tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74175692024-03-07T15:44:53.071-08:00Wrapt in WebThe Information Management industry and Business Processes.Alistairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16645250755410908850noreply@blogger.comBlogger142125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417569.post-50904324766499734992018-02-04T02:59:00.001-08:002018-02-04T02:59:02.233-08:00Will our Brains Sag too?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Another perspective on how automation may change what we become is that technology will drive mass stupidity. Perhaps it is already starting. It's possible, for example, that the logical and observational fallacies needed to believe in a flat earth allow some people to truly believe the earth is flat. In his<a href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/stupid-economy-declining-human-intelligence-by-harold-james-2018-01?a_la=english&a_d=5a65c29b78b6c71c5c375133&a_m=&a_a=click&a_s=&a_p=homepage&a_li=stupid-economy-declining-human-intelligence-by-harold-james-2018-01&a_pa=opinionthatmoves&a_ps=secondary-articles"> Project Syndicate Article "The Stupid Economy"</a> Harold James puts forward the idea that we may well devolve into stupider, less satisfied people, or that people will start boasting of their mental exercise regimen. It's hard to know which would be worse. However there might be another path ...<br />
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James observes correctly how technology changed us physically "... <span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #333333; font-family: "Noto Serif", serif; font-size: 16px;">Gradually, the basic nature of work had changed. By the late twentieth century, farmers sat on tractors, and even coal mining had become largely mechanized. There were few people in developed economies still earning incomes from the sweat of their brows.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">Human physiognomy also changed, especially when the Industrial Revolution’s full potential was realized. Sedentary lifestyles produced visibly different people. Waistlines expanded as previously salubrious diets, needed to fuel massive physical exertion, became increasingly unhealthy.</span><a aria-controls="login-register" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" class="comment__caller comment__caller--no-comment" href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/stupid-economy-declining-human-intelligence-by-harold-james-2018-01?a_la=english&a_d=5a65c29b78b6c71c5c375133&a_m=&a_a=click&a_s=&a_p=homepage&a_li=stupid-economy-declining-human-intelligence-by-harold-james-2018-01&a_pa=opinionthatmoves&a_ps=secondary-articles##" style="bottom: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #2499e0; opacity: 0.5; position: absolute; right: -30px; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="icon icon--small icon--comment add" style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: inherit; color: transparent; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: a; font-size: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; height: 25px; line-height: 0; min-height: 20px; min-width: 20px; position: relative; text-shadow: none; vertical-align: middle; width: 25px;"></span><span class="comment__count" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #9b9b9b; font-family: "Noto Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; left: 0px; line-height: 20px; position: absolute; text-align: center; top: -20px; width: 25px;"></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">Some people saw these changes happening, and worried about them. A growing minority started to pursue intense physical activity not in fields or factories, but in leisure settings. The sweat of one’s brow was no longer associated with productive work, but with consumption – often conspicuous consumption. Gyms became new sources of community. And as coworkers started to exercise together, enlightened employers came to see such recreation as a valuable source of physical and mental wellbeing." ....</span></div>
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His argument is that, just as it happened with our physical effort, so it may happen with our intellectual health. </div>
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<span style="background-color: #fcfcfc;">"</span><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">AI and automation have obvious implications for employment. But they will also affect the human mind. The jobs of the future, most of them in the services sector, will require a different set of skills, particularly interpersonal skills that robotic applications – even Siri or Alexa – cannot provide. The ability to perform complex calculations or sophisticated analyses will be far less important.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">The problem is that many older activities – be it driving in difficult conditions on a mountain road or taking on a complex legal case – are a source of fulfillment for countless people, because they provide opportunities to confront difficult, intrinsically motivated challenges. Soon, those activities, like plowing a medieval field, may be lost forever.</span><a aria-controls="login-register" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" class="comment__caller comment__caller--no-comment" href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/stupid-economy-declining-human-intelligence-by-harold-james-2018-01?a_la=english&a_d=5a65c29b78b6c71c5c375133&a_m=&a_a=click&a_s=&a_p=homepage&a_li=stupid-economy-declining-human-intelligence-by-harold-james-2018-01&a_pa=opinionthatmoves&a_ps=secondary-articles##" style="bottom: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #2499e0; opacity: 0.5; position: absolute; right: -30px; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="icon icon--small icon--comment add" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; box-sizing: inherit; color: transparent; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: a; font-size: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; height: 25px; line-height: 0; min-height: 20px; min-width: 20px; position: relative; text-shadow: none; vertical-align: middle; width: 25px;"></span><span class="comment__count" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #9b9b9b; font-family: "Noto Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; left: 0px; line-height: 20px; position: absolute; text-align: center; top: -20px; width: 25px;"></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">Worse still, ample evidence shows that people may have reason to regret retiring from mentally demanding jobs and embarking on a life of leisure. It turns out that not having to think on a regular basis is neither restful nor enjoyable. On the contrary, it tends to lead to poor mental and physical health, and a deteriorating quality of life.</span><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc;">"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fcfcfc;">James has a bleak view of the potential prospect: "</span><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">Mass stupidity will be driven by technology. But, as with the cult of physical fitness that took hold during the Industrial Revolution, a new industry of intelligence training will likely emerge to counter mental deterioration. Listening to someone constructing a logically articulated argument will become an exclusive source of aesthetic pleasure and distinction. “Difficult” works of literature or visual arts will become an ever more attractive form of conspicuous consumption.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">And yet something about this seems deeply unpleasant. It is bad enough to listen to people boast about their physical fitness. But braggadocio about superior intellect will be far worse. The need to prove oneself as a lasting relic of the old human supremacy will threaten not just the common good, but also our common humanity."</span></div>
