Wow - what a plain title I hear you say!
Sorry, I am trying to create 30 100 word powerblogs by May 01, 2009! So here goes... My friends all say I can talk about anything under the sun (or the hind legs off a sick donkey!) I'll leave you to be the judge of that!
So here we are fishing for my first topic...
Let's talk about coffee, shall we? How much does anyone really know about coffee? First of all, it is grown all over the world, usually in hot places. (I.e. British coffee beans don't exist, or at least you won't find any called British, nudging shoulders with bags of beans from exotic places like Kenya, the Goald Coast or Java!)
Now that's out of the way, isn't it strange that although you don't see much coffee being grown in Britain, they sure drink a lot of it... Much more than say twenty years ago. Reason being is that they have improved their catered coffee over 700% since then. Gone are the days of the transport cafe, where a cup of "brewed" coffee was a mug of steamed milk with pretend coffee essence stirred in out of a bottle with the brand name "Camp" on it!
I can feel a blog about the Global Village coming on, but don't hold your breath. That's next!
OK, so to carry on, the coffee used to (after they ditched the stuff out of the bottle and started getting particular about how the powdered stuff would taste) be split into "arabica" and "robusta" beans. The difference was in the taste. The "robusta" beans had a coarse earthy taste to them and really lacked the delicate pungency of the "arabica" beans. Then the coffee importers would use so many parts "robusta" to so many parts "arabica."
To cut a long story short, we are all spoiled for choice now. British coffee drinkers can get their coffee from Costa or Starbucks. And the choice is no longer restricted to which brew is ordered, since the coffee can be created as a traditional Italian-style blended drink, along with the shots of expresso-made coffee added to it to create a perfect "Caffe Macchiato" (spotted coffee, rather like the spotted cow, really!)
I won't bore you with the rest. You can go to a Starbucks and just read the wall...
Happy coffee drinking! See you all on the flip-side for Powerblog #2!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
The Headache of Trying to Get Just Any Job!
You see people working, everywhere. You wonder why everyone is working and you are not.
The President passes some fabulous law which will remove the burden of $1,200 a month on "just-in-case" health insurance to 65% being paid by the employers and 35% paid by you, effective from September last year. Only you don't qualify, because you were laid off just six days too early (August 25th.) So you wonder why this doesn't work for you because in reality, you have a far greater need than all of those "chosen few" who just happened to get in at the right "event time!"
Oh and the other thing going on is that you cannot get any more unemployment benefit because the benefit just ran out after six months... So you apply for the benefit again, hoping they won't turn you down. The nice thing is, you are dealing with an ethical government office. They'll play it straight provided you do too. Sure enough, they approve your additional emergency relief. However, this only gives you ten weeks! At least it buys you some time!
After all, you played the whole thing straight, while there's some woman driving a Mercedes Benz and living in a mansion claiming food stamps! Huh! That doesn't sound right, does it... Makes the stuff AIG are allegedly doing, sound like small potatoes. But wait a minute, I thought all the skullduggery was over, no?
So what have you been doing to find work? Well, forget about "job" jobs. You may as well go and stand in line down on San Fernando Road along with those friendly folk from South of the Border, and wait to be chosen for semi-agricultural work at $7 per hour, except that you really don't want to jeopardize what you may have coming in from the Department of Employment Development.
So, what about Craig's List? Hmmm, they seem to have regular jobs every day. But wait, these are so competitive, that for every one you apply for, there are 10,000 others applying in the same second you apply. And wait, Craig's List themselves tell you that 89 - 99% of these jobs may not really exist, because this is the amount that get "flagged" for non-compliance with their code. Yes, you got scammed at least a couple of times. One scumbag has all of your details. God knows what he will do with all of this information. You do some damage limitation. First of all, what does he want the information for? Hang on! We need to know why he is a scammer first, right? OK - here's how we know... because we leave our browser open at the exact same page on Craig's List where his posting was yesterday, and it says right in the middle of the screen, "This posting has been flagged for removal" - so we go to the link under the word "flagged" and that is where we find the conciliatory note which explains why they prefer flagging over moderation,and, frankly, I wouldn't want that job either... Enough said.
Wait a minute, didn't we send off a resume, containing all of our information in good faith? Yep, we did! Bummer! That means that we will either be spammed to death by this guy or it will pose a security threat to our personal information. The key question to ask is "What did he want to do?" Well, the answer to this may end up being in your email a couple days later (if he's smart) or the next morning or the same day, if he is not smart. Mine came the next morning. "If you want this job you have to go to this site - link to click. Don't click it. But there may be clues in what he sent you, which will give his game away. This one was fairly straightforward. You actually click on the link and there's a page telling you that all employers need a person who really wants to further his education. There are three options, all of which take you to that famous alma-mater in Arizona somewhere, otherwise known as the fast-food university. You click on "No Thanks!" and it gives you one further option to sign up for something you really don't want!
This is mild. Other scams are after identity theft. Yet others will explode your screen with porn and other nasties, provided the browser you use doesn't intercept it first. (Mine does.) Nowadays, people are pretty well protected from this. That is why the scammers have to be so clever, and make sure that it all comes from the clicks made by the person they are scamming!
