Balancing life while building a house

Last Summer I caught the fever. I got it in my head that I needed to build a house. Meanwhile most people are running from the housing market, as prices continue to rise and the rate of foreclosures continues to grow. But I made the decision then partnered with a good friend and general contractor who really made the whole thing possible. We came up with a plan that would be affordable and functional. It took a few months before a lot was found that would work. Then on March 10, 2010 we broke ground. Would moved into the house in late June of 2010 and I’ve learned that there is a whole other level of being tired.

Throughout the build process I was excited and spent most of my free time working on it where I could. The hard part of all of this was balancing my excitement for this new project, with all the other things in my life. I managed to fulfill the obligations of my career. My wife took on the responsibility of packing up our old house in preparation for moving. But there were many other things that just got put on hold. That was okay for the few months of intense building, but after we moved in June there were a lot of things that needed my attention. Unfortunately the list of things to do around the house was stretching onto the second page. So I had to accept that the landscaping and fencing would be slowly completed over the next year.

So here I am in April of 2011, and we still don’t have grass. Slow progress on Saturdays has been a source of joy and confidence building as I put in the effort and figure out how things need to be installed. I have learned about

• installing dishwashers, washers and dryers
• Installing Baseboards, and Crown Molding
• installing door frames and doors,
• hardwood flooring installation,
• landscaping drainage,
• irrigation,
• tree planting,
• soil composition, and
• when to sod versus seed.

When the rain slows down I’ll learn how to paint my fence (150 feet long).

Measuring popularity using twitter trendy topics

5 of 10 on Nov 3rd

If it were not for Megamind http://www.megamind.com/  the resignation that was announced today by Gordan Campbell, the Premier of British Columbia, would have reached first place on the coveted twitter trendy topics list. And while this resignation definately stirred up quite a buzz boasting 5 of the 10 trendy topics, it failed to have any staying power. By quitting time the same day, only the one topic remained and had dropped to forth place.

When you want to have your media content get to the top and stay there for more than a few hours, you need to think about the differences between these two situations. 

Here are some points to consider in the first example with the movie Megamind:

• Anticipation – The movie is due out for release on November 5, two days from now.
• Preview Trailers – Exciting teaser content released
• Social Media Share icons – The website that is hosting the content provides the users with links to twitter, and facebook in order for them to “like” the content or comment about it and share it with friends or followers.
• Functional purpose for returning to the site – to buy tickets
• Additional rich features,
  • Interactive games
  • Free iphone app
  • Free iphone desktop backgrounds
  • Facebook Application – Click for a chance to win various video games consoles
  • 31 page comic book – viewing online or available PDF download, also shareable through Facebook, Twitter or email
  • Interactive Video creation tool to add you face onto a character and create a custom video, also shareable.
• Links to tickets purchasing sites

Compare this to how the resignation of Premier Campbell was shared.

• Articles posted on a few different Canadian news websites
• Television press conference broadcast on CBC
• Twitter feed comments shown on the CBC website
• Posted excerp of statement https://gww.gov.bc.ca/news/2010/1103/statement-premier-campbell 

Of course I’m not suggesting that a resignation is something that you want to broadcast like you do a movie. These are just two examples used and the results show the different outcomes.

Summary:
If you want to hit the top trends with staying power, you need 

• lots of interactive media,
• free content, and
• to enable social media sharing.

Go Jamie!!! Save the World

Go Jamie!!! Save the World: http://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver.html He is my hero!

Green Team Summit – bringing teams together

Being involved with green teams in government has given me an appreciation for how many motivated people there are that are willing to volunteer their time.

I believe that the network of green teams has matured enough to begin acting as a more cohesive group.

I am excited to see that they are promoting a few common initiatives that all green teams can join.

I expect to see some great things coming soon.

Carbon Neutral 2010

Before you do anything else… BUILD YOUR NETWORK!

There is a difference between Hype and owning your own channel. If you can build something around which people will gather, then you have something special. You are a lot better off in projects if you already have the network of people that you need to be able to accomplish the task. So build the network first. It will support you when your down and make you happy when you’re up. Network also dissipate over time. People move away, die, blah blah blah, so always be working on building “tribes”.   You give people something that matters to them and around which they can gather, and then you will be able to use these people when you say, “I’m going to make a movie!”

The channel of tomorrow or those where you can talk back.
Create stuff that is visible and indexable. This will be the same thing as hiring someone to work for you 24/7.

You become and insider by building or becoming part of a tribe. Insiders get forgiven for their mistakes, so you want to be an insider.

Differentiation is a process, and go about separating yourself from the “traditional” thing and set themselves apart from the crowd. Then you become the leader.

