Sun, Social Media, Random Thoughts... Skrocki's Blog
Wednesday May 14, 2008
Tuesday May 13, 2008
The current death tolls resulting from the Myanmar cyclone and China earthquake are beyond heartbreaking and nearly impossible to comprehend. After hearing an update on the magnitude of destruction, which is still inconclusive, I just can't help but feel powerless -- desperately wanting to help out, but not being able to. That's wrong. Remote assistance via financial contributions, driving awareness of how one can help, and thoughts of healing might not feel adequate, but these efforts no doubt make a difference.
Via the AidMatrix site, as an example, $100 can help 400 people and it takes less than a minute to donate. Sun employees can check the box to automatically have their donation matched by the Sun Microsystems Foundation.
Via the AidMatrix site, as an example, $100 can help 400 people and it takes less than a minute to donate. Sun employees can check the box to automatically have their donation matched by the Sun Microsystems Foundation.
Friday May 09, 2008
Via Chris Saul, here's a brilliant use of a personal wiki -- an EMT plans to spend his two week holiday touring the UK and has set up a wiki for anyone to propose places he should visit.
I suspect the volume of suggestions couldn't possibly fit into a two week holiday, but the beauty is other folks planning a UK vacation will likely benefit from the knowledge sharing.
I suspect the volume of suggestions couldn't possibly fit into a two week holiday, but the beauty is other folks planning a UK vacation will likely benefit from the knowledge sharing.
Sun's blogging policy, also known as Sun Guidelines on Public Discourse, is a masterpiece, in my opinion. It was originally written four years ago when our blog site was first deployed. It's spirit and intent was spot-on then and has served us so well over the years that we revised it to make it less blogging-centric so it can scale across our other community site.
The revision was a collaborative effort between Sun representatives from HR, Legal, Export, Privacy, Trademark, IP, Tim Bray, and myself.
To be honest, I went into the revision effort expecting to defend the document as tho' it were The Constitution, but I'm happy to report that the spirit of the document was eagerly preserved by everyone involved.
Here is a full summary of the revisions:
1. The title includes the term Guidelines instead of Policy (links to related Sun policies are provided in the document)
2. The content is no longer blogging-centric since the meaning scales nicely to cover other community sites (Forums, Wikis, Mediacast, Planets, etc.)
3. It includes additional guidelines that cover:
The revision was a collaborative effort between Sun representatives from HR, Legal, Export, Privacy, Trademark, IP, Tim Bray, and myself.
To be honest, I went into the revision effort expecting to defend the document as tho' it were The Constitution, but I'm happy to report that the spirit of the document was eagerly preserved by everyone involved.
Here is a full summary of the revisions:
1. The title includes the term Guidelines instead of Policy (links to related Sun policies are provided in the document)
2. The content is no longer blogging-centric since the meaning scales nicely to cover other community sites (Forums, Wikis, Mediacast, Planets, etc.)
3. It includes additional guidelines that cover:
- Not commenting on Sun legal matters
- Links to related Sun policies for easy reference
- Professional behavior as a Sun representative in virtual worlds
- Disclosing your Sun relationship when writing about Sun related topics
- Community moderation
- Proper use of other people's information
Wednesday Apr 30, 2008
The following Sun Twitter profiles are now live. They aren't human tweeters, but Twitter-ized feeds for folks who leverage their Twitter accounts to also read their favorite feeds.
@SunCEOBlog: A feed of Jonathan Schwartz's blog.
@SunIRNews: A feed of Sun Investor Relations news.
@SunNews: A feed of Sun news.
Other Sun Twitter accounts:
@SunMicrosystems: I think the primary purpose for this one is still being sorted out.
@SunBlogs: This one has been around for a while. It provides a feed of Sun Employee blog posts.
@JavaOne2008: Human tweeted tips, news, and where to go/what to see at JavaOne this year.
@JavaDuke: Human tweeted information on all things Java.
And of course, there are tons of individual Sun Employee Twitterers -- check out the directory. If you're a Sun Employee, please add yourself to the directory if you'd like.
@SunCEOBlog: A feed of Jonathan Schwartz's blog.
