Don’t Touch My Junk on Turkey Day

New TSA Policy

Woke up one morning this week to the radio talk-show buzz about the new Homeland Security airline pat downs, uhhhh, I mean screening system that was shaking America. Yes, I occasionally do listen to voices and music emanating from that magic box created a century ago and not just from the web, my iPod or Droid.

The talk was all about the guy who passed on experiencing the new full body x-ray screening.  When presented with the alternative of a full palm hand check that would include his private area, he promptly declined and told the agents not to “touch my junk!”

We are living in a ”World of Mouth” society in which a smart-phone, in this case an iPhone, can capture video with a touch of the screen and launch it immediately to immortality on YouTube where it has the potential to go viral.  Think Double Rainbow, Old Spice Guy and anything that has ‘Bieber‘ in the title. I am wondering if the TSA thought about this possibility when they enacted the alternative measure of groping, I mean pat downs.

Read John Tyner’s Blog and a full account of his experiences here.

Just this morning, I almost choked in laughter while enjoying  my 100% whole wheat bagel with strawberry cream cheese and Millstone Gingerbread Holiday Coffee while reading Washington Post Columnist, Charles Krauthammer’s column in the Cincinnati Enquirer entitled: “A New Hero’s Cry: Don’t Touch”(11/19/10).

Krauthammer humorously paints airline traveler John Tyner as today’s hero. He states:

“Don’t touch my junk is the anthem of the modern man, the tea party patriot, the late-life libertarian, the midterm election voter.”

He goes on to boldly state that the TSA is bowing to political correctness as they seek to keep our skies safe from terrorists and that we as a people are acquiescing to idiocy and a lemming-like  attitude in agreeing to be scanned, checked and barefoot because as Krauthammer states:

“…. the profile of the airline attacker is narrow, concrete, uniquely definable and universally known.”

Social Media Blog Mashable reports this morning that Geo-location app company Loopt is giving 10 iPod Touches away to anyone who opts in for the full body pat downs. No video required to win.  All one needs to do, is to check in on Loopt and add a statement about being patted down using the Twitter hash-tag: #touchedbyTSA. and send it off to Twitter on National Opt-out Day. Following the hash-tag stream is going to be a sight to see!

I remember 9/11 and the horror that lived with all of us for an eternity. What’s the right answer for safety in which we don’t single people out on the basis of racial profiling?  That is the debate that will take over the web. I for one, am glad that I will not be flying this holiday season.  I would not want to be a participant in either the full body scan or the pat downs- the whole thing just gives me the creeps.   It will be interesting to see how John Tyner’s story unfolds, but we can rest assured that it will all be captured on social media every step of the way.

Here is Krauthammer’s column conclusion:

“This time you have gone too far, Big Bro’. The Sleeping giant awakes. Take my shoes, remove my belt, waste my time and try my patience. But don’t touch my junk.”

So what do you think about this?

 

Banishing Social Media From My Life

I tried to ban social media from my life for one day last week.  It was an interesting exercise in awareness.  While I did have more “free time” to engage in other activities and become more aware of the concrete world around me, I still missed my connection to all things digital.

I realized that I have come to depend upon social media for a variety of tasks beyond transmission of my thoughts & ideas.  I use Twitter as a great source for tech news and trending subjects on a daily basis.  I grab articles of interest from my Facebook Newsfeed if they happen to hit in the space it takes to scroll down once.  I find it much quicker to send a DM Tweet (direct message) to someone I need to hear from quickly, rather than to text or call and get their voicemail.

I am also a lurker; a voyeur of sorts and I like to hang out on certain Facebook Pages that have incredible content and spirited discussions.  I can even occasionally be found contributing to discussions on various LinkedIn Group boards like Authentic Leadership Cincinnati and Cincinnati Social Media.

I begin each day with a virtual rooster crowing me awake from my bedside mobile phone. I upload my daily appointments and meetings on Google Calendar with access from my Droid and I tend to document photos of the weird and unusual in my world via instant upload to Twitpic and Twitter with some of the best transported to my Flickr stream. And yes, I check-in…..occasionally.

So did you take last week’s challenge?  How did it go?

Droid X Review From a Non-Tech User

Non techie reasons why I am in love with the Droid X.

