LinkedIn - Enterprise class Web 2.0

LinkedIn provides a mechanism to keep tabs on contacts that you make during your career. A friend of mine who I had worked with for nearly 6 years introduced me to the site by requesting I accept being added as a contact.

Initially, I thought that this was simply another site like FaceBook or MySpace, however it isn't. Users of the site are able to list their current company information, title, amount of time in each position within a company (or multiple companies), and even flag your account if you are looking for a new job.

My network is fairly large now, and continues to grow. Contacts that I have made over the years, both internal to my employer as well as external business partners, are part of my contact list. It allows me to keep track of my relationships with these contacts, even after they move to different companies. I've heard that it is not always what your skills are but who you know that moves you up the corporate ladder, and this tool allows people to keep track of those influential individuals.

LinkedIn has recently added additional functionality (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/20/linkedin-now-for-companies-2/) allowing company profiles to also be displayed on the site, creating a 'fact sheet' of sorts.

The question, however, is would tools like LinkedIn actually benefit companies, or is it an avenue for head hunters to get talent from competing companies? A company could find employees that work for them on such tools, look at their contact lists, and attempt to get them to come to the other company. What do you think? Should companies fear such sites, or does the benefit of business-class social networking assisting their employees outweigh such concerns?

Picasa , An awesome tool!

In my investigation of new Web 2.0 technologies, I thought I'd give Picasa a try. Perfect timing, too, as I have a newborn baby, and would like to make pictures available to the family (at least those who are 'web-enabled').

Downloading the software and signing on was pretty easy, and the system search for pictures was very quick. Unfortunately, it doesn't give you an option to skip searching for pictures and add them all yourself, so it had found a ton of clipart and other pictures on my system and indexed it into its database.

Once pictures are there, however, it is very easy to create a blog with the picture. Simply select the picture, and click Blog This, and away you go! In fact, this blog message was written using that method.

There are some things that are a bit confusing about the tool, or at least I haven't figured them out yet. If I attempt to log into Blogger and add a picture I already have posted, it doesn't seem provide an option to allow me to do so, and the help files don't seem to indicate a way to do that. Looking at the HTML code for this posting isn't all that helpful either, as it seems to be referring to 'localhost' for the placement of the picture. Perhaps that will change once I submit it.

All in all, it is a good tool for organizing your images and an easy way to throw them on the web to show your family your newborn baby, for instance. Myself, however, I'll stick with my personal website.

Failed Prediction - Telephone Is A Fad!

Imagine the thrill of being involved with a new invention as powerful and influential to society as the telephone! Imagine the affects that such a discovery would have on society! The question is, would you realize the power of that invention at the time it was introduced?

The telephone had its barrage of individuals that said the phone is simply a fad. Take a look at some of these quotes:

This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us. - A memo at Western Union, 1878 (or 1876).

The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys. - Sir William Preece, Chief Engineer, British Post Office, 1878.

It's a great invention but who would want to use it anyway? - Rutherford B. Hayes, U.S. President, after a demonstration of Alexander Bell's telephone, 1876.

A man has been arrested in New York for attempting to extort funds from ignorant and superstitious people by exhibiting a device which he says will convey the human voice any distance over metallic wires so that it will be heard by the listener at the other end. He calls this instrument a telephone. Well-informed people know that it is impossible to transmit the human voice over wires. - News item in a New York newspaper, 1868.

It appears that there were many who were opposed to the telephone being introduced, or those who thought it would not be useful. After all, with the telegraph and messengers, who needs advanced communication capabilities? Were people able to adapt as well in the late 1800's as we are capable of today?

Lucky for us, our great grandparents and grandparents were willing to adapt telephones to their daily lives. Where would we be without them? Do you think we would be as technologically advanced without telephone technology and the innovation it has spawned? Myself, I don't think so, but am interested in your comments. Please feel free to present your opinion!

Quotes from http://www.boingboing.net/2007/10/27/failed-futuristic-pr.html

The Progression of Virtual Worlds Into Collaboration Tools

I remember my first experience in a virtual world... my first 3D shooter, Return to Castle Wolfenstein. I was amazed that technology had progressed as far as being able to create a somewhat interactive world, and had no idea where this technology would go in the future.

The use of virtual worlds has exploded in recent years. MMORPG's (massively multiplayer on-line role playing games) use virtual worlds to create an immersive experience for their customers, as well as new ways for players to communicate. Groups called guilds in many MMORPG's (go by other names as well, depending on the virtual world) allow players to group together to create a small social society, many of them based on certain play styles, classes of characters that they use in the environment, or even their physical location (I belonged to a guild whose initial users were all living around Houston, TX... I was the first non-Texan). Who would have thought it would expand farther than that?

Enter Second Life... a virtual world that really isn't a 'game', but it is an environment that allows forms of collaboration far past a group of players trying to figure out how to conquer their next instance. Various real-world commuties (schools, businesses, individuals with a common interest or cause) have established a presence in this virtual world, where they are able to do more than just share their ideas with each other. They are able to build their environment to suit their needs as well as 'avatars' that happen to be passing by.

My first experience with Second Life, I saw the potential that the virtual world had. I was able take a tour of the International Space Museum, examine what someone with schizophrenia may experience, see a house that never ended, and be able to provide my feedback to those that created these environments and shared their information. Shortly after, I found that there were a lot of special interest groups that one could be a part of to share their ideas with each other... and then I had taken my first college class using Second Life as a collaboration medium.

I think that virtual worlds will continue to evolve and will be a strong part of the future. Such environments make it very easy for geographically dispersed individuls to share their ideas and create models to help get their point across. Repositories of their ideas and research can be stored in a virtual library so others can leverage their collective body of knowledge as well as add to it, all from the comfort of their couch. It will be interesting to see how this technology will evolve in the future!

Welcome to my blog!

Welcome to the blog of the Blog Bandit! I hope you enjoy your stay!