impact his readership then my question becomes why Websense would classify it at all. The fact is that when I hit the restriction today, it affected his readership today.
The decision to classify Kent as entertainment has been made by a Websense appointed censor. And here we get to the nub of any censorship argument. What qualifies this person to act as a censor? Not everything is black or white and what happens to all the sites caught in the grey area if the censors act in a heavy-handed way.
Who watches the watchers?
Tags: Boing Boing, SmartFilter, Websense, censorship, Kent Newsome
Not a group famed for taking it lying down, Boing Boing have struck back with a guide to defeating censorware. The issue is important because of the number of readers and potential readers who are no longer able to access Boing Boing content, and given that Boing Boing is ad supported there is a revenue implication.
The thread has been interesting to me because of my own problems at work with Websense, which was implemented at the beginning of the year. Don't get me wrong, I understand why we would use a product like Websense. I don't mind that I can't get to adult rated material at work. Keeping us away from gambling sites seems like common sense. As we should get our entertainment fix at home. That all seems kind of right.
And then something like this happens:
Kent Newsome is a blogger I've mentioned a few times in recent weeks. I enjoy his blog and in the weeks I've been reading him he's picked up links from some A-listers, including Robert Scoble.
Newsome.Org is the site that hosts his blog and in my view it's been incorrectly classified, but what can Kent do about it? Kent's blog isn't ad supported so there is no revenue implication but this will impact his readership. If you argue it won't impact his readership then my question becomes why Websense would classify it at all. The fact is that when I hit the restriction today, it affected his readership today.
The decision to classify Kent as entertainment has been made by a Websense appointed censor. And here we get to the nub of any censorship argument. What qualifies this person to act as a censor? Not everything is black or white and what happens to all the sites caught in the grey area if the censors act in a heavy-handed way.
Who watches the watchers?
Tags: Boing Boing, SmartFilter, Websense, censorship, Kent Newsome
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Would I want to be dooce?
So Krisco and I are having a cosy chat about the state of blogosphere and then she asks would I want to be dooce? While I was crossing my legs at the mere thought of all the surgery that would involve, Krisco clarified the question as: would I want that level of popularity?
The upside: It would absolutely change my life. That level of popularity and, let's be honest, the level of income that it brings would enable me to approach the old hierarchy of needs in a different way. I'd get to be my own boss and stay home a lot more. Sidenote: I haven't the first clue as to what that income is, but by their own admission it is sufficient that neither dooce or her husband currently need to work what you might call a "normal" job.
The downside: It's a huge risk. It's alright if you have a handle on what it is that makes your blog successful and are able to sustain the formula, but what if you can't. How about a couple of months of writers block. Let's face it, no one would notice if I didn't post for a couple of months, but it would wipe dooce off the map. Whilst there are no consequences for me if I fall out of the Top 350,000 blogs on Technorati, the same cannot be true for dooce if she falls out of the Top 100. Tristan Louis recently posted a clinical analysis of the Technorati Top 100 which proves just how dynamic the list is, and by extension how tenuous anyone's grip is on a position within it (unless, it would seem, your blog is named Boing Boing) .
The other thing that comes with a successful blog appears to be the detractors. I've seen a little of that side of things from reading the comments on Scoble's blog and I've seen dooce refer several times to what I'd label as hate mail. I wouldn't underestimate how difficult it might be to handle that on a daily basis.
On balance, no I wouldn't want that level of popularity. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't want my blog to have higher traffic levels than it does today. An interesting question is: where is the happy medium?
Tags: Crib Ceiling, Blogging, dooce, Technorati, Robert Scoble
The upside: It would absolutely change my life. That level of popularity and, let's be honest, the level of income that it brings would enable me to approach the old hierarchy of needs in a different way. I'd get to be my own boss and stay home a lot more. Sidenote: I haven't the first clue as to what that income is, but by their own admission it is sufficient that neither dooce or her husband currently need to work what you might call a "normal" job.
