Cutting the cord–phase ????

Here’s a little update on the “unwiring my home” project. Last week I connected my Verizon air card to my home network. After some tweaking and tinkering I have everything working and I must say…..I am really impressed!!! The best I could get from my old DSL connection was 3X384 since we live way out in the country. Here is the speed test I ran this morning:

WOW! I was not going to ever get anything close to this from ATT and cable is still a faraway dream out where I live.

My IP voice is working  (after some pretty extensive tinkering). I had a long conversation with my brother on Sunday and my retired telephone guy brother said it sounded great. Remote desktop and VPN are working well and of course , web surfing and email are SMOKIN!

So far so good! My only worry at this point is the fact that it is a metered connection and data usage is something I will need to keep an eye on. Overages on Verizon are billed at $15 per G. As of this morning , we have used 3 G of our 5 gig plan…IN 5 DAYS! I am going to have to figure something out about that.

Prejudice…..against low bandwidth

I like to share my personal technology journeys with you. My latest is the switch from wired to wireless internet at my home. I have now gone from beta testing to full blown usage. It kind of sucks.  For most things its adequate but some things you just can’t do. Some web sites that rely heavily on Web 2.0 technology, just won’t load or run right. Back in the covered wagon days of web development (when I first started) we used to test sites on dial up. We even offered sites for people who had low bandwidth connections that cut out a  lot of the frills. Obviously nobody does this anymore.

The problem for me is two fold. 1. I live out in the sticks and my options are limited. 2. My current carrier’s nearest tower is about 5 miles away and that’s too far for a decent data connection. The light at the end of the tunnel may be Verizon. After some research , I found that the tower I can see from my kitchen window (about 1.8 miles) has Verizon on it. According to their website, I am in their 4G coverage area. I have ordered a data stick from them that should be here this week. More to come.

Another interesting tidbit that came to me today is Republic Wireless. Republic is a HYBRID carrier. Hybrid means that they use a device that runs on a 3G network (Sprint) EXCEPT when Wi-Fi is available, then it switches. Republic’s unlimited plan is $19 a month! Unfortunately they have one of those Web 2.0 sites that I mentioned earlier so I have not been able to complete my research. Stay tuned for more information.

Motivational speaker, Alabama native Zig Ziglar dies at age 86

Associated Press DALLAS, Texas -- Motivational speaker Zig Ziglar, who wrote more than 30 books on living a balanced life, has died in Texas. He was 86.

Ziglar, who had been suffering from pneumonia, died today at a hospital in the Dallas suburb of Plano, said his personal assistant, Jay Hellwig.

With an aim at helping people achieve success in their careers and personal lives, in addition to a focus on Christianity, Ziglar was a prolific speaker who appeared at events alongside world leaders including several U.S. presidents and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

"Mr. Ziglar was the same guy behind the closed doors as he was preparing for his presentations to thousands of people that he was when we were sitting at the kitchen table and he was reading the newspaper," Hellwig said.

Ziglar started his fulltime career in motivational speaking when he was in his 40s. His first book, "See You at the Top," was published in 1975, when he was 49.

Ziglar was born Nov. 6, 1926, in Coffee County, Alabama, the 10th of 12 children, The Washington Times reported. His father died when Zig was 5 years old; at age 6, the first-grade student began selling peanuts on the streets of Yazoo City, Miss.

"He got saved at the age of 42, which means that he accepted Jesus Christ as his savior," Hellwig said. "Ever since that day is what he said was the turning point of his life. The last 41 years of his life he lived fully with that as his mission."

"He also had the uncanny ability to make everyone he ran into feel like they were his friend," Hellwig said.

Ziglar was a World War II veteran who went on to work in sales for a series of companies, where his interest in motivational speaking grew, according to his Plano-based company's website. Hellwig said Ziglar moved to Dallas in the late 1960s.

Ziglar's company, which features more than a dozen speakers advocating the "Ziglar Way," offers motivation and performance training.

His book, "Confessions of a Grieving Christian," was written after the 1995 death of his oldest daughter, Suzan, at the age of 46.

After a 2007 fall down a flight of stairs left him with a brain injury, Ziglar, along with another daughter, Julie Ziglar Norman, wrote "Embrace the Struggle," a book that described how his life changed after the injury.

In addition to his daughter, Ziglar is survived by his wife Jean, with whom he celebrated 66 years of marriage on Monday; his son, Tom Ziglar; and daughter Cindy Oates.

We Are Afraid Of FEAR!

