6040 Blog
March 2, 2009
Spending time on a virtual reality site does not appeal to me personally. Social networking sites are valuable to me, because they offer a convenient way to access real people that you've met and formed real relationships with throughout your lifetime. The virtual reality concept, on the other hand, really strikes me as more of an escape for people who aren't able to find satisfaction within their own real lives.

Nevertheless, understanding those digital technologies that have the highest penetration and marketing potential does interest me as a matter of professional knowledge. And what better way to familiarize oneself with a particular technology than to try it? When tasked with registering and experiencing Second Life as an assignment I attempted to go through the process as if I had a sincere interest. But the truth is that I really didn't and my interest in the program only waned as I interacted with it.

The fantasy aspect of Second Life really turns me off. From my first encounter with the imagery of Second Life, which depicts characters as exaggerated - especially in terms of muscle tone and female curviness - I immediately imagined millions of less than attractive people vicariously taking on these personalities. It struck me as delusional and depressing. I understand that Linden Labs' concept is that Second Life is an "online, 3D virtual world imagined and created by its residents", but the interface and stylistic elements of Second Life were so deeply branded that their positioning statement seemed akin to a statement like "Earth is a 3D world imagined and created by its residents". Linden Labs created Second Life and its "residents" are simply using the interface as a communication tool and modified surface level elements.

Everything is Second Life is mostly fantastical, but the user controls some of the settings and provides personal information. The registration process was in depth and gave me the sense that I was turning over quite a bit of personal data in neatly packaged digital form. Linden Labs is then in a position to leverage the data that for its own mining and marketing purposes. In terms of character creation, many dimensions are limited and essentially prevent you from being yourself. Your first name choices are few - for example, I could not be myself - John. The net result is a meaningless blend of one's true personality, which will come through even through the fantasy veil. In my own case, I tried to be as true to myself as possible. I tried to pick an Avatar that looked as much like me as possible. I even went in and toned down the muscle and height because it doesn't interest me to walk around a virtual world looking like something that I'm not. Perhaps if I wanted to be more muscle-bound, I could take the time I was wasting in Second Life and head on down to gym. In conclusion, I'd be happy to never set a virtual foot in Second Life but I do appreciate the enhanced knowledge that I have to discuss the subject next time that it comes up.


February 10, 2009
This blog exists within my new web site. A web site that serves as personal communication tool to share what I do and what I have done.

I recently posted a new EP of music to this web site, reformatted some of my previously released muic and changed the site design. In the past, I would have followed the posted with some form of mass email announcement to drive traffic and create communal buzz around the new material.

This time, I am going about a bit differently. I am sending notes via email or facebook to friend and family individually. In addition, I have been mentioning it in casual conversation. Finally, and this is the crux of the experiment, I have been linking to the URL in my facebook status. And this has been working, people check it out. Social media is pervasive.

February 5, 2009
The irony is undeniable. Cole Orndorf, a successful CIO who came to class with many gadgets to showcase, had a technical problem with his laptop that interrupted his presentation. Yet the message of his presentation was not lost: Do not implement new technology for technology's sake.

Cole actually proved his point with the mishap, because he did a wonderful job presenting without the backdrop of a slide a deck and was able to use his presentation for notes. Again, the technology - though it caused him an interruption - still helped him organize his thoughts into a compelling presentation.

January 27, 2009
I need efficiency: Green and beyond. This is a mode of thinking around the convergence of business and technology that particularly interests me and is found on slide 4 of Doug's Global Vs. Local deck.

Much of value in the past was derived through the recovery and exploitation of natural resources that are now becoming increasingly scarce. In order for the economies of the world to continue to grow in light oif this scarcity, new value has to be added in the form of efficiency.

Firms and individuals that innovate in this direction will derive value from use of technology (as in the better inventory control through use of RFID example). At the same time as creating value, such actors will also be something to conserve scarce natural resources, a win-win situation.

January 22, 2009
Doug's classes are value-additive - especially the PowerPoint tips and rankings of what executives define as most important to building relationships. There was a definite connection between the communications platform that IBM currently runs and the themes in Doug's lectures - makes sense.

Other random thought: I really admire many of my colleagues and appreciate it when they reference their experiences in the past (read: Graham used to run political marketing campaigns). Definitely adds a lot to the class discussions.

January 20, 2009
The 6040 course kick-off was refreshing. Looks like we're going 'stay relevant'. This course should be a good supplement to the media and other information source consumption that we all already to do try to stay up to date with technology and its relationship to business.

Other random thought: Like most Americans, I feel very fortunate to see our new president take office. He sets a needed tone for our culture and presents the right image of our country to the rest of
the world.