@SunIRNews: A feed of Sun Investor Relations news.
@SunNews: A feed of Sun news.
Other Sun Twitter accounts:
@SunMicrosystems: I think the primary purpose for this one is still being sorted out.
@SunBlogs: This one has been around for a while. It provides a feed of Sun Employee blog posts.
@JavaOne2008: Human tweeted tips, news, and where to go/what to see at JavaOne this year.
@JavaDuke: Human tweeted information on all things Java.
And of course, there are tons of individual Sun Employee Twitterers -- check out the directory. If you're a Sun Employee, please add yourself to the directory if you'd like.
Sunday Apr 27, 2008
Yup, Sun Blogs celebrates another birthday. Today, it's four. Looking at the stats on the front page, I'd say this site proves to be a wildly successful conduit for engaging in conversation:
- Total weblogs: 4257
- Total users: 4787
- Total entries: 100824
- Total comments: 104064
What's in store for Sun Blogs in the future? More great blogging, of course. Tho', according to a recent article by CNET, Jonathan, our CEO, "sees an end to blogging". I wasn't present at the Web 2.0 Expo keynote, but I'd wager the comment referenced was more about seeing an end to the common use of the term "blogging" since, in actuality, the purpose behind blogging really boils down to "communicating". Jonathan explains it best in this quote from a July 15th, 2007 blog post:
"I'd love it if we one day eliminated the term "blogging" from the web lexicon (and that we stopped pursuing "CEO's who blog."). CEO's who have cell phones aren't "cell-phoners," those who have email accounts arent "emailers," those who give interviews on television aren't "TV'ers" - they're all leaders using technology to communicate. Communication is central to leadership - using words, written or spoken, to articulate strategy, guide organizations, engage in dialog, and... lead. Leading two or 200,000, you can't do it without communicating. Using technology just leaves more time for everything else (I'm not saying stone tablets can't be effective, they just take way longer to distribute)."
Blogs, as well as countless other internet services, make that communication super simple -- much like the telephone. Had the telephone been called the "Social Machine", many companies may have blocked it's use much like they do social networking sites. It's not about meaningless socializing. It's about about building useful relationships that are conducive to fruitful collaboration and anything that enables easy information sharing is goodness in my book -- especially in the corporate world. Will blogging be around forever? Will anything be around forever? I hope we continue to see the box of information sharing tools continue to expand and I can't wait to see what's next.
On that note, here's to more great blogging...er, I mean communicating!
Saturday Apr 26, 2008
Yesterday, Tim O'Reilly offered his Twitter account as an open channel for asking Jonathan questions for his Web 2.0 Expo keynote. Unfortunately the @ replies feature wasn't properly configured on Tim's phone, so the questions were missed.
Tim made good on following up with Jonathan to get answers to the tweeted questions. Check them out.
Tim made good on following up with Jonathan to get answers to the tweeted questions. Check them out.
Friday Apr 18, 2008
It's a bit long (by today's 140 character Twitter standard), but check out this excellent interview with Laura Fitton (you can follow her on Twitter via @Pistachio). I completely agree with her observations about Twitter.
Following are a few of my favorite quotes from the post:
Following are a few of my favorite quotes from the post:
"To be candid, Twitter sounds idiotic at first. It's true. But it's also true it's changed my life and career a bazillion ways. I've gone from homebound mom of two babies under two to solidly booked, traveling around the world and extraordinarily well-networked."
"Connecting to so many smart people - online and off - via Twitter has been like hitting a big cool oasis in a lifelong desert."
"Get over expertise and fiefdoms. Be porous. Seek out social media Wunderkinds (of any age) because aptitude, authenticity and enthusiasm trounce authority in this world. Much is experimental. Be willing to try and fail and adjust and try better."
