Being a Keeper Of The Flame- A new experience around every corner.

Lately I have been doing some serious soul searching... What is it that motivates me? What is it that I crave out of life? As part of this quest, I started reading "Keeper Of The Flame: How to inspire others on the cusp of change" by Mike Lipkin, and I'm really glad that I am. Sometimes we get so caught up in our own little world of ups and downs, we start to lose sight of the big picture. This is your classic "missing the forest through the trees analogy". But as I read this book, I am beginning to realize that my ultra optimistic attitude and dissatisfaction with the status quo doesn't make me crazy, it makes me a keeper of the flame... a source of light for both myself and others.

Ok, so I'm not quite a motivational speaker yet, but who knows.. maybe one day! Anyways, as part of this journey to live on the cusp of change, I thought I would participate in an online discussion during a live webcast of one of my favorite shows; The Agenda with Steve Paiken (http://www.tvo.org/cfmx/tvoorg/theagenda). Ok, this show is likely not something your average 20-something would watch, but I'm a geek, and a geek who is interested in world issues. I actually am upset that I missed yesterdays episode on the Web 3.0, but I digress.

I started off by watching the show from the comfort of my couch and Twittering my comments to the Agenda's online chat run by one of the producers, Mike Miner. Then I realized I was sending out my comments, but I wasn't getting in on what other people were saying... so I migrated to my computer room. (sidebar: yes, I know that I am living in the stone age by not having a TV in plain viewing space as my TV... one day when I can afford a second TV). I started participating in the chat, and I was a bit shocked to see that less than 10 people were interacting in the conversation on the site. I had to ask myself, is this show that obscure, or maybe people are just watching the comments as they go by? Either way, we had some great conversation and Steve even answered my question during the live webcast after the on air show (this is when only having 10 people is sweet!)... which I thought was super cool.

I exchanged a few private messages with the moderator/producer, and then decided this guy was super legit so I decide to follow him on Twitter so I could get the latest scoop on my show (@mikeminer). After this great experience I had interacting with a "traditional" media outlet, I wondered how I could continue my journey of being a keeper of the flame and continue experiencing new things.

Sure, a chat online with a TV show producer isn't ground breaking, but it's the first time I did it and its a first step in many of inspiring others on the cusp of change. Maybe the next step is volunteering to help at the show... that would be pretty cool I think. Heck, maybe I could even convince them to get Don Tapscott on the show so I could shake his hand... stay tuned to see what I can pull off.

My Favourite New Site

Kudos to Google Reader and Engadget for picking this doozy up for me. This site allows you to create a quick, minimalist site and link your standard social media tools to it. You can import your own background, set your fonts/colours, and voila! an easy website is up and running.

I must admit there is limited functionality at this time, but hopefully once they get their idea off the ground more features will be added. Some suggestions include adding the more obscure social sites as well as allowing you to adjust how big the text boxes are.

Until then though, I'm pretty content with what I put together in about 15 minutes.
http://flavors.me/coreytyhurst

Oh yes, there is also a premium feature for $20/year that allows you to track trends and include contact info, so this could definitely serve as an electronic business card/CV of sorts if you choose.

Falling Off The Face Of The Earth

I have not fallen off the face of the planet... although judging by my internet presence over the last week one could believe that!

Honestly, I have just been very busy with work/personal things. After my trip to Vancity/Calgary last week, I spent the whole (short) week at work catching up on administrative stuff, as well as connecting with some of my coworkers on the projects that we have all committed to. IN addition, my gf was on her reading week so when push comes to shove, she is more important my some silly blog.

But its Sunday, I'm back, and I'm hoping that this week I will be able to get back in the groove of writing about the latest happenings in the world. Since this is clearly a random post with no specific topic, I will leave you with the following for entertainment...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOZBU257ERE

Enjoy!

Google Is Going To Take Over The World

This is great news from Google that really exemplifies my point a few days ago about web based applications being the future of "productivity" technology. Why store something on a computer I can only access in one location when I can store it on a secure server that I can access from anywhere with practically zero downtime? 

Unfortunately, the current state of broadband in North America is not ready to support the grandiose ideas of the smartest programmers/web developers on the planet... Well, I think it's no surprise that Google is already working on a solution... they will host their own internet services! 

See more details here:

http://www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi

There's a few things I like about this... first of all, they are doing pilots to really learn their way into an industry that they don't fully understand. This cautious optimism is nice to see from a super successful company like Google ripe with cash to blow. Secondly, Google has had a long standing stance on net-neutrality, which rocks. For those of you who aren't familiar with net neutrality, its basically the concept that no one should control what you can and cannot see online... 1st amendment lovers unite! Seriously though... Google net neutrality and read up on it... its important.

There will always be the naysayers... "Oh, Google is going to have a monopoly on all of our online services and now they will even have a monopoly on the internet itself." 

