The ultimate blog post is a pretty funny (and a somewhat cynical) view of some of the more popular blogs out there. One of the things it teaches us though is that blogs often write for specific niches, in a specific style, and have a specific slant; and if what that blog writes about isn't really your niche, style or slant - it may be that you have a peripheral interest but it's not where your heart is - then pretty soon that blog is going to get boring to you.
Kent Newsome has reached the end of the road with the blogs that are boring him. I think I'm reaching a similar point with some of the blogs in my subscriptions list, although possibly not for the same reasons in all cases.
I know that some of the blogs I subscribe to, I subscribe to because I feel like I ought to.
Boing Boing is a classic example. I subscribe because it's generally thought to be the number one blog out there, and it's held the top spot on Technorati for as long as I can remember. If I'm brutally honest though I'm interested in less than 10% of the posts which actually makes for quite a lot of wasted attention.
TechCrunch is another example. I think I subscribe to give myself the comfort that I'm not missing out on the latest and greatest Web 2.0 news, whereas I actually get the best of that news filtered by other writers (Robert Scoble, Steve Rubel, Kent Newsome and Mathew Ingram amongst others) and from Techmeme.
I think this weekend might be a good time for a clear out. I'll add a task to my Zoho Project.
Getting back to Kent, and the points he makes today, I think there are a few comments I'd like to make at this point:
(1) There's certainly the age old question of why we blog in the first place at play here. I still like the answer I came up with the other day.
(2) It would make for a better blogosphere if some of the influential players within it exhibited better linking behaviour.
(3) Linking and commenting is how we connect to each other in the blogosphere. If we're all honest about it, we could all be a bit better at that.
(4) Climbing the blogging hill is hard, and getting harder. I can see, daily, Kent making efforts to converse with bloggers up at the top of the hill and I can also see the silence with which those efforts are generally rewarded. That must just get tiring after a while. I'd be very surprised if the people that Kent is reaching out to don't have a vanity watchlist on Technorati (or some equivalent), so he has (in my book) every right to ask, periodically, the rhetorical question "why am I being ignored?"
So where does all this take us? The bottom line for Kent is a question: How do I find people I'd converse with in the real world in the blogosphere? Part of the answer to that (as already identified) is to go find the blogs that talk about what you talk about in the real world. If I've read your blog correctly in the past Kent, you don't talk about technology and blogging in the real world so culling the tech blogs and the meta blogs is a good place to start.
Let me hypothesise that part of the rest of the answer is that for all the web 2.0 hype about sociable media there isn't an online community that you'd actually feel comfortable hanging out in at the moment. MySpace and FaceBook certainly don't fit your profile. YouTube - nope. Flickr - you're interested but not that deadly serious about photography.
So where's your web 2.0 community? And (with tongue firmly in cheek) - is that a business opportunity????
Tags: blogs, blogging, web+2.0, Kent Newsome
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
A different approach to creating a resume / CV
A quick definition: what Americans / Canadians call a resume is generally referred to in the UK as a CV (short for Curriculum Vitae).
I originally found the resume of Chris Heuer via the MindJet Blog. It inspired me to try something similar. I could see that the mind map was put together using MindManager but I couldn't figure out the tool used to compile the rest of the document. My first thought was he'd done the document entirely in Mind Manager using floating topics to do the text boxes. Then I thought for a while that it might be a word document, but I could not come close to the kind of layout and formatting that was achieved in the text boxes containing his bio and strengths.
I wrote to Chris to find out the secret. What I discovered was that he created the mind map in MindManager and then output it to a PDF file. He then opened it up in Photoshop, copied it and pasted it into a new document where he did the layout design. I didn't have Photoshop at the time so I decided to try and see what I could do entirely within a native MindManager mind map.