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Yet there are emerging outlets that maintain and develop our intellect without displaying a Mensa certificate or the mental equivalent of lycra. The challenges of some computer games require advanced problem solving. Massive multi-player universes like Eve Online require careful analysis of ship configuration, although some braggadocio does creep into the community. More interesting are events like capture the flag (CTF) competitions where innocents like myself are trained to analyse code fragments to see how to crack them. Our critical facilities are stretched, and there are always more challenges.</div>
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The most hopeful, though, are some of the emerging citizen scientist initiatives. I follow <a href="https://www.facebook.com/meowludo">Meow-Ludo Meow-Meow</a> whose Facebook feed is littered with interesting events and devices like the MINION - a portable, realtime device for biological analyses using DNA and RNA sequencing. He is a founder of BioFoundry - a not for profit community lab space in Sydney with a mission to democratise science, and that provides lab space and equipment. After a recent event in a rural town, they are connecting hacker groups with local farmers to develop new advances in agriculture.</div>
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These local initiatives, talks by authors, intensive gardening and plant breeding, citizens becoming engaged and learning new ideas and approaches, are all ways of developing skills that can keep our brains working and healthy. I hope it will be enough. The flat earth conferences get larger every year.</div>
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Alistairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16645250755410908850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417569.post-77818408566322074082012-08-20T00:53:00.001-07:002012-08-20T00:53:43.728-07:00Meat from a 3D printer - Are vegetarians saved?<p>Breakout Labs, eccentric billionaire Peter Thiel’s biotech foundation, announced an intruguing investment in a start-up that makes 3D printed meat. The company engineers tissues to create leather and edible meat, in a process that eliminates many of the negative environment effects associated with traditional livestock practices, according to a report by CNET. It uses animal stem cell tissues to create input material, and prints out meat that involves no harm to animals. It's also a process that should be more environmentally friendly than normal meat production. <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/48705341">CNBC Small Business</a>.</p>Alistairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16645250755410908850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417569.post-40555683131850310592012-08-20T00:07:00.001-07:002012-08-20T00:07:57.360-07:00OAuth and Facebook - take care to clean apps up<p>since Gmail <a href="http://googlecode.blogspot.com/2010/03/oauth-access-to-imapsmtp-in-gmail.html">added OAuth support</a> in March 2010, an increasing number of startups are asking for a perpetual, silent window into your inbox.</p><p>I’m concerned OAuth, while hugely convenient for both developers and users, may be paving the way for an inevitable privacy meltdown.....</p><p>....</p><p>If you’ve ever granted permission for a service to use your Twitter, Facebook, or Google account, you’ve used OAuth.</p><p>This was a radical improvement. It’s easier for users, taking a couple of clicks to authorize accounts, and passwords are never sent insecurely or stored by services who shouldn’t have them. And developers never have to worry about storing or transmitting private passwords.</p><p>But this convenience creates a new risk. It’s training people not to care.</p><p>It’s so simple and pervasive that even savvy users have no issue letting dozens of new services access their various accounts.....</p><h3>Stay Safe</h3><p>Clearly, we’re not going to stop using awesome new utilities just because there’s a privacy risk. But there are best practices you can follow to stay safe.</p><ul><li><strong>Clean up your app permissions.</strong> The best thing you could do, right now, is to log into each service you care about and revoke access to the apps you no longer use or care about, especially those that have access to Gmail. Finding the permissions pages can be tricky, but the nice folks at <a href="http://mypermissions.org/">MyPermissions.org</a> made a handy dashboard linking to every one.</li><li><strong>Think before you authorize.</strong> Before authorizing an account, find out who you’re granting access to. Look for a staff page, contact address, and take a look at the privacy policy to make sure they’re not sharing or selling your info with third parties. Bonus points if they outline their security policies and offer a way to disconnect service from within the app. If anything seems off, don’t do it.</li><li><strong>When in doubt, change your password.</strong> Have a feeling that someone might be reading your mail, but not sure which app is to blame? Changing your password instantly invalidates all your Google and Facebook OAuth tokens, though Twitter tokens persist after password changes.</li></ul>Alistairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16645250755410908850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417569.post-74377542225611872992012-02-11T22:20:00.000-08:002012-02-11T22:32:12.639-08:00Quick Personal Security Audit Tool<a href="http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2012/02/perpetual-window-into-gmail/">Wired</a> has found a useful new tool to check who or what you have authorised to have access to your Facebook, Google and other accounts, quickly and easily: <a href="http://mypermissions.org/">MyPermissions.org</a>. Give it a check now.<br /><br />The Article goes on to note:<br /><p>since Gmail <a href="http://googlecode.blogspot.com/2010/03/oauth-access-to-imapsmtp-in-gmail.html">added OAuth support</a> in March 2010, an increasing number of startups are asking for a perpetual, silent window into your inbox. </p> <p>I’m concerned OAuth, while hugely convenient for both developers and users, may be paving the way for an inevitable <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy" title="Privacy" rel="wikipedia">privacy</a> meltdown.....</p> <p>....<br /></p> <p>If you’ve ever granted permission for a service to use your Twitter, Facebook, or Google account, you’ve used OAuth.</p> <p>This was a radical improvement. It’s easier for users, taking a couple of clicks to authorize accounts, and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Password" title="Password" rel="wikipedia">passwords</a> are never sent insecurely or stored by services who shouldn’t have them. And developers never have to worry about storing or transmitting private passwords.</p> <p>But this convenience creates a new risk. It’s training people not to care.</p> <p>It’s so simple and pervasive that even savvy users have no issue letting dozens of new services access their various accounts.....</p> <h3>Stay Safe</h3> <p>Clearly, we’re not going to stop using awesome new utilities just because there’s a privacy risk. But there are <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_practice" title="Best practice" rel="wikipedia">best practices</a> you can follow to stay safe.</p> <ul><li><strong>Clean up your app permissions.