My professional network. Visualised.
I stumbled upon the LinkedIn Labs’ network visualisation tool InMaps some time ago and never got around to trying it out. Below is a visual translation of what my professional LinkedIn network looks like. It’s quite useful for understanding the makeup of your connections and your connections klout at a glance within LinkedIn. You can zoom in-and-out with the wheel on your mouse and if you click on a node (connection) it calls up the details of that connection.
My LinkedIn network
The technologies behind InMaps is really quite awesome. The maps calculation and image processing is done through Hadoop/ Pig, Ruby, Voldemort, Java and Processing. The exploration capabilities are achieved through Javascript and open-source libraries Seadragon and RaphaelJS. it’s cross-platform compatible (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, IE7+) and you can enjoy the same experience on your iPhone or iPad.
InMaps takes its inspiration from Gephi, an open-source interactive visualization and exploration platform and more information can be found about it here. Unfortunately you can’t output the visualisation as a high-resolution image or get it printed on a t-shirt YET, but no doubt it’s in the pipeline. It will be interesting to see how my InMap changes over time as my network grows. InMaps are updated every Sunday and LinkedIn Labs’ are working to reduce this time further.
I like the ‘Next Map’ feature on the homepage, reminiscent of cloud-gazing – the most classic example of pareidolia – which I engaged in for many a happy hour as a child. Actually the network visualisation at the top of this post resembles that of a poodle!
To get your InMap go to http://inmaps.linkedinlabs.com and login with your LinkedIn credentials.
Engage or die.
Engage! Revised and Updated: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web
Brian Solis (Author), Ashton Kutcher (Foreword)
The second edition of Engage!
A word of warning though – Engage!
The book starts by defining social media and introducing the arsenal of social media tools available for creating touchpoints across the Social Web. It explores building a framework to amplify the visibility of your social objects, extending the reach of your online presence to new audiences, and defining the end game, ultimately guiding people to action through participating, listening and engagement. Solis reminds us that understanding the rules of engagement is critical in this new world of socialised media. It’s about training and putting the necessary policies and guidelines in place to ensure everyone is singing from the same hymn book. The latter part of the book looks at the realignment and restructuring the organisation as part of this socialisation process. Finally, it focuses on the management of this social media activity; how to track, measure and translate that social data into tangible value for the business.
Solis discusses the concept of unmarketing as one of the most effective forms of marketing in this new genre of socialised media and really unmarketing underpins the ‘How’ organisations should use Social Media. Marketing is no longer about broadcasting brand messages – it’s about embodying the characteristics of your brand, being an active participant in the conversation, contributing value to earn relevance, build influence and create brand advocacy and loyalty toward a desired outcome.
At times, reading the book was a bit of a slog and I found myself going back over passages each time I picked it up because there was a lot to absorb. But on the whole, I found it uplifting and insightful, reaffirming many of my preconceptions as to the real power of Social Media – so stick with it. Solis’s voice comes through the words on the page, inspiring the reader to embrace the social web, to champion new media engagement and become the expert to drive change within the organisation. The book is ‘peppered’ with frameworks, methodologies and tools to assist you in your journey towards building a two-way information bridge between the organisation and the online communities in those networks you choose to participate.
As Solis says, “The future of business is social”. Social Media cannot be confined to one person or department. The entire business must socialise. Organisations must embrace and ride the social wave or risk being engulfed by it.
“The greatest advantages of social media reside in its ability for worthy individuals and companies to shape perception, steer activity, incite action, and adapt to the communities that establish the market. Engage or die.”
Brian Solis is regarded as one of the most prominent thought leaders and published authors in new media. Engage!
The Big Switch?
Filming for a Bord Gáis ‘The Big Switch’ internet advertisement and You Tube Vox Pop took place today in Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin. Hopeful stars were recruited through social networking websites including Twitter and Gum Tree. This new push to get people to switch from ESB to Bord Gáis follows the success of the Lucy Kennedy campaign which was run online and across traditional media channels.