I'm quite pleased with the results:
You can a larger scale version of the image here:
http://steve.newson.googlepages.com/SteveNewsonCV2006.pdf
or here:
http://static.flickr.com/80/236054089_403e98ebd8_o.png
I'm always on the lookout for interesting uses of MindManager. I don't think that this style of CV is going to replace more traditional approaches anytime soon and I generally send a word version of my CV alongside this visual style, but I do think the approach says something about me in the sense that I do absolutely believe in the power of information visualisation and mind mapping.
I've placed a copy of the native MindManager (mmap) file here, if you can't get it from there then drop me a line via steve.newson@gmail.com and I'll send you a copy. All I ask is that if you extend the idea further then I'd love to see the results.
Tags: MindManager, Mindjet, CV, resume
I originally found the resume of Chris Heuer via the MindJet Blog. It inspired me to try something similar. I could see that the mind map was put together using MindManager but I couldn't figure out the tool used to compile the rest of the document. My first thought was he'd done the document entirely in Mind Manager using floating topics to do the text boxes. Then I thought for a while that it might be a word document, but I could not come close to the kind of layout and formatting that was achieved in the text boxes containing his bio and strengths.
I wrote to Chris to find out the secret. What I discovered was that he created the mind map in MindManager and then output it to a PDF file. He then opened it up in Photoshop, copied it and pasted it into a new document where he did the layout design. I didn't have Photoshop at the time so I decided to try and see what I could do entirely within a native MindManager mind map.
I'm quite pleased with the results:
You can a larger scale version of the image here:
http://steve.newson.googlepages.com/SteveNewsonCV2006.pdf
or here:
http://static.flickr.com/80/236054089_403e98ebd8_o.png
I'm always on the lookout for interesting uses of MindManager. I don't think that this style of CV is going to replace more traditional approaches anytime soon and I generally send a word version of my CV alongside this visual style, but I do think the approach says something about me in the sense that I do absolutely believe in the power of information visualisation and mind mapping.
I've placed a copy of the native MindManager (mmap) file here, if you can't get it from there then drop me a line via steve.newson@gmail.com and I'll send you a copy. All I ask is that if you extend the idea further then I'd love to see the results.
Tags: MindManager, Mindjet, CV, resume
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Zoho Projects
I caught the announcement of a new addition to the Zoho productivity suite on TechCrunch and have had a few minutes to play with it over the last 24 hours. Zoho Projects is an online project mangement tool that helps project managers and / or project teams to easily organize their work & track progress. The only issue of note in the blogosphere seems to be questioning the Zoho strategy of building a feature rich application.
I found the product to be intuitive, which is good as there doesn't seem to be any "how to" documentation so far, other than a product tour quicktime movie. Robin Good at MasterNewMedia has taken the quicktime movie and added a voice over, the resultant screencast is being hosted at YouTube.
In short order I was able to:
- customise my settings, set up a project and add users (project team members)
- add tasks and milestones
- schedule a project meeting (with the application handling notication of the participants)
- upload documents connected with the project and have the application handle version control
- submit a timesheet for the hours expended against a task
- look at an overview of my project on a calendar or dashboard
I'm most impressed. What a great collaboration tool for projects. I also found it very stable for a beta release.
Even better, the product is free for one project. Zoho intend to have plans ranging from free (for one project) up to an enterprise plan (unlimited projects, $80/month).
I definitely recommend it.
Tags: Zoho Projects
I found the product to be intuitive, which is good as there doesn't seem to be any "how to" documentation so far, other than a product tour quicktime movie. Robin Good at MasterNewMedia has taken the quicktime movie and added a voice over, the resultant screencast is being hosted at YouTube.
In short order I was able to:
- customise my settings, set up a project and add users (project team members)
- add tasks and milestones
- schedule a project meeting (with the application handling notication of the participants)
- upload documents connected with the project and have the application handle version control
- submit a timesheet for the hours expended against a task
- look at an overview of my project on a calendar or dashboard
I'm most impressed. What a great collaboration tool for projects. I also found it very stable for a beta release.
