3 Videos for Pausing

Most of us really need to just slow down a bit.

Dropping the walls

Via Chris Brogan

Some of you know me as someone who charges straight at a project and does everything in my power to not only complete it, but to go beyond expectation with it. Whether it’s coming in ahead of deadline, or coming in on deadline with extras worked in, or to make it even prettier than you thought it would be, I always put in the extra time.

That’s my promise with That Josh. Let’s work together and see how I can wow you.

QR codes

You may have noticed the funny not-exactly-bar-codes looking things I dropped on the Contact page. That’s called a Quick Response bar code, or simply a QR code.

I’ve been learning about them and their various applications for a little while now. Seems they’ve been in use in Japan for quite a while, and now they’re making their way to the U.S.

You can do quite a bit with these things: Simply drop a URL or a text message, for instance, or embed a bunch of contact information. Or an ad, or a coupon, or information about a painting at a gallery.

And the fun part is any smart phone with an auto-focus camera can read them. BlackBerry Messenger 5.0 and newer even comes with one built-in, if you’re only including your BBIM or a URL. There are other apps out there that will read more complex messages.

I’ve been using Barcode Scanner by ZXing for my Android phone; it’s free and handles a lot of 1-dimensional (standard product) bar codes as well. I’ve also been recommended QuickMark for the iPhone and iPad (99 cents).

I wouldn’t know what to get for the BlackBerry or Palm, but I know there are apps out there. Stick a link in comments if you’re using a good one.

There are plenty of free QR code generators on the Web, as well; I’ve been using the one from ZXing for contact info and the one from Kaywa for URLs.

Blogging: Two weeks off

I’ve made a conscious effort to post something every workday of 2010, taking off only the New Year’s holiday and weekends. But I’m going to indulge myself for two weeks.

As many of you know, I have decided to accept a fantastic opportunity with Data Key Communications as of February 15. I end my 4.5-year tenure at syracuse.com on February 11.

I’m making myself concentrate on the transition by not blogging for my final week at syracuse.com and my first week at Data Key. I’ll see you Feb. 22.

Be it resolved

I started doing number 7 in the fall. Next up is number 2!

via Chris Brogan

A very Twitter new year

I rang in 2010 with a great crowd of people: Mike, Frank, Nicole, Mel, Joe, Geoff and Rochelle.

Every one of those names up there is linked to a Twitter account. I met all of those people thanks to Twitter (either connecting on Twitter or having them connected to someone I had connected to on Twitter), and all of them in 2009. I know there are still nay-sayers – people who think that Twitter is just a bunch of nerds chatting online who couldn’t hold a conversation in real life so they’re hiding behind a utility – but as I mentioned last month, Twitter leads to more in-person interaction, not less.

I’m not the only one who made this observation about our new year’s eve gathering.

I know the other question on your mind is: Were we talking or tweeting all night? I just went through all of our Twitter streams. Frank tweeted 3 times while we were out; one of those was a photo from our night out. Rochelle tweeted once; it was a photo of our night out. I posted once; it was a scheduled happy new year tweet I had created two days prior.

So, we were either talking to each other, or we were standing around in awkward silence. And there was no awkward silence.

[ growth ]

Here it is, another December 29. Our 2009 calendars are running out of usefulness. The aughts are nearly gone, and we’ll soon be writing 2010. It was last year at this time that I was writing:

I will, in no uncertain terms, not miss 2008. It began with a major snowstorm, a storm which has not abated for 363 days and counting.

I went on to say

My hope for you, dear reader: a happy and a healthy 2009.

My mom took time out to agree.

2009 was a really good year. There were some health problems in the family, but everyone’s alive and working and progressing and moving forward. I got to take personal days at the end of the year to relax, rather than spending them on funerals. I’m calling it a win from a healthy perspective.

Mitch’s year-end post is about growth, and for me, 2009 was about growth, and 2010 likely will be as well.

I set these goals for 2009:

• Take more photos for the greater good, not necessarily for sale. I’m hoping to put at least three new photos on flickr each week.

• Publish something in Corpse. It’s a publication I both enjoy and respect, and I’d be honored to be on their contributors list.

• Make this space here a lot prettier, more professional, and more useful. That includes better (more frequent, more informative) posting, and more creative use of space.

