TraceyNolte
SharePoint, Web, Photo, Video
Are you suffering from Information Overload Syndrome?
Jan 22nd
‘Knowledge is power. But too much information can make you feel powerless – and unproductive’ according to Xerox. This silly video is actually and unfortunately becoming our new reality even if it is a bit over the top… we are leapfroging over some critical basics right into “get it now”.
Our advanced technology of texting, tweeting, blogging and googling has made us the Tower of Babel. We are becoming a world where we are all going to start speaking the same language and have the unrestrained ability to do anything we set out to do.
I feel that we too greatly depend on information to make life changing decision, whether it’s good information or not. Information is becoming it’s own currency or like a drug. It’s free at first, but then becomes something you must buy. We must purchase via iphone apps, music downloads, kindle downloads, internet bill, cable bill. Our information is being fed not only from the internet, but through television, too. According to this blog post from the church of England our world has a desparate need for “quality content” to circumvent our moral decay. We are quick to comsume whatever is put on television, the internet or in the public view. Rather than take a good look at how much time we are spending consuming information, we should consider if this information will bring about a positive impact to us, our family and our friends. We are fed from whomever has the biggest pockets. The biggest pockets are usually the movie, NEWS and music industry… they are information generation giants. They know we piranah-style frenzy feed over the latest celebrity misfortune, the latest gloom/doom tragedy of our society, most beautiful or wealthy people or any action/thriller. In my opinon, most of this is not information that will help anyone or do anything productive, yet we consume what I call “information junk food”. We not only consume it, we OVER-consume everything. And, we are little bratty kids who throw a fit if they don’t get what they want right away. We live in ignorance and are building it up more quickly than intelligence.
As we progress into the future, I know that the texting and other automation is definately making us less smart. Our speech has gone from fully correct sentances to short acronyms. Our manners have disappeared and we live in a state of “I want it now, I deserve it, I, I, I.” Which equates to our accustomization to quick information, quick satisfaction and short tempers, no manners and no appreciation. Everything that isn’t quick and easy frustrates us now…
So I must ask the question to you. What information do you most consume? I challenge you to step away from the TV, PC, smart phone or any man made devices and simply close your eyes and breathe for 5 whole minutes. Think about what you do and why, then choose to consume information wisely and moderately.
Reporting rich information is like the ‘Jewel of the Nile’
Jan 19th
Quite often I find people asking for reports and generating reports without a clear purpose for the report. They just have an idea about something they want to find and ask someone else to generate the data. Then it gets generated over and over without a reason why and with no ability to interpret the information, they just do what they have always done whether it’s right, wrong or even what the requestor needed. What can happen is chaos. If you don’t have a clear vision of the reason you are reporting something, you could end up with garbage data, wasted time and a frustrated reporting team. The team should first ask the question… ‘why, what are you trying to find out?’ With a clear understanding of the purpose and vision, they can navigate the data like a tour guide through dark forest and find the “jewel of information” that the ‘data visitor’ is looking for. In addition, the report creator can interpret any ’strange markings’ within the data to help the requester understand what they are looking at. This is essential for helping drive business improvements and help the requestor understand the impact of the information. The main ingredient for success is having the report generator KNOW THE FOREST… er business. Otherwise, they can arrive at the wrong destination with the information and mislead the person requesting the information. Doing this often can destroy the credibility of the report generator. If you took a tour of a forest and wanted to see the a waterfall filled with diamonds, but the driver got lost often and freqently took you to the wrong place… you’d lose confidence. Same concept. Double check the goal/destination, double check the route, double check the findings to understand it’s impact to the passenger and then ensure they have what they need to be successful. When you deliver diamonds, you gain credibility and increase business value for your peers.
Wishes granted
Jan 7th
1. I got my iPhone repaired for free —> THanks Stacey! You totally rock!
2. My new laptop is being delivered this week!! —> Delicious Toshiba laptop goodness
3. iPhone player for my car —> still on the list of things to buy
4. Monitors are already in place, patiently awaiting my new laptop! Woot Woot!
5. I was happy to get CS3 from Davon!
Curtsey and bow!
Thanks for making my holidays happy everyone!
Christmas Tech Wish List
Dec 23rd
As an IT professional, my wish list is fairly predictable. From iPhone repair, new laptop and software… it’s going to be an expensive Christmas.
1. My iphone cracked screen repaired
2. A new toshiba Qosimo Laptop (On it’s way in 8 days!!)
3. iPhone car player (allows me to play my iphone through car speakers)
4. 3 new 32″ monitors for side by side by side viewing (UltraMon)
5. Adobe Master Suite CS4
Ground Rules for Living
Dec 18th
Ground Rules For Living. – Bill Ferguson
1. Be positive. The words you speak and the thoughts you accept determine how you see life. You then act consistent with the way you see life, and life proves your point of view to be true. If you want a life that works, don’t speak negatively or accept negative thoughts about yourself, other people or your life. Don’t speak or think negatively unless you want your words and thoughts to come true.
