NorthStarNerd.Org

Voice of the Blog Customer

In today's prior post, I criticized APQC for their seach interface, but am I tough enough to take my own medicine? In my research of Web 2.0 tools I stumbled across a neat survey tool which allows any web site owner to add an interactive survey to their web site, 4Q Web iPerceptions. Thus, I've taken the plunge and created a survey for the Northstar Nerd (i.e. me and my sites). There is no charge to use the service, and the process was quite simple ... register ... follow some paint by number instructions ... copy and embedd some code. By design, For the moment I will sample a large majority of my web site guests; I'll dial this back in a day or two. Click to view the image shown below at full size.

Your User Interface Should Not Confuse!

I like APQC (American Productivity and Quality Center). However, while they may have some great benchmarking reports and studies, their user interface is horrible. Take a look at this screenshot. When I try to search, I am presented with three options (really four, but how many folks would find the final choice). Does your user interface confuse your customer? More information is not always better. Avoid clutter. Usability is not a Luxury (Don Normal essay). Click upon the screenshot to view full sized.

YouTube ... not Just for Breakfast Anymore! (EDU)

YouTube is blocked by many corporate firewalls. Companies are worried that employees will waste time watching dumb videos ... well YouTube has moved into the land of relevancy. Welcome to YouTube.Edu. After all, how do you define an educational portal (including search engine) which includes free learning from the likes of Stanford, MIT ... and of course the University of Minnesota (land of the NorthStar Nerd)?! YouTube.Edu also includes many, many other fine academic organizations. Here are just two results from the YouTube.edu search engine:

• YouTube.Edu Search Upon ... Mems | Sparta

Thus, whether your interests range from engineering to ancient Greece ... try it out! I'm adding YouTube.edu to the Engineering Learning Wiki.

Blog, Wiki, Tweet ... The Real You??

"It all began in realspace, on a subway train in South Korea. A young woman’s small dog pooped in the train. Other passengers asked her to clean it up, but she told them to mind their own business. That’s when it moved over to cyberspace and became even uglier."

These are the opening lines from the book, The Future of Reputation, written by George Washington University Law School Professor Daniel Solove. The book may be downloaded without charge. He also edits one of the top legal blogs on the web, Concurring Opinions. (listen to a Yale University Press podcast interview with the author)

If you ever doubted the need before, after reading parts of Solove's book you will understand that you need to learn how to manage your online reputation (personal or business). Do you have Google RSS feeds which monitor your name? (the same in the blogosphere or Twitter?). An intelligent company uses the web to learn when customers are angry (or happy). A few additional RSS feeds which use the words <insert your company name + sucks> or similar phrases could save your firm big problems.

While, I can't teach you how to monitor these key areas, here at least is a start (prior blog posts involving both search and RSS):

• Google Alerts
• Google Blog Search
• Keeping Current via RSS
• RSS Software

A Moral / Legal Dilemma

What would you do? I am faced with a dilemma. Here are the basic details: (all true)

• My family has a long term house guest ... now a friend ... who is legally in the USA. In less than two months, our friend should receive his citizenship papers. For the purposes of this post, I will call my friend "Olaf".
• Olaf advocated for democracy in his homeland. The ruling military dictatorship ultimately imprisoned Olaf ... tortured and shot him. For obvious reasons Olaf and his family fled to a neighboring country.
• Monday afternoon, Olaf was pulled over by the police in the neighboring town and issued a minor traffic citation (not even speeding ticket). Unlike me, Olaf is not white. It's pretty obvious that Olaf is not from the land of Garrison Keillor ... no Scandinavian Minnesota heritage in his background.
• The racial profiling was apparent. We live in a modest middle class neighborhood. The policeman in question did a quick U-Turn to pull over someone who did not match his expectations for the neighborhood.

Here is my dilemma. I have told Olaf he should not contest the ticket; he should pay the minor fine. My recommendation is based upon the fact that he is within weeks of receiving his citizenship papers. My feeling is that under the circumstances it is not worth the battle or risk (ten years of legal work and residency requirements).  It makes me feel small for giving such advice. After all, I've never been shot for what I believe in. It's not like I'm someone who goes through life not getting involved. The fact Olaf is my house guest, and my efforts in China show otherwise. Before you quickly come down too hard upon me, one final note. US Citizenship will provide Olaf some measure of protection and the ability to travel back to his home region to visit his family. Without his papers, he is a "man without a country".

DSpace ... Open Access Research

Via my friend, Raphael Sidi and his blog (Really Simple Sidi - RSS), I recently learned about DSpace. At it's most simple, DSpace is just a software service which encourages the creation of digital libraries which give open access to research. However, DSpace is becoming much more than just a open source library service. With the MIT Faculty's recent announcement to have all research available without charge, this service may finally mean that the world's scientific research will be freely available to everyone. The IEEE and ASME should start quaking in their boots given how much they charge for their research libraries! Here are some important DSpace links:

• DSpace at MIT
• DSpace Organizations / Links
• DSpace Search via Google

Here are two example queries ...