"Twitter can be used so many different ways to accomplish so many different things. Here are just a few internal uses I see:She also touches on this amazing experience thanks to Qik:
- Team build--not just by cooperating but with actual relationships. Twitter has the "water cooler" effect, but with genuine knowing and collegiality
- Collaborate on projects & share ideas: have brains to pick/bounce ideas off
- Flatten the org chart to create feedback and mentoring
- Educate
- Inspire
- Pass along information and articles in real time
- Summarize core ideas
- Coordinate travel and conferences
- Simplify communications
- Fast sharing of ideas, news and information
- Provide extensive personal and professional support
- Research, sourcing & purchasing advice
- To leave social media in the marketing/publicity layer is a HUGE mistake -- akin to saying email is only a marketing tool."
"Qik helped me help my dad to get to his mom's deathbed on time...]"It reminds me how lucky I am to work in this space and I can't wait to see what's next.
A few weeks ago, we hit our 100,000th comment and today we reached our 100,000th blog post! If you're curious, the first post on the site is here and it all started with these guys (not quite four years ago):
Next up? Reaching our 5,000th blogger milestone!
Here's to more great blogging!
Next up? Reaching our 5,000th blogger milestone!
Here's to more great blogging!
Wednesday Apr 16, 2008
If you hurry (and aren't a Sun employee or existing SDN member), you can possibly snag a free JavaOne pass:
Via Twitter: http://twitter.com/maybeimright/statuses/790467952
Via the SDN'sider blog: http://blogs.sun.com/sdnblog/entry/free_javaone_passes_for_the
Word on the streets is that if you follow @JavaOne2008 via Twitter, there will be more info about free passes given out soon.
UPDATE The free pass info might just roll out to @DukeJava first -- see Mary's post for more info.
Good Luck!
Via Twitter: http://twitter.com/maybeimright/statuses/790467952
Via the SDN'sider blog: http://blogs.sun.com/sdnblog/entry/free_javaone_passes_for_the
Word on the streets is that if you follow @JavaOne2008 via Twitter, there will be more info about free passes given out soon.
UPDATE The free pass info might just roll out to @DukeJava first -- see Mary's post for more info.
Good Luck!
Monday Apr 14, 2008
Twitter Song, Circa 2007
Twitter Song, Circa 2008
And that, boys and girls, is how evolution works!
Can't wait to see what 2009 will bring!
Twitter Song, Circa 2008
And that, boys and girls, is how evolution works!
Can't wait to see what 2009 will bring!
Friday Apr 11, 2008
Before my ten minutes of fame tick away, I figured now is a good time to parlay possible new blog traffic on a post I've had mentally queued up all week.
I love that giving back to reputable charities is just a mouse-click away. Following are a few examples that I've recently become aware of, if you know of more please chime in and I'll update this post. In just a few short minutes, you could give back to all three without ever opening up your wallet (of course, if you wanted to open up your wallet...).
Via @monkchips, Freerice.com: Play a word matching game and for each match you get, they donate 20 grains of rice via the UN World Food Program.
Via NASCAR (Kasey Kahne is my driver), Help Chevy Help Autism: Take a virtual tour of the Chevy Malibu via a short video and Chevy will donate to Autism Speaks. I was hoping for information about autism in the video, but as ThinGuy reminds me, you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.
Via Mary, nothingbutnets.net: Play a short game and a malaria-preventing net will be sent to Africa on your behalf. More...
Update: Via John Bennett's comment, AIDtoCHILDREN.com: Similar to freerice.com, it's a word matching game. For each correct match, 1/4 of a cent is donated to children in need.
I love that giving back to reputable charities is just a mouse-click away. Following are a few examples that I've recently become aware of, if you know of more please chime in and I'll update this post. In just a few short minutes, you could give back to all three without ever opening up your wallet (of course, if you wanted to open up your wallet...
).Via @monkchips, Freerice.com: Play a word matching game and for each match you get, they donate 20 grains of rice via the UN World Food Program.
Via NASCAR (Kasey Kahne is my driver
), Help Chevy Help Autism: Take a virtual tour of the Chevy Malibu via a short video and Chevy will donate to Autism Speaks. I was hoping for information about autism in the video, but as ThinGuy reminds me, you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Via Mary, nothingbutnets.net: Play a short game and a malaria-preventing net will be sent to Africa on your behalf. More...