Even better, the product is free for one project. Zoho intend to have plans ranging from free (for one project) up to an enterprise plan (unlimited projects, $80/month).
I definitely recommend it.
Tags: Zoho Projects
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Magazine 2.0 Wars
Kent Newsome has written a very funny, tongue in cheek, post about the MySpace plan to launch a magazine.
Then he gone and done it, by launching Newsome.Org, the magazine. In true Web 2.0 tradition today I'm launching Newson.Net, the competition; with more features, more gossip , more naked pictures of Robert Scoble and Shel Israel, but absolutely no business model.
I'll certainly shift more copies than Kent's overpriced Newsome.Org, but will it get me any morepublicity links?
Here's issue one...
Then he gone and done it, by launching Newsome.Org, the magazine. In true Web 2.0 tradition today I'm launching Newson.Net, the competition; with more features, more gossip , more naked pictures of Robert Scoble and Shel Israel, but absolutely no business model.
I'll certainly shift more copies than Kent's overpriced Newsome.Org, but will it get me any more
Here's issue one...
Tags: Kent Newsome, Robert Scoble, Shel Israel, Dave Winer, Chris Pirillo, Hugh Macleod
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Collaboration
I picked up on Boing Boing that Google has finally gotten around to re-launching Writely. I may be wrong but I have the feeling that the timing is not unconnected with the recent launch of Live Writer. So I get to write this post on Writely and test out it's ability to function as a blogging tool. Unlike Live Writer, blog posting is not the primary function of Writely so the first thing that becomes obvious is that it's not as WYSIWYG as Live Writer. The second thing I picked up is the absence of a tag generator for Technorati. Whilst I have this functionality in Live Writer as a result of a plugin at least I have the functionality.
On the plus side for Writely, it's internet based rather than desktop based, so I can get at documents anywhere. And then, like Google Spreadsheets, it comes with collaboration tools built in, although chat is missing. I seem to have been looking at a lot of collaborative tools recently including MindManager, Webex, GoToMeeting, Google Spreadsheets and now Writely. So I'm feeling in collaborative mood. Anyone want to write a book?
Update: When I posted to my blog from Writely, the document title didn't transfer as the post title and I can't immediately see why not.
Verdict: For now I'm going to stick with Live Writer as my blog authoring tool, but I suspect Google will not let the challenge of Live Writer go unanswered for long. I will, however, check out Writely in a bit more detail as a collaborative document authoring tool.
P.S. Techmeme and TechCrunch seem to be a bit behind on the story of the re-launch. Maybe it's because it's Sunday or is everyone TechCrunched?
Tags: Writely, Live Writer
On the plus side for Writely, it's internet based rather than desktop based, so I can get at documents anywhere. And then, like Google Spreadsheets, it comes with collaboration tools built in, although chat is missing. I seem to have been looking at a lot of collaborative tools recently including MindManager, Webex, GoToMeeting, Google Spreadsheets and now Writely. So I'm feeling in collaborative mood. Anyone want to write a book?
Update: When I posted to my blog from Writely, the document title didn't transfer as the post title and I can't immediately see why not.
Verdict: For now I'm going to stick with Live Writer as my blog authoring tool, but I suspect Google will not let the challenge of Live Writer go unanswered for long. I will, however, check out Writely in a bit more detail as a collaborative document authoring tool.
P.S. Techmeme and TechCrunch seem to be a bit behind on the story of the re-launch. Maybe it's because it's Sunday or is everyone TechCrunched?
Tags: Writely, Live Writer
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Curiosita
Regular readers of this blog will know that I'm a fan of MindManager. Mindjet (the makers of MindManager) recently hosted a Webinar delivered by Michael Gelb, author of "How to think like Leonardo da Vinci".
The resources from that webinar are now available online.
