Be Useful

How Can Web Tech Help Enterprises with Innovation Management?

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 02:46:56 -0800

The times are changing and I'm a firm believer in the idea that technology plays a (largely) positive role in this.

ReadWriteWeb agrees with me:

The innovator's dilemma, according to Christensen, affects companies whose success and capabilities can actually become obstacles in the face of changing markets and technologies. There is no more important an issue on the agenda of top management than driving innovation. In this post, we'll review the evolution of "innovation management" and how social media has a significant role to play. This is one area where social media can "move the needle" for large enterprises and help them change the very nature of the firm.

Of course, with the economy as it is, only time will tell.

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I Don't Believe In Originality

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 23:36:47 -0800

For example, I've been trying to find the words to connect the misunderstood world of rap/hip-hop to what it truly is at it's most basic form: poetry. I found a blog post by Hitchcock Blonde that accurately paints the picture (IMO):

Poetry was invented to be conjured on the tongue. All those nomadic bards, minstrels, skalds, rhapsodes, udgatars, griots, ashiks, ozans and dengbejs moulded it into a perfect conduit and cradle for cultural and social memory. On the page, like Shakespeare's plays, poetry has a sterile beauty; but remembered and performed, it has visceral, affecting life...As any actor will attest, to properly remember something you have to understand it. Parrot by rote, and your brain can't connect the chain. Find the throughline, the backbone - even if it is purely rythmic, aural or instinctive - and it sticks. Allusive, intellectual and contextual richness will come; but sensing the emotional and aesthetic shape of a poem deep in your bones is the most important and often neglected way to it's heart.

That also explains why I like talking about Tribes, Flobots, Words that Work and whatever else it is that someone does that I'm unable to.

I'm not a good writer and it feels good to finally be admit that.

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NPR's Best Album's of 2008

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 01:05:00 -0800

Over the years, I've learned to trust NPR's list of top albums of the year, mainly because most of my nominees make it too. This year is no different and December 8 seems so far away right now.

With all that said, if you're looking for good music for the rest of the year (and for a good part of the next), NPR's the place to be IMHO.

What 10 would you recommend? And why?

NPR Poll: What Are Your Top 10 Favorite Albums of 2008.

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The Power of Not Talking

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 22:34:00 -0800

I read a book a few months ago, Words That Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear by Frank Luntz. Apart from the fact that he loves how much everyone hates him, it's made me more aware of words and how important they are in communicating ideas, problems, concepts. Whatever.

Another excellent example would be the Tower of Babel. There are very many different versions of the story (my favorite is Jonathan Davis' reading in the audio version of Neal Stephenson's novel Snow Crash). I haven't picked up much else (yet) from the book so take this only as a recommendation of Davis' reading style.

In stark contrast to all that endless talking, there's The Power of Words from the Guardian:

The Pirahã have no socially lubricating "hello" and "thank you" and "sorry". They have no words for colours, no words for numbers and no way of expressing any history beyond that experienced in their lifetimes. And, in the late 70s, Everett was dispatched to the Amazon to learn their language, translate the Bible and convert them to Christianity.

I had a feeling there were a lot of stories hidden in that short paragraph. And it turns out I was right.

For example:

Thirty years of living with the Pirahã has taught Everett that they exist almost completely in the present. Absorbed by the daily struggle to survive, they do not plan ahead, store food, build houses or canoes to last, maintain tools or talk of things beyond those that they, or people they know, have experienced. They are the "ultimate empiricists", he argues, and this culture of living in the present has shaped their language.

And then there's:

Yet Everett's life with the Pirahã didn't just cause a gradual disenchantment with the Chomskyan intellectual framework he had once cherished: it also triggered another, even more dramatic, de-conversion.

All of that to say: I'm going to try to read this book before I die and you should've been reading that article a long time ago agreeing with me.

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My Poor (wannabe) Blog

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:05:54 -0800

I swear I'm lurking around here somewhere (twitter's where all my actions been happening lately).

There's some other stuff cooking too.

LIke Calgoo, "the best calender service in the world", until I ran into 30boxes and now I have to get them to duke it out.

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Analyzing the Election

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 08:58:00 -0800

USA Today has a cool tool for analyzing the results of the election. This is your chance to fold & unfold every delicious (or bitter) moment of Nov 4th by geographic location, wallet size, number of gray hair, or whatever else the infornographic mind desires. (HT: TP)

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Journalists & Tech | Food for the Start-up Mind

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 08:44:02 -0800

It's been frustrating to see journalism fight technology and I've always thought that most journalists didn't care too much about it. This morning I ran into two blog posts that confirm just how wrong I've been:

The first was Amy Graham's post Working With Journalists: What's in it for Geeks?:

This discussion got me thinking: Right now, it's becoming obvious to many journalists that our field sorely needs lots of top-notch, creative technologists. Developers for whom software is a medium, and an art form. Developers with a deep passion for information, credibility, fairness, usefulness, and free speech.