Our worst fears have been realized. Barrack Hussein Obama has been re-elected to a second term. The demise of our country is at hand. The sky is falling. Gotterdammerung. Armageddon. Revelation.                             We should all move to………………….. WHERE?

   REALLY?                                                       

Never in my life have I heard more idiotic drivel from the right wing press and out in the marketplace. Grown men and women saying things like, “ Our country can’t survive another four years of this!” This what? What exactly is THIS?

THIS – the inevitable collapse of an artificially enhanced and vastly overpriced real estate market.

THIS – changes in business driven by disruptive technologies that have radically altered consumer buying patterns.

THIS – a commercial lending environment that is less fluid in reaction to consolidation and failures caused by the real estate meltdown.

THIS – (probably the biggest THIS of all) a climate where business owners and managers put off making critical business decisions because “They don’t know what’s going to happen.”

“I don’t KNOW what’s going to happen.”  Let’s think about that sentence. You don’t know what’s going to happen. Of course you don’t. Nobody KNOWS what will happen in the future. We never did and we never will.

“I am afraid things will get worse.” When change is happening all around you, if you don’t adjust, most likely your circumstances won’t improve.

I am just going to say this OUT LOUD because somebody needs to: The biggest thing that has damaged our economy is FEAR!

We have allowed ourselves to be frightened into a state of near torpor by politics and the news media. “ Business is bad…nobody is doing anything.” I hear that about a hundred times a day. Think about that statement… If NOBODY is doing ANYTHING……..OF COURSE BUSINESS IS BAD! Business is about DOING THINGS!

Look around you…the businesses that are prospering are the ones that embrace change and the new technologies and marketplaces. The businesses that ARE doing well (and they are out there) are the ones that are fueled by a  brightly burning conviction that they have something better to offer in the marketplace. One of the great disservices done by the media is a failure to showcase businesses that are prospering. I don’t really blame the media for this. Like government , we get the news that we ask for. Stories about spectacular business failures are easier to write and get more attention. So how do you find those businesses that are growing and doing well? Look around you.

Who owns the channel?

I heard someone the other day ask…”The fiscal cliff…what is that? All I know about it is what people are saying on Facebook.” It would be easy to be dismissive about a comment like that and relegate that person to the ranks of the uninformed and ignorant but I know this to not be true. How many of my right wing conservative friends only know about the cliff from Rush Limbaugh or Todd Schnitt? What’s the difference between getting your info from Rush or Facebook? Rush has an obvious agenda and he makes a living by promoting that agenda. Facebook……not so much.

The fact is that people listen to things that are important to them. They listen in the places that they trust and to the people they trust. How do you get people to understand that something IS important? You tell them why in ways that are meaningful to them.

During the first Reagan campaign , the Democrats were pushing their philosophy for raising taxes on the wealthy or “soak the rich”. (This is not a new idea) Reagan explained why that was a bad idea very simply. He said, “Have you ever gotten a job from a poor person?” You don’t beat on the people who succeed because they are the ones who fuel the engine. If you beat them down and punish them, they quit  hiring people. If you beat on them enough they leave…ala Great Britain. Reagan was able to make a compelling case very simply…in a way that was meaningful to everybody. He did this in the place where the majority of people spent their time and got most of their information in the 80s , ON TELEVISION.

Today the channels have changed. Facebook is a place where lots of people spend their time and get information they trust. Twitter is where breaking news is released. The major television networks now report stories based on Tweets and blog posts!

During the recent campaign , I watched what both campaigns were doing in the social media arena. From the Republican side , it was lackluster at best with only sporadic messages . The Democrats had a much more comprehensive strategy. To paraphrase someone else , “Obama OWNED social media!”.

In 1980 , the average American watched about 6 hours of television per day. In 2012 that number is much smaller , around 4 with younger Americans watching even less.

If you are going to talk to me , you have to be where I am. If you don’t come to me , you obviously don’t care if I am listening.

Remember Romney’s 47 percent remark? Perhaps that really did sum up a philosophy. There is a saying in the business world , “I want to do business with someone who wants to do business with me. Someone who shows they really WANT my business.” Mitt Romney , the self proclaimed “businessman” may have forgotten a fundamental business principle.

“They Didn’t Win-We Lost.”

Dwight Eisenhower ~ “No one can defeat us unless we first defeat ourselves.”