</strong> The best thing you could do, right now, is to log into each service you care about and revoke access to the apps you no longer use or care about, especially those that have access to Gmail. Finding the permissions pages can be tricky, but the nice folks at <a href="http://mypermissions.org/">MyPermissions.org</a> made a handy dashboard linking to every one.</li><li><strong>Think before you authorize.</strong> Before authorizing an account, find out who you’re granting access to. Look for a staff page, contact address, and take a look at the privacy policy to make sure they’re not sharing or selling your info with third parties. Bonus points if they outline their security policies and offer a way to disconnect service from within the app. If anything seems off, don’t do it.</li><li><strong>When in doubt, change your password.</strong> Have a feeling that someone might be reading your mail, but not sure which app is to blame? Changing your password instantly invalidates all your Google and Facebook OAuth tokens, though Twitter tokens persist after password changes.</li></ul> Reade the rest of the <a href="http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2012/02/perpetual-window-into-gmail/">Article at Wired</a>.<br />For more on how OAth works:<br /><div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0pt 0pt;">Related articles</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://blog.apigee.com/detail/oauth_flow_for_mobile_apps/">OAuth: Flow for mobile apps</a> (apigee.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://blog.apigee.com/detail/oauth_why_its_good_for_api_providers/">OAuth: Why it's good for API providers</a> (apigee.com)</li></ul></div> <div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img style="border: medium none; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=11ad8de3-1182-4ba4-b946-0e206ed3bf90" alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" /></a></div>Alistairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16645250755410908850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417569.post-64185461878346306852011-12-30T19:59:00.001-08:002011-12-30T19:59:46.371-08:00Twitter Subpoena demonstrates extent of Surveillance<h6 class="uiStreamMessage"><span class="messageBody">In an Interesting new development - Boston Police have issued a subpoena for information on all Twitter users that used the hashtag BostonPD or twittered occupyBoston. The information specifically includes Date and IP Address of account creation. I wonder how many established their accounts using a VPN? I know I didn't use one back then. It will raise interesting questions about the safety of International users. Sympathisers in other Countries with their own "Occupy" and protest movements can be exposed - in some cases with serious potential consequences. We await the Court decision with interest. </span></h6><h6 class="uiStreamMessage"><span class="messageBody">The moral: more than ever, be careful what appears in your social media stream - even if you are just following interesting developments and not actively participating. Your actions are being tracked. The subpoena appears below.<br /> <br /> <a rel="nofollow nofollow" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/76393350/Subpoena-on-p0isAn0n-OccupyBoston-BostonPD-d0xcak3" target="_blank"><span>http://www.scribd.com/doc/</span><span>76393350/</span><span>Subpoena-on-p0isAn0n-OccupyBost</span>on-BostonPD-d0xcak3</a></span></h6>Alistairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16645250755410908850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417569.post-26284938625326560742011-05-01T06:09:00.001-07:002011-05-01T06:17:16.086-07:00Indian and Chinese Entrepreneurs Leaving US<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Interesting <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2011/04/28/why-entrepreneurs-from-india-and-china-are-leaving-america/">Article</a> from Venturebeats' Entrepreneur Corner. This US downturn is more serious than a mere recession - in part because of the fear of Foreigners that has rarely been a part of US public life in the past. There may have been many individuals with prejudiced views, but public figures stood for America as a great innovation capital for the World. To do that one needs to let people travel relatively freely. Enhanced border security and pat downs for every flight leg reduce the willingness of people to visit. Border Security personnel do not seem to be acting as though they are America's frontline of Welcome - people's first impression of arriving in America is likely to be harsh. In contrast China works hard to make visitors welcome. Immigration control officers each have a little 'voting button' where you register if you were happy with them or not. Every visitor votes. If America loses the innovation lead, other losses will follow.<br /><br />Venturebeat says:<br /><br /><blockquote>skilled immigrants are leaving the U.S. in droves. This is because of economic opportunities in countries like India and China, a desire to be closer to family and friends, and a deeply flawed U.S immigration system. It doesn’t matter whether we call this “brain drain” or “brain circulation”– it is a loss for America. Innovation that would otherwise be happening here is going abroad.<p>With all the stories we read about weak infrastructure in India, authoritarianism in China, and corruption and red tape in both countries, the perception is that these entrepreneurs are facing major handicaps back home. They have no chance of competing with us, so we have nothing to worry about, right?</p> <p>Wrong.</p></blockquote> <p><a href="http://venturebeat.com/2011/04/28/why-entrepreneurs-from-india-and-china-are-leaving-america/">Read the full Article</a><br /></p><br /><br /><br /><div class="zemanta-pixie"><img src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=d07a56c3-8c6d-84cb-bc37-6083c7827010" alt="" class="zemanta-pixie-img" /></div></div>Alistairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16645250755410908850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417569.post-43804726909327059572010-10-08T19:36:00.000-07:002010-10-08T19:50:54.942-07:0010 Things CEO's Need to Know about DesignJason Purtoti was lead designer for Mint.com. If you want to know the key design decisions that affect visitors and generate a 'call to action' then this is the place to start. The transformation of the American Airlines site is one of the best User Experience (UX) stories out there.<br /><br />This presentation doesn't have sound, but take your time to think about what each slide is saying. For the best experience, click through to <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/novaurora/10-things-ceos-need-to-know-about-design#text-version">SlideShare</a>.<br />...<br /><br /><div style="width: 425px;" id="__ss_4074830"><strong style="display: block; margin: 12px 0pt 4px;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/novaurora/10-things-ceos-need-to-know-about-design" title="10 Things CEOs Need to Know About Design ">10 Things CEOs Need to Know About Design </a></strong><object id="__sse4074830" height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=bessemertalk-100512183606-phpapp01&rel=0&stripped_title=10-things-ceos-need-to-know-about-design&userName=novaurora"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed name="__sse4074830" src="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=bessemertalk-100512183606-phpapp01&rel=0&stripped_title=10-things-ceos-need-to-know-about-design&userName=novaurora" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="355" width="425"></embed></object><div style="padding: 5px 0pt 12px;">View more <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/">presentations</a> from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/novaurora">Jason Putorti</a>.