Category: Thinking (Page 8 of 14)

Plus and Facebook Both Jumping

September 21, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

Every day I read something about how lame Google Plus is because no one is using it. That’s not the impression I’m getting. I see it being used a lot, although mostly by people who presumably can’t stand Facebook.

But that’s not an insignificant number of people.

And yesterday Google announced that Plus is now publicly available (no invite needed) and unleashed a plethora of new features. Facebook has been launching new stuff rapidly lately too, which pretty much indicates that they’re worried about Plus. Don’t believe that? Take note of the way they’re now automatically organizing your friends into ~~Circles~~ lists for you. Yesterday they made some major UI changes with the change to the news feed and the ticker.

When I was a more frequent Facebook user, I was very amused by the complaints from users when Facebook made small UI changes. It’s going to be worth visiting in the next few days to read what will best described as outrage over the mess they’ve created with these changes. This week’s analogy:

Netflix is to name change as Facebook is to UI change

We’ll see, but this misstep could make Plus even more viable. Robert Scoble is betting everything on Plus. And I’m becoming more and more convinced that Google has the best shot at winning the long game. Facebook has lots of users, but it completely lacks anything resembling organization and long term direction.

Data likes to be organized, and users like simple things that don’t change much.

Correct Swimming Pool Temps

September 9, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

I’m going to break this down to levels beyond scientific, based on my test data.

I’m proposing a “bust-yer-aise” scale similar to the wind chill factor or the heat index. 80 feels like 88, provided you’re working hard enough.

If 80 degree water in your backyard pool is too cold for you to cool off in, you need to increase the intensity of your run/bike/walk/row/rugby/training. Or mow/landscape harder. Whatever.

And the max temperature for a lap pool should be ~78. If you can’t make yourself sweat buckets in 78 degree water, consult a physician.

September 8, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

Watching the debates last night, I noticed that other candidates have started to talk about things like auditing the federal reserve and using terms like “Keynesian economics”.

Good job Ron Paul. You started those conversations four years ago and have shifted the debate in some very key areas this time around.

However, I don’t think they are going to be talking about “the fence that keeps us all in” during the 2016 campaign. I’m afraid you may be losing it us a little on that front.

Thinking my money would be better spent this time around helping Newt stir the pot.

Lucrative Twitter Niche Identified!!!

September 6, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

Twitter is still growing every day, and it’s harder and harder to get noticed and recognized there. No matter what niche you are trying to target with your marketing efforts, it seems like it’s more difficult to build a following among anyone other than the people who are also marketing in that niche.

I was looking over my “New Followers” emails over the weekend and checking out the profiles of some of the people who looked like they may have a motive for using Twitter other than selling me something. There weren’t many to be found. But I did find a new niche. It was serendipitous!

The untapped niche on Twitter is…

People who are just being themselves and not pushing a sales pitch until I want to vomit at the thought of the idea of owning whatever they are selling.

If you are moderately interesting, I’m going to be much more likely to pay attention to what you are trying to sell me when you finally, after gaining my trust, try to sell it. I’m a tightwad, so I won’t pay that much attention, but at least I’ll pay more attention.

If you are really into fitness (or web applications, or politics, or music, or fill_in_the_blank), that’s awesome. Me too. But I don’t want to hear someone talk about one single subject all the time in real life. Why would I want that on Twitter? If you can’t talk about anything else over a cup of coffee, you are probably obnoxious and boring.

And so is your Twitter account.

Hurricane Preparedness – Irene

August 23, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

It looks like Hurricane Irene is going to miss us for the most part, although I’m sure we’ll get plenty of rain and some good surf out of it; more surf than I could handle anyway.

Unfortunately, the rest of the east coast may not be as lucky as we were this time around.

We did the usual things to prepare over the weekend when it looked like we were going to be hit, at least the things a newb like me could think of. Power outage is the biggest concern since we don’t have underground utilities in our neighborhood:

Remove possible projectiles from the yard
Stock up on water, beans and rice, charcoal, flashlights and batteries
Plenty of gas for the car and chainsaw

Next up are a couple of things I’m doing to get ready for a bunch of rain:

Sprinklers off for a few days…I think we’ve got plenty of water coming
Empty the pool down a little…more water
Hex the dead tree in the neighbors’ yard to fall into their yard and not ours

Hopefully I’ll be posting mostly surfing photos and not many damage/clean up photos over the weekend.

August 18, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

I promise I’m not going to have a daily Ron Paul post like I may have possibly been guilty of during the last election cycle. But here’s a way Ron Paul ~~could~~ could have put his organization and fund raising abilities to substantial use…

Switch parties and force Barack Obama to primary against him.

Just an idea.

**UPDATE**

I realize that’s not possible at this point, but it would’ve been an interesting turn of events.

An Interesting Question, An Interesting Answer

August 18, 2011 / Scott / 2 Comments

From @MatthewHurtt

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/matthewhurtt/statuses/104211751242964992″]

If someone comes up with an App that lets kids remotely control a robot arm that picks up rocks and launches them or throws punches at defenseless passersby, we may be in some danger.

But rocks are heavy. And punching sounds a lot like exercise to me.

From what I’ve seen, that sounds like more effort than many of them would be willing to engage in. Plus, it would be hard to hit your target while simultaneously texting your friends that you are tormenting innocent strangers.

And some innocent strangers punch back.

How The Ames Debate Could Have Been Won

August 12, 2011 / Scott / 4 Comments

If you watched the GOP debate last night, you are probably worried. I heard one analyst mention that there’s a political void right now in politics (on “both” sides). I know these candidates all have consultants who are highly paid and know more about politics than me, but let me tell you what would have struck a chord last night–focus on the economy.

When I say focus, I mean that someone up there should have answered every single question in relation to the economy.

