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Thoughts and things I care to shareWhat I Learned From 2008
I have to hand it to blogging friend and fellow SOBCon 2008 alumni Robert Hruzek of Middle Zone Musings. His monthly What I Learned From… series morphed into a fantastic display of blogging talent from around the web in January of this year.
Robert opened his blog to anyone interested in sharing a list of their posts from their blogs. Calling it BLOGAPALOOZA! – What I Learned From 2008, this blogging extravaganza has featured some of the best writing talent you can find on the ‘net.
You can find my post here – just posted today actually. So I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Robert for the chance to share some posts of mine from 2008, and be part of a great group blogging project that has accumulated well over 100 entries so far.
So Robert, here’s a “tip o’ the hat†to you for organizing BLOGAPALOOZA 2008.
Social Media Breakfast – Twin Cites #11
Hi there, it’s time again for the next SMBMSP event here in the Twin Cities – our 11th event if you can believe it!
We’ll be talking about social media and how it can be used in job search. This is a hot topic during our current economic situation, and I’m sure there are a number of people who will benefit from the discussion.
Where: The “Doty†conference room at the Minneapolis Central Library (300 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis , 55401)
When: January 30th, 8am to 10am
RSVP: Sign up on our Ning site (http://smbmsp.ning.com/events/smbmsp-11-social-media-job)
We’ll have Paul DeBettignies (@MNHeadhunter) to talk about these things from a recruiter’s point of view. Other folks with great ideas for using social media for job search are welcome to stand up and share them with the group.
We’ll also look at brainstorming ideas for our fellow SMBers and invite you to share job leads on our Forum here on our Ning site.
We’re working on sponsors, but currently this event may be BYOB. We’ll keep you posted on that from the smbmsp.ning.com site, so you may want to check in there once or twice. Or follow us on Twitter (@smbmsp) for updates.
So join us in taking our understanding of social media and applying it back to our own community for job search.
Maps, Buses, Rail, Bikes, Parking, Directions: http://www.mpls.lib.mn.us/centralmap.asp
FeedBurner-Google Migration Complete
This was a frustrating experience, but in the end worked out like it should. I have to admit that the actual migration by FeedBurner to using my Google account went well, and the existing feeds redirected to the new FeedBurner/Google domain that handles them.
The biggest issues for me were the longer-than-expected reader-count anomaly, and the not-so-exact steps involved to redirect the “MyBrand†URLs to the new feed domain.
Finally, nearly a week after move the feeds over, the reader count is approaching where it used to be. One or two days eh? HA!
Also, it took a bit of digging to find out the real trick to re-enabling the “MyBrand†configuration for my FeedBurner account. It after getting DNS changes made, and validating the FeedBurner MyBrand configuration, it turns out that you should also disable the service, then re-enable it. What’s with that?
Anyway, the feeds are finally redirected correctly, both existing ones that folks were using and the links here on the blog. Sorry for any strange feed behavior in the last week – I totally didn’t expect it to happen.
Notes about the G1 as a MID
It’s surprising that something as portable as the T-Mobile G1 and powerful a platform as Android can be so useful. Perhaps it shouldn’t be, but I’ve been using my G1 as a mobile internet device more and more often.
The biggest issue as many will point out is power, and the G1 is worse at power consumption and management than any other device. On the other hand, the abilities simply outweigh the power disadvantages that it has. Besides, keeping a charger (AC, USB, and auto) at hand eliminates that issue for the most part… minimizes it really.
Since jumping from the Windows Mobile camp to Android, I’ve noticed that my phone is fun & easy to use again. It’s more powerful, simply because I use it for everything rather than explain how useful it can be as I did with Windows Mobile. The software is fun too – many more new ideas and attempts to do different things than the staid, boring software selection that WinMo had when I last looked (it’s changing I know).
Anyway, just wanted to drop a note about how much I’ve come to depend on the G1, much more than my MDA that stayed by my side for 3 years. Even though I believed that to be a powerful, useful device, Windows Mobile can’t hold a candle to Android (or the iPhone) at this time. The phone is fun again.
😉
Moved FeedBurner Feeds
Well, I finally got around to moving my FeedBurner account to my Google account. Not sure if I did something wrong, or if I just need to wait a few days. It seems that I can’t see any items in my feed now, as I monitor it in Google Reader.
Has anyone else done this and found the same issue? I know I’ve probably missed something somewhere. I’ve got the “MyBrand†personal domain settings enabled, and updated the DNS CNAME records for my domain last night as directly by the MyBrand settings page on FeedBurner.
