From the archives

Dipping into the archives from March 2006, I see that a couple of "finds" from one year ago are still going strong and worthy of the "second light of day".

The Practice of Leadership - George Ambler

Success Begins Today - John Richardson

From the archives

Continuing the dip into the archives from 2 years ago, I find a good group blog focused on design still going strong.

CPH127 - "A blog about the influence of design on innovation"

From the archives

As work has been consuming more time than normal, the trail explorations have slowed down. But have no fear, there are some items in the archives that deserve to see the light of another day.


Hello my name is Blog - Scott Ginsburg
Yes, that is the guy with the name tag!


Legacy Matters - Jill Fallon
Practical advice on legacy

From the Archives

Two years ago, the Hitchhikers found these sites.

They have been buried in the archives but deserve the light of a new day.


Drawn - Inspiration is everywhere
coincidently they had just started on March 3, 2005 (yes, we share the same blogversary!)


Time Goes By - Ronni Bennett
a good blogging buddy!

Jazz Violin - China

The trail turns to a site I had found and posted about when I found the "Water Buffalo Movie". Robert Thompson is the artist behind the movie and this blog.

In his about page we read:

I currently reside in Yunnan, China with my wife and will be back in the US around May 2007 to continue my music career. In 2006, I finished a tour with Cirque, moved to China, got married, bought and designed a house in China, graduated from the Berklee College of Music, bought a car and got a Chinese driver’s license, traveled extensively throughout southwestern China, improved my Mandarin Chinese, snapped over 10,000 pictures and made dozens of movies for my family and friends back home. And, of course, I’m always recording and performing music for my return to the US next year.

How do you get from Cirque to China?
When you are Robert Thompson, you do it with a violin.

Consider adding this site to your RSS Reader. He'll be in China up until May 2007 when he returns to the states. If his violin is anything like his photos, he is quite good!

Advertising Ourselves to Death

The trail turns to Dallas, TX where a group writes a blog called Advertising Ourselves to Death. Their manifesto reads:

The 30-second spot is dead.

Consumers are demanding something new.

The opportunities are sweeping for those willing to pay attention. But many agencies and their clients are too vested in the diminishing returns of brute-force tactics to recognize the fundamental changes that are upon them.

---

Letting the consumer participate in a dialog will require a wholesale shift in the foundations of marketing. It’s no longer enough to simply shout louder than your competitor to break through the clutter. Today’s marketers must find ways to engage consumers and offer them something of value in return for their attention.

That's what we'll talk about here.

So consider adding this site to your RSS Reader and follow what they have to say about marketing and advertising.


Thanks to Blaine Collins for the trail tip!

Dangerously Irrelevant - Scott MacLeod

Our intelligence tends to produce technological and social change at a rate faster than our institutions and emotions can cope with. . . . Innovation is cumulative and the rate of change accelerates. We therefore find ourselves continually trying to accommodate new realities within inappropriate existing institutions, and trying to think about those new realities in traditional but sometimes dangerously irrelevant terms. - Gwynne Dyer

Education today and tomorrow is a subject near and dear to this Hitchhiker's heart. Hence, finding Scott's site is a good one to try and keep current in this area.

I wrote elsewhere about the Did You Know video he tweaked (originaly put together by Karl Fischer). It is impressive!

Consider adding Scott's site to your RSS Reader or don't be surprised if you find yourself dangerously irrelevant!

Happy Blogversary!

I could make the claim that we were so busy celebrating this weekend, we forgot to post and let the world know why we were celebrating, but that wouldn't be the truth.

Work reared its head and required full time over the weekend.

Two years ago, this blog started to explore the 'long tail'.

Sine that time, the Hitchhiker team has expanded. (There are still room on the trail for additional hikers.)

The long tail has not yet been fully explored so there is plenty to do.

Many thanks to all the readers!

Many thanks to all the site creators out there that provide opportunity for us to find you and help to share what you to with the rest of us on the trail!