</div></div><br />...Alistairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16645250755410908850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417569.post-19342398324221043452010-10-02T16:59:00.000-07:002010-10-02T17:19:00.391-07:00Web Site Makeovers - Case StudiesHow do you get visitors, how do you keep visitors returning and how do you convert visits to sales? If you want real-life practical demonstrations of how to do this, then do I have the video for you!<br /><br />In this recorded presentation, Andrew Fingerman spoke to the folks at Telluride about Extreme Makeovers of Photography Websites. Using dozens of live examples, Andrew shows photographers how to turn a photography website into a more powerful marketing tool to attract new visitors, turn them into customers, and keep them coming back for more... but it applies to much more than photography websites.<br /><br />His examples of how blogs are an integral part of the site, and examples of how web site owners have made them relevant are core demonstrations of the 'new' way the web works. This is no 'casual' presentation. It uses real life examples and works through what has changed and why it matters. It's worth putting aside some time. The 'technical difficulties' mean that sound drops occassionally, but persevere.<br /><br />Andrew isn't a 'big name' outside photography, and this isn't some 'flashy' speaker on a podium. He's a <a href="http://wraptinweb.blogspot.com/2009/03/coffee-and-code-watercoolers-and-safe.html">coffee addict</a> whose livelihood depends on doing. </p><br /><br /><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="480" height="386" id="utv634604" name="utv_n_860412"><param name="flashvars" value="loc=%2F&autoplay=false&vid=9788194&locale=en_US" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.ustream.tv/flash/video/9788194?v3=1" /><embed flashvars="loc=%2F&autoplay=false&vid=9788194&locale=en_US" width="480" height="386" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" id="utv634604" name="utv_n_860412" src="http://www.ustream.tv/flash/video/9788194?v3=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" /></embed></object>Alistairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16645250755410908850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417569.post-16190363824166719382010-10-02T16:14:00.000-07:002010-10-02T16:23:01.842-07:00Passion can see Beauty and Share itMaking a promotional video beautiful and captivating. This brilliant (no pun intended) video from <a href="http://laughingsquid.com/how-ink-is-made/">laughing Squid</a> shows how it can be done - a pleasure to watch. Set to Alfred Brendel's lyrical <em>Piano Concerto No.5 in E flat major</em>, it shows the process from top to bottom of how ink is made. The vivid and even balletic video captivates us with beauty - the lush yellow ink folding into itself at the beginning is the hook that keeps us watching - the whole video - completely enthralled. Enjoy - and learn.<br /><br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Fypi6dAJB8E?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Fypi6dAJB8E?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>Alistairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16645250755410908850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417569.post-46324213650723950142010-09-21T18:07:00.000-07:002010-09-21T18:16:14.677-07:00The Best Collection of Development Links I've Seen<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://project.cmd.hro.nl/cmi/hci/toolkit/img/process.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 992px; height: 132px;" src="http://project.cmd.hro.nl/cmi/hci/toolkit/img/process.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>The best current collection of links on developing a major project or website has come out of the OzIA conference <a href="http://project.cmd.hro.nl/cmi/hci/toolkit/index2.php">http://project.cmd.hro.nl/cmi/hci/toolkit/index2.php</a>. It is the beginning of a toolkit that offers an overview of the methods and techniques which can be used throughout the user-centered design process. <br /><br />This is the first release of the toolkit, which is assembling the resources. Next we can expect more context information - but what a wonderful collection. For more information contact Bas Leurs (Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, <a href="mailto:b.l.f.leurs@hro.nl">b.l.f.leurs@hro.nl</a>).Alistairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16645250755410908850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417569.post-87796161143484188522010-07-06T22:00:00.001-07:002010-07-06T22:30:16.978-07:00Can Yahoo be Saved - A Strategy for failure<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Know what your website does .. and does not do. A clear Vision or sense of purpose is a key factor that separates websites that succeed versus those that fail. A clear vision underpins all our design decisions. It helps us decide what functionality to include or exclude. Just because [insert trendy web site here - Apple, Microsoft, Google or Digg] does [insert fancy widget] is reason to be aware of a capability, but does not make it essential. Conversely, there are things your website HAS to do to win over your target market. When you don't focus, you will regularly fail to recognise what's essential. This is the situation Yahoo! seems to have been for the last several years.<br /><br />It saddens me to write about Yahoo! in this context. I've been a member since March 1998, and a paying member for most of that time. It's apparently unbelievable to new web adopters that Yahoo! was once one of the great innovators. "Once upon a Time" they were leaders in tools we now take for granted - task list on same page as calendar, synchronization of data with the phone (or PDA in those days) and they developed a brilliant desktop search tool (that indexed USB drives and maybe even network drives - but my memory is unreliable here - it was a very long time ago).<br /><br />The decline has been obvious for a long time, the missed opportunities, cost cutting the wrong things. So what has prompted this outburst (and planned, painful separation). The final straw seems trivial perhaps: Plaxo (Plaxo.com) has stated that they will no longer synchronize their data aggregation tool with Yahoo! because it has become too hard.<br /><br />So what? Well let's look at why I used Yahoo! for so long, what did a paying customer like me join Yahoo! for. I'm a consultant operating a small to medium business looking for a low cost online place to centralize my personal and business information. It needs to be available to my phone, and any other application that uses my core contact, to do and calendar information.<br /><br />Yahoo! was originally ideal. Each contact page has a unique URL so I can place that in, for example, a project management tool - click on the name, up comes the contact details, use it in a mind map of something - click on the entry and I can dial/email without having to interrupt workflow. Same with Notes - click on the URL and I can update the annotation. No PC-based package can offer that.<br /><br />Now ... see what I almost, but don't quite, have - a low cost CRM. All the components are there - calendar, Notes, Tasks with due date and Contact details - all with unique hyperlinks. All can be synchronised to the Phone. Plus email with aliases (for paying customers). A centralized, accessible anywhere, collection of the information I need to run my life and my business. All wasted because while Google worked and worked to make synchronization of their data easy and pervasive throughout the web, Yahoo! have been tardy in making our data available to us. All wasted because they dropped the focus on paying customers and failed to do the next stage of development and connect the systems they already had.