Provoke Thought

Your Anti-Social Network App

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 09:10:00 +0000

I won't be adding this Facebook app, but it's an interesting response to the happy clappy community of "friends" on social networks. I've had a kick adding "friends" from wildly different walks of my life. (note the quotation marks, most social networking sites lack an "aquaintance" button, or a "person I barely know" button). I try to live by the I've-never-met-a-stranger philosophy, so this is fine for me but I know it creeps some people out.

Facebook more than satisfies the fleeting curiousity of, "I wonder what they're up to now?". I'm sure I provide more meaningless drivel of my daily life than anyone could possibly be interested in, complete with pictures and passing thoughts, but there is something sickeningly addicting about social networking sites... Ok, I admit it....I'm a friend-Ho...... and my life is an open book.

...and watch out for the game apps like scramble, and pathwords , you do not have time for this.

For those who are inclined to sling mud as they may have in Jr. high this app might be appropriate:

"Enemybook is one of several new online applications developed by computer-savvy twentysomethings who say they are tired of bogus online friendships. In a dig at the notion of virtual networking, they hope to encourage people to undermine, or at least mock, the online social communities sites such as Facebook were designed to create."

Provocative. Watch it all.

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:50:00 +0000

First things first. Some great points to consider.

Remember this.

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 07:56:00 +0000

Whether he got your vote or not,it's hard not to appreciate the historic moments that are unfolding before our eyes. While the country remains conflicted about the methods to resolve our issues, there is a genuine sense of hope that this great orator has the answers.

Though, the last picture I saw of him, it looked as if he had just been "briefed"! It looked like some weight was added to his shoulders. This term will age any prez quickly. He's got enormous challenges ahead.

This is an exciting time to be alive.

Hopeful.

Consider with open mind - yes prop 8, CA -Much is misunderstood

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 16:19:00 +0000

This is less about civil rights, and more about a dangerous evolution in the definition of "tolerance". Educational mandates and adoption policies will likely be enforced on a population that holds an understanding of marriage as designed for procreation and raising children in an environment that is conducive to a natural understanding of gender identity.

The irony is that examples show that the effects of activist judges and the claim of the "title" of marriage to same gender unions can provide intolerant actions against any religion that holds a belief of marriage as between man and woman.

I see this as a threat to religious freedom and I have a concern for the rights of children if the ability to be adopted into natural families becomes diminished. Count on early educational requirements to be far reaching.

This is a charged issue, and I've got nothing but love and tolerance for homosexuals and believe in "live and let live",... but let civil unions be as they may, and the term marriage remain clear in it's original purpose and form: preserved for those unions designed to bring forth and nurture new life. History and studies show this is the healthiest environment for child rearing, and it sends a strange message to put forth that gay marriage is an equivalent.

This IS about equal rights and freedom, but in reverse of the way most are realizing.....

http://www.whatistheharm.org

clipped:

"The experience of legalizing same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, and of civil unions elsewhere, cannot be ignored. It shows that, even with the best of intentions, legalizing same-sex marriage will seriously undermine the religious freedom citizens have enjoyed since the founding.

It is but a small step for the state to impose this rationale on churches and other houses of worship and end legal recognition of religious marriage ceremonies that do not comply with the state’s expanded definition of marriage. This is not the only example of what is to come. Massachusetts, like many other states, strictly regulates private adoption agencies through licensing. Historically, this has not posed any difficulties for religious institutions, but Massachusetts now demands that all licensed adoption agencies be willing to place children with legally married same-sex couples.

However, Catholic Charities, the largest private social service provider in the state, could not in good conscience place its orphan children into homosexual households. After a bitter struggle, Boston Catholic Charities was forced out of the adoption business because it refused to embrace the state’s new definition of marriage. The result was doubly tragic because both orphan children and religious liberty took the hit for this misguided attempt at equality. "

Don't Dilute the Message

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 09:07:00 +0000

I'm a believer in the 'short and sweet' philosophy when it comes to email.

I've had colleagues whose lengthy emails are laughed about behind their backs. In fact, the emails are dreaded by their recipients. But most importantly, they do not get completely read, the main message is lost, diluted and the senders credibility can be damaged.

Be brief. Use plain language.
Remove redundant or unneeded words, even sentences.
Keep it "above the line" and to one page. Nobody wants to scroll.
Use BOLD and bullet points to make your main message or action items and deadlines easy to find.

Email, Lean and Concise. <- Click for more words and sentences on the subject.

