GO! JUMP ON THE TIMEBRIDGE FOR OUR MEETING!

The Timebridge tool (from a subsidiary of Yahoo) eliminates the "coordination" requisite for meeting with two or more people.
http://forum.37signals.com/basecamp/forums/3/topics/9853

By the way, one of Alan Moore's characters, Jonni Future, also uses a ficticious "Timebridge" device...

...and my friend Shazia was also impressed with my Web 2.0 geekiness
during her recent visit. Wow! Shazia! Impressed! Wow!

Online and phone meetings just got easier; try it for yourself!

http://www.timebridge.com/home.php

As expected, the emails sent are coded so that click-throughs automatically identify the Attendee for the meeting.

This is similar to the coding in Messages from Basecamp Project Management, wherein reply emails get attached to Basecamp Message threads.

Web-based software vendors could utilize similar technology as an alternative to the BCC idea when users need to coordinate meetings.

Frank has invited you to a
meeting:Click this link
to reply:http://app.timebridge.com/meeting/reply/sReQBKyUhzujUjfFMessage from
Frank:========================Please click the "Reply" link to enter your
availability for this meeting.

Timebridge is definitely one of those "killer applications" because it is so quick, simple, and effective!

It can even "reach into" meeting attendees' calendars to find open time slots. Nifty, eh?

NOTE: In practice, people are currently a bit reluctant to believe that it is actually quick, simple, and effective. To wit, the application never requires new users to "create an account," which in my view is one of the best features!

Service is free, and users can opt to pay for their online meeting service (ala GoToMeeting from Citrix or NetMeeting from Microsoft). Let's keep an eye on how well they are doing when it comes to attracting cash, ya? Yahoo?

NOTHING=GOOD CRM...SEARCH FOR NOTHING ON A REGULAR BASIS!

Speaking of nothing...

With oodles of details about your customers in a given "digital phone book" or CRM (customer relationship management) software, it is really nice to get reports of all the details that you have stored.



Almost as important is to report on what is missing. "Looking for nothing" can accomplish any of the following important questions:

• Which customers are missing a postal code / zip code before we send out our mass mailers (you can read that as "ma$$ mailer$" when the bill arrives)?
  
• What city is the most popular office location for our customers? Is the city spelled correctly so that I can get the proper numbers (e.g. Calgary, calgary, Cal gary)?
  
• Who is missing a job title? How accurate is the spelling of the job title, and how current are the job titles on-file?

I'm sure you can predict the embarrassment that might arise if your office forgets to "search for nothing" just prior to a mass communication, eh?

LEARN ONLINE, GET CHALLENGED, AND ADD VALUE!

I've been a member of TrainingZone for several years, and they seem to have more mature insights on the training profession, perhaps because the UK has advanced differently than Canada.
Below are a few helpful articles from 2008.

BIG PICTURE IDEAS ABOUT LEARNING ONLINE
Is e-learning just a mass-market delivery mechanism that offers the prospect of cutting per person training costs? What lessons have been learnt from its use? And how is its use changing and its value being assessed?



ATTENDEES THAT CHALLENGE YOU
How do you manage new employees who criticize your training methods, complain to senior staff and take the induction into their own hands? What training strategies will win back control and keep it?



REDUCE THE EXPENSE OF NO-SHOWS
How do you count the cost of no-shows to training? There seems little in the way of hard facts, but what we do know is they cost money - and lots of it.

EVEN EGYPTIAN GODS HAVE KNOW-HOW FOR WEB 2.0?

Alan Moore wrote Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and thought-provoking short stories for DC comics. Have a look at him in the middle of a other cartoon characters in the Simpsons, below:



Quote from a fellow named MYSTICO in Moore's Terra Obscura:
"They were drowning in data, but almost bereft of knowledge....and of wisdom they knew nothing."
This definitely describes the plethora of web-based opportunities available in "the cloud" of information available nowadays.

The data that was previously stored in hard drives is now "in the cloud," which poses a different set of security challenges; improving security of web-based software is the cost - the benefit of having data available anywhere / anytime.

Alluding to the above quote, the data stream ("knowledge") flowing to your browser is only as safe as the standard features ("wisdom") implemented by the vendor.



What are some of the features that might be important? Think about the following:

SECURE: It's brilliant that many of the free vendors are including HTTPS options for their software applications - Gmail is one popular example. Though it may slow-down the performance of retrieving the data, security is crucial for some people's information, which might include CRM data, financial details, and communication logs.
Let's follow Gmail's example and at least have the option available, eh?

SHARE: The application ought to be open and usable by other applications, through a current API / online standard format. It's messy out there with all of the different options running around, so making data available to standard online tools is essential.
For instance,
integration with iCal/Outlook calendars,
strong searchability,
and comma-delimited import/exportability is nice, isn't it?

STABILITY: Free is great, but what happens if the vendor gets subsumed by another vendor, or simply closes business forever? If you examine the Legal Agreement that most people click-past, most free vendors simply state that "if we close our doors, your data is toast, and we aren't responsible"...!
Pay for an web-based system that is redundantly backed-up every day for 30-60 days, with the back-up significantly away from its operating servers, and an iron-clad 99.9999% (six nines) guarantee of "up time."

LOOK OUTSIDE! YES, RIGHT NOW!

For the new year, do something simple, relaxing, and healthy for your eyes...
Preserve your vision by looking into the distance, which relaxes the muscles - if you are sensitive enough, you can actually feel tension vanish inside your head when you do this.

Specifically, take two minute breaks every 45 minutes.
Look outside for enormous, distant, scenery.

Mountains, clouds, and the horizon work brilliantly!

Though your eyes are one of the fastest-healing parts of your body, the slow assault of close distance work can make them more and more myopic.

*sigh*
Yes, I know from experience.

NOTE: the challenge for most people is to actually take the next step and start using a timer device of some kind!

Right now, go ahead and do a search for "free online timer," pick something, and implement it on your workstation.
http://www.google.com/ig/directory?q=timer&type=gadgets
Your eyes will thank you, right?