 

I was involved in a bid process a few years ago. It was my first big one. The similarities to a services bid and an election are many. In the end , we lost the bid. Why…..not because the customer was stupid? A lot of my colleagues felt that was the case…. NO we failed to make a compelling case. One of my colleagues felt that the customer was biased toward the incumbent….and he was right…..and we knew this going in. We failed to make a dramatically compelling case for dumping the incumbent and going with us. Sound familiar? Did we have the best product…absolutely…..did we FAIL to explain that to the customer in terms that were meaningful to him..ABSOLUTELY!

I went on to win several more bids in my career with that company. As a matter of fact, I never lost again. I learned a lot from doing all those bids but I learned a whole lot more from losing that first one….vastly more.

Is there a lesson to be learned from the election for Mitt Romney and the Republicans? Without a doubt there is but the bigger lesson is really for the whole country..the rest of us. The Romney campaign failed to make a compelling case and to explain that case in terms that were meaningful to the majority of the people. Regardless of the relative merits of the product itself, if you can’t explain to the customer why they need it and make a compelling case for them buying it in terms that are meaningful to them…you will lose! In a court of law who wins? The side that is right? NO…the winner is the one that makes the most compelling case.

Gene Chizik of Auburn is in danger of losing his job…not because he did something illegal or immoral but because he LOST. In sales , the ones who figure out how to win reap the spoils , the ones who don’t go to the back of the unemployment line. Which one would you hire? Gene Chizik or Nick Saban? Would you hire the salesman who consistently outperforms everyone else or the one who doesn’t? Me personally…I want the winner. If you can’t figure out how to win , chances are there will be some other things you won’t be able to figure out down the road.

The Law of Unintended Consequence

The law of unintended consequences, often cited but rarely defined, is that actions of people—and especially of government—always have effects that are unanticipated or unintended.~Rob Norton

Once upon a time there was a company that ran some call centers. They decided to connect them together and share resources. This would also allow them to close a satellite call center. The installation of the point  to point circuits to facilitate this would take about four months. The cutoff of two of the three existing voice circuits was scheduled in thirty days. The layoff of people in the satellite call center was done in two weeks. The calls from the satellite center were shifted to the other regional center, increasing call volume by fifty percent. In a two weeks , that center had only one voice circuit……to handle one hundred fifty percent more calls. Savings to the company…. four thousand dollars a month. Amount of lost business due to angry customers getting busy signals for two months….PRICELESS!

How did this happen? Simple , the person in charge of the changes had no responsibility for customer service and didn’t work for OR CONSULT WITH the person that did. Their objective was to get the cost savings on the books before the end of the quarter. This was what their bonus was tied to.

The moral of the story…incentivize the behaviors you want and they will happen. BUT……always remember the law of unintended consequences.

IPhone 5–what does it mean?

The much predicted , highly anticipated and over “punditized” September 12 media event by Apple is predicted to be the rollout event for the new IPhone 5. According to The Wall Street Journal’s article Click Here For Full Article 

“The new device is likely to be dubbed the iPhone 5, which will have a slightly larger screen.”

Other than the obvious publicity and the expected “bump” for Apple’s stock , why is this a big deal? Apple has always been a revolutionary leader in the smartphone industry, blazing trails and setting the bar for everyone else. Suddenly they appear to be playing catch up. The “slightly larger screen”  has to be a reaction to the bigger screens found on phones made by HTC and Samsung. The current trend towards larger screens and more tablet-like functionality in Android smartphones seems to have gotten Apple’s attention. The expected rollout of a smaller 7 inch version of the I Pad goes right along with this theory. This is the first time that we have seen Apple react this strongly to ANYTHING other manufacturers have done.

It’s hard to always be at the front of the pack and always be the innovator. Is being a reactionary instead of an innovator a symptom of being without the leadership of Steve Jobs? Clearly Apple may be suffering from the lack of Job’s crystal clear vision of the path they need to follow. So Apple, maybe you need to ask yourself , “What would Steve do?”

How did we get HERE?

When I was in college at Southwest Texas Sate, some friends of mine and I were on our way back from a” field trip” to Nueva Laredo , which is just across the Mexican border from Texas. We had all been researching the local customs very diligently and one of my friends was ‘napping’ in the back of his van while I was driving. Somehow we found ourselves somewhere in Houston which is slightly off course if you are headed to San Marcos, just south and west of Austin. Also with us was another fraternity brother who , while not “napping” was still “overwhelmed” by the cultural experience we had shared. When my “napping”friend awoke , he looked around and asked me , “How the HECK did we get HERE?”