According to the Herald.ie, Bord Gáis intended to use professional actors for the shoot, but then in a change of heart decided they could give something back by opening the shoot to unemployed people because they have so much time on their hands. How nice of them. I later found out that the reference to “unemployed people” was taken out of context and that basically Bord Gáis were opening the shoot to the public in the widest sense. I was on Twitter last night when I stumbled upon the following tweet:
Screenie from iPhone TwitterFon Application
Only a novice to the social networking scene myself, I decided to pop along to the Casting Couch on Fitzswilliam Square to witness first hand the level of response Bord Gáis get from the online community. According to the Herald.ie, Bord Gáis bosses were “inundated with hundreds of queries about how to get involved in the video shoot”. I’d say about fifty people showed up and of those that I spoke to, some were in college, some were working and some were unemployed. Collectively, they simply represesented a broad segment of society that are exposed to social media with a shared enthusiasm to partake in the shoot and a curiosity for what happens behind the camera.
We were given forms to fill out, then a camera went down the queue and we had to introduce ourselves. This was then used to screen who would go forward for casting. Ten minutes later they called out the shortlist – I was one of the lucky ones. I think sixteen people were selected in total. We moved inside where we were given a quick makeover before going into the studio in rotation for filming. I was the second person in front of the green screen as I was eager to get back to work. I was presented with a storyboard which illustrated what they were trying to achieve and then it was Lights, Camera, Action! Get in and get out. All told it took up a little over an hour of my time in the morning, then back to work, then back to The Casting Couch for an hour in the afternoon.
The Casting Couch
At the shoot was Nicky Doran, Head of Marketing Bord Gáis, RMG Target who are the company’s ad agency and a couple of Irish bloggers whose blogsites I am familiar with. There was a very friendly atmosphere at the shoot and refreshments were provided. I talked to a girl from Canada who has been living here two years and lost her job in February. She said she loves living here, has made lots of friends and is happily unemployed for the time being. I met a girl who was studying maths in Trinity College, a guy who worked for a marketing consultancy and a school teacher who was keen to get back out to Swords, Dublin for her 3pm class.
In excess of 130,000 households have made already made the switch of which I am one – but a month later and I am still with ESB. Why? According to Bord Gáis, it could take fifteen to sixty days for the switch to be processed. Now I gather that this window of sixty days is to do with the next scheduled meter reading but the online forums are saying there is a huge backlog in processing the applications on the Bord Gáis side. Regardless, the sixty day delay should be explicitly stated. Bord Gáis has been anything but transparent in this regard and as far as I’m aware, there has been no mention of this anywhere in their marketing campaign to date. I can only assume that for those who applied online, the perception must have been that they would be billed by Bord Gáis as and from the meter reading they provided.
It remains to be seen if Bord Gáis can meet their responsibilities in switching customers in a timely manner but on the face of it, it would appear the gas company has a few service quality gaps on their hands – or one hand is not talking to the other. The successful marketing campaign stands in stark contrast to the service delivered by Bord Gáis – communication gap, understanding gap, delivery gap and planning gap in their failure to adequately resource the call centre. Is the timing right for a refresh campaign?
Unprecedented traffic crashes NCTS website
NCT Website - Page Not Found
To all panic stricken motorists out there, you are wasting your time going to the NCT website to book in your banger – it has collapsed. I went to book my car in online for a retest having failed the initial test on exhaust emissions and head light alignment only to be greeted with this ugly ‘Page Not Found’ screen (above). After several attempts I eventually got through to the Call Centre.
And the new penalty point offences are:
- Using vehicle without NCT certificate – 5 points
- Driving vehicle without remedying a dangerous defect – 3 points
- Driving a dangerously defective vehicle – 5 points
- Using vehicle without certificate of roadworthiness – 5 points
- Bridge strikes, etc – 3 points
So for all those motorists that have been dodging the NCT system the new penalty point offences could mean instant disqualification if caught for two or three offences at the same time.
But back to the ‘Page Not Found’ page. If the website goes down please provide a more user-friendly customer notice. Add some branding to the page. Highlight the other service channels available i.e. email, phone and provide details of the times the call center can be contacted. Provide a ‘Call Me Back’ service to alleviate the call centre.
[UPDATE 30.04.2009] What is an acceptable period of time for the NCTS website to be unavailable? I first posted on 17th April about this. Almost two weeks later and the website is still not operational. A bit of advice Mr. Noel Dempsey – Prior Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. This is unacceptable and until full service is restored the new penalty offences cannot properly be enforced. Once again we have regulation without enforcement.
