It Is What It Is ...

my (angirankin's) tweetcloud

2008-04-11T06:47:00.001-07:00

Flickr Photo Download: my (angirankin's) tweetcloud

well, it is official ... myself, sharepoint, work, and samnagle are my most tweet-worthy topics. Is that a cause for concern do you think??? hey, ya'll, angirankin rocks - you should follow her on Twitter if you want to learn ... more about angirankin. =P

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Ha! BlackBerry - You Almost Got Me ... But Once Again MS Pulls Me Back In

2008-04-01T17:53:00.001-07:00

Windows Mobile 6.1 – New Windows Mobile Software for Pocket PC and Smartphone

If I haven't made it clear enough thus far in my previous blog posts, I have a strong overwhelming desire to acquire new technology on a consistently regular basis. When I am forced to trudge along with the same laptop, mobile device, or mp3 hardware for over a month I get itchy ... 2 months and I start surfing CNET with drool running down my face ... 3 months and I can barely function for the green-eyed monster I become looking @ my coworkers new MacBook Air or iPhone.

There was a time when I replaced my mobile device every other month on average (timeline below spans about 9 months) :

Device #1 / Motorola Razr: dropped in toilet
Device #2 / Blackberry 7290: replaced after a month (became obsessed with a Sidekick)
Device #3 / Sidekick: replaced after 2 months (Sidekick 2 released)
Device #4 / Sidekick 2: covered with swarovski crystals (shut up peanut gallery), replaced after 2 months because it couldn't receive corporate email
Device #5 / Blackberry 8700g: sensible device (tool not a toy), got bored after 1 month and upon my new obsession with TBYL w/ Outlook 2007 (made weak explanation that I needed a Windows Mobile 6 device to fully adopt the principles of the book)
Device #6 / T-Mobile Wing w. Windows Mobile 6: This was one of the first Windows Mobile 6 devices and I have had it for about 3-4 months. It is slow. It is clunky. The battery life sucks. And I am B-O-R-E-D with it.

So the mobile device dude @ work had pretty much convinced me to return to Blackberry ... when I caught the news that Windows Mobile 6.1 is released... the website promises an easier and faster interface. And I realize it's just a .1 upgrade ... and the promised features/upgrades aren't all that fantastic, but it will justify (at least in my mind) getting a new device ... and we won't be able to get corporate email on iPhones until at least July (if even then)... so let's see, if I get a new Windows Mobile 6.1 device in the next month, I will be totes ready for something new again come July / August.

Perfect! Review of whatever I get pending =P

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... still Taking Back My Life w. Outlook 2007 ...

2008-03-31T18:34:00.001-07:00

Time for a TBYL check-in ... see, I refuse to leave you hanging out there wondering if maybe I am keeping up on things, or if maybe I'm not ... I have committed to seeing this through and therefore I gift you with a view of my awesome inbox:

yah ... so as you can see indicated by the 140 emails in my inbox (including 32 unread messages) ... as well as my bright red tasks (that means overdue =) ... I have not completely kept up on the TBYL principals, however, I am doing better! Perhaps real changes in my life need to be reached after long winding roads where I make small gains and have the occasional set back. hmmm ... that could be an angirankin life lesson (will have to think on that).

Needless to say, the image above was my "before" as of 3:11pm on 3/30/08. And below is my "after" as of 3:31pm ... a whole lot less email and a whole lot more tasks.

And here, my friends - is what my calendar for the week now looks like (I dutifully booked out time to attend to my major strategic next actions).

And now, 3 hours later - I am proud to say that I just addressed my inbox again and it is still gloriously empty.... however, I did not address about 8 of my assigned SNAs for today - so it may be time to revisit how much care I am putting into scheduling out my time to complete the individual actions.*smile*

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woot! SL Blog is Back In Business

2008-03-31T16:19:00.001-07:00

Finally released from lock down, thanks to BiggestFan for the head's up that my SL Blog is available once again (yah, duh, Blogger - I am not a spammer - eesh).

Anyways, I published the draft posts I had from the last week ... and some of them are way long and rambleee so if you go there make sure you bring to cup of coffee and like I dunno a game of mahjong or something to entertain yourself.

word-life-son.

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SL Documentary Video ...

2008-03-31T06:03:00.001-07:00

This youtube video is pretty old, but it's actually pretty good. I originally expected it to be totally about making fun of SLers ... but it is actually what seems like a fairly honest exploration of the game play and psychology behind some SL residents. That said, some of these ppl are ... er ... well, make your own conclusions. The video is long but worth it, and the real stuff (past credits) starts @ about one minute in.

ps. obviously my SL blog is still down, if you care rest assured ... I have been blogging in draft format all along and will be mass posting once it is released from lock down.

Embedded Video

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Website I Am Excited About Right Now: Goodreads

2008-03-30T15:52:00.001-07:00

Goodreads | it's what your friends are reading!

Woot! Always on the look-out for something new to scope on the web (not new to the web, but new to me) ... I just came across a site that combines two of my loves: online social networking and books. goodreads is a site where you (and your friends) can share recommendations, ratings, and reviews of books you have read or are going to read. Using the super simple "bookshelf" tools you can also save books to your "to-read" shelf as a way to organize what you want to crack open next. Recommendations are made to you based on the books you have read/rated - and of course you can add friends to your list based on similar likes/dislikes.

I like to think of this site as an online book club without the commitment or the requirement to invite people to your house =) ... so far I don't have any friends so if you join, add me! (wow that sounded a lil desperate ...)

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Mobility Package - Wish I Could Remember the Whole Letter!

2008-03-29T21:56:00.001-07:00

Well, our return train trip wasn't quite as eventful as the outbound trip, but while my daughter watched a movie I allowed my thoughts to drift back to my conversation with SquarePants on the way to Seattle a few days ago. Blerg ... as always, dwelling on what is past - I am beating myself up about not getting some kind of copy of the letter that went with SquarePant's Mobility Package.

I have been putting some thought into it and I think there were some misses on that letter, but it could be that I just skimmed over them because they are so obvious.

IM
Online Networking Sites (SP? Facebook?) / presence management
Conferencing Information (Audio / web)

So if I were to build the perfect Mobility Package I think it would consist of the following:

Blackberry 8830 World Edition / Verizon Business Service w/ unlimited text, international calling, and unlimited data

yes - I would choose a Blackberry, I have had multiple Blackberrys and multiple Windows Mobile Devices ... if I had it to do all over again in a corporate environment it would be crackberry all the way. That said, if an iPhone were currently viable in corporate land I would fully toss one of those in there - because then the new employees would know how dang cool our company was.

IBM Thinkpad

rugged and reliable (as a person who has dropped her share of laptops, IBMs stand up to the klutz test)
w/ wireless broadband card

Software Authentication VPN Access (no need to carry a stupid token)
Corporate Instant Messaging ... MSN Messenger

If the company uses MS office suite, I would encourage use of the integrated messenger service for presence management

Twitter

okay, I really want to say Facebook here ... for community networking and status updates, but I am going out on a limb and saying just use Twitter. Twitter is tons lighter, and much faster. I know it isn't all the rage yet, but I have a feeling it will be ....

Audio / Web Conferencing: Integrated into IM?