Enough of scamming! Back to the legitimate job search... And so, you very judiciously signed up for the Federal Jobs email, religiously emailed out every day, listing hundreds of jobs, albeit for careers like Marine Biologist in Taiwan etc... (These are all the 39,000 federal jobs that Jessica Holmes made such a big journalistic thing about the other morning on the KTLA Breakfast Show.) But let's not lose hope, eh? One day we'll see something there which will match your skillset. Along with these, we are seeing a whole new slew of jobs from the FBI. However, most of these are for Washington, DC and somewhere in Virginia. Now, the County, they still have openings, but wait, isn't there a hiring freeze?
Which brings me to the jobs that actually exist, but which have not been filled yet, but which you have to know somebody to get even the interview. These are around, but, as I say, if you don't know someone, forget it... I just really don't know how employers have the face to advertise a job and bring someone to an interview, and then change their mind. Others advertise jobs which don't exist. And employees at some recruiting companies, not all, mind you, are like hungry dogs....
So there are a bunch of people who are nice enough to phone you and see how you are doing... One has left a message. You phone them back. "Hi June! How is it going?" is your friendly opener.
"It's been so quiet. There is nothing for you right now... tell me how you have been getting on?"
So you tell her. You had a really successful interview and you are just waiting to hear... Wrong! She now wants to know which company. You stupidly tell her. And then you are surprised that the job is no longer open when you call the company back to find out what the next step is going to be!
A couple of kids came to my door the other afternoon. "Hi my name is XXXXX, and mine is YYYYYY!" they chirped, with a professional polish you would only hear in SoCal, as their father stood down at the street, watching every move. "We want to share with you our fund-raising drive for our school", as they opened an envelope with a glossy magazine and a list of hand-written names. I didn't wait for them... I told them that I had been unemployed for quite a while, and I didn't really have any spare cash to hand out.... Then I went to talk to the Dad. It turned out that he was unemployed too! Maybe not for so long as me... but he pointed me to a couple of web sites, albeit useless to me for job-hunting in my line of work, but then again, isn't that just how the Internet has turned out?
So what is the word on the street? In this inquitous society we live in, there is nothing obvious about how we get this business of finding a job done. The Internet, despite Monster, Dice, BrassRing, Indeed.com, Craig's List, CareerBuilder, Yahoo Hot Jobs, and a hundred other job boards, won't help you get a job.
I am told the only way is to go round banging on doors the old fashioned way. Trouble is, who is going to offer you a job if you don't know anyone?
The President passes some fabulous law which will remove the burden of $1,200 a month on "just-in-case" health insurance to 65% being paid by the employers and 35% paid by you, effective from September last year. Only you don't qualify, because you were laid off just six days too early (August 25th.) So you wonder why this doesn't work for you because in reality, you have a far greater need than all of those "chosen few" who just happened to get in at the right "event time!"
Oh and the other thing going on is that you cannot get any more unemployment benefit because the benefit just ran out after six months... So you apply for the benefit again, hoping they won't turn you down. The nice thing is, you are dealing with an ethical government office. They'll play it straight provided you do too. Sure enough, they approve your additional emergency relief. However, this only gives you ten weeks! At least it buys you some time!
After all, you played the whole thing straight, while there's some woman driving a Mercedes Benz and living in a mansion claiming food stamps! Huh! That doesn't sound right, does it... Makes the stuff AIG are allegedly doing, sound like small potatoes. But wait a minute, I thought all the skullduggery was over, no?
So what have you been doing to find work? Well, forget about "job" jobs. You may as well go and stand in line down on San Fernando Road along with those friendly folk from South of the Border, and wait to be chosen for semi-agricultural work at $7 per hour, except that you really don't want to jeopardize what you may have coming in from the Department of Employment Development.
So, what about Craig's List? Hmmm, they seem to have regular jobs every day. But wait, these are so competitive, that for every one you apply for, there are 10,000 others applying in the same second you apply. And wait, Craig's List themselves tell you that 89 - 99% of these jobs may not really exist, because this is the amount that get "flagged" for non-compliance with their code. Yes, you got scammed at least a couple of times. One scumbag has all of your details. God knows what he will do with all of this information. You do some damage limitation. First of all, what does he want the information for? Hang on! We need to know why he is a scammer first, right? OK - here's how we know... because we leave our browser open at the exact same page on Craig's List where his posting was yesterday, and it says right in the middle of the screen, "This posting has been flagged for removal" - so we go to the link under the word "flagged" and that is where we find the conciliatory note which explains why they prefer flagging over moderation,and, frankly, I wouldn't want that job either... Enough said.
Wait a minute, didn't we send off a resume, containing all of our information in good faith? Yep, we did! Bummer! That means that we will either be spammed to death by this guy or it will pose a security threat to our personal information. The key question to ask is "What did he want to do?" Well, the answer to this may end up being in your email a couple days later (if he's smart) or the next morning or the same day, if he is not smart. Mine came the next morning. "If you want this job you have to go to this site - link to click. Don't click it. But there may be clues in what he sent you, which will give his game away. This one was fairly straightforward. You actually click on the link and there's a page telling you that all employers need a person who really wants to further his education. There are three options, all of which take you to that famous alma-mater in Arizona somewhere, otherwise known as the fast-food university. You click on "No Thanks!" and it gives you one further option to sign up for something you really don't want!
