Does anyone remember the images of Dick Tracy and the camera phone in his watch? The camera phone was supposed to be one of the great technological things of the future – but where is it? The technology may be there – but is the will to use it still here? I blame texting – as it has become just too easy.
There’s something about texting that’s appealing – in that it allows us to space to respond when we want to. I find myself at work using IM in the same way – as I can do something else while someone is asking a question – which is nice. Maybe I’m lazy but it’s effective and works for other people also. Texting and IM doesn’t completely occupy our attention – which seems to suit our multi-tasking culture – we not fully present as much as we used to be.
The other thing is that maybe we just don’t want to be seen – to not reveal that much. If think if we had picture phones we wouldn’t take calls in the bathroom -vs. how many today text while on the potty? Talk on the phone while dressing? Text while being occupied with a kid, a pet, etc.?
Maybe it’s not the best thing for us – maybe we need to pay attention to each other….
For Fun here are the 1st 2 paragraphs in “text”:
DUR PIC DICK TRACY CAM PHN ON WATCH? THAT BE TECH OF FUTURE WH5 BE? THE TECH HERE - BUT WILL TO USE? I BLM TXTNG - AS EASY.
TXTNG NICE - RSP WH5 WAN2. USE IM WRK SAME - DO WHL THEY ASK ? - NICE. I LAZY - BUT WRKS. TXTING & IM NOT ALL ATTN - WRKS FOR MLT TSK CULTURE - NOT ALL HERE LIK BEF.
I think this is just totally cool – WEB FONTS! Google has recently released web fonts: http://code.google.com/webfonts. For years we have been stuck with a limited set of fonts that could be displayed in web pages – Arial, Times New Roman, Courier, Georgia, Verdana, and Geneva. To do anything more interesting I’ve always had to embed them in images – such as for menus.
I saw a Twitter post about these web fonts and got pretty excited – the concept of having more options natively in a web page – not having to use a graphic or flash to accomplish this. There are some interesting fonts available – I used “IM Fell Double Pica SC” in my blog for the titles – which I think is just cool. It took me a little while to figure it out – but I found this article that shows how to use them in a WordPress blog: http://wpmu.org/how-to-use-the-google-font-directory-with-wordpress-and-buddypress/
This is another one of those items that tell me that web content is really about to blossom – in looking at the documentation (http://code.google.com/apis/webfonts/docs/getting_started.html) there are some interesting things you can do with these – such as adding shadows.
Sports Illustrated demonstrated an HTML5 demo of what, to me, is what a magazine on the web should be:http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/05/19/si.html5.demo.shows.flash.not.needed.to.demo/ Make sure you watch the video – as it’s fascinating what they can do without flash or other special apps. From what I’ve heard the native apps on the iPad just don’t touch this – and this would work on any tablet or PC. You can tell Google influenced this app – as their vision of the world is more open and based on the browser – so HTML5 takes us much closer to that reality.
I just read “GEEKS, GEEZERS and GOOGLIZATION” by Dr. Ira S. Wolfe. This was an interesting book in that it made you think about differences between the generations. I think there are 2 key learning points from this book;
- We need to treat people the way they want to be treated – not the way we want to be treated. Recognize them as individuals – who have different learning, communication, etc. preferences and view points
- The generations have different viewpoints about reality that can be in conflict if not recognized – they each have their advantages and disadvantages.
Without re-printing the book I’ll summarize here some information about the different generations I found valuable: View full article »
Interesting Read – “The Murder of Lehman Brothers” by Joseph Tibman. This was a personal account of the “death” of Lehman Brothers – part of the Financial Crisis of 2008. The author is a former investment banker – written under a false name so he could get another job. This is not a scholarly work – but a personal account from the inside – of the history and culture of Lehman Brothers. It was a nice read – as the personal story drew me into the drama of the events of the firm – especially around 9/11 and at the end.
Like other reviews I’m not going to re-iterate the book – but focus on some of the key points of the book. What was most fascinating was how the events of the day looked from the inside of the industry. To the outside and in hindsight it seems like people were insane but the author gives some reasoning why people felt and acted the way they did.