• Research focused upon: Mems | Wireless Sensors

While the repository is not yet huge, it's building and MIT will be a fantastic addition. Please support this idea! Knowledge should be free. I also plan to add a link to DSpace on the Engineering Learning Wiki's home page.

When They Came for Me

The simple message is always the most powerful. Don't go through life without becoming involved. Take 60 seconds and watch this video (learn more about Martin Niemoller). On a lighter note, but builds upon similar concepts ... Sneetches.

When They Came For Me on PhotoPeach

Thinking at the Next Level ... What Matters!

The mindless net sometimes proves otherwise. Via the blog, Endless Innovation, I've been introduced to a fantastic new site from McKinsey & Company, What Matters! Although this service appears to be only a month old, the content repository is phenomenal. In short, McKinsey has brought together thought leaders on a diverse set of topics, and asked them to chime in on "what matters". There are ten different subject areas, but given my own interests, here are my favorites:

• Innovation
• Internet
• Organization

In a unique and fair way of presenting data, McKinsey has created the Debate Zone. You will find two alternative, well thought out viewpoints, which you may then read and join the debate. The current debate focuses upon Carbon Tax vs. Cap and Trade. RSS is linked all over the site; thus subscribe to your desired content (learn more about how to use RSS)

What attracted me first to "What Matters" was their review of Innovation Clusters. Using research conducted by Professor Juan Alcacer of Harvard Business School, you will find a dynamic Flash based animation which lets you review where innovation is occurring in the world, and where it is not. While there are obvious hot spots of innovation (Silicon Valley), would you be surprised to learn than my home in Minnesota (Minneapolis) may be cold in temperature, but it's hot in terms of innovation.? Here is how McKinsey describes their animated chart.

"Innovation clusters around the world can be classified based on their growth and diversity dynamics: 'hot springs' are small, fast-growing hubs on track to become world players; 'dynamic oceans' consist of large and vibrant ecosystems with continuous creation and destruction of new businesses; 'silent lakes' are older, slower-growing hubs with a narrow range of large established companies; 'shrinking pools' have been unable, so far, to expand beyond their start-up core and so find themselves slowly migrating down the value chain."

When you link to the McKinsey Innovation Cluster Description, use the "continue arrow" in the bottom right corner to actually reach the animation. Here are two screenshots which gives you an idea of the innovation cluster tool. When you visit the actual McKinsey tool, you may select your own desired regions and zoom levels. Click upon either graphic shown below to view full sized. My thanks to the Map Scroll Blog for providing some labels.

 

Creating a Working LinkedIn Group

I've been trying to understand how to make a "social network fly" ... as opposed to the alternative. In my case, I've assumed the leadership mantle (with permission) of a LinkedIn group which revolves around my high school (LinkedIn: Phillips Exeter Academy group). Although we have 440+ members, getting folks to engage has been difficult. This process has been an excellent learning experieince for me, which I hope will benefit my ability to better manage my company's internal social networks.

Another LinkedIn group to which I subscribe, Social Media Today, had an update earlier today with a link to this post: How to Create a Successful LinkedIn Group. The article is worth reviewing. For professional work, LinkedIn is the benchmarking site which has the most potential (not Facebook). The number of individuals, particularily professionals who don't network and list their data elsewhere, is huge. The trick is to learn how to manage that resource. I'm trying!

Three Days in March ... A Snow Migration

Posts on technical subjects have been few and far between recently due to family concerns which have limited my research time while I have been visiting northern Minnesota and central Iowa. However, as the blog post suggests, life marches on. Up in Duluth I managed a final Nordic ski for this Winter at dawn in the Amity Creek Wilderness ... and a world and weather experience apart, I watched the Spring migration of thousands of Snow Geese on my Uncle's farm. I took short videos (about one minute long each) of both experiences, thus the NorthstarNerd brings you two short movies:

• Nordic Skiing at Dawn in Northern Minnesota
• Snow Geese on the Mississippi Flyway

One comment, during the migration video, I incorrectly identify the birds as tundra swans. While I did see tundra swans in the area, these dinner time visitors, who were munching on my Uncle's left-over corn, were snow geese.

With respect to the Nordic Skiing Video, the snow was quite crusty / icy for my ski ... thus not the "silent snow" experience one would normally have during the middle of the Winter, but the scenery and relatively warm temperature (25F) makes the noise worthwhile!

You can expand either of the videos or my photo to full size. Just click!