This is mild. Other scams are after identity theft. Yet others will explode your screen with porn and other nasties, provided the browser you use doesn't intercept it first. (Mine does.) Nowadays, people are pretty well protected from this. That is why the scammers have to be so clever, and make sure that it all comes from the clicks made by the person they are scamming!
Enough of scamming! Back to the legitimate job search... And so, you very judiciously signed up for the Federal Jobs email, religiously emailed out every day, listing hundreds of jobs, albeit for careers like Marine Biologist in Taiwan etc... (These are all the 39,000 federal jobs that Jessica Holmes made such a big journalistic thing about the other morning on the KTLA Breakfast Show.) But let's not lose hope, eh? One day we'll see something there which will match your skillset. Along with these, we are seeing a whole new slew of jobs from the FBI. However, most of these are for Washington, DC and somewhere in Virginia. Now, the County, they still have openings, but wait, isn't there a hiring freeze?
Which brings me to the jobs that actually exist, but which have not been filled yet, but which you have to know somebody to get even the interview. These are around, but, as I say, if you don't know someone, forget it... I just really don't know how employers have the face to advertise a job and bring someone to an interview, and then change their mind. Others advertise jobs which don't exist. And employees at some recruiting companies, not all, mind you, are like hungry dogs....
So there are a bunch of people who are nice enough to phone you and see how you are doing... One has left a message. You phone them back. "Hi June! How is it going?" is your friendly opener.
"It's been so quiet. There is nothing for you right now... tell me how you have been getting on?"
So you tell her. You had a really successful interview and you are just waiting to hear... Wrong! She now wants to know which company. You stupidly tell her. And then you are surprised that the job is no longer open when you call the company back to find out what the next step is going to be!
A couple of kids came to my door the other afternoon. "Hi my name is XXXXX, and mine is YYYYYY!" they chirped, with a professional polish you would only hear in SoCal, as their father stood down at the street, watching every move. "We want to share with you our fund-raising drive for our school", as they opened an envelope with a glossy magazine and a list of hand-written names. I didn't wait for them... I told them that I had been unemployed for quite a while, and I didn't really have any spare cash to hand out.... Then I went to talk to the Dad. It turned out that he was unemployed too! Maybe not for so long as me... but he pointed me to a couple of web sites, albeit useless to me for job-hunting in my line of work, but then again, isn't that just how the Internet has turned out?So what is the word on the street? In this inquitous society we live in, there is nothing obvious about how we get this business of finding a job done. The Internet, despite Monster, Dice, BrassRing, Indeed.com, Craig's List, CareerBuilder, Yahoo Hot Jobs, and a hundred other job boards, won't help you get a job.
I am told the only way is to go round banging on doors the old fashioned way. Trouble is, who is going to offer you a job if you don't know anyone?
Sunday, February 1, 2009
I'm the Dude - I have a PhD in Making Ends Meet!
I thought that this recession that we are in all over the world is so severe, that I should add some thoughts to the mix. They say that necessity is the mother of invention, meaning perhaps that we should become more inventive in order to survive.
Another expression we might be hearing in some quarters is "the algebra of need." This is a neat phrase, intended to tie the pure mathematics of survival in with the global issue of need and the know-how to make ends meet when everything is scarce. This phrase was first coined by William Burroughs in his sixties novel "The Naked Lunch."
Here's the kicker - it is so far-reaching that everyone takes a bite. So how do we survive?
First, everyone needs a job. How is that going to be achieved? Well, we need to get away from the climate which is negating our ability to expand. This is easier said than done. We need to pump a cash injection into all the areas of our life where we are seeing things getting cut back. Some areas will no doubt die and will never come back. People will lose their jobs and homes, and it will be a long drawn-out struggle to get back to work after that.
Second, the optimism that was so much a part of America seems to have taken a dive too. Eveywhere you look there is something going on which is extremely distasteful. Crime is up (although I have to say that the Los Angeles violent crimes are down, partly due to the fact that gangs are getting rounded up...) In an economy like this, it is no wonder that people are resorting to criminal means to stay solvent... But that is not really the focus of what I want to talk about. I think we have to look at the things we should be grateful for. If you still have a job, great! You should be really grateful. It is getting harder and harder to secure any job. Someone told me that they had overheard a person trying to get a job at the popular grocery store, Trader Joe's: "Sorry!" the clerk was telling him, "you are behind 1,000 lawyers and 5,500 bankers who all applied for work here last month." Someone once told me that Trader Joe's pays particularly well!
Another story I heard was that someone who had been working for a very well-known and prestigious company had been escorted to the door after 30 years of service. A disgraceful end to a perfect work record. Someone else was woken by the phone at six am from her company, telling her that she needn't report for work that day. Another firm moved out of their premises and changed the locks over the weekend. Workers arriving on Monday were unable to access the building where they had worked for a number of years, after bidding each other goodbye and wishing each other a nice weekend. In perfectly respectable companies employees have been told that they must take a mandatory two weeks unpaid vacation, after which they must return to work with a salary reduced by 6% to 10%.