The downside: It's a huge risk. It's alright if you have a handle on what it is that makes your blog successful and are able to sustain the formula, but what if you can't. How about a couple of months of writers block. Let's face it, no one would notice if I didn't post for a couple of months, but it would wipe dooce off the map. Whilst there are no consequences for me if I fall out of the Top 350,000 blogs on Technorati, the same cannot be true for dooce if she falls out of the Top 100. Tristan Louis recently posted a clinical analysis of the Technorati Top 100 which proves just how dynamic the list is, and by extension how tenuous anyone's grip is on a position within it (unless, it would seem, your blog is named Boing Boing) .
The other thing that comes with a successful blog appears to be the detractors. I've seen a little of that side of things from reading the comments on Scoble's blog and I've seen dooce refer several times to what I'd label as hate mail. I wouldn't underestimate how difficult it might be to handle that on a daily basis.
On balance, no I wouldn't want that level of popularity. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't want my blog to have higher traffic levels than it does today. An interesting question is: where is the happy medium?
Tags: Crib Ceiling, Blogging, dooce, Technorati, Robert Scoble
Blogging peaks?
The esteemed Washington Post appears to have bought into some of the recent twaddle that somehow blogging has peaked. Personally, I don't think we've even reached breakfast in the blogging timeline.
The article quotes a Gallup pole titled "Blog Readership Bogged Down" that reports that only 9 percent of those polled said they regularly read blogs. I wonder how many people have read a blog in it's online form and never realised. The poll goes on to claim that 66 percent never read them. I wonder how that will change when Vista and the next generation of Office with embedded RSS brings the technology front and centre.
Update: Kent makes a more reasoned argument as to why the blogosphere is still a growth area.
Tags: Washington Post, Gallup, Blogging, Kent Newsome
The article quotes a Gallup pole titled "Blog Readership Bogged Down" that reports that only 9 percent of those polled said they regularly read blogs. I wonder how many people have read a blog in it's online form and never realised. The poll goes on to claim that 66 percent never read them. I wonder how that will change when Vista and the next generation of Office with embedded RSS brings the technology front and centre.
Update: Kent makes a more reasoned argument as to why the blogosphere is still a growth area.
Tags: Washington Post, Gallup, Blogging, Kent Newsome
Blogging Psychology
Crib Ceiling pointed me today in the direction of an article titled "Blogs to Riches" from the New York Magazine. The article immediately brought to mind something Kent Newsome wrote at the start of the year on "Why It's Impossible to Build a New Blog in 2006" and my response to Kent which was "I choose to believe the glass is half full"
Kent's thesis was that successful blogs have one of three things going for them:
1) they got there first and filled an empty space
2) the blog represents a large company which has a ready made audience
3) they get help from established bloggers
Kent went on to make this statement:
So if all this is true what advice does the article have for the aspiring blogger:
Having spent a lot of time reading the blogosphere in the last few months I can see more clearly what Kent was saying back at the start of the year and the article backs up what Kent was saying with a splash of psychology.
So what does all this mean for me:
1) Would I like to write a popular blog? Hell, who wouldn't.
2) Do I think my blog will ever be A List? Not if I keep doing what I'm doing. I'm certainly not regular or relentless enough, and my stuff isn't generally what you'd call witty. I'm not about to crank out dozens of blogs, I have enough trouble keeping one blog going.
3) Does it matter if my blog never makes the A List? Nope. I'd like to think that more people are interested in what I have to say than the few visitors I do get, but I don't do this to join the A List. By the way visitors - thanks for stopping by and reading what I have to say!
4) Why do I do this? I do this to take part and because I think I have things to say. I do it because I've met some interesting people and because I've come across interesting insights and I'd like to keep meeting people and continue to be stimulated by what others think. I've discovered lots of software and ideas that I'd never have found otherwise. Some of the things I've found changed my life, some of it made me more productive, some things made me laugh, other things made me sad. Some of it has been uplifting, sometimes it makes me fume. The internet truly is an amazing place.
