Tamara's Blog

RealAmericanStories.com: Where We Tell the Story

Did you enjoy your 3-day weekend? Spend time with family and friends? I spent the 4th with some of my favorite Dutch immigrant friends - Henriët, Fred and Dina (Henriët's mom). We fired up the grill, ate Cold Stone ice cream and enjoyed Seattle's firework show (the best yet!). It's a great American holiday.

You don't have to look far to appreciate what America is all about. People from around the world continue to come here. In my own family, my dad and his family came from Australia over 50 years ago. My sister's in-laws are from Italy. And my cousins' father is Hispanic.

That's why I really like a new website from the Fox News Channel:

     Real American Stories - One Nation United

The mission of this site is "to share American stories and to help us appreciate who we are, where we came from, and how truly fortunate we are to be part of the American experience."

The site is a collection of short video clips of some people you know and many you don't telling their story and why they value living in America. It's good for someone like me - who was born in America and knows nothing but a life of freedom - to be reminded of what I often take for granted. The stories are very inspirational.

What sets the site apart, though, is that anyone - meaning you and me - can upload their own video clip and share their story. Do you have a story to tell? Grab your camcorder, press the "Record" button, and start talking. In the meantime, be inspired by what others are saying.

              www.realamericanstories.com

Check Out New Snap Shots on the Blog

It is done. I finally switched out my "peephole" picture in the banner of my blog. If you're reading this in an email or feed reader, click here and let me know what you think of the new picture. But wait! Before you click away...

Snap Shots for You and Me

I also added Snap Shots (www.snap.com) to my blog. You'll want to check that out too. Anytime you see a small lavender callout-looking icon next to a link, if you hover over it, you will see a preview of where the link is going. Sort of like "try before you buy."

If you want, you can add this feature to whatever browser you're using. Check it out on Snap Shots Add-On page.

How Obama Reinvented Campaign Finance by XPLANE

XPLANE is a visual thinking company that I've been following for quite some time. I just love what they do: They take complex, verbose explanations about anything and turn the discussion into a visual diagram that tells the same story in an understandable way - with pictures.

What does this have to do with Barack Obama? Well, you probably heard last week that he declined public financing for his campaign. Why? And where is he going to get the money he needs?

XPLANE shows you why and how with one of their just-developed Xplanations (click on the image to enlarge). You will see that it has to do with those online social networks we've talked about - MySpace, Facebook, etc. This social networking thing is not just for kids.

For more download options, visit the special Obama page on the XPLANE site to view in PDF or high-resolution format. Enjoy!

Blowing the Dust Off This Blog (cough, cough)

Hello again! It's been awhile - actually a long while - since you last heard from me. The last time we chatted, I asked you all to participate in a survey for a school paper - and WOW! - the response was tremendous. THANK YOU! I'll post the results from the survey later this week so you can see for yourself. Interesting stuff.

Much has transpired in the last few months, so in the spirit of pithy headlines and snappy descriptions, here's the Top 10 headlines in my life:

1. I went Mac.

   And will never go back. Yup, I bought a 24" iMac for personal use and I love it! I still have my Dell laptop, which I'm using right now to write this post. Seems that Microsoft Windows Live Writer (the best blogging tool out there!) doesn't work on a Mac...whaddup?!

2. Noetix no more.

   In April, I said an emotional goodbye to my employer of 7 years (actually 17 years if you add in its parent company). It was weird leaving the "family nest," but my friends and colleagues sent me off with a suitcase full of hugs and well wishes.

3. New job, same roots.

   I've returned to my roots working for a consulting company, but I'm not a consultant. Check out the press release on Forbes.com to see what I'm doing now. It's really kewl.

4. School's in session.

   I took last quarter off to ramp up on my new job, work on Semper Vita (see #5), and give my eyes a break (that's a story for another day). My break is now officially over. I start class again. Today. The doors open at 8:00 AM. I love summer school...I love summer school...I love summer school...

5. Semper Vita is in its 9th month.

   If you've talked to me in the last two years, you've probably heard me mutter something about "Semper Vita." Well, next week, the interim website for Semper Vita is rolling out, so now you'll be able to learn what all the fuss has been about. Stay tuned for more.