You know, ideally all 3 - IM, micro-blogging, and audio/web conferencing would be presented in a single package - but nothing too heavy or expensive. I am not an expert on this by any means so instead I will just say that it is a worthwhile concept.

Okay, so those are the things I would suggest for a mobility package, as well as links to training resources (online) and also the dreaded printed hand outs for initial configuration. At the training resource online location I would also set the frameworks for community user groups, so that employees using the tools could showcase what they do for others. It would be a place where new employees could get help or utilization ideas.

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Ha! LOLlin ...

2008-03-29T07:17:00.001-07:00

This cracks me up in many ways, plus I love this song. I needed a laugh today =)

Embedded Video

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More Hilarious SL Humor

2008-03-28T15:58:00.001-07:00

sigh - my other blog is still locked down, what's the dealio Blogger???

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Just .. Can't ... Stay ... Away ... SuitBob SquarePants

2008-03-28T09:44:00.001-07:00

Hello Ya'll ... I guess I knew yesterday when I posted that I might be away for a few days thatI wouldn't be able to stick to it =P

Besides, in our grand travels from P-Town to Seattle I had a topical conversation for this blog. As luck would have it, my daughter and I ended up sitting across from a suited guy who was extremely harassed and distracted by the multiple beeps and buzzes emitting from various parts of his body. In addition, he had forgotten his power adapter for his laptop and I was kind enough to offer my own (oh Dell, your adapters are so compatible). So turns out this dude ... let's call him SquarePants ... just got a job @ a large company based out of Seattle (company shall remain nameless). On his first day he was given what they called his "Mobility Package" and was told that it was his responsibility to utilize those tools to be 100% accessible at all times. I am not sure if this was an exaggeration on his part, but he seemed panicked enough about it that I tend to believe it is true.

What Is A Mobility Package???
Always the inquiring mind, I asked if I could take a look @ this alleged technological leash ... he said sure, and maybe I could answer some questions for him. Not feeling entirely confident that I was the correct person for that job I asked him if he was directed to anyone @ the company who could help train him or get him setup using these tools. "No" he said ... as he handed me a sheet of paper and said "Read this". Okay, first of all, I was soooo tempted to snap a pic of the stuff he showed me, but I didn't want to put him in a weird spot so you will just have to put your imagination hats on and use my imagery.

Welcome Letter
Wow, what a welcome ... I don't have it verbatim by any means but generally it was as follows:

"Welcome to XXXXX,

Enclosed you will find the following:

Blackberry Mobile Device & Manual (device and service chosen based on your company role)

Device: Blackberry World Edition 8830
Plan: Verizon Enterprise Corporate Voice & Data (Int'l Included)

Notebook Computer & Mobile Accesories

Dell Latitude D630

Wireless Broadband Access Card

Passwords (it is your responsibility to change your initial passwords):

BIOS: XXXXX
Network Username & password:XXXXX / XXXXX
SalesForce: XXXXX
.. there were some others I can't remember ..

Please be sure to acclimate yourself with these tools as soon as possible, if you have any trouble setting up your device please contact the Technical Help Center: XXXX."

Um, okay - not so welcoming ... but also not so confusing, and I pointed out that there was a number to what I assume is a Help Desk. He said he doesn't feel comfortable calling them, because he has a problem that he thinks might be stupid. erm ... okay ... what is your problem? Well, apparently he can't even log into the laptop to do anything - and he is afraid that if he keeps trying he will lock himself out. wow ... pressure! In actuality, the issue was pretty easily solved - he had forgotten to choose the domain when he entered his username and password ... I (kindly, I think) pointed out that they really didn't call that out in the letter, and maybe he should give them that feedback. (uh - yah right).

So now he can get into his laptop - yay! Problem number two is that he has never seen a Broadband Access Card, and had no idea what to do with it. It occurred to me @ this point that this clearly intelligent guy was just plain in technology overload ... I mean, the thing came with software to install (I did wonder why that wasn't done in advance by IT - but whatevs) ... and after we got the sw installed it pretty much worked with no problems.

After that, I showed SquarePants some random Blackberry tips (he claims he has been functioning up until how in corporate land without one) and then I turned his Blackberry to vibrate ... because at that point even my daughter was getting irritated by the noise. He pulled out the source of the other beeping noise and it was ... omg ... and actual PAGER ... a two-tone green on green pager! And he uses it for personal communication, eesh. Okay, so then it dawned on me that SquarePants was probably an exception ... where as originally I was forming this whole diatribe in my mind about how his company is really handicapping their new employees by not giving them more of a training session with their "mobility package" ... now some of that edge is off.

BUT - it did get my mind percolating ... memo to self: future blog post: if I were to equip a new employee to be fully mobile, how would I do it ... and where to the boundaries of being corporate "accessible" end and stepping into personal life infringement begin.

off to conquer the space needle (eep - fear o' heights, check!)
boo-tothe-yah. angirankin - OUT!

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Hater's Still Locking Down My SL Blog ... Here is Another Treat For You

2008-03-27T07:02:00.001-07:00

Yah, so my SL blog is still locked-a-roo ... so to tide you over again check out this lil' hilarious video. Are these ppl German or something? If so - Germans rock my socks. (Not to be confused with Google Sites - which rocks my docs).

Embedded Video

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Gettin' Facebooky Wit It ... I Knows People

2008-03-27T06:49:00.001-07:00

Anyone who knows me IRL has probably at some point heard me extol the virtues of Facebook and Twitter while smacking down the lameness of myspace. Why you ask? Well, many many reasons - but I am not ashamed to admit that at some point in the last year or so I realized that myspace is just ... out (no offense myspacers). That is not to say that I don't have presence on myspace, 'cause I do - but I never go to it. In fact, I have a note on my myspace that if you want to keep up with me you should go check me out on Facebook or follow me on Twitter. yah. Okay, that was just some necessary backstory (why is there always backstory with me???)

Anywho, I manage my Facebook and Twitter the exact same way I managed my myspace, the ppl I am "friends" with are ppl that I actually know or have some kind of real interest in following. I have family, friends, and (overwhelmingly) work and other professional contacts. It has been fairly easy to keep my friends list controlled in that way, with the exception of two adds I made through SecondLife (college frat boys) ... but, afterall, it is the exceptions that make the rule. So this last week, all the sudden, I started getting a ton of random friend requests ... well not completely random, I did actually know these ppl to some extent ... old old friends from middle/high school and former coworkers ... even a guy I had a date with when I was in college (but as I recall he got wasted and ended up falling into a pool). So, this leaves me at a cross roads I had not yet encountered using Facebook - you see, when I used myspace I would constantly get friend requests from people I could barely remember, and most often I would ignore them altogether so that I wouldn't have to stretch to remember our history. I do not need over 150 friends online to justify my worth as a human, so there was never much of a temptation to accept their adds.

So Why Do I Feel Conflicted?
So this is weird, but for some reason I have a crazy compulsion in Facebook to accept all the add requests I receive ... maybe it is because I like watching my newsfeed and seeing that random dude from SL uploaded some drunken party pics. Or maybe it's that I want to see which Lost character that chick I met @ the SP Conference turns out to be... okay, not that one - I actually hate those random lame applications (so please stop asking me to be part of your "gang" or vampire "clan" or whatever). But regardless, I see my Facebook network growing at a fairly consistent rate.

