See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/anvi2
Friday, January 28, 2011
In Memorium - STS-51-L Challenger
A little over three weeks ago I wrote a personal reflection on the Challenger disaster, as it changed my life not insignificantly and this anniversary kind of coincided with the end of the changes the original event precipitated. I just thought I'd share my post once again. It's at http://wp.me/paiNK-7v
Thursday, January 20, 2011
I'm OK, You're a Pathological Techno-Geek
You won't go wrong reading the entire review, but in the interest of brevity I am herewith sharing the author's final paragraph. It's a couple days old. Sorry 
Amplify’d from www.boston.com
Antisocial media
An MIT professor and psychologist argues our modern wired lifestyle is damaging us and our relationships, but she may be a bit premature
(Tatsuro Kiuchi)
Globe Correspondent
/
January 16, 2011
But, suppose human nature is more malleable than her psychological model allows. Suppose the Internet is devising a self that is social in new ways that include intimacy, but that also find real human value in thinly spread connections. Turkle’s observations raise disturbing issues, but her theoretical framework so colors her conclusions that, although her book will spark useful debate, it settles less than she seems to think. The changes our technology is bringing are challenging our conceptual frameworks for understanding those changes, including the psychological standpoint Turkle takes as secure.
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bn1od
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Please Help!
Hello. My name is Rick and . . . well . . . I'm a bit of a Social Media addict. I've been able to resist Farmville, but I still check in frequently to see what's up on Facebook. I follow amazingly fascinating and informing people on Twitter and have connected with them on Facebook as well. Many of them are in far away locations on the planet, so there's almost always a conversation going on; at any time of day or night. Today it became clear to me just how much of a problem this is for me.
I have an iMac, an iPad, and (I know this probably seems heretical, but what can I say?) an HTC Hero running Google Android. I use or have used Twitter's web app, Nambu, Osfoora, Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, Twitter for iPad, and maybe some services I can't even remember using. I ran my iPad's battery down by about 3:00 pm PST today and had to switch over to my phone exclusively while it's recharging. The process has me twitching a little bit. The alternative is to sit in my home office, tethered to my Mac, but the weather is gorgeous and at least I can be somewhat ambulatory with either of my other devices.
It's not that I'm on Twitter all the time; it's just that I feel compelled to at least pay attention. I also find myself checking in using Foursquare or Facebook Places, and writing reviews on Yelp. I'm fascinated with the quality of information available via Twitter or, lately, Quora.
I can't seem to disengage, and I don't even work in Tech or a large enterprise (at least not anymore). What can I do? My children are begging me to help them be less bored. I should get them their own smart phones I suppose, but they're only 7 and 9. Still . . . the temptation is strong.
My name is Rick. I'm 63 years old, semi-retired, and wondering what to do with this addiction. Please help!
I have an iMac, an iPad, and (I know this probably seems heretical, but what can I say?) an HTC Hero running Google Android. I use or have used Twitter's web app, Nambu, Osfoora, Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, Twitter for iPad, and maybe some services I can't even remember using. I ran my iPad's battery down by about 3:00 pm PST today and had to switch over to my phone exclusively while it's recharging. The process has me twitching a little bit. The alternative is to sit in my home office, tethered to my Mac, but the weather is gorgeous and at least I can be somewhat ambulatory with either of my other devices.
It's not that I'm on Twitter all the time; it's just that I feel compelled to at least pay attention. I also find myself checking in using Foursquare or Facebook Places, and writing reviews on Yelp. I'm fascinated with the quality of information available via Twitter or, lately, Quora.
I can't seem to disengage, and I don't even work in Tech or a large enterprise (at least not anymore). What can I do? My children are begging me to help them be less bored. I should get them their own smart phones I suppose, but they're only 7 and 9. Still . . . the temptation is strong.
My name is Rick. I'm 63 years old, semi-retired, and wondering what to do with this addiction. Please help!
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bm46n
Friday, January 14, 2011
Tunisia's President Flees After Riots Fanned by WikiLeaks
Tunisia's Revolution Was Twitterized
I think anybody who is interested in the power of social media to revolutionize not merely the way we do business, but the way we live our lives, should be paying close attention to what's happening in Tunisia. I wish I'd known about this earlier. This likely is a harbinger of more changes to come, as peoples' ability to communicate, share, inform, and educate (all of which facilitate collaboration and innovation) expands to ubiquity.
To me this represents an aspect of emergence that is incredibly exciting. It's very democratic and participatory, incredibly disruptive, yet it's hard to say what that will mean as process and structure coalesce behind our desires and needs. Gives me goosebumps!
We couldn't spread democracy through the use of force very effectively (and surely not very efficiently), but technology is doing it for us . . . and to us. I was thinking this is part of our evolution, but then - since we've created the technology - realized it's intelligent design =;^D
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/blyel
Friday, January 07, 2011
Another Reason Healthcare is so Expensive!
I just had to share this. It strikes me as indicative of just how litigious our society (the United States, that is) has become and how, coupled with many contributing factors, it makes our healthcare (or sickness care) system incredibly wasteful and, therefore, expensive.
I received a "SECOND REQUEST" letter from NexClaim Recoveries, LLC the other day, reminding me I was a slacker in not filling out their previously sent treatment questionnaire. It carried the following "threat":
Your response is required within the next 21 days to avoid further contact.
