Daily Archives: March 27, 2010

If Twitter’s CEO Really Wants You To Get Stuff Done …

He’d shut down Twitter. Period.

At the very least, he’d make permanent account termination a single click for people who are tired of contentless tweets that make them dumber than a pothead and cause them to fail basic English competency tests. After all, it’s not like anyone hears when a twit speaks in the twittersphere. And 10 Billion Tweets is just too much.

Twitter is NOT an information network. Information, by definition, must convey meaning. Billions of random thoughts, tiny URLS that disappear almost as fast as they are generated, and content-free marketing messages do not contain meaning. And you can’t increase the signal-to-noise ratio without a signal! Zero is zero is zero. It doesn’t matter how you look at it: upside down, right-side up, inverted … it’s still zero! Sounds to me like the CEO has been spending a little too much time on his own “network”! And if you don’t believe me, check out this article on techradar, where he’s quoted.

Yet Another Reason Why the doctor is Spaceless, Faceless, and Twitter-Free

Check out this recent article by PCWorld on how your “MySpace User Data [is] For Sale”. This includes any activity or information that is attached to an account, specifically blog posts, location, photos, reviews, and status updates-among others. And I don’t care what wording they use. They can claim it’s just free access to publicly available real-time data, but if they’re making it possible for anyone to get access to data you thought would only be seen by your closest friends [because you didn’t read to the end of the usage agreement which says they own your data], then they’re selling your data, plain and simple.

So don’t be surprised if that blog post extolling the virtues of the new laptop you bought winds up on the manufacturer’s site; if your name, age, and entertainment preferences put you on top of the local satellite provider’s “call until they buy” list; or if that hot beach picture ends up in an ad promoting the services of, say, a site like Adult Friend Finder.

Your Boss Giving You a Hard Time? Have you Considered War?

You’ve played shoot your boss a hundred times. You bought White Goat so you could wipe your behind with his memos. You even altered the bar code on his car so he couldn’t get into his gated community last night. But it’s still not enough.

Your boss is an obnoxious jackass to you and you need your revenge. Cubicle Wars just aren’t enough anymore. You need more. And if you’re in San Francisco or New York, StreetWars* wants to give it to you!

Tell your boss if he’s all he says he is, that he should accept your challenge and sign up for street wars — a three week long, 24/7 assassination tournament (with water guns). If he has what it takes, you’ll see him in the finals. If not, then you’ll know who the real sharp shooter of the office is.

* Neither Sourcing Innovation nor the doctor have any affiliation with StreetWars. the doctor just thinks it would be a really cool way to settle a grudge match and find out once and for all who’s better — you or your boss. Have fun! (And remember, it’s all about the thrill of victory and the humiliation of defeat.)