thecapacity

I’ve been building my personal site and one of the things I’m excited about is the chance to interconnect my work with the larger social networks out there.

I believe every site should do what it’s best at and my intent isn’t to manage comments, wall posts or user signups and security. So once I got a basic life aggregator put together my next step was to integrate Google Friend Connect and see what it was all about.

The idea of Friend Connect is to let Google proxy most of the “social interactions” for you so you can simply deal with what you do best (which is likely developing useful content and interacting with other humans… not swearing over spam and comment plugins).

It’s incredibility easy to get up and running, you simply copy two HTML files to your site and let Google give it a once over. After that things are “configured” but there’s still no interface for interacting “socially” with the site.

In order do that you add a members gadget (or a smaller signon module) and ‘viola – People are now able to “join” your site! To get one of these plugins installed you use Google’s site to generate the necessary Javascript and HTML. I simply copied these codes into a “friend.html” file which is loaded via a corresponding menu item.

It’s not very difficult but you need to have a fairly straightforward “color scheme” defined and I don’t understand why “Links” and “Secondary Links” are two separate categories. I also don’t like that the CSS Style information is coded inline but I understand this makes it a single step to setup.

Nontheless it’s pretty straightforward, but it annoys me that Google makes you re-enter your color settings each and every time, i.e. not only if you regenerate one of the plugins but a new plugin is similarly “blind” as to your preferences. You also have to pick a general “size” for your widget which isn’t difficult thanks to the Web Developer’s Dislpay Ruler (under Miscellaneous).

So once it’s up and running, what are my impressions?

Well it’s certainly a neat idea but I was a bit underwhelmed. Currently, there’s only a “Wall” a “Rate and Review” widgets available and neither of my two test posts “left” the walled garden of my site. What I’d like is the ability to control the publishing of these “events” so that my twitter friends currently know if I’m active and engadged on a site!

It also wasn’t clear with the widgets how I’d solve typical “use cases”. For example currently my site’s “Wall” is only on a single page, but if you wanted to use this plugin for post comments how would that be done? How could I connect it to Akismet so I didn’t have to worry about spam filtering? How about other common features like emailing people when someone posts a folow up, or what about an RSS feed for this widget?

There doesn’t seem to be the typical wealth of developer documentation either. I haven’t yet investigated the “Lame Game Demonstration” or how to build a custom gadget. But given that it’s Google I think API’s and sample code is likely forthecoming.

Bottom line, it’s a start but given all the noise this has been making for so long I was expecting things to  be much farther along. Still get started and you’ll find yourself on the forefront of yet another Beta product from Google!

Cool visualizations aside, the most interesting announcement of iTunes 8 (and the quick subsequent bugfix) was the new “Genius” feature.

Steve Jobs has been criticized for being out of touch before, when the iPhone came out with out any sort of social networking. I vouch that the much vaunted Apple “experience” breaks down at the usage fringes, i.e. if you’re not using it to listen to your extensive music collection it’s pretty rough around the edges.

What Genius does is mix and match music based on beats and other metrics and builds playlists. I listen to podcasts and audiobooks so I can’t speak from real experience but word is that it’s neat and amazingly successful.

However, even after all the successes of “social networking”, Genius really seems to highlight Apple’s interesting lack of desire to build collaboration in their products.

I find it shocking that there’s absolutely no “social networking” features like Last.fm. It seems Apple thinks math can be a better friend to you then your own friends (like that time when they rickrolled you).

As often as I send links to friends with delicious, or videos on YouTube, you’d think a day had come with you could nudge your friends to try out this song… well of course Zune tried that but failed.

However, one believes Apple could “do it right” and the fact that they haven’t even tried seems suspicious. It seems that until they do, whether it’s from “Top 40″ count downs or inhuman algorithms, we’ll forever be forced to take “the man’s” word for what’s cool.

I don’t want to join in with another one of those “me too” complaints…

However, it seems to me like we might have money money for Social Security if the Government wasn’t spending what they had bailing out all these banks.