The long and short of it is that there are now fewer jobs and many more qualified people to fill them. This is not good for the employee or person looking for work... In California where I live, 10% of people are out of work and claiming unemployment benefit, and the State is wondering how they will be able to continue to pay benefit to these people. So this now means that people, who if they felt that it was hard to get a job before, will find it ten times harder now, just to get an ordinary job. People working will need to be particularly careful not to do anything to jeopardize their position, since employers have every excuse to lay people off now.
Other than that, we are seeing the economy go mad. In the grocery stores, packages are being redesigned to cleverly disguise their size and capacity. (Next time you look at a can of beans, see if the bottom of the can has been designed with a great big concave base to it, like a big chunk has been bitten out of it. You won't see this unless you turn it upside down.)
Other packaging has been reduced in proportionate size, but looks exactly the same. The only way to see the difference is by holding it up with an original size package (conveniently pulled from the shelves by judicious merchants, not wishing for any trouble.) This size reduction is apparently because market-researchers understand that the public are more worried about rising prices than anything else.
So the price stays the same, but the quantity you get for it is reduced. However, you can't really do this with fruit and vegetables! I am wondering if they have any plans to manufacture donuts with hollow insides or wider inner rings? Will a "Veinte" at Starbucks take on the form currently used by a "Grande?" Of course we are going to see this everywhere, since the manufacturing industry has had to take the initial hit on the economy, in front of everyone else... Gone are the days when a slight blip on the economy's radar meant that a small business owner had to survive on a bank loan, rather than actual liquidity. Now they are not loaning anyone anything.
The other visible signs we see are in the high street. Stores which used to be there are gone. Restaurants, chain stores we have known and loved for tens of years are all disappearing. Who is doing well? I know the Waltons won't be losing any sleep!
Indeed, there are companies out there who are doing extremely well now and announcing record profits and earnings. Other, more household names, have had the worst fourth quarter on record. In the UK, household names like Woolworths have closed, never to return. I think there has been a landmark change in the way that people are now using their money to purchase things.
One thing is certain. If we are able to survive this recession, we will be able to survive anything they want to throw at us in the future.
Another expression we might be hearing in some quarters is "the algebra of need." This is a neat phrase, intended to tie the pure mathematics of survival in with the global issue of need and the know-how to make ends meet when everything is scarce. This phrase was first coined by William Burroughs in his sixties novel "The Naked Lunch."
Here's the kicker - it is so far-reaching that everyone takes a bite. So how do we survive?
First, everyone needs a job. How is that going to be achieved? Well, we need to get away from the climate which is negating our ability to expand. This is easier said than done. We need to pump a cash injection into all the areas of our life where we are seeing things getting cut back. Some areas will no doubt die and will never come back. People will lose their jobs and homes, and it will be a long drawn-out struggle to get back to work after that.
Second, the optimism that was so much a part of America seems to have taken a dive too. Eveywhere you look there is something going on which is extremely distasteful. Crime is up (although I have to say that the Los Angeles violent crimes are down, partly due to the fact that gangs are getting rounded up...) In an economy like this, it is no wonder that people are resorting to criminal means to stay solvent... But that is not really the focus of what I want to talk about. I think we have to look at the things we should be grateful for. If you still have a job, great! You should be really grateful. It is getting harder and harder to secure any job. Someone told me that they had overheard a person trying to get a job at the popular grocery store, Trader Joe's: "Sorry!" the clerk was telling him, "you are behind 1,000 lawyers and 5,500 bankers who all applied for work here last month." Someone once told me that Trader Joe's pays particularly well!
Another story I heard was that someone who had been working for a very well-known and prestigious company had been escorted to the door after 30 years of service. A disgraceful end to a perfect work record. Someone else was woken by the phone at six am from her company, telling her that she needn't report for work that day. Another firm moved out of their premises and changed the locks over the weekend. Workers arriving on Monday were unable to access the building where they had worked for a number of years, after bidding each other goodbye and wishing each other a nice weekend. In perfectly respectable companies employees have been told that they must take a mandatory two weeks unpaid vacation, after which they must return to work with a salary reduced by 6% to 10%.
The long and short of it is that there are now fewer jobs and many more qualified people to fill them. This is not good for the employee or person looking for work... In California where I live, 10% of people are out of work and claiming unemployment benefit, and the State is wondering how they will be able to continue to pay benefit to these people. So this now means that people, who if they felt that it was hard to get a job before, will find it ten times harder now, just to get an ordinary job. People working will need to be particularly careful not to do anything to jeopardize their position, since employers have every excuse to lay people off now.
Other than that, we are seeing the economy go mad. In the grocery stores, packages are being redesigned to cleverly disguise their size and capacity. (Next time you look at a can of beans, see if the bottom of the can has been designed with a great big concave base to it, like a big chunk has been bitten out of it. You won't see this unless you turn it upside down.)
Other packaging has been reduced in proportionate size, but looks exactly the same. The only way to see the difference is by holding it up with an original size package (conveniently pulled from the shelves by judicious merchants, not wishing for any trouble.) This size reduction is apparently because market-researchers understand that the public are more worried about rising prices than anything else.
So the price stays the same, but the quantity you get for it is reduced. However, you can't really do this with fruit and vegetables! I am wondering if they have any plans to manufacture donuts with hollow insides or wider inner rings? Will a "Veinte" at Starbucks take on the form currently used by a "Grande?" Of course we are going to see this everywhere, since the manufacturing industry has had to take the initial hit on the economy, in front of everyone else... Gone are the days when a slight blip on the economy's radar meant that a small business owner had to survive on a bank loan, rather than actual liquidity. Now they are not loaning anyone anything.