Tags: Crib Ceiling, Kent Newsome, Blogging, power law, A List
Kent's thesis was that successful blogs have one of three things going for them:
1) they got there first and filled an empty space
2) the blog represents a large company which has a ready made audience
3) they get help from established bloggers
Kent went on to make this statement:
I no longer believe you can have a successful blog without a ready made audience. Why? Because, unfortunately, the blogosphere is a closed system. There are too many people who believe they are going to get rich by writing a blog. Once you add the element of money into the equation, the element of competition soon follows. So you get the haves linking to one another (and largely only to one another) and ignoring (or at best tolerating) the have nots, in an effort to boost their status and, perhaps more importantly, protect their shares of the readership pie. Anyone who argues this isn't true hasn't spent much time surfing around the blogosphere.The article adds some weight to Kent's contention that there is disparity in the blogospere and suggests an explantion for it. The article relies heavily on research by Clay Shirky, an instructor at New York University, who looked at linking behaviour on a sample of blogs.
When Shirky sorted the blogs from most linked to least linked and lined them up on a chart, the curve began up high, with the lucky few. But then it quickly fell into a steep dive, flattening off into the distance, where the vast majority of ignored blogs reside. The A-list is teensy, the B-list is bigger, and the C-list is simply massive.
Economists and network scientists have a name for Shirky’s curve: a “power-law distribution.” Power laws are not limited to the Web; in fact, they’re common to many social systems. If you chart the world’s wealth, it forms a power-law curve: A tiny number of rich people possess most of the world’s capital, while almost everyone else has little or none.
The power law is dominant because of a quirk of human behavior: When we are asked to decide among a dizzying array of options, we do not act like dispassionate decision-makers, weighing each option on its own merits. Popularity breeds popularity.
“It’s not about moral failings or any sort of psychological thing. People aren’t lazy—they just base their decisions on what other people are doing,” Shirky says. “It’s just social physics. It’s like gravity, one of those forces.”Kent and I agreed that there is an advantage to being an early adopter and the article supports this with the statement that first-movers get a crucial leg up in this kind of power-law system.
The article describes three business models for blogging success:
1) The accidental tourist: A lone writer who starts a blog as a mere hobby but then wakes up one day to realize his audience is now as big as a small city newspaper.
2) The record-label approach: Crank out dozens and dozens of sites and hope that one or two will become hits. [The Jason Calcanis model]
3) The boutique approach: a publisher who crafts individual blogs the way Condé Nast crafts magazines—each one carefully aimed at some ineffable, deluxe readership. [The Nick Denton model]
So if all this is true what advice does the article have for the aspiring blogger:
1)Regularity and relentlessness,” says Arianna Huffington. “That’s how you break through the static of the 5,000-channel universe.” What’s more, a blog is like a shark: If it stops moving, it dies. Without fresh postings every day—hell, every few minutes—even the most well-linked blog will quickly lose its audience. The A-listers cannot rest on their laurels.
2) “The good news is that it’s still possible to create a top-ranked blog,” says Shirky. “The bad news is, the way to get into the top ten now seems to be public relations.” Just posting witty entries and hoping for traffic won’t do it. You have to actively seek out attention from the press. “That’s how they’re jump-starting the links structure. It’s not organic.”
Having spent a lot of time reading the blogosphere in the last few months I can see more clearly what Kent was saying back at the start of the year and the article backs up what Kent was saying with a splash of psychology.
So what does all this mean for me:
1) Would I like to write a popular blog? Hell, who wouldn't.
2) Do I think my blog will ever be A List? Not if I keep doing what I'm doing. I'm certainly not regular or relentless enough, and my stuff isn't generally what you'd call witty. I'm not about to crank out dozens of blogs, I have enough trouble keeping one blog going.
3) Does it matter if my blog never makes the A List? Nope. I'd like to think that more people are interested in what I have to say than the few visitors I do get, but I don't do this to join the A List. By the way visitors - thanks for stopping by and reading what I have to say!
4) Why do I do this? I do this to take part and because I think I have things to say. I do it because I've met some interesting people and because I've come across interesting insights and I'd like to keep meeting people and continue to be stimulated by what others think. I've discovered lots of software and ideas that I'd never have found otherwise. Some of the things I've found changed my life, some of it made me more productive, some things made me laugh, other things made me sad. Some of it has been uplifting, sometimes it makes me fume. The internet truly is an amazing place.
Tags: Crib Ceiling, Kent Newsome, Blogging, power law, A List
Friday, February 24, 2006
Tilting at windmills
Dave Winer has written a contribution today entitled "Hate in the Blogosphere". In it he notes that the level of venom being directed at him on a personal level has crossed the line. I've watched this in my aggregator for days without really having a handle on what exactly is the issue, but understanding that their are some deep feelings on both sides. What I've mainly seen until today though has been passion.