The socialweb.tv talks a lot about open standards, particularly in social networks. I find their videos are always energetic and help keep me abreast on aspects of the web that I don’t get to deal with frequently.

I believe their answer to the question of “Who owns your data?” (hint: “You do!”) is a little idealistic but the message and coverage is great. It makes little sense to duplicate this data and especially in tools like flickr, twitter, opensocial, and hopefully someday even Facebook, it seems obvious. Friends are friends no matter which network they’re on and if you tell me that your twitter friends aren’t the same as your facebook friends I’d reply they could be (and argue should) assuming there are more granular levels of classifications and control.

You hear a lot about this nirvana of open security and data for social sites, especially in the context of plaxo, yahoo, google, twitter and all the other “social web” buzzcompanies…. and that’s where it seems to be constrained.

It always seems limited to discussions about why no one would never implement a microsoft security API and why google and yahoo should talk more. Or speculated with hope that Facebook and MySpace will finally accept friend requests and, fingers crossed, that twitter will link with someone, anyone, who could tell them that drunk and disorderly does not make them cool.

What strikes me most is that within all these talks, Amazon is missing. Not only are they not “a player” but people have forgotten that they’re the reining homecoming king and queen when it comes to some new buzzwords like cloud computing and webservices! Many of these friends are sites built on Amazon’s services, from S3 to EC2 even the newly announced block storage gets people excited, but they haven’t stopped to think that inviting Amazon to the party would really get it started.

Amazon’s the popular kid that’s just too popular for their own good. Everyone else thinks they’re out at the college parties when instead they’re home alone day-trading while they’re waiting for their friends to call.

I think Amazon would benefit from a vast exposure to new customers and social data! Imagine what they could sell me if they knew I’d been boating with friends or that I had a camping excursion planned (maybe something first aid related). Even product “reviews” (which can be found in 140 character “this sucks” twitters) to broadcasting 40% discounts for kindle books when they know I’m stuck at an airport with a layover! There’s a huge wealth of valuable data for consumer companies to be gleaned from these social networks.

Amazon has a ton of users and already with their payment system and associates program they’ve shown that open standards can actually be used to make money, it seems that this would be another area in which they could reap the benefits and help everyone by driving the creation and adoption of standards.

As I wrote yesterday I love TED Talks… oh yea and I did also mention a growing sense of disenfranchisement.

I try not to take the information I gather for granted, and one of the joys I experience is in sharing with others. Of course, I am aware that sometimes it can be overwhelming and I try to limit the deluge. I feel I can filter for friends because I know them so well and I hope that they realize that often, I simply want them to know something “exists” even if they don’t need to know “about” it in depth. That is to say; sometimes reading headlines is enough.

I don’t I believe I’m the single source of information, nor would I really want that for people. The second greatest joy is when people in turn filter for me. It represents both a dialog as well as a foil to view other people’s perceptions. I also hold as fact that anyone worth knowing doesn’t leave their education in the hands of others.

People with a natural curiosity and the intellect to satiate that appetite are an amazing combination. So go forth and learn, but for a moment allow me to direct your attention.

TED recently released their Top 10 TED Talks although I would have probably chosen a different segment, I assume people will check out the list in their leisure time, but I realize not everyone has the same time frames that I do.

There’s one video which combines the flavor of yesterday’s commentary with the sense of “information obligation” (both to search and to share) that I hope each of you embodies.

In “Do schools today kill creativity?” Ken Robinson presents wonderfully and suggests that the education principals of today won’t serve the needs of the future.

Arguing over the word “killing” can result in semantic discussions of “intent” and many negative connotations so I think it’s important to suggest a premise that the creative needs of society change over time.

So whether malicious or not, in business and society, implications are that we can not rely on the exact same set of traits over time.

There are still some whether; ethics & integrity, curiosity & problem solving, which are “oldies but goodies” and are foundational, but in today’s age, you must commit to learn and practice your skills new and old with the help of other individuals, for none can do it all alone.