The other visible signs we see are in the high street. Stores which used to be there are gone. Restaurants, chain stores we have known and loved for tens of years are all disappearing. Who is doing well? I know the Waltons won't be losing any sleep!
Indeed, there are companies out there who are doing extremely well now and announcing record profits and earnings. Other, more household names, have had the worst fourth quarter on record. In the UK, household names like Woolworths have closed, never to return. I think there has been a landmark change in the way that people are now using their money to purchase things.
One thing is certain. If we are able to survive this recession, we will be able to survive anything they want to throw at us in the future.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Socializing In So Cal... all about Twitter!
Let's face it - we exist on our social interactions. The Internet has just made it easier to do so. Our social interactions are just a part of how we communicate with each other today and applications like Twitter form an important part of this...
My experience with Twitter has been interesting as it has been varied. I started off with a couple of dozen followers, all of whom left me within a few short days, only to be replaced by others. I am now approaching 250 followers and I am following nearly 600. There are people who are hell-bent on having 2,000 followers and wish to get there in a few days! I have no such desire apart from not having enough time to concentrate on this. Also, don't believe anything you hear about the right and wrong way to run your Twitter account. I have explored a lot of Twitter and the co-applications (such as FriendOrFollow or retweetradar or even the infamous Twitter Grader.) Indeed, I have found some really useful applications like Twitscoop and Power Twitter (which runs from within Mozilla Firefox 3.05 as an add-on.)
People who think they are knowledgeable have put links to their mini-tutorials on Twitter. Click the link and you will have a bunch of rules, from one to twelve about what you should or should not do. If there was one rule which I will shout over the noise it is: BE YOURSELF!
So many people think that there is a way to be if you are on Twitter. Just as an experiment, I started three Twitter accounts. If you have been directed here from one of them it is probably the main one, http://twitter.com/stevetuf. FYI there are two others: one which I started because I wanted to see how or if I could direct the kind of people who end up being followers. Don't worry! I couldn't. Twitter just took its own course. Now I find that people follow me and I just follow them. Every day I look at Twitter. Occasionally I will post an update. Some days go by with me posting nothing. It's nice and easy and laid back like that. Why worry?
My main interest in Twitter was to explore its use as a social networking medium and I picked up a lot of the focus for this from George Siemens's CCK08 course at the University of Manitoba last fall. Certainly, Twitter can be looked upon as a powerful phenomenon which is changing the way we think about a lot of things. Certainly we can look at it as being a worldwide news spreader. It is amazing how quickly news spreads over Twitter, (exponentially faster than over conventional news-breaking media.)
So, what do I think about Twitter? I'll tell you. It is a media to which everyone should be signed up. They should have a handle which reflects their personality and character. It can also reflect a brand name, to which an individual is tied in some way, perhaps because that individual has a financial interest in the brand, or that the individual is a key figure in the organization which is supported by the Twitter account. Another variation is the account which represents a somewhat anonymous brand (e.g.: NASA) but these are far and few between. In the main, Twitter handles are like JoeBlow or MaryAnn. Others are more descriptive like BirdWatcher or CupcakeLover. (I made these up - they may even exist!) The most important thing is that the BirdWatcher does characteristic things as updates, not unrealistic things. For example: BirdWatcher should not be seen shooting grouse or pheasant and CupcakeLover oughtn't be peddling porn. Even more subtle, if we continually see updates from Birdwatcher which decries his love of the country: "Got myself real dirty the other day, shovelin some mud..." this might persuade someone like me to unfollow BirdWatcher. I think you get the idea.
And Twitter is really nowhere to be gross, profane or just plain nasty! (I have unfollowed people for their liberal use of the F word, (in the same way as I have unfollowed people who are overly religious and try and turn everything into a gospel.)
The people I am following seem to be split into three types: 1) plain ordinary folk who talk about the struggles they have with life every day 2) superstar professional microbloggers like Pistachio, ShelIsrael, Blonde2.0, Pop17 and CaliLewis, and others I have found who have a very defined avatar with an interesting slant on life like pastaqueen (and I love hearing what pastaqueen has to say!) and 3) everyone else, who can be a million different things. If I have left anyone out, sorry! I am not superhuman. I remember most of you but not all 572 people! That's too hard!
One thing I have seen is the amazing way people manage to post videos which are not very good. Either they are unprofessionally made, or the person who is making the video hasn't bothered to write a script before talking directly to the camera for a whole twenty minutes, stopping every few sentences to correct something they obviously hadn't rehearsed. This is absolutely unforgiveable! And you really won't get a second chance! Others produce the slickest best-rehearsed material and stun me with their sheer professional ability. No wonder they are in the big league.
Above all - I think that people don't realize that the difference between having PowerTwitter and just plain old Twitter, is that pictures and videos come straight through, so if they are bad, I am going to be much more annoyed with them than if I was a plain old Twitter user. So pictures and videos should be looked at first before posting...
My Twitter wish list: 1) I would really like a way to head for a specific time in the time line to go back to something which was said (usually only a few days ago) and 2) it would be great if, next to the avatar picture on the left, there was a symbol which tells me they're not following me! I posted this on Twitter but so far, nobody has come back with the solution.