Follow the money

The trail decided to take the advice of Deep Throat:

---

Bob Woodward: The story is dry. All we've got are pieces. We can't seem to figure out what the puzzle is supposed to look like. John Mitchell resigns as the head of CREEP, and says that he wants to spend more time with his family. I mean, it sounds like bullshit, we don't exactly believe that...
Deep Throat: No, heh, but it's touching. Forget the myths the media's created about the White House. The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.
Bob Woodward: Hunt's come in from the cold. Supposedly he's got a lawyer with $25,000 in a brown paper bag.
Deep Throat: Follow the money.
Bob Woodward: What do you mean? Where?
Deep Throat: Oh, I can't tell you that.
Bob Woodward: But you could tell me that.
Deep Throat: No, I have to do this my way. You tell me what you know, and I'll confirm. I'll keep you in the right direction if I can, but that's all. Just... follow the money.

Quote source

Others have taken that advice and created a searchable database to track how the money is spent in state politics.

What about Merck's contributions that would lead to the state passes the vaccine for young girls (which Merck happens to sell)? Check out the report on what states (PDF) benefited from $2.4 million in contributions.

Do you have an interesting campaign in your state? Go searching and see what you find!

Debatepedia

Another valuable link found at one of the demo stations as BeyondBroadcasting came to a close on Saturday, February 24th at MIT.

Discover Contribute Decide

Debatepedia is the new free wiki encyclopedia of arguments and debates. As a "wiki", it enables anyone (you included) to easily present and organize the unique arguments made by third-party sources (ie. by scholars, experts, leaders,...) on both sides of a debate. By providing an innovative "logic tree" debate methodology, it enables you to organize debates in the most understandable way. Debatepedia is quickly becoming an indispensable resource for uncovering all the unique arguments in important public debates and for developing a complete and rational position.

A wonderful idea. Check it out!

e-democracy.org Steven Clift

The trail continues to meander amongst those connected with the recent Beyond Broadcasting Conference. I met Steve at the Bird's of a Feather dinner to close out the day. If you get a chance to meet him, ask him to tell you the story of working in the library filing documents with limited training. It will give you an appreciation for where his desire for open access comes from.

E-Democracy.Org is a non-profit, non-partisan, volunteer-based project whose mission is to expand participation and build stronger democracies and communities through the power of information and communication technologies and strategies.

The e-democracy web site is full of good information. Nicely laid out. Clear and distinct.

There is also a blog with frequent updates on current event related to e-democracy.

If your city/town could use a local forum, this is one thing that e-democracy will set up with you. I am about to dive into the guidebook (PDF) and cruise through the Liftoff online group to see what it entails. Franklin used to have a forum that was moderated by one individual and it ended up getting shut down. The e-democracy forum has a couple of good points to help prevent that should this one come online in this area.

Check out the blog. Check out the site.

Planet Pocket Radio - Chris Vallance

One of the benefits of attending a conference like BeyondBroadcasting is the opportunity to meet folks with similar interests. Chris Vallance, who traveled from the UK to attend, was one of those opportunities.

Sitting in the auditorium, laptop open and operating, taking an occasional picture, he reached into his bag to get his cable to upload the pictures to his system, and then a moment of dismay. No cable. This is where I came in. Sitting behind Chris, I had already used my USB cable to upload my pictures to post. Borrow? Sure!

Our path's crossed again as he was part of the Birds of a Feather dinner group with Steve Garfield. So what does this have to do with the Hitchhiker's trail today? Chris's podcast of course! Chris reports for the BBC.

You can find his site here.

You can subscribe via RSS here.

All Things Baby Boomer and Then Some

The trail swings back around to pick up the Boomer Chronicles, an irreverent blog for baby boomers and others. It's updated every Monday through Friday, usually several times daily with all kinds of topical posts. Think of it as the Consumer Reports of all things current, as well as some good ol' blasts from the past.

For instance, one of the recent (just for fun) posts literally dissects how the old Magic 8 balls work.

If you are a baby boomer — and who isn’t — you probably had one of these Magic 8 Balls when you were a kid.

Did you ever want to break it open to see how it worked? Well, so did this guy. Check it out.

Another recent post is on the Small House Movement, an environmentally friendly (not to mention, wallet-friendly) way to live.

You'll find the writing style snappy, and the posts well researched and filled with great links. Some of that may be because of who the blog author is. Rhea is a Boston-based journalist who has also written for for People magazine and The Boston Globe. She was also managing editor of Harvard University’s newspaper, The Gazette.