Chutzpah: What’s in a name?
with fire in my belly
A few people have asked me where I got the name of my blog from and what does it mean. I first heard the word Chutzpah a number of years ago at a seminar on self-promotion I attended in the Ilac Library, Dublin. The seminar was being given by a guy of the name Yanky Fachler – a difficult name to forget.
The theme of the seminar was around this word Chutzpah – a word that interestingly could not be directly translated and was better demonstrated. Yanky Fachler described Chutzpah as that tightness that you get in your stomach that drives the entrepreneurial spirit. He spoke of Chutzpah as being the ‘fire in the belly’.
The word has always stayed with me since that seminar which I suppose is why I chose to use it as the name of this blog because in a way chutzpah is what has driven me to start this blog. Even from a semiotic perspective the visual word form of Chutzpah evokes a positive response within me.
Interestingly, according to Wikipedia, Chutzpah is a Yiddish word with roots in Hebrewism. In Hebrew the word has negative connotations and decribes someone who has overstepped the boundaries of what is considered acceptable behaviour. It is a derivative of the Hebrew word חֻצְפָּה – Chuspa, meaning: audacity, insolence. The English/Yiddish use of the word can hold positive or negative connotations depending on the context presented for example cheekiness, arrogance, effrontery versus daring, gutsy, guts etc.
Aren’t you sorry you asked?
(Edit 05 July 2011) No longer called Chutzpah! That was then. This is now.
Providing the Link from the Physical World to the Virtual World
QR Code
Cute isn’t it. It looks like something you might have done in your sums copy book back in school. It’s called a QR (Quick Response) code which is a two-dimensional barcode capable of holding complex information in a small matrix. The example above features the URL of this blog. With the decoding software installed on my mobile phone, I can use my mobile as a QR code reader. I simply scan the QR code through the camera in my phone and once scanned in this case it simply directs me to the URL specified in the QR code. The simple beauty of this technology is that these QR codes can be placed just about anywhere.
First introduced in 1994, QR codes have since gained huge traction in Japan and are starting to be embraced in parts of Europe, the US, and Canada. Whilst they haven’t gained mainstream commercial use yet, they are increasingly being used in intelligent advertising, e-marketing, e-ticketing or to provide e-info.
If you’re interested in experimenting with QR codes there’s a host of free QR generators available online which you need to encode whatever information it is that you wish to create a QR code for. Then to decode that information you need a mobile camera phone with the QR reader software installed, which is freely available online for all major mobile phone brands. Nokia already pre-bundle a barcode reader with their mobile phones. For iPhone users, there’s a number QR reader applications available in the iPhone App Store.
I believe these QR codes have a lot of stickiness and numerous applications. In a media cluttered world they are an inexpensive, unobtrusive yet intriguing way of presenting a ‘Call to Action’ for information retrieval. Some examples I’ve come across in my research include codes on product packaging which provide detailed nutritional information, codes for store discounts and redeeming loyalty points.
I was interested in seeing how well one of these QR codes would scan with a mobile phone from apparel such as a t-shirt. I stumbled upon this website QR Stuff which allows you to generate QR codes in printable formats or have them printed onto t-shirts through their partner Zazzle print-on-demand website. I generated a QR code of my VCard on QR Stuff and ordered a customised Basic American Apparel T-Shirt on Zazzle for $30 including shipping. It arrived in the post two weeks later. I took it out and photographed the QR code with my iPhone. It did exactly what it says on the tin – linking the physical world with the digital world.
Keeping A Virtual Eye On The Customer
Yes, keeping a virtual eye on the customer – so what’s that all about I hear you say. It’s one of the key messages I took away with me from a recent Irish Internet Association (IIA) seminar I attended in Dublin on ‘How to do Business Online – Securely!’
The seminar covered a range of topics including fraud and the hidden costs of fraud to the merchant. It gave an overview of the role of the Irish Payment Services Organisation Limited (IPSO) who effectively manages the rules and regulations around how payments work. It provided sources of information and preventative measures merchants could take to limit their exposure to fraud. It discussed the solutions available to the merchant when setting up a payments infrastructure on a website and how you would integrate it with a Payments Service Provider (PSP) and closed with the ‘TOP 5’ ecommerce security best practices.