Which linked to Richard Gordon's by Journalists & Technologists: An Uneasy Courtship recounting his experience at the recently held Computation + Journalism Symposium:

Still, by the end of the first day, I was a bit frustrated. We'd heard journalists talk about their uses of technology, and we'd heard computer scientists talk about technologies relevant to journalism. But it was uncommon for anyone to try to connect the two. I was ready to mix it up, to argue, to move on to talking about new ideas and solutions to the problems journalists and media companies are facing. But we never seemed to get there.
Upon reflection, I realized: This was like a first date. You know the feeling. You talk mostly about what you do. You ask a few questions. You're very careful not to get spaghetti sauce on your tie. But you're so careful about making a good impression that you don't really delve very deep. You and the person across the table are ultra-polite, but you don't really understand each other. If you like the other person, you're hoping to keep the door open to a second date. If you don't, you're hoping to find a graceful way to avoid hurting your companion's feelings.

I stand corrected.

On a slightly different note, my new favorite online news site SocialMedian, recently came out with an election tracking widget (I wrote a little about it in this post I wrote for the company blog). And if you're looking for election coverage with a tech twist, Jason Goldberg, the founder, will also be covering the election with Leo Laporte live on This Week in Tech on Tuesday, Nov 4 @ 8 pm EST/ 5 pm PST. If that still doesn't do it for you, see Mashable's The Ultimate Election Day 2008 Toolkit.

In the spirit of democracy and freedom, go out and rock that vote!
Or not. Either way it's up to you.

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World Wide Words: Other sites of interest

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 19:06:55 -0800

I've always found words to be a fascinating human tool. We use it everyday but we never really think about it because it's just there. Like air or water.

I've been coming across a lot of word related websites and I'm loving it:

Worldwide words has a nice list of word related websites.

I like Buzz Whack, the Language Log and Lake Superior University's Banished Word's List. Word Origins is cool too.

FWIW, I got on this word trip after picking up Frank Luntz's Words That Work: It's Not What You Say But What People Hear. It's worth a read at the very least because it shows how important the words we use really are.

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Why Open Source?

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 15:32:37 -0700

I read an article in BusinessWeek on Google's Android that's been irking me since I read it. Now I think know why.

As someone who appreciates good ideas, I'm a fan of both Apple & Google. I'm also a beta testing addict who knows nothing about code so the idea of buggy software that's usable by ordinary people makes me as giddy as a 6 year old running after the ice cream truck.

The thing that bothers me is what's supposed to be the difference between the Apple and Google platforms:

The most promising thing about Android is the way Web services and search are integrated across applications. In many programs, anything you type into an open window is interpreted as a search request, tailored to whatever you are doing at that moment.

Umm....Really? That's it?! Is that really the most promising thing about Android?!

And then there's this:

The iPhone has flaws, too, but Apple had all the important pieces in place from Day One. Android is a work in progress. I suspect it could be a formidable competitor in six months or a year, but it has a long way to go.

I think someone misunderstands the potential behind the open source movement and thankfully, it's not Google:

Andy Rubin, who heads up Google's Android efforts, spoke to me yesterday about his vision for the Android Market. In particular, we talked about how the market will be different from Apple's iTunes App Store and some other efforts, which also peddle software for cell phones.
Rubin's message: Google won't impose many of the restrictions Apple developers have been grumbling about. Unlike iPhone aficionados, developers using Android Market will, for example, be able to allow consumers to try their applications for free before they buy them. This may seem like a small thing, but developers name lack of free trial as one of the biggest reasons behind their lukewarm App Store sales.

Yes, Apple's gotten a headstart, but who's going to survive the long game better?

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#5: I Could Die Here And No One Would Ever Know

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:53:18 -0700

Inc. Magazine's Top 10 Signs You're Ready to Leave Your Home Office (via Thought Balloons)

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Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us (Book Tour with Seth Godin)

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 10:37:15 -0700

It's late notice, which is way better than none. If you have a message you care about, this is a chance to hear all about how to be a useful part of the movement:

Today, you have an opportunity – a chance to make a difference and to lead others while doing it. It's easier, more fun and more profitable than you think. But, only if you choose to lead instead of follow… On Tuesday, October 21 at 2pm Eastern Time, meet NY Times bestselling author, Seth Godin, and learn why it's more profitable, powerful and productive to be a leader rather than to sit back and do nothing. You'll discover why you already have the skills you need to make an incredible difference and how you can start leading right now.

