Archive for April, 2006

• 4.19.06 "Writing with personality & passion" is posted in Reflections

As my second round of writing-for-the-internet has gone underway, I’m struggling to carve out a niche–especially on technotheory. I’ve always been a writer and I’ve always had topics, but strangely there seems to be a disconnect. Alluding to the previous post, I think that disconnect is quality. That is, even with all the crap, there’s a lot of great writing online, and it’s tough to compete with.

For the moment, the writer I’m most enamored with is Kathy Sierra. She writes reflectively about technology, science, and business….but rather than covering current events, her Creating Passionate Users blog looks at seemingly innocuous topics in very different perspectives. But what truly separates her from the masses (at least for me) is that she expresses herself with personality, both in terms of her writing and the quirky diagrams she includes with most of her entries. While most people tone down their writing to make it more “professional,” her conversational style is inviting without losing its cogency. Here’s an example from a recent post titled, “When only the glib win, we all lose…“:

Let’s face it–the clever, witty, glib talkers can make the non-clever, non-witty, and non-glib sound like slow dolts. Slow-to-articulate is mistaken for slow-in-the-head. And as the world speeds up and decisions have to be made right frickin’ NOW, it just gets worse.

So there’s the heart of the problem–if you’re not able to explain your thoughts, ideas, and concerns quickly and articulately, you are often at a disadvantage. I’ve been there. I am there. I’m capable of thinking (some would debate that), willing to do the research, and reasonably articulate. But I need time! I have never been one of those think-on-your-feet types. With the exception of those few things in which I have a lot of expertise and experience, I pretty much suck at having to explain, defend, or promote something in real-time.

I have a similar feeling about Kate’s blog, “a cat and twenty.” (more…)

• 4.15.06 "Is it a competition?" is posted in Reflections, Work & Career

I don’t know for whom the realization was more startling when H said to me the other day, “wow, I didn’t know you were competitive.” We were in the basement at my dad’s house, playing pool and air hockey with Bobby & Jaimie. My sister let out a laugh at H’s comment, and I had a wry grin on my face: oh, if she only knew…

There are times when the competition is internal–trying to be better at some task or looking for some feeling of accomplishment. But then there’s an innate drive to prove something to someone else, and to be the best, whatever that means.

In this world where barriers keep collapsing, it’s more difficult than ever to be the best. The internet and frequent travel may make it easier to make a name for oneself, but it also makes it more apparent who is still leagues above. Where it was once possible to feel proud, humbling oneself is now as simple as typing a few keystrokes on google or the social networking site of one’s choice.

The only answer that I’ve come up with is (more…)

• 4.12.06 "Two follow-ups to the protests in France…" is posted in News

After Tuesday’s immigrant protests in many major US cities, there has been a great deal of comparison between their protesting and the young French. I don’t have too much more to say than what I wrote here, but I’d like to point to two much more informed pieces.

Kirk McElhearn, a “native New Yorker ” who has lived in France for over 20 years, has a rather clear and cogent perspective on the striking. From his article:

The French have a curious relationship with work. Recent polls have shown that some two-thirds to three-quarters of French youth would prefer a cushy civil servant job, guaranteed for life with good retirement benefits, over other options. While there are entrepreneurs in France, they remain under the radar, and a majority of French university students would never consider taking the risk of starting their own businesses. This suggests that an entire generation is averse to taking risks; not only do they want an iron rice-bowl as soon as they start working, but they don’t want to take chances creating businesses and having more control over their lives.

Steven Pearlstein, of the Washington Post, today published an opinion piece on the differing nature of the protests here and in France:

In one country, millions of hard-working people who earn modest wages and have no job security march to demand the right to continue participating in the global economy.

In another, millions of people without jobs and fearful of the global economy march to demand that, if and when they get a job, it comes with a 35-hour workweek, five weeks of vacation, mandatory profit-sharing, retirement at age 60 and the right never to be relocated, fired or demoted.