Unsafe at any processor speed?

Interesting questions raised in this post about the recent Windows security problem.

It is odd how we accept the frequency in crashes and need for patches to an operating system (Mac users too, by the way), when if our cable provider, cell phone company, gas company, chia pet, etc... had the same number of problems, we would show them the door.

Seems to me if hot coffee you place in your lap is a solid platform for litigational weath optimization... a blue screen should mean green too.

Just for fun

http://www.netdisaster.com/go.php?mode=meteor&url=foulballguy.blogspot.com

Pretty fun, huh?

Wikigate

So, the joke update to John Seigenthaler Sr.'s bio on Wikipedia that linked him to the Kennedy assassinations appears to be the "magic bullet" to broaden the awareness and understanding of wikis. Go figure.

Prior to Wikigate, I posted under construct 1 in Bob (a friendly document discussing constructs to improve electronic communication) that the new world of pervasive publishers would require FDA like categorization to let people know the grade of information they were dealing with. I even mentioned Wikipedia. Go figure.

I hope there is not a rush to "reform" the world of wikis. If there is, one would think blogs would be next.

*** Gamma content (and proud of it) ***

Meet Bob

After further reflection, the concept of a "manifesto" is a tad beyond the intellectual octane I could realistically offer. So, I am broadening the scope, and diminishing the nomenclature, of the content formerly known as the "E-mail Manifesto". Meet...

BOB
(A friendly document discussing constructs to improve electronic communication)
version 2.0

Whereas - Freedom without accountability results in bad things...
Whereas - Markets and scarcity promote thoughtful actions...
Whereas - Keystroke distribution is becoming a profound element of communication...

The following constructs are proposed:

Construct 1: Content categorization

While many different categories could be used improve finding and organizing information - breaking electronic communication down into three major groups would be useful in a world where everyone is a publisher (even Fabio):

Alpha content - Fully vetted content that has only come into being after rigorous review (example: www.thomas.gov )

Beta content - Content that has been open for review/comment/modification by a diverse audience (example: Microsoft support forums)

Gamma content - Pure opinion, conjecture, or rambling (example: this blog)

Wikipedia probably falls somewhere between Alpha & Beta

Construct 2: Market Valuation

All electronic communications should be subject to user feedback/rating and prominently display the current aggregate rating.

Construct 3: Universal monthly e-mail allotment is assigned to each individual (no family plans at this time)

Structure

Each individual may send up to 100 e-mails a month
Rollover concepts apply
Accounting is on an inbox basis (an e-mail sent to 10 people = 10 e-mails)
When you are out, you are out... Bub!

Benefits

Less e-mail (duh!)
Fewer hoaxes and chain letters
Greater judgment applied by all e-mail senders
Better quality of life for all e-mail users

Unintended, but still fully welcomed benefits

A burgeoning black market for selling excess e-mails (e-mail ebay)

Feel free to link to this construct with this spiffy graphic...

Note: Please help me out and e-mail me (kelly.thul@gmail.com) any additions/suggestions/enhancements. These e-mails are exempt from the construct 3 quota. I am aware of the hypocrisy of this approach, but I am at peace with it.

Deep search

Actions speak louder than words. http://50.lycos.com/ provides a weekly snapshot on what people are searching on.

Take a few minutes to review the list. I believe Lycos declared that "Janet Jackson" was the most searched upon term in the history of the internet after her Superbowl malfunction (I have no idea how that could be proved or disproved, but it sure sounds cool to say).

As I post this, this list is as of Nov 5. I would stop back and check the Nov 12 list. My bold prediction....

"Carolina Panther Cheerleaders" is going to have a VERY good week.

Far better than "Samuel Alito" I expect.

Infer what you wish from that.

Memo to Ken Williams

The difference could not be greater on how the "last out ball" was handled by Paul Konerko verses the Red Sox player who is "loaning" the 2004 ball back to the team.

Hits and runs can come from anyone. Class from a shrinking few.

Sign Konerko.

Now.

Apologies

Sorry for the baseball skew in recent posts.

If the past is any indication, I should remain quiet for 88 years or so now.

Pierzynski rules

On the eve of what will hopefully be an enjoyable World Series for White Sox fans, I thought I would suggest some communication lessons taught to us by Professor A. J. Pierzynski in the American League Championship Series:

Lesson 1: Sometimes "what the heck" is an effective strategy

Two outs in the ninth inning of Game 2. Two Strikes. Bad pitch. Bad swing. You're out... well kinda. Maybe not. A. J. thought the ball might have been trapped, so he ran to first base. Called safe - and several other things by Angel fans.

Lesson 2: If they don't hear the message, the message didn't exist

Game 4. Greeted warmly at Angel Stadium, Pierzynski commited catcher's interference. Or did he? The ump didn't see it and Steve Finley went "whee whee" all the way to an out at first base.

Lesson 3: Details matter

A. J. had an out call at first overturned in Game 5, because the ball was in the mitt, then the pitcher decided to pull it out, and then whack Pierzynski with empty leather. The three second rule for dropped food did not apply. Safe.

I can't help myself

Go Sox Go

(White Sox, of course)

Pirate

I am fairly certain all communication philosophy can be derived from two movies...

1. Army of Darkness
2. Pirates of the Caribbean

From the latter movie, an example....

When Capt. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is fighting William Turner (Orlando Bloom) early in the movie, he takes a shortcut to gain advantage. Bloom calls him out and accuses him of unfair play. Sparrow looks back at him and simply says "pirate".