Newsflash... Google already owns some serious face, and guess what, big companies with big market only get their by being better than their competition. Besides, we let way worse monopolies (or in practice oligopolies) everyday... Would anyone care to fill up their car with some oil from a non-oligopoly company? Better get out your french fry oil!

Here's how I see it. People want faster internet with more capacity... hell, in my student house of 6 people we had to upgrade to the business internet from Cogeslow just so that we wouldn't go over our limit every month! The demand is there, Google is trying to figure out how to fill it... which just happens to be a complimentary (and necessary) business in order to grow their core business of selling advertising. More to traffic to Google sites = more ad revenue. It's a simple equation, and if at the end of the day it means faster internet with more capacity to take on the web tools of tomorrow... count me in.

The True Story Of Business Travel

I have to travel for work, and I love it, but it's like not because of the reasons you think. When I tell people that I had to go to Vancouver/Calgary this week everyone is like "ooh, you get to go to Vancouver and see the Olympics!".... WRONG!

When I say I'm travelling for business... thats what I'm doing. I'm not out seeing the sights or taking in the great nightlife of where I am... time just doesn't allow. Let's use my last trip to Montreal as an example: Flight was at 7:30am... got in at 8:45, presentation from 9 until 1pm, store checks until 5pm, and then my flight back at 6:45pm. Where was I supposed to enjoy the hustle and bustle of Montreal!? I'm really not complaining, I'm just trying to impress upon people that travelling for work is not some glorious vacation! I cringe when I think of the jet lag I'm going to have on Friday when I return.

So, now that is cleared up... I have to admit that flying to Van/Calgary is a little ironic given how I blog about how technology can change the world and alter the face of business! I'm sure I could easily do these meetings as a web conference and save a bunch of money, but you also have to consider the audience, and definitely avoid underestimating the value of a face to face meeting (or a phone call for that matter). Sometimes the old fashioned way is the most effectively solution.

Funny How Priorities Change In Life

I would classify myself has a night owl.... DEFINITELY not a morning person. It beats me how I managed to get hooked up with a girlfriend who loves the morning more than life itself! However, I think its been a great influence on me. First of all, I have to get up early for work anyways, so really all I needed was an attitude change towards the mornings. Second of all, she introduced me to coffee... and while I still don't like the idea of being dependent on it to have a great morning, it really does help.

I'm writing about this on this fine morning because i woke up at 8am with out an alarm (mind you this is sleeping in compared to weekdays) and cleaned my entire apartment b/c some friends are coming over around lunch. If you had asked me 12 months ago if I would be getting up at 8am to tidy up and scrub toilets, I would have called you crazy... but alas, here we are.... now I wonder how I can get this done via the internet?

Don't want to make this too much of a rant... but I do want to say this: It was a very tough adjustment going from university life (sleep whenever, getup whenever, party whenever) to a more structured work week... but once you make the change (I think it was about 4-5 months before my body started becoming agreeable), it is glorious!! I've already been up for 2 hours... my place is clean, I can do whatever I want for the next couple hours, and then I still have the whole day ahead of me.... plus the buzz from the coffee helps!

POINT: Everyone once in a while, embrace the morning and be happy you are alive!

Why My Mom

Why My Mom’s Next Computer Is Going To Be An iPad

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Attention To Detail Fail

Just as an FYI to my glorious fans.... if you click the title to any of my posts there's a link to a related site/picture/tune!

Enjoy.

UPDATE: I now am just going to embed pictures right into the post... There still could be relevant links in the title, but after some asking around I found out that no immediately goes to the title... and why not make it easy for my glorious 3 fans?

How My Online Life Got Her Groove Back

This past week has been intense in my online life... I've started a blog (2 followers strong!!), was compromised by an addon manager program for WoW (now I have all new passwords on EVERYTHING), set up a shared Google calendar with my favourite lady (love you babe!), and I've actually started organizing all of the files I have on my computer that I just save where ever due to laziness and an over-abundance of hard drive space.

I'd say its been a productive week! For one, this Blog gives me something to do when I get home aside from veg out on chips and video games, although that is my preferred course of action after a long day at work. Another good thing is that it's making me feel more in touch with the outside world again... which I think is great!

My next steps are to create a real to-do list of things to finish organizing my online world. I need to finish filing all of those documents I mentioned on my computer, I'd like to organize all of the great business ideas that always come to me into some sort of cohesive idea sheet, try my hand at finding a good RSS reader and setting that up, and I really need to jump into my recently revived Second Life account to see what all the hype is about. And on top of that, I likely need to do some work this weekend as I'm gone from Tues-Fri in Vancouver/Calgary for work.

I don't even want to talk about the RL stuff that I need to do... *cringes at the thought of scrubbing toilets and ironing*

PS: Van/Calgary for work is not as glorious as it sounds... its multiple flight hours, minimal sleep, and I'll be inside about 90% of the time giving presentations... so don't be jealous!

