Innovation and Information

BarCamp Diaspora '09 draws closer

2009-07-17T13:31:00.002-04:00

Registration for BarCamp Diaspora is still free! If you're not sure what a BarCamp is, here's a definition to help you out:

"A BarCamp is simply an ‘unconference’ - an ad-hoc gathering of people with the simple desire to share and learn in an open environment. Unlike a conference, at a barcamp everyone is both a speaker and a participant. The content is provided by all attendees based on their interests." - http://www.barcampghana.org/

BarCamp Diaspora '09, a follow up to barcamp Ghana '08, is the fist event of it's kind in the US, bringing together innovative minds to exchange ideas on doing business in Ghana. If you're interested in business and/or technology in Ghana, are an entrepreneur or just want to sit and share some ideas with fellow thinkers, BarCamp Diaspora '09 is the place to be!

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Google Chrome OS in the works

2009-07-08T10:48:00.001-04:00

Google's at it again, and this time it's the endgame-- they're officially taking over the world! O.k, so i'm exaggerating a little bit (I actually really do love google and all it's innovations), but think about it: for so long, the only thing that most regular PC users (minus my geek roommates :)) have knew were the Windows and Mac OS's, so with the advent of the Google Chrome OS, we could be in for some interesting times.

Effects on Microsft you ask? I did an arbitrary search of the number of people using the google browser, google docs and the the google chrome browser. And you could guess the results: MANY! That said, could you imagine what could potentially happen to Microsoft's user base given all the bugs that the recent Vista OS came with? Also, since Google's OS is Linux based and open source, some expect it to be free (monitization would come from corporate use with all the additional bells and whistles. Ref: Gmail for corporations), which would be another HUGE blow to Microsoft whose OS's run the gamut anywhere from $75 to $300.

The Google Chrome OS should be available in it's bare-bones form mid-2010. I can't wait to see how all this plays out!

Here are some other places to read more about Google Chrome OS:

Google announces Chrome OS
Does the world need another operating system
5 questions (and answers) about Google Chrome OS

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My Samsung T240HD 24" widescreen HDTV CAN be mounted!

2009-07-06T14:01:00.000-04:00

Not two days ago, I finally received my long awaited, much anticipated Samsung T240HD 24" widescreen HDTV. If you don't know anything about this piece of equipment, google it! Also, up until Friday, it was going for $299 at B&H, and if that's still the case, you should get one!

For a long time, I had wanted an external monitor to hook up my lap top too; I had also wanted a little flat panel TV for my room. So I decided to look into getting a hybrid and the top contender turned out to be the T240HD. Before I went out and got this thing, I researched every aspect of a TV/monitor hybrid you could imagine: internal speakers, component jacks, analogue, input, digital inputs, contrast ratio, viewing angle-- the list goes on for a while. And I compared the dell ultra sharp 2408WFP, the dell G2410, the V7 D24W33 and a few others. For each category I researched, and for each monitor/tv I looked at, the Samsung T240HD came out as number one, or a very close second, plus it cost a lot less than all of them, which made it (to me) a no brainer to get! Then I got it into my head that I wanted to mount it... and the problems began.

I consider myself a better than average web sleuth, so I was quite surprised when I couldn't seem to find any concensus on the web about whether or not the T240 HD could be mounted. To make matters worse, neither B&H nor Samsung (yes, I contacted samsung) staff members could tell me for a fact whether or not this thing could be mounted. The reviews on CNET, Amazon and other sites for this product didn't offer much help either-- non made mention of being able to mount it-- and some even went as far as saying it couldn't be mounted.

So, because I went through all this crap and finally (after about a month) figured out that this thing could indeed be mounted, I wanted to create a posting to help all who might want to mount their T240HD. I will take some photos later on and post them here, so check back later.

To mount you T240 HD you'll need:

- a Samsung WMB2400T - mounting kit (get it here: http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?edc=1534561&enkwrd=ALLPROD%3aWMB2400T+)

This kit acts as an adapter to enable you use a vesa 100 compliant mount with your T240HD HOWEVER, HOWEVER, HOWEVER this kit alone CAN be used to mount your T240HD-- that's what I've done, and it works PERFECTLY! NOTE: No where on the net will you find a less expensive deal. Also, though they don't have a photo of the mount on the web site, (I haven't figured out why yet) CDW is trustworthy and you'll have your mount in less than a week.

That's it. Seriously, that's all you need. The kit comes with screws and screw anchors. I'd suggest you get stronger screws and anchors so you're not woken up at 2am by your TV crashing to the ground :) -- what can I say, I'm a skeptic when it comes to those cheap low grade screws that accompany equipment.

So, that's it! Happy mounting. Remember to check back for some photos, or better still sign up to receive RSS or e-mail updates! Have a great week.

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BarCamp Diaspora 2009

2009-07-06T09:08:00.000-04:00

On July 25th 2009 I'll be attending Barcamp Diaspora in D.C. If you're not familiar with Barcamp, it's something of a Podcamp...except more fun :). If you're not familiar with what a PodCamp is, well I can't help you! j/k-- Click the Barcamp badge below to learn more:

Hope to see you there!