One interesting point he makes is that the events of 9/11 – the struggle for survival of the company – created a unique culture at Lehman Brothers. The company struggled many times – but emerged through deft management after many of those struggles. Those in the firm believed in the firm – believed that any struggle could be overcome with hard work and patience. I got the hint of a different world that these bankers and traders lived in – one of risk, reward and the thrill of the deal. View full article »
I saw this article today about how Microsoft is now involved in the patent battle between HTC and Apple: http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/28/microsoft-htc-android-apple-patents/
I feel like I’m watching a tennis match – as these patent wars go back and forth. I’m not a big fan of software patents – for reasons like this. I would prefer companies spend their energy innovating – not litigating. I also find some of the software patents to be extremely questionable – as they seem obvious and easy to independently create without “stealing” from another person.
What’s interesting is that Microsoft used to be in the news about defending it’s patent portfolio – but I haven’t heard much lately. Instead I’ve heard about how successful Windows 7 has been, Office 2010 coming out and a completely new phone operating system. I think this might be a better strategy – to innovate and attract customers for the value you provide to them – not being distracted by patent wars.
Then again maybe I’m naive – maybe this suing and cross-licensing is a part of our world that goes on every day. That it’s part of the cost of the products we offer in the U.S. (doesn’t apply to some other countries) in our business ecosystem. That it’s not a big deal – the companies litigate, settle and cross-license all the time – as that’s the most efficient way.
One of my favorite tool combinations is Gallery 2 and the Windows XP Publishing wizard. I use Gallery2 on most of the websites I maintain – as it works well and is priced right (free!). I realized a long time ago that a dynamic photo gallery was much more effective in managing large numbers of photos (some of my clients have a LOT of photos). I originally a different photo gallery – but it was the Windows XP publishing wizard for Gallery2 that I found most effective.
What’s nice about it is I simply browse to a folder and pick either the entire folder or some of the pictures and upload them to the Gallery. I can create a new album, resize and create thumbnails all in one step. I’m professionally lazy – so things to save time and energy impress me. I also like how it’s easy to integrate the look and feel with the existing site – as I’ve learned what items to manipulate. You can also choose different styles and layout options – without affecting the photos.
For examples check out:
I’m loving how well Gmail synchronizes with the e-mail on my Palm Pre. I’m getting used to using Gmail – but I love how if I delete an e-mail off either my laptop (browser) or my Palm Pre it’s gone in both places. The sent mail is in the same sent folder, the contacts are the same – it’s great integration. That saves so much time and energy.
Maybe everyone else has the experience – but good synchronization is wonderful. I’m hoping that if I can actually buy an app on my Palm Pre (app store won’t let me purchase anything) I can get a password app that synchronizes with a desktop version – keep it simple and the same…
When I purchased my Palm Pre I knew it was time to move to Gmail – as the e-mail on this phone works well with Gmail. I’d been thinking about it for some time – as Outlook was becoming somewhat annoying and the appeal of access to e-mail anywhere was compelling. So I decided to make the move for the following reasons:
- I was tired of POP3 access on my old Phone – as I would find myself deleting e-mails off both the phone and then later on Outlook.
- Gmail can pull in my various POP3 accounts (I have an ISP account, Yahoo and my own website’s e-mail) into one view.
- My Palm Pre can then connect to Gmail to show all my e-mail – but NOT download it – only view it.
- With IMAP access I can upload my set of old e-mails to Gmail.
- I felt comfortable with Gmail – as it was a secure connection and I can enable offline ability.
- The world is moving to the cloud – so I might as well go with it.
- Finally Outlook was getting annoying – as I was up to 3 different PST files and it was still slow. That and trying to access the same Outlook files from 2 different computers was problematic (as Outlook would try to re-create a default file every time it couldn’t access a network connection). View full article »
This book – The Future Arrived Yesterday – by Michael S. Malone – is a proposal by the author (I keep writing doctor as I’m in the hospital and I’m tired when I writing this) on how to re-structure corporations to handle the changes in the future. He proposes a new structure – the “Protean” corporation – as an organizational structure to better adapt to the changing conditions in the future. A “Protean” corporation, according to the Michael S. Malone, is a corporate structure that has a more “permanent” core along with a more nebulous “cloud” that serves that core. View full article »