6. My Seattle Mariners, my oh my!

   The team really sucks this year. We're in last place in MLB. They just "let go" of all the top dogs who've allowed us to fall into this deep hole. There's still ~90 games left - plenty of time for a worthy comeback. Go Mariners go!

7. Another blog on ConversantLife.com.

   I have been invited to be a contributing blogger on ConversantLife.com - a site devoted to connecting faith to news and culture. I'll be approaching the conversation from a technology perspective. Stay tuned for that announcement too.

8. Jeannie releases her first book.

   My good friend, Jeannie Keneley, released her first book this month. It's called Beyond My Yesterdays: A Woman's Journey from Darkness to Light. Go check it out on Amazon.com. Congratulations Jeannie!

9. I'm changing my picture. Finally.

   I got a slough of pictures taken recently, so I can finally switch out my "peephole" picture in the banner of my blog. You will soon see that I really do have hair - actually, it's pretty long now. I'll switch it out this week.

10. Coming up.

    This week, watch for: survey results for the Eli Stone paper (mentioned earlier), a video on how to say Thank You to our troops (it's great!), a recent report on the current vision of the American Dream (times have changed), and a link to a visual diagram that explains why Barack Obama is able to decline participation in the public financing system. If you like pictures like I do, you won't want to miss this one.

Do You Facebook or Link(ed)In?

Yes and YES. I've been Facebooking since last summer and Link[ing]In for a few years. And I've never MySpace[d] and probably never will.

What's the difference between these sites? Very briefly, the purpose for all three sites is to network and create connections with people you know. With Facebook and MySpace, it's all about your social network. With LinkedIn, it's all about your professional network. Facebook and LinkedIn tend to draw in an older crowd, while MySpace attracts the younger generation.

I will be honest. My foray into Facebook was driven more by curiosity than a need to connect. I wanted to see if Facebook could be used effectively to drive community, and then, from a technology perspective, I wanted to experience a Web 2.0+ application firsthand (for both professional and personal reasons). It's the product manager in me acting out.

Facebook Fast Facts

Here's a few statistics about one of the Web's fastest growing and trafficked sites (#6 overall):

• 61 million active users (within last 30 days)
• 250,000 registrations (avg) per day
• The U.S. political candidates are registered (have you been watching the debates?)
• Fastest growing demographic is 25 or older
• #1 photo sharing application on the Web (~14 million photos uploaded daily)
• Over 7,000 applications built by the Facebook community (that's us)
• U.S., Canada and U.K. have the most users

Check out who's behind the Facebook curtain: Facebook Company Bios. Have these guys even graduated? What "kids" will do.

LinkedIn Fast Facts

Now let's check out LinkedIn:

• Simple philosophy: Relationships matter. Your professional relationships are key to your professional success.
• Over 17 million professional users
• Over 150 industries represented
• Shows "degrees of separation" between connections
• A hotbed for recruiters

In contrast to Facebook's wizards of Oz, check out LinkedIn's team: LinkedIn Management. A very different crowd. It looks like these folks have graduated.

My Profile Pages

If this online networking stuff is new to you, check out my profile pages. If you want, add me as a friend in Facebook or as a contact in LinkedIn. Note the subtle terminology difference.

• My Facebook Profile (you need to be registered to see my full profile)
• My LinkedIn Profile

These links are also available in the sidebar of my blog. Kewl stuff!

Sometimes You Just Have to Say Goodbye

Four or five months ago, I was awakened abruptly in the middle of the night by this big whirring sound...so I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter...

It was my personal laptop. The hard drive was thrashing about, the CPU was pegged at 100%, and the only application that was running was Internet Explorer. What on earth caused my laptop to come out of hibernation and cause such an uproar in the middle of the night for no reason at all still baffles me.

And that wasn't the last time it misbehaved. As time went on, between IE7 and Outlook pegging the CPU and sucking up memory, you'd think my laptop was possessed by Britney Spears. You never knew what to expect next.

The only real recourse I had in these situations was to power down the laptop and reboot. After several weeks of failed attempts to keep my laptop happy so it wouldn't wig out, I finally had to say...