Update: Via John Bennett's comment, AIDtoCHILDREN.com: Similar to freerice.com, it's a word matching game. For each correct match, 1/4 of a cent is donated to children in need.
Thursday Apr 10, 2008
Twitter often has community defined avatar themes. This is super hero week. I'm late in participating because finding a female super heroine means you get a character with one of the following characteristics:
a) a anatomy more silly than Barbie's
b) you have "girl" in your title
I missed a pool of obvious super-heroines -- tho' you won't find them in comic books, cartoons, or Wikipedia's Super Heroine page. These are the real life women around us who manage the unmanageable day in and day out with no fanfare. Women who meet every letter of definition of "heroine":
her·o·ine noun
1. a woman of distinguished courage or ability, admired for her brave deeds and noble qualities.
2. the principal female character in a story, play, film, etc.
I'm going with the mother of all super heroines. Meet...
Rebecca the Magnificent!
a) a anatomy more silly than Barbie's
b) you have "girl" in your title
I missed a pool of obvious super-heroines -- tho' you won't find them in comic books, cartoons, or Wikipedia's Super Heroine page. These are the real life women around us who manage the unmanageable day in and day out with no fanfare. Women who meet every letter of definition of "heroine":
her·o·ine noun
1. a woman of distinguished courage or ability, admired for her brave deeds and noble qualities.
2. the principal female character in a story, play, film, etc.
I'm going with the mother of all super heroines. Meet...
Rebecca the Magnificent!
Wednesday Apr 09, 2008
The thing I love about the online community space is you never really know how people are going to leverage the tools placed in front of them -- especially when the tool is as cross-functional as a wiki. Sure, there are the easy to predict use cases that come to fruition and the easy to predict grey use cases, but observing how contributers approach the grey areas, in addition to the unpredictable super clever user cases, is what interests me.
In the wiki arena, one of those grey areas is when should a wiki be used vs a traditional corporate webpage? Certainly, the two should compliment & not compete with each other. A good wiki will "...appeal to a niche that isn't entirely satisfied elsewhere" (via How to make a successful wiki).
As you may have heard, Sun announced the industry's first dual-socket chip multithreading technology (CMT) platforms today. To compliment the launch, one of the CMT team staff engineers spearheaded the creation of a CMT wiki. Per the wiki's entry page:
In addition to traditional wiki content that will hopefully drive visitor interaction via the comments feature, the wiki has many cross-pollinating pointers to traditional website content that is posted on sun.com product pages, CMT blog posts on blogs.sun.com, etc.
Does the CMT wiki introduce overlap with traditional website content? I don't think so, but as the program owner of wikis.sun.com, I may be biased. I think the CMT engineering team did a great job of complimenting the official product pages and driving traffic to them -- as an example, I found these nifty power consumption calculators because of the wiki.
I'm curious how other companies have offered clarity around the question of when to use a wiki vs the traditional corporate website to deliver content.
Update Stewart Mader wrote a blog post that offers four tips for making the decision of whether content is best suited for a wiki or a traditional website: http://www.ikiw.org/2008/04/09/when-to-wiki-and-when-not-to/
In the wiki arena, one of those grey areas is when should a wiki be used vs a traditional corporate webpage? Certainly, the two should compliment & not compete with each other. A good wiki will "...appeal to a niche that isn't entirely satisfied elsewhere" (via How to make a successful wiki).
As you may have heard, Sun announced the industry's first dual-socket chip multithreading technology (CMT) platforms today. To compliment the launch, one of the CMT team staff engineers spearheaded the creation of a CMT wiki. Per the wiki's entry page:
"Designed by engineers for engineers, this interactive site offers the best of breed Sun Blueprints, technical whitepapers, solution briefs, benchmarks, power calculators, documentation and blogs on Chip Multithreading, all in one place."
In addition to traditional wiki content that will hopefully drive visitor interaction via the comments feature, the wiki has many cross-pollinating pointers to traditional website content that is posted on sun.com product pages, CMT blog posts on blogs.sun.com, etc.
Does the CMT wiki introduce overlap with traditional website content? I don't think so, but as the program owner of wikis.sun.com, I may be biased. I think the CMT engineering team did a great job of complimenting the official product pages and driving traffic to them -- as an example, I found these nifty power consumption calculators because of the wiki.
