TSA Blogging - I think they got it right

At it has been blogged about in recent news however I think it is important to note because so many large companies get blogging so wrong. The Transportation Security Administration has started its own blog. The blog, Evolution of Security, launched in January of this year and even though it seemed out of place in the beginning after reading some of its posts and comments I think the blog has been extremely successful and dare I say it, TSA actually got it right! You can see this just from the dialogue they generate and through the fact that the blog is also getting a number of links back from various bloggers and news sources.

Some of the things I like to see and show that they get it include:

1. Allowing comments and commenting back to their readers! - The blogging team is monitoring the site and allowing its readers to engage in conversation about their posts. The comments still go under review but I noticed they allow anonymous posting… amazing. And even though this seems like the obvious decision I have talked to a number of companies who just didn’t want to take that risk and afraid of what may come from it

2. They respond quickly - Such as the macbook air issue they are monitoring the blogosphere buzz, responding quickly to it and continue to follow up. This on-going communication channel is what blogging is all about

3. They have multiple bloggers - Blogging is hard work and to stay fresh and responsive they have made the investment to make this a team. For any professional company serious about blogging this is a must do

4. They are seeding their posts - They are promoting and allowing others to promote their posts across social platforms like del.icio.us and digg. All of this makes their blog more accessible and that is good thing

The TSA blog is moving forward I am glad to see another large organization take this approach. I think they have done this rather successful and hope to see other established organizations open a channel for its customers to engage in dialogue about current issues.

Thoughts on the new tech culture

Coworking, jelly, barcamp, these are just some of the buzz words I have been introduced to lately through participating in a number of web2.0 communities. These informal gatherings are a product of the the web2.0 culture. The technology of web2.0 is driven to provide dynamic user based experiences and from that technology these events have been created and participated in nearly real-time. It is a sign of the change in the way we interact with each other as a larger community and truly it is an amazing experience to be following technology right now. At the same time I cannot help but wonder is this technology driving us to become a stronger, more united community or many smaller niche communities utilizing the same platform to be our voice.

The buzzword examples listed above have been extremely successful in building networks within a geography for the freelancer, entrepreneur sectors but can this culture of barcamps, for example, be implemented with teachers or used to organize a bible study? And can the enterprise environment find any gems to change the way we all work?

These are interesting times indeed and whatever success has been found within the web2.0 culture will surely be tried in the rest of the business world. Luckily, true to its nature giving it a spin starts from the bottom up and can be organized on the cheap… so give it try and share your learnings with the rest of the community.

Socialthing! invites available

The twitter network came through and sent me an invite to socialthing.com. If you are interested I have two invites available so let me know. Post a comment here and I’ll give them out first come, first serve.Cheers,Rob

Truly no need for Cable TV

Hulu opened its doors to the public this week and I can now confidently say that if you have internet access you no longer need the additional fees for cable or satellite TV, it is now just that additional.

I have been an off and on again subscriber and in the latest run I have been able to keep track of my shows all online. I have done this trough a number of different websites legally with abc.com being my favorite of the group and the Hulu beta second.Overall, Hulu provides a wonderful service of high quality content with an ad model that works. It has a large catalog of content with shows and some movies from a variety of networks, but what sets it apart are the features integrated into the site.

Grr, my girls just woke so I guess you only get half of a post and unedited at that.  

Enjoy,

Rob 

The Wii Wi-Fi disconnect

This weekend, while I was in Waterloo visiting my extended family, I went out and picked up my copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Overall it was a good trip however the only ones who understood my excitement about the launch were the family members who fall into 13 or younger survey section. Sigh.

However as doubling as the family’s tech support I did field a number of questions about the Wii’s on-line gaming features and Wi-Fi connection. I was hoping to do a quick recap/how-to blog tonight but after walking my family through and doing some additional reading on it overall I can say the whole system is pretty poor and this includes as a messaging platform and overall for on-line gaming.

In summary each Wii console (the white box plugged into your TV) has its own number. This is used to send messages to other users and share the Mii’s you create. To find this number you will need to go into the Wii Message Board (envelope icon in the lower right of the screen), then click on create a message and finally access your address book. I had to google this also as I originally felt this should have been under the Wii settings around the internet section like the MAC address.

Each game on the other hand also has a friend’s code which must exchanged with your friend to actually play them online. This is a 12 digit code and from my experience has been easy to find by going into the games online menu. Unfortunately, this is the only sound way to play Wii games online. Smash Bros and Guitar Hero III, as an example, have options to play anyone but as I know from experience this is extremely crippled aka fails to connect to anyone else and terminates back to the menu screen.

This briefly covers the Wii disconnect of its online features. This system of friend’s codes does have its supporters and pros but overall will never stack up to xbox live or simply calling a friend and exchanging information. Play around with the feature and do try to play a Wii game online as I still have a blast with Guitar Hero III over Wi-Fi.

For more information check out:
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Wi-Fi_Connection
-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WIUVhlcZSM