Monday, May 16, 2005

Sam Ruby gives his part of IBM's new blogging guidelines. Sam Ruby: "One of my early managers once shared with me the following piece of advice: if you don't get your hand slapped at least twice a year, you aren't pushing the boundaries hard enough." I had a quote all picked out for the beginning of my book chapter, but this one might go there instead. [Scobleizer: Microsoft Geek Blogger] 5:46:28 PM    comment [] Be Cool to the Pizza Delivery Dude. We know them. We depend on them. We call them out on cold, rainy nights. Now, NPR listener Sarah Adams tells us why her life philosophy is built around being cool to the pizza delivery dude. [NPR Programs: All Things Considered] Could do worse than have a life philosphy of being  cool the the pizza dude 5:22:41 PM    comment [] Make Your Blog Pay. How can bloggers make money from their daily efforts? Perhaps by getting paid for favorable reviews. ... J. Ryan has written an interesting story ("Blogging for Dollars") on new hidden forms of advertising that might make their way into the blogging scene. This is not really a story to encourage trust in blogs. By info@risolutions.de (Katja Riefler). [Poynter E-Media Tidbits] Great, just what we need.  More paid advertisments.   4:48:59 PM    comment [] Merck Minds Its Manners. The drug giant's handbook for its salespeople has Congress offended. [The Motley Fool] So - make a bet here.  All the really serious ethical stuff that people should be looking at, we won't.  But this?  Language and small, something that can be changed with a strike of the workprocessor, we will rise to the challenge and rework yet once again all that silly, silly training course.  Good business for the knife and fork school crowd I guess BUT what a waste of time and effort that would be. 4:37:11 PM    comment []

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Give Me an E!. The Texas House has approved legislation to ban sexually suggestive routines by school cheerleaders: "Girls can get out and do all of these overly sexually performances and we applaud them and that's not right," said Democratic Rep. Al Edwards of Houston, who filed the legislation. Edwards argued that lascivious exhibitions are a distraction for high school students that result in pregnancies, high school dropouts, contraction of AIDS and herpes and "cutting off their youthful life at an early age." If Edwards hopes to turn the thoughts of teens away from sex, he'll have to restrict a lot more than an NC-17 rendition of "Rock Steady." He seems to have forgotten what it was like after the adolescent change of life known as Peter Brady, which turns the entire world into a lascivious exhibition. When I was a teen, a legislator trying to protect me from knocking up a dropout would have banned all of the following: The time Laura Dumais fell into my arms and my left wrist inadvertently reached second base Drawing the She-Hulk naked A breeze of at least three knots Role-playing a female NPC with a charisma score of 15 or better in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons The scene in The Sword and the Sorceror where Kathleen Beller had to be lathered in oil to prepare for her wedding Phoebe Cates Good times. [Workbench] 8:25:50 PM    comment [] In the World of NCLB It's All About the Data. This week I cut an advertisement from one of the educational technology magazines I get that featured the tag line: "It's All About the Data". In a fit of institutional subversiveness I tacked it on my bulletin board and added my own tag: "Wrong. It's All About the Students. It's astounding the amount of energy, effort, and money that is now being poured into the testing, evaluation, and monitoring of student testing--all driven by No Child Left... [Brain Frieze] 6:23:35 PM    comment [] Sexual scents and sensibility. JAMIE TALAN [Newsday.com Health News/Science News headlines] 5:31:13 PM    comment [] Other cases of the 'syndrome'. STACEY ALTHERR [Newsday.com Health News/Science News headlines] 5:28:26 PM    comment []

Thursday, May 05, 2005

Fidelity's Heir Apparent: Still Abby. Abigail Johnson's shift from mutual funds to its more mundane benefits-outsourcing arm is probably to polish her skills before she takes over [BusinessWeek Online -- Top News] This will be interesting to watch.  8:44:10 PM    comment [] Stop Them Before They Shoot Again. Digital cameras are taking billions more pictures than anyone wants to see. The notion is finally dawning that perhaps less may still be more. By By AMY HARMON. [NYT > Technology] 8:37:12 PM    comment [] Air Force Sets New Inquiry at Academy. There are complaints that evangelical Christians at the Air Force Academy intimidate those on campus who do not hold the same beliefs. By By LAURIE GOODSTEIN. [NYT > Education] What is wrong with these people?  They are so far from what is the basic tenet of what is their professed faith.  It is like they don't real the Bible itself.. just some kind of PowerPoint bulleted version that skips over things like tolerance, sensitivity, etc.  This makes the days of being at Greenville in the 70s and jokes about fighting the Christian Lion's den's seem tame and more like simple secular young adult rebellion than a religious boundary. I've been around people like this for decades  This behavior seems very unnaatural to me.  I wonder if it is all tha victimization talk.  Didin't that go out of vogue in the psychological mainstrem a few years ago?  Now, it is alive and well in religious circles?  8:27:58 PM    comment [] Q&A: Capgemini's Pierre Danon on restructuring. Capgemini COO Pierre Danon said the restructuring of the firm's North American division will place greater pricing and recruitment power in the hands of its top business leaders and bring the consulting and technology services firm closer to its customers. [Computerworld News] 7:36:31 PM    comment []