This (heavily edited) anecdote from my early college career is very descriptive of how we have reached the current state of our country at the present time. On the wall in my office is a saying,” There are three kinds of people – those who make it happen , those who watch it happen and those who wonder what happened.” Clearly my “napping” friend was the one “wondering” what happened. My “overwhelmed” companion watched it happen and obviously , I was “making” it happen. How was I chosen to be the “maker” of things happening? Clearly , I was the obvious choice out of the three as I was not as “sleepy” or “overwhelmed” as my friends. While I somehow managed to get us out of Mexico and into Texas (I still wonder about that) , my vision for the path we needed to take was flawed. We probably should gave recruited a different driver…… or taken the bus. My “napping” friend , now “refreshed and alert” , took over the driving and got us back to school without further mishap.

My hope is that those who have been “overwhelmed” and watching for the last four years , have recovered and are now ready to embrace a new driver for our journey. Hopefully , those “napping” are awake now and most importantly , the current “makers” of things happening , will realize that just because you may have been the “best” of a bunch of bad choices , you really aren’t capable of getting us where we need to go. It’s time to let someone else drive.

SOMEBODY-SOMEWHERE……

James Gregory, the famous southern comedian (and a personal favorite of mine) has a bit he does about labeling on packaging. Along with the part where he talks about how some  laxative labels say “Works while you sleep” and him saying, “I don’t want that!” (Me neither!) , he mentions the part of the labeling that says “ Warning! This is a medicine and is to be taken for medicinal purposes only. This product is not food or candy.” Gregory’s explanation for that is they put that on there because “SOMEBODY- SOMEWHERE” ate it like candy and were not pleased with the results.That hapless person then sued the laxative company and thus was born that part of the labeling. This leads into a whole segment about crazy warnings on products that are there because “SOMEBODY-SOMEWHERE” did that.

Adopting that mind set…when I got ANOTHER email from the “lawyer” in Nigeria who is representing the estate of that long lost relative who has been living in Nigeria and recently passed away leaving me a ton of money. I thought, “why do they keep sending these?” The answer , ala James Gregory, is “SOMEBODY—SOMEWHERE” has fallen for that scam and sent them five thousand dollars via Western Union to cover the “costs” of getting all that money from the non-existent dead relative they never heard of.

My family has always been very active in rescuing animals , particularly dogs. My wife was approached one time , via email, by a “missionary” family on a mission trip to Kenya that was looking for a “home” for their Papillion that “couldn’t stay in Kenya with them”. All the “missionaries” wanted was twelve hundred dollars to cover the air freight for the dog…in advance via Western Union. Then all we had to do was pick up the dog  at the airport. When we offered to pay the airline directly…our pseudo missionaries immediately lost interest. Once again I thought “Why do they do this ?”…the answer…”SOMEBODY-SOMEWHERE…”!

Interestingly enough, an article on spam and phishing by Owen Linderholm entitled “Keep Organized Crime out of Your Network” on http://www.itsecurity.com/features/mafia-2-protect-yourself-it-security-060707/says that “yes, the Mafia is getting involved.” WHY? Back to James Gregory…SOMEBODY-SOMEWHERE!

Spam has become a BILLION (with a capital B) dollar per year industry and the reason why is very simple, SOMEBODY-SOMEWHERE falls for this stuff….everyday….three hundred sixty five days a year! As P.T. Barnum said , “There is a sucker born every minute.”

I am sure you are saying to yourself , “I would never do something that stupid!” Granted if you are reading this you are probably in the top ten percent of savvy technology users..so what has this got to do with you? Simple , although YOU would never be sucked in to a scam , who do you know that is less techno-savvy who might? The answer to that is probably more than one person. So how can you help? Obviously when our less savvy brethren call us and say “Hey I got this email from……..” We always advise them to delete it and warn about the dangers….that’s a given. As we all well know, most of the time, they call us AFTER they click on that suspicious link or open that bot laden attachment. So what do we do? Do what I am doing now, write about it…talk about it…keep sounding the alarm….ALL THE TIME!

A famous member of the governmental war on drugs once said , “It’s not really the SALE of illegal drugs that is the real problem…it’s the BUYING of them that really cause the problems. If no one bought them, the problem would go away overnight.” If that SOMEBODY-SOMEWHERE that falls for the phishing stopped falling for it….. If sales of fake Viagra didn’t rise after a spam campaign…. if sales of bogus stocks DIDN’T go sky high when the spammers sent out those “stock tips”….. THEY WOULD STOP!