Droid X Starter Guide

The Body:

As I mentioned in a previous post, I love the sleeker, less bulky feel of the new Droid and the larger screen is amazing for viewing videos as well as having an enhanced view of web pages. The back of the Droid X has a rise near the top that makes it very easy to grip in your hand.

The bottom of the front plate holds the same 4 keys (Menu, Home, Return, Search) that the original Motorola Droid has but they are in a different order. The silver power on/off button is centered (original is on the far right) and a bit more fluid to use as I have to press down fairly hard on my original Droid to power off.

Droid X

The Multiple Screens:

X has the same sliding lock/unlock function on the touch screen which opens to seven separate screens vs. three in the original Droid.  Short-cuts/widgets/apps can be added to home screen with a touch and hold into an empty spot on the screen. My Droid X came pre-installed with the following screens that you can navigate through easily with slider buttons on the bottom of the screen:

• Screen 1 (from far left): pre-installed spaces for two separate social networks
• Screen 2: network settings, weather update, icons for 3GMobile, Maps, & My Account (accesses Phone/Back-Up Assistant, YouTube, Google Account and any other account you might be using on the system
• Screen 3: Google Search Bar with voice search, Calendar with upcoming meeting reminder, message window, icons for Gmail, Skype Mobile, Back-Up Assistant, and Messaging
• Screen 4: Home Screen: icons for text message, browser, market, voicemail
• Screen 5: Actual contacts with photo icon and link to full data for each, icons for voice dial, recent calls, contact search and favorites
• Screen 6: Multi-media center with playlist selection at top of screen and links to the 8 megapixel camera (with incredibly sharp images), media share icon, Blockbuster, camcorder and gallery. The Droid X has 3 speakers which serve to enhance the sound from music and videos
• Screen 7: RSS feed for news and another feed titled ‘Tips & Tricks’

The phone, launcher & contacts icons remain constant across the bottom of each page screen. There seems to be a bit of redundancy on first glance, but once I become more active with the pages will be able to determine if the repeating icons are necessary.

Back of Droid X- photo credit Michelle Beckham

Camcorder, Speakers, Backgrounds:

The phone is incredibly easy to navigate through. I am loving the camcorder capabilities and the strong video light (up to 30 minutes of video) that was lacking in the original Droid.  Haven’t figured out the purpose behind the geo-tagging of the photos yet, but I can see how that would be useful for vacation purposes. The sound is loud enough to hear music quite well through the speakers assuming you are not situated in a noisy location, but the FM radio addition requires the use of head-phones. The battery is long-lasting and re-charges quickly.

One funky addition is the ability to add some unique “live” screen backgrounds that can move to the beat of music. My favorite is a beautiful pond with colorful flowers and leaves floating on top that creates ripples in the water when you touch or tap the screen.

Upcoming Post Covers Testing On:

• Portable WiFi hot spot capabilities for up to 5 devices for an additional monthly charge
• Blockbuster video connection.

See previous post on Droid X specs here.

Getting Friendly with Droid X Pre-release

The commercials with the fiery red eye get me every time. You know the ones, where you hear that metallic Android voice saying “Droid!” at the end. I was given the opportunity to test out the new Motorola Droid X prior to its public release on July 15^th, 2010. I’m having fun with the new Droid X, actually way too much fun! I first learned about the Motorola Droid introduction at a Verizon Sponsored Gadget Lab event in Cincinnati last fall. Salivating over the iPhones of business colleagues, and not too impressed with the Blackberry options, I was happy to see my carrier, Verizon moving into the Android smart-phone market.

I came, I saw, I touched and I was sold on Droid after that evening. Lucky for me, my 2yr renewal was up and I was able to purchase the original Motorola Droid for $199.00 after rebate.  That was last November and now a mere 8 months later the 4^th Droid phone to be carried by Verizon, Droid X is, being released on July 15^th,2010. It follows the original Motorola Droid, HTC Droid Eris, and HTC Droid Incredible at Verizon.

Droid X

I plan to share my thoughts and experiences with Droid X in a series of upcoming blog posts that will cover not only the cool tech features of the phone, but the practical issues from a non-tech user’s point of view. One big noticeable difference upon opening the box is that the Droid X body is longer and lighter with a much larger screen than the original Motorola Droid. The original is bulky due to the slide-out Qwerty keyboard, while the Droid X is all touch screen.