I'm curious how other companies have offered clarity around the question of when to use a wiki vs the traditional corporate website to deliver content.
Update Stewart Mader wrote a blog post that offers four tips for making the decision of whether content is best suited for a wiki or a traditional website: http://www.ikiw.org/2008/04/09/when-to-wiki-and-when-not-to/
Saturday Mar 29, 2008
Via Crappy Graphs (where you can create your own), I dedicate this one to Mr. S for persevering through a plumbing battle with the koi pond.
Spoiler: In a not-so-surprising twist, Mr. S wins the battle -- tho' it hasn't quite happened, just yet.
Spoiler: In a not-so-surprising twist, Mr. S wins the battle -- tho' it hasn't quite happened, just yet.
Wednesday Mar 26, 2008
Blogs.sun.com isn't quite four years old yet (it turns four on April 27th), but it reached it's 100,000th comment this week (rejected spam comments not included, of course -- for the detailed thinkers out there). When you contrast the 100k comments against the 97,395 blog entries, that amounts to a whole lot of conversations happening.
And to this I say "W00t! Looking forward to the next hundred thousand conversations!"
Tuesday Mar 25, 2008
A new diagramming tool, Gliffy, is now enabled on wikis.sun.com Simply login, navigate to the page where you'd like to create a diagram, click on "Add diagram" & away you go!
The tool is capable of creating flow & architectural diagrams, user interface mock-ups, room layouts, etc. Check out this 2 minute tour for a bit more information:
Tip: To extend the page size for larger diagrams, adjust the width & height page properties on the right panel. Sounds obvious, but a room full of us were using the tool and neglected to notice it until Igor saved the day.
The tool is capable of creating flow & architectural diagrams, user interface mock-ups, room layouts, etc. Check out this 2 minute tour for a bit more information:
Tip: To extend the page size for larger diagrams, adjust the width & height page properties on the right panel. Sounds obvious, but a room full of us were using the tool and neglected to notice it until Igor saved the day.
Thursday Mar 06, 2008
When people ask me what Twitter is, I usually say "It's a combination of a micro-blog tool/text messaging/chatroom/feed reader with your friends, family, colleagues, co-workers and favorite time-sensitive, feeds (news feeds, earnings announcements, etc.)."
When I first started using Twitter, I had a common reaction to it: "Great, one more point of distraction." "I barely have time for the friends I have -- why would I want to allocate time to strangers?"
It's proven me wrong. I now seem to have a more focused work blog. Those crazy off-topic thoughts with a high blogability factor, now find their way to Twitter, where there is a better opportunity of immediate conversation to compliment the emotions related to the real time experience.
I've also developed some amazing relationships with people in the tech sector:
The Common Craft Show has once again provided a comprehensive video that may offer more insight if you're curious:
When I first started using Twitter, I had a common reaction to it: "Great, one more point of distraction." "I barely have time for the friends I have -- why would I want to allocate time to strangers?"
It's proven me wrong. I now seem to have a more focused work blog. Those crazy off-topic thoughts with a high blogability factor, now find their way to Twitter, where there is a better opportunity of immediate conversation to compliment the emotions related to the real time experience.
I've also developed some amazing relationships with people in the tech sector:
- Sun colleagues (I now know more about Sun outside of my organization & have realized my colleagues and I share some super cool interest commonalities & develop a deeper knowledge about these interests as a result)
- Analysts (I now know more about the tech sector & they have better visibility of cool stuff going on at Sun by following Sun folks)
- Tech celebs in the social networking space (early access to what's hot, what works, ideas on what I can do to improve my work charter & they also get improved visibility into Sun)
- Even a CEO of a company that develops the software that runs Sun Wikis (one of the programs that I manage). Jeffrey and I will be co-hosting an Enterprise 2.0 session this summer.
The Common Craft Show has once again provided a comprehensive video that may offer more insight if you're curious:
Sunday Feb 24, 2008
I've never been the athletic type. The closest I came was being on the pom-pon squad in high school -- and even that was due more to being well-liked by the faculty judges than any gift of physical coordination I may have possessed.