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

Photo: Seeking the real Antonia Bayle. Sony Online Entertainment has announced a real-life quest for a woman who looks like the fetching "Everquest II" heroine. [CNET News.com] Those marketing execs should just be looking at Sony and Everquest... The primer is here! 8:24:25 PM    comment [] New Lobby, and Address, for a 1900's Hotel. The dome over a bar in the Hotel Carlton had been ignored for so long - decades, in fact - that the building's owners were not quite sure what its stained glass looked like. The layers of tobacco tar and dirt were so thick that the dome appeared to have been painted black. In fact, the glass held a cornucopia, its contents depicted in brilliant colors. By By JOHN HOLUSHA. [NYT > Business] great story on restoration... 8:20:07 PM    comment [] Working Moms Tear Down Office Walls. Women are reshaping the workday by interweaving jobs and parenting, thanks to technology, entrepreneurial smarts, and changing attitudes [BusinessWeek Online -- Top News] Great article but the focus on the 20 to 30 year old demographic cohort is a bit misleading... But then, hey it is business week, what did I expect? And of course, there isn't a way to give them feedback that the story is a bit bigger than they have covered... 8:13:13 PM    comment [] N.B.A. Says Van Gundy Went Over the Line. Psychology aside, the game within the game took a day off, and the Jeff Van Gundy uproar will have to wait. By By LIZ ROBBINS. [NYT > Sports] I get such a kick out of things like this.  No assumption that it this guy might be telling the true, since after all, what could he possibly gain by starting up something like this if it doesn't have some truth to it?  Nope,  Stern just ASSUMES that it is more crazy shenninghans and his guys couldn't possibly be on th take... DUH!!! 8:08:00 PM    comment [] New Technology is the Big Challenge for Madison Avenue's Executives. Advertising poo-bahs are gathering for an annual conference in Bermuda, where they will discuss how technology is challenging their ability to deliver commercials to consumers. By By STUART ELLIOTT. [NYT > Technology] talk about bunch of people getting together to stare at their navels while the train leaves the station... Oh well, the longer they are lost in the clouds trying to figure out what is happening to their once automatic connection to the materialistic American consumer, the more we have a chance to break free of their influence and noise. 8:05:11 PM    comment [] IBM LOGO MUST NOT BE MOVED. If you want to see the source of the prevailing PowerPoint paradigm today, look no farther than your own corporate PowerPoint template. If you don't have corporate template handy, it's pretty easy to find the PowerPoint template for many organizations... [beyond bullets]  This guy makes so much sense... No wonder 2500 people want to attend his webinar. Great perspective on the realties of templettes, their cult of Queen Templet and their motto? our work is done when we throw over the fence and hit you in the communication kester with it 7:53:25 PM    comment [] Quote of the day: E-mail snoops and bathroom cams. Australian state attorney, in support of legislation to ban unauthorized spying on employees, likens e-mail snooping to surveillance cameras in changing rooms. [CNET News.com] Go Aussies. Call this one for privacy! 7:44:11 PM    comment [] A Gender Difference We Take for Granted. Everyone from university presidents to scientists have courted controversy with remarks about innate genetic differences between men and women. Commentator Lori Gottlieb points out that one area seems immune from the debate: communication. [NPR Programs: All Things Considered] 6:05:08 PM    comment [] Adobe Unruffled by Macromedia Restatement (AP). AP - Adobe Systems Inc. says the restatement of Macromedia Inc.'s earnings for the past three years won't affect its planned takeover. [Yahoo! News: Technology] 5:45:31 PM    comment [] 6 Words You Don't Want To Hear When Your Project is on Deadline. "We better run that by Legal." [Brain Frieze] 10:37:39 AM    comment []

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

Now they're wearing religion on their sleeves. T-shirts with edgy religious slogans or Christian imagery are suddenly in fashion. But what message do they send? [Christian Science Monitor | Top Stories] pony meat lover may still have a chance - just need to get the victimization fantasy going on it. 2:21:02 PM    comment [] Ugly Children May Get Parental Short Shrift. Parents would certainly deny it, but Canadian researchers have made a startling assertion: parents take better care of pretty children than they do ugly ones. By By NICHOLAS BAKALAR. [NYT > Health] So this is the second time I've seen this thing.  Frost me.  This has so many research holes and yet, the MSM only quotes one person who questions the guys conclusion on the basis of inappropriate use of evolutionary theory.  Duh,  how about inappropriate study practices?  This seems like a really, really tall order for only 400 participants that were "observed" at the grocery store.  And, who defines what makes a kid ugly?  Hell, almost every 8 year I've ever seen was ugly... Dumb, dumb, dumb 1:33:17 PM    comment []

