march 2008

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Came across this today (hat tip: James King): "Pangea Day taps the power of film to strengthen tolerance and compassion while uniting millions of people to build a better future.In a world where people are often divided by borders, difference, and conflict, it's easy to lose sight of what we all have in common. Pangea Day seeks to overcome that - to help people see themselves in others - through the power of film.On May 10, 2008 - Pangea Day - sites in Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai and Rio de Janeiro will be linked live to produce a program of powerful films, visionary speakers, and uplifting music.The program will be broadcast live to the world through the Internet, television, digital cinemas, and mobile phones.Of course, movies alone can't change the world. But the people who watch them can. So following May 10, 2008, Pangea Day organizers will facilitate community-building activities around the world by connecting inspired viewers with numerous organizations which are already doing groundbreaking work."By Carruthers via Aide-mémoire

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Now that Mick has done this splendid advert of course you want to come along to BarCamp Sydney #3!By Carruthers via Aide-mémoire

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Just read a very interesting article on this research paper: "Dogs on the Street, Pumas on Your Feet: How Cues in the Environment Influence Product Evaluation and Choice," where Wharton marketing professor Jonah Berger suggests that what you see in your everyday world can influence what you buy. This indicates that association is a powerful tool in getting people to purchase. An example he gave was participants in one study who were shown more images of dogs liked sneakers from the Puma brand more than those who had not seen the images -- because dogs are associated with cats, and cats with Puma. "Marketers ... think they have to come up with a catchy slogan or slick advertisement to create a buzz," Berger says. Instead, companies can get a payoff by creating a link between their product and a cue in the environment.More details here: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/index.cfm?fa=viewfeature&id=1927By Carruthers via Aide-mémoire

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The other side to my post the other day about global warmingGigantic Antarctic Ice Chunk CollapsesBy Carruthers via Aide-mémoire

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Krigsman over at ZDNet asked this very interesting question.I reckon that IT is diverging into two separate streams - firstly mission critical systems, that must be highly reliable and resilient. Secondly non-critical systems that are being democratised. I don't think any of us want to use medical or financial systems that are user generated, not tested and not highly secure and fault tolerant? But for other business systems I see socialprise as taking over.So we see the divergence. Where high levels of reliability, redundancy and resilience are required IT departments & engineers are critical. But for the rest roll on the revolution!Corollary: IT departments will get smaller & become irrelevant ...The important thing that web technology is now enabling is ordinary people can generate, change and control it without need for many specialists. This means that business units can control their own technological destiny.Also things like SaaS will continue to change the game. Thus economies of scale that old time IT departments delivered will become less relevant. They will become less relevant because to deliver economies of scale you remove freedom, choice and control from the business. Up until now the business people just had to live with it. Now they are beginning to have viable, cost effective & reliable alternatives.We should see some interesting battles between IT fighting a rearguard action against this phenomenon and the business units pushing ahead so they can achieve their business goals.Scott Adams is not really joking in Dilbert when he refers to the IT department representative as "Mordac preventer of information services".NB: Caveat on all of this is exclusion of mission critical systems from above.By Carruthers via Aide-mémoire

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New Twitter app: Botanicalls, where your plants tweet to let you know how they are doing.As it says on the website: "Botanicalls Twitter answers the question: What's up with your plant? It offers a connection to your leafy pal via online Twitter status updates that reach you anywhere in the world. When your plant needs water, it will post to let you know, and send its thanks when you show it love. "By Carruthers via Aide-mémoire

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General Colin Powell is a leader that I admire. I ran across this list in my travels and thought it worth sharing.Lesson 1: "Good leaders sometimes make people unhappy."Lesson 2: "The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of a relationship"Lesson 3: "Don’t be buffaloed by experts and elites. Experts often possess more data than judgment. Elites can become so inbred that they produce hemophiliacs who bleed to death as soon as they are nicked by the real world."Lesson 4: " Don’t be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own backyard."Lesson 5: "Never neglect details. When everyone’s mind is dulled or distracted, the leader must be doubly vigilant."Lesson 6: "You don’t know what you can get away with until you try."Lesson 7: "Keep looking below surface appearances. Don’t shrink from doing so (just) because you might not like what you find."Lesson 8: " Organization doesn’t really accomplish anything. Plans don’t accomplish anything, either. Theories of management don’t much matter. Endeavors succeed or fail because of the people involved. Only by attracting the best people will you accomplish great deeds."Lesson 9: "Organization charts and fancy titles count for next to nothing".Lesson 10: "Never let your ego get so close to your position that when your position goes, your ego goes with it."Lesson 11: "Fit no stereotypes. Don’t chase the latest management fads. The situation dictates which approach best accomplishes the team’s mission."Lesson 12: "Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier."Lesson 13: "Powell’s Rules for Picking People" – Look for intelligence and judgment and, most critically, a capacity to anticipate, to see around corners. Also look for loyalty, integrity, a high energy drive, a balanced ego and the drive to get things done."Lesson 14: (Borrowed by Powell from Michael Korda): "Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand."Lesson 15 Part I: "Use the formula P=40 to 70, in which P stands for the probability of success and the numbers indicate the percentage of information acquired."Lesson 15 Part II: "Once the information is in the 40 to 70 range, go with your gut."Lesson 16: "The commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong, unless proven otherwise."Lesson 17: "Have fun in your command. Don’t always run at a breakneck pace. Take leave when you’ve earned it: Spend time with your families."Corollary: "Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard."Lesson 18: "Command is lonely."[Source: Little Africa]By Carruthers via Aide-mémoire

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So nothing appears to have changed - we continue to hear the rhetoric of talent wars and continue to see the demonstrable lack of interest or investment in the 'talent' that is already there.Blame CIOs for the IT Skills ShortageWe can't hire enough "talent." Oh, and we're eliminating 3,000+ jobsBy Carruthers via Aide-mémoire

