dreadfullyposh

mariane dragged me out on a bike ride today.

it’s probably been five years since i’ve been on a  bicycle. combined with my lack of height and an overly large men’s bicycle we have a receipe for disaster. i traded that bad boy in for a slightly shorter but still uncomfortably tall women’s bicycle.

results: slightly less disastrous, but still entertaining for the common bystander.

we went for a nice ride along the road, occasionally dodging pedestrians, other cyclists and pesky cars, steering with the highest level of precision, and nearly veering off the road several times. such fun.

anyway. i’m glad to report i made it back to the hotel alive, and unharmed, though undoubtedly a bit shaken from the whole experience.

i think primark is my new favorite store. i wish we had them in the u.s.

visiting the london store was pretty insane tho. well actually, oxford street in general was. it was very reminiscent of new york, except for the fact that all the cars drive on the wrong side of the road and don’t stop for pedestrians. i guess that keeps the population from growing too quickly.

on sunday, richard and i began our journey to holland. i must say that heathrow terminal 5 is just plain wonky. for some reason, there are three layers of gates that you must walk through to get to the arrivals, none of which have an opening large enough to allow luggage through. i guess you’re not supposed to bring luggage to the airport?

after we figured out where to meet, we got on the road. a reaching the border, we took the eurotunnel to france. first stop, shopping center to pick up some wine. we got a case of 6 bottles, in fact.

in Belgium we made a quick restroom stop, and i took over the wheel. ACK! i’d never driven a right-hand drive vehicle before, especially on the right side of the road.. not exactly the easiest combination to learn on, but at least it wasn’t the roads in england.

no more than half an hour later, downpour began. not just light rain, but serious torrential downpour. i saw my life flash before my eyes as i tried to focus on the diminishing visibility ahead of me.

finally it stopped. and eventually we made it to the conference center, having just missed dinner. drat.

The brilliant Alex Hillman of Independents Hall has again posted a little indy-spiration for all of those who are working on launching into a new endeavor.

Check out his blog post:

just because it’s “simple” doesn’t mean it won’t take work

Good work again, Alex, and timely as ever.

I just saw this article posted on Mashable. It goes right along with my earlier post about Facebook usage for organizations.

Here’s a quote: “Social media platforms help facilitate conversations between individuals, not companies.”

Amen to that. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Anyway, without further ado, read this article, instead of reading about it.

How to Develop a Social Media Plan for Your Business in 5 Steps

A few days ago a message came up that really bothered me on a discussion list I am on for Christian organizations who use the web for their ministries. I didn’t respond directly, but I thought I’d share my thoughts here.

The questions was regarding Facebook. The gentleman who wrote the message had just created a Facebook account and had no idea how to use it. Now, see, though I could go on an entire rant about how people should know more about what Facebook is if they live in any part of the world with half-decent Internet access, I am going to take issue with another part of the discussion that ensued. Indeed many replied and discussed how they set up Facebook accounts for their organizations. That, for me, is a big giant screaming ARGGGGHHHHH!

Let’s think back a couple of years. There was a social site, known as MySpace (who uses that site, anyway?). Now as we all know, MySpace turned into a huge pile of Internet trash. Meanwhile, Facebook snuck in, and with it’s strong committment to securing registration to REAL people, built a new Internet social empire. Over the years, the registration requirements have opened up, which is good. More people are able to get on, but now, we’re heading to a dangerous territory. While before you needed an actual university e-mail account or other means of authenticating yourself, now the registration is open.

The problem I see here is that organizations are coming in and creating social accounts for their group. Facebook has done a decent job of creating a Page structure that supports non-people in the Facebook network. It really irks me that people would use anything but that for a company or organizations. It’s truly contaminating my social grid.

My mesage to groups that have practiced this. Do you really know what you’re doing? Facebook is for people. The beauty of the structure for organizations within Facebook is that it ties PEOPLE together around the group. Please please please please please use it for what it’s for and how it’s intended. I will not be  your organization’s friend, and I will have serious doubts about the accuracy of its college education, gender, birthdate, activities and interests.

Facebook is a beautiful organic network of people connected to eachother. Please keep it that way and help to encourage people to use the site for what it is, a social utility.

Just got finished reading Small Pieces Loosely Joined by David Weinberger.

It’s an impressive piece spanning from the technological to the sociolgical and beyond. It documents the place the World Wide Web currently holds in our society and how it turns the world we know upside down.

I highly recommend this book for everyone to read. For techies, it’ll take your head out of the server room and get you thinking about the real impact the Internet is having beyond the infrastructure. For the luddites, it’ll really open your eyes as to what the Web really is, beyond a flickering computer screen.

I think the key takeaway from the book is that the Internet redefines what it means to be social. No longer is socialization limited by proximity and time. Instead, we can now interact at a deep personal level from any place at any time. That’s the magic of the massive network we’ve built in the past two decades. And it’s cause for us to stop and think and reconsider the parameters we use to try to define our world.

Another good article I found tonight.. If you’re not totally sure what the whole Web 2.0 movement is all about, check out this article:

42 things about Web 2.0 in 2008

This is actually part 2 of a 3 part series.

Interesting article I found reposted by Noah Everett.

It’s an interesting and encouraging list of tidbits for those who are in the process of starting a new business. Kind of goes against anything a business professor would tell you, but that’s the way it goes, at least in the world of the Internet.

View the reposted article here.

So I’ve tripped over my power cord on more than one occasion, and yes, just maybe the MagSafe plug has prevented my laptop from taking flight.

I’m not so sure it’s been really helpful to me, though. In my past experience giving your laptop a little airtime once in a while isn’t usually fatal. Sure, it scares the buh-geezes out of you or the person who’s laptop you borrowed to check your Gmail account, but usually the little wonder comes out relatively unscathed.

Now, a bit past a year of having my MacBook, the power cord is shot. I’m kinda grumpy about it. Why does Apple keep making power cords with ridiculously crappy strain reliefs. Maybe the magnet in the plug is still just a bit too strong to make it truly MagSafe. Though it saves your computer, clearly the resistance on the cord is enough to kill it in time. BLAH.

Anyway. I have a mind to reinforce my next powercord with mounds of electrical tape. Not sure if I’ll do it, but it’s a thought.

I guess I can be glad mine didn’t completely melt and spark as some Internet reports reveal.

Anybody else have trouble with their MagSafe’s? Or am I the only one?

I just got my copy of Dan Pink’s The Adventures of Johnny Bunko. For those that don’t recognize the name, Pink is the author of bestselling books, A Whole New Mind and Free Agent Nation.

I read A Whole New Mind a while back and really enjoyed it. So, naturally I was attracted when his new book was released.

I was a little leary of the new book’s format, as it’s written/illustrated in manga… not my usual style. I did, however, quickly get into it, and I was able to finish the book in less than an hour.

I will spare you the details, but Johnny Bunko is an average office worker who receives six career lessons from an interesting career counselor, Diana. The points Pink makes through his fictional counselor are pretty good, although for those in the know, they certainly aren’t groundbreaking.

As I found with his previous works, Pink’s books are groundbreaking for some, but people like me tend to find them comfortably affirming. It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one who thinks the way I do.

Overall an enjoyable read. Check out www.johnnybunko.com for some free samples from the book. I recommend reading it through in the bookstore. It’s a super-fast read.