Being a human artist. This can be accomplished by pattern breaking. Give an unusual answer to the questions you are asked. Ask questions that are not the typical questions. Creativity is when the brain tries to make connections in ways that it has not previously done. So get smart!

Fear. Fear of change, trying something new. You (group 0) can be motivated by the fact that you have influence to more than just the people you know(group 1). You also have influence to those that they know (group 2) and group 3.  Movement increases the propensity for movement.

When we stop experimenting and learning the world stops growing for you.

A great example of all this how Arnold Swartzenegger became the Governor of California. Millions of people watched him save the world over and over and over again. So people are obviously going to trust him and stand behind him.

For more information about this topics I highly recommend the book

Trust Agents
By Julien Smith and Chris Brogan
inoveryourhead.net

Favorite WordPress Plugins

I attended a Meetup on Saturday all about WordPress and I learned about a bunch of new plugins. Here are the highlights:

• Related
• RSS Footer
• Yoast Breadcrumbs
• Meta Robots
• Google Optimizer
• Headspace

I’ll get links them shortly, but here are some others that have received great reviews:

All in One SEO Pack
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/all-in-one-seo-pack/
Optimizes your WordPress blog for search engines by Automatically optimizing your titles and META tags.

IntenseDebate
http://intensedebate.com/
Replaces default comment system with advanced commenting, threaded replies, karma points (not for individual comments), Gravatars, RSS, ability to reply to comments from email (great to reply from your Blackberry), all in one management from the website for users. It also comes with the optional Intense Debate Top Commentators sidebar widget to display your top commentators, great to encourage commenting (however, the Disqus one below is a lot more comprehensive).

Disqus Commenting System
http://disqus.com
Replaces your comment template with the more advanced Disqus comment system. Disqus is also the only system to support Facebook Connect out of the box. I’ve contacted IntenseDebate directly and they told me there is no current plan to support Facebook Connect. Disqus also features RSS, Gravatars, threaded comments, comment karma, and lets you easily see comments made by the same user on other sites. I prefer Disqus as it offers Facebook Connect support out-of-the-box that could help you tap into the Facebook community. Disqus also features top commentators, recent comments widgets. Also, with Disqus you can enable video comments with seesmic.

Digg Digg
http://www.mkyong.com/blog/digg-digg-wordpress-plugin/
Adds Digg, Reddit, Yahoo Buzz buttons with counters for your readers to easily vote for your posts from your page. I was able to contact the author who also told me Stumble Upon support is on its way as well.

Sociable
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/sociable/
Automatically add links to your favorite social bookmarking sites on your posts, pages and in your RSS feed. You can choose from 99 different social bookmarking sites including Digg, Reddit, SU, Mixx, Propeller. You can also add e-mail and print buttons. It also supports TwitThis, but the plugin can be made easier by using TinyURL (or another URL shortening service) and automatically logging the user into Twitter with the URL and Title already shown.

Google Analytics
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/google-analytics-for-wordpress/
Google Analytics provides highly advanced website tracking and management information free of charge. Use this plug-in to easily add the code so Google Analytics can immediately begin to track all of your pages

Lifestream
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/lifestream/
Lifestream displays your social feeds and activity from many social sites. Includes support to display your Flickr photos, Facebook feed, Friendster feed, Youtube videos, Twitter updates, any other RSS feed, from your other blogs, etc.

DB Backup
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-db-backup/
Easily backup/restore your posts and entire WordPress database. Download or send your back to your email.

WP Greet Box
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-greet-box/
Displays different greeting message to your new visitors depending on their referrer URL. For example, when a Digg user clicks through from Digg, they will see a message reminding them to digg your post if they like it. The plug-in also includes out of the box support for getting messages from users coming from Reddit, SU, Facebook, Google (shows searched keywords as well), Mixx, etc. You can also easily add your own custom greeting from people coming from any site you choose.

WP-SpamFree
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-spamfree/
An extremely powerful anti-spam plugin for WordPress that virtually eliminates comment spam, including trackback and pingback spam. I find the plug-in works surprisingly well by eliminating all automated spam. It does somewhat use a bit of bandwidth sometimes.

WP Super Cache
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-super-cache/
This plugin generates static html files from your dynamic WordPress blog. After a html file is generated your webserver will serve that file instead of processing the comparatively heavier and more expensive WordPress PHP scripts. Some people have complained about compatibility problems with other plugins, so exercise some caution here and follow the instructions carefully. However, the plugin is very good and can save you a significan amount of bandwidth.

