Notable + Quotable: Data center security, government as a platform, and a blueprint for highly organized collaboration

September 29, 2009 at 9:58 am · Filed under Notable + Quotable

Is intimate personal information a toxic asset in cloud datacenters?
On Radar, Professor Carl Hewitt shows the advantages and disadvantages of government regulation in data center security, and presents other options for this issue. “This is a future that we expect most readers would find distasteful. There is an alternative: A client cloud is a local cloud controlled by a client, e.g., a family cloud might consist of the cell phones, computers, security cameras, home entertainment centers, Wi-Fi access points, etc. of a family. Semantic Integration could be performed in clients’ clouds so that clients by default store their information in cloud datacenters in a way that it can be decrypted only by using a client’s secret key.”

How Tim O’Reilly Aims to Change Government
Marshall Kirkpatrick features a technologist’s crusade to make government more responsive to citizens, how he’s going about it and what he’s learned. “Technologist Tim O’Reilly is spending time in Washington, and bringing Washington officials to San Francisco, to do something different – perhaps something more realistic. O’Reilly is trying to help government become a platform for innovation. A “government as platform” would supply raw digital data and other forms of support for private sector innovators to build on top of.”

When Collaboration is Literally Life or Death…
On ZDNet, Oliver Marks lauds the US military’s use of collaboration tools in a highly secure and organized manner that private companies can emulate. “Industrial strength strategic planning of collaboration environments will definitely separate the weakly organized from the ultra connected and clued up and is a key differentiator in modern business.”

Cloud computing: YOUR data – right?
ComMetrics cites recent events like Amazon’s remote deletion on Kindles as another reason to clearly define cloud data ownership. “Bottomline: Storing data using cloud computing (like Google Chrome OS does) means there is no local storage, so nothing can be owned, only rented. The only way around this problem is to download data and images to one’s PC.”

Rural broadband = more jobs, better salaries
Matthew Lasar features a report by the US Department of Agriculture Rural counties that says although broadband has proven to be economically beneficial, there persists a wide gap in high-speed Internet penetration in the countryside and in urban areas. “Only 41 percent of rural households had broadband access in 2008, the USDA says, as opposed to 55 percent nationally. And adoption rates still lag behind cities, with a “marked difference” between urban and rural use. Only 70 percent of rural households with access to broadband embraced it in 2007, the report says, as opposed to 84 percent of city dwellers.”

Killing Email: How and Why I Ditched My Inbox
Leo Babauta details his experiments on phasing out his email and keeping his dependence on it to a minimum on Zen Habits. “Q: Why so extreme? Why not just filter and check email less often? A: I’ve tried a number of tactics with email, including extreme filtering. For awhile I set up a special email address for friends and family and close colleagues, and everything else was shunted into a special folder to be read less frequently. It still took up too much of my time. I don’t check email as often as most people, but it was still a chore I have been enjoying less and less. So I decided to try something different.”

Work Smarter, Not Harder Tip: Fill Your Days with Sand, Not rocks
Jeannie Chan of Brazen Careerist ponders about what enables her to be good at multitasking. “It allows me to be completely focused at the task at hand. Whenever I have worked on mega-tasks, I would get fatigue mentally quicker. I would get distracted easier, probably because I wasn’t able to see the end of the tunnel. With a lack of focus, I would just simply not get as much done… Also, with a to-do list of tiny tasks, I would never feel like I was unaccomplished at the end of the day. I would always be able to cross off something!”

License Plates for the Internet? Digital Security for Personal Identity
Neville Pattinson floats the idea of a countrywide digital identity credential on Digital Nomads. “This is a big idea that could solve a lot of problems. In the best case, this would take the form of a digital identity credential issued by a single government agency. Other industries, such as banking, payment and healthcare, could potentially use the ID as a way to secure identity, online access and Web-based transactions. Much as Social Security numbers and Drivers Licenses did until cyber-crime made them as unreliable as ID credentials.”

Busting the myths of multitasking

September 28, 2009 at 7:31 am · Filed under productivity

There have been many studies conducted on the subject of multitasking. In this fast-paced world, it has become too widespread a phenomenon to ignore for businesses and other purposes. Of course, we don’t really do tasks simultaneously so much as switch our focus rapidly. While it has been shown to actually decrease productivity, a group of researchers at Stanford University were curious as to whether those that tend to mutitask heavily are somehow better at switching their focus. Their paper entitled “Cognitive control in media multitaskers” was published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science.

