We begin this post once upon a midnight dreary - well, it's more like two in the morning. Like The Raven from Edgar Allan Poe, I am pondering over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore. In this case, I'm pouring over some of my marketing and sales texts from the past and present in preparation to lead a couple of new teams at my various assignments. I don't remember late-night reading to be such a weird mind-bending experience. It has been a couple of decades since college, and I can still remember cramming management texts into my brain for short-term regurgitation.
Although I do believe that the shifting generations now play a key role in management theory, it's still interesting to note that many management principles and theory still have some relevance today. One thing remains constant - in order to succeed, you always have to be in continual learning mode. Once you stop learning, you start losing the capacity to make a difference. That's it for now. It's only this, and nothing more. Profound apologies to Edgar Allan Poe. See ya.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Let Freedom Ring
Last year I seemed to be a bit preoccupied, and I noticed that my blog entries had slowed tremendously. Every year, I devoted an entry to celebrate Constitution Day. So, in this post, I'm returning to the tradition in celebration of the day 221 years ago in 1787 to celebrate the signing of the US Constitution, the foundation of our government. After all these years, we sometimes take these freedoms for granted, and it's always good to reflect upon our freedoms on this day.
Let freedom ring, and once again, all patriots please rise...
See ya.
Let freedom ring, and once again, all patriots please rise...
See ya.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Where's My Tinfoil Hat?
I've been contemplating the merits of the connectivity we have within our society these days. With any reasonable advance in technology, there is always an associated cost. In past years, there were some strange conspiracy theories in which people thought that they could be tracked and controlled through technology. So much so, that some people decided to don tinfoil hats to block the electromagnetic fields. While this may be extreme in some cases, it demonstrates some of the common social attitudes toward privacy and related issues in recent years.
Today, we've seen social media become a common part of everyday life. It does appear that the tools that are available today allow us to have a more invasive view into the lives of others. We can share our thoughts, dreams, and even our current location and what we had for lunch today with anyone and everyone. A few years ago, this would have been viewed as an extreme personal violation. While I think it's a good thing to share information, I'm still of the opinion that there should still be choices to keep some of our information to ourselves.
Maybe it's a generational thing, but I still think it is strange that social media technology has influenced our current attitudes toward information sharing and privacy. A few years ago, it would have been really hard to convince me to post pictures on the internet, contribute to blogs or websites, or share my location through my cell phone. Times change, and so do people. Though, I still haven't thrown away my tinfoil hat yet.
See ya.
Today, we've seen social media become a common part of everyday life. It does appear that the tools that are available today allow us to have a more invasive view into the lives of others. We can share our thoughts, dreams, and even our current location and what we had for lunch today with anyone and everyone. A few years ago, this would have been viewed as an extreme personal violation. While I think it's a good thing to share information, I'm still of the opinion that there should still be choices to keep some of our information to ourselves.
Maybe it's a generational thing, but I still think it is strange that social media technology has influenced our current attitudes toward information sharing and privacy. A few years ago, it would have been really hard to convince me to post pictures on the internet, contribute to blogs or websites, or share my location through my cell phone. Times change, and so do people. Though, I still haven't thrown away my tinfoil hat yet.
See ya.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Outside The Collective
Time is a relative thing. When I was in the third grade, I remember thinking that high school and college were things that were a distant journey into a future world that stretched across a couple of lifetimes. From the perspective of a hyperactive eight-year-old, I guess that would be pretty accurate. The generation before me always said that we were moving to fast. Along with everyone else, I couldn't wait to move forward and take on new challenges. In the era of the 1970's, it now seems prehistoric to think there wasn't an internet, standard phones had arcane dials and took some effort to use, and home computers weren't mainstream yet. It was the era of color television and the start of video arcades. For kids and the general populace, e-mail wasn't mainstream, and even if you had access, it was likely that you didn't know anyone else that had an account to which you could send a message. It's amazing to me that as one of the geeks that hung out in the arcades and played with computers, I would be in a decent position to actually understand and keep up with the youth of today.
It's been neat to have had a view into the world of the youth of the 1980's from my era, and 1990's and 2000's as a mentor and guide to various youth. It's been interesting watching people grow, learn, and change. Not too long ago in this very blog, I mentioned the acceleration curve running into the generation gap, and the perplexing view of being stuck between the generations. I've noticed that the youth of today have a constant connection to each other. Granted, they can disconnect from this "collective" if they so choose. The really interesting thing is the fact that we do have a truly global community, with today's youth constantly plugged in and sharing thoughts, ideas, and emotions with their friends. There are a lot of emotions that are shared today on the computer screen that would probably not have been shared in an in-person social interaction. The difference from my generation is that you can now keep up with your friends, even though you are separated by thousands of miles for years at a time, and still keep up with daily events just as easily if they lived next door, with a greater emotional impact. Some of the kids today have told me that they still have their few closest friends. What I have found, however, is that those "closest friends" of today's youth are hundreds or thousands of miles away in many cases.