My Facebook Friends Block

Eep - and then I found "People You May Know" ... yah, so ... all the sudden I am getting suggested peeps that I may know, and out of every 10 I seem to actually know one! Like this dude that I went to Middle School with, who hasn't changed a bit - and I remember him so I sent him a request. Then, I see a guy I had a crush on and this female who was really weird then and, based on her profile pic, looks really weird now. I did not send either of them a request ... but I have to admit, I am really tempted.

People I May Know Suggestions (out of 15 I actually know 4)

Facebook's goes hyper-viral with 'People You May Know' | Outside the Lines - CNET News.com

What does this mean? Am I becoming one of "those people" who I used to make fun of? I dunno ... but, er, if you are interested in keeping up with my status feel free to add me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter. hee hee.

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Corporate blogs STILL suck

2008-03-26T14:24:00.001-07:00

heehee. working is making my brain numb, but I came across this sweet t-shirt @ the Feed Store and it made me smile. Why? That's for me to know and you to go crazy wondering about.

Feed Store :: Corporate blogs STILL suck

ps> for those in the know - I am jk.

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Irritation!

2008-03-26T13:21:00.001-07:00

Ack - Blogger flagged my SL blog for no understandable reason, so if you are looking for some kind of anti-SL fix or whatever you aren't going to find it here (until they unflag my blog - who knows when that will be).

Um - to tide you over here is a very serious youtube video about SL addiction ;P

Embedded Video

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Google Sites vs SharePoint - Entry Point ...

2008-03-26T11:12:00.001-07:00

As a SharePoint SME @ Mentor Graphics I am often asked to make comparisons between SP and other tools such as Twiki, Drupal, Google Docs, etc. Our environment @ Mentor is an exciting mixture of Windows and *nix users - which lends to some special collaboration challenges. That said, I embrace any opportunity to learn about new collaboration offerings, with a goal (in my mind) of being able to provide our internal customers solutions to their problems as opposed to being married to a single tool.

Accordingly, I am excited to have an opportunity to get in on the ground floor checking out Google Sites in our environment and get my straight Google Sites to SharePoint comparison on.

The first thing I must say is that of course the AD authentication aspect of SharePoint is invaluable, being able to manage permissions in that way and have seamless login using our network credentials is a huge plus in our SP environment. That said, having to have a separate username and password for Google Sites is a major drawback.

So my first initial impression, while totes simplistic, is absolutely 100% applicable and fully important: the entry point into Google Sites is easy peasy. Any Google Apps user in our environment can, if they so choose, create a Google Site. One Click - and bang: GoogleSite=Wow.

Create New Site
Behold the Google Sites new site page - of course considerably lighter than the new site creation page in SharePoint ... it makes having a collaboration site extremely accessible for Google Sites users.

Now, our whole approach to SharePoint is completely different then what it would probably be for Google Sites ... SP is a managed IT service, while the content and site/subsite mgmt is done by those site owners, the original creation of a top level SP site is done by the root site admin (me - woot). That said, before I create a new top-level site I engage with the requester to ensure that they receive the appropriate training and will adhere to our SP guidelines and site owner responsibilities. I need to gather information on their initial requested permissions, whether they want to be crawled by Enterprise Search, and get their agreement to represent their organization on the SP Technical Advisory Board (STAB). All in all, the creation process from start to finish could take up to 2 weeks ... but it definitely won't take under 3 days. soooo ... easy peasy entry point ... first observation o' angirankin re: google sites v. sharepoint.

boototheyah.

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Don't Talk To Me ... Well Do But .. erm ...

2008-03-25T08:09:00.001-07:00

2,433 Unread Emails Is An Opportunity For An Entrepreneur

" I remember the days before email. For those of you who don’t, you probably won’t understand how important the phone was as a
communication device. If the phone rang, you answered it. Today,
answering the phone when you are around other people is considered
insulting.

The wonderful thing about email is that it’s asynchronous, meaning
you don’t need to deal with it when it is first received. For me and
many others, instant messaging is basically the same - I may respond to
an IM instantly, or 24 hours later. The recipient generally understands
that a response might be delayed, and doesn’t take offense. Facebook
messages, Twitter and cell phone text messages all have similar
benefits " - Micheal Arrington @ TechCrunch

Let me start by saying I fall into the category of not remembering days before email, however, I remember with vivid detail how telephone communication held a burning sense of urgency for me that ... well ... it definitely doesn't now. And as my IT dept continues to roll out new ways of communicating (new only to my company, not the rest of the world) I find myself increasingly engaged in conversations with online communication/collaboration n00bs as to what level of importance the different methods of communication should have. As you know, I love to impart my own experience on others (and I am no expert on any of this stuff anyways - so experience and personal opinion is all I have) and for some reason, some people do seem to listen (well at least they aren't drooling on the table while I speak).

For organization sake I'll start by listing the ways in which I receive inbound communication:

IM (corporate & personal)
Incident Reports (tickets through corporate incident mgmt system)
Email (corporate & personal)
Online Networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, myspace, blog comments)
Text Messaging
Telephone / VM (desk phone & cell phone)

Ha - without realizing it I think I may have listed those in my internally perceived order of urgency.

Stop! It's rant time: You will note I left off drop-in F2F communication ... that is because I refuse to perpetuate that rudeness in any form. Call me a recluse, call me a hermit, call me a weirdo freak of the week ... but unless you and I are on friendly shoot-the-shit terms - I seriously don't want to see your face standing in my doorway. When I am sitting at my desk it is because I am working on something, probably a task I received via one of my sanctioned communication methods. Just because you are physically in front of me does not mean you are going to get better or faster service than you would have had you sent me an email or submitted a ticket, in fact, I will probably stare at you closed mouth with my mind wandering while you babble ... only to close our conversation by asking you to send me an email. I am sorry, I really am, but I get gushes of information crammed down my throat in a veritable river of muck every waking hour ... and this is how I compute information ... it's a system that works for me. Okay, rant concluded.

IM (Instant Messaging)
I love IM, so much so that I actively use Googletalk, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, AIM, Skype, and our corp offering, Sametime, to communicate with all of the contacts I have accumulated over the last ... 15 or so years. Through the magic of IM consolidators like Pidgen and Trillian managing that many different service providers is much easier, but if I want to use the full options from any of the individual clients I of course have to download their IM client. I am not into emoticons or backgrounds or that kind of stuff, but there are some useful tools like photo sharing in Y Messenger that make the download and extra icon worth it. Plus, I like the noise it makes when I get email from my Yahoo account. MSN Messenger ties into the presence part of the MS Office Suite, and because I love that level of interoperability I have that client downloaded too. I am happy with Sametime because most of my contacts @ work use it, but there is by no means full adoption at my company ... which is disappointing and sort of a let down.

Incident Reports
Not much to say here, I get assigned tickets related to SharePoint and I resolve them ... per our SLOs it is most important to make near immediate contact with the customer and then continue until the ticket is resolved. Ticket volume is tracked and so that lends an additional sense of importance, but even without that I work to quickly resolve issues that are submitted via the proper channels ... my goal is to resolve tickets with 2 days from submission.