I’m finally getting “settled” in my new role working from home and part of that means getting a chance to get through some podcasts. Actually, although I love TED Talks, I’m not actually a big fan of podcasts.

Imagine taking all the rambling and inherent pauses of conversation and couple those with ear piercing music, relative to the volume of human speech. Now add in sickeningly upbeat scores, which last too long but are too hard to fast forward through. Then sandwich content between mirrored intros and fade-outs so that back-to-back episodes sometimes yield 2-4 minutes (end of one and the intro of another) of worthless music…

Well, it shouldn’t be hard to see why a constantly information starved individual like myself would have a hard time listening. It’s almost a shame because some, like “Managerial Tools“, have great content but feel like a waste of time, when the “nuggets” can be gleaned much faster by reading articles.

However, I do have a soft spot in my soul for two true podcasts… I’ve really enjoyed the Stanford “Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders” sessions due to their diverse treatment of all things “innovative” and “entrepreneurial” and the NotHans Podcast (which I really think should be called a “NotCast”) because of its quick humor and varying overt and subtle shades of joviality. I’d recommend both many times over for people who like those sorts of things.

However, I am rapidly gaining another favorite on my list which is the “Harvard Business IdeaCast“. I’ve worked my way through eight episodes, so I’m still withholding judgment, and today in Episode 95, I found even more gold.

In this episode, or the accompanying Business Week article, Tammy Erickson tackles one of the biggest challenges facing corporations in the next 10 years, one I wrote about recently.

We’ve heard of developing future leaders, from Professor Linda A. Hill, but Tammy makes us aware that the roles being “prepared” may not align with the ones being desired by those leaders.

She writes about it in Top 10 Talent-Management Challenges and I hope there are a lot of people reading and acting on her insights. From the dangers of “extreme jobs” beginning to normalize our performance expectations and we’re in danger of forming a corporate environment that Gen-Yers (and some Gen-Xers) simply don’t want to join.

Working at a large technology company I’m familiar with the “graying” of IT. While often public perspective on “technology” is skewed by the Kevin Rose’s of the world in enterprise situations it’s often much different.

It’s not uncommon to start a job as the only “new hire” around, surrounded by people who’ve been working in their respective fields for 20-30 years. It’s an intimidating position to be in, necessitating a certain type of individual, and I’ve seen many people make that transition (or transition out).

I’ve heard that you can live a thousand lifetimes through books, but I’ve lived at least that many years through the stories of my colleagues. My first officemate could disassemble HEX in his head faster then I could look up mnemonics and I’ve learned about life, as well as IT, from him and many since.

The phrase “There’s a lot of history here” has a particular place in my field and those who don’t learn from the history of others are doomed to repeat it.

However, I have felt at times that the “oldsters” could afford to let some of us “young’ens” have a chance. I don’t mean to imply they should “step aside”, simply provide better opportunities for “us” to learn and try. Learning involves making mistakes but often there’s not enough of a “penalty free” environment in day to day office politics. Slate has a business perspective on this situation though their view of age-ism is the inverse of mine.

I sometimes worry we’re creating a void, where those “too young” won’t be qualified (i.e. have the same opportunities and experience of their predecessors) to take over from those who will be retired in 5-10 years. I think the rise of the “still going” businessperson is probably one of the factors driving the shifts in innovation and entrepreneurship we’re seeing today.

A few weeks ago, during dinner, I expressed this feeling to a colleague who’s been in the business a long time, predominantly on the sales side. What I got was one of those tidbits of history and insight that makes me appreciate the wisdom of the years. He looked at me and in effect said “you’ll be fine” but what convinced me the most was what he said next;

We’ve had some rough years and back when it got really rough and all the talent had left, they threw us green guys out in the field. And you know what? You learn, you learn real fast.

Sink or swim, trial by fire… sometimes I wish life didn’t have to be so binary, but the reminder that no true opportunity can every really be cushioned is priceless.

I’ve been pretty hot on Amazon for a while now. No that’s not a stock tip, rather a statement of my amazement at their success and innovation as a company.