So far, it’s no go, but I wonder if the CNAME is pointing to the right URL. In the email I got after the FeedBurner –> Google migration was done, it showed a different URL for the feed. Namely, http://feeds2.feedburner.com/Rickmahncom – which is different than the rickmahn.feedproxy.ghs.google.com that is listed on the MyBrand page.
Suggestions welcome, but I’ll probably be testing different settings this evening. Sorry for any inconvenience that this may cause.
2009 – Goals & Plans
So it’s the end of another year. As such, I wanted to take a minute and put my plans & goals for 2008 out there. I’ve not done this one before, but thought I give it a go this year. Much has changed and I have some directions that I want to follow in 2009 that I neglected in years past.
Writing – Blogging
I’m planning on making a return to a regular blogging schedule after a bit more than a year of a more random approach. The reason for this was partially work related, but also from a lack of direction in the Fall/Winter of 2007/2008. This will include the review of a couple other blogs I have – see if I still have the passion & interest to continue those, or if I should end up selling them off.
Writing – eBooks, Newsletters
Ah… yes, there were two aspects to the writing bug this time around. I also am planning to move forward with some eBook projects and a possible Newsletter in 2009. I’m not sure when exactly this will take place, but will be working on the planning in January. The eBook topics will relate to personal branding, the social web, information technology (& social media), and probably how many of these relate to the enterprise. I’m thinking hard on these lately.
Events
Social Media Breakfast – Twin Cities (@SMBMSP on Twitter) has been a great success here in the Minneapolis & St. Paul area, and I plan to continue evolving our local version. It will remain a low or no-cost event. In addition to this fun monthly event, I’m planning on working some one-off special events and possibly an annual event. Whether those are a summit, retreat, or un-conference style I’m not sure yet, but I do have a few concept ideas that I want to expand on. I’ve found that I really enjoy helping people connect, and thereby connecting their business or career needs with resources in the local community.
Online Income
2009 is the year I get serious about increasing online income. By focusing energies on new ideas and business models for my consulting services I plan to make the transition this year from a senior technologist role to a business & customer communications role. The end result will probably be something different, but that’s the fun of a dynamic, fast-paced industry… it’s constantly changing.
Direction
The next few weeks of this year is also the time I’m going to be taking to reassess my career direction. Am I really pursuing the dream, or have allowed myself to get sidetracked and mired in the mechanics of the mundane, again? This is a crucial piece of the puzzle, as it feeds into everything else. Without direction, none of has have a clue as to where we’re going.
So what’s your plan for this year?
Photo credit: tochris
Enabling Tweetbacks
I’ve installed Dan Zarrella’s new Tweetbacks WordPress Plugin today, and will be monitoring it to see how well it works out. I’ve seen a number of folks over the last week taking a close look at this new idea, and have always been trying out some of the cutting-edge Twitter tie-ins and tactics.
Have you tried out this new plug-in? What do you think?
Windows 7 – My First Observations
So, with the first public beta of Windows 7, I thought I’d share a few of my initial observations and opinions on the latest version of Microsoft’s flagship operating system. My testing of Windows 7 is taking place on my production laptop – an Acer Aspire with a Intel Core Duo 1.8GHz, with 3GB RAM based on the Mobile Intel 945 Express Chipset that many “average” laptops are built around.
Having been a user, advocate, and professional using Microsoft’s operating systems for the last 20 years, I do have to admit that I can come across as a “fan boy” at times. These observations may be just another example of this tendency, but I do try to be as impartial as I can (Vista rocks), er… sorry.
😉
Performance
I’ve only been running the Windows 7 Beta Customer Preview for about 32hrs at the time of this post, but I do have to admit that performance is better than Vista SP1. I haven’t run Windows XP on my laptop, so I can’t really compare it well with that OS. Simply put, it does appear to be a better performer than Vista.
Comparability
Here is one area that a few people will get a chuckle, or maybe help me figure out my one issue. Most everything is working great, except… Outlook 2007. I had to run the application compatibility troubleshooter to figure out what was wrong. I ended up setting the compatibility to “Vista” to run it. I’ll come back to Outlook later this week to investigate the issue more. Other than that, I’ve had no problems with 3rd party apps and utilities from large and small vendors.
Windows Sidebar/Desktop Gadgets
IS GONE! This is probably one of the things that helps performance in my opinion. While I liked the utility of the Windows Sidebar in Vista, the extra screen real estate and the processor cycles just for the Windows Sidebar ate up RAM and performance.