Email
I could go on for days here probably, so I will save detail for another post and just try to summarize. I receive a lot of email ... a lot. Some of it is just distribution list stuff that I toss, but a good deal of it actually requires me to read and process. Applying the principles of TBYL, I am trying to only read and process my email twice a day during scheduled times. This has not really been overly successful for me yet because I live and die by email communication. It doesn't hold the informality of IM, but for me an email has a sense of importance that a simple phone call no longer holds. Weird, right? In addition, email communications can very easily be translated into a task or strategic next objective ... how is that for leveraging all my tools?

Online Networks
Oh, I love this one because of the way that my online networking so seamlessly carried over from personal to corporate. The first online community I got involved with was myspace - and that was to communicate with my cousins who were away @ college. Through myspace a bunch of old classmates caught up with me as well ... I won't rave about that because ... well, maybe I didn't necessarily want to be caught up with. Anyways, in general, I am not a fan of myspace - so when I was introduced to Facebook I jumped on it. It was the weirdest thing, I had gotten into Facebook maybe for 2 months when all the sudden it seemed like it was all the newest rage in the corporate arena. Suddenly my networks from my company and companies I work with like Microsoft grew at an exponential rate. In addition, contacts I made personally seemed to constantly be asking "do you facebook?" ... now I find myself monitoring my contacts Facebook status pretty regularly. And Twitter ... ah Twitter ... I can't really remember how I started Tweeting, it might have been one of my really smart co-workers who turned me on to it. Now, I live to Tweet. I do know for sure that it was one of my coworkers who encouraged me to start blogging, and look at me now ;P ... and my latest happy happy joy joy is Flock, the social browser that brings all of my online networks, personal email, media tracking, blogging, and RSS feeds into one spot - saving me serious time and amping up the cool factor all over again.

Text Messaging
hmmm ... what to say about texting? Well, I use it to send messages ... and I receive them occasionally ... but never in time (if the issue was urgent) because I don't really look @ my cell phone often enough. I probably should, but I don't because frankly I can't stand looking @ that "One or More Voicemail Messages" notification. Usually the best time for texting with me is when I am expecting it or when I am in a meeting and don't have access to my laptop ... because I am looking for something to do.

Telephone / VM
This one will turn into a rant post later on, I know it. I struggle with the phone issue on a daily basis because it seems that if I answer the phone I will never get off of it in under 10 minutes. That could be my fault, even, because despite the evidence in this post I am actually a pretty friendly person. I like to listen to people and try to understand people, I just don't find verbal conversations a good way to process tasks. Maybe it is because I get so deep in trying to hear what the other person is saying and find my mind wandering all big picture ... but there are just so many better ways to assign actions. I do listen to my corporate VM, although I admit that now that I get VMs in my inbox 80% of the time I respond via email. Actually, make that 95% of the time. re: Personal VM, I don't check it but maybe once every couple of weeks ... the important people in my life should, by now, realize email is the best way to communicate with me.

That was a looong post and I think I may have falled asleep part of the way through **blush** so ya'll out there must be snoring by now. I promise, next time I will slip in some hilarious jokes and/or witty references.

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Breaking Away

2008-03-24T06:02:00.001-07:00

Hey Blogosphere ... after much reflection I have made the decision to break away my SecondLife posts from this blog. This decision was reached based on the fact that I have myriad posts percolating of a vein that fits with the original purpose of this blog. And the SL posts, while fascinating I'm sure (dramatic eye roll) are at this point more rambling and less sociological inquiry. That said, I have created a new blog for the continuation of my SL story (should I feel the need to tell it) ... with the disclaimer that there could always be the possibility I won't tell anymore. Do I think that likely? Probably not ... but you know, whatevs.

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The Office Mocks SecondLife

2008-03-23T00:25:00.000-07:00

Because The Office is my favorite show, and this clip makes me laugh every single time.

DS: "SecondLife is not a game ... it doesn't have points or scores ... it doesn't have winners or losers"

JH: "Oh, it has losers."

lollin

Still Taking Back My Life w/ MS Outlook 2007

2008-03-22T07:50:00.000-07:00

Hey ya'll - how about this, a post completely non-related to SL today =P ... haha - when I told one of my faithful readers (BiggestFan if you must know) that I was planning on posting today with an initial review of IE8 he responded with "boring". Ha! Well, you know what, while I am a bit too emo over IE8 at the moment to write anything constructive (it had the nerve to dump a post I was writing actually extolling it's own virtues! - and no, autosave did not work for some reason) ... I am going to "bore" him with something else. A follow-up on my long ago post re: Taking Back My Life w/ MS Outlook 2007.

The first time I posted I was basking in the general glow of my new deep love with Microsoft. You see, Microsoft and I have been good friends for many many years ... but it was with the introduction of SharePoint into my life last year that our relationship really moved to the next level. I won't rehash how I came to find the TBYL book, because that really is boring, but regardless ... I found it, I read it, and I embraced it ... for like 2 weeks. Okay let me restate - I embraced the whole hook line and sinker for like 2 weeks ... but many of the general principles (believe it or not) stayed with me even through my dark days the last 6 months. I even found myself explaining principles from the book to other interested parties and, in fact, recommending the book to certain people. One of the Linux guys I know also brought me Time Management for Systems Administrators to make the point that the same concepts can be found in books without all the MS subliminal marketing. (side note: I have not yet read that book, but I plan to... and ... um the MS marketing was not at all subliminal =)

Okay, so fast forward to now (X months later) and like I said before, it's pretty feckin' intimidating trying to work my way out of the hole I dug. I needed a tool, and when TBYL was mentioned @ SPC08 it was like ... I dunno ... kismet or something. Sooo ... I grabbed the book off the shelf, dusted it off, and set to it.

This time, I had over 1000 emails in my work inbox alone. I had the following collection points:

5 email addresses
2 physical inboxes @ work
2 physical inboxes @ home
6 (YES - 6!) notepads I was jotting info on
the floor of my car
my purse
2 laptop bags
various flat surfaces covered in random postie notes

Okay, first step - go through all those and consolidate, either deal with stuff (if it can be done in under 3 minutes), delegate it, or assign myself a task. First step actually didn't take as long as I thought it would, I was through everything and my inbox was down to 2 items in about 3 hours. Of course, the next day my inbox had crept back up to 65 and I remembered how important it is to stay diligent and block out time to process the influx of info.

I know I was shocking people as I pinged them about issues that had died months ago, trying to gain some sense of resolution. And of course, at the end of it, I felt more settled and in control ... even though I now have a clearer picture of everything I have to do.

Okay, enough about that for the moment - I am getting ready for Easter and because I forgot to assign myself a task I suddenly realize I haven't gotten items for my daughter's basket (urgh). I will be posting on this subject again, I think there are some ways to leverage SharePoint in this whole effort ... I have interest in making my time and tasks more visible to management so everyone can admire how fantastic I am.

happy hop day ya'll.
don't hate, illuminate.

Online Friendships - False Relationships?

2008-03-21T19:17:00.000-07:00

Guess I am on a blog roll tonight, my mind is working overtime and as usual I am going all thought schizo. I alluded earlier to the friendships I have taken from SL outside - let me do the rollup of the communication methods as a data point before I launch into my latest diatribe.