If you haven’t realized, Amazon has been branching out beyond being “a bookstore”, in fact they hate it when people contextualize them as such. You knew they sold electronics but did you know you can get groceries from them too?

An even more strange and interesting curiosity is the fact that that you can “subscribe” to discounted deliveries of toilet paper delivered free with Amazon Prime!

So it seems like a natural progression… Amazon’s moved from bookseller, to general retailer, to an online super Wall*Mart who can deliver fiber, suggest an appropriate book and routinely deliver appropriate accessories for the experience.

However, Amazon’s become more then any of that, much more… They’ve moved from being an online presence to enabling others, which is a powerful transition because it leverages other business’s success, avoiding the burden of their failures and acts as a force multiplier for their revenue!

First it was their marketplace, which is to ebay what Facebook is to MySpace. However, they’ve since moved beyond alternate definitions of ‘retailer’. Now, in the techno-sphere, Amazon’s best known for their WebServices which have been used building all kinds of interesting businesses. They’ve grown so influential in the Web2.0 world, that James Governor at RedMonk suggests IBM should consider purchasing Amazon!

It would be hard to convince me that Amazon needs IBM. They’ve been sponsoring startups and recently put themselves front and center with consumers, something James believes IBM’s been neglecting

So currently, it seems no company can compete with the breadth of Amazon’s offerings. However, Kevin Burton and Nick Carr have been discussing whether or not Google may soon challenge Amazon’s hosted offerings, aligning itself more fully against Amazon.

With its search capabilities, Google has long had an leveragable retail presence. First it was passively with Froogle and then more explicitly with Google Base and Google Checkout.

Now the argument centers on whether or not Google will open its compute resources, and Kevin asserts that neither Amazon or the potential Google offering is sufficient. As a ‘techie’ I understand his perspective, which I would insufficiently summarize as being “vendor lock-in is bad”.

However, having been introduced to the broader business perspectives, I disagree with his conclusion.

1. Historically vendor lock-in hasn’t prohibited adoption when it’s strategically and tactically expedient (e.g. Microsoft, Token-Ring, Intel)
2. I strongly believe OpenSource’s momentum is inevitable and will destabilize and nullify permenant vendor lock in (e.g. WINE, the recent opensource implementation of java, and numerous MS Office “import/export” techniques)
3. Technology changes too fast to waste time “not doing” or “reimplementing the wheel”. This is less about the latest and greatest gadgets and more a statement of business need.

There’s a great phrase by Marc Hedlund which has stuck with me since I read it; “Jedi’s build their own lightsabers”. Marc leverages this pop culture meme to remind us to never outsource critical for your business components (You must read it!).

I believe the correlary suggests that any function, fundamental but incidental to your business value should be a candidate for procurement.

Even at the risk of “vendor lock in” there’s a list of trade-offs including “time to market” and “cost of competency” to consider. In Kevin’s ideal world it sounds like we’d all build from scratch and have unlimited time to implement, tweak and benchmark to our heart’s content.

Unfortunately, business necessitates an alternate reality and if expediency, simplicity and accuracy mean vendor constraint, so be it.

However, Kevin would be right to point out that many companies require “flexible on-demand IT” in order to succeed, even if they don’t realize it, trapped as they are in legacy models and processes.

When companies talk about outsourcing these components, or letting a vendor’s software product dictate their business & IT processes… I always check to make sure my lightsaber is close.

I really appreciated the thoughts in The Next Social Network: WordPress – GigaOM. I’ve been on Facebook for a while now (and prior to that LinkedIn) and despite my initial misgivings, I’ve been surprised at how much value social networks have provided, for a relatively low amount of effort.

On the social side, Facebook has provided me with the ability to reconnect with old friends as well as making it extremely easy to keep up with all my friends. LinkedIn really hasn’t been a “game changer” for me but it’s a nice way of keeping an aggregated collection of business contacts.

However, given Facebook’s alarming disregard for our privacy most notability with their Beacon project, and their growing commercialization, I would feel more comfortable if I could manage my own social network presence.