Goodbye Microsoft

A few months ago, I uninstalled &/or quit using these everyday Microsoft products on my personal laptop:

• Outlook
• MSN email (but I still use Hotmail)
• Internet Explorer
• Windows Live Messenger
• Word (except for school)
• Excel
• Powerpoint

Considering the fact that I had a long history with many of these products and had grown quite dependent on them to manage my virtual/electronic life, the breakup was tough. I felt like a traitor. I felt like I was abandoning what used to be a solid relationship, but how many "second" chances was I supposed to give this Microsoft software? "70 times 7"?

Hello Google and Firefox and...

These days, my laptop is quite happy using these free products:

• Gmail
• Google Calendar
• Google Docs
• Google Reader
• Mozilla Firefox

What's really nice about this collection of products is that no matter where I am, if I have access to the internet, I have access to my personal accounts and files.

With Google Docs, I can easily collaborate with others and publish documents. It's a trip watching multiple people work on the same document. With Google Calendar, I can create multiple calendars to keep my work and personal activities separate. I can also see other's calendars if granted access.

What else is kewl is that it's all easily accessible on my Blackberry. So no matter where I go, there I am. I can never get away from myself. Hmmm, maybe that's not so kewl...

And in case you missed the memo, Google is God...

An Amenable Joint Custody Agreement

I haven't totally deserted Microsoft. I still am running on a Windows XP SP2 box - with no plans or desire to move to Vista. But I am amazed (but not surprised about) how these non-MS products work better with the MS operating system than the MS products do. My hard drive no longer thrashes about aimlessly and I don't have to keep rebooting to restore memory that's leaked to who-knows-where.

I don't know how much longer this joint custody agreement will last though. The new Leopard who's recently come onto the scene has a certain charm and allure. I'm keeping my eye on him.

We Still See Each Other

My personal laptop may be entertaining other suitors, but at work, I still continue to use all the Microsoft products I abandoned at home. Corporate standards. The exception, though, is Firefox. The Fox is just way too kewl to leave at home.

Contrary to Popular Belief, I Am Not Addicted to Blogging

54%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Or so the survey says. Some of you may challenge these results. Me too. The truth is that I do enjoy blogging - I don't think anyone will argue that fact - and I enjoy the challenge of encouraging people to take that step into the Blogosphere. Even if it's just to window shop and read around.

Outstanding New Blogs

This week, I learned that this blog was awarded the ON Blog! award. "ON" stands for "Outstanding New" and the award is to recognize new blogs and bloggers. I want to thank Troy for his vote of encouragement to keep doing what I enjoy doing.

If there are other new blogs you've stumbled upon that you believe deserve recognition, submit your nomination on orbitnow! and make a blogger's day!

What If the Internet Went Down and Bloggers Couldn't Blog?

If you see it on cable, it must be true...

[HT to Billy Calderwood.]

Noetix Rolls Out New Web Site

Who or what is Noetix? And why would or should you care if they rolled out a new Web site or not? Sorry, I know I'm reading some of your minds...He! Please read on and learn why I tend to be passionate about technology.

What is Noetix?

Simply stated, Noetix is the company I work for. Noetix has been around since 1994 and its primary focus is to provide an innovative reporting solution for Oracle Applications customers. Our flagship product is NoetixViews, which provides customers with a business-friendly view of their Oracle data - as well as Siebel and PeopleSoft - so they can slice-&-dice it any way they want.

What do I do at Noetix? I am the product manager responsible for the technologies that generate these Noetix views into customers' reporting environments. I work a lot with sales, marketing, engineering, services and customers to ensure we're delivering what our customers need to do their business.

The New Web Site

This week, Noetix rolled out a brand new Web site. Susan, in Marketing, did a bang-up job playing the role of director and executive producer for this major production. The project began last fall, and with the help of our design firm and many individual contributors at Noetix, the new Web site was finally launched this week.

Go check out the new site at www.noetix.com. If you're really ambitious and want to know what I do, check out these sections:

• Products > Noetix Platform
• Products > Noetix Generator
• Products > NoetixViews > Siebel CRM

Before I could head out on my 18-day adventure to California this month, I had to put on my product marketing cap and pump out a lot of the copy for the Products and Solutions sections. It was a challenging and fun exercise and I'm happy I had the opportunity to participate.