BiggestFan: email & IM communication (frequent)
theDevil: email communication (frequent)
FratBoy: Facebook & Twitter (frequent but very surface)
FratBoyUK: Facebook & IM (infrequent)
Pepi: email (he sent one, I have not replied yet)

So five people, out of the ... I dunno ... 30 on my friends list (and that is after my frequent friends list purges). Anyways, recently I was discussing SL with my mother (eye roll) who of course thinks that I should run screaming from it and never ever look back. She fervently and with concerned tears in her eyes asked me "Why, why do you do this? What are you gaining there? Why can't you just stop doing there?" To which I replied that I had made some friends there who I couldn't just turn my back on. Her response was that those friendships were "false". To which I paused, thinking ... and responded - what makes them false? Her response was that they are false because you don't have that physical exchange with another human being, you can't read their body language, and you are only getting a part of the other person.

So this warranted some serious reflection for a few reasons.

One, in SL it seems that time is flying much faster - it is easy to fall in deep with another person very very quickly. I believe in part that that is because you cannot rely on the non-verbal communications that we use in face to face dealings ... therefore you are much quicker to divulge a greater part of yourself. In addition, it is easier I think to be open and vulnerable when there is still that comfortable blanket of anonymity. So how can a relationship be "false" when you are revealing deep parts of yourself to another human being? Because regardless on the other end of that network cord behind those pixels there is really another human being controlling that other avatar.... a human being with thoughts and feelings just like yours. Now, granted, that human being is probably 58, 375 pounds, and sitting @ their desk clothed in a Jedi warrior bathrobe - but who cares? You are still connecting with another human being.

Two, if a friendship fostered in SL is "false" then what about a friendship fostered via any of the online social networking sites? What about Facebook, for instance, where I have made contact through friends of mine with people who have like interests ... and we have continued to forge friendships independent of that other person. Or how about reconnecting with old acquaintances the same way, people who I was never really close with but through the magics of the interwebs I now share conversation with nearly every day (that's way more than with my own mother).

Three, then if an online friendship is "false" does that mean any relationship that starts online on say ... a dating website ... is then doomed to fall into that "false" category indefinitely? Or is it that the minute you lay eyes on that other persons face and see that they really were not lying, they truly are over 6 foot and under 300lbs that that relationship transitions smoothly into the "real" category? Isn't that, in fact, the true definition of shallowness? I mean, isn't it ideal to regard another person with love completely unburdened by the stigmas that come along with physical appearance?

Of course, in SL ... the physical appearance of ones avatar means a great deal ... so maybe that's what supposedly makes it false?

See how deep I am tonight?
hellz-tothe-yah.

Slow Death ...

2008-03-21T18:25:00.000-07:00

Wondering aloud here ... er ... in writing. So a week or so ago I went all gung-ho guerilla style cold turkey on SL. Uninstalled the viewers, deleted my chat logs, dumped all my SL books (shut up - yes I have SL books - what of it???), deleted my RSS feeds to SL sites ... yada.

Okay, so since then I felt guilty about deserting "friends" ... the very very few I had in world who I really respected and do not have outside contact with. I also received multiple messages through SL from said ppl, and the guilt (or curiosity??? or boredom ???) pushed me to log on, briefly, to allow myself a goodbye. I already posted about one of those times, and I had a big freaky gushy slightly borderline insane post about how I wasn't weak and all this stuff. omg I am a drama queen.

Anyways, since then I logged on another time - briefly - to carry on two short conversations ... one of those times I got caught up by a "friend" who I met early on in SL, from France, who considers me to be a very good friend of his (apparently). Let's call him Pepi. So - Pepi gushes on about how ppl in SL are weird and he has had so many ppl just up and stop talking to him, people who claimed to see him like a brother! he said ... people who were lovers! he said. He said, they don't answer me in world, they don't respond to my emails, they don't even answer the phone when I call! So of course, my mind goes to ... um ... is he trying to guilt me into continuing contact with him when I am out? Not a clue. Anyways, what was notable there is a clear reminder of why I wanted to stay the heck out of dodge in the first place. I faked a crash and didn't log back on (extremely easy out when dealing in a virtual world, btw).

So what's the point? Okay, this is what I am realizing ... my relationship with SL is a slow death @ this point, and the venom I had around leaving or staying is slowly seeping away. Does this mean I was not / am not addicted to it? No, it doesn't mean that ... I still am pretty sure I was in way deep - too deep ... and maybe pulled myself out just in time. Maybe it has something to do with the fact the my RL is ramping up, that my vision is starting to clear, that my professional life has become challenging and rewarding again. Maybe it is that my priorities are returning to me like long lost friends, falling in line easily without any of that uncomfortable awkward reworking. Maybe it's that it is just time to move on ... and my heart and brain are finally working towards the greater good as a team.

Anyway, think on it people. I know I will.
boo-tothe-yah.

There Is More To Me ...

2008-03-20T06:54:00.000-07:00

Okay, I am going through the cycles of guilt, failure, anger, denial ... yada yada ... over my little back slide last night. That is all self induced of course because I am always my toughest critic. Always.

However, as I alluded to in previous posts ... there are a couple of people who I continue to communicate with outside of SL - lets call them BiggestFan and TheDevil. Now, BiggestFan is .. well I think probably my biggest fan, inside and outside of SL ... there is a lot that could be said about him but it isn't important for this post, maybe more later. TheDevil played an equally large part in my SL and now we communicate regularly via email.... our dealings have been extremely complicated and (dare I say) painful - for me - severly doubtful that it was ever for him. More on that later maybe.

Anyways, in the wake of my log on last night TheDevil informs me in one of our exchanges (mine laden with regret over my quick log on last night) that he knew I would come back to SL because it is like a drug. Dangit, that is exactly the point! I don't have even 23 minutes to spare on anything that isn't furthering or enriching my life. I am 29 ... I will be 30 in like 4 seconds and I will have to look back on my last year in my 20s and remember a world made of pixels. Pixels!

Anyways, I asked BiggestFan if he thought I would return to SL ... he said in a week or two he thought I would out of curiosity but not last night.

Why does everyone think I am so weak? I am not weak. Shoot - even in those 23 minutes I wasn't weak. Okay so why did I do it ... to say goodbye! I think. uck conflicted.

I am Lame and Weak.

2008-03-20T06:11:00.000-07:00

Well, I did it - last night I reinstalled SL and logged on ... twice. The first time I logged on for literally 3 minutes, during which time I received no less than 8 IMs from other ppl freaking out over the fact that I haven't logged on in 3 days. Of those 8 only 2 actually mattered to me and were the real reason I logged on in the first place. One is my SL boss and the other is a guy who seems like a normal college frat boy ... I like them both a lot and felt bad about leaving without saying goodbye.

Well, I freaked at all the other messages and said I had to go ... but promised I would come back in 2 hours... during those 2 hours I found myself NOT looking forward to logging on, it felt like an obligation not fun. Well I did it, and when I came back I stayed for 20 minutes this time ... 20 minutes of frat boy calling me a crazy asshole for acting like I could be addicted to a game ... 20 minutes of my SL boss saying how much he missed me and that if I needed to talk I could always come to him (huh?). Also during that 20 minutes I rented a small apartment from my boss, even as I pressed Pay I realized ... um ... this is contradictory to my decision to leave this fakey world. But I still did it.