Google XML Sitemaps
http://www.arnebrachhold.de/projects/wordpress-plugins/google-xml-sitemaps-generator/
Generates a XML-Sitemap compliant sitemap of your WordPress blog. This format is supported by Ask.com, Google, YAHOO and MSN Search.

Category Posts Widget
http://jameslao.com/2008/04/18/category-posts-widget-13/
Displays any amount of posts you want from a specific category in your sidebar

Secure and Accessible PHP Contact Form
http://green-beast.com/blog/?page_id=136
Lets you create a very secure contact form with custom fields so your readers can easily contact you.

Popularity Contest
http://alexking.org/projects/wordpress
Shows your readers your most popular posts based on views, comments, pingbacks, among other criteria. You can also change the weight of each criteria to determine the most popular post.

WP Since Last Visit
http://alexking.org/projects/wordpress
Indicates with a small “New” picture beside your post to users who have not yet seen your post from their last visit. Also works with comments.

Twitter Tools
http://alexking.org/projects/wordpress
Allows you to pull your tweets into your blog (as posts and digests) and create new tweets on blog posts and from within WordPress.

WordPress Download Monitor
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/download-monitor/
Download Monitor is a plugin for uploading and managing downloads, tracking download hits, and displaying links.

Yet Another Related Posts Plugin
http://mitcho.com/code/yarpp/
Gives you a list of posts and/or pages related to the current entry, introducing the reader to other relevant content on your site

WP Page Numbers
http://www.jenst.se/2008/03/29/wp-page-numbers
Adds pagination to your WordPress navigation, good for search engines.

WP-PostRatings
http://lesterchan.net/portfolio/programming/php/#wp-postratings
Allows your readers to vote on how they liked your article. You can also display your highest or lowest voted posts on your sidebar.

WP-PostViews
http://lesterchan.net/portfolio/programming/php/#wp-postviews
Allows you to display the number of times your post has been viewed.

AdSense Manager
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/adsense-manager/
Lets you add Google AdSense, Yahoo, AdBrite, among other ads, to your sidebar or anywhere else on your blog.

Smart YouTube
http://www.prelovac.com/vladimir/wordpress-plugins/smart-youtube
Allows you to easily insert Youtube videos in your post, comments and in your RSS feed

Video widget
http://www.nikohk.com/plugin-wordpress-video-widget/
Easily display videos from many different video sharing websites on your sidebar or blog, including from YouTube, DailyMotion, Google Video, Metacafe, Reever, MySpace, Blip.tv, Quicktime, Windows Media Player, among many others

FlickrRSS
http://eightface.com/wordpress/flickrrss/
Lets you easily display your Flickr photos on your blog, comes with a sidebar widget. Note: Lifestream plug-in also supports this so you may not need this plugin.

Facebook Connect Community
http://www.sociable.es/facebook-connect
Allows your users to sign in with their Facebook account. It also supports comments to be sent to the users news feed, which can draw you some good viral traffic. However, it does not work with IntenseDebate. I just contacted IntenseDebate and they told me they do not plan to offer Facebook Connect support, which is unfortunate because that would make life a lot more easier, especially for people who want all the advanced features of IntenseDebate but also want the ability for comments to be sent to the Facebook newsfeed.

DropCap First Character WordPress Plugin
http://www.rc.au.net/blog/2006/07/27/dropcap-first-character-wordpress-plugin/
What it does is it makes the first character of the post BIG in a magazine style.

Front Page Excluded Categories
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/front-page-excluded-categories/
As the title suggests, it blocks categories you don’t want from displaying on your home page

Subscribe-Remind
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/subscribe-remind/
Invites your readers to subscribe to your RSS feed below each post

Exec-PHP
http://bluesome.net/post/2005/08/18/50
Executes PHP code in posts, pages, or your sidebar.

Fake it till you make it

“Fake it till you make it”, the well used mantra of many eager beavers in the business world, is truly making it way into the mainstream. Every new wave of technology brings new concepts, tools, and devices. What are you going to do? Do you admit that you don’t have a clue? Do you take an uninformed stand against the “useless technology fads”? Or do you fake it long enough that you eventually learn the new technology?

If you don’t fit into any of the these boxes, then you  are probably starting to rethink high level concepts, and question high level processes driving the economy. I myself have recently had such an awakening.

Consider some of the trends that are ongoing right now:

• Green Economy (more 1, more 2)
• Work Less, Less Stuff, More Life (more 1, more 2)
• Universal Health Care
• Clean Coal
• Bike to Work

The problem with “Fake it till you make it” for these topics is that you are assuming that the outcomes of these initiatives are going to be beneficial to you in the long run. I am going to try not to just learn how to use the new devices that come out. I think as citizens we have a greater responsibility to demand products that have lasting benefits to the countries we live in.

