I really have grown to like the format of the group blog I write for. I’m going to try following that format here because frankly, it’s a nice way to keep up-to-date. I find writing original posts about the work I’m doing an incredible learning experience (but very time consuming making posting few and far between). I’ll continue to post original work. My process for writing daily commentary: Scan ~100 blogs in my reader "Star" those I find interesting Post and schedule them to post at a particular time each day I find that this process and schedule keeps me disciplined. I’ll be posting my choice daily finding and will be scheduling them for late-in-the-day publication. I’ve created multiple folders in Google Reader to make this manageable. I think there’s a real need for content curation such as this. Enjoy! I welcome feedback.

I’ve presented on the topic of the micro movement as it pertains to learning. Microlearning shows up as fragmented and smaller courses and conversations that are getting smaller, faster, "more." This micro movement happens in nearly all industries - music and mass media are two that come to mind. I generally start my microlearning presentation with a music example: Albums> Singles > Remixes and Ringtones. Here’s a couple of examples of humorous photo micro niche site. The first is the The "Blog" of  "Unnecessary" Quotation Markets. The second, a blog about the People of  Wal-Mart. The third, a blog called My Parents Were Awesome. All of these sites use submitted content from others. (Another trend.) Yup, a blog that features photos of instances where unnecessary quotation marks, a blog that features bizarre people in Wal-Mart stores, and a blog with photos of  parents being awesome. Brace yourself for the second one because it is downright disturbing. You’ve been warned : )  Enjoy! Photo 1: The "blog of "unnecessary" quotation marks Photo 2: People of Wal-Mart Photo 3: My Parents Were Awesome fake degrees | the "blog" of "unnecessary" quotation marks | Bethany Keely | January 18 2010 and I thought I told you to stay in the truck | People of Wal-Mart | January 18 2010 and Minda My Parents Were Awesome Submitted by Adina January 18, 2010

First of all, I love AJ Leon’s hair. Second, I have not yet seen George Clooney’s "Up in the Air."  What do these two things have in common? Nothing really (because I don’t have much to say about George Clooney’s hair). However, AJ’s review of TripIt makes me think that if George Clooney’s character wasn’t using TripIt, he should have been. How’s that for a tie in? Frankly, I always felt a little creepy seeing someone’s TripIt update on LinkedIn or where ever. Very stalkish I thought. Maybe that’s just my lame paranoia associated with seeing media stories about women traveling alone. Tripit App Review from AJ Leon on Vimeo. Organizing Your Travel with TripIt | workshifting.com | AJ Leon | January 18 2010

I agree with Jason Falls that Twitter is mainly a conversational platform. I market as a ‘conversationalist’ sometimes even going to the left of that to a spot maybe called ‘you can really do it wrong.’ : ) He gives some great examples (real people and brands) so if you’re wondering what to say and how to say it without being an asshole, you could study their styles and find one you (and you company) are comfortable with. Four Styles of Marketing on Twitter | Social Media Explorer | Jason Falls | January 18 2010

James Urquhart shares a paper by David A. Couillard that addresses the fourth amendment and cloud computing. The paper is a concise but thorough outline of where we stand with respect to the application of Fourth Amendment law to Internet computing. It finishes by introducing a highly logical framework for evaluating the application of the Fourth Amendment to cases involving cloud-based data. Couillard’s framework: [T]he service provider has a copy of the keys to a user’s cloud "storage unit," much like a landlord or storage locker owner has keys to a tenant’s space, a bank has the keys to a safe deposit box, and a postal carrier has the keys to a mailbox. Yet that does not give law enforcement the authority to use those third parties as a means to enter a private space. The same rationale should apply to the cloud. In some circumstances, such as search engine queries, the third party is clearly an interested party to the communication. But when content data, passwords, or URLs are maintained by a service provider in a relationship more akin to that of landlord-tenant, such as private Google accounts, any such data that the provider is not directly interested in should not be understood to be open to search via consent or a waiver of Fourth Amendment protection. Does the Fourth Amendment cover ‘the cloud’? The Wisdom of Clouds James Urquhart January 17, 2009 (via Mike Gotta)