I don't want to go back, I really don't - I know that now. Even the 23 total minutes I spent there last night feels like a small death in my otherwise positive and productive day yesterday. And as I lay in bed last night it occurred to me that it is insane to feel "obligated" to a world that doesn't exist ... I have more than enough obligations in my RL. Of course, before I logged off I told SLBoss and Frat Boy that I would be back tomorrow (today) but that my RL job is heating up and I will not be in SL much at all for awhile. SLBoss said to me "So slavery is still legal in the US???" ... haha. It's worth posting about him some other time actually, he is from an Island off of Northern Africa and his greatest RL dream is to move to the US. He is very intelligent and has an innate sense of style that is wonderful to watch... he is one of those SL Business ppl ... all he does is build and make money. Oh, and be my friend ..........

urgh - conflicted - weak - lame. more later.

Gaming Addiction Articles

2008-03-18T06:49:00.001-07:00

Came across this one yesterday: http://videogames.yahoo.com/feature/seven-ways-to-win-back-your-gaming-spouse/1194632

It was, to me, only mildly interesting ... catching my attention with the last suggestion of "if you can't beat em, join em" only because I met more than a few ppl in my SL tenure who had spouses also in the game. In fact, I knew one such person whose RL wife would sit directly behind him and play on a different computer while he sat there playing on his. Their avs even associated somewhat inworld and had some weird triangles going on. More on that laters.

Of course, the all mighty Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_addiction

Ending Gaming Addiction: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_addiction

CNETs take: http://www.news.com/2100-1040-881673.html

On SL Addiction, by SL Insider: http://www.secondlifeinsider.com/2006/10/13/sl-addiction-do-you-have-a-problem/

No Judgement

2008-03-18T06:17:00.001-07:00

A couple of things occurred to me yesterday after I posted ... one, it is insane for me to be putting some of this stuff out here since this blog is so easily find-able ... but then, I am insane sort of. I will just tag posts re: SL as SecondLife posts and ppl who aren't interested can skip them. Afterall, I am who I am (I ♥ Popeye). Second, and the biggest thing I wanted to pop off about ... none of what I am saying here or am going to say here should come across as judgement on others. I am NOT projecting my feelings about other ppl here ... I am NOT saying that online gaming is bad, or that SL in particular is bad. This blog is all about me and no one else ... other ppl may have played a part in my dealings but I have no judgement towards their actions.

aaaaight? Okay, carry on.

sidebar: current status

2008-03-17T06:00:00.001-07:00

I know I said my next post was going to be on "the beginning" but realized I should interject briefly on my current status with SecondLife. I have left it ... I cleared out my profile and uninstalled all of my viewers. I did not, however, cancel my account (yet). But I will. I will talk later about the whys and hows and how hards it was, etc. But as of today - unless I make the move to actually reinstall the software ... I cannot easily log into SecondLife.

That said, I have other SL (SecondLife) contact ... which I will discuss later. Yes, I know, you are oh so excited to know all about it. **eye roll**

Compelled to Change It Up ...

2008-03-17T05:23:00.000-07:00

After thinking on it for a week (through my haze of sick and legal - but still mind altering - drugs) it has occurred to me that the general tone of this blog has shifted entirely. While I am still committed to using this forum to proclaim my opinions on collaboration tools I find myself as of late spending much more time thinking on how online communities are affecting me as a person. In fact, in my last blog post I went on and on about my awakening and how I am returning to myself ... blah blah blah ... but I left out a very very important part of that whole situation. Probably most easily attributed to embarrassment, I only lightly skirted over what may be the number one factor in my 6 month loss of self.

Wow, even now, when I have committed to myself that I am going to be real here and face it head on I find myself pausing to weigh the potential consequences of honesty.... denial is so sweet! Okay, I am just going to say it right now and spend probably the next few blog posts really explaining the statement. I was, for the last 6 months ... addicted to a virtual reality... shoot - let me restate. I am, for the last 6 months and trying to get loosen it's grip now ... addicted to a virtual reality. Holy crap, I sound like a loser. But I think that it's true. It took me months to realize it ... and even now as I count the obvious signs of addiction I was exhibiting the last few months, I still find myself having an inner dialogue of complete denial. I mean, I can always compare myself to the other people I met there who were WAY more into it than me... but that is a false and short lived relief. For me, who I am - I was absolutely 100% (maybe even more than that) addicted. ack - I am getting ahead of myself here ... so let me start from the beginning else I confuse someone =P

First of all, the virtual reality I am talking about is Second Life - read about it at the link but I will give a short description of what it is too ... then dwell on it (as I tend to do) until I have it sufficiently out of my system. Okay so SecondLife is this online community where you have an avatar that you can make look pretty much any way you want by creating or purchasing skins, shapes, and clothes. Your avatar interacts with other avatars in this huge user created world - where the environment is only limited by the minds of the people in it. You (er - your avatar) can have a job, can create and sell stuff, can have relationships with other people ... so basically, if you have the skills and talent or the desire to learn you can be whatever it is that you want to be there. Your avatar will never age (unless you want to buy a skin that looks old) ... never get fat (unless you want to alter your shape to make it that way) ... and will never die of hunger or exposure. Just like in RL (real life) there are different status' of people, noobs would be new people obviously and are often clueless ... thus can end up being the brunt of jokes, etc. There are SL-ebrities who are well known for whatever it is that they do. There are ppl there just to have cartoon sex ... and ppl who are there to build, create, and sell. Some people treat it like a game and some people treat it like their real life. I think during my tenure there I skated between those things ... but either way, I became uncomfortably dependant on it.

**deep breath released** ... next post: the beginning.

Waking Up ... Figuratively, Metaphorically, Literally ...

2008-03-10T05:56:00.000-07:00

**stretches and yawns ... no sings at the top of her lungs**

This is off topic, totes - completely - embarassingly - overwhelmingly - off topic ... but you know what, I care not an iota @ this moment. I want to introduce ya'll to somebody - and I am going to try to keep this pretty short to prevent myself from falling into one of those crazy angi SAT-word blackholes.

Hello World, my name is Angi Rankin ... I am ambitious, I love talking smack and giving stink eye, I think Paris Hilton has (... wait for it ...) noteworthy social and (dare I say) political significance ... and yes, I read her damn book. I have a dang RSS feed from www.perezhilton.com as well as from Micheal Ganotti's SharePoint blog, and from freakin www.lindenlifestyles.com (for all you noobs - yes that is a Second Life reference). I Google myself about monthly and take pride in the fact that I get a bunch of results.

It does not weird me out that @ this point there is maybe a 2-degree seperation between me and anyone else who decides to Google me. hmmm ... I stopped putting on airs about 4 years ago and I never plan on re-adopting them. I say things like Outtie 5000g (way before Juno was released) and shoot, if I am tipsy enough I will not hesitate to pour out a little liquor for my fallen homies. And YES - I say homies and I have lost some too ... not to street violence, but to WP drugs like meth and cocaine. Oh, also to drunk driving ... and my friend was the one driving so please don't start feeling all sad and sentimental and stuff - because I am not.

I don't like to be touched - and it weirds me out when ppl hug in the workplace (I mean, what is that all about???) ... however, there are ppl I have met at work who amaze me - really inspire me ... and sometimes I wish I knew how to tell them that. When I try, I sound like I am making fun of them or myself or the situation ... and my nose gets weird and itchy like at any minute I might burst into tears. (which I hate - despite what my Mom insists, tears are not a sign of strength - they make me look pathetic, and my eyes get all read like a dope head)

I have spent the last 6 months asleep at the wheel, and as I open my eyes I see that I have created a mess that is going to take work to clean up. Shoot, I don't even know if it can be cleaned up ... take a lesson from me, folks - being non-present is just (if not more) detrimental to being all angry and aggresive. The act of NOT doing something, anything, is a slow and painful death - for you and for anyone who cares about you. Of course, you might be in a state where you don't care or can't accept that ppl care about you - but shoot, suck it up lil soldier.