Original Droid and Droid X

Apps on Droid X

Here are some of the tech features:

• High-resolution, 4.3-inch WVGA screen, 854X480 display
• Droid X uses a 1540mAh battery with eight hours of talk time and 220 hours of standby time.
• 1GHz processor
• 8GB of internal memory
• MicroSD slot to upgrade to 16GB or 32GB
• True multi-touch keyboard with Swype
• WiFi hot spot for up to 5 devices
• HDMI Output
• 720 video
• 8 Megapixel Camera
• 3 mics
• “High performance diversity antennas” for call quality

Anderson Township Verizon Store- Cincinnati

Interestingly enough, I stopped by my local Cincinnati Verizon store in Anderson Township to take care of some other business and found that my customer service rep had not had a chance to deeply delve into the Droid X as the store had just received their allotment a few days prior.  I was feeling pretty lucky to have a Droid X to inspect at my leisure. Stay tuned for more on Motorola Droid X.

The Power of Influence: Fast Company’s Relationship Experiment

What does the term ‘influence’ mean to you? Thinking about this question due to a recent post on Facebook with a link to Fast Company’s new virtual experiment: The Influence Project. The premise is that each person who signs on to the project is given a profile page with a pic that will ostensibly grow larger (more on that in a bit) and space for a short 140 character bio. A personalized link is created for users to share and spread the word. The more people who click on your link and create their own link, the more juice is generated that enlarges your pic in the graph.

Here is Fast Company’s explanation of how this works:

“The scale of your influence, and therefore the size of your photo, is based on two measures.

1. The number of people who directly click on your unique URL link. This is the primary measure of your influence, pure and simple.
2. You will receive partial “credit” for subsequent clicks generated by those who register as a result of your URL.”

Read more here.

The question for me is, “Does this truly measure influence?” What exactly does ‘influence’ mean? A Fast Company Influence Project (FCIP) user can launch their personal link out to many social media outlets and depending on reach and virality and yes, notoriety, can watch their picture grow. Are they really exercising influence? Could they be accused of spamming?

The Dictionary definition of influence is:
“The capacity or power of persons or things to be a compelling force on or produce effects on the actions, behavior, opinions, etc., of others”

While I tend to think of influence as power to create (positive) change on a large scale, the act of getting another person to take action, in this case, clicking on a link, does fit the dictionary definition of influence. While this may be true, I tend to see the Influence Project more as Pavlovian operant conditioning and the need to satisfy the curiosity factor in all of us versus some true delineation of the power of influence that is wielded.

Here’s what Fast Company has to say about the power of influence:

“Influence is not only about having the most friends or followers. Real influence is about being able to affect the behavior of those you interact with, to get others in your social network to act on a suggestion or recommendation. When you post a link or recommend a site, how many people actually bother to check it out? And what’s the likelihood of those people then forwarding it on? How far does your influence spread?”

Leadership = Influence

I see a huge difference between influencing someone to click a link, whether the end result finds them here at my FCIP page or a link to a Mashable blog post vs. having them click a link that calls them to a greater action that makes an actual difference in the world or in the life of another person. Sounds like my view of influence borders on personal leadership.

It will be interesting to see pictorially just who has bought into the project on someone’s behalf. Everyone participating between 7/6 and 8/15 will have their image (at the appropriately influential size) displayed in the November issue of Fast Company magazine.

Want to help track the Cincinnati ‘influence’? Follow my link here, click and join up if you like!

Some other Cincinnati Social Media folks participating in the project include:

Dave Knox, Brand Manager, Global Branded Entertainment at P&G
Michael Rubin, Social Media Strategist for Fifth Third Bank

*Cross-posted here on Cincinnati Social Media Examiner

Michelle Unplugged:Third Tribe & Drew LaPlante

Drew LaPlante- pic courtesy of Drew LaPlante

Third Tribe Rocks!  So glad I became a Charter Member, learning much from some of the greatest marketing minds out there.  But, all busy social media marketing moguls need to kick back every so often and I do that by listening to my good friend Drew LaPlante, music maker and dreamer of dreams,  play live at a local venue on a Friday night.  There is usually a gathering of my local creative friends and we sit back, chill and talk business.  Yes the hand-helds, smart phones, etc. come out and in true social media fashion we document our existence by Tweeting, Twitpic-ing, sending updates to Facebook and checking in with Foursquare. And in between it all we laugh and talk and discuss the night away.  So glad we are champion multi-taskers!  Check Drew’s music out here. He has a new EP coming out soon.