Kudos to Susan - and the rest of the Noetix team - for a job well done!

Does Your Name Set You Up to Be Bullied?

I read a great post on the Mental Floss blog the other day about this kewl Oxygen Media Web site called BabyNamer.com. You may be tempted to quit reading at this point because you're not in the market for the perfect baby name, but I encourage you to read on...

Drawbacks (a.k.a. How You Could Be Picked On If You Have This Name)

As with most baby naming sites, Babynamer.com offers up the standard background information for over 23,000 names. It also provides brief profiles for Namesakes (famous people with the same name). The real feature, however, is the Drawbacks. This is a list of all the "friendly" nicknames you could get called if you had the name.

Tamara's Drawbacks

I know I have many, but let's stay focused on what BabyNamer.com has to say:

• Tambo - I have been called this now and again
• Taminator - Me and Ahhnold
• Tampon - Ummm, don't even think about it
• Tomorrow - I can't tell you how many times I've heard this one!
• Tam Tam - Yea, another "favorite"

My Friends' Drawbacks

Here's a quick list of "drawbacks" for some of my friends I've written about on this blog:

• Eric - Crouton, Eric the aardvark, Earache, Hysteric
• Evan - Ebby, Evan Deven, Evian
• Henriet - none
• Jennifer - Jennifurball, Jen-nay, Jennibean
• Jill - Jelly Bean, Chill Pill, Jilly Vanilly
• Julia - JuJu, Jules, Julabean
• Scot - Scooter, Scotty Potty

Check It Out

Click here to go to BabyNamer.com. Feel free to share any of your favorite discoveries. Have fun!

Shawn and Ron's Second Life

So I'm sitting out on the patio at Weasku Inn eating dinner Sunday night. Shawn Rogers, cofounder and executive editor for the Business Intelligence Network, was at my table - along with his cofounding partner, Ron Powell. I learned very quickly that the two of them together are sheer entertainment.

They Own a House

Shawn starts telling us about his Second Life house. About how he and Ron have a 1-bedroom Cape Cod-style home with a nice living room and bookcases. Ron tells us that he's never been there. Shawn tells Ron that he likes it that way because there is only one bedroom and the two of them are really not that close.

Shawn goes on to tell us how he wants to build out his bookcases so that guests can come in and browse through all the available publications and podcasts. Ron just looks at Shawn.

"HUH?!" Exclaims Scott

Scott Davis, president of Eyeris, is sitting at the next table and can't help but overhear the story Shawn is telling. He makes Shawn back up and explain what this Second Life is all about. Shawn explains how he bought a pair of Second Life-exclusive Nikes that showed up at his physical home. Scott responds as if Shawn is in some sort of Twilight Zone.

Shawn then tells us about one day when he got home, his neighbor, who looks like a phoenix, had parked himself in the middle of the living room. No matter what Shawn did, the neighbor would not leave. So Shawn shot him and the phoenix neighbor disintegrated went away. Shawn's other neighbor who lives next door doesn't wear clothes. Someone suggested that Shawn send him some.

They Own an Auditorium Too

Shawn and Ron also own a Pontiac, as well as an auditorium (just in case the crowds start pouring in). The problem with the auditorium, though, is that they don't have enough land to unpack it. They only have one lot and they need 10. Ron's not yet willing to pay hundreds of real dollars to unpack a make-believe auditorium.

Second Life is For Real Though

So have you heard about Second Life? I was vaguely familiar with it before Sunday night. It's an online 3D virtual world that is designed, created and owned by its residents - like Shawn and Ron (even though Ron still doesn't have the keys to get in).

Currently, there are close to 9 million residents. You can join the community for free, but if you want to start having a life and buying stuff, you'll have to start paying monthly fees. Big businesses like IBM and Nike have joined the community. You may want to check it out.

Catholics Encouraged to Get a Second Life

On Monday, news hit the wire that Second Life Loses Gamblers But Finds God. Apparently, Linden Labs, the owners of Second Life, has recently banned all gambling in this virtual world. An Italian Catholic priest, however, is encouraging Catholics to join the community so that they can stay in touch with the real world.

Huh?!