Keeping Up With The Times Seems Impossible Now That I'm In The Real World

I was sitting in my window office... err... cubicle this morning and Microsoft Outlook (ewww) informed me that the book I had ordered for the research department at work was in! Grown Up Digital, the latest book from Dan Tapscott is a followup to one of my favourite books ever, Growing Up Digital: The Rise of The Net Generation. OK, enough plugs... the point is, Dan Tapscott is one of the few people in the Baby Boom generation who recognize the massive wave of change that my generation has been unleashing (and will continue to unleash) on the world... and he predicted it all before YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter even existed!

So, as I'm beginning to read this book, waiting for my corporate issue computer to chug through some mandatory upgrade which I know for a fact won't make it faster, I can't help but wonder what I'm missing out on in the digital world. I'm reading this book and it's talking about N-Geners who have multiple RSS feeds, speak to their whole family around the world on Skype, and read about 50 blogs per week. I've used an RSS feed, I'll read a blog here or there, but I've never talked to anyone on Skype (especially not family... I'll pass). Am I somehow falling behind in technology already? I've only been out of school for about a year, how can this happen?

I blame closed mindedness. I love my job, and I love my company, but honestly, it pains me to use my work computer. When I log onto Facebook, it tells me that support for my browser is being phased out and I need to upgrade... can I upgrade? Of course not! When I want to look up where I'm going FOR A WORK TRIP on Google maps... does my computer lock up? Of course it does! Even more painful, when I first started I had the option of downloading firefox (albeit an outdated version)... that ended about 2 days after I installed it and my computer became useless.

Don't get me wrong, I completely understand why we have the systems we do. If everyone has the same computer running the same software, blah blah blah then everything runs smoother. Here's the problem... companies who are moving forward with technology have realized that the future of the workplace is web based. Google Docs, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Google Wave..... there are all the tools of the future and you can run them off of any computer, even the crappy one at your local library.

POINT: I'm not here to complain about my technology at work... I'm here to make a point using my situation as an example that companies need to be thinking about web based options for their systems if they plan on impressing the workers of the Net Generation. If I want to blow the coin and get myself a mac to use at my cube, why the heck not!? Sure, there's always going to be some type of mandatory security software that needs to be installed, but technology openness is what I demand!

PS: A 17 inch screen is NOT suitable as a second monitor. 26 inch or go home IMO.

Airlines vs. Real Estate- The Real Estate boards are heading for a wake up call.

As I settled in yesterday for my 45 minute flight from Ottawa to Toronto, I was pleasantly surprised when the Air Canada attendent handed me the Saturday edition of the Globe and Mail. I get most of my news online, but even this techno-geek can appreciate reading a newspaper on a plane!

As I leafed through the pages for something work reading, I came across this great article in the business section about how the internet has unlocked the mysteries of the real estate market for many in the US by essentially removing the information assymetry in the market. For those non economics orientated folks, this means that the information is no longer controlled by experts (agents), but is available to all freely. This "democratization of information" enabled by the internet is one of my favourite topics to read about, because it has some profound implications on how business and governments operate. This topic is talked about extensively in one of my favourite books "Growing up Digital: Rise of the Net Generation" (look for my review of the sequel soon once I get a chance to read it). Excuse my ranting, I'm a bit off topic here...

The article goes on to explain how the real estate boards across Canada are resisting this change at any and all costs, because it is a threat to their business models... how ridiculous. The article goes further to explain that the argument from real estate boards is that Canada may be too small of a market for online real estate databases to work... give me a break.This ridiculousness was amplified when I switched over to the next page and read a frank discussion on how the iPad will likely not save the traditional publishing industry. I'm no Mac fanboy, but I do believe that the Apple business model is solid... embrace change, and profit from it! The iPad article goes on to explain how Apple, Google, and Microsoft have created shareholder value by investing in innovation, and changing with the times, while traditional publishing companies who resisted the change (think newspapers and magazines) are struggling to keep their heads above water. I can give another example of how another industry made the exact same mistake in one word: Napster.

The irony comes in when I began to think about the plane I was sitting on... I found my tickets online (and searched for the best price/time combination), purchased them online, had to option to check in online, and I could even print my own baggage tickets so I wouldn't have to wait in line at all, save the infamous security line. My question then became, if the airline industry, a capital intensive and low margin business can move their operations online (likely out of necessity after 9/11), what is stopping the real estate boards? The answer? Closed mindedness.

My message to the Canadian estate boards: Go ask any airline executive if their legal tactics stopped priceline.com or selloffvacations.com from being successful. Better yet, go ask any book publisher if they were able to stop Amazon from launching the Kindle e-reader... get with the times or your industry is going to have a very rough go of it in the next few years.

EDIT: I'm new to this still, so my link didn't show up. here are the articles i was referring to:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/the-battle-to-unlock-the-housing-market/article1450088/
http://v1.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20100129.escenic_1449996/BNStory/DEREK+DECLOET