Simple Strategies

My goal seemed simple.  Everything I read told me so. Plus, I’ve been IT for most of my adult life, as both a systems guy and programmer. How hard could it possibly be to move a WordPress blog from a private hoster to WordPress.com? Turns out, it’s not hard at all unless something goes wrong. Quick Outline I was importing my archives into WordPress.com according to the directions.  I divided the whole thing into 8 smaller files to minimize risk of failure. The first 5 file loaded fine.  The sixth one failed. I got an email telling me to open a support ticket, and someone would fix the problem within 24 hours. That was eight days and about five support tickets ago.  No one from WordPress.com has contacted me. Just  auto-reply emails saying “we got your message.” I Tried Here are my support tickets.  Let me know if you think I deserve to be ignored.

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Jennifer Pahlka is a remarkable woman. She realized what many have realized: government often fails at its most basic tasks. Governments don’t keep up with technology or culture. Nor can they act nimbly. A start-up produces finished products worth millions in four months; it takes government that long to start the first feasibility study. Spotting government’s shortcomings isn’t what makes Jennifer so amazing. Every sane American knows that government is a nightmare of bureaucratic hell that admires problems and punishes the successful. Complaining about government is as common as complaining about the weather . . . and about as effective.   Jennifer Pahlka is special because she launched and manages an organization that does what government should do, but can’t. In other words, Jennifer makes life better and government cheaper. The organization she founded is Code for America. Here’s what they do: Cities are under greater pressure than ever, struggling with budget cuts and outdated

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Gamification, particularly enterprise gamification, gains momentum every day. Buy why? The answer’s simple: good game design makes the brain happy, and when the brain’s happy, we’re happy. That’s why sticking a game on top of a bad web site only distracts people temporarily and makes the bad web site seem even worse by comparison. But good gamification turns bad sites into happy places of engagement. Here’s how the brain reacts: Via: Online Universities Blog Want to engage employees, distributor sales agents, and customers?  Make their brains happy.

Thomas Jefferson is my hero. Not just because of his politics, but because he was the laziest of the Founding Fathers. Our 3rd President and libertarian icon accomplished some amazing things in his life. Writing the Declaration of Independence is just one example.  He also invented a clock that needed to be wound only one a year, a system for creating copies of letters as he wrote, and (some say) the Lazy Susan. Why did he create all of these devices and more?  Because he was energetic?  No.  Because he was lazy. Think about it.  Is it really so hard to pull down on a the weight of a grandfather clock every week?  It was for Mr. Jefferson.  So was handwriting copies of letters.  And reaching across the table for something on the other side. As a software developer, I appreciate his creative laziness.  It’s why I write code–so I don’t have to do mindless tasks

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Are you driven by money? Give it up. Are you a multitasker? Give it up. Do you work for power? Give it up. Can you sell binoculars to a blind man?  Give it up. Like cream in your coffee? Give it up. Lent starts tomorrow. It’s a Christian period of sacrifice, abstinance, and reflection. Lent lasts 40 days. Catholics are still encouraged to give up a temporal pleasure during Lent–every day but Sunday. The sacrifice should be private and small, because visible and grandiose sacrifices tend to lead to pride, not humility. These concepts are so foreign today, aren’t they? How many of us–believers or not–ever consciously choose to humble ourselves? In the popular culture that worships Lady Gaga and Modanna, humility, modesty, and abstiance are mortal sins. Think, though, of the power of humility and futility of power. The mighty fall, but he lowly march on. Stories of the rich and powerful and greedy

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I talked to two cops tonight for a little while.  They’re young men, in their early 30s.  One was a Marine before joining the police force.  (Which police force doesn’t matter.) They told me some stories about the things they see. The bad things. “We showed up and he [refering to the other cop] started doing life support on a seventeen-year-old with gun shot wound in his head. Gang banger.” They talked about some of the details, then closed out the story. “He died. That man [pointing to his partner] was the last person to touch him. Trying to save his life.” One more detail. “His mom [the victim's] was there. She was giving the kid mouth to mouth when we got there.” Why is this important?  Because my luggage was late today at the carousel at the airport. And our flight was a few minutes late. And Starbucks wouldn’t honor my iPhone app gift

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I had an amazing game that day. Truly amazing when you consider the secret I carried onto the court. I was tall for an 8th grader at six foot. But six foot is short by basketball standards. My parochial grade school team, the Epiphany Crusaders, were playing the best team in our league, St. Gabriel’s, at their gym.  Somehow, I scored 32 points—24 from the floor. I had numerous offensive and defensive rebounds and several assists.  Even though I played center, my teammates passed me the ball for the final shot of the first half, and I hit it from well above the key.  We won by at least eight points. I don’t remember the final score, but it was the highest scoring game of my life to that point. I was simply on fire.  In more ways than one. When I woke up that Sunday, I  knew I was sick.  Every joint ached.  My

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