mpolino.com

The Hole In Our Gospel

mpolino@gmail.com (Mark) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 08:31:06 PDT

In exchange for a review, the folks at Thomas Nelson were kind enough give a me copy of the book, The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns. Richard is the president of World Vision, a Christian charity dedicated to helping the poor across the globe.

The beauty of this book is in the delicate weaving of World Vision's mission with Richard's personal story of his road to becoming the organization's CEO.

The book begins with Richard telling his story. He describes his journey from CEO of Lenox to CEO of World Vision. Along the way, he recounts how many times he said "no", only to have that door stay firmly and completely open. The story compares Richard's unwillingness to embrace his role with our inability to see the suffering of those across the globe. As he finally catches the vision we get a glimpse of what can be done to truly change the world with Christ's love, one person at a time.

World Vision is involved in the nitty gritty work of Christ. They dig wells for water, provide micro loans, help improve crop yields and assist with disasters. In short, they bring Christ to the need. The book is full of stories of hope. There are stories of villages saved by a World Vision well and enterprises funded by micro loans. There are stories of tribal elders still confused about why Christians would come halfway around the world to help them after a tsunami. In short, they are stories of works opening the door to faith.

If you're hardened to the poor, if you think they are uniformly lazy, read this book. If you think the third world is without hope, read this book. If you can finish The Hole in Our Gospel without being moved to compassion, call the coroner. You're already dead.

TSA

mpolino@gmail.com (Mark) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:12:11 PDT

Job Interview

mpolino@gmail.com (Mark) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:52:29 PDT

Day 1, Still

mpolino@gmail.com (Mark) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 14:10:21 PDT

1st Day of School

mpolino@gmail.com (Mark) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:55:45 PDT

Yurination Tackles Tourism

mpolino@gmail.com (Mark) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:20:53 PDT

Comic: Namespace

mpolino@gmail.com (Mark) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 12:17:19 PDT

I have a (very) few comic strip ideas rattling around in my head so I decided to get them out. Don't expect much in the way of high brow humor and I've probably got a pretty shallow well but here's the first one.

There is No Divine Right of Success in Business

mpolino@gmail.com (Mark) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:54:05 PDT

There is no divine right of success in business. It used to be that if you got a Chrysler or GM dealership and were moderately competent (okay, even moderately incompetent) you could pretty much guarantee a nice living. It used be that lawyers and CPA's at big firms didn't get laid off. It used to be that becoming a doctor would guarantee success if you didn't screw up too often. If litigation hasn't killed that idea, universal health care will. It used to be that was hard to lose money owning the sole newspaper in a major city. Phone companies and yellow pages yellow pages have also joined the list of slow death industries.

It seems like the mean time between unstoppable and out of the game is getting smaller. It took a long time for newspapers and phone companies to be irrelevant but MySpace has already rocketed, peaked higher than the value of a slew of newspapers and is sliding down the chute toward irrelevance. ebay managed to kill newspaper classifieds (with help from Craig's List), put a dent in phone companies with Skype and is now hitting big bumps. Don't be surprised to see ebay slowly slip from the from the average person's radar pretty fast.

There is no divine right of success in business. It takes constant creativity and flexibility. Now more than ever complacency will kill a business. Fast. Andy Grove was right. Only the paranoid survive.

On Twitter and Facebook

mpolino@gmail.com (Mark) — Thu, 14 May 2009 06:20:52 PDT

Paul Randal does a better job than I can on explaining why Twitter and Facebook are useful.

http://www.sqlskills.com/BLOGS/PAUL/post/How-Twitter-and-social-networking-changed-my-life.aspx

Twitter is Killing My Blog

mpolino@gmail.com (Mark) — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:18:54 PDT

Twitter has my attention. It's killing my personal blog. Even though my blog will post through to Twitter I just don't seem to want to post a ton of short items to the blog. Plus there are all those cool Twitter apps. I have a ton more twitter followers than blog followers.

But I'm not planning on killing it just yet. This is a "cat blog" in the words of Seth Godin. It's self indulgent, not really reader focused so I've never cared much about the number of subscribers. Every so often I have a deep thought that I have to get out and Twitter won't cut it. But if you really want to follow me, the place to do it is on Twitter.

