Successful Blog

You're Only a Stranger Once

December 23, 2011

You're Not Alone …

admin wrote this at 7:15 am

cooltext443860173_ive-been-thinking

about what we think about ourselves.

You’re not alone. We’re all afraid.
How often I tell people that — wherever I go.
It seems to be my calling.

And our biggest fear, the one we live with daily doesn’t really sound big enough.
It’s not nuclear war, or terrorists, or even being homeless.
… though we have deep and sincere respect for dangers implied by those and more.

But our biggest fear is more dear and much closer.
We’re afraid of the ideas of ourselves we carry in our heads.
We’re afraid of not being seen, not being heard, not being understood.
We’re afraid of being lost without someone to show us how to find our way home again.

It’s not so crazy when the state of the economy has led us to question everything we’ve learned about authority and trust in leadership. It’s not crazy when we’ve learned to follow paved roads to everywhere we go. It’s not so crazy when we’ve learned what behaviors get us the right kind of attention … or they did when companies still cared about employees more than the bottom line.

The skies might be gray and you should know that.
But that’s a fact … not a mood-setting necessity.
Grey doesn’t have to mean bad times or things to fear.
Face the fear. Acknowledge the reality. And move on.

Put a new idea of yourself in your head.
Decide that people will see, hear. and understand — value the people who do and move away from those who don’t.
Move in the direction you would show your best friend or your child to go.

You’re bigger than the biggest fear.
Let yourself know.
Let the fear pass over you.
Move forward.

Be irresistible.

Liz's Signature

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June 4, 2006

Net Neutrality 6-04-2006

admin wrote this at 7:00 am

Net Neutrality Links

I’ve added these links to the Net Neutrality Page today.

Tangled Web [via Daily Kos]

We follow the story of Blip.tv, an ambitious video-streaming startup. They’re fighting for a corner of the Internet marketplace in the midst of a battle over so-called ‘net neutrality’ — the idea that all Internet content and websites are given the same access to audiences and customers.

If telecommunication giants have their way, companies like Blip.tv might be forced to compete in a marketplace wherein firms with large coffers can buy access to greater bandwidth and faster Internet speeds, leaving sites who can’t afford to pay in the slow lane.

Craig Aaron of Free Press, a media watchdog group, says big telecom companies have declared open season on ‘Net neutrality.’ He’s afraid these companies will dictate how we use the Internet.

“I think one of the beauties of the Internet is that it’s been open to views across the political spectrum. And if you hand the control of the information so that some can be preferred over others, you’re going to be handing that control to the big media companies that already control our television, airwaves, radio, you name it,” Aaron says.

For their part, telecom companies argue that a fast lane on the Internet for those willing to pay will allow them to make a return on their multibillion-dollar investment in broadband infrastructure. At present, companies such as Verizon and AT&T only charge for access to the Internet, but make virtually no money from content.

Net Neutrality Is More Than Meets The Eye

What’s bewildering in the net neutrality debate is that both sides say they have the same goals – they want the Internet to maintain its usefulness, to keep maturing, and to continue to get better. At first glance, it would be easy to think that one side wants that done via government regulation and the other through the free market. But that’s really not the case. Network neutrality is a much more complex issue than “Big Business vs. Consumer Rights” or “Big Government vs. Free-market Competition”.

Realist View on Net Neutrality: Only the Lawyers Win

Ray Gifford offers a realist’s prognostication on the likely effects of network neutrality: only the lawyers win.

Not the end of the world if network neutrality laws pass, not the end of the world if they fail to pass. Only, if network neutrality becomes law, low latency high-speed service will be routed through “private networks” while ordinary traffic travels via the “public network” internet. The distinctions between the two will be somewhat arbitrary, but important to the law, and that is why lawyers win. Overall, a sensible if not too hopeful view.

Compare the calm Gifford tone to the more alarmist sounds of eBay CEO Meg Whitman (that’s her smiling face in the picture) in an email sent to members of the “eBay community”: . . .

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related
NET NEUTRALITY PAGE


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June 3, 2006

Thanks to Week 32 SOBs

admin wrote this at 7:23 am

muddy teal strip A

Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,

Purple SOB Button Original SOB Button Red SOB Button Purple and Blue SOB Button
and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.

I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.

muddy teal strip A

43 Best Weblogs logo

BloggingBlog logo

Decadent Tranquility logo

ePublishingdaily logo

half-arse ideas logo

the J spot logo

nomadic audio weblog logo

warrior sand weasels logo

They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.

I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.

Should anyone question this badge’s validity, send him or her directly to me. This award comes with a full “Liz said so” guarantee. It is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.

deep purple strip

Want to become an SOB?

If you’re an SO-Wanna-B, you can see the whole list of SOBs and learn how to be one by visiting the SOB Hall of Fame. Click the link or visit the What IS an SOB?! page in the sidebar.

–ME “Liz” Strauss


Filed under SOB Business, Successful Blog | 12 Comments »


June 3, 2006

Net Neutrality 6-03-2006

admin wrote this at 6:49 am

Net Neutrality Links

I’ve added these links to the Net Neutrality Page today.