<br /><br />Today, it is much easier to be assimilated by the Google Borg than remain in the Yahoo! camp. Google has, with focus and dedication, made it easy. But why is it so? Ease of data exchange is a priority with anyone that has the disposable income to use a smartphone. Isn't that the demographic to aim for? Which demographic contains IT journalists, bloggers, those who make recommendations to new users? Now look at your own websites - have you ignored Smartphone users or made data hard to get at?<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">As a sidenote, this is not a universal truth - just a general one: I've sometimes had to design websites for Indigenous or Rural and Remote communities where Smartphones are just not a priority - as always - know your audience, know your purpose.</span><br /><br />Desktop search was another sad episode. I don't know the full story, but it looked to me as if Yahoo! bought in a package. One that I tried a couple of times and uninstalled each time. One that wasn't as function rich as the original Yahoo! product. One that doesn't touch USB drives (last I looked, I gave them a second chance before I installed Google desktop - that's it). The USB function isn't just important for me. Lots of people would overflow their local drive. However, for me it is crucial - I have 2 Terabytes of supplementary material I want indexed - training courses, white papers, coding examples and - if it's my turn to cook - recipes. Google desktop on my Mac still is nowhere near as good as the old Yahoo! desktop search, but it's reliable. Yahoo! started to lose me from the moment I had to install Google desktop search.<br /><br />Increasingly, I'm even using Google Search for work. I don't want distracting news items or social 'stuff' distracting me when I have a task to complete. Surely this is something that Yahoo! could let me personalize.<br /><br />Yahoo! continues to do some excellent things in small areas. Yahoo! Pipes is a great tool. However, the bright spots of excellence don't seem to be treasured and disappear in the surrounding smog of directionless missed opportunity. I'll keep my email addresses - I've had them a long time - but my contacts have moved to - you guessed it - Google as my central repository. How the mighty are fallen. All we can do is observe, learn and apply to our own websites. The web is always dynamic, and there is no place for complacency. So .. is there really a clear vision for each of your sites? If not, prepare to lose your visitors. Even a Yahoo! can fail.<br /></div>Alistairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16645250755410908850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417569.post-76094524214202747932010-04-25T18:50:00.001-07:002010-04-25T18:50:09.560-07:00We Lose our Self-Discipline when tired or Hungry - but why?<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Why do we go off our diets, or exercise programs, at the very time we need them - when we are tired or stressed? If we want to retain control of our lives, then we need to understand about the Biochemistry underneath these changes - and some of it is quite basic. Self-discipline needs glucose to the brain. Exercising self-discipline takes energy. Therefore we need to keep ourselves properly fueled, fit, and refreshed by proper sleep. It's so easy to enter the self-harm spiral, where we miss out on any one of these because of the pressure of life. I'm finding it hard to take time to exercise because work is urgent right now. It's the old conflict between what's important and what's urgent. Today, however, I'm just back from a break. Energized, not fit but fitter, and ready to write. Take a minute to read more about the science behind it so we can all manage our lives better.<br/><blockquote>Scientists have long argued that delaying gratification requires a sense of "self." Having a sense of personal identity allows us to compare what we are today, at this very moment, with what we want to be--an idealized self. Aspiring to this idealized self is what fosters uniquely human self-control powers.<br/>Well maybe--or maybe not. New research is now suggesting a much more primitive explanation for our powers of self-discipline--one that brings us down a notch or two in the animal kingdom. Indeed, it appears that, even with our lofty aspirations, we may rely on the same rudimentary biological engine for self-discipline as our four-legged best friends. Here's the science.<br/><br/>Psychological scientist Holly Miller and her colleagues at the University of Kentucky knew from previous research that human self-control relies on the brain's "executive" powers, which coordinate thought and action. It's further known that this kind of cognitive processing is fueled by glucose, and that depletion of the brain's fuel supply compromises self-discipline. But is this a uniquely human fuel system? Or do less evolved animals rely on sugar-powered executive functioning as well?<br/><br/><a href='http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wray-herbert/dog-tired-what-our-hounds_b_538878.html'>Wray Herbert: Dog Tired: What Our Hounds Can Teach Us About Self-Control</a><br/></blockquote><br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=ab558430-b4bc-89a2-8930-900fd8d625c6' alt='' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div></div>Alistairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16645250755410908850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417569.post-45266991265881376212010-04-23T17:00:00.001-07:002010-04-23T17:00:55.589-07:00Linux for Serious computing<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>For those of us that are still wondering if open source has a role for mission critical application, the business site Focus has put together an impressive collection of examples.<br/><br/><blockquote>It was not long ago when Microsoft Windows had a tight stranglehold on the operating system market. Walk into a Circuit City or Staples, it seemed, and virtually any computer you took home would be running the most current flavor of Windows. Ditto for computers ordered direct from a manufacturer. In the last decade, though, the operating system market has begun to change. Slightly more than 5% of all computers now run Mac, according to NetMarketShare.com. Linux is hovering just beneath 1% of the overall market share in operating systems. And although that might sound like a small number, Linux is far more than just a fringe OS. In fact, it's running in quite a few more places than you probably suspect. Below are fifty places Linux is running today in place of Windows or Mac. For easy reading, they are divided amongst government, home, business, and educational usage.<br/><br/>For full article go to <a href='http://www.focus.com/fyi/information-technology/50-places-linux-running-you-might-not-expect/'>50 Places Linux is Running That You Might Not Expect</a></blockquote><br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=5a730284-dea4-8e78-9c96-c07f52074416' alt='' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div></div>Alistairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16645250755410908850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417569.post-36333922068428353182010-04-15T06:58:00.001-07:002010-04-15T06:58:17.917-07:00Reading on the iPad - how to get your books across<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Laura Miller from Salon has been waxing lyrical about the ebook reading experience on the iPad. Well, more than just ebooks, drafts, blog posts as well. It looks like her printer savings could save a minor deciduous forest. I've included this snippet because Laura notes two utilities she uses to load content.