And so the journey begins…
Michael | October 2, 2007
This is a test video, for me to stretch out my ill-used video editing muscles… I guess you could think of it as a pre-show episode; and yes, I did use Windows Media player…
I know, classy!
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Topics: eConversations.blip.tv | Comments
Office A.D.D. or, Email - the Brain Grenade
Michael | October 2, 2007
I just came across a fascinating article on MensHealth.com regarding the frantic pace of office life now-a-days. I’ve copied some of the most interesting information below, but recommend heading HERE to give it a read in full (you’ll find more information and tips on overcoming problems):
“Our brains field more data than ever before,” says noted psychiatrist Ned Hallowell, M.D., “and with no acknowledgment of it.” Indeed, though most of us act as if nothing big has changed in our lives, Dr. Hallowell says we’re actually in the midst of a historic shift not seen since Gutenberg fired up the first printing press.
After all, do we not have big brains? Are we not multitaskers? The short answer, unfortunately, is no. Study after study shows that our gray matter really can’t handle two complex tasks at once — at least not without slowing us down or screwing us up.
“Our brains have billions of neurons, each making thousands of connections, and yet the truth is we can really focus on only one thing at a time,” says René Marois, Ph.D., a neuroscientist and an associate professor of psychology at Vanderbilt University; who proved that an actual neural bottleneck occurs in our frontal lobes when we attempt to do two tasks at once.
“Every e-mail interruption is like a hand grenade being thrown in the middle of your brain,” says Dr. Hallowell
Hallowell says that when it comes to technology, we tend to operate in one of two modes. The first, when we’re performing well, he calls “C-state,” C standing for calm, cool, collected. Its opposite is “F-state,” meaning flustered, frazzled, frantic. Not coincidentally, the symptoms of F-state look a lot like those of A.D.D.: difficulty focusing for more than a few seconds; a tendency to have a lot of projects going at once, with trouble completing any of them; a constant search for stimulation; and trouble with time management, including a tendency to procrastinate. “The busier you become, the less sense of time you feel, so that pretty soon there are only two times in your mind: now and not now,” Dr. Hallowell says. “You try desperately to put as much as you can into the pile of not now.”
Many days, <we> might as well have an F stamped on <our> forehead. …constantly interrupted by e-mail at work, unable to cut the cord between work and home, putting in 12-hour days, yet still feeling constantly overwhelmed from the bombardment of messages.
Obviously, F-state can take its toll at work. But the problems run deeper. Dr. Hallowell says that in a 1970 paper called “The Experience of Living in Cities,” the psychologist Stanley Milgram foreshadowed what many of us are now experiencing. Intrigued by the 1964 murder of a New York City woman named Kitty Genovese, who was stabbed to death as 38 people watched from their apartments and didn’t call the police, Milgram was able to show that the more data we process, the more we’re forced to screen out. It’s why people who live in small towns tend to make eye contact and say hello when they pass each other on the sidewalk, while people who live in cities pass each other blankly. Milgram said people’s “span of sympathy” decreases as the amount of data they have to process increases.
“This is the great danger of mental overload,” Dr. Hallowell says. “You lose your judgment and ability to empathize with other people.” It may be the greatest irony of the age we live in: The more ways we have to connect to one another, the less connected we really are.
Ultimately, the only way to stay in control of message overload, the only way to avoid F-state, is to artificially impose the boundaries that once existed naturally. More than anything, that means avoiding the temptation to check work email from home.
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Future of Social Media
Michael | October 2, 2007
Do you see Social Media as the platform of the future web? Or just another tool, integrated into the infrastructure?
Let me know what you think and I’ll write my answer in the comments later today.
| 2.9 |
Topics: Conversations, Social Media | Comments
23
Michael | October 2, 2007
I just finished watching the Jim Carey movie 23.
As the movie ended and I hit the power button on the remote, I glanced up at the digital clock above the TV…
It read 1:13, which my influenced mind read as 23. eerie.
hmm… now that I think a little bit more about it…
www.michaelvaliant.com/ = 23 characters!
Todays date is 2/10/07 (10-7=3!)
I’m 32 this year! (23 backwards)
I live at the 53 house on my street (5 upside down is 2!)
I’m leaving in 2 days for a 3 day seminar in Atlanta!
I have 2 kids, but will have 3 by the end of the year!
I’ve been trying to write this now for almost 23 minutes!!
And this message will self-destruct in exactly 23 seconds!!!!
| 2.9 |
Topics: About Michael, Errant Thoughts | Comments
My Daily Twitter - 2007-10-01
Michael | October 1, 2007
- Good business article on interpersonal skills: http://davidmaister.com/articles/1/47/ #
- Web 2.0 at it’s best… I’d love to see this for more languages! http://livemocha.com/ #
- Thanks for stopping by and commenting on my blog today @BeckyMcCray! As your blog usually does you’ve left me with food for thought
# - Celebrating 1ShoppingCart’s 1 year anniversary as part of a public company… cake all around #
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Argh… I need help! I broke the mainline!
Michael | October 1, 2007
I’m in a bit of trouble 
Something I’ve done to this template has screwed up my page navigation… This is Michael being frustrated (with myself of course!)
Problem: if you scroll down to the bottom of my homepage you will see navigation options to navigate through older pages of posts. Unfortunately if you click through any of them you are taken to a copy of my homepage.
In other words, it looks like all of my paginated index pages are drawing from my most recent posts.
And I can’t figure out how to fix it.
Solution: ? This is a call for help / suggestions / sympathy (just kidding!) … if you have any idea what I may have done, or how I may fix it, please email me at:
mvaliant at gmail .com or leave a comment…
Thank you!
(and yes, I’m using a plugin to modify how my pagination appears, but this issue predates that plugin!)
| 2.9 |
Topics: About Michael, Blogging | Comments
Social Media Quote of the Day
Michael | October 1, 2007
Social media is a cult of generosity. Share everything you can with the world.
~ Shel Isreal (from Geof Livingstone)
| 2.9 |
Topics: Conversations, Errant Thoughts, Social Media | Comments
Social Media is changing us
Michael | October 1, 2007
Would you say Social Media has changed or had a significant impact on your life or business?
How?
| 2.9 |
Topics: Conversations | Comments
My Daily Twitter - 2007-09-28
| September 28, 2007
- TGIF, of course, I have to work most of the weekend #
- New Blog Post - the social media roundup: http://tinyurl.com/yvra3p #
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What’s Facebook NOT Telling you?
Michael | September 28, 2007
Facebook is big… really big.
And things that big get picked on. Hey, it may not be fair but that’s just the way it is. Don’t cry for Facebook of course, they have about 146 million reasons (annual revenue + active users) to not care about prattle coming from nay-sayers.
This article is not about the nay-sayers though, nor is it about feeling sorry for Facebook…
I did want to talk about one comment that was made to me earlier this week though. I was told (paraphrased, I’m sure):
It’s really terrible that Facebook is opening up more and more all the time, especially now that they’re letting Google into the party… They should pay attention to where they came from and stay a closed system
But here’s a little secret for all the people against the opening up of Facebook:
Facebook knows something about the fundamental keys that will make up eCommerce 2.0… and they’re not telling you.
But I like to share so I will…
Ready for this? It’s really simple, but really huge…
People DON’T buy from friends.
See, simple. But core to eCommerce 2.0. And Facebook knows this.
(Image by thatgirl)
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Topics: Facebook, eCommerce | Comments