See you all next time!
My experience with Twitter has been interesting as it has been varied. I started off with a couple of dozen followers, all of whom left me within a few short days, only to be replaced by others. I am now approaching 250 followers and I am following nearly 600. There are people who are hell-bent on having 2,000 followers and wish to get there in a few days! I have no such desire apart from not having enough time to concentrate on this. Also, don't believe anything you hear about the right and wrong way to run your Twitter account. I have explored a lot of Twitter and the co-applications (such as FriendOrFollow or retweetradar or even the infamous Twitter Grader.) Indeed, I have found some really useful applications like Twitscoop and Power Twitter (which runs from within Mozilla Firefox 3.05 as an add-on.)
People who think they are knowledgeable have put links to their mini-tutorials on Twitter. Click the link and you will have a bunch of rules, from one to twelve about what you should or should not do. If there was one rule which I will shout over the noise it is: BE YOURSELF!
So many people think that there is a way to be if you are on Twitter. Just as an experiment, I started three Twitter accounts. If you have been directed here from one of them it is probably the main one, http://twitter.com/stevetuf. FYI there are two others: one which I started because I wanted to see how or if I could direct the kind of people who end up being followers. Don't worry! I couldn't. Twitter just took its own course. Now I find that people follow me and I just follow them. Every day I look at Twitter. Occasionally I will post an update. Some days go by with me posting nothing. It's nice and easy and laid back like that. Why worry?
My main interest in Twitter was to explore its use as a social networking medium and I picked up a lot of the focus for this from George Siemens's CCK08 course at the University of Manitoba last fall. Certainly, Twitter can be looked upon as a powerful phenomenon which is changing the way we think about a lot of things. Certainly we can look at it as being a worldwide news spreader. It is amazing how quickly news spreads over Twitter, (exponentially faster than over conventional news-breaking media.)
So, what do I think about Twitter? I'll tell you. It is a media to which everyone should be signed up. They should have a handle which reflects their personality and character. It can also reflect a brand name, to which an individual is tied in some way, perhaps because that individual has a financial interest in the brand, or that the individual is a key figure in the organization which is supported by the Twitter account. Another variation is the account which represents a somewhat anonymous brand (e.g.: NASA) but these are far and few between. In the main, Twitter handles are like JoeBlow or MaryAnn. Others are more descriptive like BirdWatcher or CupcakeLover. (I made these up - they may even exist!) The most important thing is that the BirdWatcher does characteristic things as updates, not unrealistic things. For example: BirdWatcher should not be seen shooting grouse or pheasant and CupcakeLover oughtn't be peddling porn. Even more subtle, if we continually see updates from Birdwatcher which decries his love of the country: "Got myself real dirty the other day, shovelin some mud..." this might persuade someone like me to unfollow BirdWatcher. I think you get the idea.
And Twitter is really nowhere to be gross, profane or just plain nasty! (I have unfollowed people for their liberal use of the F word, (in the same way as I have unfollowed people who are overly religious and try and turn everything into a gospel.)
The people I am following seem to be split into three types: 1) plain ordinary folk who talk about the struggles they have with life every day 2) superstar professional microbloggers like Pistachio, ShelIsrael, Blonde2.0, Pop17 and CaliLewis, and others I have found who have a very defined avatar with an interesting slant on life like pastaqueen (and I love hearing what pastaqueen has to say!) and 3) everyone else, who can be a million different things. If I have left anyone out, sorry! I am not superhuman. I remember most of you but not all 572 people! That's too hard!
One thing I have seen is the amazing way people manage to post videos which are not very good. Either they are unprofessionally made, or the person who is making the video hasn't bothered to write a script before talking directly to the camera for a whole twenty minutes, stopping every few sentences to correct something they obviously hadn't rehearsed. This is absolutely unforgiveable! And you really won't get a second chance! Others produce the slickest best-rehearsed material and stun me with their sheer professional ability. No wonder they are in the big league.
Above all - I think that people don't realize that the difference between having PowerTwitter and just plain old Twitter, is that pictures and videos come straight through, so if they are bad, I am going to be much more annoyed with them than if I was a plain old Twitter user. So pictures and videos should be looked at first before posting...
My Twitter wish list: 1) I would really like a way to head for a specific time in the time line to go back to something which was said (usually only a few days ago) and 2) it would be great if, next to the avatar picture on the left, there was a symbol which tells me they're not following me! I posted this on Twitter but so far, nobody has come back with the solution.
See you all next time!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
What's New About Country and Western?
Well - it has been a while since I last blogged. Christmas and New Years was hectic like it always is... Meantime there has been time for me to reflect on the world.
Despite the horrible news from Gaza about so many people being maimed and killed, the world is trying hard to be a better place. I think the whole world is fed up with war-mongering and wants to do what it can to stop all the killing. Here is some good news, albeit only relevant for those folk in San Francisco, but anyway...
