Just “Shut the Hell Up”
To be honest, I’m one of the first people that tends to be a bit wordy when trying to convey a concept to someone. In the latest edition of Canadian Business magazine this is described as falling into “an abyss of verbiage that has no point” – I’ll be using this statement frequently from now on.
Shhhhhhhh . . . .
Ultimately, the problem is you might even be that oblivious blabbermouth, says Mike Staver, author of Do You Know How to Shut Up? And 51 Other Life Lessons That Will Make You Uncomfortable. If you ever catch yourself repeating things, noticing that others aren’t clear about your message, or wandering around in “an abyss of verbiage and have no point,” says Staver, chances are you need to shut up.
Poor communication is commonly identified as a major problem at many organizations, but too often the fault is laid on the listeners, not the speakers, says Ron Crossland, co-author of The Leader’s Voice. Crossland says leaders have to connect emotionally to be effective communicators. If they behave too aloof, any rapport with their employees breaks down. That means they must make a point and read the signals to see whether the listener got the message. “The myth is that people want more communication,” says Crossland. “What they don’t want is more of the same kind. They want better quality communication.”
“I am Batman”
I’m convinced that most guys (and some girls) of all ages would love to be Batman. With the highly anticipated release of The Dark Knight I started to wonder . . . how long would I have to train to become the dark knight himself. Although, if you are someone like Cosmo Kramer, you don’t need formal training to become Batman:
iPhone: Old vs New, etc.
I decided a few months ago that I was going to hold off on buying a 3G iPhone but if you are one of the few who has a first gen iPhone and are wondering if you should upgrade to a 3G phone, here is a great article comparing the old and new iPhone models. Also, check out this article with some test results (3G vs 1st gen vs touch).
If you are curious as to the progress being made by the dev team on activating, unlocking and jailbreaking iPhones with 2.0 software, check out the following blog.
Video of the Day: Starbucks Survivor
I’m going to resist the urge to talk about the iPhone release since there are a million articles and posts already. However, just want to say congrats to Dale for heading out early this morning and getting one.
Other than Apple, one of my other favorite companies (due to dependency) is Starbucks; this is one of my favorite commercials of all time:
Video of the Day: iPhone 3G Review
For those of you thinking about lining up at various stores across Canada and the US tomorrow morning to purchase an iPhone, check out the following review:
Video of the Day: iPhone Line Up
Check out how long some people are willing to wait for an iPhone.
Canadian Wireless Auction
With the increasing calls for more competition in the market place due to the recent Rogers iPhone fiasco and with the new incoming text messaging charges implemented by Bell and Telus, I was interested to learn more about the new parties that are vying for entry into the Canadian wireless marketplace.
While any and all new entries are welcome and needed to drive down prices and horrible long-term contracts, one entry in particular caught my attention:
” . . . Data & Audio-Visual Enterprises Wireless, chaired by entrepreneur John Bitove has committed C$242.5 million in high bids. One of Bitove’s partners in DAVE Wireless is the investment arm of Vulcan Inc., an organization founded by Paul Allen, a co-founder of software giant Microsoft Corp.”
iPhone Canada: Data Plan Question
Yesterday, I wrote a few tips on how to manage your iPhone in a way that can keep the current data plans proposed by Rogers manageable. While I’m hoping the info is a bit useful, I was asked the following question:
Is it reasonable to expect to curtail usage to 750Mb per month or is that nearly impossible if your intent is to use the phone primarily for e-mail?
My response to this is yes.
One additional item that I failed to mention yesterday is that you will receive a text message from Rogers once you are nearing your data usage limit for the month. What I’m presuming Rogers is banking on, at least initially, are oblivious users ignoring the message and thinking “it’s no big deal, how much more can it cost if a download a few more pages?” Beware, the casual additional page downloads here and there COST A FORTUNE!
An associate of mine has had an iPhone in Canada for nearly a year now and has only turned the Edge network on once simply because he a) had a minimal data plan (standard Rogers fare) and b) when he turned it on the first time for only 15 minutes, he incurred over $30 in fees!
My recommendation for casual users who will be using primarily e-mail is to take one of the lower packages and then closely monitor your usage and implement a few of the tricks I suggested to keep the costs down (i.e. turning off the “Edge” network). Also, be careful of opening attachments such as PDF files as those can be a killer.
Nintendo DS in the Classroom
About a year ago, I worked on a team that was engaged to facilitate and design a feasibility study to teach kids about employment. Our team travelled to 12 different districts, both urban and rural, and had students ranging from grades 4-7 answering questions that dealt with a variety of specific jobs and employment.
My favorite part of the exercise was when the students were tasked to draw their ideal learning channel for employment (i.e. through a dvd, board game, book, computer, etc.) In over half of the cases, the students drew pictures of themselves playing an employment-style game on the Nintendo DS. This past project relates directly to how traditional Japanese learning methods are now being turned upside-down by the Nintendo DS.
One of my relatives, through a series of discussions, has already started a trial project using Nintendo’s Brain Age to test the increase in math learning skills by introducing several DS units into the classroom. I’m still waiting to hear back on the results but it is exciting to see small traces of technology slowly being introduced in the classroom.