Sidenote: Although Dave's post turned up in my aggregator and I've used the link within the post that arrived in my aggregator, the link isn't working. It will take you to today's Scripting News but the essay on Hate isn't there.
I noticed the other day Robert Scoble was being subjected to a level of personal attack in the comments on his blog that I found offensive. Over the past few days I've been pretty sick with a cold and chest infection and given that I had some time on my hands whilst being laid up in bed I tilted at windmills.
In other words I engaged with a few of the more unpleasant commenters and I engaged them on Scoble's blog in the comments. I was pleased to see a few people jump in and support my view but I was also mildly suprised by the level of apathy.
I fear that we will lose good and important conversationalists and contributors who will be drowned out by those who make it their mission to shout louder or whose aim is merely to be offensive. It's a form of mob rule. It's anarchy. I agree we shouldn't tolerate it, but I'm not sure what we do about it?
Technorati Tags: Dave Winer, Robert Scoble, Blogging
Sidenote: Although Dave's post turned up in my aggregator and I've used the link within the post that arrived in my aggregator, the link isn't working. It will take you to today's Scripting News but the essay on Hate isn't there.
I noticed the other day Robert Scoble was being subjected to a level of personal attack in the comments on his blog that I found offensive. Over the past few days I've been pretty sick with a cold and chest infection and given that I had some time on my hands whilst being laid up in bed I tilted at windmills.
In other words I engaged with a few of the more unpleasant commenters and I engaged them on Scoble's blog in the comments. I was pleased to see a few people jump in and support my view but I was also mildly suprised by the level of apathy.
I fear that we will lose good and important conversationalists and contributors who will be drowned out by those who make it their mission to shout louder or whose aim is merely to be offensive. It's a form of mob rule. It's anarchy. I agree we shouldn't tolerate it, but I'm not sure what we do about it?
Technorati Tags: Dave Winer, Robert Scoble, Blogging
Rex Hammock: Blog because....
Dave Winer points this morning at an interesting article by Rex Hammock:
Rex Hammock: "It's a mistake when anyone attempts to place mass-media business metrics to defining success or failure of a weblog."
The quote that rang bells for me though, was this one:
"If you run a business, blog because one day, I promise, you will be glad you have a place to respond when the conversation is about you."
Tags: Dave Winer, Rex Hammock, Blogging
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Are YouTube just another bunch of pirates?
I continue to enjoy Newsome.Org. Kent pointed me today in the direction of a contribution by Jason Calcanis on why YouTube is not a real business.
Jason makes his main point that the file sharing capabilities of YouTube makes it a business that relies on piracy to generate it's ranking. Unfortunately he extended the thought to call it a silly little business that anyone could start in a week and for that he's taken some heat. Counter arguments have pointed out that Flickr is similarly an FTP site with Tags, that technically what has been achieved by YouTube in terms of scalability isn't easy, and that the communities that sites like Flickr and YouTube have built are not easily replicated. Good points.
Let's back up a second to Jason's main point. People want facilities that allow them to share photos, videos, files and content. The problem is that if these facilities are delivered as free services then those companies are also delivering the capability to support piracy. Blogging is not immune, witness the rise of the piracy of blog entries being re-packaged by ad-supported delivery mechanisms.
Isn't one of the issues what YouTube are doing to deal with the issue of piracy? Are they doing nothing or even worse are they relying on the piracy and therefore encouraging it to an extent, without crossing the legal line, in order to build their community? And given their business model, scale = revenue. Flickr, by contrast, appear to be more interested in copyright infringement and self-policing. It's possible that if YouTube fail to police themselves adequately that eventually someone else (e.g. the courts) will do it for them.
Technorati Tags: Kent Newsome, Jason Calcanis, YouTube, Flickr
Jason makes his main point that the file sharing capabilities of YouTube makes it a business that relies on piracy to generate it's ranking. Unfortunately he extended the thought to call it a silly little business that anyone could start in a week and for that he's taken some heat. Counter arguments have pointed out that Flickr is similarly an FTP site with Tags, that technically what has been achieved by YouTube in terms of scalability isn't easy, and that the communities that sites like Flickr and YouTube have built are not easily replicated. Good points.