I had a fleeting familiarity with some of the terminology – PCI DSS, 3-D Secure, Card Security Code (CSC) – the rest was new territory. I’d like to share a couple of points with you from my notes on the day.
Put Fraudsters Out Of Business
The value of Internet fraud is growing and it is up to the merchant to put the necessary checks in place to put fraudsters out of business. This brings me back to the title of this article. Authorisation is NOT a guarantee of payment in the ecommerce world. Even if the bank has approved the online transaction, if the transaction is discovered to be fraudulent (i.e. if the card is reported stolen) the merchant could be looking at a chargeback (recovery of the value of the transaction) and a chargeback processing fee.
Many merchants have had to close up shop because of losses incurred as a result of fraud. According to IPSO, card fraud valued at net €8m in 2008. Card Not Present fraud (CNP) gross figures were not available but it was suggested that they were likely to be more than double. CNP fraud includes fraud conducted over the internet, phone and mail order. In Europe there was a 50% increase in CNP fraud from 2006 to 2007.
No Crunch For Credit Fraudsters
So what does this mean? To put it simply, fraud is fuelled by recession. The speaker from MasterCard shared the following points. Fraud in the workplace is likely to accelerate during the global economic downturn (source KPMG). In recessionary times, businesses put more of a focus on resources and reducing costs. As the belts are tightened there’s an increasing likelihood of fraud or theft being uncovered. The Times says fraudsters will profit from financial crisis by using fake websites to steal bank details. Timing is key here given the turmoil in the banking sector in that fraudsters can trick consumers into logging onto a false website and in doing so, handing their details over. One way in which fraudsters attempt to solicit personal banking details is through phishing attacks whereby a fake version of a genuine bank website is setup and then spam emails are sent out to people to lure them online.
Let The Merchant Beware
Let the merchant beware, theses scrupulous fraudsters will stop at nothing. According to AIB Merchant Services, the main reason for fraud is lack of controls from the merchant. According to MasterCard, the Key Principles of Organised Fraudsters;
- Always choose the weakest link
- As much benefit for as little risk as possible
There are over 10,000 ecommerce stores in Ireland (source Realex). If you’re an online merchant, know your geographical market, check all transactions, liaise regularly with your merchant acquirer, and investigate 3-D Secure and fraud scoring, use a payment application that is PCI DSS compliant or ensure your PSP is compliant. Provide a safe, secure, user-friendly environment for your customers to transact online. Further information can be found on www.safecard.ie, www.makeitsecure.ie, www.shopsafeonline.org.uk/retailers.
Fraudsters repeat success. Don’t make it easy for them!
BODIES The Exhibition
The "Macabre" Exhibition
I went to see the much publicised Bodies exhibition yesterday in the Ambassador Theatre, Dublin. We got there a little after 10am and already the queue was starting to build. All I had heard about the exhibition was that the bodies were allegedly Chinese prisoners who had been executed. I’ve since learned that they are unclaimed bodies came from the Dalian Medical School in Northern China. On entering the lobby there was a distinct air of efficiency. You were directed to the counter to buy your ticket. I felt €20 was a little expensive and we briefly debated what we would be prepared to pay – somewhere around €12. Staff wore black t-shirts with ‘Bodies The Exhibition’ printed on them.
On our way into the exhibition a staff member scanned the 2d barcode on the ticket. Inside the exhibition space was dark and there was a certain smell in the air. Looking around at the exhibits the first thing that struck me was the vibrant red and pinkish white color of the bodies and the manner in which they were posed. It dehumanised them to the extent that one might perceive them to be merely waxwork figures. They appeared to be all of Chinese origin and were mostly male from what I remember. It was difficult to tell just how many bodies were used in the exhibition.
We moved around the exhibition space taking time to read the signs beside the exhibits which in hindsight were a waste of time because I didn’t really retain any of this information after the event. I did find the fetal and embryo specimens particularly interesting if a little unsettling. The specimens show the fetal development up to 26 weeks including a cross section of one inside a body. There was a sign outside this room which read something like “Please take a moment to think about whether you want to enter this room. This exhibit features fetal specimens.”
The arteries and blood vessel exhibits are quite fascinating but repeatedly I found myself questioning the authenticity of what was before me and the morality of the exhibition. Smokers beware – there’s a nice exhibit of a smoker’s blackened, hardened lungs contrasted against a healthy non-smokers lungs.