Thanks to my Nike+ iPod kit and a strong desire to not look 40 on my upcoming birthday, I've summoned the wannabe athlete within. The kit allows me to set, track, drive toward, and hopefully meet my running goals. It works with a little chip that fits in Nike+ shoes and an adapter that connects to your iPod Nano. Each time you connect your iPod to iTunes, it uploads your running data to the nikeplus site.
Following are where things stand with my goals. I'm pretty far behind and with the addition of a new bike (more on that later) & two solid weeks of upcoming biz travel, I'd have to say my goals are at risk, but I'm thankful for the motivation...
...and now have a better idea of reasonable goals.
Thanks to my Nike+ iPod kit and a strong desire to not look 40 on my upcoming birthday, I've summoned the wannabe athlete within. The kit allows me to set, track, drive toward, and hopefully meet my running goals. It works with a little chip that fits in Nike+ shoes and an adapter that connects to your iPod Nano. Each time you connect your iPod to iTunes, it uploads your running data to the nikeplus site.
Following are where things stand with my goals. I'm pretty far behind and with the addition of a new bike (more on that later) & two solid weeks of upcoming biz travel, I'd have to say my goals are at risk, but I'm thankful for the motivation...
...and now have a better idea of reasonable goals.
Sunday Feb 10, 2008
We just ran a short study on how users click around the front pages for blogs.sun.com and forums.sun.com via a nifty tool called CrazyEgg. The study ran for 1000 page visits (which is <1 day for blogs and forums), but the results are still interesting. Report details are posted as follows:
Forums: http://wikis.sun.com/display/SunForums/CrazyEgg+Usability+Results
Blogs: http://wikis.sun.com/display/SunBlogs/CrazyEgg+Usability+Results
The confetti report shows the exact location of clicks more precisely:
The heatmap version is my 2nd favorite:
The Blogs & Forums teams haven't yet analyzed the results, so I can't provide details on how they may or may not affect the page layouts.
Next up...studies for wikis.sun.com and mediacast.sun.com.
Forums: http://wikis.sun.com/display/SunForums/CrazyEgg+Usability+Results
Blogs: http://wikis.sun.com/display/SunBlogs/CrazyEgg+Usability+Results
The confetti report shows the exact location of clicks more precisely:
The heatmap version is my 2nd favorite:
The Blogs & Forums teams haven't yet analyzed the results, so I can't provide details on how they may or may not affect the page layouts.
Next up...studies for wikis.sun.com and mediacast.sun.com.
Jeremiah Owyang, one of my favorite bloggers/twitter-ers, is moderating a panel on Open Social at the MIT/Stanford Venture Lab on Tuesday, February 19th, 2008 at 6:00 PM:
"Shaking the Money Tree of Multi-Platform Social Networks"
If you go and blog about it, please let me know.
"Shaking the Money Tree of Multi-Platform Social Networks"
If you go and blog about it, please let me know.
Saturday Jan 19, 2008
In addition to telling us how he "popped the question" of the acquisition to Marten Mickos, MySQL's CEO, Jonathan's latest post answers a lot of questions that have been raised regarding Sun acquiring MySQL -- What happens with PostgreSQL, how this affects our relationship with Oracle, what the revenue synergies are, and more.
Via Masood's blog, here's a great video by Robin Miller that captures the acquisition thoughts from James Gosling & the MySLQ creators:
And one more video about the acquisition with surprise guests showing up at 3:30 minutes into the video:
Via Masood's blog, here's a great video by Robin Miller that captures the acquisition thoughts from James Gosling & the MySLQ creators:
And one more video about the acquisition with surprise guests showing up at 3:30 minutes into the video:
Wednesday Jan 16, 2008
By now many of you have heard about Sun acquiring MySQL and a promising Q2. Details posted here: http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan
The analysts are a flutter (via Twitter). Best read from the bottom up...
The analysts are a flutter (via Twitter). Best read from the bottom up...