Let's back up a second to Jason's main point. People want facilities that allow them to share photos, videos, files and content. The problem is that if these facilities are delivered as free services then those companies are also delivering the capability to support piracy. Blogging is not immune, witness the rise of the piracy of blog entries being re-packaged by ad-supported delivery mechanisms.
Isn't one of the issues what YouTube are doing to deal with the issue of piracy? Are they doing nothing or even worse are they relying on the piracy and therefore encouraging it to an extent, without crossing the legal line, in order to build their community? And given their business model, scale = revenue. Flickr, by contrast, appear to be more interested in copyright infringement and self-policing. It's possible that if YouTube fail to police themselves adequately that eventually someone else (e.g. the courts) will do it for them.
Technorati Tags: Kent Newsome, Jason Calcanis, YouTube, Flickr
Saturday, February 18, 2006
In the end today's gatekeepers get trampled on too...
In the beginning DARPA created the internet. And the geeks saw that this was good.
And Tim Berners-Lee said, "Let there be HTML," and there was web pages. The geeks saw that html was good, but it separated the geeks from the masses.
And then Dave Winer said, "Let there be RSS," and there was blogs and aggregators. The geeks saw that RSS was good, and more of the masses got involved and the line between the geeks and the masses was blurred.
And then Bill Gates said, "Build RSS into Vista," and the great disruption began. The line between the geeks and the masses disappeared. The word of mouth network trampled on institutional communication tactics. The cluetrain ran over the institutions who didn't get it. And Hugh Macleod thought this was bloody funny and drew a cartoon.
Oh, and by the way Kent, I think "the gatekeepers" get run over too.
Technorati Tags: Kent Newsome, Dave Winer, Hugh Macleod, gatekeepers
And Tim Berners-Lee said, "Let there be HTML," and there was web pages. The geeks saw that html was good, but it separated the geeks from the masses.
And then Dave Winer said, "Let there be RSS," and there was blogs and aggregators. The geeks saw that RSS was good, and more of the masses got involved and the line between the geeks and the masses was blurred.
And then Bill Gates said, "Build RSS into Vista," and the great disruption began. The line between the geeks and the masses disappeared. The word of mouth network trampled on institutional communication tactics. The cluetrain ran over the institutions who didn't get it. And Hugh Macleod thought this was bloody funny and drew a cartoon.
Oh, and by the way Kent, I think "the gatekeepers" get run over too.
Technorati Tags: Kent Newsome, Dave Winer, Hugh Macleod, gatekeepers
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Why Pandora Rocks
Kent Newsome got me thinking that I ought to write a post about my own Pandora experience. I've been using Pandora for a couple of months now and given the spate of recent posts about the comparison between Pandora and Last.fm I guess now is as good a time as any to say why I think Pandora rocks.
Reason 1 - Through Pandora I discovered Howie Day. Both Pandora and Last.fm help you discover talented artists that you haven't heard before taking an artist you choose as the starting point of the discovery process. That's really where the similarity ends. Pandora is built on an approach in which music tracks are decomposed into over 400 attributes which include things like melody, harmony, instrumentation, rhythm, vocals, lyrics and then plays songs with interesting musical similarities to your chosen artist. Last.fm is based on social recommendations. It works on the principle that the people who share an interest in one artist probably share an interest in other artists. Steve Krause has written a much more insightful article on the differences between the two approaches which is well worth a read.
I created a station on Pandora with a starting point of James Blunt. Within minutes the station played a track called "She Says" by Howie Day. I've been a little obsessed ever since. I've bought the album, I play the album in the car to and from work, I've ripped it to my laptop to play to myself at work, I've moved tracks onto my phone to use as my ringtone and my alarm. It's likely I would never have discovered Howie without Pandora, so in my world Pandora rocks.
Reason 2 - Pandora has a very clean and simple interface. Getting started is simple. For me Pandora wins hands down on usability.
Reason 3 - Last.fm wouldn't let me start from James Blunt as my favourite artist. It only says "Artist not streamable".