<br/><blockquote>My chief complaint with the iPad is that while it's the perfect way to read a collection of assorted documents in a variety of formats -- an assemble-it-yourself magazine, in effect -- it's not easy to figure out how to get this material into the device in the first place. Someone who's reasonably comfortable fiddling with computers can manage it, but if the iPad is supposed to be an especially friendly tool for the digital non-native, it needs improvement in this department. Here is what I can recommend:<br/><br/>Instapaper Pro: You know those interesting longer articles you keep stumbling across on the Web but don't have time to read right away? This app allows you to collect them in one place -- in your account on their Web page, but also on your iPhone and now on your iPad. It downloads the text so that you don't have to be connected to the Internet to read. The home page even features editors' recommendations, with stories from Vanity Fair, the New Statesman, the New Yorker and other publications. There's a free version, but give them the five bucks, you cheapskate, because God knows they've earned it.<br/><br/>GoodReader: If you want to read text or PDF files on your iPad, you'll need an app to load them into. This is a good one, and reasonably priced at 99 cents, but like all the rest, it has terrible support documentation, and figuring out how to use it is needlessly arduous. There are a couple of ways to load documents, including a pretty arcane method for doing it wirelessly. I prefer this much simpler option:<br/><br/>For article and instructions go to <a href='http://www.salon.com/books/laura_miller/2010/04/05/ipad_for_readers/index.html'>The iPad is for readers - Laura Miller - Salon.com</a></blockquote><br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=b648f6ba-2c72-89c1-94d2-1be9000ea49a' alt='' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div></div>Alistairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16645250755410908850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417569.post-56828295285886569722010-04-12T03:55:00.001-07:002010-04-12T03:55:44.848-07:00Leadership Failures under iPad pressure<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>The NYTimes has reviewed the way the market is responding to the iPad launch. From what I can see, the market was stirred from the first speculation. Therefore we expect significant announcements over the next few months. For those of us that make technology choices, I noticed two quotes.<br/><br/>“We’re living in extremely exciting times right now,” said Olli-Pekka <br />Kallasvuo, the chief executive of Nokia. “It’s quite challenging to <br />define what industry we are in because everything is changing.” <br/><br/>The clear picture of a competitor that's lost direction and lost its strategic vision. Wondering what industry we are in? and admitting it? I won't be betting big on Nokia until they sort that out. The other perspective comes from the company that Microsoft's Ballmer relied on to help defuse the iPad launch - the HP Slate. The challenge for big Enterprise is to recognise turning points in their technology area and respond vigorously. HP has the people and the capability to compete ferociously. Unfortunately the following quote sounds just like the complacency that nearly took IBM under.<br/><br/>"H.P.’s version of the iPad is expected to be released by midyear. Notably, it will have a camera, as well as ports for add-on devices, like a mouse. Also, it will, the company says in a promotional video, “run the complete Internet,” including videos and other entertainment.<br/><blockquote><br/>Phil McKinney, the chief technology officer in H.P.’s personal systems group, said in a recent interview that the company had been working on its tablet for five years. It delayed releasing the product, he said, until the price could be lower.<br/><br/>The company’s marketing department has been trickling out online videos of the device. This kind of early marketing is a change for H.P., which rarely talks about yet-to-be released products. Mr. McKinney, however, said H.P. had felt little pressure from Apple’s early move and would release its slate when it was ready.<br/><br/>“I have one sitting on my desk,” Mr. McKinney said. “We don’t react or respond to competitive timing and those types of issues.”<br/><br/>So .. is that two competitors down already? - perhaps. The article also implies that Microsoft is slow out of the starting blocks.<br/><br/>full story <a href='http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/12/technology/12slate.html?pagewanted=1&hpw'>After<br /> iPad, Rivals Offer Hybrid Variations - NYTimes.com</a></blockquote></div>Alistairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16645250755410908850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417569.post-33977135859354837392010-01-10T17:34:00.001-08:002010-01-10T17:34:23.652-08:00USB Drives have Security Hole<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Computerworld.com has posted this article on a hole in USB encryption. The AES encryption remains secure, but the routine that determines if the password has been entered correctly can be bypassed. Manufacturers have issued updates for the software. Check your drive now.<br/><br/><a href='http://digg.com/d31F3G9'>Pssst. Your Flash Drive Isn't Secure</a><br/><blockquote>SanDisk Corp. and Verbatim Corp. have joined Kingston Technology Inc. in warning customers about a potential security threat posed by a flaw in the hardware-based AES 256-bit encryption on their USB flash drives.<br/><br/>The hole could allow unauthorized access to encrypted data on a USB flash drive by circumventing the password authorization software on a host computer.</blockquote><br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=b72e8c3a-b252-8513-98cf-bb05085476cd' alt='' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div></div>Alistairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16645250755410908850noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417569.post-3262485944293341852010-01-05T02:58:00.001-08:002010-01-05T02:58:54.126-08:00GSM Calls cracked with $1500 and OS Software<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>In news that should concern any Government Agency or business person <a href='http://www.darkreading.com'>darkreading</a> has published news of a planned presentation on just how easy and cheap it is to crack GSM phone calls with current technology. GSM is an encryption that 80% of mobile phone companies relies on to keep conversations secure. Maybe that was appropriate when the standard was adopted, but increased computer power and algorithm development has overturned that view.<br/><br/><a href='http://www.darkreading.com/vulnerability_management/security/encryption/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=222100242'>Researchers Prepare Practical Demonstration Of GSM Encryption Cracking Technology - wireless security/Security - DarkReading</a><br/><blockquote>"GSM has been considered insecure for some years -- however, it is a huge development that the theoretical attack on the GSM encryption cipher is now a reality," says Stuart Quick, operations manager at Henderson Risk Ltd., a London-based security and risk management services firm. "There is now a very real and imminent threat that GSM voice communications will be compromised, and users must start to consider how they can increase the security of their valuable/commercially sensitive calls they make."