I think there are two web companies in the last few years that I’ve really wrote here about how great I thought they were, JotSpot and Feedburner. Now 2/2 acquired by Google… of course, let’s hope this purchase goes better for Feedburner than it appears the JotSpot one went for them.
Greening businesses, one step at a time - somehow I got dragged into writing an article for my campus paper this week about an event (Environment and Business conference) I was attending.
Anyhow, writing for a newspaper just felt really wierd, almost like going back in time 
. I’m much more accustomed to my blogging style (obviously). The article was supposed to be a fixed length, of course, which just feels funny. Writing from a semi-neutral tone was the hardest part, I’m so used to using “I”… it just seems so drab otherwise.
Then I submit the article to the editor. “So, I guess you edit it and send it back to me?” I asked naïvely. Of course not, they just make their changes, then publish it, with my name on it of course. Naturally I’m not hugely in favour of the changes, as what person likes their writing modified? My biggest complaint? They took away one of my exclaimation marks.
Oh, one last point… I wasn’t responsible for the headline, subheading, photograph, or photo caption.
NextPath - 13 Things I Wish I Learned in College - yes, I realize that I’m still in “college” (in Canada we call it University ), but there are a few good points in this…
1. Getting to the Point
This is a very, very important skill. I can’t emphasize this enough. It’s not just that it is important, it also seems to be something that few people can do well, when in fact everyone needs to learn how to do this well. The director of my program at university is a great and intelligent guy, but I recently heard him speak, starting with a five-minute disclaimer that he was going to have to be brief on that occasion. Essays and papers for school that give wordcounts (or worse, pagecounts) are hardly improving our ability to get to the point.
2. Making Proper Presentations
This is also very important. Many of my courses involve giving presentations, and this is good. However the assumption is clearly that practice makes perfect… and this is true, once you’ve learned how to do something. The problem is that how to give good and effective presentations is never taught at all, so people give a poor presentation, and then the next time, give another poor presentation. I consider myself a pretty good presenter these days (I definitely wasn’t always), but I’m still learning and know that I always will be.
9. Taking the Initiative
This one is very tricky. University is a set of required courses, which have set durations, set textbooks, and set assignments with set questions at set lengths. There is almost never any room to initiate anything, so the only people who ever do so are the ones who don’t sleep because they’re volunteering for student societies or other volunteer activities.
Via del.icio.us.
TechCrunch » Rumor: Yahoo Acquired Jotspot - I don’t usually report on breaking news rumours but this one is very interesting, because Jotspot is such an amazing company/product.
FeedBurner: Not Funny - I’ve said before that FeedBurner is a company doing things right. I’ll say it again.
pc4media: Compiled 2006 Predictions - I haven’t even finished reading it - but Peter’s “predictions” beat everyone else’s a thousand times over.
I was thinking of a really long rant, but instead I’ll make a short comment.
Google Base leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth, in more ways than one. You?
Knowmore.org - the corporation watch search engine. I had the idea to build this website a couple of years ago. I’m glad someone finally did. At least I think so, haven’t really explored it yet. Via del.icio.us popular.
Burning Questions - The Official FeedBurner Weblog: Ciao, FeedBurner - now this is a company that is doing things right. points go to anyone who can explain why this is a good business move