Technorati Tags: pandora, last.fm, Kent Newsome, Steve Krause, Howie Day, James Blunt
Reason 1 - Through Pandora I discovered Howie Day. Both Pandora and Last.fm help you discover talented artists that you haven't heard before taking an artist you choose as the starting point of the discovery process. That's really where the similarity ends. Pandora is built on an approach in which music tracks are decomposed into over 400 attributes which include things like melody, harmony, instrumentation, rhythm, vocals, lyrics and then plays songs with interesting musical similarities to your chosen artist. Last.fm is based on social recommendations. It works on the principle that the people who share an interest in one artist probably share an interest in other artists. Steve Krause has written a much more insightful article on the differences between the two approaches which is well worth a read.
I created a station on Pandora with a starting point of James Blunt. Within minutes the station played a track called "She Says" by Howie Day. I've been a little obsessed ever since. I've bought the album, I play the album in the car to and from work, I've ripped it to my laptop to play to myself at work, I've moved tracks onto my phone to use as my ringtone and my alarm. It's likely I would never have discovered Howie without Pandora, so in my world Pandora rocks.
Reason 2 - Pandora has a very clean and simple interface. Getting started is simple. For me Pandora wins hands down on usability.
Reason 3 - Last.fm wouldn't let me start from James Blunt as my favourite artist. It only says "Artist not streamable".
Technorati Tags: pandora, last.fm, Kent Newsome, Steve Krause, Howie Day, James Blunt
Hugh, there's something wrong with this picture....
I notice that Hugh Macleod and Robert Scoble are at an interesting looking conference in Switzerland this week. Hugh is one of the most influential bloggers in the UK, Robert is referred to on the conference website as Microsoft's Uberblogger.
I did a quick search around the globe for blogging conferences. The list I've come up with isn't intended to be a complete or comprehensive. I didn't for example include Gnomedex, which I'd love to attend, but doesn't to the best of my knowledge, have a primary focus on the blogosphere. I'm sure I've missed a load of others but check this out:
USA
The RSS Summit
BlogHer
MeshForum
Blog Business Summit
BloggerCon
Syndicate Conference
BlogOn
Canada
Northern Voice
Paris, France
Les Blogs
Geneva, Switzerland
LIFT (Life, Ideas, Futures, Together)
Copenhagen, Denmark
Reboot
Vienna, Austria
BlogTalk Reloaded
Hugh, there's something wrong with this picture. I don't want to upset the folks who ran Global Voices which is a conference with a blogging theme but, correct me if I'm wrong, it has a very specific focus and isn't what you might call a general conference about blogging.
So I'm wondering what the problem is. Is it that we're not getting it? Is it that we're getting it slower than the rest of the world? Have we not reached the tipping point in the UK yet?
Most importantly are we, as a country, in serious danger of missing the cluetrain / hughtrain?
Technorati Tags: Blogs, Blogging, Robert Scoble, Hugh Macleod, cluetrain, hughtrain
I did a quick search around the globe for blogging conferences. The list I've come up with isn't intended to be a complete or comprehensive. I didn't for example include Gnomedex, which I'd love to attend, but doesn't to the best of my knowledge, have a primary focus on the blogosphere. I'm sure I've missed a load of others but check this out:
USA
The RSS Summit
BlogHer
MeshForum
Blog Business Summit
BloggerCon
Syndicate Conference
BlogOn
Canada
Northern Voice
Paris, France
Les Blogs
Geneva, Switzerland
LIFT (Life, Ideas, Futures, Together)
Copenhagen, Denmark
Reboot
Vienna, Austria
BlogTalk Reloaded
Hugh, there's something wrong with this picture. I don't want to upset the folks who ran Global Voices which is a conference with a blogging theme but, correct me if I'm wrong, it has a very specific focus and isn't what you might call a general conference about blogging.
So I'm wondering what the problem is. Is it that we're not getting it? Is it that we're getting it slower than the rest of the world? Have we not reached the tipping point in the UK yet?
Most importantly are we, as a country, in serious danger of missing the cluetrain / hughtrain?
Technorati Tags: Blogs, Blogging, Robert Scoble, Hugh Macleod, cluetrain, hughtrain
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