Category: Digital Life

Typeset and Font Alignment Thing Of Hatred

Carl Setzer

Am I the only one who hates justified text? I find the cleanliness of the aligned ends to be more than offset by the weird spacing. I’m sure it can be made to work with forethought and focus. That brings back memories of fiddling with typeset, adding up all the characters and spaces, figuring out how to word the thing in order to best utilize the space.

Anyway, just being a little snarky in response to an e-flyer I received today. Perhaps just being a bit too cranky and perfectionist. Maybe I just need another cup of coffee.

Annoying Video Ads

Carl Setzer
The first thing I do when one of those obnoxious, over-loud video ads launches on a website I just opened starts playing is to close the whole page. I have to be pretty committed to reading the article for me to stick around through that, or to try and locate the “off” or “mute” button for the bloody thing. 
So, for those of you promoting advertising on your website, you now have something to consider. Of course, I should look at running Ad-Blocker or something like that and move this nuisance into historical reference. 

Texting & Driving, & …

Carl Setzer2 Comments
man in white dress shirt holding smartphone

I’ve heard so much discussion about texting and driving. Mostly angry rhetoric about “those guys”, and how terrible they are. But the real culprit here is our lack of taking driving seriously.

Operating cars is a core part of American culture, a rite of passage, cultural status symbol (what you drive says so very much about who you are), etc. We drive so much (we invented the ‘Sunday Drive), and from such a young age, it’s hard to remember how dangerous this is.

Thousands of pounds of mass hurtling through space, bearing an amazing amount of force. And yet we eat, apply makeup, text, talk…rarely do we fully focus on driving. Funny, really, that we minimize the power of driving. Such a powerful act, controlling amazingly powerful forces, keeping everyone around you (as well as yourself) safe. That would be worthy of adding to your resume for anything less mundane.

The solution requires a more rudimentary cultural-psyche change than many realize. We must elevate driving from the mundane to the serious. Or, I guess we can automate it. Acquiesce another thing to our machine overlords at Google. Taking the human out of the equation might be for the best.

Swimming in Contacts

Carl Setzer

A self-observation: I have several hundred contacts in my addressbook. Synced automatically with the cloud, my laptop, and OTA with my iPhone, I just haven’t thought about them. I can search for who I want. Or, even better, when I’m typing an email, boom, it pops up. Done!

However, I’m certain I have duplicate info, and, worse for a data-driven geek like myself, bad data . I know I have expired email accounts, old phone numbers, and worthless addresses. A quick skim shows people I haven’t talked to in years, as well as people I don’t know. (I’ve long had the habit of making sure key project contacts were in there “just in case”. Some never needed calling, and, thus, their relevance to me has faded form memory.)

Cheap storage and good search tools have made this something of a non-issue. But I like my data clean and accurate. Plus, this does provide opportunities for confusion. I have a few folks I infrequently email, and have with multiple email addresses. I’m sure only one is accurate or active. So when I email I send it to all, then clean out based and bounce-backs. Not efficient, but effective.

I’ve thought about tools like Plaxo, but have found many folks won’t respond. Facebook solves many of these problems. Most of my friendly contacts are on FB, so I don’t need a contact at all.

So, I’ve identified a problem, but not a solution. Or even if its worth the time to repair. But it nags at me.

The Joys Of Spotify

Carl Setzer

I’ve been streaming via Spotify pretty exclusively for some time. Haven’t ponied up for the premium plan yet, but look to do so. I really love having the whole world of recorded music at the tip of my ear.

Another piece I love: the ability to share music.

Here’s one of my favorite tunes, by one of my favorite artists, Peter Gabriel.

Enjoy!

Instagram

Carl Setzer

Funny discussion recently: using non-phone photos on Instagram…cheating or no? Fascinating thoughts about purpose, medium, and veracity. To me, all art embraces a zen quality. Cheating doesn’t exist. Well, not in this context. Plagiarism, another beast, another story.

So, the question remains, and no answer comes from me. You?