National Broadcasting Corp?

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 04:08:00 +0000

Very interesting to me that NBC originally declined to run this ad:

High Fructose Corn Syrup Makes Mice Chubby

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 16:07:00 +0000

Saw a commercial today about High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Designed to calm our concerns about the "natural" product... Whatever "natural" means...

Dig into to the studies, so you don't stammer like the lady in the commercial about the facts and the concerns.

clipped from Wikipedia:

"...soft drinks sweetened with HFCS are up to 10 times richer in harmful carbonyl compounds, such as methylglyoxal, than a diet soft drink control.^[23] Carbonyl compounds are elevated in people with diabetes and are blamed for causing diabetic complications such as foot ulcers and eye and nerve damage;^[24]^[25]""A study in mice suggests that fructose increases obesity.^[26] Large quantities of fructose stimulate the liver to produce triglycerides, promotes glycation of proteins and induces insulin resistance.^[27] According to one study, the average American consumes nearly 70 pounds of HFCS per annum, marking HFCS as a major contributor to the rising rates of obesity in the last generation. ^[28]"

read more

.... The "Crack of sweeteners"

An Obvious Solution? $1.50 per gallon

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 07:39:00 +0000

Great video from T. Boone Pickens. Let's get to work on some solutions!
Tired of hearing arguments about lipstick today. I'd like to be living in the solutions.

Things that make you go,"Hmmm"

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 07:19:00 +0000

And this is the BIG campaign to combat the Apple commercials?....Hmmmm.
Interesting, but there's still a lot of work to do.... I'll be waiting for the funny part.

Post net pictures at your peril

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 03:34:00 +0000

THOSE drunken photos of you dancing in your underwear may seem
hilarious now – but in five years they could stop you winning the job
of your dreams.

This clipped from The Advertiser: "Adelaidenow"

YES, it's a good idea to think more than twice about what we post on a net!
Not just the Facebook, and Myspace gobbledygook we may post but even our Twitters and Pownces could be held against us!

I pondered recently if my great grandchildren will be reviewing my Twitter posts years from now........... Scary thought!

For that reason I keep many a rant to myself. Of course there's plenty of nonsensical drivel out there that has dripped of my fingertips into the eternal record of the human race. I cringe a little at the thought, but thus far it's nothing to lose sleep over. When I occasionally ask myself: "Self, who are you writing to?" I come back with the answer of "nobody" and "EVERBODY" in the same sentence.

Strange indeed. I'd better accompany this with a picture of something......interesting..

Here: Good luck finding a job with these silly hats, ladies!

Google is all up in my grill

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 07:28:00 +0000

Google is now cruising down country roads in Sonoma County... amazing.

Glad the lawn was mowed!

Eliana's iCarly Song!

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 14:14:00 +0000

Eliana has been asking me to upload a video to the iCarly website for weeks! She's excited at the thought of being on TV.

Knowing When to Push Back

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 04:44:00 +0000

Some great stuff from Harvard Business Online. This comes from there "50Lessons" videos. This quick clip is an example of "push back" with a customer. (You'll dig Phil's accent, too.. Imagine him saying "I can't hold her,Captain", while your listening).

But, when is it time to push back within the company? This is just as difficult. It's about knowing the unwritten rules... knowing all the players. Timing is everything. Patience is a virtue, at times.... but, there is a limit.

"Catch ball" is a term used in Hoshin Kanri planning. (Policy Deployment).... Where the two way communication should allow for some "push back" against unrealistic objectives set from above. In a company that historically doesn't play this way, I think we still figuring this part out.
...It's a process.. It doesn't happen over night! So, in some ways the command and control model is in place under the guise of the Hoshin language.
But there is hope.... in the name of continuous improvement!

The Chain Theory

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:22:00 +0000

I bought the book "The Goal", The Theory of Constraints, Eliyahou Goldratt for 70 cents on Amazon! Now, I just have to read it ...

Smarty Splash

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:07:00 +0000

Splash
Originally uploaded by SdPanek

Eliana said, "Daddy, what's the middle number in the world.... I think, maybe it's 50, I dunno... Or maybe it's googleplex, is it?"

She's a smartypants, we talk about math sometimes..... and a lot of other interesting stuff.

Teen toob toss!

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:58:00 +0000

Work Hard, Play hard.