Perhaps with the opening of the walled gardens social networking API’s, Gacebook, LinkedIn and OpenSocial all have announcements, we may gain this ability. It would be amazingly empowering to centrally manage my online presence(s), including the multiple views of “who I am” as well as being able to filter undesirable content, where I get to make that distinction.

This seems a great avenue for WordPress to pursue, given its opensource nature and might help continue it’s differentiation now that Movable Type has decided to opensource their product as well.

I wish I was a true “webhacker” and could just make this happen, sharing code is always more compelling then simply spreading an idea. However, I’ll be cheering on whomever does.

update:

Normally I’d make post anew rather then update an existing one, but I just saw Scoble’s Can we get a first step in social networking portability and wanted to comment on it here because it’s so pertinent to these thoughts.

As usual, and is typical, I think Scoble’s got the right idea just misplaced in an outdated modality. True social networking, as in the “seemless” desire of that purpose, is not about portability, import/export or “linking”. Those are all walled ways in which people still have to do the work, and implementors believe they should be in control.

So far google, or even yahoo, are the best representations of this ideal. They’re both in a position to find my interests, my pictures and my friends. Unfortunately, for now, name isn’t a sufficient differentiator for search engines.

I intended to try my hand at making some videos for this post, but it didn’t happen after a day and I’d rather post out the experience while it’s fresh, then wait. It’s likely a benefit for you as well because my poor video skills might distract from the content, however “seeing is believing” so you’ll have to do your best to visualize!

Sunday my wife and I went to B&N to start on our Christmas shopping. It’s a longer story to explain why we were shopping at a brick and mortar store but in the end, despite going to the counter with many purchases, we actually left everything there because we couldn’t receive the discount we expected.

That’s the context however, and not really the point of this post and it’s enough to realize that we were gleefully book shopping as the two of us love to do. During this I experienced a few ways in which my iPhone became a “game changer” for me.

I’m really not one to “brag” about my gadgets and I hate it when people show you every little feature of something they have, especially when it doesn’t seem that impressive. However, in about an hour here’s the evolution of my experience that night and the ways the iPhone “clicked” for me.

1. Take a photo of a book I’m interested in remembering – I’ve done this with my old phone and even had a set of scripts so I could text message ISBN numbers to add books to my “to read” list. However, with the iPhone’s big screen this becomes a more satisfying (and less squinting) experience.
2. Looked up the price for Wikinomics – My wife handed me this book and I was instantly sold, however I wasn’t sure if it was a reasonable price. So I opened up Safari and went to Amazon.com and checked their price. Amazon has an iPhone optimized page and it was a very “instantly satisfying” experience.
3. Facebook’d someone with a question – We’d been talking about buying a “family game” for holiday entertainment, but weren’t sure if the family in question owned the game. So I hopped on the Facebook’s iPhone page and left a message. I got a response in about 5 minutes so we knew we could get the game right then!
4. Called my wife when I got lost – Granted it’s not the most iPhone specific activity and I’m sure we’ve all done this before. However what “clicked” was when I realized I’d done everything with the same device! It wasn’t a matter of having to pull my cellphone out for this specific activity.
5. Had our shopping list emailed to me – My wife had a “note” on her iPhone with the books we were looking for, and we decided it would be better to split up, so she simply emailed me a copy of the list. Technology actually making it easy to share!
6. I decided to check the Colts score – We couldn’t watch the end of the game because of time constraints but at least I could find out who won. Again it’s not iPhone specific but this is when I started to realize I could “play” with the connectivity provided by my “phone”.
7. Checked Amazon for book reviews – I was caught up in the programming section and pulled up Amazon to check out the reviews for the “Python Essential Reference“. It made me feel “not alone” in trying to decide the value of something.

I’m sure many of the geeks among you have utilized similar functions to fulfill similar situations, for me this was just “my time” to “get it”.

I realized in the span of an hour how in many ways a still naive tool could make my life more “seemless“. It’s less about the specifics and more about the realization of what’s to come, and I want more!