I Live In The Future

New book to review. Nick Bilton of the NY Times has written I Live In The Future. I listened to Nick on this week’s TWiT 266: Musty Shelbang and not only enjoyed the show but enjoyed his telling about his book.

Of course I purchased the book on my Kindle e-book reader. I must admit to reading the intro and into the first chapter and I am thinking about subscribing to the NY Times on my Kindle. I have been a registered member of the NY Times for years (12?) and I enjoy going there.

Based on the premise of the book it just might be good reading for those of you who are still trying to get a handle on the digital world. I will write more as I read.

Blogging Moving Up As Well As Other Technologies.

Reading InformationWeek’s latest issue the lead article, How the Leaders Drive Growth (Sept. 13, 2010) there are some interesting statistics;

“A year ago, just 42% of InformationWeek 500 companies used wikis, blogs, or social networking to reach out to customers, suppliers, and partners. This year, that figure shot up to 72%”.

There are other  statistics and graphs to support what I think are more changes toward a greater acceptance of communication technologies of today.

One other graph shows 59% of respondents “Deployed new types of collaboration software” as well as 23% “Encouraged workers to use Web 2.0 technologies". 

Interesting read and I have written more myself at Curious Voyager.

For The Droid Lover In You – Add Battery Life

OK so this may not be in main stream with topics on this blog however I thought this article in Computerworld would be of interest to some of you. It deals with battery life on an Android operating system.

The article; Improve Android Battery Life: Here’s How by JR Raphael is quite good and on the two pages there are 10 tips worth looking into. I do recommend that you read this.

There is also a QR barcode that will lead you to download a helpful app. The app, JuiceDefender, will work with most Android systems and allows you to further control battery life.

I have to admit that battery life has been one of my issues with my Droid. I have removed Advance Task Killer and added Watch Dog and then removed Watch Dog and went back to Advanced Task Killer. After reading this article I have once again removed Advanced Task Killer. My Droid is running FroYo (2.2) and I read that the Advanced Task Killer is more hurtful than helpful.

Read the article by JR Raphael,  Improve Android Battery Life: Here’s How and then I have added some other articles below.

---

Related articles by Zemanta

• JuiceDefender - Improve the Battery Life of Your Android Device (eoghann.com)
• It's time for the baked-in Android UI to die (JR Raphael/JR Raphael's blog) (techmeme.com)
• How to save battery life on an Android phone (en.onsoftware.com)

I Have Gone Over To The Digital Side

I have an eye opening experience this morning and I think it completes the transformation of an individual going from Analog to Digital. Another position could be that I have gone over to the Dark Side.

To set the scene; I have changed my coffee drinking preference in the morning to McDonald’s (for reasons mentioned in earlier writings) and therefore I am becoming a McDonald’s Blogger. I am sure I am not the only one, however this morning there was an awakening. Well it wasn’t like receiving the “Water Of Life” but close.

I went to get a refill (FREE) and on the way back to my seat I passed an individual reading the newspaper. As I approached him, his back turned toward me, I noticed that his coffee cup had an antenna. My first reaction was “That is a strange place for an antenna.” My second reaction; “Why would anyone put their phone in a coffee cup?”.

When I discovered that the alleged antennal was his coffee stirrer I just about lost it. I know I have been at this way too long.

I started laughing and with everyone looking at me I had to explain and after the explanation I realized the absurdity in the picture. I will never be able to look at another stirrer without wondering who it is connected to or if Big Brother has found a new way to follow us.

I will laugh every time I see this. Laughter really feels good.

More On Location Based Opportunities

This from the Wall St. Journal on the best ways to use location based tools.

From Wikipedia; "A tool is a device that can be used to produce or achieve something, but that is not consumed in the process. Colloquially a tool can also be a procedure or process used for a specific purpose." That purpose could be getting your word out.

So social media can be a tool for getting closer to the consumer, the client. Those whom you wish to reach out to, have a conversation with, and teach them more about you and your business.

A very long time ago in a sales training program I was taught that people buy from friends. The objective was to put your customer/client at ease and let them ask questions. Of course you were to be up front, open, honest and be yourself.

Let people know who you are and go from there.

Three Best Ways to Use Location-Based Social Media - WSJ.com

Tips For New Business Start Up's

Although the link below (from ABC's Good Morning America web site) is aimed at women these tips apply to anyone that wants to go into a business.

In today's economy there are more small business start ups because people are taking things into their own hands for income. There are many ways to do this and just ask a neighbor and I am sure you will get all the advice you can handle.

Better yet read the article I have linked to below. Some good thoughts and idea's. Perhaps even some help if you follow Tory Johnson.

Tory Johnson: Small Business Start-Up Success Stories - ABC News

Discovery

I woke up this morning trying to look at what I do across two blogs; Curious Voyager and Ease of Blogging and I found that in both cases it is discovery.