I've also decided that it's fine to not own an expensive boat, a million dollar vacation home, and a pair of waverunners.... We get caught up in ownership... I can use those things a couple times a year for a fraction of the headache. I'm getting smarter all the time. I also discovered that it's harder to get up on one ski than it used to be!

Corporate Genetic Food

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 06:35:00 +0000

We should be concerned. We're in the middle of a food supply experiment. Interesting that the intellectual rights of the food can be purchased, for a year...

I remember Paul Hawken from the book Magic of Findhorn,
I have a lot of catching up to do,he's wriiten a bunch more books. I appreciate his perspective. Definitely click the video.

Importance of Value Stream Mapping

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 21:11:00 +0000

A fundamental to "Seeing" a process.
I've seen Process maps that don't do much good because there is so much detail that they're painful to look at! ....and others that don't have enough detail to reveal the issues. ... There's clearly is benefit to mapping and analyzing the value stream.

We've gone through some basic training, but need to get to the next level with this.
I'll be digging deeper on this in Houston with Optriprise.

This basic video is from SME

The SPAM Generation. US is fourth behind China, Brazil, and Turkey.

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 19:55:00 +0000

Not a race to first place. This from Technology Review reveals where the bulk of the mess comes from. It's a crying shame we don't have better control over this.

....Makes me think of a Monty Python song. (See Below!)

The comments thread had a few good nuggets, too ...

Education Shiladie on 05/29/2008 at 1:05 PM
The number one reason these things spread like they do is people being completely ignorant about the internet. These are the people who are the reasons spam is so prolific: People who: 1. use the 'To:' field 2. click links (ANY LINKS) in an email 3. run windows and don't keep an up-to-date anti-virus on it (there are many free ones!) 4. reply to spam 5. have unsecure passwords (12345, password, nascar, jesus) Currently there are multiple bot-nets that are orders of magnitude more powerful then the world's largest supercomputers, and it won't stop unless people plain and simple smarten up.

Guzzler CraigsListings on the Rise.

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Wed, 14 May 2008 06:16:00 +0000

Gas prices spur Craigslist car & truck listings growth 120%

"My Suburban gets 120 MPG (*per person when fully loaded)." buy a burb and pass the hat!
That's the heading I'd like to use when I list our family 'burb' for sale. The teenagers have their own cars and we could probably live with something a little smaller, cheaper and minivanish..... But, I'm still getting complete minivan resistance from Suzanne. She drove one for over a decade and has been spoiled by Burb.

Funny, it tooks years to convince her to try our first Burb. Now she's hooked. Push might soon be coming to shove.

The Craiglist sale ads for trucks and SUVs are increasing right along with the latest gas prices. We'll probably do something within the year, but I still think 120 mpg ain't bad.

RFID News, Global Food Crisis, and other appocolyptical thingies

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Tue, 06 May 2008 05:05:00 +0000

photo by Kristin Smith

I love technology... but this weirds me out. Should I worry now, or wait until they're mandatory at birth?

RFID Journal

"For $149, a consumer can have a passive 134 kHz RFID chip, compliant with the ISO 11784 and 11785 standards, implanted in his or her arm, with the transponder's unique 16-digit ID number linked to a database containing that individual's medical records and, if they so choose, a living will." .... read more in RFID Journal

Behold a Black Horse: The Global Food Crisis.

"According to the United Nations, global food prices rose 35 percent in the last year...."
..."Rising oil prices have also had caused food prices to rise...."
"...This situation has not received enough media attention, prompting some to label it the "silent famine."....read more by Dr. Chuck Missler

Housing Prices Drop at Fastest Pace Ever - April 29, 2008 (MSNBC)

Housing prices dropped in February at the fastest rate ever, reflecting that the housing slump is gaining momentum and showing no signs of letting up.

Quotes ... Leading through Change

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 04:37:00 +0000

"Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times."

— Niccolo Machiavelli

"People don't resist change. They resist being changed!"

— Peter Senge

"Your success in life isn't based on your ability to simply change. It is based on your ability to change faster than your competition, customers and business."

— Mark Sanborn

"Innovation—the heart of the knowledge economy—is fundamentally social."

— Malcolm Gladwell

.. Just a few quotes that seemed timely.

Brainstorming - Random Word Technique

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 05:19:00 +0000

Interesting brainstorming technique clipped from "brainstorming.co.uk"

Use the following as an example:

You are working for a car manufacturer in the wheel department and are trying to come up with some new ideas about the wheel (without reinventing it!) Imagine you are now given this random word: toothbrush! What are your initial thoughts? Probably something like "How on earth is this relevant?" or "What a silly idea, they're totally unconnected". But before we go on, spend a couple of minutes trying to come up with a few ideas.