The researchers made a survey of media consumption habits, asking respondents about their tendencies to mutitask listening to music, watching tv, working on the computer, using the phone, and others. Based on their answers, the respondents were grouped into heavy, average, and light mutitaskers. Discarding the in-betweens and focusing on the two extreme groups, the remaining participants were given further hands-on tests to determine their level of attention and cognitive control.

The result was that the heavy multitaskers did much worse than the light multitaskers. The former was more prone to distractions while the latter was better at maintaining focus. Surprisingly, despite their tendency to multitask often, the heavy group were in fact slower in changing task types than the light group. However, the researchers were quick to point out that this “may be a difference in orientation rather than a deficit”, and that multitasking could still have benefits in areas not covered by this particular study.

“With the diffusion of larger computing screens supporting multiple windows and browsers, chat, and SMS, and portable media coupled with social and work expectations of immediate responsiveness, media multitasking is quickly becoming ubiquitous. These changes are placing new demands on cognitive processing, and especially on attention allocation. If the growth of multitasking across individuals leads to or encourages the emergence of a qualitatively different, breadth-biased profile of cognitive control, then the norm of multiple input streams will have significant consequences for learning, persuasion, and other media effects. If, however, these differences in cognitive control abilities and strategies stem from stable individual differences, many individuals will be increasingly unable to cope with the changing media environment. The determination of cause and effect and the implications of these differing strategies for other types of information processing are critical issues for understanding cognition n the 21st century,” the study concluded.

Government 2.0 marches on with a new app store

September 28, 2009 at 7:31 am · Filed under government 2.0

As the US Federal Chief Information Officer, Vivek Kundra has a challenging task – push innovation while bringing down IT spending in government. Currently working on a $75 billion annual budget, the CIO would like to trim it down in response to the economy without sacrificing quality of service. One of his pet projects is the promotion of cloud computing, and recently he announced the launching of the online storefront to Apps.gov as a logical step forward.

It’s a one-stop shop for federal agencies that would like see the cloud-based alternatives out there, both free and otherwise. Apps.gov offers four categories of interest: Business Apps, Productivity Apps, Social Media Apps, and Cloud IT Services. This storefront is being run by the General Services Administration in support of the Federal Cloud Computing Initiative.

In his speech at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, Kundra underscored the importance of implementing a smarter and more responsive IT strategy for the government. According to the NY Times, the launch was well-attended by cloud computing vendors and government agencies. Google co-founder Sergei Brin was upbeat, pointing out that by using these services themselves, government officials will gain a better understanding of how they work, which should translate into better policies and a healthier industry.

Despite his optimism, Vivek Kundra knows that this is only the start, with many issues left to tackle. “Federal agencies and departments encounter many difficulties in deploying new IT services and products. Procurement processes can be confusing and time-consuming. Security procedures are complex, costly, lengthy and duplicative across agencies. Our policies lag behind new trends, causing unnecessary restrictions on the use of new technology. Past practices too often resulted in inefficient use of purchased IT capabilities across the federal government. We are dedicated to addressing these barriers and to improving the way government leverages new technology.”

For more on this initiative, read his blog post or visit Apps.gov.

Working with low-tech solutions

September 15, 2009 at 9:21 am · Filed under productivity

We’re surrounded by ever more sophisticated hardware and software to manage most of our daily work tasks. Even so, there are instances when some of us prefer to use more traditional ways of working using plain equipment. Take Bill Gates, who must have had all the latest technologies at his disposal as the CEO of Microsoft. In an article he wrote for CNN way back in 2006, he detailed how the company’s shift to digital documents made them more efficient, and how he was able to do (almost) everything on his triple-monitor desktop and Tablet PC. However, there was a certain “primitive” artifact that he couldn’t do without:

“The one low-tech piece of equipment still in my office is my whiteboard. I always have nice color pens, and it’s great for brainstorming when I’m with other people, and even sometimes by myself.”

Like Mr. Gates, I’ve also found that having a whiteboard in my (home) office quite valuable. Always in plain view, it’s an easy way to remind myself of important things at a casual glance. I’ve divided my 100×70cm whiteboard into several sections with different functions. There’s an area for my personal goals for the current month & the rest of the year to keep me focused. I also have a small calendar drawn on it so I can make notes on pertinent dates. Additionally, there are spaces for brainstorming special projects and a random ideas repository. The closest technology I can think of is Microsoft’s Surface, but the cost is too prohibitive, the technology has yet to mature, and the added complexity seems unnecessary at this point.