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This is my kind of guy

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 03:12:11 -0700

Fascinating story about the kind of people that make the world go round from the Chicago Tribune Blogger gets off ground with 787 . The kind that stays up until 4 a.m. sometimes poring over god knows what and hustling on the Internet to feed his curiousity:

Using media such as Twitter, he broadcast photos and commentary in real time from the plane's assembly lines, to Boeing's consternation. He also scored some of his biggest scoops by enlisting Boeing's workers to correct misinformation in his blog, known as FlightBlogger. They did so at the risk of losing their jobs.
Among Netizens, this is a version of open sourcing, where a blogger calls on a community of readers to contribute facts and correct errors, to the greater good of all readers.

for the pure pleasure of it:

Ostrower remains an unabashed fan of the Dreamliner, which analysts think won't take to the air before early 2009.
"I don't know where this goes from here," Ostrower said. "I hope to see it fly. I'll be standing by the runway and sobbing like a baby."

Every movement has to start as a dream in someone's head.

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They That Innovate Shall Live

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 08:51:18 -0700

Jeff Bezos was ranked #4 on BusinessWeek's 25 Most Influential People on the Web:

...Bezos effectively hushed critics who worried that the company was spending too much on technology and shipping discounts. Now, the company he founded 14 years ago is firmly focused on exactly the kind of new ventures that Bezos relishes.

This is the same Bezos & Amazon that started before, and survived, the .com bust. Yes, there were some dips here and there, but 14 years later, Bezos is still a master at coming up with new ways to solve problems.

Gary Vaynerchuk of WineLibrary.tv would say Jeff Bezo is a master at "killing it".

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Hack the Debate // Current + Twitter

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:54:00 -0700

This morning, I found out that my dream had come true: a way to watch events and get a feel for what other people are thinking in real time. Current TV and Twitter are starting us off with final Presidential debate:

We will broadcast as many of your debate tweets as possible right over the candidates, in real time, on our live broadcast.

Now if I could only stream it on a big, fat tv screen live. This will be a huge step in the right direction if well executed.

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What Color is the Social Web?

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:54:12 -0700

The issue of race is starting to get old (at least I hope it eventually will), but it is a good question to consider for the sake of discussion.

Beth's Blog has a head start on the topic of the online color landscape that's opened my eyes to a very new dimension of the Internet.

The question I was asked had to do with the demographics of social media. How many people of color participate? The question came from a diversity consultant while we were discussing how young people today are being brought up on social networks AND some statistics about age and email/social network use. I referenced Liza Sabater's Brown Bloggers meetups, but could not point to any studies or stats. The consultant also pointed out that flickr photo I used seemed to indicate that the percentage are low.

So, once I got home, I put a question out to my Twitter network. Here's a roundup of what I learned...

The links at the end of the post are also worth the clicks*, especially the Chicago Tribune article Black activists go blogging in challenging status quo, which also touches on the influence of black bloggers on recent events and truth be told, deserves a post of it's own:

The march through Jena, La., last September, which drew more than 20,000 demonstrators from across the country largely on the strength of a blogging campaign, demonstrated the potency of the new Internet movement, many analysts say—and the waning influence of traditional civil rights groups.

The verdict so far? The social web knows no color.

For some reason, that doesn't bother me at all.

HT: TwitterThoughts

*I like links (especially good ones). A LOT.

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This is another Wordpress test

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 22:46:21 -0700

Can humans really outrun cheetahs?

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This is a Test

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 21:35:19 -0700

I just setup a new account at posterous.com, and this is a test to see if it synched with the tumblr , twitter and plurk accounts.

You can also read the first post here .

FWIW, I think it's worth skimming over at the very least.

While you're at it, tell a friend or two. Or all of them.

Cheers!

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Hello World, This is My First Blog Post

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 20:33:00 -0700

The instruction says to:

"Replace the subject line and body with your first blog post and hit send! Include pictures, an mp3, or anything else you want to share. It's just that simple."

I will not.

I will however test it out by attaching a representation of my rather attractive likeness.

This is where you take a look at it and say, "What a strapping, young man!" It's ok if you do it just to be nice.

With that said, the main idea behind this is my recent fascination with the word useful.

And I like the way it sounds when I say it: "Be useful".

In a lot of ways, it is more romantic than well thought out:

Why be useful in the first place? Useful to who? How?
Why attempt to be useful to others at all?
What's in it for me? For them?

In a lot of ways, I'm leaning toward the idea of "a network of cooperating tools, each doing one thing well." Kind of like your stomach, head, fingers and everything else come together to form you. And then you just work. Or kind of like when you discover an especially efficient process of doing laundry that works for you perfectly fine.

By looking at examples of things that do "one thing well", maybe I can get to the bottom of this. You can help me too if you like.

Examples of things that do one thing well include sliced bread, software that's easy to use or a song well- sung. Other examples include quotes, stories, videos. Or whatever else it is you can think of.

Email me at whybeuseful.at.gmail.com and tell me about things you think are useful. Or tell me about something well done (e.g., a drunken speech well-delivered, a well-writen book, a spectacular performace). You get the idea

You can also email me to stroke my ego. And if you send me really good stuff, I'll stroke your ego too.

Or you could just email me because you have something useful to say but no one else will listen to you.

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