This is what started it all

FYI, here’s the article that but a bee in the bonnet of the special interests who’re trying to shackle the Internet with their so-called net-neutrality regulations:

William L. Smith, chief technology officer for Atlanta-based BellSouth Corp., told reporters and analysts that an Internet service provider such as his firm should be able, for example, to charge Yahoo Inc. for the opportunity to have its search site load faster than that of Google Inc.

Or, Smith said, his company should be allowed to charge a rival voice-over-Internet firm so that its service can operate with the same quality as BellSouth’s offering.

Remedial First Amendment For The Net Neutrality Crowd

I’ve noticed lately that some net neutrality advocates have taken to calling neutrality legislation the “First Amendment of the Internet”. Allow me to point out that the first five words of the First Amendment are “Congress shall make no law …”

When it comes to our communications systems, our first priority should be to keep Congress out of it. The First Amendment says, when it comes to speech, the government simply does not make the call. It is not a question of debating right and wrong in the hallowed halls; the Constitution says simply, the government has no say.

Broadband Providers Lobby Against Internet Neutrality

We’ve been enjoying a resource that many have just assumed would continue. Consider some of the other changes that are occuring. Newspapers are going out of business all over America. Many, if not most, big city papers have been bought out by huge multi-media companies. Those media companies have shown an inclination to limit our access to the news to the point that a paid public service statement from the United Church of Christ is rejected by network TV and a book that lists the top 25 censored news stories is published annually in America.

Newspapers and other written media have been an important part of our democracy since Thomas Paine published “Common Sense” and helped light the fire of revolution and independence from a monarchy bent on exploiting, not nurturing it’s colonies. Today we face a different kind of threat. Very few men control virturally all of our news in the mainstream media and they’ve demonstrated a willness to limit even big stories like Downing St. Memos are still not widely known by Americans.

Al Gore characterized our democracy as “hollowed out” by a dearth of editorial variety in the “marketplace of ideas”. He called for the preservation of freedom on the Internet

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related
NET NEUTRALITY PAGE


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June 2, 2006

Net Neutrality 6-02-2006

admin wrote this at 6:47 am

Net Neutrality Links

I’ve added these links to the Net Neutrality Page today.

E-BAY Comes Out in Support of Net Neutrality!

Today, as a registered Seller on E-Bay, I received an e-mail from the E-Bay President and CEO Meg Whitman making a strong case for Net neutrality. Ms Whitman has come out very strongly in support of blocking passage of any bill(s) that would allow the telephone and cable companies to create a “two-tiered” system of network access.

I think this is an excellent and well written letter that clearly explains what the Telecoms are attempting to accomplish. I will post the letter in its entirety:

Net Neutrality and Snakes on Rocketboom today

Not that we ever need an excuse to get our daily dose of Rocketboom, but in today’s episode, Amanda Congdon covers Net Neutrality in between her rants on Snakes on a Plane.

Boiling the Frog – a Net Neutrality Metaphor by Art Brodsky

The metaphor goes like this: If you throw a frog into boiling water, it will jump out. But if you put a frog in warm water, and gradually raise the temperature, it will become acclimated, until it becomes cooked. Gross, but accurate. This is what the telephone companies and their allies who sell them equipment are doing. The metaphor was on display last week when Verizon Executive Vice President Tom Tauke testified before the Senate Commerce Committee. Verizon is not trying to do away with the current Internet, Tauke said. (Water warm).

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related
NET NEUTRALITY PAGE


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June 1, 2006

Finding Fodder for Future Ideas

admin wrote this at 7:18 pm

Finding Fodder

Finding Ideas Outside of the Box logo 2

Yesterday, Joe of Working at Home on the Internet reminded me of my days going to press runs, when he was talking about his experience as a printer.

Immediately my mind flashed to this story.

I was in the car with my friend KB on the way to a press run. We’d worked 12 weeks straight living in the Marriott New York East Side. Now we’d flown into Chicago and were driving into one of the suburbs. She was driving. I was looking out the window. I was taking in all of the signs of the restaurants and stores as we passed by them.

Then, suddenly out of the blue I heard, “Will you . . . .SHUT UP!”

It seems I had been reading every sign out loud.

“I don’t really need you to read me every sign we pass,” she said. “What was that?”

“Sorry,” I said. “Fodder.”

Read more


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June 1, 2006

Net Neutrality 6-01-2006

admin wrote this at 6:59 am

Net Neutrality Links

I’ve added these links to the Net Neutrality Page today.

AstroSpammers” Attack Net Neutrality Posts

. . . Well, I’m not sure who coined the related term “astrospammers”, but we seem to have this new twist on the phenomenon showing up in blogs discussing net neutrality issues. I first read about these kind of suspicious comments showing up on net neutrality-related blog postings over on IP Inferno, where Ted Shelton noted that after a recent post he wrote about net neutrality three random anonymous strangers went to the trouble of creating brand new blogger accounts in order to post pro-telco comments on the subject.

