True believers (and the truth)

The internet has amplified the volume of the true believers, the defenders of any faith.

If you’re into high end stereo, it’s far easier to find strident voices in defense of $100,000 stereos than ever before. If you have strong views on health care (either side) it’s not hard to find the orthodox and articulate believers. It’s not just specialty magazines or conferences any longer. The true believers are in our faces every day.

When you lead a tribe, the volume and accessibility of the true believers is a good thing. They’re easy to find and they maintain order and create a culture for the group you’re leading.

The problem is that these loud voices may be loud, but they might not be right. [read: Seth Godin]

Duck Tape or Duct Tape?

I didn’t know.  When I was at Home Depot, walking down the isle and saw “DUCK TAPE” I chuckled.  “What kind of crap is DUCK TAPE, they can’t even spell it right?”  Well, now I’m eating crow – or is it duck?

Adhesive tape (specifically masking tape) was invented in the 1920’s by Richard Drew of Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, Co. (3M). Duct tape (the WWII military version) was first created and manufactured in 1942 (approximate date) by the Johnson and Johnson Permacel Division. Its closest predecessor was medical tape.
The original use was to keep moisture out of the ammunition cases. Because it was waterproof, people referred to the tape as “Duck Tape.” Also, the tape was made using cotton duck – similar to what was used in their cloth medical tapes. Military personnel quickly discovered that the tape was very versatile and used it to fix their guns, jeeps, aircraft, etc. After the war, the tape was used in the booming housing industry to connect heating and air conditioning duct work together.
Soon, the color was changed from Army green to silver to match the ductwork and people started to refer to duck tape as “Duct Tape.” Things changed during the 1970s, when the partners at Manco, Inc. placed rolls of duct tape in shrink wrap, making it easier for retailers to stack the sticky rolls. Different grades and colors of duct tape weren´t far behind. Soon, duct tape became the most versatile tool in the household.

Source: http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/ducttape.htm

Ever Questioned the Price of an iPhone App? Then You’re a Whining Moron

That’s the headline on a Cult of Mac post earlier today.  The post author is pretty pleased with the weekend ‘protest’ by the developers of an iPhone game called Alchemize, and links the protest to ‘rampant idiotic’ reactions to the recent Tweetie upgrade pricing fuss, including mine – saying the developer of Alchemize has ‘clearly had enough of this kind of attitude’.

Here’s the gist of the protest, from a tweet by the developers of Alchemize:

Apparently the developers have received 3,400 emails in a month, ‘moaning about the price of his three-dollar game’ – and the protest pricing is the response to those emails.

I’ve seen quite a few people applauding this protest today – from individual folks on Twitter to a writer over at Boy Genius Report.  I don’t agree with their sentiments at all. I’m over in the whining morons section, booing this protest.

[read]

Gear Geeks: What Do I Buy Next?

From a business stand-point, especially if you own your own business, there is a constant tug between the gear that you NEED to buy and the gear you WANT to buy.  Again, if you own your business you know that every cent you spend on your business is money out of pocket to pay bills, buy food, pay mortgage, save for retirement and school, take a vacation, etc.

I have to classify my gear purchases in two categories: NEED and WANT. (Note: this statement is predicated upon whether or not I have even have the funds). But, in a conversation with a friend recently he added this, more effective, category:  WILL it generate income?  If it doesn’t make the company money then, there is no need to purchase it.

You have to be honest as well because you can probably rationalize anything that you ‘want’ into the category of “WILL”.  In those cases I go back to NEED.  For example, my office furniture is uncomfortable and I would like to replace it.  I could easily rationalize NEED ‘comfortable’ furniture will make me more efficient thus generating more income.  The efficiency that I would gain would be minor compared to the expense of the furniture.  Thus, it would take me a long time to make that investment back.  On the other hand, if I landed a couple of large accounts the furniture may be switched over to the WILL category.

I would love all-clad cookware but WILL it make me money for my business? On the other hand, if I make wise business decisions I may have enough $$ for new cookware.

So, before you buy that new hard drive, computer monitor, mic pre, latest software (I’m still on CS3 and it serves me really well for what I do), whatever your thing is, ask yourself: WILL, NEED, WANT.

Why I don’t want (or need) Visual Search, i.e. Bing and Fast Flip

Features like Bing’s Visual Search and Google Fast Flip, which is designed to replicate the experience of flipping through the pages of a newspaper or magazine, are supposed to be improving the traditional search engine. Searching with images is meant to help us find what we want faster. But I think these tools are doing more harm than good; all I see is a mess of useless features that bring more confusion into the search process—not less.

