Twitter Launches Location-Based Trending Topics
Twitter has begun rolling out location-based trending topics.The product is officially called Local Trends.http://mashable.com/2010/01/22/twitter-local-trend/
Jan 21 / 9:38am
Fearing Hackers Who Leave No Trace
The crown jewels of Google, Cisco Systems or any other technology company are the millions of lines of programming instructions, known as source code, that make its products run. If hackers could steal those key instructions and copy them, they could easily dull the company’s competitive edge in the marketplace. More insidiously, if attackers were able to make subtle, undetected changes to that code, they could essentially give themselves secret access to everything the company and its customers did with the software. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/technology/20code.html
Jan 18 / 8:29pm
Don't wait to take corrective action.
If you have a team working for you, you are not just managing work. You are actually managing people. There are numerous situations where you may find your team or an individual is unable to deliver results. In order to meet the goals you set, your team should have both the capability to produce the results and also the intent to do so. If either of them is lacking, you have a problem. If a person lacks a technical skill, there are various sources of knowledge readily available depending upon what your budge is - books, online books, seminars, etc. These are easy to identify and packaged solutions are available to address the situation and remedy them. Non-technical skills like language, communication, etc are more difficult to address, and usually take longer to remedy. But the most difficult area to remedy is that when the intent is lacking. The individual is not passionate enough to do what it takes to get the job done. In any case, you have to address the situation immediately. Waiting to address the situation will have various consequences that will be destructive to your organization. If you condone certain behaviors, you are in effect encouraging them. This will send the wrong message to your team. The other team members may not copy the incorrect behavior, but they may be grudging the fact that others are getting off easily. This will sap the team spirit and lower the morale. Some of your corrective actions may bear positive results and others may not. When you have done your part, and you don't see the desired improvement, you may have to let the person go. When you do so, don't be hard on yourself - you have done your part and done what is right. Treat the individual with dignity that every person deserves. Also realize that you may be doing the person a world of good by giving them an opportunity to find a place where their skills are appreciated. That will help them in the long run.
Jan 17 / 7:12pm
Please don't do your best.
I hear people telling me they tied their best. In my opinion it is a cop out. Wonder why? I'm not looking for what their best is. I'm looking for what is right. Think about when you have said this and what is preventing you from doing the right thing - it may be lack of knowledge, lack of aptitude, etc. Address this gap and get on your way to being a more powerful person. Here is a great article that illustrates the flaw in "I'm doing my best" kind of thinking:
http://itrustican.blogspot.com/2009/09/dont-do-your-best.html
http://itrustican.blogspot.com/2009/09/dont-do-your-best.html
Jan 14 / 5:01am
I Didn't Know That!: Twitter hiring workers to turn Tweets into money Get Feed
Twitter, the popular but money-losing microblogging service, is hiring engineers and specialists who can help turn it into a money-maker.http://hoowstuffworks.blogspot.com/2010/01/twitter-hiring-workers-to-turn-tweets.html
Jan 5 / 5:49am
Why Twitter Will Endure
Beyond the dippy lingo, the idea that something intelligent, something worthy of mindshare, might occur in the space of 140 characters — Twitter’s parameters were set by what would fit in a text message on a phone — seems unlikely. Some time soon, the company won’t say when, the 100-millionth person will have signed on to Twitter to follow and be followed by friends and strangers. That may sound like a MySpace waiting to happen — remember MySpace? — but I’m convinced Twitter is here to stay.
And I’m not alone.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/weekinreview/03carr.html?pagewanted=all
And I’m not alone.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/weekinreview/03carr.html?pagewanted=all
Jan 3 / 8:39am
4 Reasons To Employ Social Media in 2010
While most of us are preparing New Year resolutions and counting down to 2010, many marketers are thinking about the marketing channels to invest this coming year. Is social media part of your plan? If not, the four points below might sway your thinking.
Dec 23 / 10:49am
Twitter Is Said to Be Profitable After Making Search Agreements
Twitter Inc. will make about $25 million from Internet-search deals with Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. announced in October, enough to push the site into profitability, people familiar with the matter said. An agreement that made Twitter’s messages searchable on Google’s site will generate about $15 million, said the people, who asked to remain anonymous because the terms aren’t public. A similar deal with Microsoft’s Bing search engine will earn Twitter about $10 million. The multiyear agreements will allow Twitter to make a small profit in 2009, said the people, who estimate that its operating costs are about $20 million to $25 million a year. Twitter has more than 58 million global monthly users, according to ComScore Inc., a research firm in Reston, Virginia. The service is the third most popular social-networking site in the U.S., after Facebook Inc. and News Corp.’s MySpace. While telecommunication fees used to be the company’s single largest expense, employees are now the biggest line item, said one of the people. That means maintaining profitability will depend on whether Twitter keeps a lid on the size of its workforce. The payments from Google and Microsoft underscore the growing value of the data coursing through Twitter’s network. Executives of both companies have said their search sites would be considered incomplete if they didn’t include the millions of messages that get posted on Twitter every minute.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=a1jwVtGQmErk
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=a1jwVtGQmErk
Dec 23 / 10:45am
As attacks increase, U.S. struggles to recruit computer security experts
The federal government is struggling to fill a growing demand for skilled computer-security workers, from technicians to policymakers, at a time when network attacks are rising in frequency and sophistication. Demand is so intense that it has sparked a bidding war among agencies and contractors for a small pool of special talent: skilled technicians with security clearances. Their scarcity is driving up salaries, depriving agencies of skills, and in some cases affecting project quality, industry officials said. The crunch hits as the Pentagon is attempting to staff a new Cyber Command to fuse offensive and defensive computer-security missions and the Department of Homeland Security plans to expand its own "cyber" force by up to 1,000 people in the next three years. The lack of trained defenders for these networks is leading to serious gaps in protection and significant losses of intelligence, national security experts said. The Government Accountability Office told a Senate panel in November that the number of scans, probes and attacks reported to the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team has more than tripled, from 5,500 in 2006 to 16,840 in 2008. "We know how we can be penetrated," said Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.), chairman of the Judiciary subcommittee on terrorism and homeland security. "We don't know how to prevent it effectively." Indeed, the protection of critical computer systems and sensitive data, said former National Security Agency director William Studeman, may be the "biggest single problem" facing the national security establishment.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/22/AR2009122203789.html?nav=hcmoduletmv
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/22/AR2009122203789.html?nav=hcmoduletmv
Dec 13 / 6:55am
How To: Manage Your Social Media Time
If you think social media marketing is completely free, you are dead wrong.
Yes, it can definitely be low cost, but it is not no cost, considering the amount of time spent on it.
Active Ideas // Active!deas is an extension of ActiveGarage, where we nurture ideas and enable them to flourish. At ActiveGarage, we are not only "Always Tinkering" in our “garage” but, we also want to help others who are actively working in their garages to create innovations that will transform the world.