The Empire Effect

mpolino@gmail.com (Mark) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:01:06 PDT

I keep hearing and reading about the next big thing, the next Microsoft, the next Google, the next Facebook and the next iPhone. What people don't realize is that in many cases, there won't be a next, at least in that category. I think people fall prey to the idea that there will be a next because of how some of these companies got where they are. Google was the last in a long line of "next" and "better" search engines. Anyone remember Lycos and Alta Vista? The fact is, Google is good enough for most people and everyone else is still playing catch up.

Facebook is also the last in a long line of social networking sites and while it may not quite be the final social network winner yet, given the number of users, it's going to be tough to get a majority switch to something else. This is particularly true now that the demographic is so broad.

There is an empire effect here. At a certain size, there is one to dethrone the king. There is no next thing. What happens is that the landscape changes and the king come under fire from multiple fronts. A long line of empires led to the Greek empire and its eventual replacement by the Roman Empire. Who beat the Romans? No one and everyone. Rome collapsed under its own weight. It was besieged at the fringes by startup groups in areas where its power wasn't as strong. Sound like Microsoft to anyone?

Linux will not dethrone Windows. Apple will not dethrone Windows. The web may, but it will be long and slow. The Palm Pre will not be an iPhone killer nor will the Blackberry storm. I don't know what will be except that it won't be a single phone.

The point of the post is this. If you're trying to compete with one of these giants, pick niche and compete there. Maybe even pick a couple of niches. Don't take on the iPhone with a single iPhone killer, take it one with 5 or 6 phones that do parts of the iPhone better, maybe a great video phone. Don't take on Google head one, build a better portal or finance page than Google. Don't take on Facebook face to face, target a social niche, like Linked In has done. It's Facebook for professionals.

The king killer is a myth in many cases. The king is more likely to be marginalized than killed.

Windows Mobile

mpolino@gmail.com (Mark) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:58:56 PDT

I confess to occasional iPhone envy until I remember my experiences with AT&T and the fact that I can't (legally) tether the iPhone to use as a modem. So I thought I would drop a little story about how nice it was to have my Verizon xv6900 (HTC Touch) Windows Mobile phone with me this trip. To make a long story short, my flights got screwed up and I had to drive, unexpectedly, five hours from Atlanta to Mt. Airy, NC.

I started the trip up with a one hour conference call on a Bluetooth headset. Then I had about two hours of podcasts on my phone which I played through the car's stereo with a connector cord I carry. The final two hours were spent with TV. I placed the phone low on the console and played episodes of the Dollhouse and 24 that I had recorded on my Media Center machine and moved to the Touch to watch on the plane. Before you freak out, I spent most of the time watching the road and listening while only occasionally glancing down.

For the drive back, I didn't have any recorded TV episodes and only about 2 hours of new podcasts. My solution was to fire up the Slingbox and sling live episodes of Survivor and CSI while driving. The Slingbox did its typical sputtering for about a minute while it buffered the data and after that, it was just rock solid. I don't recommend watching TV while driving but it sure did help pass the time. An hour of music played from the phone wrapped up the trip.

My VZ Navigator GPS application kept me from making any wrong turns and when I stopped for dinner I read an ebook on the phone with eReader. Admittedly, being prepared by actually having the Slingbox app, TV shows and podcasts didn't hurt but as long as I had a connection I could compensate even when I didn't have media on the device.

Oh, and I misplaced my stylus before my trip so all of this was accomplished via touch. I'll wait while that sinks in…

With the upgrade to Windows Mobile 6.1 the phone seems to be running better and syncing is much smoother. Bluetooth and Bluetooth stereo management is flawless. I think the only things I now envy about the iPhone are the capacitive digitizer, the accelerometer and parts of the interface. I certainly don't envy the iTunes requirement or the AT&T lock in. All of the Verizon reps I've spoken to have actually been pleasant. (I'm not naïve, that's just been my experience.)

So for now, I'm happy with the Touch. Time to go kill some Zombies on it with Zombie Buster!

It's Happened, I've Run Out of Books

mpolino@gmail.com (Mark) — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 15:45:58 PDT

It's finally happened. I've run out of books. I have half of an ebook left to read but none of my other books are available from the library and I'm resisting buying anymore right now. Maybe I'll reread Relic.

Mobile Bandwidth

mpolino@gmail.com (Mark) — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 07:28:55 PDT

Working Anywhere has absolutely nailed the status of hotel bandwidth today. The only thing missed is when my colleague Anthony brings his XBox 360 to hotels for all night racing after the work is done. That absolute kills hotel bandwidth.

If you travel at all, this article is worth a read.