NonProfit Blog Exchange

The trail turns to the non-profit world today where blogging and other social media tools are being incorporated to help increase awareness, raise funds, etc.

One good source of information around the non-profit world is the NonProfit Blog Exchange.

A source of tips and links (via a roundup of non-profit blogs) that is worthy to include in your RSS reader of choice if you have any interests in the nonprofit world.

Owen and Mzee - Friendship

Time for a special edition of the Hitchhiker's Guide. Friday was a late night with some folks at a local watering hole after work. Saturday was the BeyondBroadcasting Conference complete with Birds of a Feather dinner. But tonight, Dolores and I had dinner together. A delightful conversation took place as we caught up on the other things that had occurred which we had not already shared. Amongst the listing of things, Dolores shared that she had just previewed a book she was going to use with her kindergarten friends on Monday to kick off Read Across America Week.

The book is a story of a baby hippo and a 130 old tortoise who have become friends. The hippo was stranded upon a coral reef after the 2006 tsunami struck the shores of Kenya. After a struggle to rescue the hippo, it was named Owen and moved to Lafarge Eco Systems in Mombasa, Kenya where an old limestone is being restored. There Owen was put into a sheltered space with other animals that were not going to be challenging to it in its youth. Owen, although only 1 year old when rescued, already weighed 600 pounds and fully grown would weight about 8,000 pounds. What surprised the naturalists managing Haller Park was how Mzee, a tortoise befriended Owen.

The story of Owen and Mzee became a NY Times bestseller. The book Dolores has is a sequel to the first which brings the story up to a few months ago. Owen has done well, continued to grow and live with Mzee who has continued to take care of him. They have developed their own communications. Yes, a tortoise and a hippo communicating with each other.

You can read more of this story on line. Owen and Mzee have their own blog. Well, sort of. The keepers write it for them. But you can monitor this fascinating tale of survival from the tsunami and a unique friendship that help in the survival.

If a tortoise and a hippo can be friends, what is stopping us?


A whole other aspect to this story that makes it note worthy is that of Isabella, who at age six first saw the pictures of Owen and Mzee and convinced her father that they needed to find out more about the two animals. What was originally an e-book (PDF), is now a best-seller and has spawned the sequel.

Add this blog to your RSS Reader to follow the story of friendship and survival!


Owen
Mzee
Kenya
LaFarge Ecosystems
tsunami
survival
friendship


Updated: An hour after this was posted, I received an email from Isabella's father with a link to a new Owen and Mzee web site just being introduced. I have already viewed the documentary and music video. I encourage you to continue to check out this developing story.

PodcastingTricks.com

While on the trail I am always on the lookout for podcasting tips and tricks... well alright, "always" is since September 2006 and PodCamp Boston. So when this site popped up, it slid right into the RSS Reader and that is something you should consider also.

Now, don't get all testy 'cause I am doing this about podcasting and not using podcasting to do it....

I was recently reminded that as communicators, we’re expected to affirm our audience. Too many times, it’s the other way around. Some podcasters think this medium is all about them. There are hosts who expect the audience to affirm the host. It should ALWAYS be the other way around.

An old broadcasting coach once told me, “You have to make love to your audience.”

Read the full posting here.

I sat in on a lecture about podcasting by a “grand master” of podcasting. Time after time, the lecturer said things like, “You always have to do this,” or “You should never do that.”

I was surprised that the presenter would be so dogmatic. This brings to mind a simple point for podcasters to ponder. There are no rules. You don’t have to open your podcast with an interview just because someone else does. You don’t need to eliminate theme music just because someone else said that’s too much like “radio.”

Read the full posting here.

Who provides these tips and tricks?

Scott Bourne is an author, lecturer, teacher and new media pioneer, and the president of Podango Productions in San Francisco, CA. He is the founder of the world's first Internet-only radio network, Netradio, and is a co-host on several prominent podcasts including MacBreak Weekly, the iLifeZone and GMT. Bourne has also been a featured speaker at events such as Macworld Expo and the Podcast & Portable Media Expo.

So now that you know the man behind the tricks, you can add his site to your RSS Reader and stay in touch.

