044/365D - Conflicted about Her

I watched the movie Her last night and I had so many conflicting feelings. I thought it was cool, scary and sad all at the same time. (warning: potential spoilers)

• My early adopter, can't-wait-for-the-future side thinks It's such a cool idea! I'd be so efficient lol.
• It was unsettling that someone can look through my whole life (that quickly no less) and know what makes me tick.
• The hopeless romantic in me was sad that he found that kind of love and couldn't be with her.

Other thoughts. It was interesting:

• how socially acceptable it became to date your OS. I parallel it with online dating and how the stigma of that has significantly reduced in the last few years.
• that there's a service to write heartfelt letters juxtaposed against this quiet world where everyone is talking to their technology instead of each other... maybe it was commentary that while the world is growing further and further apart because of technology, there's this human need to feel connected.
• the story line around the surrogate. In the movie it was unpaid work, but I imagine that it's highly plausible that that could be a profession in the future. I found it beautiful that the surrogate believed in their love so much that she wanted to do it for free and that she was so devastated when it didn't work out. It'd be interesting to see what was going on in her life... what made her decide this was something she wanted to do.

Businesses, Social Media & Risk

Organizations are still trying to figure out how social media will fit into their overall marketing fabric. And that's not an easy question to answer.  There are all sorts of risks associated with social media. Social media has an air of openness, frequency and connectedness.

The very essence of social media can pose many risks to organizations because there is a lot less control over the message.  Does that mean you shouldn't do it?

Some tips on avoiding risks and being successful in social media:

• Frequency - people signed up to your blog/twitter/fan page for a reason.  They want to keep up to date on what you have to say.  Don't abuse this but don't be lazy either.  If you update too often you're bombarding them and they will unfollow you.  Update once a year and either they'll forget you are there, or take you off their list for adding no value to them.
• Be real and empathetic - As a company, you don't want to air your dirty laundry but it's important to address what the public thinks and feels.
• Listen - this is probably the best use of social media for companies but also the riskiest.  I read an article how someone twittered about Jet Blue and within hours Jet Blue was following them on Twitter.  Understanding what the public really thinks will save you.  You can't correct what you don't know is wrong.  Have a plan in place to quickly address issues, not EVERY issue you see people complaining about, but unanimous issues because chances are if it's come up more than 5 times you can bet a lot more people feel the same way who don't have access to technology to scream about it.
• Set up controls - many social media channels now have tools that can help organizations get on board while managing risks. Blogs, for example, have settings that allow you to approve comments before they are published.  Warning: be careful about unapproving posts though, allowing legit complaints on to your blog comments are essential in "being real".  Responding to the legit complaint is a way of showing acknowledgment of the complaint and also that you value their opinion and are taking necessary steps to correct it.

Google Chrome - Initial review

I downloaded Google Chrome, Google's debut web browser, last night and I've been playing with it a bit.  I probably haven't experienced it in it's entirety but I already have a short list of my likes and dislikes: Likes:

• Being able to drag tabs from 1 Chrome window to another
• It apparently loads fast, I didn't find Internet Explorer all that slow, but maybe it's because I rarely stray from my handful of websites
• Loving the tabs page, with pictures of your most visited sites
• Incognito mode.  Being able to surf pages without being tracked on the computer you're using

Dislikes:

• Unable to double click top left corner to close a window.  You have to use the [X] in the top right corner
• Chrome doesn't recognize the scroll bar feature on my laptop touchpad.  It will let me drag the page down, but doesn't go back up
• Not able to remove most visited sites items from the tabs page.  I should be able to right click and remove.  Even better would be options to 'Never put on tabs page again' and 'Remove only this time'
• Doesn't support WYSIWYG for TypePad. Grr

That's it from me for now.  Will post again as I use it more and find more things.

BlackBerry OS 4.5

Forums can be such a tease sometimes.

Sometimes they help you through tough problems you can't find in help files for apps, and sometimes its just a hotbed for rumors.

I've been waiting (oh so patiently) for the new 4.5 OS and at first I read on forums that it was coming out in April 2008 (Orange in the UK already had it), but April has come and gone, and now we are in September.

All for what? HTML email? Video recording capability? Sounds minor but HTML email would be kind of nice.

And of course, Rogers has to add to the tease by making 4.5 available for practically every model (Pearl, Bold) except for the Curve. I already couldn't get the 6GB plan because it doesn't apply to BES service you can't even give me the new OS? *shakes my fist*

I did manage to find an unofficial version on the net but its a bit buggy. My video record doesn't work, and still no HTML email, but I think that has more to do with my BES than the OS, so basically I should have stuck with my old OS since the 2 things I want don't even work. The browser is better though, I guess that's some consolation :)

Either way, being a gadget geek I'm just satisfied that it says 4.5 OS on my version screen.

Choice is not always a good thing

So as you can see I've started a blog, and a twitter thanks to my friend Mona who also recently started.

So I started looking at blog sites and there are a million I swear!  So my commitment phobia kicks in and I'm overwhelmed because *gasp* what if I don't like the one I signed up for and find another one that I like better!?

Yes these are the kinds of crazies that run through my head.  Plus I'm trying to find one that will let me blog from my blackberry.  Typepad has a blackberry app but it won't install right now *grr*