2. Accept yourself. You are the way you are whether you like it or not. Until you make peace with the way you are, you will never make peace with life. Accept every aspect of yourself, particularly the aspects that you don’t like. Allow yourself to experience the hurt and the feelings of being worthless and not good enough. Allow yourself to be human. See the love and the beauty that you are, just the way that you are.
3. Let go. When you resist the way life is, you get upset and lose your ability to see what needs to be done. You destroy love and make your situation worse. To restore both your effectiveness and your peace of mind, let go of your demands for how life should be and flow with the way life is. Be willing to feel all the hurt that your circumstances reactivate. Then take whatever action you need to have your life be great.
4. Express your love. To have love, open your heart and give love. Accept and appreciate people just the way they are. Be like a child. See the love and beauty in everyone. As you express your love for people, people automatically become more loving toward you.
5. Accept full responsibility for your life. When you see your 100 % responsibility for what happens in your life, you get your power back. Others may also be responsible, but when you blame others, you give them your power. You become a victim and unable to take action. Accepting responsibility allows you to take charge of your life.
6. Forgive yourself. At the moment you did whatever you did, you saw life in a very particular way. If you were wiser and more aware, you would have acted differently, but you weren’t. You only knew what you knew. So forgive yourself for not being wiser and more aware. Forgive yourself for acting consistent with your limited ability. Know that you did the very best you could with where you were at the time.
7. Handle what doesn’t work. When an aspect of your life doesn’t work, you get upset and close down. You lose your aliveness and peace of mind. Unworkability exists because you tolerate it. List all the items in your life that don’t work and handle each one as fast as you can. Clean up your environment, your relationships, your health and your finances. Handle every aspect of your life that doesn’t work.
8. Let go of resentment. Forgiveness is not for the other person, it’s for you. When you resent, a part of you closes down inside. You become bitter and lose your ability to love. Resentments are a subconscious tool that we use to avoid hurt. Once you are willing to feel your hurt, the need to resent disappears. You can then forgive. Forgive the person for not being wiser and more aware. Forgive the person for acting consistent with his or her very limited ability.
9. Don’t overspend. Upsets about money seem to be due to a lack of income, but this is seldom the case. Most people in the world would love to have your level of income. Upsets about money are almost always due to overspending. When spending exceeds your income, you can expect to get upset. To create a life of prosperity, make sure you spend less than you make and appreciate what you have.
10. Find a dream to go for. When you have a dream to go for, life becomes an exciting adventure. You have direction and a reason for living. You add spice to your life. If you don’t have a dream to go for, get one as fast as you can. Find your dreams and go full speed to make them come true.
11. Serve. Have your life be about more than you. When you put focus on yourself, upsets and problems grow. When you focus on serving others, upsets and problems dissolve. Find something more important than you and throw yourself into it. Have your life be about contributing.
12. Experience your spirituality. Love is your life force. When you experience love, you connect with God. You create a positive energy and great things happen around you. Find what allows you experience God and make this connection often. Pray and trust your intuition. Give your life to God and learn to love.
SharePoint Site Launched!
Dec 10th
The AT&T staffing project PHASE I is finally done and launched to over 500+ users! It was a fun challenge to craft a custom master page, custom web parts, custom CSS, integrate Flash videos, blogs, wikis, self help features and much more.
SharePoint 2010 BETA
Nov 18th
So the SharePoint Beta was just released today. I just downloaded the Sharepoint 2010 Beta and am about to install it on our new test server. I am so thrilled. I am such a nerd! http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/ See the details below: http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2009/11/18/sharepoint-2010-public-beta-is-now-available-for-download.aspx
As part of the beta, we are unveiling several new capabilities, including:
- The Outlook Social Connector, a new feature which brings communications history, business and social networking feeds into the Outlook experience.
- At beta, the Outlook Social Connector will support SharePoint social networking and support Windows Live at launch.
- We are also announcing that LinkedIn will be the first social networking site to provide a connector for the Outlook Social Connector.
- We are also releasing the Outlook Social Connector SDK for developers to build connectors to third party social networks.
- Technology and design advancements including deeper integration between Office 2010 and Office Web Apps, improved navigation, visual design and icon updates, a new Office logo and increased performance and stability.
We’re also announcing our plan to deliver Duet Enterprise for Microsoft SharePoint and SAP which will expand the long standing Duet partnership. The joint solution from SAP and Microsoft will enable interoperability between SAP applications and SharePoint 2010 and provide complete flexibility and extensibility to compose solutions that blend the worlds of process and collaboration. Duet Enterprise is built on top of the new Business Connectivity Services in SharePoint 2010. The solution is planned to be released in the second half of calendar year 2010.
