Do you know how to work with the digital wave? Think of how many industries have been changed forever because of the internet. The business plan of yesterday is history, but do you know how to adapt?
With that preamble, it's worth taking a look at Chris Anderson's new eBook which is titled "Free"! He is earlier book was "The Long Tail". Chris practices what he preaches; his book Free is available for Free! My thanks to iLibrarian who made me aware of this resource.
Last week while on vacation I was off the grid, and read quite a few books. The current issue of Newsweek has a great article called "What to Read Now and Why?" The first book is a British satirical novel from 1875! This book apparently points out how little we have changed in almost 135 years. Great read ... to figure out some great reads!
Innovation ... is it a recipe from a cookbook? ... is it something you can teach? ... or is it a frame of mind / kind of thought? While I don't know the answers to any of these questions, Princeton University has the Keller Center for Innovation in Engineering Education. There lecture series, Leadership is a Technological World, is available online to watch at no charge. Here is a link to their most recent lecture:
I would like to take this opportunity to announce my retirement from running marathons! Having just completed the Black Flag Marathon, I feel it is time to make this move. However just like Brett Favre and Lance Armstrong, I reserve the right to reverse myself in the future. Let's consider the facts ...
Okay folks ... back from vacation ... thus I need to get serious with my posts! This is what happens when I go off the grid for nine days! The big question ... should I stay retired? or be like my buddies Brett and Lance? (click upon any any image to view at full size)
Join the Northstar Nerd for the Rice River Ramble. Deep in the Northwoods of Minnesota accompany me on my solo 3 mile run followed by a 6 mile kayak trip down the Rice River. I parked my van downstream and ran back upstream to where I had left my kayak. Enjoy part of what makes America beautiful! (video link for RSS feed). Happy 4th of July ... using the Frontier Bait "hot spot" in the Edge of the Wilderness.
As I head off the grid for nine days in northern Minnesota (no phone, no TV, no microwave ... just R&R with my family in the deep woods with a glass of wine!), it somehow seems appropriate to leave you with this post ... and thought from Demos, A London based think tank (thanks to Jane Hart for the link).
Hopes and dreams matter...
Personal
dreams must be taken more seriously, especially during a recession.
Demos travelled the country asking people about their lives and what
they wished for in the future. Far from a 'broken society' we found an
optimistic, realistic and altruistic Britain.
In addition, you'll find a report on the state of education in the United Kingdom ... The Edgeless University. The full report may be downloaded from this link. Here is a very brief overview, which could really be about almost any service affected by technology. Do you fear it, or embrace change? Time for my first glass of wine!
The Edgeless University argues that this can be a moment of rebirth for universities. Technology is changing universities as they become just one source among many for ideas, knowledge and innovation. But online tools and open access also offer the means for their survival.
I just found a great research study on effective internal use of micro-blogging to enhance collaboration in a distributed engineering environment ... or should I say it found me via Twitter (thanks to Carrie Young). One of my favorite quotes from the executive summary: "93% of the answers were from a different NASA center". Explained in my own words, the NASA pilot participants received answers to their technical questions from fellow employees who they often did not know ... and who did not work at their own location. If you focus upon collaboration inside the firewall, and are exploring the use of Web 2.0 tools for the enterprise, this is must read. After all ... you have an elite university (CalTech) reviewing a complex distributed engineering environment (NASA). NASA's pilot project used Social Cast, but I found the findings to be software tool agnostic.
I originally learned from WikiAngela that Google News was testing the idea of adding Wikipedia as one of the prime news sources on their Google News. Selected Google News accounts are now being presented with links to stories from the expected players ... the New York Times, NBC, the Associated Press, etc., but also Wikipedia. Well, my account is apparently includes in the test. Take a look at the screenshot included below (click to view full at full resolution). Consider the implications!
"They give us those nice bright colors. They give us the greens of summers. Makes you think all the world's a sunny day," he sang. "... So Mama don't take my Kodachrome away"
I'm trying to determine the ROI / business value of social media sites for my company. A common assumption is that if one's company is not end-consumer focused, there may be less value found upon social media sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. However, if you are trying to take the pulse of the "conversational web", these services handily beat traditional web sites. Over the past 24 hours I've discovered the truth of that hypothesis. In my case, I ran Grandma's Marathon yesterday during "black flag" weather conditions (i.e. dangerous heat). I decided to create an animated slideshow with music of the experience.
Being curious about yesterday's race, I queried Google on "Grandma's Marathon". Almost 100% of the first 20 results (farther down that most people would ever read) are traditional news media reports of the race. However, if one runs the same query via Twitter Search, the results are dramatically different, you learn what it's like to actually run in the race. The first tweet was by Graeme Thickins, a web 2.0 reporter who actually linked my video.