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Myspace-ing not a great idea in this economy

2009-05-04T14:04:00.000-04:00

Despite the title of this post, the truth is facebook-ing, twitter-ing and most other things-ings that involve social networking are probably not a great idea if you're posting stuff that current or potential employers might find offensive.

I was just listening to a CNN story about a former restaurant worker who got fired for "gossiping" about her boss. The fired employee then decided to file a lawsuit againt the restaurant in federal court. This issue is worthy of note because the decisions the court comes to will have far reaching implications on the privacy debate-- and on the way information can be accessed and used, and by whom.

I couldn't find a link to the CNN story, but here is a WSJ story that mentions it. Please post comments and share what you think of this issue.

update:
Two employees actually got fired. There is some discussion going on on the CNN twitter channel if you're interested: http://twitter.com/cnn

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SixthSense-- how cool is this?

2009-05-01T14:29:00.000-04:00

Photo credit: MIT; CNET news

A few weeks ago a good friend sent me this link about an innovative gesture-driven computer platform called SixthSense. I was (and still am) quite intrigued by the many prospects this new system offers in the field of information management-- if adopted as mainstream. However, after speaking to a few "regular" people (as opposed to super tech nerds), I've found that most are concerened with how this new platform will impact the privacy debate-- if it goes mainstream. I tried to explain to them that they wouldn't HAVE to check their e-mails on a blank wall in the airport OR check their bank account balance on a crowded subway platform if they didn't feel comfortable. Furthermore, I explained that this system seems to to be one build upon the already existing system of the internet. Thus, most privacy issues that may arise would be pre-existing problems, and not new ones created by SixthSense.

O.k., enough with the boring stuff already! Do you remember Tom Cruise in Monority Report? Yes, that's exactly what I thought when I first saw heard about sixthsense-- the computer Tom Cruise was using. Take a peek and tell me what you think:

Video

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Swurl

2009-04-30T13:03:00.000-04:00

Swurl was an aggrigator of all one's web content, a life stream if will, of all one's activity on the interweb. Then one day it was no more. Just like that. Gone.

Certain blogs have made mention of some sort of "goodby note" that was left by the creators of swurl.com that read:

"We built Swurl as two guys doing something we love in our spare time. Unfortunately, due to the pressures of our day jobs and other distractions, we can no longer support or maintain the service at the level that we think our users deserve."

I for one never saw that note since (as you might have noticed) swurl.com now takes you to some ebay page, so I cannot verify this. Good news is, since swurl was an aggregator, no user content was lost. However, the fact that swurl just shut its doors and dissappeard raises an intersting question and and sounds a distinct alarm: in this world where everything is quickly going "paperless", and massive amounts of information are being digitalized and stored on the net (in some cases ONLY on the net), what safeguards have been built to make sure that information published online don't just disappear when the platform it was published on does?

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Web marketing in developing countries

2009-04-29T15:07:00.000-04:00

A friend recently sent me this link: http://tinyurl.com/da2756 with the word "Thoughts?" attached to it. I had a little to say about it and I figured I'd post my response here. Please let me know what you think about this by sending my an e-mail or leaving a comment. Thanks.

"I think Henry (friend 1 on e-mail list) and Seyram (sender of link) have between themselves presented the crux of the problem: 1. FB and other social networking sites that depend on advertising to survive cannont charge local companies the same amount of money they charge here (U.S.) for advertising. 2. Ghana and other developing countries are not integrated into the global payment processing system so even if people wanted to buy, they couldn't. Additionally however, I strongly believe that home grown businesses in developing countries like ours have not gotten to the point where they fully appreciate the power of internet marketing (and it makes perfect sense that they should not-- I don't believe that more than 30% of the population of Ghana even has access to the net). For that reason, most people might be quite reluctant to shell out the big bucks for this purpose.

Now if some Ghanainan company came up with an awesome online advertising business like Paa Kwasi suggested, that would be quite nice for all involved. However, they'd still have to contend with the high bandwith vs. low return on advertising sales problem. Paa Kwasi, you made mention of myjoyonline: does anyone know how much profit (if any) myjoyonline is making from the advertising business? Also, is it sustainable or are people just jumping onto the bandwagon for the moment because some sweet tongued exec. has promised them that it's the wave of the future? Are companies going to stop advertising when they realize that their advertising money isn't being translated into sales? I don't know the answers, but I do believe that before we can get full swing into the internet advertising game ( and be profitable at it) learn to walk before we run, otherwise, invent a way to fly so you can skip the walk phase. This basically translates into us (Ghana and others) building the infrastructure to allow us to plug into the global payment system so people can actually buy, otherwise, we should figure out an entirely different way to allow advertising to translate into money. If/when this happens, people will be less reluctant to spend good solid amounts of money on internet advertising.

Thank you :)."

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Purple Beverage, PPBV a scam?