I took more pictures, but put them on Twitpic and Tumblr instead of Flickr. And it was more than 3 a week.

I did not publish anything in Corpse. To be honest, in mid-June they still had a note up that they would begin accepting submissions in May, and I haven’t checked back since.

I overhauled this space twice, more recently moving it to WordPress. While I still really like Blogger, I’ve learned that WordPress is a more professional platform, and I’m likely going to be taken more seriously by the more serious social media folks.

I moved in January to a smaller apartment that fits me better. I’m a short walk from almost everything I need; I’m closer to work. I’ve stepped up my social media efforts and really reached out to meet some new people in 2009. See this nearly ridiculous post about Twitter for a look at that. I’ve grown my LinkedIn network. I’ve launched an effort to help raise money to fund childhood cancer research.

In December, I launched two group-written blogs, one (just getting started) about collaboration and one about a lifelong passion, music.

I’ve begun coworking in the spaces of a local non-profit that supports urban sustainability.

I’ve designed new websites, I’ve talked people into blogging, I’ve helped organizations with social media tools. I’ve spoken to a couple of media groups.

I haven’t outlined specific goals for myself for 2010. They are more general than perhaps I’d like them to be, but I’ve been doing, more than planning the past six weeks or so. Here are three things I want to do in 2010.

• Collaborate. I’d like to start and maintain projects I’m passionate about. I’ve taken a running start at this, but I think more is going to come as I learn the intricacies of collaboration and relationship-building.

• Write. It seems like every year I wind up saying I want to write more, and what really ends up happening is that I take on the technical side of more things and write less. Not in 2010. I will be spending more time writing about what’s going on.

• Drop 12 pounds. That might sound like a weak weight-loss goal, but it’s realistic and achievable. When I graduated high school in 1994 I weighed 115 pounds. When I moved to Syracuse in 2003 I weighed 215 pounds. I now weigh 170 pounds – that’s a 45-pound drop from my high. And while I haven’t lost weight this year, I’ve lost two inches off my waist, which means I’m gaining muscle, which is heavier than fat. Twelve pounds allows me to keep gaining muscle, but forces me to make healthier food choices.

My wish for you is the same as it was last year. Have a happy and a healthy year.

Feeling thankful for the small things today

I turn 33 years old today. And I think 33 is going to be a good year for me.

I didn’t feel like 30 was a milestone year. And with ups and downs along the way, I think 32 was a good upswing.

I’m learning more about myself. I’m more conscious of what my body is telling me, and while I won’t be reaching for my walker any time soon, I’m recognizing that I take longer to warm up, need to stretch more often, and wind up with more creaks and pops in the morning than I used to.

If Harry Chapin is a model – and he’s as good as any other, I guess – 33 is the year you kind of stop kidding yourself (read all the way through that song; it’s worth it).

Poets Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats were both dead before they turned 33, as were rockers Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Holly and Kurt Cobain. New York Giants great Tiki Barber had retired by 33, and both Mozart and Charlie Parker were in the last two years of their lives (Parker died at 34, Mozart at 35).

Those were all people who had great impacts on their professions, and for the most part, they had stopped affecting anything well before they were 33. I don’t find that depressing so much as I see it a call to action.

So, here’s to me, but here’s to you, also. I plan to have a great year, but I can’t do it alone. You’re coming with me.

Cheers.

Photo by emmyboop, used under a Creative Commons 2.0 By Attribution license. And the song is, of course, by Cracker.

1989

My bar mitzvah was Saturday morning, November 11, 1989. Some of you who read this blog are very familiar with what a bar mitzvah is; I’ll beg your patience for a few moments. I’m sure the rest of you have an idea of what a bar mitzvah is, but perhaps not the full significance.

The word bar means “son of” (bat means “daughter of,” which is why we use that for girls). Mitzvah, on the other hand, has two definitions. It means both “commandment” and “good deed.” The transition from boyhood to manhood, in terms of the Jewish faith, takes place when one becomes a “son of the commandment” – that is, a child becomes responsible for following the rules himself, rather than having his parents take responsibility for his actions.

In the Old Testament, there are 613 commandments to follow. 365 of them are thou shalt nots – they’re prohibitions on doing something (like killing and stealing). The other 248 are things you’re required to do (like honoring your parents and leaving a corner of your field unharvested for the poor of the community to take).