Okay, enough Monday morning crazy personal revelation rant. I will somehow attempt to tie this post to some actual on-topic stuff, laters ... after I pick out something to wear that ISN'T the blue hoodie I have favored for the last stretch. =P

boo to the yah.

off topic: oldie but goodie

2008-03-05T21:41:00.000-08:00

to all the haterz ....

Don't Hate:

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Ignoring the Fact that It has Been Months .......

2008-03-05T18:52:00.000-08:00

... and picking up where I left off =P

Well, maybe not exactly where I left off because things have changed for me a ton in the last few months - but of course one thing has stayed the same .... SharePoint! WOOT!!!

In fact, this week I have been sucking down the MS SharePoint kool-aid with a big fatty straw @ the SharePoint Conference 2008 in Seattle, WA. I am reserving most of my blog genius for my internal presence @ my company since I am here for them ... and my notes were taken specifically with our SP program in mind. Over the next few weeks as I really get my head around what I have learned this week (and let me tell yah - it has been a lot) I will probably translate that into posts here ... but in the immediate timeframe I think general impressions are in order.

First - while I like to think my company is special in our need to accomodate untold amounts of browsers and *nix cocktails ... and the fact that we are a mostly Office2003 environment (with some super cool trailblazers like me who enjoy all the SP/Office intergration-ee goodness) ... I found that in fact, we aren't special at all. In fact, a huge contingent of conference attendees are dealing with the same issues and looking for the same kinds of solutions. Accessability, portability, integration ... all very strong themes that not only resonated from the attendee's mouths but were clearly a pount of focus for MS as well. That, my friends, is great to see.

Second - well, second - I am totally saturated. To' up from the Flo' up. During the last session (on migrating data into SP from external systems) I could literally feel the muscles in my toes starting to spasm and my brain nodes clicking off one by one. The information and resources from that session and the billion others I attended (because I did not waste a single time slot - I am milking this opportunity for every last drop) have been invaluable - but my brain, while I admit is extra spong-ee because I just love love love to fill it with stuff, is still just a human brain. And my body frankly wasn't prepared for the physical toll folding yourself into a tiny chair then dashing from room to room or wireless hotspot to wireless hotspot can take.

Wow, this post was pretty whiny ... nice way to start back! Promise the next one will be full of inspiring and thoughtful blog-wisdoms. boo to the yah.

FlickrDown Rox ...

2007-08-23T15:48:00.000-07:00

Hey ya'll - new hotness for me today: FlickrDown

This sweet little app lets you suck pictures from any public Flickr collection with the use of a username, email address, tag, or group name (you can also authorize it if you want to pull your own private photos).

I am currently populating a Picture library in SharePoint from pics I used to have out on my external Flickr - and this has saved me tons of time!

Thanks Greggman!

http://greggman.com/pages/flickrdown.htm

Taking Back MY Life Microsoft Style - booyah!

2007-08-04T19:54:00.000-07:00

Okay, before I begin this post I must encourage my good *nix peeps to close their eyes ... or have a couple of drinks ... or put on their "grain of salt" hats. Please remember the world I live in - the office dimension ... Microsoft land. You must not judge me as I am only a product of my surroundings ;)

I have been reading copious materials about how to organize my life and priorities using Office 2007 magix (see book references below). In my excitement to "hiya!" take back my life, I have found myself once again buying into the Microsoft marketing voodoo.

First, let me make a statement, a controversial statement that may make me vulnerable to my good *nix loving friends. I love Microsoft, I do ... I love the way that there are at least 5 ways to do everything in Microsoft programs, I love how everywhere you turn there is some kind of MS propaganda, I love that MS products all work together, I love that when you pick up some MS training material there is always at least 10% marketing for other MS products. The fact the Microsoft is a huge evil genius monopoly actually gives me chills. CHILLS. I suppose it should be said at this point that I am also the person who feels for the "bad" characters in all story lines ... often seeing their points of view much more clearly than the sympathetic good-ees. Whatevs ... I digress.

So, in my gathering resources re: SharePoint I stumbled upon the book referenced above ... and as a certified MS - cult member it was my duty to purchase, read, and then attempt to implement the wise words written within. I read the book over a weekend, took notes even ... and followed along by diligently completing the exercises necessary to TAKE BACK MY LIFE. By the end of the book I had reduced my inbox to 3 items (I swear, down from over 500), scheduled out the next couple of weeks with time to complete tasks. Re-evaluated some of my commitments ... and ended up with a categorized task list of over 80 actions - urgh. Now, a couple of weeks later my inbox is back up to 250 and 30 of those actions are overdue. Oh, and I also shelled out some bucks to by a new Windows Mobile device to replace my Blackberry ... so that I could appropriately manage actions on the go. (blush - don't tell my husband - I just can't pass up a new toy ... I mean, tool).

I'm going to try again with the concepts in the book, like all things worth doing it will take work and commitment to truly get the greatest benefits out of a productivity plan like what is laid out in the book. Oh, and I have to do something to justify the new fancy-smansh phone I shelled out for :)

ps. new phone: T-Mobile Wing, runs on Windows Mobile 6 ... review to come.

Synopsis & Observations from SharePoint Training - Part 1

2007-07-26T06:17:00.000-07:00

As promised (to myself and my coworkers, and I am sure to all the myriad of folks reading this blog) I am going to be posting a summation and observations from the SharePoint training I attended this week. It should be noted, this training is user training - not technical ... which makes it much more interesting to ME ... the users user. hmmm - that doesn't seem to make much sense. whatevs.

Day 1 (Contributor Training)

Audience: Team Members (viewing, adding, editing - not responsible for determining structure of site, etc)
Duration: 4 hours

Top Take-Aways for Me (related to my companies SP implementation) :

Company provided users w/ a great tri-fold quick reference guide: included a high-level hit list of basic functions with-in SP (their guide is for MOSS 2007 so I will be developing on specifically for WSS 3.0)

Course was designed specifically for users with little to no knowledge of SharePoint, very valuable offering - previously we were not considering doing one of these courses, but I could see taking pieces of it and offering via podcast or even being led by a Super-User

There was a component of the class centered on the future of SP @ the company, used to reinforce the recommended/required usage for the tool based on companies guidelines - an absolute necessity

Course Outline:

Section 1: Intro to Sharepoint

What is SharePoint?

Collaboration
Central Document Mgmt
Communication

How is SP used @ this company

Define different components of SP

Section 2: Working w/ SharePoint as a Member (Contributor)

Announcements

uses for announcements
add an announcement
edit announcements (through drop-down & accessing the announcement directly)
add alerts (alert me) - applies to all lists & doc libraries

Links

uses for links
add a link
edit links

Deleting Content

Delete content
Access deleted content
Restore content

Calendar

When you would use this calendar (differs from Outlook calendar)
add an occurence
change calendar views

Tasks

Why/when you use tasks
Creating tasks (adding owners)
Altering views

Document Library

Create a new document (using pre-defined template)
File naming (no special characters: # % / )
Uploading single file
Uploading multiple files
Versioning (if enabled by Doc Library Owner)
Opening w/ Windows Explorer
Placing a Shortcut on Desktop

Discussions

Post topics for discussion
Reply to other posts
Set alerts

Surveys

Responding to surveys

SharePoint Training ...