In one, Ease of Blogging, it is to expand on what I know to hopefully give someone ideas on both how to proceed with blogging as well as thoughts about what to blog. I do this by writing my thoughts (some of which might be original) and also by passing along thoughts of others on the subject of blogging.

I also include thoughts on life, attitude, and work processes. It is all about what we do and someone else’s opinion on how to do it. I don’t have all the answers and I have discovered that other’s do not either. Perhaps in sifting through the different methods of thought we can come up with one that works for us.

Above I stated; “I do this by writing my thoughts (some of which might be original)…”. I wonder about originality sometimes. We are a little bit of everything we have seen, read, and heard. We are a part of all that is going on around us and “real” original thought could be elusive yet we go on thinking and writing.

For blogging this is where the “curator” idea comes from. From Wikipedia; “In contemporary art, the title curator is given to a person who selects and often interprets works of art.” In our case the term ‘art’ could refer to writing. More to the point writing of others. That is what we do when wen pass along links to other blog posts that we think are important for one reason or another and would like you to find them also.

All of it is a part of discovery.

All of us read or follow different writings as well as RSS feeds and linking to them and passing along the information to whomever might be reading. I feel this is an important part of what we do.

I also have personal opinion and if you have read this for some time you have seen that. YOU have to make up your mind what is the right thought for YOU!

For Monday – Go And Discover!@

Related articles by Zemanta

• The presentation blog test (christopherspenn.com)
• 25 Insanely Random Facts About David Risley (davidrisley.com)
• 8 Ways to Get Inspiration as a Blogger (famousbloggers.net)
• 34 Reasons to Start a Blog (conversationagent.com)

 

Now The Other Side of The Coin

There is always the possibility that something will go wrong with your social media strategy. You must be aware of what is going on out there.

The link below to a GigaOM post at WebWorkerDaily is very well presented and worth your time. All the points in the blog post are very well taken however number 2 should be in the forefront.

You have to spend time reading and searching on your business and products. Perhaps you sign on with a service and do it yourself with some software, just do it.

6 Ways to Avoid a Social Media Meltdown �

Now after you read that here is a simple link (same site) for some interesting information on search and the things you can use search for. I use a number of these.

10 Simple Google Search Tricks

Thoughts on Sharing Your Stuff

The link below makes a great deal of sense - make it ease for fans to share your stuff. In today's world of digital information this could be considered "word of mouth".

If possible make it easy to re-tweet, post to Buzz or Facebook, whatever you write. The more people spreading the word the better for you.

Make sure you give them something worth spreading. Give information that is important to people and then make it easy for them to get it and use it.

Top quality people today will give you credit, the lower group would not have anyway. Once it goes to the web in almost any form it is fair game so make the most of the information you post.

It's Labor Day (or the day after when you read this) so read on and work it out.

Andy’s Answers: How can I make it easy for fans to share my stuff? | SmartBlog on Social Media

Tony Schwartz - Bestselling Author

In doing my due diligence this morning I have discovered a very good blog written by Tony Schwartz and I am passing along a link to a recent writing there.

This writing is very good and positive and if you can put to practice his ideas it could make you better at what you do.

I know that I for one have quit when perhaps I should not have and other times I did not quit soon enough. I think that narrowing my focus would be best, get away from all the "oh that's cool" things, and then follow the plan in this blog post and let my passion lead me.

I am going to download his book into my new Kindle and read it maybe a few times.

Follow the link and enjoy!

Tony Schwartz - Bestselling Author, Speaker, CEO and Performance Expert

Blogging In The Food World

I have been following food blogging for some time, actually food and wine. I do like to eat well and my wine tastes are always looking to be expanded.

Along those lines I also find that blogging in the food world is about as good as it gets. I have linked below to an article that I like regarding food blogging and her (Kristen) thoughts on blogging itself in any niche.

This blog, Dine & Dish is a little different that $5 Dinners in its layout. I do know that $5 Dinners has recently gone through a change. Both blogs are very good however presentation is different.

Look them both up and let me know what you think. Link below is to the initial article (or blog post) to which I first referenced. In that post there are other links to more food blogs. I will have to try the Banana Bread recipe.

Go and read!

The Value of Building Blogging Community (Recipe: Banana Bread) | Dine and Dish

How Many Blogs Do You Follow?

If you follow many blogs you should be using a feed reader or what is generally referred to as an RSS Reader.

I have posted links to BlogHer before and this read is no different - worth the time. The link at the bottom of this post will take you to the blog post I am referring to.

If you are not using a reader you may be wasting too much time. I follow in the neighborhood of 90 to 110 blogs of one type or another and if it was not for my Google Reader I would not be able to see as much.

Virginia DeBolt makes a pretty good point here and shows you what and where you can get a reader. I like it when others get after the same things I do.

A Blog A Feed A Reader = A More Efficient You | BlogHer