Back when I was a student and didn’t have a laptop, I used to print out Outlook calendars and scribble my daily schedule in-between classes. I found it more convenient than a “proper” organizer, because I could bring it wherever I went, it offered a quick bird’s eye view of my activities, and it was easy to fold and put in my pocket. Nowadays, I use Google Calendar, but sometimes I go back to an old-school paper calendar when I have to go to places where the Internet is scarce or bringing a laptop is too much trouble.

As for others, I’ve read about people who create their own customized solutions for GTD like the Mind Depositor notebook by Patrick Ng. Instead of using one of the various software available to implement the system, it utilizes formatted index cards and a notepad tucked into a well-crafted leather jacket. Similar but even simpler systems exist like The Hipster PDA featured on 43Folders.

Do you have your own favorite work-related low-tech equipment? Why do you keep it and what would it take for you to switch to an electronic/digital solution?

Tips for Tough Times: Industry leaders speak, dealing with employees, and flexible schedules

September 15, 2009 at 8:59 am · Filed under Tips for Tough Times

6 Lessons Learned in the Downturn
In his column for HBR, Anthony Tjan writes about his conversation with various industry thought leaders who shared their valuable insights on managing their businesses. “Innovation and creativity matter — we cannot forget that and we need to keep investing in it. Greylock’s Henry McCance commented that in the venture community, cloud computing, Web 2.0, biotech and healthcare continue to have favorable longer-term trends and that though the pace of investing was slower, these sectors continued to receive funding. Innovation moves everything. That said, the bigger question McCance posed was: Will the US continue its innovation and be in a leadership position 40 years from now — and what does it mean if it is not?”

Career Advice: Preparing for After the Recession
AllBusiness features Norm Fjeldheim, Senior vice president and CIO Qualcomm, who shares his experiences in dealing with employees and tips on how to get your career in shape. “Develop your communication skills. The courses in college that had the most benefit long term on my career were the business writing and public speaking courses I took. Being able to communicate well will help your career regardless of whether you stay technical or move closer to the business side of IT.”

Behind The Scenes Of A Flexible Culture
Sandy Burud tackles the issues workers face regarding increasingly popular flexible schedules. “What makes it legitimate for people to work flexibly isn’t whether their company has a policy allowing it, but whether there is a subtle (or not-so-subtle) penalty for doing so.”

Surviving a Recession — And a Wildfire
On HBR, Adam Werbach draws comparisons between the destructive nature of wild fires and recessions, pointing to clues about how to put out the economic fire. “Trees that are prepared to survive fires have some common characteristics. They’re self-pruning; that is, their lower branches fall off regularly. They also grow thick bark and deep roots. Companies can hone these skills as well. The first rule is to be self-pruning, to constantly readjust your staffing to ensure that you have the right levels of capacity and that you’re letting go of the dead weight. Many business leaders find that the first round of cuts in a downturn are ones that they should have made in happy times.”

Your Life, Simplified
Leo Babauta gives some advice on simplifying life so you can spend more time enjoying it rather than worrying about work and commitments. “Set aside some disconnected time. If you’re connected all the time, this step is essential. Don’t skip it! Pick one hour to be disconnected — no Internet, no email, no IM, no phones. You can use your computer, but just for desktop computing, like writing in a word processor or text file, or working in Photoshop, or what have you. Use this time to really focus, to pour yourself into important tasks that you love to do. Or you can use this disconnected time to relax.”

How to save thousands with two words
CPF gives a personal finance tip: add a healthy dose of pessimism in making business decisions. “Often our financial plans are build on best case scenarios. If I put this money in the market for a year and it gains 10%, I will be so much better off. But what if the market goes down rather than up? You should consider the negative possibilities when buying insurance, investing, and starting a new business. These are all situations where realistic negative thinking pays off.”

Appreciation is About Finding the Silver Linings
Even after a layoff, Benjamin Wilcox views life with a positive outlook, sharing his insights on Brazen Careerist. “I have a new found respect for my money and how it is spent. Over the past few months, I have reevaluated my spending habits and the actual value of possessions and experiences.”

How to backup your social media accounts

August 28, 2009 at 12:35 pm · Filed under AppGap Tips, social media

A few months ago I wrote articles on how to store a backup of Google Docs and Gmail accounts – both quite helpful as these services sometimes go down when you need them most. These are great for saving documents, but you might ask, what about your other data stored online, say on social media sites?