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This quote seems appropriate given the day .."Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him. If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back , and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them. "Source: "Ain't I A Woman?", by Sojourner Truth, Delivered 1851 at the Women's Convention in Akron, Ohio By Carruthers via Aide-mémoire

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Danah Boyd (2007) wrote an interesting discussion of class issues in America as revealed by usage of Facebook and MySpace. Her article , Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace, raises some interesting questions about corporate reactions to social networking being based on class issues (e.g. the military blocking use of MySpace for soldiers but retaining use of Facebook which is used mainly by officers).Wonder what the usage patterns are in Australia? Also wonder if they reveal any class distinctions? By Carruthers via Aide-mémoire

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Ajax Flash Mistakes From: jboutelle, 1 week ago Upload your own For SXSW 2008 SlideShare Link

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Duncan has shared a good one (beware it does contain 'colourful' language)By Carruthers via Aide-mémoire

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It is worth having a look at Krigsman's interview on IT failures and social media. Shel Israel, co-author (with Robert Scoble) of the influential book on blogging, Naked Conversations, recently interviewed Michael regarding on social media and IT failures. He used the interview to summarize his views on some key, failure-related issues. There is a summary of the interview; the topics were from Shel, the answers from Michael.The key issue of communication in preventing failure is discussed, as is user adoption of the technology.By Carruthers via Aide-mémoire

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Jason Falls over at Social Media Explorer has noted a good (or blatant) use of social media for PR. Worth a look to check out their modus operandi. By Carruthers via Aide-mémoire

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I wish Australian politics had such inspiring ideas as the Barack Obama campaign ...or Obama's recent speech on race:By Carruthers via Aide-mémoire

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IMHO the greatest productivity improvement in my life in recent times has been the release of Google Calendar Sync. This has finally allowed me to combine multiple calendars & get a consolidated view of my life. Microsoft Outlook remains my favourite email client. I've tried many of the others, Eudora, Thunderbird, Notes, Entourage, Novell, some others I cannot even remember. But the one thing they do not offer is good calendar management. And, up until now, Outlook only offered this when used in combination with Exchange. But now, using Google Calendar together with Outlook I am happy and can work out what is going on in my diary. This is a great innovation!By Carruthers via Aide-mémoire

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The Definitive Lolcats Glossarysumtiems teh kittehs gets teh letters mixed upThis iz titled: "TEH DEFINITIVE LOLSPEAK GLOSSARYO hai n welcum, Lolspeakrz n chzfrenz! This wiki is designed to be the *definitive* collection of key lolspeak terms and phrases, both native and borrowed, as well as an answer to questions like "why IS that walrus looking for a blue bucket?" Kthx. "This site has everything - LOLspeak, web 2.0 like wiki-ness, etc etcBy Carruthers via Aide-mémoire

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Agen teh kitteh leads teh wai ...Aide-mémoire

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Yet again Twitter proves its utility ...Yesterday SilkCharm was stuck at Dubai airport en route to Saudi Arabia with her mobile phone's global roaming not working. Using the free wireless at the airport (unlike in Australian airports) she was able to tweet her plight. After a few tweets back & forth she provided her phone details & I called the carrier on her behalf & they reset her global roaming. All working fine now.This happy resolution was possible because of Twitter's ability to (a) broadcast a message, (b) send direct messages with non public information. But it is important to note that it was all predicated on a non-third world telecommunications system. Lucky she was in Dubai & not Melbourne or Sydney.By Carruthers via Aide-mémoire

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Saw the Bankwest singing kittens ad recently and thought it was a nice approach. It is also interesting to note that they are using an informal voice throughout their other customer service channels too. So it is not just creative but IVR, online, etc. This integrated approach seems to be part of their overall positioning strategy to support their east coast expansion.I don't really care - I just liked the kittehs!By Carruthers via Aide-mémoire

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This is one of the funniest things I've seen in recent times - there are actually some businesses I think people have really pitched! SXSW: 7 Fake Startups Compete for 'Worst Website Ever'By Carruthers via Aide-mémoire

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I am always amazed by diversity of groups on Facebook. Given my love for all things Canadian (gotta respect people who invade America & burn down the White House) this group tickled my fancy - Canadian friends on facebook.. Come meet a Canadian friend!!Currently wishing I was in Montreal to practise my French, drink red wine, and go snowmobiling (apparently it is -11 degrees centigrade there at the moment).By Carruthers via Aide-mémoire

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Here is a fabulous resource: 100+ Resources for Web DevelopersThere are a bunch of neat tools I'll be having a play with over the next little while - hat tip to Jeremiah Owyang for the link :)By Carruthers via Aide-mémoire

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First time I've made it to a Mobile Monday Sydney session - nice venue (apparently it rained last time & everyone got wet) and there were some interesting discussion re mobile technology. But do suspect that some presenters need more practise with the short time allotted to their talks.My view is that these mobile applications are not yet simple enough for users en masse. Very close though - good usable mobile apps are not far off.The interesting realisation I had was that, while the US has lots of 3G phones, they don't have any 3G networks. So while large players like this are not in the game we are unlikely to see the scale to drive better UI and user experiences. It was also a shock to realise that Canada had a more restrictive regulatory regime.From my own perspective mobile web is so slow as to remind me of olden days with dial-up internet! Can't wait for it to get better, I hear a rumour that the government will fix it (but that could just be a joke?).By Carruthers via Aide-mémoire

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Jeff Pulver's Social Media Breakfast in NY as covered by a reporter from Fortune Magazine. Discovering the face-to-face interaction of Web 2.0 fans and the applications they are generating.read more | digg story