Michael theorises that there are seven principles to thinking like Leonardo. The first of these is "Curiosita", which roughly translates as an insatiably curious approach to life. One way that Leonardo manifested this principle was in his notebooks. Leonardo carried a notebook with him at all times, so that he could jot down ideas, impressions and observations as they occurred. The process of note taking was of great importance to Leonardo.
Eighteen sheets of Leonardo's notebooks were purchased by Bill Gates for 30.8 million dollars in November 1994.
If there is a connection between this post and my last one, perhaps blogging actually represents a desire to share our insatiable curiosity with each other. If Leonardo was alive today I believe he would certainly be a blogger and probably a mind mapper.
Tags: Mindjet, MindManager, Michael Gelb, Leonardo da Vinci, blogs, blogging
The resources from that webinar are now available online.
Michael theorises that there are seven principles to thinking like Leonardo. The first of these is "Curiosita", which roughly translates as an insatiably curious approach to life. One way that Leonardo manifested this principle was in his notebooks. Leonardo carried a notebook with him at all times, so that he could jot down ideas, impressions and observations as they occurred. The process of note taking was of great importance to Leonardo.
Eighteen sheets of Leonardo's notebooks were purchased by Bill Gates for 30.8 million dollars in November 1994.
If there is a connection between this post and my last one, perhaps blogging actually represents a desire to share our insatiable curiosity with each other. If Leonardo was alive today I believe he would certainly be a blogger and probably a mind mapper.
Tags: Mindjet, MindManager, Michael Gelb, Leonardo da Vinci, blogs, blogging
Dry Spell
I haven't written to my blog recently and this afternoon I've been pondering on the reasons for that.
I have been busy at work, climbing a learning curve with a new project, but it's more than that. As I have been so busy I have fallen a little behind with my blog reading but not by much, and by the end of the weekend I'll have caught up even if with some feeds I will achieve inbox zero by judicious use of the delete key.
It's not that I haven't had anything to say, because like most people I tend to have an opinion on lots of things. I do feel that I haven't had anything particularly worthwhile to say and contributing to the echo chamber by regurgitating the efforts of others doesn't hold much appeal as a route to overcoming a dry spell. I've asked myself whether it's procrastination and that isn't what's going on. It does , however, feel like I've fallen off the bandwagon so this post is an attempt to dust myself down and get back in the saddle.
Being a bit of a geek it helped that I had a new toy to try out to write this post with. Yep, I wrote this post with Live Writer and I'm indebted to Kent Newsome for the pointers to Live Writer plugins. My preliminary take on Live Writer is that the setup and configuration is very smooth and it's great to finally blog using a WYSIWYG approach.
If you stop by, please leave me a comment, I could do with the encouragement. If you're feeling really generous, a link would be nice too!
Tags: blogs, blogging, procrastination, inbox zero, echo chamber
I have been busy at work, climbing a learning curve with a new project, but it's more than that. As I have been so busy I have fallen a little behind with my blog reading but not by much, and by the end of the weekend I'll have caught up even if with some feeds I will achieve inbox zero by judicious use of the delete key.
It's not that I haven't had anything to say, because like most people I tend to have an opinion on lots of things. I do feel that I haven't had anything particularly worthwhile to say and contributing to the echo chamber by regurgitating the efforts of others doesn't hold much appeal as a route to overcoming a dry spell. I've asked myself whether it's procrastination and that isn't what's going on. It does , however, feel like I've fallen off the bandwagon so this post is an attempt to dust myself down and get back in the saddle.
Being a bit of a geek it helped that I had a new toy to try out to write this post with. Yep, I wrote this post with Live Writer and I'm indebted to Kent Newsome for the pointers to Live Writer plugins. My preliminary take on Live Writer is that the setup and configuration is very smooth and it's great to finally blog using a WYSIWYG approach.
If you stop by, please leave me a comment, I could do with the encouragement. If you're feeling really generous, a link would be nice too!
Tags: blogs, blogging, procrastination, inbox zero, echo chamber
Monday, July 17, 2006
Memories of my youth...