Growing up, in religious school, we are taught to do mitzvot (the plural of mitzvah), like donating to charity and volunteering at nursing homes. We are taught that these are good deeds, but if we were to take a closer look at the language, we’d find out that this was just the stuff we’re supposed to do. They are good deeds. for sure, but they’re also commandments.

In other words, you don’t get an award for doing right by people. You just do right by people. If the core of the Bible really is “treat your neighbor as you would be treated,” it’s a good code to run by.

But things in 1989 weren’t all about doing the things you’re supposed to do for the people you’re supposed to take care of.

On June 4 of that year, my sister turned 7. Also on June 4, tanks rolled through Tiananmen Square, China, effectively ending seven weeks of protests by people with a variety of different causes.

Those tanks rolled right over Chinese citizens, crushing them. Something on the order of 500 people died, with many more arrested. The world was changing. I was 12, and even I could smell it.

On November 9 of that year, while I was in the final preparations for my bar mitzvah, citizens were at it again, but this time they won: the Berlin Wall came down.

Two years later, I was in my maternal grandparents’ basement, listening to the new Walkman my paternal grandmother had given me (actually, she got one for each of the three of us; and she lived across the street from my maternal grandparents, so we always got to see them all in one trip), when I stumbled across the news that brought all the stuff from 1989 together: Moscow fell.

The world was changing – and now it had changed. And it was people who changed it, in spite of their governments, not with them.

Give this a listen, a close listen, and check out the background images (sorry, EMI decided not to let me embed it – they should have just put a watermark on it and let it go).

Photo of the Berlin Wall, Nov. 9, 1989, by Sue Ream, used under a Creative Commons 3.0 By Attribution License.

If you want people to save money, make it easier

We’re frequently told to save money. Particularly for retirement, when we’re going to be in declining health and we probably should just enjoy ourselves instead of working a lot.

We’re also told to curb our spending, especially what we’re borrowing, particularly when it comes to credit cards.

This week, I got a credit card offer in the mail. It encouraged me to go to a website, punch in a 9-digit number, and I could have confirmation of my approval in 30 seconds. The card came with a $29 one-time processing fee, a $95 one-time enrollment fee, a $48 annual fee, and a $7 monthly fee, billed at $84 annually.

In other words, it would have taken me about 30 seconds to drop $256 before I’d even received the card in the mail.

The other thing that happened this week is that I started to consolidate a 401(k) from a previous job into my current job’s 401(k) plan. My current job’s plan is far out-performing the other, and I thought it’d be nice to have all of that in one place.

I logged into my old job’s plan account management tools. It had a rollover button, but it was for rolling accounts in, not out to other plans. So I logged into the other account, and it told me to call customer service.

I called customer service, punched my way through an automated system to get to a human, who then patched me over to the rollover department, who sent me to an administrator for our company’s plan, who told me I’d have to call my HR department.

The next day, I did, and they sent me forms for accepting a rollover.

Now that I knew how the acceptance side worked, I had to get a check from the plan I was closing. I logged into the website, called the number I was given, and was told to call the plan administrator at the company.

I did, and she dropped forms in the mail, which meant two more days.

I got the forms; it’s a fairly complicated package. Here’s what I have to do.

- Fill out a form, and mail it to the receiving plan for a signature to say it’s actually a retirement plant. Then they have to mail it back to me.

- Write a letter (they include a sample), fill out another form, and include the form I received from my current plan, and mail that to the company I used to work for.

- The company I used to work for will then mail the package to my old plan, who will take up to 10 business days to review my 4 sheets of paper and cut a check. I’m unclear on whether the check goes to my old company and then to me, or if it comes right to me.

- Once I get the check, I have five more pages to fill out and mail to my HR department along with the check, and they will then forward the check to the receiving plan, who will take up to 10 business days to process the rollover.

So let’s review. Spend $256 for the privilege of receiving a credit card: 30 seconds. Roll a prior 401(k) into a current 401(k): 20 business days of processing, plus 17 postal days, plus the time it actually takes for me and my HR representatives to fill out the forms and switch envelopes, plus whatever time it takes for my current plan to sign a piece of paper saying it’s a retirement plan.

So yeah, it’s going to take 2 months for wiser savings, vs. 30 seconds for a bad borrowing decision that I’m sure ropes in a lot of people.

I think this is what they call a FAIL.