Hundreds brave D.C. snowstorm to protest global warming

mpolino@gmail.com (Mark) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 16:23:12 PST

God is Ironic

Hundreds brave D.C. snowstorm to protest global warming - USATODAY.com

RIM Really Should Have Used this Ad

mpolino@gmail.com (Mark) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 12:12:05 PST

RIM really should have used this ad for the new Blackberry. http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/danielle-sacks/ad-verse-effect/blackberry-shoots-apple-ad

Our Unwillingness to Confront

mpolino@gmail.com (Mark) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:36:32 PST

Several of us recently were lamenting the replacement of confrontation with generic communication. Specifically, we were discussing those situations where people deal with an individual issue by addressing the group. For example, when a passenger boards an airplane with their identification in hand, I've seen the gate agent stop the boarding process to make a general announcement to all passengers that they don't need their ID to board. This isn't effective communication. It's a smack down.

Another example is when an employee questions an expense report policy and the response is to simply reissue the policy to the whole company. Don't insult us, we can read. We're trying to understand.

Dress codes are another example. Rather than confront an improperly dressed employee, managers reissue the dress code and hope the right person gets the hint. Unfortunately, an awful lot of properly dressed people feel that this is directed toward them and companies end up offending a whole group.

In most cases I attribute this to cowardice. People are unwilling to confront the individual and address the specific issue so they make blanket pronouncements and hope folks think it was targeted at them. Instead, one of two outcomes results. Either the target individual is blissfully unaware that this communication is targeted at them so the rest of the recipients are simply insulted or the individual gets the hint and feels that everyone else knows that they were the target. This gives companies the double whammy of really annoying one individual AND alienating everyone else. Good Job!

Get up off of your behind and go have a conversation for heaven's sake!

Suddenly I Like Canadians More

mpolino@gmail.com (Mark) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:36:12 PST

After this story, I like Canadians more. Just don't send us your health care!
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/02/17/f-vp-storring.html

Microsoft Retail

mpolino@gmail.com (Mark) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 06:35:21 PST

Oddly, I find myself agreeing with Robert Scoble on Microsoft's new retail strategy.

Add Blog to Facebook

mpolino@gmail.com (Mark) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 06:31:20 PST

I just finished doing this: http://everything.typepad.com/blog/2009/01/how-to-add-your-blog-feed-to-your-facebook-profile.html

I Don't See Bleak

mpolino@gmail.com (Mark) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 06:07:05 PST

Delta CEO - Demand Bleak Call me crazy, but since I fly Delta more than I drive my own car, I have an opinion here. I am NOT seeing reduced demand between Orlando and Atlanta or Atlanta and Greensboro, my current back and forth. Delta has reduced the size of their planes some (some 757 vs. 767's) into Orlando but even then, the flights are overbooked, sometimes by as many as 40 people. Yesterday I flew home on a fully loaded, stuffed to the gills, place children in the overhead 767-400.

The 5:30am flight to Atlanta is full. All of the evening flights back to Orlando are full and my Greensboro flights are averaging about 90% full. An heaven knows I don't get a seat at the Atlanta Airport Chili's any faster than I used to.

My friends who fly back and forth from Tampa tell me same thing and getting in or out of Greensboro at the last minute is still a $1,000 ticket because you get the last seat on the plane.

I'd sure like to know where the demand softness is because it sure doesn't seem to be in the south.

Unhappy With Google Feedburner

mpolino@gmail.com (Mark) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 13:14:57 PST

I'm not happy with FeedBurner right now. I've been a fan of FeedBurner to track the performance of my blog's RSS feeds. With their purchase by Google I expected good things. Well, now that Google is actually making changes, things stink. I recently allowed FeedBurner to update my account to their new Google based accounts and I'm really unhappy. The feed stats dashboard is less useful since they swtiched from bar graphs to line graphs. To add insult to injury, it often fails to load altogether (like right now). Performance is generally worse after the switch as well.

Obama's Plan Already Boosting Tax Collections

mpolino@gmail.com (Mark) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 12:04:34 PST

Obama's secret plan to appoint tax cheats to cabinet posts so they'll pay up appears to be working.

http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/68172/

This Too Shall Pass

mpolino@gmail.com (Mark) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 09:02:55 PST

This Too Shall Pass. Lessons from history on tough times.

[H.T. Instapundit]

US Air: Funny but Wrong

mpolino@gmail.com (Mark) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 19:48:43 PST

This photo is too close to real life.

[H.T. to Airline Biz]