Do I long for the lost era of the 1970's and 1980's? That's a tricky question. Before we can move forward, I think it's important to look at the past. While I was doing some cleaning, I found several old letters and pictures that reminded me of days past, and absent friends. It didn't provide that instant connection, but it did prompt me to contact several people that I once knew. I still get letters from a few friends -- yes, hand-written letters -- through the mail. I mentioned once before that there is a more personal connection when you send and receive letters. Now, I'm probably one of the worst case examples, as I hardly ever send any letters any more. In fact, it's probably been a decade or two since that was my mainstream form of communications with friends and family. Global communications and the internet are very fluid things. You can use the Wayback Machine or some other search tools to find web pages of the past. But that will only get you back to 1996 or so. Some of the content, when removed from the internet, can truly be lost. If you're a pack rat like me, letters can remain around for some time as keepsakes.
So, I find myself to be one of those antiques that exists between the generations. I can imagine what it would have been like to have this technology in the days of my youth. It would be interesting to have been able to keep up with everyone from my past. I wonder what kinds of challenges this generation will have because of our current progress. It is unprecedented to have a society of youth so connected together through the use of technology. The advent of camera and video phones, text messages, and the internet have allowed instant communication and transmission of data to audiences around the world. Literally, we can be part of someone's daily life and never meet face-to-face in the same room. I'm fortunate to have a view from outside the "collective" with the ability to connect when needed. As this generation moves forward, I'm sure I'll get fully assimilated eventually. Resistance truly is futile.
See ya.
It's been neat to have had a view into the world of the youth of the 1980's from my era, and 1990's and 2000's as a mentor and guide to various youth. It's been interesting watching people grow, learn, and change. Not too long ago in this very blog, I mentioned the acceleration curve running into the generation gap, and the perplexing view of being stuck between the generations. I've noticed that the youth of today have a constant connection to each other. Granted, they can disconnect from this "collective" if they so choose. The really interesting thing is the fact that we do have a truly global community, with today's youth constantly plugged in and sharing thoughts, ideas, and emotions with their friends. There are a lot of emotions that are shared today on the computer screen that would probably not have been shared in an in-person social interaction. The difference from my generation is that you can now keep up with your friends, even though you are separated by thousands of miles for years at a time, and still keep up with daily events just as easily if they lived next door, with a greater emotional impact. Some of the kids today have told me that they still have their few closest friends. What I have found, however, is that those "closest friends" of today's youth are hundreds or thousands of miles away in many cases.
Do I long for the lost era of the 1970's and 1980's? That's a tricky question. Before we can move forward, I think it's important to look at the past. While I was doing some cleaning, I found several old letters and pictures that reminded me of days past, and absent friends. It didn't provide that instant connection, but it did prompt me to contact several people that I once knew. I still get letters from a few friends -- yes, hand-written letters -- through the mail. I mentioned once before that there is a more personal connection when you send and receive letters. Now, I'm probably one of the worst case examples, as I hardly ever send any letters any more. In fact, it's probably been a decade or two since that was my mainstream form of communications with friends and family. Global communications and the internet are very fluid things. You can use the Wayback Machine or some other search tools to find web pages of the past. But that will only get you back to 1996 or so. Some of the content, when removed from the internet, can truly be lost. If you're a pack rat like me, letters can remain around for some time as keepsakes.
So, I find myself to be one of those antiques that exists between the generations. I can imagine what it would have been like to have this technology in the days of my youth. It would be interesting to have been able to keep up with everyone from my past. I wonder what kinds of challenges this generation will have because of our current progress. It is unprecedented to have a society of youth so connected together through the use of technology. The advent of camera and video phones, text messages, and the internet have allowed instant communication and transmission of data to audiences around the world. Literally, we can be part of someone's daily life and never meet face-to-face in the same room. I'm fortunate to have a view from outside the "collective" with the ability to connect when needed. As this generation moves forward, I'm sure I'll get fully assimilated eventually. Resistance truly is futile.
See ya.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Hey, Remember The 80's?
One of my co-workers posted something on his cubicle wall for an upcoming charity event. It had a bunch of television and movie stars from the 1980's. I don't know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing that I was able to name all of them. This means that I'd actually admitted to being around in the 80's and actually knowledgeable about the time period. So now I've been labeled as the "old guy." Since I'm a decade (or two) older than many of the people in my office, I should have expected it.
I'm probably not going to admit to my knowledge of the 70's yet. I was pretty young, but I still remember. I'm going to proceed from the assumption that I just have a decent memory of either decade. You're only as old as you think you are, and I like think I'm still pretty young.
Do you remember the 80's? See how well you do... See ya.
I'm probably not going to admit to my knowledge of the 70's yet. I was pretty young, but I still remember. I'm going to proceed from the assumption that I just have a decent memory of either decade. You're only as old as you think you are, and I like think I'm still pretty young.