Luckily, this isn’t the case in Windows 7! The gadgets that were helpful, useful, or just plain fun in Vista’s Sidebar now run right on the Windows 7 desktop. This is a great enhancement, and one that I was looking forward to. You can see a few Vista Sidebar gadgets shown running on the Windows 7 desktop.
Peaking
Peaking is an uber-cool enhancement to Windows 7. Simply hover it the absolute bottom-right corner of the screen (shown in the 2nd screen capture below) and whatever windows you have open become transparent so you can see the desktop. Nifty to check the time, weather, or other gadgets you have on the desktop.
There are many great enhancements to the UI in Windows 7, and Microsoft seems to have focused on just making it all work together simply and easily. Of course, I thought that of Windows Vista as well, so take it for what its worth.
I’ve not had a chance to perform any significant testing that is network or file-system related. Areas that Vista had real issues on it’s initial release. I’ll be watching and testing for those as time goes by, but the first day has been a fun experience.
Since Windows 7 is running on my personal production laptop, I’ll be using it daily for all my usual tasks, and will probably drop a post when I run into things that are interesting or troublesome. I hope this gives you an idea of where Windows 7 is at so far. If you’re interested in experiencing it, I do think it’s stable enough for the average IT pro to use on a daily basis as you’d probably know what your getting into anyway. Good stuff.
Windows Beta Geekout – 2009
It’s nice to have a new beta to play with. Microsoft’s released Windows 7 Beta 1 to the public, and I’ve got it downloading now. I’ve really enjoyed Windows Vista for the past 2+ years, and am looking forward to the updates that Windows 7 brings.
If you’re interested, you can head over to the Windows 7 Beta Customer Preview site and download the 2.8GB DVD to try out yourself.
Interesting how people plan for the new year
I’m catching up on feeds and have run across a number of posts and articles on personal plans, goals, or predictions for 2009. It’s a good exercise, and one that I’m working on for this week as well.
However, I’m amazed (nay, dismayed) at the number of people who either do not understand what a goal should be or at the goal that they’re fixated on. Especially in relation to blogging. There are a number of great posts around outlining what people are planning to do, but I’d like to see folks really focus their energies when writing them.
For example, I’ve seen a number of people taking about increasing their blog posting schedule, or about getting 100, 200, 300 RSS readers, or hitting 1,000,000 page-views. This doesn’t tell me what they’re purpose is, however. It doesn’t tell me why I should come back tomorrow to read a post. It doesn’t tell new readers why they should spend time reading their blogs. This is simply a lack of understanding of what makes a good blog – in short, numbers don’t count. It’s about the quality of information rather than the numbers of clicks you can run through Google AdSense.
Another theme I’ve seen in some of these planning post for the new year are more lower-level task specific items rather than broad visionary goals for an individual. New or casual bloggers who are interested in growing their blog should look at things that bring value to themselves and their readers. An example of this would be something like "Revise and rejuvenate my blog’s theme to reflect it’s focus, and for easier reading" would be better than simply wanting to "get a new blog logo".
These more far-reaching goals help us stretch outside our comfort zones for the year. It gives us something to strive for, something to attain… hence "goals". I hope more folks take the time and really go through a good personal growth exercise for 2009. It doesn’t have to take long, and if a person allows themselves an hour or two to really think about what they want to accomplish in one year – and what just may be possible in one years time, they may surprise themselves and really accomplish more than they think they can.
So good luck to you on your goal quest for 2009! Watch for my 2009 goals post in the next day or so.
@MAC_Arms Pay taxes when you make your money, pay taxes when you spend your money, pay taxes when you successfully invest your money, pay taxes when you save enough taxed money to afford a house, pay taxes to live in your house, pay taxes when you sell the house that you paid taxes on to
Yup, taxes are criminal and we need serious reforms. I've always said that if you want to see a tax revolt, make withholdings illegal and have Americans write a tax check every payday. They'll revolt for sure. You don't miss what you never had.
I think it’s safe to say that @GovEvers should stop blocking audits in Wisconsin and open the books…
“Only AMERICAN citizens should vote.”
Sen. @berniemoreno says voter ID and proof of citizenship are simply common sense.
“We’re talking about a very low threshold — identify who you are and prove you’re a U.S. citizen when you register to vote. I think we’re getting closer to
Wrong. Democrats are solely responsible for hours-long airport lines.
They voted to defund TSA three times and won’t even entertain a conversation about reopening it. Why?
They’re using it as leverage to stop enforcing immigration laws.