I recently set up a Technorati watchlist to keep an eye out for any mention of my hometown of Wallsend. Wallsend is so named as it's the town at the end of Hadrian's Wall.
Over the weekend the watchlist turned up this nugget from a fellow Geordie in exile, which included this fascinating photograph by Norman Dunn...
When this picture was taken in 1969 I would have been around 7 or 8 years old. I have a vague recollection from about that age of seeing a vessel launched at the Swan Hunter yard and an overwhelming memory of the sound of chains dragging over the ground and a colossal storm of dust being generated, but to be honest I don't know if the launch I recall was the Esso Northumbria or not.
In any case, it's a small world.
Tags: Wallsend
Over the weekend the watchlist turned up this nugget from a fellow Geordie in exile, which included this fascinating photograph by Norman Dunn...
When this picture was taken in 1969 I would have been around 7 or 8 years old. I have a vague recollection from about that age of seeing a vessel launched at the Swan Hunter yard and an overwhelming memory of the sound of chains dragging over the ground and a colossal storm of dust being generated, but to be honest I don't know if the launch I recall was the Esso Northumbria or not.
In any case, it's a small world.
Tags: Wallsend
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Creating web albums with Picasa
I finally got round to taking up the invitation from Google to create web albums using Picasa.
My public gallery can be found here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/steve.newson
Tags: Picasa
My public gallery can be found here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/steve.newson
Tags: Picasa
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Ten ways to become more proficient with MindManager
I received an email today from someone new to MindManger asking for "my opinion on the best method / resource to become proficient." I thought it would be worthwhile sharing the answer here on my blog.
(1) If you're new to mind mapping then I'd recommend reading some Tony Buzan material such as "Use Your Head".
(2) You can get a copy of my mind mapped book notes on "Use Your Head" here:
http://stevenewson.blogspot.com/2006/06/use-your-head.html
(3) The product itself comes with a pretty good learning center that contains some excellent built in animated tutorials.
(4) Mindjet have some additional animated tutorials online.
(5) I didn't go this route myself but the Mindjet site also has links to training resources including computer based training, open seminars and Mindjet certified trainers.
(5) I bought the MindManager for Dummies book [which was written for MindManager 5 and does not yet appear to have been updated for MindManager 6]
(6) I joined the MindManager group on Yahoo and downloaded the maps in the files area and looked at how others were using the product. [Andrew Wilcox, a frequent contributor to the group, offers MindManager training and online coaching.]
(7) I search the internet for MindManager maps, download them and look at how others are building maps
(8) I subscribe to the Mindjet newsletter and Mindjet blog to pick up hints and tips
(9) I use Technorati to find and subscribe to blogs about MindManager.
(10) I also use Technorati watchlists for "Mind Mapping" and "MindManager" so pick up on mentions of these terms in the blogosphere
Ok, so I lied about there being just ten ways, here's a bonus tip...
(11) Brett Bumeter, who I "met" through MindManager group on Yahoo writes intelligently about MindManager, as well as the latest trends in Knowledge Management, software and gadgets over at Maven Mapper's Information.
Please leave a comment if you have other suggestions to add to the list....
Tags: Mindjet, MindManager, Mind Mapping, information visualization
(1) If you're new to mind mapping then I'd recommend reading some Tony Buzan material such as "Use Your Head".
(2) You can get a copy of my mind mapped book notes on "Use Your Head" here:
http://stevenewson.blogspot.com/2006/06/use-your-head.html
(3) The product itself comes with a pretty good learning center that contains some excellent built in animated tutorials.
(4) Mindjet have some additional animated tutorials online.
(5) I didn't go this route myself but the Mindjet site also has links to training resources including computer based training, open seminars and Mindjet certified trainers.
(5) I bought the MindManager for Dummies book [which was written for MindManager 5 and does not yet appear to have been updated for MindManager 6]
(6) I joined the MindManager group on Yahoo and downloaded the maps in the files area and looked at how others were using the product. [Andrew Wilcox, a frequent contributor to the group, offers MindManager training and online coaching.]