The Learning Circuits Blog

Ponder this:

How could informal learning have been encouraged? First of all, by concentrating the formal training less on the technical skills of the staff and more on the human skills of department heads. It could have included things like group dynamics and communication training, to say nothing of corporate culture itself (which I still don’t see as a significant item in training course catalogues). Although this type of action is formal, it represents a direct investment in informal learning and could be added to the column of strategic investment rather than "just in time" fixes. They could have encouraged rather than neglected the potential of the expensive and hard to deploy groupware (Lotus Notes) they began investing in during the 90s. They could have looked at questions of corporate architecture (some did, by the way, but not necessarily with the conscious idea of stimulating informal professional exchange). They could have adopted an attitude of “visionary evolution” focused on the long term, taking into account human behavior; but of course the obsession with quarterly results still makes that difficult. Executives with long-term vision write books rather than struggling to impose their vision in the real corporate environment they work in.

Read the full posting here.

Then ponder the next discussion:

Then it dawned on me what the numbers really mean; we are using the government's term of informal and formal learning -- if the money invested in learning falls under a training department's budget, it is counted as formal learning; if it falls only under payroll, then it is being counted as informal learning.

We are using monetary terms to define informal and formal learning. However, I think that most of us would define it more or less as Stephen Downes views it -- if it is managed by the learner it is informal, if it is managed by someone else it is formal.

Read the full posting (complete with charts) here.

And if these two teasers wet your whistle, then add this site to your RSS Reader to stay current.

Director Tom

Before the trail gets too cold and you begin to think nothing good will come through your RSS Reader as another blog has bitten the dust...

Quiet on the Set!

Director Tom says:

Remember, I'm a filmmaker and story katalyst; not some marketing guru.

This is how I see things; it's my 'lens.' Take what works.

Here’s the second question in the series:

Q. “In starting out, is it best to use a company name or my own name?”

A. It goes back to, “What’s your story?”

Life gives you clues to tell your “story” all the time. The hard part is being awake to notice them.

But if you pay attention, you will notice the clues.

When you catch them, noodle on them. Write them down. Blog them. Share them. Ask yourself what they mean.

You are constantly “churning” your “story.” See what rises to the top.

What will rise to the top? Better click through to Director Tom's posting and read the remainder.

Then, while you're there, cruise around a link or two check out his prior postings and see if this is stuff you could use. If so, add Director Tom to your RSS Reader.

Cut! Change the lighting and we'll roll again, from the top!

I have something to say about that - Hadley Beeman

The trail turns to one blog that had been quiet over the holidays but now appears to be back in a regular posting pattern. Hadley Beeman writes in her "about page"

In October of 2006, I found myself rewriting my CV for what felt like the thousandth time, emphasising yet another angle on my project-management/facilitating-collaboration/technology-for-business-goals career. CVs are quite restrictive in their format and content, and I was annoyed that I had to limit my communication with prospective employers to a discrete snapshot of my accomplishments when I’d prefer to include more of how I think and what interests me.

The solution came with a problem that was nagging at me: Blogs were clearly on the rise, but why on earth would anybody bother to broadcast their thoughts regularly? What normal day-to-day behaviour does this model? How do I fit this into my own life? Why should I bother? I sought out many blogging friends and colleagues for their perspectives. As the discussions built, I realised something about myself.

She writes on her iPod

Now, as a professional in a public-transport city, I don’t have the luxury of long hours in a dorm full of friends or a car stereo. For this, I now have an iPod. I can’t tell you yet what will be on the 2007 soundtrack of my life, but I can tell you this: It will come out of the 1,334 songs in my pocket.

Read Hadley's full post here on "if life had a sound track".

I recommend add Hadley's site to your RSS Reader and then joining the conversation.

Newspapergrl - Janet

The trail takes out to Utah today where we find Newspapergrl, Janet, writing about a comment that some one left on her blog:

“She is the expert on Internet marketing, and generous with her knowledge. With what she told me on our first date, I was able to increase the hits on my web site by 20%, which more than covered the cost of her meal!”

Read the full story -> A Date with me is a Wise Investment

Janet writes in her About Page:

I’m an internet marketer and writer. I’m passionate about internet marketing and business. I write about it, read about it, and try to learn everything I can about it.