The Abstract Factory did some sleuthing on one of the new net neutrality commenters called “Net Chick”, and concludes that is likely this persona is a paid spammer supporting an astroturf-like campaign against net neutrality . . .

behind netvocates (and it’s link to customscoop)

I was looking at inbound links this evening and came across one originating behind the firewall of a company called NetVocates which is a “blog intelligence and advocacy service”. The website blurb says, reasonably enough:

“…blogs frequently impact an organization and its products and image in uncontrolled and often unexpected ways. In addition, the sheer volume of blogs, message boards, and other discussion forums makes it difficult for organizations to effectively monitor the activity relevant to them.”

Organisations want to know what people are saying about them online – that makes perfect sense. However, I spent a bit more time on the NetVocates site and found this:

“NetVocates then recruits activists and consumers who share the client’s views in order to reinforce those key messages on targeted blogs – and rebut misinformation when appropriate.”

FAQ on Net Neutrality

Here are five frequently-asked questions about net neutrality. Your challenge: answer each in 150 words or less. Here’s my cut.

1. What does net neutrality actually mean? Is it a meaningful protection for the web, or, as some say, a romanticized ideal that’s getting in the way of progress?

Think of the pipes and wires that you use to go online as a sidewalk. The question is whether the sidewalk should get a cut of the value of the conversations that you have as you walk along. The traditional telephone model has been that the telephone company doesn’t get paid more if you have a particularly meaningful call — they’re just providing a neutral pipe.

This argument is about whether companies selling highspeed transport mechanisms for the internet should be allowed to price discriminate — charge different “content providers” (like YouTube) for the privilege of reaching you and me. Because Americans have so few choices of broadband access providers, allowing these providers to leverage their market power over transport in order to have exclusive control over “programming” online is a matter of great concern.

The risk is that the network providers will keep everyone who hasn’t paid protection money to them at 2001 speeds.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related
NET NEUTRALITY PAGE


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May 31, 2006

Trendspotting — Where 97.9% Fail

admin wrote this at 8:47 am

Learn Everything

Trendspotters 101 logo

We all want that ability to be able to see the next big trend before it happens — what people will be wanting, doing, needing, going to, and buying NEXT. We want to be there ready and waiting for those customers.

Some folks can see that next trend and hit it fairly often. No one can do it 100%. No one can get any customer base to behave 100% predictably.

Good morning, Class.
Find the next trend. Oh yes, 97.9% of you wll fail this test.

Read more


Filed under Analysis, Branding, Customer Think, Marketing, Strategy, Successful Blog, Trends | 37 Comments »


May 31, 2006

Net Neutrality 5-31-2006

admin wrote this at 7:01 am

Net Neutrality Links

I’ve added these links to the Net Neutrality Page today.

Price, Competition and Net Neutrality

In the comments to that post, I said I really didn’t have an issue with network services differentiated by ability to pay for bandwidth, as long consumers had access to the same services, at whatever bandwidth. That is, I’m not opposed to tiering quality of service based on price. Tiering access to services based on price is a different issue.

In a new comment, Richard Bennett points out that bandwidth is not the only service differentiator.

That’s correct. I’m stating my desire that — where technically possible — all customers at all price levels have access to the same services.

Visicalc co-founder offers a modest proposal

What stands in the way of all this are the Bells. They insist that the phone lines built under regulated monopoly are “theirs,” that no one else (OK, maybe a cable franchise) should be providing that service, and that they should be allowed to use their monopoly power for their own private enrichment.

Into this argument steps Bob Frankston. The Visicalc co-founder has written a satire, in the tradition of Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal, called Paying by the Stroll.

Sidewalks: Paying by the Stroll

I’ve been immersed in so-called tele-communications issues for a long time but I haven’t posted too much lately because I’m not satisfied with net neutrality and am trying to figure out how to explain that the problem is more fundamental (as in “Telecom Phrase”). How come I have to plead for neutrality when we’re talking about infrastructure that we should own?

One of the classic marketing clichs is that people don’t buy the drill, they buy the hole. A good marketer or, for that matter, politician, knows that people want solutions rather than having to worry about every detail themselves. I must’ve been thinking too much about those who want to do us too much good when I went to sleep last night …

Morning of my First Day in At Your Service Village!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related
NET NEUTRALITY PAGE


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May 30, 2006

Comment Night Again at 6 Chicago Time

admin wrote this at 12:25 pm

Tuesday Open Comment Night

Personal Branding logo

YES, the mike will be open again tonight. So start collecting your thoughts. Remember, you get to bring what you want to talk about.

The rules are simple — be nice.

We got things going really fast last week. If you missed it, stop by this week, and check it out.

Some things we might talk about could include whether:

AND THE EVER POPULAR, WHERE IS EVERYBODY?

It’s like any rambling conversation. Don’t try to read it all. Jump in whenever you get here. Just go to the end and start talking. EVERYONE is WELCOME.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related articles
By Popular Demand Open Comments Night Starts Early


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