<br/><br/>The demonstration could also cause some companies to consider separate encryption of cell phone calls, according to one vendor that offers such technology. "Our research shows that 79 percent of organizations discuss confidential or sensitive information at least weekly on mobile phones," says Simon Bransfield-Garth, CEO Cellcrypt Ltd. "The news that GSM has been cracked will be very worrying for anybody who discusses valuable or confidential information over their mobile phone." </blockquote><br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=6cce93ae-d89f-854f-af73-dfa959cbbab2' alt='' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div></div>Alistairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16645250755410908850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417569.post-72996618258576728702009-08-15T17:24:00.000-07:002009-08-15T17:32:42.397-07:00Body Language - OK or Not OK?I saw this little heading and photo on <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/">Huffington Post,</a> and I couldn't resist. I don't want to make any comment on the rights and wrongs of the situation - the couple Jon and Kate have enough to worry about. The question that springs to mind looking at the body language in the photo - is this what a reunited couple looks like, or just a couple willing to sit in the same room?<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8DrFDpHxfOEATogUpwCn6RFiMMLDGkRiWvHJDLggTF7qWidWq83MSI7TOwH3xoFsvoNH4dVadUOGdDxvu8M-e-nAQhQ9t4plhvj6Dr97NXWlxH-lkCTBFLmrJrwt-jeKRPMqO/s1600-h/bodylanguage.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 327px; height: 246px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8DrFDpHxfOEATogUpwCn6RFiMMLDGkRiWvHJDLggTF7qWidWq83MSI7TOwH3xoFsvoNH4dVadUOGdDxvu8M-e-nAQhQ9t4plhvj6Dr97NXWlxH-lkCTBFLmrJrwt-jeKRPMqO/s400/bodylanguage.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370352165175900066" border="0" /></a>Alistairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16645250755410908850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417569.post-78062405519959043222009-08-15T00:25:00.000-07:002009-08-15T01:39:26.912-07:00The Best Crutchwork you'll seeI came across this doing work - yes truly! I was checking out the web sites built with the wonderful new component for Joomla - <a href="http://k2.joomlaworks.gr/">K2</a> developed by <a href="http://www.joomlaworks.gr/">Joomlaworks</a> (K2 is free by the way, so I get no commission for saying this). K2 is now supported in new Joomla themes developed by <a href="http://www.rockettheme.com/joomla?xyz=2251">RocketTheme</a> (and several other theme producers). <a href="http://k2.joomlaworks.gr/">K2</a> adds the best of Wordpress and Drupal to Joomla. Anyway, I went to one of the example sites, <a href="http://www.wsuculturalaffairs.org/">Weber State University Cultural Affairs</a> and there this clip was, playing automatically. The <a href="http://www.wsuculturalaffairs.org/">WSU site</a> is a great example of elegant design, and the clip is a brilliant piece of performing art. Two wins in one! So... here's the clip for you - enjoy!<br /><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rxjrBd4WE2U&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rxjrBd4WE2U&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />More info has come in: Bill Shannon is a self-taught conceptual dancer who uses his crutches to perform his incredible choreography around the world. He was born with a double Hip degenerative disease. Bill Shannon is for real, he isn't gliding along on wheelie shoes and he isn't a stunt man.Alistairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16645250755410908850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417569.post-53804333688860564332009-08-13T15:16:00.000-07:002009-08-13T15:34:14.126-07:00Performance Art with Sand - WonderfulIt's wonderfully reaffirming to see people that develop new and creative ways to express themselves. Kseniya Simonova is a Ukrainian artist who just won Ukraine's version of "America's Got Talent." She uses a giant light box, dramatic music, imagination and "sand painting" skills to interpret Germany's invasion and occupation of Ukraine during WWII. Without the web, this ephemeral art would disappear or be limited to a local audience. Instead it is preserved and shared. A thankyou to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/13/kseniya-simonovas-amazing_n_258793.html">Huffington Post</a> for finding the video link.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/518XP8prwZo&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/518XP8prwZo&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Alistairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16645250755410908850noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417569.post-84720540021511098742009-08-05T19:26:00.001-07:002009-08-05T19:26:54.846-07:00Twitter Usage Strategy and Guidelines Shared<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Social media is an important tool. It also carries risks, with little forgiveness of mistakes. On the IGBAPR blog I have posted an entry to share a <a href='http://igbapr.blogspot.com/2009/08/twitter-guidelines-template-shared-by.html'>Twitter Guidelines Template</a> from a UK Government entity. Every corporate entity or Government agency should have a policy that they communicate to staff. Thi example provides an excellent basis to start.<br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=01300357-2c36-8944-a121-8a14ca3543f7' alt='' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div></div>Alistairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16645250755410908850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417569.post-40446743214812645052009-08-03T00:21:00.001-07:002009-08-03T00:21:08.251-07:00Kevin rose on Twitter Usage<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Techcrunch scored a famous guest blogger - Kevin Rose on how to use Twitter. Some of these ideas are reasonable common sense. The underlying assumption though is that there is a strategic reason for your Twitter usage and online persona.<br/><br/><blockquote><a href='http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/25/kevin-rose-10-ways-to-increase-your-twitter-followers/'>Kevin Rose: 10 Ways To Increase Your Twitter Followers</a><br/><blockquote>Kevin Rose: 10 Ways To Increase Your Twitter Followers<br/>537 Comments<br/>by Guest Author on January 25, 2009<br/><br/>This guest post is written by Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg and the cofounder of Revision3 and Pownce. Kevin, who has over 88,000 followers on Twitter (making him the second most followed after President Obama), also “bloggs” at kevinrose.com. He is an investor in Twitter.</blockquote></blockquote><br/><br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=dabaf4da-9eb3-8cf6-87c0-9c632da78f9a' alt='' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div></div>Alistairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16645250755410908850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417569.post-59316756457793554312009-08-03T00:03:00.001-07:002009-08-03T00:03:05.441-07:00Sometimes Less is More<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>One of the best, simple articles on website designs. Focus on the core principles. Pin these to the wall (electronic or physical).<br/><br/><blockquote><a href='http://www.myinkblog.com/2009/03/21/4-principles-of-good-design-for-websites/'>4 Principles of Good Design for Websites</a><br/><blockquote>4 Principles of Good Design for Websites<br/>written by: Andrew Houle / stashed in: Articles / 03.21.09<br/><br/>4-principles-lg<br/><br/>One of my absolute favorite design books is, Robin Williams Design Workshop. It looks into practical design theories and showcases awesome examples. One of the areas of focus that I’ve taken into all my designs are the four major design principles. They include: contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity.<br/><br/>This post will discuss those four principles as they relate to web design. By keeping these design theories fresh in your mind, you will be sure to design cleaner, more aesthetically pleasing sites. </blockquote></blockquote><br/><br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=2fb23e5f-439a-8d4b-874c-f1c7d7747754' alt='' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div></div>Alistairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16645250755410908850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417569.post-58823378039567704682009-06-13T20:38:00.000-07:002009-06-13T20:46:21.798-07:00Challenges for the ICT IndustryHere's the closing address I gave the Digital Technology Summit 2009 on the challenges and opportunities for the ICT Industry. If you are a Gov2.0 person you will find this very 'Cathedral' versus 'Bazaar', but you must bear in mind the audience I was addressing. It also started a little more abruptly than I intended because the conference was way over time, and people were worried about catching planes. There was no audio or video recording available apart from my little camera, so the sound needs volume up to catch.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.istsite.com/video/dts2009FVO.mov">DTS2009 Close, Quicktime Streaming format, (75Mb)</a>Alistairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16645250755410908850noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7417569.post-71070296948931600942009-05-01T18:41:00.000-07:002009-05-01T21:41:36.451-07:008 of the Best SOCMED Flash Mob momentsThe tools of connectivity - the mobile phone, email and twitter enable a new phenomenon - the flash mob event. Like all forces, it can be used for good or evil. Here I've collected some of the best examples. This is part of our <a href="http://wraptinweb.blogspot.com/2009/02/keeping-up-with-internet-memes.html">Keeping up with the Internet Memes</a> series - web behaviours and the <a href="http://wraptinweb.blogspot.com/2008/09/web-20-inspirational-startups.html">best startups</a> - web nostalgia in the inspirational <a href="http://wraptinweb.blogspot.com/2008/09/understanding-dance-web-20-through.html">Understanding the Dance</a>.<br /><br /><h2>Sound of Music - Antwerp Central Station</h2><span>More than 200 dancers perform "Do Re Mi", in the Central Station of Antwerp. Dance and music routines take rehearsal - just 2 rehearsals created this spectacular! These 4 fantastic minutes start on the 23 of march 2009, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EYAUazLI9k#" onclick="seekTo(08*60+00);return false;">08:00</a> AM. It is a promotion stunt for a Belgian television program, where they are looking for someone to play the leading role in the musical of "The Sound of Music". </span><br /><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7EYAUazLI9k&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7EYAUazLI9k&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object><br /><h2>High Five Escalator</h2><br />My favourite of the improv everywhere projects - it creates smiles on a bleak morning. I like the way it shows how easy it is to make someone's day happier. The <a href="http://improveverywhere.com/2009/02/09/high-five-escalator/">full story</a> with background pictures and interviews is on the iproveverywhere site.<br /><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Abt8aAB-Dr0&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Abt8aAB-Dr0&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object><br /><h2>Unexpected Performance - Stansted Airport, London</h2><br />Stansted Airport, London. 7 hidden cameras. 14 undercover actors. 1 unexpected performance. Some people love it, some just let it all wash over them unmoved. The passengers are as fun to watch as the performance.<br /><object width="320" height="265"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RgZuHlDuulk&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RgZuHlDuulk&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="320" height="265"></embed></object><br /><br /><h2>No Pants</h2><br />The Improvanywhere no pants day got a spectacular boost in 2006 when a Cop arrested participants. A month later a judge dismissed all of the charges. It is not illegal to wear your underwear in public in New York City. The publicity (reported by news agencies around the world while David Letterman made <a href="http://vimeo.com/38435">two monologue jokes</a> about it and <a href="http://www.vimeo.com/43258">staged a No Pants Cab Ride</a> as a parody) led to continued spectacular growth. Now this is no longer the "secret" event with a few participants in the know - it's become almost a parade. Fun to watch though!<br /><object width="320" height="265"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bXB_DcuMv_E&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bXB_DcuMv_E&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="320" height="265"></embed></object><br /><h2>No Shirts (111 Shirtless Men in Abercombie and Fitch)</h2><br />In the interests of equity - if we present no pants, then we'd better present no shirts. It's fascinating to see how corporates that promote topless models cope with a situation like this. The best bit is that 2 guys were thrown out while they were actually buying $45 shirts! Isn't this performance art at it's best?<br /><object width="320" height="265"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jdeBp8J0rqs&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jdeBp8J0rqs&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="320" height="265"></embed></object><br />...<br /><h1>The Freeze Mob</h1><br /><h2>NYC - Frozen Grand Central Station</h2><br />The inspirational classic freeze mob. Replicated across the World it's a great concept. The video was put together professionally too - top production values. Arguably one of Improveverywhere's greatest projects.<br /><object width="320" height="265"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jwMj3PJDxuo&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jwMj3PJDxuo&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="320" height="265"></embed></object><br /><h2>Paris, France - The largest Freeze Mob</h2><br />This video is the compilation of 20 videopodcasters, who covered the event. Around 3,000 people froze on the Champs Elysee.<br /><object width="320" height="265"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qtUNj2BNTsU&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qtUNj2BNTsU&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="320" height="265"></embed></object><br /><br /><h2>Trafalgar Square Freeze</h2><br />At 3:30pm on a secret cue, almost everyone in the square froze. For 5 minutes the participants held their positions, and then magically everyone unfroze. The participants in Britain take the performance art aspect of the frozen positions in innovative directions.<br /><object width="320" height="265"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PupR5V9aE2s&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PupR5V9aE2s&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="320" height="265"></embed></object><br /><h1>Free Commercial Bonus Video!</h1><br />Liverpool St Station, London, UK - The T-Mobile Dance<br /><span class="description">This doesn't really count as performance art because it was organised as an Ad. But it's still fun! Watch the moment Liverpool Street Station danced to create this special T-Mobile Advert.</span><br /><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VQ3d3KigPQM&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VQ3d3KigPQM&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object>Alistairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16645250755410908850noreply@blogger.com0