the webthinking blog

Oh wow, it is definitely worth spending an hour and twenty minutes now to see how Google Wave will change the web, the way we think of it and use it. It also explains why GOOG did not buy Twitter or Facebook. They need the critical mass to embrace this new way of thinking.

I have almost finished reading Ahead Of The Curve by Philip Broughton. Since “change” was an important buzzword in 2008, I want to capture an interesting definition mentioned in Broughton’s book:
Change = function (Dissatisfaction * New Model * Implementation Process) + Error

Signed-up for a Club Sobeys points card a while ago. The store is very close and is open 24/7, so why not getting an extra bonus point? Or 0.5 Aeroplan Miles, to be more precisely. A first statement comes in three months later, inviting me to just visit the site and give them my email address. All this for 200 points, that is 100 Aeroplan Miles, which translates to 0.006 per cent of points needed for something meaningful, like for a short-haul flight (15,000 Aeroplan Miles for a YYZ/YUL round-trip). Lovely, eh?

I have pulled out some interesting usage charts of the two main social networking tools – LinkedIn and Facebook.

Turns out most active day of the week among my LinkedIn connections is Monday. Makes sense for a business tool.

Everyone needs some fun and relaxation by Wednesday, which seems to be the most active day on Facebook.

Good. Folks, just don’t let Facebook take over your week-end. Or entire week. Please :)

A nice way for me to end 2008 and think forward… Inspired by Dave Winer’s Blogger of the Year, here is my quote of the year:

“A rubber ball will bounce and someone else can pick it up. That’s your work life. The glass ball is family, friends, your health. Drop it, and if you’re lucky it’ll just crack. If you’re not so lucky, it’ll break into a million pieces. No matter what it’ll never be the same.”

Michael Winser – via Dave Winer

I wish you all the best for 2009! Take care.

Ted Matthews, Brand Coach says “a brand is what people think of you”. He actually stated that couple of years ago. In this (digital) day in age, Mitch Joel kicks it up a notch to “your brand is what Google thinks of you”. I’m also a big fan of Chris Brogan’s vision on personal branding.

In order for me to measure the latter, I did a bit of ego searching.

Disclosure: I have used a freshly installed browser to conduct this search and take the screen capture – Opera for Mac, no cookies, no previous similar searches, no account history, nothing that could have altered the search results page (SERP).

According to the White Pages (I have no reasons to show up there), I am one of the few “Baldeans” in North America, and certainly there are many more in the world. So yes, I’m pretty happy with the current SERP, so far: my main site, my blog, my LinkedIn profile, my Facebook page, my tweets and some of my pictures.

How do you want to be found? How do you measure your personal branding? What do you want people to think of ya?

Finally a full-blown browser for a not so Bold BlackBerry! Last week Opera ASA announced the Opera Mini (beta) 4.2 browser. It has been a while since the 4.1 release, I was eager to try it out.

Beautiful! It has WiFi support, download speed is pretty good. Opera has added couple of North American hosted proxy servers – this should help as well. Get this: because of the WAP/socket/http support, I’m able to surf on a BlackBerry email plan only, when WiFi is not available. Yes, I had to disable the firewall, but that’s okay for now.

The address bar can be used for web search, much like your desktop browser.

Bookmarks – now this is a real plus. You can manage your bookmarks on the web, if you have an account with My Opera, and get them synchronized OTA on your BlackBerry client.

RSS feeds are here. I’m using Goggle Reader as my main feed manager, accessible from anywhere, but this mini browser has a built-in feed reader. Comes in handy.

There are two browsing options: mobile view and classic view. Javascript and CSS are rendered quite well. I like the magnifier option to quickly scan a page.

Best use so far? Being able to access my JahJah account and address book to initiate long distance (read international) calls without paying Rogers a fortune. I also have an unlimited incoming voice plan, so web initiated calls are a super-bonus in this case.

Go get the Opera Mini 4.2 now. It is supposed to work well on other smart phones.

See it in action.

Later edit: yes, I have switched to the iPhone 3GS in the mean time. Love it!

If you have met me, you probably know by now – I am sold to LinkedIn and its benefits.

Here is something to think about: Goldman Sachs made the headlines quite often over the last few months. Have you ever wondered why Goldman Sachs does not have a list of job openings on their careers web site? Because they know talent does not hang out every day on their corporate web site.

Now, why do you think they have recently acquired a stake in LinkedIn? Aha. That’s why. They know they need to be present in this place, listening and watching for skilled prospects. And Goldman Sachs is not the only company.

When did you last update your profile?