There were a number of small children at the exhibition who appeared to approach the exhibits with intense curiosity and intrigue. They absorbed the morsels of information their parents fed them as they worked their way around the rooms.
Upon reflection, the exhibition is not the macabre freak show some critics purport it to be. Yes, it is entertainment but also educational. I’ve never been comfortable with the idea of donating my organs when I die and in the name of science I won’t be donating my body either. It is worth a look… but not €20 in my book. It took about two hours to get round the whole exhibition. For some photos of the exhibits head over to the official website http://www.bodiesdublin.com/
The adventures of iPhone 1.1.3 OTB 8GB
Photo used under Creative Commons from Retracted Moments™
If you are like me and couldn’t wait until the iPhone reached Ireland’s western shores, then at some point in the past you have jailbroken and unlocked, possibly even bricked your iPhone. I purchased my phone in the US in Silicon Valley in November 2007. It was an out-of-the-box (OTB) 1.1.3 iPhone. In February 2008, after much research and trawling through the discussion boards, I finally found a stable tutorial developed by a Mr. George Hotz (alias GeoHot) to jailbreak and unlock my iPhone. Finally, my iPhone was activated on the Vodafone network and I could put aside my Sony Ericsson K800i – also a superb phone I might add.
Over the last 11 months I grew much attached to my iPhone, which became increasingly like a new appendage. I installed new applications to my hearts content and spent manys an hour customizing it. Then, as if overnight, Installer.app became obsolete. There were no more application updates and no more new packages. I’m not really sure what happened but it would appear all the Installer.app sources had migrated to Installer 4.0. All development efforts were for the new firmware 2.x.
There was no alternative but to once more go on a quest for a stable solution to upgrade the firmware. The name of the game here is ‘patience’. If the solution looks difficult then it probably is. That is until I stumbled upon WinPwn v2.5 by developer cmw – a wizard style tool with a nice graphical user interface that enables you to jailbreak, unlock and activate your iPhone. I’m now running firmware 2.0.2 on my unlocked OTB 1.1.3 iPhone and I’m a Vodafone ready-to-go customer. Thank you iClarified for the nice guide and to cmw for WinPwn!
Just to clarify for anyone out there looking to upgrade their OTB 1.1.3 iPhone; I upgraded straight from 1.1.3 to 2.0.2 using this application. I was using Windows XP with the latest .Net framework and iTunes 7.7.1.11 installed on Service Pack 3 (SP3). My advice is to read through the tutorial carefully, then read it again and again. Then browse through the comments to get a flavour of the issues encountered by other people. Check that you have everything setup and sufficient time to move through the tutorial. If something goes wrong and you get one of those 1600 errors as I did – don’t panic. Do a quick re-check of what you are doing and then do a couple of searches on the error encountered to see how other people have overcome it. Chances are you are 99% there.
Bloggers’ [Block] – the first post
Bloggers’ BlockAfter many weeks of bloggers’ block I’ve finally gotten around to publishing my first post. I setup this blog with WordPress.com way back in November 2008 and since then it has lay dormant – quietly sleeping. Well no. Not sleeping… more… waiting for divine inspiration. Meanwhile I wrote a few posts offline. But the most difficult post is your first – a bit like your first day at school, your first kiss or your first – you get the rest!
I’ve mused over just about every aspect of this blog from the platform to its content and design, and probably the biggest one of all – how much about ‘ME’ will I put into the blog. Analysis paralysis! I needed a catalyst! So I found a few blogs that interested me and followed them for awhile. I listened to a couple of podcasts on the IIA website gave me an insight into the world of blogging and helped me realise that the concerns I had about starting a blog were concerns that many people in the blogging community have starting out. And here I am.
This blog is basically going to be about everything that interests me and everything that I have an opinion about – and I’m going to share this with you. It’s a vessel for immersing myself in social media, to engage the blogging community and to write where I have full editorial control. My academic background is in visual communications, marketing and business studies spanning 10 years of full and part-time study. I work in the IT industry in a creative/marketing/business development capacity. I’m very interested in the Web 2.0 space, love my first generation unlocked iPhone that I bought in Silicon Valley in November 2007 and coffee.
That’s enough for now! I welcome your comments and your feedback on my posts. Thanks for stopping by. RobertGerard
robertgerard 