I remember a quote I read by a famous con-man who had gone straight and was working for the law. “ You can’t con a truly honest person. All cons have an element that appeals to the larceny in someone’s heart. If you truly believe that you can’t get something for nothing and are not willing to compromise your principals , NO ONE can successfully con you.”

So , my brothers and sisters in technology, keep preaching the gospel about spam and phishing. Do not shirk your task or waiver from your purpose! The soul you save from spam will be one less SOMEBODY-SOMEWHERE!

A Different Recession in Alabama

In 2007 there were eight Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Alabama. Today there is only one. Texas whose economy is rebounding at a faster rate than any other state has fifty one Fortune 500 companies that make their home there.

What happened to Alabama ? Other states that have seen an exodus of large corporations include Michigan and Maryland.  Michigan’s reason is pretty obvious but what about Maryland? By all accounts Maryland’s problem is the recent rise in tax rates. Big companies are sensitive to a lot of factors but  operating costs are high on the list. So did Maryland kill the “goose that laid the golden egg”? It certainly looks like it.

It doesn’t take an economics degree to realize the prosperity fallout associated with having a “500”  company headquartered in your state. Big companies tend to buy the things they need locally and large companies need lots of stuff. Remember this conversation , “Why is ABC Company buying so many widgets?” answer, “Oh they supply X to (insert name of Fortune 500 company here).”

So what’s the fix for Alabama’s “Fortune” deficit? I certainly don’t have that answer but I do know that if we don’t do some thing, Alabama’s comeback trail will be hard , long and treacherous.

Don’t clean the toilet with your toothbrush.

I talked with a client the other day who was considering moving his business completely to cell phone. “ I think we can do everything on our cell phones.” he stated.

 

I tried to explain to him why that wasn’t a real good idea. I failed miserably. Now do I think he will eventually see the problem with this and change his mind? Yes I do but I wish I could have explained it a little better and saved him AND HIS EMPLOYEES some anguish. Maybe if I write about it here I can do a better job of explaining this.

Cell phones are one of those technologies that have become indispensible  very very quickly. Think about how long you have felt like you couldn’t get through the day without yours…it probably hasn’t been very long. For me it has only been in the last decade that I have become permanently attached to mine. Now granted “the last decade” is a pretty long time but it pales in comparison to my forty year relationship with the automobile .

Like the automobile , our cell phones are a very personal piece of technology. Mine has MY email and MY contacts it also has MY pictures. MY customers , close contacts and friends call ME on MY phone. “ I have his cell phone.” is a phrase we use to express our close relationship to that person.  I don’t have that kind of relationship with the phone on my desk. It’s a business tool like my calculator (yes I still have one) or stapler. My Dad always used to say that the key to doing a good job was having the correct tool for that job. To use an analogy that Dad used….” You CAN clean the toilet with your tooth brush , but you aren’t going to be very pleased with the results .”

The major problem with cell phones is their lack of ability to transfer a call. Have you ever called someone about a business matter on their cell phone and found that to accomplish your task you really needed to talk to someone else at that that business.  Then what do you do? Hang up and call that person? Cell phones are designed to communicate with a specific person directly not a group of people. They aren’t a collaborative tool. We all learned in Business 101 , that businesses grow by becoming a group endeavor and incorporating the talents and efforts of many people. Entrepreneurs expand their businesses by delegating tasks and “cloning” themselves. The ones who don’t do this well FAIL.

The good news is that modern phones systems are able to incorporate cell phones into the mix and enhance their collaborative power . For example , yesterday someone called my direct number at the office. I didn’t happen to be at my desk so I answered it on my cell phone which rings along with my desk phone. I needed something at my desk to answer the question so I sent the call back to my desk phone. I looked up the information I needed and answered that question. We then found that to complete the task , he needed to talk to another person in my office. I transferred him to that persons phone and we were able to take care of that customer and let him get back to doing what he does. Without our phone system , satisfying that customer’s needs would have been a lot harder and probably more irritating for him.

OK Hackers and Scammers…I Give Up!

I recently posted about my annoying Twitter hack. It was just that…annoying….but no real damage done. Now I have experienced a whole new level of irritation…with E Bay.

I have been buying and selling on E Bay for years. I have not only bought and sold the requisite tech stuff but I have even bought and sold cars and boats.

I bought my 23 foot Regal cruiser on E Bay five years ago from a dealer in Coral Gables, Florida. My family and friends have had many great outings and lots of fun on her. Eventually , the second happiest day in a boat owners life comes…the day you sell it! I pulled her out of the slip on Smith Lake more than a year ago thinking I might move the boat to Guntersville or maybe even back to Florida. Time and circumstance have conspired to cause it to sit right here and eventually I decided to sell it.  Since I bought it on E Bay , it made sense to sell her that way…right?