Lately I have been finding it truely difficult to find information on these latest trends that is not biased heavily by economical or political agendas. Lately we hear so much about climate change and that it is fact. I tend to agree with the evidence that supports this claim, yet their are apposing arguments also based in science that make a logical case for the contrary.

So my struggle is about who to beleive. I think I would have more confidence in praying about who to believe that to try to sort out all the evidence myself. The citizens deserve transparancy, but companies and entrepeneurs also deserve to make a profit off the green economy. I heard a lot of talk about “Green Washing” and how add a shiny “hybrid” decal to the back of their high-end luxury automobiles. While the company as whole continue to get more efficient at producing more and more products. For example, technology has continually made cleaner and cleaner types of fuel. Wood, Coal, Gasoline, etc… but with the advancements came the ability to produce more and more of that product. So the goal to be cleaner was thwarted by the goal to produce more. Is Clean Coal just another chance to produce more? I think it probably is.

I think we need a culture change not another technology revolution.

A MS Office Groove Presentation

Groove Presentation

Creativity is like Fireworks

There can be planning…
There can be the right people involved in the design…
There can be a captive audience…
There can be rave reviews and loads of applause…
The whole project can be perfectly executed…
…but…
When the last Spark falls and fades the crowds disperse, and the creativity ends with nothing but a clean-up project.

So how do we avoid this scenario?

I would like suggest a few things that should happen in conjunction with your creativity efforts.

1. Don’t stop the fireworks show
   • If you keep the creativity going or keep the Sparks flying, then you will be sure to have a steady flow of new and returning visitors
   • Stopping the fireworks show can be as detremental to the health of your organizational goals as a severe draught can be to a marshland
2. Record everything,
   • Artist’s depictions
   • Photographs
   • Movies
   • To avoid having a perfect Spark rise a fall, then fade without anyone noticing, all of the creative ideas needs to documented and organized
3. Take advantage of multiple perspectives
   • A fireworks show is a dynamic 3 dimensional display
   • There are an unlimited number of perspectives that can taken to view the show
   • Each perspective will take in a different set of colors, sounds and spatial motions; also each person will hear a different set of comments about the show as it is happening
   • If 100 people attended the show and you only had one person record the event from a single perspective then you are going to miss capturing 99% of the show
4. Allow the formation of groups and communities to discuss ideas
   • Groups that have a level of autonomy will be motivated to produce unique solutions in order to receive the rewards of producing positive outcomes
   • Groups give individuals a sense of belonging and provide a safe environment to build confidence, inspire and motivate
5. Provide a means for coordination between groups to find linkages and opportunities for them to work together
   • Those who attend the meetings for more than one group will often find that discussions are similar
   • They share information from one group in the meetings of the other
   • At a higher level groups can provide notes on their meetings up to a central group for review
   • The central group could work to build additional linkages where none currently exist naturally
   • The central group could also provide other support through funding, training, facilitation, guest speakers, and the dissemination of information
   • The central group may also have their own ideas to work on that may be more strategic in nature
6. Provide tools and techniques for groups to use
   • Arrange for skilled facilitation of groups meetings
   • Those who are trained in brainstorming methodology, or who have taken courses on innovative thinking, appreciate that these sessions can go wildly off the rails at times
   • Setting some ground rules and outlining the various methods for a meeting will make the outcomes of achieve better outcomes
   • This will create an environment where participants feel welcomed and respected
7. Let the small, medium, and large ideas be discussed at the right level of the organization
   • Large ideas are not necessarily the expensive ones; they can just be the ideas that affect a large number of people or processes
   • The small ideas might only affect a couple people but they can be extremely important
   • The challenge is to determine how small or large your idea is and to get together the right group of people to discuss
8. Let the rubber hit the road
   • Ideas don’t need to be perfect before they can implemented
   • Continuous improvement can’t begin until an idea moves to the implementation stage

Great New Solutions, but no one will use them…

A few days ago I posted a great idea on a forum. The idea received some positive feedback that is was a good idea, that it could have some good potential, and that it could really solve some issues.

The last comment that I received however gave me a wakeup call and I am so glad for it. The comment was that they agreed my idea was great, but that they had tried something similar and were having trouble because individuals didn’t want to bother using the new solution. The potential benefits could not be realized.

So the moral of the story is to always try and remember that the first questions to ask when you think of a new idea is

1. Does it look fun?
2. Will people enjoy using it?
3. Will it provide lasting value to the people who use it?

These questions will give you an idea of whether people will want to start using your new solution, whether they will not quit using it shortly after starting, and whether they will return to use again and again for a long period of time.