The Underlying Blog

Michael Scherotter interview with Ice Cube

Mindjet alumni and Microsoft maverick Michael Scherotter recently had the opportunity to interview my childhood friend (I wish) Ice Cube. On a serious note, I'm a HUGE fan of hip-hop, and Michael got a once in a lifetime chance here that I can't help but envy:

http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=390405

I appreciate the depth of Cube's thinking on what technology means to the musical landscape. And I wonder if he'll use the Zune? If not, he can send it to me with a car adaptor.

Check it out now:

http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=390405

Technorati tags: Mindjet, Microsoft, Michael Scherotter, Ice Cube, Zune

Mind Mapping in Living Color

I'm going a million miles an hour this week folks. Send freeze dried coffee. Now.

Over the last few months, some great video tutorials have emerged for getting more out of your mind mapping, and I wanted to point you to them.

Brian Friedlander at Assistivetek recently posted a great video on using the format painter in MindManager. I'll even add to the tip: By holding down 'Control' with the format painter turned on, you can highlight as many topics as you like. Check it out here:

http://assistivetek.blogspot.com/2008/01/mindmanager-tip-using-paint-formatting.html

Gyronix has been on a spree in recent months as well, having recorded webinars on getting more out of ResultsManager and GyroQ:
http://www.gyronix.com/videos

And note the '10 Minute Extract from a Gyronix Training Session Video': That guy's name rhymes with style.

And yes, slowly and surely, I'm working toward the titanic (at least one of the escape boats!) release of my own video-based newsletter. Bling bling.

Technorati tags: Visual Strategist Newsletter, Brian Friedlander, Kyle McFarlin, Gyronix ResultsManager, Mindjet MindManager, GyroQ

ROICopy's Blueprint to Caffeinating your Product (Re)launch is Beckoning

Okay, cue the doves: Walter over at ROICopy has put out an ESSENTIAL blog post for those of you doing online marketing. Life's a busy thing, and sometimes we neglect the very essence of our living, the vitality of our product marketing. I know I'm guilty of this at times, and I'm guessing you may be as well. And with a sense of the general pulse of online marketing, Walter begins with a frightening story I think will resonate with all of us.

Damn, what I love about his post is how quickly you can get going! I think we've all read thousand page manifestos we'll have time to implement when the pigs fly and Britney Spears is out of the news. This is killer stuff you can start on tonight (with caffeine) or tomorrow (I'll still take the caffeine). I'll even go so far as to assert he's giving you the keys to the kingdom in the post, because I've seen him in action and these techniques will take you from Tempo to Lambo when implemented with skill. 

I'd be putting a mustache on the Mona Lisa if I didn't shut up and point you to his high-level blueprint for profitability he's letting you read for FREE:

Relaunching Your Product - My Quickie Strategy Guide

And yes, I will be eating what I'm recommending (cheesy potatoes... and the above). Start now and it'll give you one helluva a platform to launch into 2008 with.

Technorati tags: Kyle McFarlin, Visual Strategist, Britney Spears, relaunching products, marketing strategy, reboot sales, marketing plan, product launch campaign, article marketing, pay-per-click campaign, information blog, client top secret, provocateur, Walter Terry, ROI Copywriting, copywriter, marketing strategist

Nivio real desktop experience on web " world's first Windows-based online desktop" ~ Techlivez.com irresistible technology

Wow... I knew this was coming yet I didn't know it was this far along. You'll also notice it includes Mindjet MindManager Viewer 6.... 

Nivio real desktop experience on web " world's first Windows-based online desktop" ~ Techlivez.com irresistible technology

Technorati tags: Virtual Desktop, MindManager, Mind Mapping, Digital Media, Knowledge Mapping, Media, Productivity, Self-Rule, Web/Tech

Achilles Heel in the New Apple iPhone?

I was excited to hear about the Apple iPhone, if nothing more because I couldn't believe they hadn't done it yet (I'm talking about an exclusive Apple offering).

That said, I think the device is gorgeous, and I worry it has an achilles heel.

A while back, I bought a Philips GoGear 30GB mp3 player device, which was aesthetically beautiful and the best offering I could find at the time for a Windows Media Player device. The problem emerged in that you had to look at the totally touch-sensitive screen to do anything at all. Now, when you're on a walk this isn't so bad, but I still remember wishing it had a scrolling device of some type. That way I could've have scrolled through using touch, only looking down occasionally.  The problem really emerged though, when driving: It felt downright unsafe to have to rely on sight completely to switch musical tracks. Not too long after I purchased the device I returned it on account of technical problems, but I know I wouldn't have continued using it while driving if it had kept on working.

And now for the main point: Most people I know who don't live in one of the US' walking cities like to use their Ipod in their cars: I'm just afraid we're going to have pileups because people have to look at their device to change tracks without the aid of a scroll wheel. Even if it's yesterday's technology, that scroll wheel gives people sensory context for where they are touching their device, alleviating the need to constantly look at it when changing tracks. I could be wrong as Apple is rarely lacking in the design dept., but if someone can't scroll through music intelligently without looking at the device, Nationwide could be on a lot of people's sides too often.

