Some of Nothing: August 2007

Will Work for WiFi
Friday, August 31, 2007

Not karmic retribution, I know...I'm deviating from my mission statement (aka selling out) already. The fact is, that I've got to work on my search engine optimization, and one way to do it is to appeal to a variety of groups. Whether I like it or not. Also, I've actually been thinking about wifi a lot lately. Sometimes I want to get out. Leave the cats at home. And still do my thing. That's kind of political, yes? Maybe I'll balance this with some net neutrality designs.

This building an empire thing is giving me a whole new perspective on business/goal-setting. Very exciting/disturbing!

Nothing New byslag at 2:28 PM 1 dispenses karmic justice! (or just comments here)

My Empire Mission Statement

As far as mission statements go, it's pretty short. Guy Kawasaki would call this a mantra. What do you think? Is it too cliche?

Nothing New byslag at 2:06 PM 1 dispenses karmic justice! (or just comments here)

Pro-breathing

Simple and direct?

Nothing New byslag at 12:29 PM 2 dispense karmic justice! (or just comment here)

"Today is about change"
Friday, August 3, 2007

Q: How likely is it that the non-profit I'm volunteering for will switch to google apps?

In spite of the fact that Google apps seem to be design to address many of the standard problems of information sharing within a small organization, there are still some major drawbacks that, I think, will hinder its adoption.

1. Features: There are a few features that Google apps are either missing or aren't fully capitalized on: format painter and filters on spreadsheets are just a couple.

2. The internets are scary: One of the first things people think about when opening up that browser is "public". This is no exception when using applications online. There is always the question of who will see your document. While Google does explain the security of the applications in their "Help" section, it's one more barrier to getting people to switch.

3. Software is cheap: While this isn't true for everyone, it seems that, for my non-profit at least, software comes either by way of donation or deep discount. Not only does this "free/cheap" software give people one less incentive to use google apps, it actually seems like it might be a disincentive: we have this free/cheap stuff; we should use it.

4. Change is hard: This bizarre phenomenon explains many aspects of our society: eight and a half by eleven paper, the U.S. system of measurement, GW's 2004 election and the concept of "intelligent design" (to name a few). I hate to lump my fellow do-gooders in with this crowd, but past and present experience tells me that this is one of the more significant hurdles google apps would have to overcome in order to be adopted in my non-profit...

"I had this whole section on civic pride, but I guess we'll just skip to the big finish."

A: Outlook not good.

to be continued...

Nothing New byslag at 10:02 PM 2 dispense karmic justice! (or just comment here)