Ok, here are some examples of ideas you might have come up with (including some working through of the thinking process behind them, which you would not normally write down):

Replacing the wheel with a toothbrush:

Bridging ideas:

Imagine the whole tyre of the wheel is made of toothbrush bristles. What are the advantages?
(PS tyre = tire using US spelling)

Much better grip in the snow.
Small stones pass straight through with a minor disturbance of the bristles. Cleans the road as it goes.

Resulting relevant ideas:

Create a snow tyre where the snow (or water) is forced though holes in the bottom of the tyre and shot out through small tubes in the rubber, thus stopping the tyre tread from clogging up.

Retractable spikes in the tyre.

Dimples in the tyre so that small stones are not felt by the passenger(s).

What other principles are there about toothbrushes?

Features of a toothbrush:

Bridging ideas:

Some toothbrushes change colour when they have been used for too long.
Some toothbrushes squirt out toothpaste while you brush.
They have springy handles to make sure you do not press too hard.
Some have ridges so that at least some bristles get to the bottom of the dips in teeth.
They come in plastic containers for travelling.
You brush your teeth with them twice a day.

Resulting relevant ideas:

How about a tyre which has two layers of coloured rubber so that when the underneath layer shows through, the tyre needed replacing. Also police could spot bald tyres from a distance.

Could a mini-camera spot oil on the road and spray out an oil remover or could the tyre eject salt in front of the car in the case of ice?

Could the suspension be a flexible bit of metal instead of a spring and damper?

If the rubber of the tyre was made of a mixture of hard and soft rubber then the soft bits would stick into the dimples in the road and stick better.

Could we sell a cover for car wheels so that in snowy countries the wheels would not get blocked with snow? Could we use the cover to stop being wheel-clamped?

Could we produce a device which measured the deterioration of the car tyre which each person could check everyday (how might they remember?)?

What are the benefits of a toothbrush?

Bridging ideas:

You don't get rotten teeth.
It scrapes nasty stuff from your teeth.
It makes your teeth feel clean and smooth.

Resulting relevant ideas:

Could we produce an X-ray device to measure the internal condition of a tyre.

People often have to pick out stones from the tyre treads. We could make a 'tread comb' to make this easier and encourage people to use it to make their tyres last longer. We could make it so it only fitted the tyres we sell and so our customers would be pleased by how much longer our tyres lasted.

Can we produce a tyre that sprays the ground water on to the car tyre and thus washes itself?

Things to watch out for when using the technique --> ....more

Today's Greatest Illusion (I Heart Tap Water Finalist)

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 05:10:00 +0000

Think about it... The statistics are staggering... and we are being bamboozled.

Drink for free!
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/blog/archive/2008/04/18/and-the-finalists-are

Provoke Thought

Your Anti-Social Network App

Provocative. Watch it all.

Remember this.

Consider with open mind - yes prop 8, CA -Much is misunderstood

Don't Dilute the Message

National Broadcasting Corp?

High Fructose Corn Syrup Makes Mice Chubby

An Obvious Solution? $1.50 per gallon

Things that make you go,"Hmmm"

Post net pictures at your peril

THOSE drunken photos of you dancing in your underwear may seemhilarious now – but in five years they could stop you winning the jobof your dreams.

More Questions

Google is all up in my grill

Eliana's iCarly Song!

Knowing When to Push Back

The Chain Theory

Smarty Splash

Teen toob toss!

Corporate Genetic Food

Importance of Value Stream Mapping

The SPAM Generation. US is fourth behind China, Brazil, and Turkey.

Guzzler CraigsListings on the Rise.

RFID News, Global Food Crisis, and other appocolyptical thingies

Quotes ... Leading through Change

Brainstorming - Random Word Technique

Use the following as an example:

Replacing the wheel with a toothbrush:

Bridging ideas:

Resulting relevant ideas:

Features of a toothbrush:

Bridging ideas:

Resulting relevant ideas:

What are the benefits of a toothbrush?

Bridging ideas:

Resulting relevant ideas:

Things to watch out for when using the technique --&gt; ....more

Today's Greatest Illusion (I Heart Tap Water Finalist)

THOSE drunken photos of you dancing in your underwear may seem
hilarious now – but in five years they could stop you winning the job
of your dreams.

Things to watch out for when using the technique --> ....more