The first auction went to a guy in Tennessee who had to back out. OK…….stuff happens. The next go-round didn’t get the price I wanted…OK. On my third attempt I made the acquaintance of a lovely  gentleman who claimed to be working on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. All I had to do , according to the fake email from PayPal that I got, to get the money that HAD NOT been deposited in my account was to send $1500 via Western Union to some bogus shipping company in Kuala Lampur and they would release the funds that weren’t actually in my account. I went through all the necessary fraud reporting procedures with E Bay and Pay Pal and relisted. Things were going well and the boat sold for what I wanted.

The buyer appeared to be a guy from a small town in Georgia near a couple of lakes…made sense. My first communication with my new buyer yielded a surly response demanding things that I was unable and not obligated to do like “test drives” and forgoing the deposit.

My business like response about terms and such stuff netted this reply-

“Sir,
Tnis is not the end of this situation. Crooks like u need to be brought to justice. I'm a police cnief and nave contacted the proper ajthorities.”

Obviously this is the work of a nine year old or another semi-literate hacker in some third world country working off a cell phone. I’m guessing the nine year old.

The net result is I have wasted two weeks, been irritated beyond belief and I have not sold the boat. Am I mad at E Bay? Maybe they could do more to keep out the scammers like my faux cruise ship guy…I don’t know what that would be. Maybe they could do more to keep nine year olds off??? Once again I am not sure how you filter out a determined internet savvy pre-teen with a smart phone.

Some people are hesitant to buy from E Bay because they are afraid of being taken advantage of. I personally have had thousands of transactions over the years and I honestly don’t remember having a bad experience as a buyer or as a seller….till now! I guess the old caveat “Let the buyer beware” gets reversed on E Bay…..”Let the SELLER beware!”

Cutting The Chord

It’s been about a year since we “fired” Dish Network at my house. We only have TV that comes from broadcast sources and the internet. Our spend went from about $130 a month to about $26 (Netflix and Hulu). We managed to make it through the summer with no ill effects. Encouraged by this success , I am considering another bold move……firing (or reducing) AT&T. I am writing this post using an air card connection from Sprint that I have been using exclusively at home for about a week and it seems to be working pretty well. Cell phone signal at my home has been pretty dicey but seems to provide enough bandwidth to do the basic things like web and email. Just like the TV project , I plan to apply some technology to enhance the experience. My next step will be to see if a signal booster with an external antenna will increase the bandwidth and telephone to a level that will support things like voice and streaming. My friend who works at Sprint says 4G will be here “any day now”.

My Personal Hacking Experience

Although having your social media account hacked (happened to be Twitter for me) is not as devastating as  having your bank account compromised, it teaches a lesson that we should all heed.

When I originally set up my personal Twitter account in 2007, I was “trying it out” and really didn’t take it too seriously. That was the year that Twitter hit a million users. Since then , Twitter has exploded to 500 million users.

I set up my Twitter account with an easy password that I could remember. Five years later, that password has been compromised. I don’t use it much anymore and never used it on anything that I was really concerned about. Since I link a lot of social media together , the “nice” person from Brazil who hacked me also tried to get into my Facebook and some other stuff. I had changed those passwords to stronger ones mostly (I am ashamed to say) at the request of the services themselves. I hadn’t gotten around to Twitter yet (or rather they hadn't gotten around to me yet)

So far the damage has been minimal.Up until yesterday, I had the pleasure of following 2000+ random people from Brazil (Sao Paulo to be precise) who mostly Tweet in Spanish and Portuguese about rap music. Being the big fan of rap music that I am and being so fluent in Portuguese……I  set out to unfollow these folks. Easier said than done but I managed to find something called Manage Flitter http://manageflitter.com that allows you to mass unfollow people. Great stuff! The Twitter shores are once again safe…..and Brazilian free. Manage Flitter has several built in filters that you can use, one is the “People Who Tweet in A Different Language” filter. Kind of makes me think that this has happened to someone else????

As annoying as this was, no real damage was done. Even if this person had done what I have heard has been done to others, and discussed my “well known” crack addiction or my sexual preferences (or lack of) publicly as me…(every one who “really” knows me is well aware of both those items)…it would still just be annoying. Going through the list of my “new best friends” was sort of entertaining. Along with the rappers and party people were several transsexuals and one real interesting account which is a resource for doctors who need information on the latest techniques for transgender surgery. I am still trying to decide if this was something designed to make me look bad or simply a reflection of my hackers personal tastes.