Saturday Jan 12, 2008
Check out this entry by Tim Thomas. It's a neat example of someone who found technical answers and levity through a single Sun blog -- see Ewen's comment.
As a side note, bonus points to the list author for:
1. Proactive planning (notice the list is for "tomorrow")
2. Stating an objective on the 2nd task
3. Constructing a nice work/life balance into the plan
Friday Jan 11, 2008
I often dislike it when I hear someone use that phrase. Granted it is a relevant question at times, but more often than not it's used in the same condescending tone as "Did you RTFM?"
Sometimes...it's good to have human to human discussions. Sometimes, the discussion participants will find serendipitous mutual benefits when contributing to the collective knowledge base.
That's why I like Twitter. It doesn't replace autonomous research, but it culls knowledge either not on the internet or not findable due to a gap between search terms and the desired content.
Sometimes...it's good to have human to human discussions. Sometimes, the discussion participants will find serendipitous mutual benefits when contributing to the collective knowledge base.
That's why I like Twitter. It doesn't replace autonomous research, but it culls knowledge either not on the internet or not findable due to a gap between search terms and the desired content.
Wednesday Jan 09, 2008
The Women 2.0 events really make me wish I were closer to the bay area. Their objective?
"We aim to increase the number of young women entrepreneurs by encouraging women to work with and in the field of technology, providing resources that will lead to the launch of their company, and networking women with other female entrepreneurs, experienced executives, and investors."Pitch night sounds especially interesting...
Sunday Jan 06, 2008
Major Andrew Olmsted, based in Fort Carson - Colorado Springs, was killed in Iraq on Thursday, January 3rd. He had been blogging for the Rocky Mountain News about his experiences in training the Iraq Army. He also had a personal blog where a friend posted a final entry that Major Olmsted wrote in the event he was killed. In his final post, he asks that people steer clear from raising political rants in relation to his death.
I appreciate the slices of transparency and insight Major Olmsted offered via his blogs about his daily experiences and challenges -- challenges related to the importance of understanding cultural differences and how there never seems to be enough time for training, a need for soccer ball air pumps, and of course, challenges of the all too frequent event of losing team mates.
Rest in peace Major.
Saturday Jan 05, 2008
I've been using my 13 year old's Nano to work out since it integrates with my Nike + iPod kit. There is one rule tho' -- she'd rather I not create my own playlist. Fair enough. She has a few songs I actually enjoy, but for the most part, the gap between her taste in music and mine is well...a lot like the grand canyon, but I am expanding my exposure to gangster sounding music. Diversity is good, right.
Something cool happened today toward the end of my workout (when I really wanted to throw in the towel early)..."Stacy's Mom" came on. God bless her. It was a perfect ending to a work out by a a middle-aged woman with a Kung Fu death grip on a dream to not look 40 on her upcoming 40th -- 62 days to make it real.
Cute Sims version:
Something cool happened today toward the end of my workout (when I really wanted to throw in the towel early)..."Stacy's Mom" came on. God bless her. It was a perfect ending to a work out by a a middle-aged woman with a Kung Fu death grip on a dream to not look 40 on her upcoming 40th -- 62 days to make it real.
Cute Sims version:
Thursday Jan 03, 2008
In no particular order...
- Continue daily workouts. Lose 20 pounds.
- Blog more. At least 1-2 times per week.
- Minimize the volume of stuff. Say yes to every call I get from credible charitable organizations who ask for donated items. It's silly that charities are offering to pick stuff up from my doorstep & I've been to "busy" to take 5 minutes to fill a box or bag (or two) of stuff that I forgot I own.
- Learn to meditate.
- Trim those extra work hours a bit and shift them to offline family time.
- Unsubscribe from unnecessary aliases.
- Crawl out of the home-based office more often to meet new or existing colleagues.
- Continue to only engage in social nets that add value.
- Hold at least one 101 session per month for groups within (or outside of) Sun who want to learn more about corporate blogging, wikis, mediacast, forums, and/or planets. Let me know if you have a group in mind. Attending a 101 session automatically gets you into my secret platinum support club (read: call, email, IM, or Tweet me directly & I'll hook you up).
- Get to the next level on guitar hero.