With one world and some mild body English, Capt. Jack conveys the concept...

"Well of COURSE I cheated you dolt. Duh. Did you expect a person in the profession I have chosen to play fair? Shoot straight? Your concern is ill placed and of no concern to me."

Thus illustrating the power of concise language. A noble communication concept to say the least.

Well, this was probably a long way around talking about a clever movie scene - and not particularly useful, but...

Pirate.

(See, it works)

Self-Control

“The idea of self-control is paradoxical unless it is assumed that the psyche contains more than one energy system, and that these energy systems have some degree of independence from each other.” McIntosh - 1969

While I would hope the psyche does have more than one energy system... the "push communications" system seems to occupy the dominate gene role when compared to the "pull communications" system (apologies for the mixed metaphors and scientific disciplines)

Hug me

There are two kind of people in the world. Those who hug A LOT, and those who don't. For the huggers out there, the slightest event can prompt a full scale squeeze attack...

"Oh, you are back from the store" (HUG)
"Oh, I have a friend named Leroy too!!" (HUG)
"Did you just exhale?" (HUG)

Others of us are more selective in hug distribution. This seems to be an affront to the huggers. Lower frequency huggers (and reluctant huggees as well) are accused of having issues with human contact, a hard heart, or small pox by the hugging jihad.

OK, I made the small pox one up.

I will argue that the selectivity shown it distributing hugs does not reflect distain, but rather it shows high regard to the hug and a desire save them for the times that deserve it. Rather than the massive devaluation that results by the "if it moves, hug it" gang, the hug scarcity approach increases its value.

So thumbs up (from an appropriate distance) to those non-hugging.

Required reading

Worth your time....

www.katrina-lsu.blogspot.com/

OK, Donald Trump has a blog, and Trump University (the Fighting Mullets, I believe) is developing developing a new "women-centric" curriculum.

Hmmm.... was this a chapter in Revelations?

Man, I festo!!

E - M A I L Q U O T A M A N I F E S T O
version 1.0

Whereas - Freedom without accountability results in bad things...

Whereas - Markets and scarcity promote thoughtful actions...

It is proposed that a universal monthly e-mail allotment is assigned to each individual (no family plans at this time)

Structure

• Each individual may send up to 100 e-mails a month
• Rollover concepts apply
• Accounting is on an inbox basis (an e-mail sent to 10 people = 10 e-mails)
• When you are out, you are out... Bub!

Benefits

· Less e-mail (duh!)

· Fewer hoaxes and chain letters

· Greater judgment applied by all e-mail senders

· Better quality of life for all e-mail users

Unintended, but still fully welcomed benefits

· A burgeoning black market for selling excess e-mails (e-mail ebay)

Note: Please help me out an e-mail me (kelly.thul@gmail.com) me any additions/suggestions/enhancements. These e-mails are exempt from the quota. I am aware of the hypocrisy of this approach, but I am at peace with it.

Feel free to link to the manifesto with this spiffy graphic...

Quotes Ahoy

Wikipedia is a wonderful thing, but don't forget to check out its related services like Wikiquote.

It it is full of great material including my favorite from Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?

"Oh, George, not the livestock. "

Communication coefficient

The coefficient of static friction deals with how much force is required before an at rest object can be put into motion. This also means the same amount of force applied to the same object on differing surfaces will result in differing amounts of motion. Assuming equal force, a rock on an ice rink will travel futher than that same rock placed on... oh say, Geraldo Riviera

There is likely a communication counterpart to this. For each individual, a certain amount of information is required to move them (take action). The challenge is, the communication friction that has to be overcome varies by individual. Unfortunately, this means Riviera-like rock force is applied to all (even the ice-rinkers out there).

Class system

I wonder if we will need to develop a class system sometime to signal how vetted information is. For example:

FORMATIVE CLASS - Moses and God IM back and forth regarding the Ten Comandments. In the process they narrow the scope of coveting as a prohibited activity.

FIRMING CLASS - Moses posts the Ten Commandments on his blog. Some of the chosen people grouse that they JUST BOUGHT some swell graven images.. NOW what are they supposed to do? In the process, the 11th commandment (Zeppo) is dropped based on clear community feedback.

FINALIZED CLASS - TenCommandment.com is updated and available for reference.

Podcasts redux

Just got back from a meeting with some brains significantly larger than mine.

I might have to rethink the cold water I have hurled at podcasts for internal communications.

But I am still right that connecting an iPod to most business networks is not as simple as it sounds... so there :)

BTW the US release of Dirty Diamonds is August 2

Internal business podcasts?

Podcasts seem to be quite the rage lately. For personal use, I love them. While Alice Cooper's nightly radio show has yet to appear in this environment (a flaw I am sure will be addressed if there is justice in the universe), there is still a great deal of interesting material out there.

I have heard some suggest they are the "next big thing" internally. I don't have strong feelings either way, but I do have some nagging thoughts:

1. How many employees have iPods (or similar devices) - and for those that do, how many companies will want them to connect to employee workstations/laptops... and by proxy (no pun intended) your network

2. You could dodge the iPod issue by storing the audio on hard drives, but I wonder is a world with "HR policies on tape" is really any better. While it would be cool to hear leadership speak about company results, I wonder if I would spend less time, and have better future reference information, if that insight was delivered via static web content, a blog, or (gasp) even an email.

Not sure - just wonderin'