Now here's what this is in regard to. Last August my then 6 year old daughter was bleeding off some excess energy by spinning madly in the very large elevator vestibule in the San Francisco Hilton. She lost her balance, fell, and hit her mouth on the edge of a small table sitting between two chairs at the far end of the area.
She was bleeding rather profusely from her mouth and I immediately sought medical attention from the hotel. We were very quickly transported to the emergency room at St. Francis Memorial Hospital in a hotel limousine, where my daughter's mouth was closely inspected (after quite an effort on behalf of the staff to earn her trust). Thankfully, the blood was from a cut lip and nothing more; no broken or damaged teeth. The hotel was good enough to retrieve us when we were finished and the lip healed within days.
At no time did I ever contemplate looking to the hotel or anyone else for liability. In fact, if there's any "blame" to be assigned I'm afraid I would be the first candidate. She is, after all, my daughter and I'm the one who "allowed" her to spin around. I was, in fact, sitting in one of those chairs and "should" have been there to catch her, eh?
Well, thankfully NexClaim is far enough evolved in the Technium to have also built a web presence designed to provide people like me an easier way to respond, as well as save themselves nearly a half buck in postage each time it's used.
I have to say I'm still a bit miffed I had to actually take an action - to keep from being dunned - in order to assure these people (and United Technologies-Anthem, my healthcare extor . . . er, provider) I'm not going to do something; like sue them.
When I finished filling in as little as possible of the form as I could and still ensure they will never contact me again, I was taken to a page containing the following.
Thank You for responding via our online questionnaire response form. Your response has been processed and received and you may discard your paper questionnaire. Occasionally, responses may not be processed before another questionnaire is generated. Therefore if you receive a questionnaire in the mail regarding the same treatment, please disregard. Your assigned specialist may contact you if additional information is needed.
Somehow, this is almost like adding insult to injury, as it seems further proof they're wasteful and disorganized, which I believe the entire reason for their existence actually is. I also find it ironic they actually infer I'm a Customer!
I received a "SECOND REQUEST" letter from NexClaim Recoveries, LLC the other day, reminding me I was a slacker in not filling out their previously sent treatment questionnaire. It carried the following "threat":
Your response is required within the next 21 days to avoid further contact.
Now here's what this is in regard to. Last August my then 6 year old daughter was bleeding off some excess energy by spinning madly in the very large elevator vestibule in the San Francisco Hilton. She lost her balance, fell, and hit her mouth on the edge of a small table sitting between two chairs at the far end of the area.
She was bleeding rather profusely from her mouth and I immediately sought medical attention from the hotel. We were very quickly transported to the emergency room at St. Francis Memorial Hospital in a hotel limousine, where my daughter's mouth was closely inspected (after quite an effort on behalf of the staff to earn her trust). Thankfully, the blood was from a cut lip and nothing more; no broken or damaged teeth. The hotel was good enough to retrieve us when we were finished and the lip healed within days.
At no time did I ever contemplate looking to the hotel or anyone else for liability. In fact, if there's any "blame" to be assigned I'm afraid I would be the first candidate. She is, after all, my daughter and I'm the one who "allowed" her to spin around. I was, in fact, sitting in one of those chairs and "should" have been there to catch her, eh?
Well, thankfully NexClaim is far enough evolved in the Technium to have also built a web presence designed to provide people like me an easier way to respond, as well as save themselves nearly a half buck in postage each time it's used.
I have to say I'm still a bit miffed I had to actually take an action - to keep from being dunned - in order to assure these people (and United Technologies-Anthem, my healthcare extor . . . er, provider) I'm not going to do something; like sue them.
When I finished filling in as little as possible of the form as I could and still ensure they will never contact me again, I was taken to a page containing the following.
Thank You for responding via our online questionnaire response form. Your response has been processed and received and you may discard your paper questionnaire. Occasionally, responses may not be processed before another questionnaire is generated. Therefore if you receive a questionnaire in the mail regarding the same treatment, please disregard. Your assigned specialist may contact you if additional information is needed.
Should you have any questions or need to change your response, please feel free to contact our Customer Call Center at 1-888-468-4742 .
Somehow, this is almost like adding insult to injury, as it seems further proof they're wasteful and disorganized, which I believe the entire reason for their existence actually is. I also find it ironic they actually infer I'm a Customer!
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bkv2l
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
How's That New Year's Resolution Working Out?
I don't make New Year's Resolutions, never have. I did, however make an Old Year's Resolution back around Thanksgiving. It was to make it through the holidays without gaining any weight and still enjoy myself.
Putting on my pants this morning I realized I achieved my goal and, in fact, appear to have lost weight. I haven't actually weighed myself, but I believe the ease with which I fit into a pair of pants I don't think would have been all that comfortable a month or so ago is proof enough.
The real point I'm making here is, if you need to do something you don't need to wait around for some (let's face it) arbitrary day in the Earth's revolution around the Sun to commence. I'm pretty convinced New Year's Resolutions are designed to fail. Not a good model, IMO.
Putting on my pants this morning I realized I achieved my goal and, in fact, appear to have lost weight. I haven't actually weighed myself, but I believe the ease with which I fit into a pair of pants I don't think would have been all that comfortable a month or so ago is proof enough.
The real point I'm making here is, if you need to do something you don't need to wait around for some (let's face it) arbitrary day in the Earth's revolution around the Sun to commence. I'm pretty convinced New Year's Resolutions are designed to fail. Not a good model, IMO.
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bkn2i
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