Archive for April, 2006

Campaign manager resigns amid Wikipedia flap

CNN.com - Campaign manager resigns amid Wikipedia flap - Apr 26, 2006

Secretary of State Cathy Cox’s opponent, Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor, said Cox campaign manager Morton Brilliant altered an online encyclopedia entry to include a reference to Taylor’s son being arrested for DUI after an accident that killed his passenger.

If more things like this happen we will see more honestly in the reporting of information on Wiki-pedia. Let’s hope they don’t go too far.

27 April, 2006 | No comments

Wikis and blogs transforming workflow

Wikis and blogs transforming workflow

Where e-mail and enterprise content management systems fall short, enterprise blogs and wikis shine as indispensable communication tools. Experts say CIOs should be looking at these Web-based tools not as renegade applications but as lightweight liberators that boost productivity throughout an organization.

Wow, where to start on this great article. The author clearly sees the potential that Wikis and Blogs have to transform the organization and cites some excellent examples. But Wikis and Blogs are a new paradigm, so they have faced some organizational resistance, I mean “that’s not the way we have always done it.” Even in academic environments, there is resistance to change. But the current workforce needs to beware. The up and coming one doesn’t think twice about these things.

nd the have another great article (Corporate blogging builds customer loyalty, worker efficiency) which examines how two companies are using blogs to leverage customer relations and even Microsoft has benefited from blogs.

26 April, 2006 | No comments

Judge: Surfing Web at Work No Big Deal

FOXNews.com - Judge: Surfing Web at Work No Big Deal - Science And Technology News | News On Technology

“It should be observed that the Internet has become the modern equivalent of a telephone or a daily newspaper, providing a combination of communication and information that most employees use as frequently in their personal lives as for their work,”

Interesting ruling and I agree with it. Although one might argue that surfing the internet uses corporate resource. Well so does playing solitair on the computer and if one reads the newspaper and then leaves it laying around a cleaning person has to discard it, which also technically uses corporate resources. A colleague at Auburn once gave a good piece of advice… don’t do anything on the internet you would not do in real life. Would you look at ESPN the magazine in your office? Then espn.com is acceptable. Would you place a personal phone call? Then chatting with a friend or e-mail a friend is acceptable. I think the judge got it right.

24 April, 2006 | No comments

Suspect blogged about cannibalism

CNN.com - Suspect blogged about cannibalism - Apr 16, 2006
PURCELL, Oklahoma (AP) — The man accused of killing a 10-year-old neighbor girl for an elaborate plan to eat human flesh joked about cannibalism on his online diary, discussed the effects of not taking his anti-depression medication and mentioned “dangerously weird” fantasies.

Not something fun to post, but it does show how at times Blogs can be too informal and people may not realize what they are posting. It is great that they aid in solving a crime, but it shows that we all need to be aware about what is out there.

17 April, 2006 | No comments

How I Work: Bill Gates

How I Work: Bill Gates - Apr. 7, 2006

The screen on the left has my list of e-mails. On the center screen is usually the specific e-mail I’m reading and responding to. And my browser is on the right-hand screen. This setup gives me the ability to glance and see what new has come in while I’m working on something, and to bring up a link that’s related to an e-mail and look at it while the e-mail is still in front of me.

While I am not a big gates fan, it is interesting to see how MS has changed the way we work and who else would be on the cutting edge, but Bill.

I’m not big on to-do lists. Instead, I use e-mail and desktop folders and my online calendar. So when I walk up to my desk, I can focus on the e-mails I’ve flagged and check the folders that are monitoring particular projects and particular blogs.

8 April, 2006 | No comments