2008-07-24T15:12:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone. If you've ever followed any of my blogs before, you'll know that the following piece is a little out of character for me-- i'm not usually this serious. Also, I don't talk about stocks, trading or anything financial because I don't think i'm qualified enough. However, I do trade stock personally and I assume most people reading this piece do too. And it is for your benefit (hopefully) that I'm posting this.

I recently bought some stock in the company Purple Beverage Company Inc.(PPBV). Yes, it was an OTC stock and for that reason I didn't invest too much, but after weeks of flat line graphs, I decided to investigate and find out if this company was still alive. Below is an excerpt of what I found:

Our payment of a monthly 6% performance bonus to Mr. Farnsworth, our chief executive officer, will diminish our profitability

Our limited operating history may not serve as an adequate basis to judge our future prospects and results of operations.

Our independent auditors have expressed substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern, which may hinder our ability to obtain future financing.

We may need additional financing to execute our business plan.

The lack of any significant market in future periods will adversely affect our ability to increase our revenues and our margins.

Increased competition could hurt our business.

We are dependent on a limited number of distributors who purchase all of our Purple product, the loss of any of which could result in a material adverse effect on our business.

Theodore Farnsworth, our chief executive officer and president, owns a substantial portion of our outstanding common stock, which enables him to influence many significant corporate actions and in certain circumstances may prevent a change in control that would otherwise be beneficial to our stockholders.

Theodore Farnsworth is our sole director. As such, we do not have any independent directors and have not implemented various corporate governance measures, in the absence of which, stockholders may have more limited protections against interested director transactions, conflicts of interest and similar matters.

Options granted to our celebrity endorsers and members of our management will have a dilutive effect on our common stock if such options are exercised; and if the underlying shares are ultimately sold in the public market, the market price of our common stock could decline

If you want to get the full story, please follow this link: HERE OR THIS

SO MY QUESTION IS THIS: DO YOU THINK PURPLE BEVERAGE IS A SCAM? PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT.

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Social Media Marketing: Is it right for you?

2008-07-14T15:24:00.000-04:00

Most people know or have at least heard about social and new media. For the benefit of those who've been under a rock for the past year or two, here are some definitions to guide you:

Social Media: Are software tools that allow users to generate and exchange content. For example, blogs, twitter, myspace, facebook etc.

New Media: It's a general used to describe non-traditional ways of delivering (advertising or promotion) messages. For example, DVD, youtube, v-casts, podcasts etc.

NOTE: Social media and new media have become so intertwined that all references to social media can be assumed to include new media.

Now, social/New media is the latest craze in marketing in these days of web 2.0. Everyone seems to have an opinion about how to make it work for you, and there are many self professed "experts" out there who are more than willing to help you implement some stratergies -- for a fee of course. The question however remains: should you be using these new marketing tools? The short answer to this questions is a resounding YES! And I'll tell you why if you care to read a little bit more.

There are lots of facts and studies out there, backed be some really reputable sources, that will tell you that times have changed-- the balance of power has now shifted from organizations and their marketers, to consumers. This basically means that organizations no longer call the shots. I'm not one of those reputable sources (so I'd encourage you to do your own research on the issue), but I can point to a couple of scenarios to suggest that this assertion is probaly true. For example, when was the last time you bought an item just because you saw an ad for it? Versus, when was the last time you bought an item after you saw an ad for it and consulted some message boards or talked to a friend who had used the item or read a blog about it OR all 3? The point is, people no longer care what organizations say about themselves or their products. People care about what OTHER people say about organizations and their products, and that's where social media comes in handy.

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Web 2.0: new frontier or natural progression?

2008-06-20T12:44:00.000-04:00

One day we woke up and there was talk of web 2.0 everywhere. Blogs and podcasting were suddenly a big deal, and social networking sites had suddenly gone from a being just a medium of hooking up without too much hard work, to being huge money making opportunities for those savvy enough. But were these changes completely unexpected? Is this web 2.0 frenzy that's slowly building up a little overrated? I would say yes. People need to calm down.

I will not go into a long winded explanation of why I think all this hype is just that, hype. I will reference you to this nice little time line of the internet I found: Click Here. It clearly shows that since the idea of the internet was conceptualized, something big has happened to change it's structure, at most every 5 years.

In my opinion (and that of many others), the internet is like a living creature. It lives, feeds and grows of the creativity and innovation of at least 2 billion of the world's 6 billion population (these are just my estimates). The dot com bubble was just the beginning-- there are many more bubbles to come! That being said, everyone should expect the internet to evolve the way it's going right now, and expect it to be very different in the next 2, 5 or 10 years, and with each change, a bubble of sorts.

I'm not saying people shouldn't milk the growing bubble! Hell, milk the new media/web 2.0 bubble till it bursts! Just do it know that in a few years there'll be a new set of bubbles on the rise, and so it might be a little prudent not go all out just yet-- you don't want to loose everything on one silly bet. Here's a posting I found that to some extent echoes my sentiment: Click Here .That's just how the internet works.

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