(7) I search the internet for MindManager maps, download them and look at how others are building maps
(8) I subscribe to the Mindjet newsletter and Mindjet blog to pick up hints and tips
(9) I use Technorati to find and subscribe to blogs about MindManager.
(10) I also use Technorati watchlists for "Mind Mapping" and "MindManager" so pick up on mentions of these terms in the blogosphere
Ok, so I lied about there being just ten ways, here's a bonus tip...
(11) Brett Bumeter, who I "met" through MindManager group on Yahoo writes intelligently about MindManager, as well as the latest trends in Knowledge Management, software and gadgets over at Maven Mapper's Information.
Please leave a comment if you have other suggestions to add to the list....
Tags: Mindjet, MindManager, Mind Mapping, information visualization
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Making good stuff happen
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a long post called "Attitude is everything..." based on a parable about having a positive approach to life.
In the parable the answer to the question "how are you doing?" was always "if I was any better I'd be twins".
At the moment I'm re-reading Scott Berkun's "The Art of Project Management" and I found the answer to the question "what are you doing?"; which is "I'm making good stuff happen".
I find the first mantra "if I was any better I'd be twins" doesn't seem to fit my personality so I think I need to come up with a variation, but I do like "I'm making good stuff happen".
I'll try it out.
Tags: Project Management, Scott Berkun, Lifehack
In the parable the answer to the question "how are you doing?" was always "if I was any better I'd be twins".
At the moment I'm re-reading Scott Berkun's "The Art of Project Management" and I found the answer to the question "what are you doing?"; which is "I'm making good stuff happen".
I find the first mantra "if I was any better I'd be twins" doesn't seem to fit my personality so I think I need to come up with a variation, but I do like "I'm making good stuff happen".
I'll try it out.
Tags: Project Management, Scott Berkun, Lifehack
More on the SnagIt to Flickr extension...
I originally blogged about the SnagIt to Flickr extension back in May and followed up about possible problems the extension might cause your Flickr account in June.
That makes it appropriate to link to an clarification on the issue from Betsy Weber, Chief Evangelist at Techsmith.
Tags: SnagIt, Techsmith, Flickr
That makes it appropriate to link to an clarification on the issue from Betsy Weber, Chief Evangelist at Techsmith.
Flickr has a policy stating any account (free or paid) that has more than half of their images as non-photographic content (screenshots, etc.) will be turned from public to private.Thanks for clearing that up Betsy.
Basically this means that once a user has over half of his images as non-photographic content, his images on Flickr will no longer be made searchable by the greater Flickr community or viewable in the public area. If Flickr finds your account having more than half of your content as non-photographic content, they may mark you as NIPSA - 'Not in Public Site Areas'. Users that reach this state will still be able to upload and share images on Flickr.
Tags: SnagIt, Techsmith, Flickr
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Close encounter with an owl
Linda had an up close and personal encounter with an owl at the Hollowell Steam & Heavy Horse Show today.
I'm enjoying the new camera.
I'm enjoying the new camera.
Steam Engine
1917 Fowler engine named 'Prince of Wales' owned by Mr. D Woodward of Buglawton.
A classic from times gone by.
Tags: Steam Engine
A classic from times gone by.
Tags: Steam Engine
Bernese Mountain Dog
We went to the the Hollowell Steam and Heavy Horse Show today, and I took this picture of a Bernese Mountain Dog. In their native Switzerland they were used extensivley to pull small carts containing farm produce between mountain farms, dairies and markets.
Interacting with them for a few minutes we found them to be very sweet natured creatures.
Tags: Bernese Mountain Dog
Interacting with them for a few minutes we found them to be very sweet natured creatures.
Tags: Bernese Mountain Dog
Friday, June 30, 2006
Happy Slapping gone mad...
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
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
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
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