Let's all sing! WHY CAN'T WE BE FRIENDS...

First, I want to say that "Who would you most like to be stuck in an elevator with?" is a very dangerous question--but maybe that is the point. Some people might actually articulate their first instincts...

But in all seriousness, Rob Cross's chapter, "Building Bridges" in The Hidden Power of Social Networks, brings up an excellent point. Not knowing anything about your coworkers is not necessarily a good thing, for you or your group projects. When you have a relationship with someone, you have a deeper level of trust.

From personal experience of working with fellow students on a few club executive boards, I know that people work best together when they also play together. And "play" could range from coffee after work, to a social event on the weekend, to eating lunch in a common cubicle.

But I must admit, this chapter strikes me as slightly silly. It basically contains a manual on how to be social. There is usually always at least one person who is more than willing (and generally does to an annoying level) to facilitate social interactivity. But do people even need that? All a work place really needs is the water cooler. Don't you find it to be a great stress release to find someone to complain about your boss to? You shouldn't have to fill out an information card--that is like entering high school again.

Although, everyone could trade info cards at the water cooler as if they were baseball cards. Or they could play games with them. OR...they could burn them all and sing campfire songs. Singing is great for breaking the ice.

Fire, hypocrites, and politics... (redundant?) ...

As I sit here in MGC on a lovely March night, I'm just wondering why there has to be a fire alarm in my dorm. Usually during an alarm, I text everyone I know and complain (creating a mini social network hehe), but tonight, I am going to...wait for it...BLOG.

It always happens to me that I blog about the first thing I read. In this case, I picked up Smart Mobs by Howard Rheingold. The first thing Rheingold talks about in chapter 7 is the power of the masses in overturning authority, or at least giving it a go. But the case of the "Battle of Seattle" when masses came to protest the WTO in '99 always bothers me. The chapter would be better off leaving this example out. In my opinion, it takes away credibility. And I'm going to tell you why.

These people don't know what they were protesting. The book notes, and it is very true that these people used cell phones and computers as mediums to let people know to come rebel with them. HOWEVER, what takes away credibility is that, without a doubt, at least 90% of all these "new fangled contraptions" (thanks, Grandma) were manufactured abroad. How can you prove a point with products paid for and manufactured by capitalists...those who live the very principle you are fighting against? Thanks for funding the companies that are bringing down the little people (in your opinion).

Thank God for politics and the ability to talk about it on the web. Now even someone as unimportant as me in the political arena can express their opinion..and hopefully make some people angry.

In the end, can you blame the pundits of today for setting off an alarm for saying ridiculous things (even if it is just for a reaction)? After all, they just want to sell books and make an honest living. Isn't that what we all want?

"I'm kind of a big deal" and rightfully so...

PEOPLE KNOW ME. Hahaha, for any of you who don't know, that is from Anchorman, a Will Ferrell movie. But in all seriousness, Tom told us about how he started AskTom for Oracle as a hobby in his spare time. It seems his little experiment has turned into a magnificent success, and he deserves all the credit he is getting.

This weekend, I attended CPAC--the Conservative Political Action Conference--and I thought about what Tom had said several times. The first was completely irrelevant, but funny, so I think I will share. A woman whose last name was Ducey came up to a group of us and started talking about how she was going to run for president in 2008. However, I thought her last name was "Dooce" for a second, and so I thought about the dooce blog. Ridiculous, I know, in more than one way. She also was a horrible dresser. I'm sorry.

So anyways, I had actually started paying attention to how many professional bloggers were there at the Omni Shoreham Hotel for the conference. One man, Justin Hart came to speak with me about his blog on Mitt Romney.

At the back of the exhibit hall, there were a whole bunch of bloggers set up with their laptops, recording everything that was going on. This brought me back to when Tom was talking about hypothetically blogging in the airport after being stuck on plane for hours on end. These people could basically sit there and type about anything they thought appropriate and interesting, and then wait for a response. I bet this kind of blogging is more fun than being a servant to the people and giving them technical advice (am I wrong? I could be).

Also, right before the controversial Miss Ann Coulter came in to speak (which she made comments that the bloggers are all over), I witnessed the ceremony that was rewarding the best blogger for the past year. Unfortunately, I did not catch the site, but I got that he recieved a large sum of money as an award (maybe I should take up political blogging???).

CPAC as a whole was a giant social network that will continue on long after the last exhibitor packs up and leaves the hotel. This is becuase blogging brings power to the people. Tom, a very, very smart man is able to help those who need Oracle help right away via AskTom. The arbitrary Republican in Idaho can stay connected to the party via Townhall or Redstate.com.

Thank you, Tom and all bloggers (even if you are really bad at it) for giving of your time and keeping us in the know. Without you, we'd live our lives a lot slower than we do. And no one likes to be behind.
(No child left behind? Haha, a nice little political joke for ya...)