According to California Fire News, the response time to emergencies has improved enormously in the metro San Francisco area, and, following a new protocol, the 911 Call Center has improved the time it takes to dispatch emergency help to those people who really need it fast. For just about a year now, dispatchers have dispensed with the "further questions" approach before dispatching emergency teams, and, depending on the priority of the symptoms reported over the telephone, there is now no delay in getting people out to the scene of an emergency, whereas before, several questions needed to be asked to determine the priority, therefore taking up valuable time. This new approach has meant that now, instead of emergency workers arriving at a scene late one in four times, they now arrive late one in every five times. Although this doesn't appear to be monumental, try multiplying this figure by a hundred! This then means that whereas before, out of every 400 people's emergencies, 100 were late arrivals, now out of the same figure, 400, only 80 now are late arrivals, and we can expect the figure to keep dropping as the new technologies all take effect. Emergencies are really costly, and we should be very grateful for the support we get here in the USA. California had a record-setting wildfire year in 2008, with over 1.7 Billion dollars spent fighting wildland fires! There were some sad stories. But there were also many stories of heroism and courage too.
The other topic which came to mind was the film industry. Clint Eastwood has produced two new movies after a long time doing other stuff. He is 78 and still raring for more(!) He is going to be doing a story about Nelson Mandela this year. It is interesting that the film, "Gran Torino" is about an old guy who encounters some Asians who move into his neighborhood, and the movie deals with his very unique way of handling this. The old Eastwood of "High Plains Drifter" fame is still there, but, after the event, he has a lot to say about the presence (or lack) of political correctness, and somehow his old-style commonsense wins through in the end.
This demonstrates the incredible changes we have gone through in just the last few years. Where did all the old cowboy westerns go? Why is all of this so foreign to us now? I think someone should do a remake of classic "western" movies like "Monte Walsh", "High Noon", "High Plains Drifter" or "The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance" dressed up in a modern "western" genre, just as an experiment. I have always believed that these films have a place in our current society too, since the "West" was won at some stage, and, if nothing else, they serve as a piece of history, however politically incorrect they may or may not be.
See you next time around... :)
Despite the horrible news from Gaza about so many people being maimed and killed, the world is trying hard to be a better place. I think the whole world is fed up with war-mongering and wants to do what it can to stop all the killing. Here is some good news, albeit only relevant for those folk in San Francisco, but anyway...
According to California Fire News, the response time to emergencies has improved enormously in the metro San Francisco area, and, following a new protocol, the 911 Call Center has improved the time it takes to dispatch emergency help to those people who really need it fast. For just about a year now, dispatchers have dispensed with the "further questions" approach before dispatching emergency teams, and, depending on the priority of the symptoms reported over the telephone, there is now no delay in getting people out to the scene of an emergency, whereas before, several questions needed to be asked to determine the priority, therefore taking up valuable time. This new approach has meant that now, instead of emergency workers arriving at a scene late one in four times, they now arrive late one in every five times. Although this doesn't appear to be monumental, try multiplying this figure by a hundred! This then means that whereas before, out of every 400 people's emergencies, 100 were late arrivals, now out of the same figure, 400, only 80 now are late arrivals, and we can expect the figure to keep dropping as the new technologies all take effect. Emergencies are really costly, and we should be very grateful for the support we get here in the USA. California had a record-setting wildfire year in 2008, with over 1.7 Billion dollars spent fighting wildland fires! There were some sad stories. But there were also many stories of heroism and courage too.
The other topic which came to mind was the film industry. Clint Eastwood has produced two new movies after a long time doing other stuff. He is 78 and still raring for more(!) He is going to be doing a story about Nelson Mandela this year. It is interesting that the film, "Gran Torino" is about an old guy who encounters some Asians who move into his neighborhood, and the movie deals with his very unique way of handling this. The old Eastwood of "High Plains Drifter" fame is still there, but, after the event, he has a lot to say about the presence (or lack) of political correctness, and somehow his old-style commonsense wins through in the end.
This demonstrates the incredible changes we have gone through in just the last few years. Where did all the old cowboy westerns go? Why is all of this so foreign to us now? I think someone should do a remake of classic "western" movies like "Monte Walsh", "High Noon", "High Plains Drifter" or "The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance" dressed up in a modern "western" genre, just as an experiment. I have always believed that these films have a place in our current society too, since the "West" was won at some stage, and, if nothing else, they serve as a piece of history, however politically incorrect they may or may not be.
See you next time around... :)
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense!
Yea - French. It means: "Evil be to he who evil thinks..." It's a motto. There are some really great mottos around. This is probably the opposite of the one which exhorts: "Pay forward!"
Let's take a step back for a minute. You are probably thinking, "Wow! I bet he's going to tell me that there is so much evil in the world!" Well - you know. But just think what all the good in the world does too, huh?
There has been an increase in really beautiful, thought-provoking reality shows on American TV recently. I am a firm believer that they all really started with the fine example that Oprah Winfrey gives us all! Some of the shows that I have recently viewed are:
I think that there are too many really terrible sad stories on the news. It would be great if someone could come up with a good news station which broadcast only good news. I somehow think this would be a challenge though...
See y'all next time!
Let's take a step back for a minute. You are probably thinking, "Wow! I bet he's going to tell me that there is so much evil in the world!" Well - you know. But just think what all the good in the world does too, huh?