Do you remember the 80's? See how well you do... See ya.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Pages From The Past
I was cleaning the office recently, and found a file folder labeled Absent Friends. In it, I found an old Polaroid of myself dressed up like Dick Tracy from the summer of 1990. It's amazing to me what I can find in all of these pages from the past. I found a few letters from some old friends, some of whom I keep in close contact, and others who have drifted apart. In this day and age, electronic forms of communication have taken over, and letters are somehow relegated to a world that is disappearing.
It's really ironic that I'm the one yearning for the old-fashioned letters and paper. I've always been the one forcibly shoving my colleagues and friends (young and old) into the twenty-first century with e-mail, social networking, and other forms of electronics, communications, and gadgetry. There's something about letters that seem to have a personal touch that is lost in the electronic age.
In order to keep up with the times, I'm in the process of scanning some of my old photographs. The letters played a part in helping me piece together the timing of some of the pictures. Believe it or not, I was never good at keeping records or journals before I started blogging. So, I continue to look through my files and catch some of those pages from the past. Maybe I'll find a few more pictures of several more absent friends and reminisce about the old days. It's a good thing that we just had a long weekend, because nostalgia can take a lot out of you. It's been an interesting journey into the past this weekend. It is getting late, so maybe I'll try again . . . tomorrow.
See ya.
It's really ironic that I'm the one yearning for the old-fashioned letters and paper. I've always been the one forcibly shoving my colleagues and friends (young and old) into the twenty-first century with e-mail, social networking, and other forms of electronics, communications, and gadgetry. There's something about letters that seem to have a personal touch that is lost in the electronic age.
In order to keep up with the times, I'm in the process of scanning some of my old photographs. The letters played a part in helping me piece together the timing of some of the pictures. Believe it or not, I was never good at keeping records or journals before I started blogging. So, I continue to look through my files and catch some of those pages from the past. Maybe I'll find a few more pictures of several more absent friends and reminisce about the old days. It's a good thing that we just had a long weekend, because nostalgia can take a lot out of you. It's been an interesting journey into the past this weekend. It is getting late, so maybe I'll try again . . . tomorrow.
See ya.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Spam, It's Not Just For Breakfast Anymore
Spam is one of those great breakfast or lunch meats from my youth in Hawaii. It is one of the most consumed canned meat products in the state of Hawaii. In fact, it is consumed three times as much in Hawaii as it is in the rest of the continental United States combined. But that's not the kind of spam I'm going to talk about in today's post.
The real focus of today's story is all of the electronic and postal spam that infiltrates our lives. I spend a majority of my time opening unsolicited targeted postal mail, and subsequently shredding it to avoid identity theft. In addition to that, my e-mail boxes are overflowing with advertisements that I would never ordinarily even think to look at. Even the attempts of the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 have not slowed the marketers down one bit. Today's marketers have even gotten around some of the unsolicited messaging by slamming their unwitting customers with extra mail, postal and electronic, by burying it in terms of service, or by simply creating marketing messages in subscription e-mail. They got cute and coined the term bacn.
I do have a keen eye for business and marketing, but I think our society has gone a bit overboard with all of the different types of mail and messaging. It takes me hours upon hours per week to get through all of the mail and messages. Marketers are getting a bit more clever these days. You can't tell if a message is an actual bill, a letter from a loved one, or a piece of junk mail. Even by attempts to remove yourself from catalog mailing lists through various services, there is still a significant amount of paper and electronic waste that remains.
I recently went on vacation, and came back to a mountain of junk mail and tens of thousands of spam messages. I'm just a normal guy, so I can imagine what kind of mail you would get if you actually asked for some of this stuff. So, whenever you see me attempting to clean the office, you know what I'm actually doing. I'm trying to get rid of all the paper and junk mail and respond to the important stuff.
I now have a craving for some breakfast. I think I could use some spam and eggs about now. See ya.
The real focus of today's story is all of the electronic and postal spam that infiltrates our lives. I spend a majority of my time opening unsolicited targeted postal mail, and subsequently shredding it to avoid identity theft. In addition to that, my e-mail boxes are overflowing with advertisements that I would never ordinarily even think to look at. Even the attempts of the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 have not slowed the marketers down one bit. Today's marketers have even gotten around some of the unsolicited messaging by slamming their unwitting customers with extra mail, postal and electronic, by burying it in terms of service, or by simply creating marketing messages in subscription e-mail. They got cute and coined the term bacn.
I do have a keen eye for business and marketing, but I think our society has gone a bit overboard with all of the different types of mail and messaging. It takes me hours upon hours per week to get through all of the mail and messages. Marketers are getting a bit more clever these days. You can't tell if a message is an actual bill, a letter from a loved one, or a piece of junk mail. Even by attempts to remove yourself from catalog mailing lists through various services, there is still a significant amount of paper and electronic waste that remains.
I recently went on vacation, and came back to a mountain of junk mail and tens of thousands of spam messages. I'm just a normal guy, so I can imagine what kind of mail you would get if you actually asked for some of this stuff. So, whenever you see me attempting to clean the office, you know what I'm actually doing. I'm trying to get rid of all the paper and junk mail and respond to the important stuff.
I now have a craving for some breakfast. I think I could use some spam and eggs about now. See ya.
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