Bing 2.0

Microsoft employees were given a sneak peak at the new Bing features last week, and many of them were tweeting wildly about what Bing had in store for the public. Monday, the rest of us were introduced to Bing’s Visual Search. Powered by Microsoft’s video plugin, Silverlight, Visual Search is supposed to help you “winnow your search down fast.” But all I found was a frustrating mess of images that, more often than not, meant almost nothing to me. [read]

The problem with “Non”: Seth Godin

Non as in non-profit.

The first issue is the way you describe yourself. I know what you’re not but what are you?

Did you start or join this non-profit because of the non part? I doubt it. It’s because you want to make change. The way the world is just isn’t right or good enough for you… there’s an emergency or an injustice or an opportunity and you want to make change.

These organizations exist solely to make change. That’s why you joined, isn’t it?

The problem facing your group, ironically, is the resistance to the very thing you are setting out to do. Non-profits, in my experience, abhor change.

Take a look at the top 100 twitter users in terms of followers. Remember, this is a free tool, one that people use to focus attention and galvanize action. What? None of them are non-profits. Not one as far as I can tell. Is the work you’re doing not important enough to follow, or is it (and I’m betting it is) paralysis in decision making in the face of change? Is there too much bureaucracy or too much fear to tell a compelling story in a transparent way? [read]

The end of dumb software: Seth Godin

Seth Godin – In the age of rapid cycles and connected data, how long are we going to have to settle for dumb software?

Here’s the detail screen from iCal. If I write a long text to go with an appointment, the only way to see the whole thing is to hit “edit.”  But I don’t want to edit it, I just want to see it.

If I try to schedule an appointment for 2 pm, it requires me to not only hit the 2, but also select pm. I have never once had a meeting at 2 am. Shouldn’t it know that?

When I type in someone’s name, how come it doesn’t know that this is someone I know, correspond with and meet with often? Why isn’t it connected? [read]

Loss of Creativity

All creative people hit walls, times when we couldn’t create even with a gun put to our heads.  They are scary moments because we don’t when, if ever, the creative inspiration will return.

I ran across an article – Get Stuck – Focusing Your Passion – and it reminded me of a simple exercise which helps to bring us out of those times.

Pick a word, topic, theme, emotion or any random focus and then create around it.  For example, let’s pick “FEAR”.  (It may be what you are feeling at the moment).  If you’re a photographer, take your camera and SHOOT< SHOOT<SHOOT anything and everything that relates to fear.  Could be the fear of heights so you shoot ‘height’. If you’re a writer, write about fear; musician, write about fear, etc.  You get the picture.

Sitting and waiting for the inspiration to come seldom works but doing what you do, despite the block will speed up the process of recovery.  As an added benefit you may find that you will come out of it with some incredible pieces of art.

Taking the Time to Teach: Seth Godin

Seth Godin – What we do in the long run, over time, drip by drip, affects the market so much more than an angry reaction or urgent event.

Smoking a pack a day for twenty years is a great way to be sure you’ll die early. Far more likely, in fact, than getting hit by a car. And yet it’s so easy to talk to our kids about cars…

Delivering out of the box remarkability day after day counts for far more than one hit or one misstep. When we teach people about our story or our industry our about making connections, the teaching lasts.

Teaching people not only impacts the market, it changes the world. Teaching about connection and community and science, a little bit at a time, can heal our world in the long run. It doesn’t happen as fast as we might like, but it works. Emergencies fade, and in the long run our teaching lasts.

The challenge is in responding with education, not reacting with anger.

Source: Seth Godin

The Hierachy of Digital Distractions

I notice these days that I can spend hours at my computer, in a cloud. A swampy blur of digital activity, smeared across various activities and media and software.

Emailing, writing, tweeting, designing, browsing, taking calls, Skyping, Facebooking, RSS Feeding – all blurred into a single technological trance.

I seem to switch randomly from one to the other. But actually is there a subtle hierarchy in this cloud? Do I prefer some distractions over others? I think so.

The Cloud

In this diagram, each level in this hierarchy trumps the next.

So, if you get a new msg on Facebook, but your landline rings, you’ll take the landline call. You might have a spasmodic moment of ‘uh? wadd I do’. But, usually, you’ll take the call.

Similarly, if you get a new SMS whilst opening a new online dating message, you’ll be hard pressed not to read that SMS. It’ll take a great force of will. You may attempt to do both simultaneously. But if you really observe yourself closely, one will take priority – even if it’s only by milliseconds. The SMS will win your attention.

And so on up the chart… SEE CHART

(I understand this post reveals much about my pitiful life. There’s no need to say that in the comments, thanks.)

Source: http://www.informationisbeautiful.net