We are all spending our days working for someone, whether it be ourselves or someone else, or something. How do you know what you’re doing is worth your time and effort? It’s a question I’ve been asking myself for several weeks, and I still haven’t figured it out, to be honest. I do have an idea of how we may be able to come up with an estimate, this requires honest introspection, no lying to yourself. Continue reading »
Feb 132009
So I want to offer anyone who wants it a free Twhirl skin that makes tracking replies and direct messages inline alot easier. It also introduces contrast in the FriendFeed portion of the app between others’ comments and your’s against the regular background.
Here’s the installation info you’ll need to install the skin. Download the Mint Skin
1.) Extract the Mint.xml file.
2.) Go into your Twhirl skins folder:
- For PC it’s in Program Files Twhirl colorschemes
- For Mac its in Twhirl- (Right click) show package contents, Colorschemes
3.) Copy the file into the folder.
4.) Restart Twhirl and enable the theme.
Hope you enjoy, leave me comments or send me a reply @jimminy if you do or if there is anything you would like modified. I’m also planning on working on some more so if you would have an idea of something you would like just let me know.
Update: @kyeung808 noticed a little issue with the image I have up above and I must take note of it. The image above appears to show multiple columns but it’s actually Twitter on the left and FriendFeed on the right.
Nov 132008
A few weeks ago, I read a conversation about what innovation really is in a FriendFeed discussion started by Gregory Lent. He put the contents of the conversation up on his blog “PostLinearity“. The idea that some people think innovation is the result of strenuous work is kind of scary. So I’d like to give you all a view of what innovation truly is since I haven’t done that, yet.
Innovation (n.) That which is newly introduced; a change or, the act of innovating.
Innovating (v.) Beginning or introducing(something new); being creative.
In the conversation they discuss Innovation as being natural and being hard work. I find that it’s a natural change of thinking in order to adapt to the constraints that your facing. It is just as natural as evolution is, in fact it is real-time evolution of the mind. Anytime you grasp a new idea, your mind has innovated how you think, even if the idea came from someone else.
Innovation can’t be constrained by hard work, however, if that was the case evolution wouldn’t be possible. Look at the world, it has fauna and flora in locations where they can take the most advantage of their environs. Innovation is natural to the the universe, mathematics and sciences have reproduced constraints for this.
Imagine that you really want to get to the top of mountain with a semi-low grade, simple right, you just walk up. Now imagine that the mountain is a mesa, you can’t find a point were you could just walk up, you have to climb. That’s innovation, it’s a change from what you are used to doing with a mountain, because of the constraint of steep cliffs.
Now, many people think of innovation as changing something that is complex to make it simple. This is easily one of the most paradoxical constraints; as the solution becomes more simple, the problem gets more complex. The constraints in this case are constrained by their variability which makes it even more complicated to see the natural solution. This is why many people today see innovation as hard work, their dealing with problems that are increasingly complex.
Innovation is naturally simple and complex.
Oct 152008
Trust is the ultimate key for marketing anything. The more people who trust in what you know and say, the more willing they are to spread the word. Trust is the key to “Word of Mouth” which is an extremely viral aspect in marketing. The more people that trust you means that even more people will come to trust you through relations and be passionate with what you do and say.
It is not what you know but, who you know that will get your through life.
Several, example businesses both for good and bad.
Google – This is one of the most famous examples of a trust based company. It has had a notoriously low marketing budget, with no real world advertising. They have built their business through users trust in the search results and spread into other trust-worthy services.
Digg – This company took off because of fans of Kevin Rose trusted in the service he was providing. It was his own ability to build trust in the tech community to provide the user base for his service.
eBay – This is a recent failure, it built itself up into a trustworthy business after years of being around. Recently, it has lost people due to it’s inability to adapt to the I want it now mentality, as an auction site.
Any Social Network – These sites just don’t work without other users, so you have to either market it heavily or hope that the early adopters love it enough to spread it around.
Familiarity is another key to gaining trust that allows your to become connected. Familiarity provides an easy way to provide a setting that people will be able to easily connect with. You can provide them with tools they already know how to use or, be focused in the same areas as they are, allowing them easy entry into the subject.
These are the way to spread an idea, product, or service. You provide them what they want or something they don’t know they need. Let your early adopters spread the idea to their friends, this is the reason what you do needs to be remarkable and memorable. Don’t knock off developed products you will not steal it’s users by doing that and it will hurt you in the long run, because there will be no trust in your abilities.
