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What's a Digital Media Girl to Do?

Don Dodge on The Next Big Thing: Working at Google - the first 6 months

This article talks about what it's like to work at Google after having worked at Microsoft. More importantly, the details about attitudes: hiring, rewarding, setting goals, etc., are incredibly important and very different from my current work environment. I can see the value of having decisions made based on data and not opinion, but I think, vehemently, that there should also be room for "gut"-level decisions. Being one of the people blessed with a mysterious ability to avoid dangerous situations because they "don't feel right", I would worry that the signs of danger might be ignored because the data doesn't listen to the lizard brain. Just a thought.

It's an excellent article for someone who wants to create a successful business for the long haul. If you want to make millions overnight or by working only 4 hours per week, this won't help you. But for the idealists who want to leave something of worth for the future... A great read.

http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2010/06/working-at-google-the-...


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If you don't speak the language...

 
Friday, June 18, 2010 
do you know what you're tweeting? 

You might have seen a flurry of tweets this week shouting “Cala Boca Galvao” in an effort to earn a ten cent donation to save the endangered Galvao birds of Brazil. Only one thing: the whole thing's a big joke. What Scott Henderson calls faux-lanthropy.

There are no birds, no one is donating ten cents when you tweet, and even better -- "Cal Boca Galvao"translates to: “Shut up, Galvao".

You see, Galvão Bueno is a Brazilian sports announcer that's getting on people's nerves. So they created a fun promotion to get the non-Portuguese speaking world to send tweets, telling him to shut up. The World Cup was never so much fun. From @benkunz

Labels: , 

posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:29 AM  

 

I'm going for the gusto on this one...

Here is what Seth Godin has to say about gifts:

Gifts, misunderstood

What's a gift?

I met a big-shot former Fortune 500 company CEO who explained to me that he used to have three secretaries. One for his calendar, one for his usual work, and one who did nothing but send people gifts.

I think when it's sent by a corporation and chosen by a secretary, it's not a gift. It's a present. Or a favor...

A gift certificate from a rich uncle is a present as well, it's not really a gift.

A favor is something we do for someone hoping for an equal or greater favor in return. (Hence the phrase, "return the favor." No one says, "return the gift.")

A present is something that costs money, sure, and it's free, but I don't think it's a gift.

A gift costs the giver something real. It might be cash (enough that we feel the pinch) but more likely it involves a sacrifice or a risk or an emotional exposure. A true gift is a heartfelt connection, something that changes both the giver the recipient.

The Gift of the Magi is a great story because each person in the story sacrifices to create a heartfelt gift for the other person. And it's gifts--gifts that touch us, gifts that change us--that are transforming the way we interact.

One or two readers asked me why my book Linchpin costs money. After all, they ask, if gifts are a cornerstone of the new era, why not give it away free, as a gift?

Free doesn't make something a gift. Free might be a marketing strategy, free might make a generous present, but free doesn't automatically make something a gift. Gil Scott Heron's new album isn't free, but it's a gift. He's exposing himself. Taking a risk. You listen to the album and you feel differently when you're done... it's not a product, it's a very personal statement. Keller Williams approaches his entire craft as a chance to give gifts, but that doesn't mean he can't charge for some elements of his work. What it took him to create the music is so much greater than what it cost you to consume it that he is giving gifts without doubt.

The way I understand gifts is that the giver must make a sacrifice, create an uneven exchange, bring himself closer to the recipient, create change and do it all with the right spirit. To do anything less might be smart commerce, but it doesn't rise to the magical level of the gift. A day's work for a day's pay is the win/lose mantra of the industrial era. More modern is to view a day's work as a chance to generate gifts that last.

 

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Posted by Seth Godin on June 19, 2010 | 

 

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Burglars using Facebook, Twitter to find targets-report | Industries | Technology, Media & Telecommunications | Reuters

Burglars using Facebook, Twitter to find targets-report

Thu Aug 27, 2009 10:31pm EDT

[-] Text [+]

SYDNEY, Aug 28 (Reuters Life!) - Facebook users enthusing about an upcoming holiday or a recently purchased high-tech gadget may not just be telling their friends but also potential burglars, warns an insurance company.

A survey of 2,092 social media users by British-based Legal & General found nearly four in ten, or 38 percent, of people using social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter post details about holiday plans and 33 percent details of a weekend away.

"Coupled with the finding that an alarmingly high proportion of users are prepared to be 'friends' online with people they don't really know, this presents a serious risk to the security of people's home and contents," said the insurer.

In a report called "The Digital Criminal," Legal & General said people used social media sites to connect with people who were essentially strangers, which could provide potential thieves with vital, personal information.

To test how readily people accepted 'friends' online, Legal & General's survey, conducted by European market researcher Opinion Matters, involved sending out 100 'friend' or 'follow' requests to strangers selected at random.

Of those 13 percent were accepted on Facebook and 92 percent on Twitter -- without any checks.

But despite these new 'friends,' the survey found that nearly two-thirds, or 64 percent, of 16-24 year olds shared their holiday plans, with younger users the most likely to give away information about their whereabouts.

Men were found to be quite relaxed about giving personal information online, with 13 percent including their mobile number on their profile compared with 7 percent of women. Nine percent of men also posted their address compared to 4 percent of women.

"This reaction could result in a complete stranger potentially being able to learn about a person's interests, location and movements in and out of their home," said Legal & General.

Reformed burglar Michael Fraser, who appears in BBC's "Beat The Burglar" series and helped Legal & General prepare the report, said this kind of information was being used by professional burglars to establish a list of targets.

As well as information about trips away, people were posting party photos showing the interiors of homes and also chatting about their cool new purchases and presents.

"I call it "Internet shopping for burglars." It is incredibly easy to use social networking sites to target people, and then scope out more information on their actual home ... all from the comfort of the sofa," said Fraser in a statement.

"There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that burglars are using social networks to develop relationships with people to identify likely targets."

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith, Editing by Miral Fahmy)

© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved

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via reuters.com

This is not the first article I've seen about this phenomenon. Be careful what you post and what you share in your profile!