Brian & Melissa: Social Media Rows

Carl Setzer

Perhaps you’ve heard this trending story about Brian Presley (an actor) & Melissa (a model). (if not, here’s a brief summation here) via Huffington Post

Just read David Amerland’s piece, When Melissa Met Brian: A Lesson in Social Media Ethics over at Social Media Today.

So, my take. Melissa started with the assumption that Brian was attempting to cheat on his wife with her and ran with that. In analysis, this seems an act of arrogance on her part. (The man in the seat next to you is talking to you. The only reason is he wants sleep with you?)

Be that as it may, she unleashed the mindless reactivity of the internet. It’s amazing how quickly that can get launched and how nearly impossible it is to put that “genie back in the bottle”.

Sure, it’s important for us social media users to think before we post, but we should also consider thinking before acting on something we read. Always remember there are two sides to a story.

(Mea cupla: I saw this as it was trending hot on Twitter and thought Brian a cad. As this has shaken out, I’m realizing he’s not as culpable as first appeared. In particular, at no point does he proposition her, or even ask for a phone number).

The Critical Importance Of Web Presence For HOAs And The Like

Carl Setzer

After working in real estate for the past few months, several things became clear. In today’s age, a small home owners or condo owners association must, MUST have a website. This should contain contact information and the scope of the org. Really, this is a basic yet powerful communication tool for your membership. A simple blog would do wonders.

I’ve heard many HOAs reps complain about banks not dues. Yet they make it nearly impossible to track them down. A basic website, around long enough for crawlers to grab key SEO terms, can get this accomplished.

Extend this out to small governmental and quasi-governmental orgs. I’m thinking mainly, right now, about small water associations. A simple website can make you, well, findable.

So, a little rant on a Saturday morning. Thanks for listening. Well, reading. Peace and well-being to you all.

Data Saturation and Sanity

Carl Setzer
pile of covered books

I, like so many others, have hit the wall: data overload. There’s SO much out there, interesting and readily available. Free, or so for all practical intent; very few barriers. Not too long ago, price helped keep this in check. Our resources to spend on magazines, newspapers and the like naturally limited out data-stream. Yes, we had free at libraries, but content was still limited (by the fiscal concerns of libraries as well as any particular mag being used or destroyed by another patron) and there was the time commitment. Clearly the topography has changed.

Content commodified: for creatives, this might be horrifying. I have a bit of that reaction. But this condition needs to drive a focus on quality. We content creators need to create the best stuff we can. And be aware of the subjective nature of “best”.

But “best” can still be buried within a sea of adequate. The tools for navigating this are still being crafted. I consider the hundreds of email I delete a day. All those newsletters I subscribed to. I’m interested in them, value the quality, yet am pushed past my time limits and am simply stuck. Then there’s my Google reader steam I haven’t so much as looked at in ages. And social media? Besides Facebook, I’m not trying to keep up with everything. I can’t read every Tweet. And I don’t have thousands in my stream. Much less Google+, Quora, LinkedIn, et masse. Nope: no keeping up with all of this without sacrifice.

I haven’t come close to mastery. Though I’ve explored ideas, from Franklin-Covey to Getting Things Done…still the feeling remains. Ignoring streams isn’t a satisfying solution. I tend to binge and purge.

What about you? You got this down? How go you triage your data-stream?

LinkedIn vs. Facebook?

Carl Setzer

I’ve wondered for awhile what’s <a href=”http://www.linkedin.com/in/carlsetzer” target=”_blank”>LinkedIn’s</a> place in the social media realm. There just doesn’t seem to be as much interaction there. Yet it’s been the place to explore professional connections. Now that Facebook has several professional apps, does that threaten LI? People are more engaged on Facebook, or so it seems to me.

On idea I’ve had is for LinkedIn to focus solidly in career management. Expand past job hunting & sales connections. Help people explore themselves and find ways (and opportunities) to become the best professionals they can.

A few rambling thoughts this Sunday. Leave a comment below: I’d love to hear your thoughts.