There has been an increase in really beautiful, thought-provoking reality shows on American TV recently. I am a firm believer that they all really started with the fine example that Oprah Winfrey gives us all! Some of the shows that I have recently viewed are:
Secret Millionaire - a show where real life millionaires give away their own money to deserving people they meet who have fallen on hard times. These people come from a real mixture background. We see those who have grown up against a backdrop of "old money" and those who started with nothing and built a multi-millionaire empire out of nothing. The common denominator is that they take time to visit folk who are literally on the breadline and in doing so, learn about how people who have next to nothing are living. It is a marvelous exposition of the human spirit and what it can achieve.
Molly Shattuck, wife of Mayo Shattuck III, CEO of Constellation Energy, was a recent participant in the show, and she actually gave away more than $100,000. She says (about the name, Secret Millionaire): “ I think it’s so obnoxious. But I absolutely am in love with the concept and in love with the show. I think it’s so important.” (quote courtesy of David Zurawik, Baltimore Sun) Molly drives around with her Mom, and we hear her Mom tell her that she has always thought that Molly was great just doing what she does, but that this had given her the opportunity to see the human side of Molly. We see her tearfully visiting a young widow with three boys who is living in a house which is literally falling apart. Aside from the angst which is obviously generated by the real danger of living somewhere where there are holes in the roof among other very real dangers, we are immediately aware of the sadness and emptiness generated by a recent loss of a life partner to some horrible deadly medical condition, in this case cardiac arrest.Anyway - this is just an example of some of the truly wonderful things happening on TV in America. You can catch this on Fox (I expect these will be mirrored around the world. But I live in the USA, so this is my primary focus.) Of course, we have been watching "Extreme Makeover, Home Edition" for a while now on ABC, and this is another example of people doing stuff for other people who have fallen on hard times. Ty Pennington and his crew of designers and builders take a week to rebuild houses that have fallen into disrepair and create mansions out of hovels for deserving families.
So, everyone grows a little bit on the Secret Millionaire.
Another participant, Greg, in another show, comes from a different background, but nonetheless, is inspired by the really ordinary people, doing ordinary things to help their fellow human beings in need. The show starts with Greg being dumped off the bus in the harsh reality of this end of Vegas, and immediately we are seeing people being arrested and all the other aspects of the hard life on the streets! It is interesting to see that this is the North end of Las Vegas, a town which most of us see as being a magical land with fairytale lights and beauty. He starts off living in a "hotel" which he has a difficult time understanding to actually be a hotel, because he encounters cockroaches and other really filthy things in his room, for which he is working, because he doesn't have enough money to pay when he gets there. During the show, he visits a day center for teens in trouble, a lady who helps out people who have fallen on hard times with food and groceries, and he goes to a skateboard park, where a wheelchair-bound 16-year-old is doing tricks in his wheelchair! The kid's dream is to help others, so Greg helps that dream come true with a check. Greg also helps all the others with check donations from his own money.
In yet another show, we see a Los Angeles, self-made millionaire and his wife going to live in Watts, a depressed area of L.A., and we can sense the immediate danger felt by them as they drive into the area from the nearby area where they really live, which is so different. The amazing thing is that they are welcomed into the community just like anyone else, which proves the community spirit which exists in these places. Later on they too donate money to some really deserving people, one of whom is helping ex-convicts who are literally dumped off the bus, when they are released from jail.
I think that there are too many really terrible sad stories on the news. It would be great if someone could come up with a good news station which broadcast only good news. I somehow think this would be a challenge though...
See y'all next time!
Monday, December 15, 2008
Taking Connectivism Out Into The World Of Life
Well the course is over. Students are still interconnecting. There will be a buzz of that going on for a long while...
What will I do now? My thoughts about this are: I will continue to blog. I will continue to bring you useful stuff. And I will continue to stimulate my brain and yours too. Talking of which, I have been acquainted with Alzheimer's Disease recently. A couple of people who are close to me, know exactly what it is to have someone suddenly deny knowledge of you right there and then... It is devastating, particularly if you love that person very much.
Several theories have been put forward for how the disease develops. However, the over-riding theory is that the brain starts to die because it is not getting enough exercise. Getting exercise to the brain can come in all kinds of ways. Now they are saying that one of the most widely used methods of brain exercise is surfing the Internet. In fact, scientists from UCLA have done a study on people aged 55 to 76, and have discovered that all of these "emerging computerized technologies may have physiological effects and potential benefits for middle-aged and older adults."
Hmmm, what is middle-aged now? It is getting more confusing what with people living longer. Perhaps they mean 60?
What will I do now? My thoughts about this are: I will continue to blog. I will continue to bring you useful stuff. And I will continue to stimulate my brain and yours too. Talking of which, I have been acquainted with Alzheimer's Disease recently. A couple of people who are close to me, know exactly what it is to have someone suddenly deny knowledge of you right there and then... It is devastating, particularly if you love that person very much.
Several theories have been put forward for how the disease develops. However, the over-riding theory is that the brain starts to die because it is not getting enough exercise. Getting exercise to the brain can come in all kinds of ways. Now they are saying that one of the most widely used methods of brain exercise is surfing the Internet. In fact, scientists from UCLA have done a study on people aged 55 to 76, and have discovered that all of these "emerging computerized technologies may have physiological effects and potential benefits for middle-aged and older adults."
Hmmm, what is middle-aged now? It is getting more confusing what with people living longer. Perhaps they mean 60?
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