Who is to blame for my hacking experience? ME! I am a technology and social media consultant..I do this stuff for a living and I am supposed to know better. I screwed up…..Twitter isn’t to blame. Now my Brazilian hacker has some culpability obviously (God love him) but the responsibility for securing my accounts rests squarely on my pointy head. ARE YOU SECURE???? Unless you want to acquire a few thousand “new best friends” or are shopping for some transgender surgery…you had better take a hard look at the passwords and security settings of all your web based accounts. NOW!!

The Power Of Buzz

Buzz Words Can Be A Powerful Tool…..

But Apply With Caution!

Having spent most of my life in industries loaded with buzz words and acronyms (PRI, ISDN , VOIP , Cloud , SEO) I am still amazed at the power that these “buzzy” concepts can assert. I recently had that waking nightmare experience that we all dread. I walked into a breakfast meeting and was told , “You are giving the presentation today.” Its like the dream where you go to school and suddenly realize you are naked! Anybody who knows me would be surprised that the idea of speaking extemporaneously for ten minutes on ANYTHING would give me pause but it did…..a little.

Since I have recently been involved in some social media projects, I decided to go with that. Now sometimes when I start off talking about technology stuff, I notice that my audience will often get that eyes glazed , little drop of drool at the corner of the mouth look. NOT THIS TIME! Everybody was paying attention and at the end when it was time for questions the Q&A was longer than my allotted speaking time.

Afterward , I was asked to meet with someone at their office to talk about about how I could help them with a social media campaign…WOW!

The moral here is…..technology is all about driving the growth of business with better and innovative methods that deliver REAL returns. Often you can use “buzz words” to gain interest and engage your clients. Remember to be careful…set the proper expectations and ALWAYS deliver the goods.

Six Common Telecom BOOBOOS

In thirty plus years, I have seen lots of things when it comes to how telecom services get handled. These are the six things that seem to be repeated over and over on thousands of  plans.

1. Buying the inside wiring coverage
The inside wiring plan sounds like something that should be very beneficial to the consumer. IT's NOT! If you read the fine print there are additional charges that will  be incurred for just about everything they might do INSIDE. Basically you are paying for nothing.This is true for telcos and cable companies.

2. Unlimited Long Distance
If you use 1000 plus minutes of long distance every month, this is a fairly good deal. Let's face it, most folks don't use that much. I recently told a client, "you  paid thirty five cents per minute for your long distance last month." The client replied . "No we have UNLIMITED long distance!" "Right", I said, "which costs ten ninety five a month and you used 31 minutes last month." I have also seen people put unlimited long distance on all lines, also not good.

3. Buying domains , email and web hosting from your service provider                                                                                       If you were never ever, ever going to change providers this would be ok, but the reality of today's environment says that at some point you will want to change. Moving these services away from your provider is painful and time consuming. It's designed to be that way. How can I say that? For example,AT&T uses a domain registrar in Melbourne Australia called Melbourne IT. The only way to communicate with Melbourne IT is via FAX to their local number in Australia. Could they make it any more difficult? Coming soon...... AT&T's new domain registrar, LUNAR IT!!!

4. Having more than six analog lines.
This is another one of those basic math story problems from grade school. Six  business lines cost $50 each or $300 per month. The average T-1 now costs about $300 per month and can handle up to 23 voice channels. How many lines past six does it take to make a T-1 the better deal? This will be on the test later....:)

5. Packaging feature deals on all your lines.                    Packaging features is a great idea for businesses with one  or two lines and regular phones. It's a terrible idea for anyone with a phone system and three or more lines. I have seen bills with six line plans that have features on all six lines. Do you really want three way calling and voice mail on your third rollover line?

6. Assuming that “customer service”doesn’t mean SALES.
Customer service calls are answered in the sales department. I am not saying that the people you talk to aren't nice people or that they are out to get you.They are sales people with quotas to make , families to feed and products to push. Never forget that. What is good for them may not always be what you need.

Will The Last IT Person Out The Door Please Turn Out The Lights…….