First, you’ll need to view this on full screen so click on it and open full screen in Slideshare. 10 essays of ideas and thought starters from a global assortment of Edelman executives. The 10 essays: Disruption-Proof Business,  The Valley of Abandonment, ‘Location, Location, Location, ‘ Asian Mobile Marketing Goes Off the Hook, Be Now or You Will Never Be, The New Morning Paper, Converging Divergence, Journalism Strikes Back, and The Data Decade. Great reading. 10 Ideas For The New Decade View more documents from David Armano. 10 Ideas For The New Decade | Logic + Emotion | David Armano | January 19 2010

It helps to look at social media on a communications timeline. Tammy Erickson does just that noting the advent of writing, the printing press, the telex (early telephone), the Internet, and now, the next evolution of the Internet "Web 2.0″ (social media). Erickson notes the significant resistance associated with past advances: Early assessments of the telephone predicted that it would be used primarily for social, non-business applications. What business would want to use a technology that provides no permanent record of a conversation, when the telex was available as a dependable alternative? Initial assessments of what became the core technology for Xerox completely missed the mark — no one could imagine why any business would need copies of a document. It’s hard to envision the usefulness of new ways of communicating, and easy to dismiss new technologies as frivolous. Yup. She says, "each time our communication capability expands, several predictable things occur: namely increased scope and richness of interactions and perhaps more importantly, the effect it has on "organization, power, and how we get things done." Summarizing the 1951 work, The Bias of Communication, she notes how predictions by the writer, Harold Adams Innis reflect trends of today. The Moment Social Media Became Serious Business | Harvard Business Review | Tammy Erickson | January 19 2009

There were several postings today and yesterday about Forrester Research’s update to their Social Technographics Ladder. They’ve added a new category - the conversationalist. They define the conversationalist as someone who updates their status on a social networking site and/or posts updates on Twitter. Among US adults who are online, they make up 33%. Jason Falls’ shares some interesting numbers from the Forrester report in his post, Apparently, It Was All About The Conversation: inactives (those who do none of the listed activities) dropped from 52% in 2006 to just 17% in the last quarter of 2009 creators jumped from 13% to 24% in the same time frame critics jumped from 19% to 37% collectors jumped from 15% to 20% joiners jumped from 19% to 59% (wow!) I did the second of three presentations today, one of the few local presentations I’ve done, for a small business social networking group. Doing "introduction"-type  presentations is always a good way to update data. I wish I had shared that this today - maybe next week. It’s one of those ‘why you should care’ graphics. Make sure you check out the comments too for some interesting observations. Apparently, It Was All About the Conversation | Social Media Explorer | Jason Falls | January 20 2010

This is just what I needed - clarification on Facebook pages, groups, and profiles. Thanks to Eliza Sherman, for this straightforward explanation. Profile = Individuals connect with friends and see (and share or tag) their status updates in a News Feed. You can be removed under Facebook’s terms of service, something I wrote about before in Avatarcide, when a friend who is an avatar in SecondLife was booted from Facebook. It’s complex. Page = A fan base for individuals, products, companies, organizations, and campaigns. People become FANS of pages. This is good for promotion and are fully viewable to the public (even when not logged in). Administrators are not visible. Group = For building a community. Administrators are listed. You can send a message to the entire group (something you can’t do on a page). Additional details are on her post along with a nice reference table (below). THANKS! Facebook Pages, Groups and Profiles Explained | Web Worker Daily | Aliza Sherman | January 19 2010

Via Brent MacKinnon, a pecha kucha video by Mark Schenk about complexity. Mark uses Dave Snowden’s Cynefin model to explain complexity and chaos. Key points for organizations looking to solve complex problems: numbers are not enough - you need to understand patterns experimentation is vital little things have a huge impact The Case for Complexity, the Pecha Kucha way | Anecdote | Mark Schenk | July 16, 2009 (via Brent MacKinnon)