The most reassuring part I see in one of the pics in the below linked article is the device ignores unintended touches: Let's hope so.

Link to The Apple iPhone - Engadget

If You Can't Pick Someone, Pick 6 Billion

I feel like this is a copout on Time's part.

Am I being elitist? Aren't we all special?

Sorry folks, I just can't get behind the logic. Sure we're all special, but I count on Time for an in-depth analysis and careful selection when picking the Person of the Year (with that in mind, I am fully open to Time creating a 'People of the Year Award'). Maybe Time picked now to declare the Web the great equalizer because social ecosystems such as MySpace and YouTube seem to be hitting critical mass, but you could create a web presence pretty easily over the last 10 years, so why now? And further, hasn't human communication and interaction always been a patchwork quilt by the masses, for the masses even if there weren't yet digital frameworks to capture the interactions? Spend a little time with Karen Stephenson or Malcolm Gladwell and you'll know what I'm talking about.

Bottom-line, I think 'You' is unfair to previous generations who would have gladly collaborated to the utmost given the technologies we currently have. And like I said before they did and always have collaborated, it just has never been captured on this level before.  My opinion therefore, is the person of the year should be someone who has facilitated such togetherness: Maybe SecondLife founder Philip Rosedale.

Time is correct in asserting that everyone can have a voice online if they choose to accept the mission. And it's true, anyone can blog, create a videocast or podcast, and do it at very little cost. Problem is, I've seen a lot of bloggers, podcasters, MySpacers and YouTubers who wonder if anyone is listening. And I encourage them wholeheartedly to continue doing so, just with realistic expectations. Check out my previous Red Pill Post for more on this. Further, just because the cost of creating and delivering media has gone down, it does not at all influence the amount of time people have to consume it.

And the numbers just aren't adding up in this mind of mine: If everyone is focused on capture, is there still time in the moment - the moment to enjoy all this newly created media? The answer of course, is no, there isn't time, and therefore, only a few of those who create content will be viewed in any mass numbers. This rocks if you're cool with fulfilling a deep niche, but may be hard on those who deem themselvers stars and are subsequently disappointed by the 3 hits their blog got last month.

Bottom Line: If everyone is constantly creating their very own media empire, who listens?

Link to TIME Magazine Cover: Person of the Year - Dec. 25, 2006 - Technology - Person of the Year

(Last thought: I think Time should do a recount and pick Borat as Person of the Year for 2006)

Podcasting Gets its Due

In a recent post, Walter Terry let loose on podcasting and said everything I haven't been able to articulate.

I've had mixed thoughts on podcasting for a while.  When they're great, they're excellent, like the Tablet PC Show, because the hosts know how to lace information presentation with humor and camraderie.  When they're bad, they're terrible, because as Walter alludes to it's so hard to skim a podcast for that nugget of brilliance. 

Well enough of me: Go ahead and read Walter's funnily-scathing post.

Eric Mack and E-Books

My friend Eric Mack, a technology guru who blogs on everything from eProductivity to Spiritual Life at his blog Eric Mack Online, has recently encountered a dilemma that's near and dear to my heart: what is one's true right to convert media they own to a more desirable format?

Eric's concern, as evidenced by his recent post, is that in some way it may be unethical to "rip" your analogue books to digital form for reading on, say, a Tablet PC or a PDA.  This isn't an issue for me at present because I don't own a Tablet and my PDA took a turn for the worse a few months back (2 years of hard use and they never fail to go into the crapper).  But if I did have a Tablet or PDA, I think I would be completely justified in "ripping" my books to digital form.  We just shouldn't have to pay for the same content twice- period. In a perfect world, we'd be sent a free digital version of everything we bought analogue: We already paid money for the content, after all.

So it's time for my ruling: Eric is fully within his rights when he converts his analogue books to digital form because he's already paid for the content- and if anyone ever thought otherwise I'd take the lead in creating an Eric Mack Legal Defense Fund. Further, I think he's justified in distributing a file to someone who owns an analogue copy of the book- everyone shouldn't have to spend 6 hours hunched over a scanner when they already paid $90 each for 'Business Law'. 

(And that brings me to the issue of textbook prices: when I was in college, I felt like I was robbing the author every time I paid only $117 for a marketing textbook: they should really charge more so students are no longer forced to feel like they're taking advantage of the industry.  So I resolve, hear and now, that if I ever go back to school, I'm going to start a grassroots campaign to drive the price of textbooks to those of Ferraris and beach houses, where they belong.)

Of course the whole debate brings me back to my original problem: why can't I buy the books and movies I want in a digital form to begin with?  All I want is the movie A Passage to India on my next PDA.  Isn't anybody listening?  Ahh, the woes of being an early adopter.

If you have any comments on Eric's issue, Eric would like you to post responses at his blog.