Thus, always know your audience and your purpose. One needs to stay abreast of both the traditional and conversational web. You'll be better able to understand the parts to the puzzle.
Lake Superior did not provide her air conditioning today at Grandma's Marathon. Instead the wind blew from the West and the heat rose to dangerous temperatures (87 degrees at the finish). I hope you enjoy the short video; you'll learn what it's like to run a "black flag marathon". The Northstar Nerd ran a personal worst by almost 50 minutes (5 hours 17 minutes), but I finished. Next Winter, I promise I will never again complain when cross-country ski racing in a sub-zero Loppet! The cold will feel heavenly!
The medical director, Steve Harrington, almost shut down the race down while it was in progress: "Race protocol calls for the medical director to confer with executive
director Scott Keenan on matters of an
unsafe race. They discussed the option of stopping the marathon and
having runners brought in off the course by bus, and Harrington said it
very nearly happened."
There were 577 runners treated at the finish-line medical tent. Most were treated for
hyponatremia (low sodium) and hyperthermia (heat stroke), with one
runner showing a temperature of 108 degrees.
Gold Cross Ambulance had 83 calls with 53 transports, including 36 to Duluth hospitals, the most in Harrington’s time with the marathon.
Two peers of mine are going to lead a Tweet-Up on collaboration "inside the firewall". As an interesting juxtaposition of various Web 2.0 tools, they will have this conversation via Twitter. All are welcome to attend and participate. This live event will be at 12:00 noon Central Daylight Time on Wednesday, June 24th. The Twitter hashtag for this event is behindthefirewall
More information on the event may be found via Arik Hanson's blog. The other leader is Rick Mahn who leads collaboration efforts at Land-O-Lakes Foods.
I am proud to announce the merger of Twitter and LinkedIn. The new company's name will be Twinked-In! The new logo is already designed! Okay ... maybe these two firms don't know they're merging, but imagine ...
... Do you really want to know what I had for breakfast (bowl of cereal ... follow my Nerd Tweets). Maybe you're a friend and you are curious how I'll do in this weekend's marathon (Grandma's Marathon in Duluth). However, you may be interested in following my professional posts ... but the signal to noise ratio when using social media like Twitter is driving you crazy! Thus, imagine Twinked-In. Via LinkedIn (and other social networking sites) I already have some good filters in place. Why can't I use these filters to easily turn "on and off" the content I wish to monitor? (no ... the answer is NOT Tweetdeck).
My point is it's just to darned difficult to create effective, and valuable Twitter networks. In my case, I've invested the time to create my various "groups", but most people will give up before they reach nirvana. Social networking sites are great, but once again there is too much static. Is this what Google Wave will be all about? Yesterday I was interviewed by two Microsoft usability experts. They were researching forward looking users applications and interfaces. Filters!
Here are some LinkedIn filters I would use in conjunction with Twitter ... first my connections (with sub-filters): . (click upon any image to view full sized)
. Or perhaps my groups (with sub-filters)
. Finally, I could use Search with filters (in this case on MEMS)
Renaissance computing ... the concept seems weird. Although the Northstar Nerd has been involved with the web since the early 90's, the idea that we may have gone through a "dark ages", and are now in a renaissance is strange. Having said that, I am impressed with the Renaissance Computing Institute (Renci) out of the state of North Carolina. This combination of research colleges and universities is doing some great work, and has provides some great online resources to challenge your brain. For instance:
Regardless, while I don't believe were in a renaissance, and I hope were not in a dark ages with respect to the computer age, I like the work of Renci. It gets an A+ and an addition to the Engineering Learning Wiki and it's custom Google Search Engine.
Innovation is not just nice; it's a requirement. Take a look at the chart below which is a prime reason the newspaper industry has tanked. Throwing up walls around your products will ultimately not work; one must take risks and move forward. My thanks to Graeme Thickins for the Tweet about the Business Insider "Chart of the Day". Click upon the chart to view full sized / resolution. It will allow you to read all the data points and explanations.
In a small mountain town (JiaYou) in southern China near the Vietnamese border, your generosity and my Run for China's Children has built a new school!
Visit the Northshore of Lake Superior (Christmas 2007) with the Hoeg family. You'll find yourself in a Winter Wonderland ... far from the maddening crowd!
Photographs of USS Nimitz aircraft refreshing their carrier quals while practicing landings in El Centro (Winter 2007). All photos are copyrighted by photojournalist, Ted Carlson.
A family wedding in the Czech Republic (October 2006).
Your tour starts in Moravka (near the Czech / Slovak border). We then move to Krakow's main square and views of my wife and I enjoying some accordion music! Finally it's a break from scenery for two wedding photos, and then on to Zakopane in the High Tatras in the Carpathian Mountains!
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