Immigration? “I think _____, but if we can’t develop a sustainable economic policy, no one will be immigrating here anyway.”

Afghanistan? “I think _____, but if we can’t develop get a sustainable economic policy, we’ll have to bring the troops back very soon or leave them stranded there.”

Guantanamo Bay? “I think _____, but if we can’t develop a sustainable economic policy, those prisoners may as well be hostages that someone’s going to ransom.”

Energy? “I think _____, but if we can’t develop a sustainable economic policy, there won’t be any jobs to drive to and folks won’t be able to buy power to heat and cool their homes at any price.”

While I have my own opinions about what that policy should be, I’m not pushing those here. I’m saying someone on that stage should have been smart enough to relate every issue brought up in last night’s questions to the number one issue on everyone’s mind. That’s the economy, stupid.

It worries me that the “best and brightest” can’t figure out that the economy is all most people are concerned about right now. Once unemployment and the national debt are both down, we can once again enjoy the luxury of worrying about what other people do with their private parts behind closed doors.

Investing for Triathletes

August 9, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

During yesterday’s market tumble, I saw this tweet from @lokibeat…

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/lokibeat/statuses/100660260204843008″]

It made me chuckle, but it also made me think of a couple of things triathletes and runners can hopefully relate to. First of all, the practical…

I prefer to think of dips in the market the same way I do water stops. At first glance, water stops cost me time in races because I walk them. But the truth is, water stops gain me time because I walk them. Walking the water stops gives me a chance to take in a lot more fluid than I could if I tried to run through them. That fluid is an investment in my total race. So I think of dips in the market as a chance to buy more of the same thing I was buying a couple of weeks ago at a discount. We’re talking about investing, not trading, right? It’s a ironman/marathon, and I’m not selling next week whether the market is up or down.

Secondly, @lokibeat is right…it is more about the trip than it is the destination. I think a lot of us enjoy the day-in-day-out training more than we do crossing the finish line at a race. Even on race day, when we say we “had fun”, we’re talking about the entire race…not just the finish line.

So chill out, walk the water stops, and take in as much fluid as you can while someone’s there to hand it to you.

And you might as well go ahead and make friends with the pain for now. You’ll feel better in a few miles.

Blogging Like Mike Jones

August 5, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

I’m Mike Jones (who?) Mike Jones

The one and only, you cain’t clone me

Got a lotta haters and a lotta homies

Some friends, some phony

Let’s break down the example Mike Jones gives us here and how it applies to blogging. We’ll take it line by line.

I’m Mike Jones (who?) Mike Jones

Unlike other rappers, Mike Jones uses his real name and isn’t afraid to put it out there. He’s not “Mike Ice” or “MC Jones”. He’s Mike Jones. What? Didn’t get that? Not sure who he is? Just ask him…he’ll tell you…over and over. He’s Mike Jones.

Don’t be afraid to stand behind who you really are.

The one and only, you cain’t clone me

Mike Jones is himself, and there is no other Mike Jones.

If you are blogging from your unique perspective, no one else can adequately imitate your style.

Got a lotta haters and a lotta homies

Not everyone appreciates Mike Jones’s style, but that’s ok with him. A lot of other people do.

Everyone doesn’t have to love your blogging style.

Some are real, some are phony

Mike Jones is aware that all of the people who love him aren’t genuine in their love; they just want something from him. That’s ok with Mike Jones because the phonies still add to his mystique. They still buy albums and say his name…Mike Jones.

Traffic is traffic.

Now, just pretend you read this five years ago. Back then…

Mike Jones – Still Tippin’

July 29, 2011 / Scott / 5 Comments

If you suddenly (never saw it coming) found yourself maxed out on your credit cards, what would be your first move? Would you call Visa and try to convince them to up your limit in order to save your credit score, or would you call the cable company and cancel HBO?

July 28, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

Gut feeling:

Since Google Plus came online, Facebook’s traffic hasn’t been affected very much.

Since Spotify became available in the U.S., Pandora has seen less traffic.

Just a thought.

July 27, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

Ok Google…

I’m on your site (Plus) using your OS (Android) and the browser supplied with it on an unrooted device (Acer Iconia TA500). So why can’t I include photos in Google Plus posts when I’m using the browser instead of the Android app?

Not a huge deal, just something I noticed.

July 26, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

Here’s what I think would be a nice and simple feature add for Google Plus…

Once I’ve posted something and shared it, make it easy for me to go back and include more Circles instead of “re-sharing”. Seems pretty easy to me. I’ve run into a couple of instances where I forgot to include a Circle, and it seemed like an intuitive feature to just add more Circles on the fly later.

I’m sure there’s a highly technical, complicated reason we can’t do this yet…right?

Yammer Should Be Called “Sweet Potato-er”

July 25, 2011 / Scott / 0 Comments

Don’t “sweet potatoes” sound so much tastier than “yams”?

I posted this to our network this morning, but it’s also worth stating publicly.

My new favorite thing about Yammer:

It’s so much more convenient to come back from vacation and read what people wrote in groups/threads on Yammer over the past couple of days than it is to try to sort through all the messages and replies on email. I can quickly sort out what’s important using the groups and tags, get to the meat, find out what issues are already resolved, and see what I’ve missed. It’s already organized for me!

I’ve loved Yammer for quite a while for reducing emails and helping me sort through information real time, but I hadn’t really considered the benefit of easily catching up from a vacation until our usage at work increased to a level that I could really tell the difference.

Of course, I was never too far behind anyway because I could follow along through my mobile device the whole time I was gone and have a good idea of what was going on. This was pretty easy to do too because I could cut out all the peripheral noise on Yammer and just watch the groups that are of highest priority.

There’s such a high signal to noise ratio compared to email!

Sweet.

Gettin’ After It!