SharePoint Public Beta Resources
- General information about SharePoint 2010: http://sharepoint2010.microsoft.com/Pages/default.aspx
- Resources for Developers on MSDN: http://www.mssharepointdeveloper.com
- Resources for IT Pros on TechNet: http://www.mssharepointitpro.com
- Have a SharePoint 2010 question? Ask it in the SharePoint 2010 forums
Where can I download SharePoint 2010 public beta?
You can download SharePoint and Office 2010 public beta from http://www.microsoft.com/2010Is the SharePoint public beta supported?
The SharePoint public beta is not supported. However, we recommend looking at our resources listed above and asking questions in the SharePoint 2010 forums.When is the final release of SharePoint and Office 2010?
We are planning to release SharePoint and Office 2010 in the first half of calendar year 2010.Will there be a migration path from SharePoint public beta to final release?
We do not plan to support a SharePoint 2010 public beta to release bits migration path. The SharePoint 2010 public beta should be used for evaluation and feedback purposes only.If I’m on SharePoint 2007, how do I get ready for SharePoint 2010?
Take a look here for getting ready guidance.Is there a downloadable SharePoint 2010 VHD?
We plan to make a VHD available for download sometime in the future. We will announce its availability on our team blog.How do I get trained on SharePoint 2010?
Please review the Getting Started page, the IT Professional learning guide , the Developer learning guide , and the End User resources to ramp up on SharePoint 2010.Published Wednesday, November 18, 2009 10:33 AM by sptblog
Google Wave… Robots, Gadgets, Embed – OH MY!
Nov 13th
To fully use the functionality of Google Wave, try using a robot, gadget or embed. Keep in mind, that some of these only work in the developer sandbox environment. I have both a developer and a tester login for Google wave. For instance, the twitter bot called “Tweety” doesn’t work in the tester environment, only the developer sandbox. Not sure which one you have, look at the top left if you dont see the “dev preview” image on the top left, then your a tester. Below are links to the robots, gadgets, embeds and installers from Google.
My top FREE iPhone apps
Nov 11th
Some of my favorite iPhone apps are as follows:
- CNN – live streaming video of breaking news, the most important headlines of the day with location-based news, weather and traffic from the palm of your hands. With the NEW CNN App for the iPhone and iPod Touch, you can also iReport directly from your phone using the phone’s advanced photo and video capabilities.
- Where - allows you to quickly launch a mobile experience that puts the people, places and things you look for at your fingertips while on the go. (You can even see who’s tweeting near you, their tweet, profile and location). Local content available through WHERE includes everything from the weather, news, and restaurant reviews, to the closest coffee shop, cheapest gas, traffic updates, movie show times and more. WHERE also helps you reach your destination with easy to use maps and directions.
- PhoneFlix – Netflix app for ordering movies
- Kindle - read books on your iPhone (some are even free) you can also download the accompanment of Amazon to search for books to add to your Kindle app)
- Yelp – A dining wiki that is populated by other users including ratings, you can even take photos of the menu and the restaurant right from your phone and instantly rate food, ambiance, service etc. The combination of local reviews and mobile is significant because Yelp now allows consumers to post reviews as they are eating, drinking or visiting a business.
- Livestrong – This app isn’t free and is $2.99 but is completely worth it! It’s so simple to use and integrates fully with the online interface at livestrong.com! It allows you to track food/caloric intake, exercise and weight tracking.
- Traffic.com - Real-time, color-coded traffic flow moving maps that can be panned or zoomed to quickly view area traffic congestion or set to GPS mode to move along with you. Incident data includes accidents, construction, events, weather and congestion. MyTraffic personalized drives are synced with the traffic.com website to allow you to create customized routes. View top traffic hotspots in your city or browse through the list of all nearby roads and road segments to drill down to the locations that matter the most
- Free Wifi Finder - lets you know the closest WIFI spots with milage and directions there
Do you have any APPS that you recommend???
Fusion Charts and SharePoint
Nov 10th
I’m trying to make a flash/xml driven dashboard using the Fusion Charts free app, but having little success from this blog: www.pathtosharepoint.com/FusionCharts/default.aspx Thank GOODNESS, I found additional articles to try it out. If I do figure this out, I will make a video and post it, it will be a great tool if I can figure out how to make it work from a linked SQL file that’s exposed in SharePoint as a list.
HERE is an EXAMPLE of what it looks like:
http://www.fusioncharts.com/Demos/Blueprint/
Articles: Using FusionCharts with SharePoint
These articles illustrate how to use FusionCharts and FusionCharts Free with SharePoint.