2007-07-25T07:58:00.000-07:00

I have had the great opportunity this week to audit a block of SharePoint courses (both beginner level and advanced level). Yesterday I sat in with a group of people who were going to be Contributors to their SP sites in their corporate environment, but that had not used it before (or as one student stated - "I could have used the last version, but hated it - this time I am going to give it a real go").

I have lots of observations both on the state of the students (very interesting and diverse) and on the content of the class ... but the advanced level class is about to start ... so I will be back!

and I care what you're doing because ....?

2007-07-18T06:45:00.000-07:00

"Dude, I'm chillin relaxin and watchin some dog da bounty hunter - holla!"

"listening to my 2yr-old running around the house shooting bad guys- (aka mommy), complete with 'boom-boom, boom-boom' sound effects~"

"im really enjoying my coffee. i wish it was something i could get really messed up on though. i wanna stop thinking."

Above are examples of some of the types of Twitter updates random folks post ... they look, well, sort of useless to me so when I was first invited to join Twitter by a friend it was with great skepticism that I proceeded.

I began by tossing out an update that was inline with what I was seeing from other users, something like "Chilling out - working hard - wondering why Saturday feels like Monday." Okay, anyone following my updates could now learn that I was working on Saturday ... um - ok, nothing new there - everyone I know already knows I work on Saturday. However, I began to prepare to write a blog post and realized I was facing blogjam - because everything I want to post here needs to feel like gold. While I was waiting for the blog wisdom to flow I popped over to Twitter and updated status referring to my current state of blog-readiness. And later, as I sat at a kids party I texted my status update to Twitter and had a great sense of ... well ... for lack of a better word: not-alone-ness.

Later on, when playing around in Facebook I discovered I could add a Twitter badge so that my Twitter updates would show to my Facebook friends (of course, my preference would be for my Facebook status to update automatically with Twitter, but doing that takes some code slicing and I don't care that much). I also added a Twitter badge to this blog. Folks who also had Twitter in my life and saw I was on it through reading my blog (and there are ALOT of folks I found who have Twitter) started following me, and I started following them. As my network grew organically (friends of friends of friends added me) the updates I started to get were actually very worthwhile. I was linked to a viral video, someone sent a link to a blog post on a new Blackberry technology, and I discovered I could follow Barack Obama.

I think what I am appreciating the most about Twitter at this moment is that it isn't heavy, while both Facebook and Myspace offer similar micro-blogging status update options now I cannot navigate to either of those sites without feeling the desire to add more "stuff" to my profile, or go check out how my friends are doing, or listen to some of the crap indi-music they have uploaded, or read the comments and wall posts folks are putting in other people's pages. Frankly, sometimes checking out other folks social networking profiles makes me feel a bit creepy - but I don't have the self control NOT to look @ the latest pics my cuzzins best friend posted or to scrutinize the wall posts from his crazy ex-girlfriend. With Twitter, there is none of that ... get in, update, stay connected, get out.

booyah.

Who you callin' a tech-beee?????

2007-07-15T21:04:00.000-07:00

One of my focuses lately is identifying the right types and combinations of tech tools to enhance my life as opposed to complicating and weighing down my life. A little over a year ago I found myself downloading and signing up for every cool tool, website, software, etc etc that someone mentioned to me (and since I work in a high tech environment and have some super-uber-geeks for friends, that was A LOT of stuff). So anxious was I to be qualified to engage in techno-rich conversation with an air of authority that I literally saturated every computing device I owned until my boot-up times became monumentally slow and blue screens, hard reboots, and random computer centered expletives became a way of daily life.

While browsing urbandictionary recently I came across the word: tech-beeeyatch, and realized that I undoubtedly fit neatly into that moniker. Certainly, in my quest to be the quintessential "early-adopter" I had become a technology whipping-girl ... a source of frustration to my IT brethren, and undoubtedly the subject of many jokie-jokes.

I post this as a reminder to myself, and a warning to those who tread in the wild depths of the interweb ... tread lightly, grasshopper - think long my brutha (and sista) - because that "download" & "install" button may hold heavy consequence to your future productivity.

** "bong bong" ** (Law & Order scence change sound)

Luvs it – Roger’s Bell Curve

2007-07-14T07:36:00.001-07:00

I remember sitting in an auditorium at Intel listening to some dude droning on and on about innovating the Mobile Computing device market when all the sudden he pulled up the most amazing image (amazing to me @ that time didn't take much). Anyways, I have often reflected back on that graphic – and this morning as I posted about tech tools and how folks use them, yada yada – it occurred to me that I should seek out the image and immortalize it here. So, here it is – Roger's Bell Curve:

Now, I challenge myself to:

Strive to prove that I am in the 13.5% Early Adopters stage … that makes me appropriately special, don't ya think?

Successfully categorize the peeps I associate with and discover how that knowledge can aid in implementation of collaboration and efficiency tools in the workplace

Theorize’n – Technology Usage (Personal vs. Corporate)

2007-07-14T07:20:00.001-07:00

My newest endeavors in the collaboration and efficiency tools arena makes me feel compelled to examine the root of my own thoughts and approaches around technology and how we use it to make our lives easier …. Or more complicated. As I am trying to organize my thoughts it has occurred to me that there are some clear distinctions to be made, and since I work with a range of folk from uber-geeks to technology ee-diots I feel I am fairly qualified to make some broad strokes here (in my most humble):

FACT: Humans (unless they are living in a shack in the middle of nowhere living off of tree bark and earthworms) use technology in two important quadrants of their lives: personal and corporate (I am well aware that that covers all of peeps lives)
THEORY: In our personal lives, the technology we choose to surround ourselves with either:
1. Addresses some specific problem or need we are experiencing
2. We use because of it's blatant COOL factor
THEORY: In our corporate lives, the technology we use (note: not CHOOSE) is provided to us because:
1. Someone else perceives it addresses some problem (that someone else could be IT, or some executive, or an admin assistant – anyone who has decision making power)
2. Because the tool has COOL factor to someone else

Now to me, no one can really tell you how to be efficient or how to collaborate – a users methods for improving efficiency and collaboration must be tailored to that individual users own work methods. Afterall, remember, in our personal lives we are still choosing tools to help us live better … and I will bet you that what I use to remember appointments, tasks, and events is totally different than what my husband uses. In fact, it is important to ME to seamlessly integrate personal life and work life as I find myself not often delineating between to two – and he can literally walk out the door of his workplace and not even think about his job again until the next time he walks through that door going the opposite way.

These are theories, and the general basis of what I will be exploring through this blog at the same time I explore different collaboration and efficiency tools and their uses – both in a corporate environment with myself, my customers, and my co-workers.

Ps. Writing this blog post as I sit on my couch, with my corporate-issue Dell Latitude Series Laptop, with the Blog Post function of my non-standard Word 2007 software (I'm a beta-tester for my company … sort of … well at least I'm in IT!)