Archives for “Social Software”

Notes on Social Objects

If you haven’t read the story of the Microsoft Blue Monster, and Hugh’s thoughts on social objects, I highly recommend it. The full blue monster story is here on Hugh’s blog. I was just rereading it for an upcoming talk that discusses Social Objects. And of course I would be remiss if I did not [...]


Fake Facebook Profiles – Keep Your Guard Up

From this quarter’s 2600 magazine, an article excerpt from “Create Mass Hysteria on a College Campus Using Facebook” by alleyrat. The two most crucial aspects of a fake profile are that it must be a woman (women won’t friend unknown males, but males will friend unknown women) and that it must have an inviting innocent [...]


I found myself with 60 relevant business emails in my inbox last Wednesday, the morning before I flew out on a business trip, and I jumped over to twitter to find out if anything important was going on. Baroo? Why did my brain tell me to do that? Four things about twitter communication of note: [...]


information overload graphed

- Living Systems, James/Grier/Miller


what they believe they are capable of attaining

“There also is a fallacy in the assumption that all wants must be satisfied to minimize discontent. Discontent is not a function of the discrepancy between what men want and what they have, but between what they want and what they believe they are capable of attaining. If their means are few or threatened, they [...]


magic cup and balls

Magic, the Science of Wonder at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. From the media preview. More photos from the hmns magic exhibit on Facebook.


It’s the same story the crow told me It’s the only one he know - like the morning sun you come and like the wind you go Ain’t no time to hate, barely time to wait Wo-oah, what I want to know, where does the time go? -    Grateful Dead, Uncle John’s Band


brooklyn bridge from a heli


The pursuit of attention is now emerging as one of the electric organizing principles of American life. Not only are people pursuing attention in new ways, but there is evidence that we have begun to restructure our culture – including even our politics and economy – around the idea of attention as a glittering ultimate [...]


don’t go


SchipulCon in two days – Oct 45, 16, 2009 at the Houston Zoo

What started in 2007 as the Tendenci User Conference, was canceled in 2008 due to a very unwelcome hurricane, has now morphed into SchipulCon 2009. Planned by @MagsMac, the conference has a great lineup of speakers including Deirdre Breakenridge, the author of PR 2.0. The full SchipulCon 2009 Agenda is posted on the site. And [...]


When we say “the tragedy of the commons” I really think it should be stated “the TRAGEDY of the commons” to indicate that it really is an all caps TRAGEDY. Summarized on wikipedia as … (the the tragedy of the commons is) a dilemma in which multiple individuals acting independently and solely and rationally consulting [...]


The term “selective benefits” is usually thought of in relation to programs such as welfare as in this definition of selective Benefits: Selective benefits are provided on the basis of a claimant’s income and circumstance. An example of a selective benefit is the Child Tax Credit. We are not all treated alike by the other [...]


As a society declines, it becomes more polarized

“As a society declines, it becomes more polarized as factions stake out turf they can cling to. Here, you have a choice. You can either embrace the widening middle ground now opening up between the polarities or exploit the passions on the extremes. Organizations that follow the latter course will look and feel more traditional [...]


First a quote from Jack Welch on Candor “There’s still not enough candor in this company. [By that] I mean facing reality, seeing the world as it is rather than as you wish it were. We’ve seen over and over again that businesses facing market downturns, tough competition, and more demanding customers inevitably make forecasts [...]


4th Quarter Bleachers


SHORT VERSION: Please vote for my panel at SXSW DON’T PANIC – The Geek’s Guide to the Next Big Crisis LONG VERSION: A little more than four years ago I wrote my first blog post. It was about the need for a form of Emergency RSS. We can share celebrity gossip headlines through feed readers [...]


While I have the privilege of speaking to groups throughout the US on a somewhat regular basis, it seems like I speak out of town more than in town! One of those ironies of being a speaker. While particularly honored to speak to the Association of Fundraising Professionals Houston Chapter, it is even better that [...]


Pike’s Place Market in Seattle at Night


Chron Blog Post: The Unnecessary Apologist

New post up on Chron’s list blog: The Unnecessary Apologist The proprietors weren’t the in-your-face preachy kind of folks. Typically quiet, he became a loud fellow who would amble up to the register for the lunch rush like he was holding court. A different joke for each of the regulars…. The deli was a small [...]


I am a fan of Facebook. I enjoy using it and it has brought me closer to a lot of awesome people. We are even approaching 1000 people on our Facebook Fan Page! But I can’t handle Facebook’s lack of respect for our privacy. The fact that it shows me “dating website” advertisements (I’m married [...]


Michael Jackson Creative Commons Photo

From a random trip into the wax museum in Tijuana Mexico while in San Diego on business. Yes I enjoyed Michael Jackson’s music. But I guess I never really “got it” at the level of so many people. Since MJ passed away, this creative commons photo of Michael Jackson has taken off in traffic on [...]


The Finish Line


I posted previously on Yammer. That it was a big help for us during Hurricane Ike in 2008 in Houston. During the hurricane the ONLY thing that worked was text on the cell phone. No voice. No data plans on the cell. No land lines. Certainly no cable or dish or regular TV. Radio worked, [...]


In recent talks I have found an anecdote that has worked well to explain the difference between formal and informal systems that most Americans can relate to. The book The Godfather opens with: Amerigo Bonasera sat in New York Criminal Court Number 3 and waited for justice; vengeance on the men who had so cruelly [...]