Michelle Beckham & Drew LaPlante- courtesy of my Droid

LIVE HAPPY!!!

Droid Update #2: Hanging at the CSO

Droid Update- moving into week 2:

Still loving my Android but I have to say that I was quite spoiled with the level of sophistication of the Twitter and Facebook apps I was using on my iTouch.  Tweetie was wonderful and the iTwitter for androids seems to black out in the middle of usage every once in a while.  Also having issues with the android Skye app- it seems to stop working occasionally as well.  It only allows for chatting via text, no voice over IP capabilities at all.  I love being able to talk to international friends on my iTouch via headset with mic for free whenever Wi-Fi is available.  Spent many conversations on the hammock in my back yard using Skype and getting a tan at the same time.  See what Chris Brogan had to say about Droid HERE.

Will say that being a Smart Phone-enabled chick is causing me to be addicted to social media even more.  Was  soooo tempted to check my notifications and tweet a bit last night during a wonderful performance at the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, but was surrounded by many seniors in their late 70′s and 80′s and thought better of it.  Not sure if it was our location- had some of the best seats on the floor, or whether this is a marketing issue for the CSO, but I really didn’t see any younger people around at all.  They really need to address this issue.  This year the CSO  eked into the black with higher attendance, but 2008 took a big hit. Just saying……

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra featuring Pianist Ingrid Fliter

Getting to Know the Motorola DROID

First off,  apologies for the lack of blogging.  Vacation in my mind truly means vacation, so I have been enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends.  Not to say that I wasn’t tempted to spill my guts in the middle of the night surrounded by the nocturnal sounds of a busy hotel in a highly populated city, but I kept my promise of checking out of social media for the most part.

“…the most part.”  That little caveat is the subject of my post today.  I purchased the eagerly anticipated Motorola DROID on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  The DROID has  a Google platform and was released on November 6th, 2009.  Didn’t get it before because I knew that I would have little time to delve into it’s dark recesses or surf for just the right apps to make it incredibly useful.  A road trip to a distant city was the perfect formula for playing with,  I mean testing the phone. Read the Engadget DROID Review here:

My first reactions are as follows:

• It’s BIG (especially if you saw the very cool LG-VX8700 I have been sporting for the past two years that is the size of a credit card and has such a metallic sheen that it doubles as a compact mirror)
• It’s bulky- won’t fit in my jeans pocket
• It’s a smart phone, so very cool to have portable PC capabilities
• The Alert sound that it was automatically set to is this creepy R2D2 type android voice that says “DROID!” rather loudly.  Scared the bejeebus out of me in the hotel.  Have since learned to turn the phone OFF at night.
• Apps- plenty of decent apps;  although I love Apple’s much wider variety
• Touch Screen and full Querty Keyboard
• Voice Navigation utilizing Google Maps is awesome
• Music- no iTunes, but can download MP3s and I’m digging the Pandora app (Ryan Adams station- yeah!)
• Phone capabilities- I miss that intimate experience of having a clam shell design with the speaker nestled on top of your ear and the mic precisely at my mouth point.  People say I come off as distant and the sound quality on my end doesn’t seem as clear either.

Also missing the One Touch numbers (maybe I just haven’t found this yet – NO INSTRUCTION MANUAL INCLUDED!!!), but I absolutely LOVE the Contacts integration with my Facebook Friends.  Very cool to have everyone’s contact info in one place!  The FB profile pic automatically loads as the avatar in my phone contact list as well.  Love seeing who is calling me.

So to summarize thus far:  Happy to have the DROID- I find it much better than a Blackberry.  Would have loved the iPhone, but I’m tied to Verizon; although many friends with iPhones complain about the incessant dropped calls.  That would drive me crazy.  I do miss my sleek cell phone, but the reality is that most of my “conversations” are on social media platforms and my actual “talking” time is relegated to serious business conversations only.  I am immersed in a social media world:  it is my life, my business and where my friends hang out.  Glad to be fully entrenched in a 24/7, no Wi-Fi needed world.

Will let you know if the love is still there in a couple of months!

 

My Old Mobile Phone

Motorola Droid Smart Phone