Monday, May 02, 2005

Health Coverage Dispute Pits Older Retirees Against Younger. A recent federal court ruling forces employers who offer health insurance to early retirees to give comparable coverage to retirees who are 65 or older. By By MILT FREUDENHEIM. [NYT > Health] Interesting to read this in at the same time I'm reading about the intergenerational fallout that is coming between retirees and their children. We're still fighting about the benefit discrepancies with the group with our entitlement mindset.  Sigh. 3:15:31 PM    comment [] With Little Fanfare, a New Effort to Prosecute Employers That Flout Safety Laws. A partnership between OSHA, the E.P.A. and a select group of Justice Department prosecutors has been forged to prosecute the nation's worst workplace safety violators. By By DAVID BARSTOW and LOWELL BERGMAN. [NYT > Health] Reading this after reading the NYT book review of Thomas Friedman's new book makes me start to think that one of America's greatest assets during the next decade will be ability to "humanize" or as least avoid the worst kind of dehumanization that industrial and technological globalization will bring on the rest of the world.  Is it possible for us to export that experience?  Is it possible for us to fast forward through almost one hundred years of learning to be the collaborator and communicator, the counselor and storyteller to lead past the worst of the holes in the sidewalk? 3:08:48 PM    comment []

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Justices Side With Gun Owner Who Concealed Arrest in Japan. When Gary Small walked into a sports store in Delmont, Pa., to buy a pistol, he probably did not see himself as the central figure in a Supreme Court case. By By DAVID STOUT. [NYT > Home Page] Last sentence in the opinion was that Congress could "fix the language"  duh, how much forethought does it take to add the phrase domestic, US court to the word any court?  All the time it takes these guys to get a law passed, you'd think they would be looking toward the end result enough to put some clear language in.  Sometimes I just think the Surpremese are glorified maids sweeping up after sloppy language. 3:47:31 PM    comment [] http://accessibleairwaves.org/ so - sounds like the United Church of Christ created an ad with some drama to it that makes the point they don't disallow people from attending.  Major networks wouldn't run it??? Bloggers took up the charge.  weird part is that I stumbled on this from a company (Issues Dynamic, I think) that is starting something called blogger relations for companies. Now, let me get this straight.  One of the reason the MSM probably didn't want to run the UCC ad is that the PR and marketing people told them it would probably piss off the conservatives who for some reason, have POWER these days... at least in the mind of the PR types who, based on the ones I've met are some of the most head in the sand rather than nose to the wind types I've ever met.  Now, we have blogger relations that will do the same? Sounds like we need to move again... reminds me of the story of the people who kept moving everytime someone built within 5 miles of their house. 2:56:45 PM    comment [] Gain Some, Lose Some. Dutch newspaper Volkskrant lost 4,717 paying subscribers to the print edition in Q4 2004, but at least its new digital edition managed to attract 10,000 paying subscribers. For 150 per year (instead of 244 for the print version), they still get the thick Saturday issue delivered to their homes, plus they get a daily digital edition which is an exact copy of the print version. The HOI Institute for Media Auditing, which tracks circulation figures of newspapers and magazines, also is now counting digital-edition subscribers (as long as it is like the printed counterpart) as well. The free Volkskrant website has a (...) Entry continued... By monique@vandusseldorp.com (Monique Van Dusseldorp). [Poynter E-Media Tidbits] 2:42:11 PM    comment [] Instructor fined over rock fall. A newly-qualified instructor is fined after a woman was paralysed when she fell from rocks as a result of an ambiguous "let go of the rope" order. [BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition] A moment of spoken word mistake and a lifetime of regret.  Strikes me how many people go throug their whole lives mispeaking without causing long term harm and this guy makes "one little mistake" and the reprecussions are tremendous.  Feel likes bad karma to me.  2:36:58 PM    comment [] Blog Smart Outline, and Thoughts on Content Strategy [Edu_RSS] Interesting theme that it is all about content.. web, blog whatever ever,,, when the flash fades, we want to read things that are of interest to us.  Course, if blogs end up goint the way of MSM and web sites, we will, sigh, once again have to find a place to hide out where the PR people can't find us.  Why can't we outsource those JOBS??? 2:33:52 PM    comment [] IBM Top Execs Forego Pay Raise for Now, CEO Says (Reuters). Reuters - IBM's top 50 executives have agreed to forego any salary increase until business at the world's largest computer company recovers, its chief executive told IBM shareholders on Tuesday. [Yahoo! News: Technology] 2:23:32 PM    comment [] Gain Some, Lose Some [Edu_RSS] 1:54:15 PM    comment [] Paul Graham Explains PR [Edu_RSS] Intresting article on how PR uses MSM.  Great example on Suits are BACK 1:50:18 PM    comment []

© Copyright 2005 Judy Smith. Last update: 5/16/2005; 5:46:33 PM.