This may only be a reflection of the vacuum I have been living in for the last year , but I just became aware of something really disturbing. A new IT company came on my radar screen called 323  Technology Solutions.  They whimsically characterize themselves as “the best technology company you never heard of.” I thought , “Yeah Right!” since they had not appeared to me previously. As I perused the company profile I noticed a common denominator in the employees, they all used to work in IT at Ready Mix USA. ALL TEN OF THEM! WOW….so the IT department at Ready Mix just emptied out in 2011. Which coincides with the buyout of Ready Mix by CEMEX, a Mexican company that says it is the largest concrete maker in the world, in 2011. Once again , some may say DUH where have you been, but I was shocked. Over the years, I have had some dealings with Ready Mix and I had no idea.

The formation of 323 Technology also makes me think of another thing, none of these folks has been able to find suitable employment here in Birmingham so they started a company of their own. Being somewhat familiar , that really resonates with me.
So what does the future of IT in Birmingham look like? With the number of large corporation headquarters in Alabama shrinking and Regions as the only Fortune 500 company in the state , will we see the kind of corporate IT jobs represented by Ready Mix USA continue to go away?
On the bright side, the other thing that this kind of shift does is make IT talent available to more small companies. The expertise formerly contained in Ready Mix’s IT department is now available to many smaller companies.
Best of luck 323!

Think Before You Upload!

 

I was reading about the apprehension of "the Alabama Tea Bagger" the guy who dangled his genitals over a passed out LSU fan in a New Orleans Krystal after the BCS Championship game in New Orleans. Honestly I am sort of torn about this whole thing......yes it was a stupid thing to do. Have I seen stupider things?....OOH YEA! I think the real question is, was anyone hurt? Was that passed out LSU guy damaged in some way? No not really. Brian Downing appears to be the one with most of the damage. He has lost his job, he's been clapped in irons and dragged into the dark depths of Orleans Parrish jail , he has been publicly humiliated before his friends , family and the world. Most likely he will be tried and convicted of sexual battery. Here is the statute from Louisiana describing the offense and the punishment http://www.babcockpartners.com/resources/statutes/louisiana-sexual-battery-law which contains words like "hard labor" and "for the rest of his natural life". Downing , if convicted , will serve some jail time and be permanently branded as a sex offender lumping him in with rapists and child molesters.  He will be electronically monitored forever and have to register where ever he goes.

When I read the legal parts I thought "OK that is what he did." but I also thought it might be a little harsh for a crime of stupidity that left no one hurt. You can't even make a case for the LSU guy being "psychically damaged or mentally scarred" HE WAS UNCONSCIOUS WHEN IT HAPPENED. Now did it disturb him when he saw the video on the web? Of course it did! "Oh my gosh , I got blasted and passed out in a Krystal and some Alabama guy dangled his business in my face!" Will the intoxicated LSU fan be OK? Aside from his other obvious self inflicted issues, yeah I think he'll survive.Will he have some problems stemming from his involvement in this? Yes I believe he will. Would you want to be "that guy"? What do you think being "that guy" on your resume will do for you? Nothing good I'm sure.

Hopefully, Downing will be shown some compassion and cooler heads will prevail. Hopefully the LSU fan will use this and turn his life around. Certainly the furor will fade when "the next big thing" hits the web.

So why is this a big deal? Because it went viral on YouTube! All this havoc is only possible because of technology. Handy video on your smart phone, the internet and video sharing have all come together to destroy one poor stupid SOB and make another one the laughing stock of the world.

The moral of the story here is: Remember the enormous power you hold in your hand when you pull out your smart phone.Think before you upload that video boys and girls.

What will 2012 bring us? Its really up to you!

“In a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks.”

-Warren Buffett

 

 

There are people who are waiting for the stock market to come back or the results of the election.

They are waiting to see what somebody else is going to do!

I heard somebody the other day say,” I am waiting to see what the big boys do. Small business is driven by what big business does.”

What drives big business? Consumers and demand drive big business. Do big businesses “wait” to see what consumers are going to do? Of course not , they do things to create demand and drive business. Notice what I said “do things”.

A friend of mine was lamenting the sorry condition of sales at his company. His comment was . “Nobody is doing anything right now.” Once again , that “doing” word. So if somebody was doing something..business would be better…right?

We had lots of changes in 2011in technology and in the business climate. Most would say that the  business changes were not for the good. Companies that historically did business a certain way found that things just didn’t work the way they used to. Markets like housing changed forever….they will never be the same again.

There are three kinds of people:

Those who make it happen.

Those who watch what happens.

Those who wonder what happened.

Vast sweeping changes have ended civilizations and dynasties. They also create gigantic opportunities for the ones who can adapt and capitalize on them. Will you be one of the ones that embrace the changes and use them to create new opportunities or are you waiting?