Monthly Archives: September 2011

September 21, 2011 · 1:16 pm

Failbook

Image representing Facebook as depicted in Cru...

Image via CrunchBase

Unless you’re in a cave someplace or have abandoned it for Google+, you’ve probably noticed that Facebook did an overhaul last night.  I logged in this morning and while I’ll admit I’m not the brightest guy in the world, I was thoroughly confused.  Many of the new features are clearly designed to compete with things found on Google+ and Twitter, such as circles.  For those of you struggling to make sense of the new layout, Gizmodo did a nice job color-coding everything in a cheat sheet.

I’m a believer in continuous improvement.  I’m not a believer in keeping up with the Joneses.  Here’s why. Continue reading →

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September 20, 2011 · 10:23 am

The Really Really Big Living Room

There’s an interesting piece in Ad Age this week on Social TV. In my mind it adds more credence to the “everything old is new again” theory since as with many “new” tech-based things what we’re seeing is very old behaviors expressed via brand spanking new digital tools.  For those of you playing at home, our friends at Wikipedia define social TV as

“a general term for technology that supports communication and social interaction in either the context of watching television, or related to TV content. It also includes the study of television-related social behavior, devices and networks. Social television systems can for example integrate voice communication, text chat, presence and context awareness, TV recommendations, ratings, or video-conferencing with the TV content either directly on the screen or by using ancillary devices.”

Which of course, is kind of an old thing, right? Continue reading →

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September 19, 2011 · 11:09 am

Setting Sails

Over the weekend I was watching an interview with someone facing adverse circumstances. The particulars are relatively unimportant since there seems to be so much adversity spread around for a lot of folks and businesses these days. What was important, at least to me, was a line that the interview subject used and that’s what I’d like to remind us all about today.

In doing a little research, it seems as if it’s credited to, among others, Jimmy Dean (not the actor, the country singer and sausage-maker) and Dolly Parton. That’s immaterial too: it’s the thought that counts.

The guy in the interview was being asked if he didn’t feel discouraged by the adversity that had so negatively affected him. He looked right at the interviewer and said:

We can’t control the wind but we can decide how to set our sails.

I like that.  A lot.  It’s the exact opposite of throwing up one’s hands and asking “what are you going to do?” (or as it comes out here in the New York area “waddayagonnado?”).   It’s taking responsibility and recognizing that stuff happens.  It doesn’t place blame.  It doesn’t ignore facts.  It’s neither angry nor submissive.  To me, it’s determined.

This is my chant for the week.  What’s yours?

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