that’s great…

how did we get here?

Well, I can’t even come close to answering that. But there are a couple of people, in the know, who are doing a pretty good job of it. One of those people is Paddy Hirsch. In his presentation, he uses the analogy of filling champagne bottles. I originally saw this on Nati Shalom’s (of GigaSpaces fame) post, Financial crisis explained. If you have some time (about 6 minutes), definitely take a look.

names…

I like to say the name of the person I am speaking to… I have no idea why, it just seems right. OK, that’s not a big thing — many people do it. The real problem is it takes me longer than most to remember a person’s name. This can be a real problem; especially, if you like to say person’s name before starting a conversation. You tend to sound like a moron.

One of two things happens. Maybe you blurt out their names like you just caught them stealing pudding. That’s not a disarming quality. The other possibility is you blank and insert a huge pause after the words “Hey…”. That’s nice. After an uncomfortable 2-3 seconds you announce their names like someone just handed you a cue card. Disgusting.

I’ve thought of a simple solution. I did this back in ‘04: don’t say names. Just don’t. Let me explain: if the name of the person is not required, don’t say it! If it’s required, don’t speak to them until you have the names clear in your head. Oh, and take a pause before you say the name. Without the pause, it comes out like you’ve been waiting to tell them a secret. I remember a lot of stuff (some good, some crap), but names give me the hardest time.

are you really surprised?

OK, Colin Powell has endorsed Barack Obama… If you are a sentient being, this should not be a surprise to you. Powell was made a scapegoat for one for one of the greatest blunders in modern US history. By people who he, at least at one time, called friends. An accomplished son of the Bronx, Powell spent decades building his legacy. Only to have it torn down with a presentation to the UN. Powell makes it no secret where he stands on the Iraq war:

In July 2007 Powell revealed that he spent two and a half hours trying to persuade George W. Bush not to invade Iraq but that he did not prevail. At the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado Powell stated, “I tried to avoid this war. I took him [Bush] through the consequences of going into an Arab country and becoming the occupiers.”

So, are you really surprised?

collaboration now

I watched the entire Business of Innovation series and found it pretty informative. So, I tuned to the premiere of Collaboration Now, hosted by Donny Deutsch. It was pretty good. One item that piqued my interest was the mention of cloud computing. Thanks to firms like amazon, firms needing more computing power and storage space, can get it at a relatively small price. As a member of the choir, I’ve always thought that systems like Kazaa and Napster were just the tip of the iceberg. Now that cloud and grid-based computing is becoming more mainstream – no longer relegated to p2p file-sharing and academia – true collaboration is on the horizon.

Another interesting item is Cisco’s Tele-Presence technology. Wow - this thing looks impressive. Three high-definitions screen linked to some high powered machines making for a secure, almost-holographic meeting… Check this Wikipedia page for more Tele-presence applications. It looks great. It also looks expensive. I think most people will stick with Skype and Web-Ex for a bit. Overall, this series looks very promising.

fonts and stuff…

Eric Burke’s Blog has a post talking about finding the best font for his comics. OK, One comment brought a superior tool to light: typetester.org. Honestly, I’ve needed this thing for years.