Here are various ways in which to keep a local copy for the most popular services’ contents:

TWITTER

Why create a backup: Twitter only archives your latest 3,200 tweets, and past this limit your earlier tweets are automatically discarded. If you’re a heavy user it’s easy to exceed this in a few months.

RSS – Simplest method is to grab your own tweet feed via a locally installed RSS reader like Feed Demon or RSS Captor.

Tweetake – Allows backup of followers, friends, favorites, and of course your tweets by compiling them into a CSV file.

Backup My Tweets – A free web app that does what its name says. It’s main advantage is that it allows you to export a summary of your tweets in HTML, PDF, and JSON.

FACEBOOK

Why create a backup: Just for posterity, or just in case your account gets deactivated. Plus, who knows if Facebook will still be around after 10 years?

Social Safe – A powerful paid application (just $3) based on Adobe AIR that it backs up most of the things inside your Facebook account, including your profile, pictures, and friend list. One glaring limitations is that it doesn’t (yet) provide a mechanism to backup status messages and their accompanying comments.

Photo Download – Photo Download allows you to get both tagged photographs and photo albums that you and your friends have uploaded to Facebook on to your own computer. Compatible with both Windows and Mac OS X.

Notable + Quotable: Leadership best practices, breakdowns in communication, and knowledge complacency

August 27, 2009 at 7:36 am · Filed under Notable + Quotable

10 great ideas from five great bosses
Jody Gilbert lists what she’s learned over the years on how top leaders deal with problems in Tech Republic. “Become a small picture kind of boss. It’s critical that you help everyone understand the overall goals and objectives of the organization. But don’t forget that the best leaders also bring those goals down to the smallest details of individual jobs. Learn to help everyone, at every level, understand how his or her specific contribution can make the whole organization more successful.”

Are we solving the same problem?
Discussing the real issue at length is essential to finding a common acceptable answer, says Seth Godin. “This is the biggest disconnect I know of. It happens all the time in B2B sales, in service marketing, in getting along with your boss and even in hiring someone. One side thinks they have figured out a solution. They spend a long time talking about the solution, architecting it, refining it, pricing it, pitching it, delivering it. The other side ends up not liking what they get. The disconnect: the first side says, “this solution is exactly as we described it!” the other side says, “it doesn’t work right.”

How Knowledge Can Hurt Innovation
Scott Anthony of Innosight and HarvardBusiness.org warns about making assumptions that can blind managers to opportunities and threats. “Chip and Dan Heath described the curse of knowledge nicely in their 2007 book Made to Stick (highly recommended to all innovators). The basic problem: people who have deep knowledge about a topic sometimes assume other people have that same knowledge. That can lead to major missteps.”

The Big Question: Are You Better Than Yesterday?
In his guest post on Four-Hour Workweek, Chad Fowler shares an excerpt from a book that aims to sharpen problem-solving skills. “How have you taken better action today for improving your career than you did yesterday? Make one more contact, submit a patch to an open source project, write a thoughtful post and publish it on your weblog. Help one more person on a technical forum in your area of expertise than you did yesterday. If you every day you do a little better than yesterday toward improving yourself, you’ll find that the otherwise ocean-sized proposition of building a remarkable career becomes more tractable.”

Work as Play
Leo Babauta writes his ideas on how to make work fun for yourself or for others in Zen Habits. “Turning work into play doesn’t mean you don’t work hard, or that you never do boring tasks. If you’ve ever played a sport, you know that you work as hard as anyone when you’re playing or practicing — but that’s no problem, because you’re having a blast doing it.”

Fake Rocks, Salami Commanders, and Just Enough to Start
Merlin Mann’s 43folders has an article on perceived barriers to getting started and how to get past them. “It’s not that successful and productive people don’t see those same barriers or feel that same fear—it’s just that most of the good ones have figured out how to either accept the fears as a natural part of the process, or they just choose to ignore each fakey barrier the second it appears.”

Breaking free from the Web: New rehab caters to Internet addicts
Lynne Peeples reports on a facility that seeks to cure individuals from too much Internet dependence on Scientific American. “The retreat’s founders think that Internet addiction is a serious problem, affecting between 6 and 10 percent of the online population. But how do you know if you are an addict? A list of 12 “signs and symptoms” appears on the new reStart Internet Addiction Recovery Program’s Web page—from a “heightened sense of euphoria while involved in computer and Internet activities” to “being dishonest with others” and “physical changes such as weight gain or loss, backaches, headaches, [and] carpal tunnel syndrome.”