About Inquiry of thoughtsChristopher Porter is the author of this blog. He sometimes updates it, but is usually found wandering the streets of the internet for interesting ideas.
So, I really want to go on a trip down the salt river. This opinion has only been bolstered by my research into the subject. Here is an excerpt from a “prominent” website on outdoor adventure:
Nature and the Salt River carved the 2,000 feet deep Salt River Canyon that’s loaded with spectacular views. Rafting the river is the best way to experience the views. Beginning at the Salt River Canyon Bridge north of Globe Arizona the river thunders past red canyon walls where side canyon waterfalls feed into quiet pools. Enjoy the co-existence of solitude and the raw-power white water Class III – IV rapids. This stretch of the river covers about 60 miles as it calms near Roosevelt Lake Dam.
Sounds like fun to me. There is also this great blog that talks about it, and even posted this great video.
So, I am going. When, how, those questions will be answered in time. But I am going!!
Open Source rocks, so it can only be expected that a partnership between mobile phone companies, software developers, and hardware manufacturers figured out how good it would be for them to adopt open standards. This is not my typical post, just something I am excited about, so read more at a few places like Official Google Blog: Where’s my Gphone?, gizmodo, engadget, or wherever.
My roommate just informed me about Google moving into social networking. I wrote a post about what I had heard yesterday, but today is a new day, right?
Simply put, Google has created a distributed social network framework that will end up competing with Facebook and MySpace (and Bebo in markets like the UK). It is kind of a ‘third place’ of social networks - and it is a huge boost to the less populous or more specialized social networks such as Ning, Hi5 and our old friend Friendster.
It’s not entirely clear yet what the benefits will be to users. I assume there will be some interoperability - e.g. when a user joins up to a Ning social network, there may be hooks into their Friendster profile and data. Will this be the full ‘export’ functionality that industry people like Marc Canter have been crying out for? It remains to be seen. I think it’s fair to assume there won’t be an export function from OpenSocial to Facebook or MySpace, at this point anyway. I’d love to be proven wrong though.
This is the beginning of opening up the walled gardens of current social networks, but the biggest player, myspace, is joining in on the Open Social fun. I am curious to see what kind of apps come out of this move, and how they will benefit the end user. After facebook opened up their api to developers, I saw lots of crazy apps that could be fun, but were mostly pointless (vampire, super wall, too many to list). Just as email has become ubiquitous because of its (mostly) open standards nature, social networks may turn into more useful tools, and less teenage time wasters.
If you have never used Technorati, it is a great service to search blogs, and find recent posts about issues. Here is my profile on Technorati, check it out sometime.
Here are some interesting things I have read about recently. I am a huge advocate of open source, and have been frustrated with the so called “Walled Gardens” of social networks. I am not by any means an expert on these concepts, so here are a few other people’s blogs, and what they have to say on social networking, open source, and some plans Google has to change all that.
Life hacker’s opinion on opening up the social network communities.
Interesting article by IT Manager’s Journal on open source business strategies. They are able to be competitive, and profitable, it just requires work to understand where a companies real value is, and give away the rest (one open source business model I find interesting).
Here are several social networking sites I use personally Linkedin Facebook Plaxo
And more big announcements by Google, the giant choosing to open up their platform even more, to allow third party software to interface with all of Googles online goodies.
I like using some of these websites/tools/take-over-your-digital-life, but I wonder how many of these I will be using in a few years. Sure I am single, carry my laptop with me everywhere, and feel lost if I have not gone online in a day, but I don’t really have a life now, what if I ever get one? One day we may find a balance between the things we do online, and how those affect our real world experiences. I hope my digital life can enrich my real life, and not take it over. (and I am not talking about second life here, just in case you caught an unintentional reference)
I believe in the supreme worth of the individual and in his right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty.
I believe that the law was made for man and not man for the law; that government is the servant of the people and not their master.
I believe in the dignity of labor, whether with head or hand; that the world owes no man a living but that it owes every man an opportunity to make a living.
I believe that thrift is essential to well ordered living and that economy is a prime requisite of a sound financial structure, whether in government, business or personal affairs.
I believe that truth and justice are fundamental to an enduring social order.
I believe in the sacredness of a promise, that a man’s word should be as good as his bond; that character — not wealth or power or position — is of supreme worth.
I will have to think about it for a while, but it certainly had an impact on me.
As a recent article in info wold suggests, it is getting tough to manage the amount of information that comes at us every day in the information age. Among that information that is bombarding us, are solutions that can help us to manage the title wave of data.
My favorite website that specifically deals with these issues, is called Life Hacker. It is a compendium of useful Macguyver tips for everyday life, and enough hints to improve your computer skills to rival Tom Cruise in minority report.
I love simple things. There is just something about a program, website, or blog when it is done right, and everything comes together, it just makes sense. This is the case with a website and video seriese I have recently stumbled on.
The website is called Common Craft, and it is simply brillant (or brilliant in simplicity). A subject I find myself explaining constantly is wikis, so here is the wiki video where Lee Lefever describes what wikis are in his “plain English”.
Let me know what you think of his work in the comments section. I am hoping to provide this type of service to clients that I work with, one day.
Sphere: Related Content
Now I have seen plenty of cheesy mission statements in my day (seeing as how I am of such ripe age….) I believe they are important in business, and should be a guiding factor, but inspiring and fun.
If I ever get employees, the will have the option of writing their own personal mission statement, for how they will have fun at work, or how they contribute to the company. Like
I will only play 4 games of solitare when I am on the phone
Coffee + Work = good times, work - coffee = nap times, coffee + work + coffee = lots of work done, coffee + work+ coffee + work + coffee = weekend
Hopefully they will be more creative than me. But here is the working mission statement for Eliysys
Help businesses and individuals create and manage their digital identity. We do this through:
Facilitating online community
Ongoing training for our current and future clients
Utilizing the long tail of customer niches
This is a work in progress. There are concepts that I want to incorporate, but right now they are very specific, and need to be generalized. Ideas like the long tail of customer niches, prosumers, and wikinomics all inter relate in my mind, but they need to be applied to my business.
A big question I have, that will have bearing to my mission statement, is how to be an online, locationless, consultant? I do not want to limit my services to only people in my hometown, and I also do not want to fly all around the country. But the way the internet has been going, there are so many ways to telecommute, and interact with potential clients.
What would business websites look like if they were created with the businesses customers in mind? I have seen plenty that were essentially online brochures, digital versions of a brochure a business might have in a rusty old stand in a musty foyer (just kidding, foyers and brochures have their place, they are simply tools, I should not pick on them without their ability for rebuttal).
A website is also a tool. Like the power for world domination, it can be used for good or evil.
Website Evil: When a local small business invests in a website, then does nothing with it for two or three years. Their digital sign cordially invites me to attend “future” events that have already happened Several “comming soon” sections, from years ago.
Website Good: Current events sections with actual current events. Photos of actual people who still work there. Just like a dog and its owner, the website reminds you of the company it represents.
So how do you go about making a website that fits the company it is being made for? Glad you asked, here is what I think (feel free to add your own in the comments section)
Determine what the company wants from a presence on the web
Work with people in the company who will update content on the site
Continuing education for each client about how to continually improve and use the website to achieve their goals
Set realistic time sensitive goals for what the website can and cant do, and how much work the client company is willing to put into it every day, week, and month.
What this looks like to me is a partnership. Websites are no longer one time activities, sunk costs to incur once and forget about. Websites can be viral marketing tools, a customer relationship management solution, customer service contact point, and simply another face to interact and engage with customers who chose to use the internet.
Several “comming soon” sections, from years ago.