Newspapergrl blog covers internet and affiliate marketing for entrepreneurs and small business owners. I talk about the tech industry and B2B marketing. Basically as a freelance journalist, or blogger, I write about what I’m thinking about and learning.

This sounds like a page you should add to your RSS Reader to keep in touch with Janet.

Valentine's Day Special

For this special day, let's do something different.

For those interested in marketing, if you have not already found Logic + Emotion, check it out.

For those interested in the confluence of ideas, if you have not already found Fire and Knowledge, check it out.

For those interested in "tools to help you change your beliefs, change your life, and create your world" then check out, Shards of Consciousness.

And after checking these out, you decide you want to create a presentation to share what you found and the connections you were able to make, for advice on this there is one place to turn, Presentation Zen.

Kavit Haria

The trail ventures forth across the pond (as they say) to old England where we find Kavit Haria. What does Kavit do? According to his about page:

Kavit Haria is regarded as UK’s #1 Music Success Coach, a public speaker and coach who helps musicians have more successful careers and live more fulfilled lives.

As an established musician himself (multi-percussionist), he has played with many top name musicians in a wide variety of genres (fusion-style music) throughout his career.

His deep interest in personal development, inspired by Wayne Dyer, Tony Robbins, Topher Morrison, Deepak Chopra, Robert Kiyosaki and others urged him to take action in his life more than ever. Kavit is a certified and licensed NLP practitioner and Time Line therapist.

As a sought after coach and the founder and current C.E.O. of Inner Rhythm, Kavit has combined accelerated learning and results psychology with the music business in order to coach musicians around the world and speak to audiences in the UK about music marketing and the psychology of music success.

Did you know how big a market Valentines Day is?

I always knew Valentines Day was a big spending day but I had no idea it was a $17 Billion market. A research by eMarketer.com said that “the “2007 Valentine’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey,” conducted for NRF by BIGresearch, estimates that the average consumer will spend $119.67 this Valentine’s Day, up from $100.89 last year.“

Kavit has a series of interviews underway with the postings to be found here. The most recent is with Curt Rosengren.

Consider adding Kavit's page to your RSS reader of choice!

In Pursuit of Happily Ever After: An East Coast Girl's Search for Love

The trail turns to the classroom today where it finds Miss BrowneyedGirlie writing at In Pursuit of Happily Ever After: An East Coast Girl's Search for Love. Miss Browneyedgirlie writes in Tales of a Substitute Student Teacher:

The one thing I failed to realize, mainly because it was the first fill-in experience with children who had no idea who I was, is that developing a bond with your students, a sense of respect, trust, and understanding, is paramount in teaching. Having the opportunity to do so while substituting is darn near impossible. Instead, the day played out with me glancing at the clock every now and then to see how much longer I needed to hold on.

Ah, yes. Those were the days. I did frequent the halls as a substitute myself and know of what she speaks. It is the truth. However in order to survive as a sub, one does have the opportunity to develop some defensive tactics. But that is for another time and place.

Here Miss Browneyedgirlie writes in Head Way Above Water:

There has also been talk around New College about the Job Fair, scheduled for March 9. My friends are terrified that we now have to start looking for real teacher jobs. Me? I say, "Bring it ON!" I'm beyond eager to begin searching for a school district in which to call home. To get to know the teachers - both new and veteran - with whom I will work closely and go to for advice. To get to have a classroom of my own, that I can decorate with pretty bulletin boards, a diverse student library, and in which I can design and teach lessons that will make them think, laugh, and expand their minds.

She also writes in Irony:

We were practicing with them during my observation, which was also being videotaped. Like I wasn't nervous enough. The children were holding up their individual cards (greater than or less than) when they had the answer to a question I placed on the board. As I noted each child's selection, I noted whether or not I'd been able to trick them.

I used this same phrasing and playful tone during Thursday's lesson and thus, didn't think anything of it. The kids are always excited that Miss Browneyedgirlie can't trick them. Well, today I did. In fact, I tricked the same girl - twice.

Some students were tricked yesterday and didn't seem phased by it. This little girl cried. On camera. With my supervisor, her classmates, and my cooperating teacher in the room. I wanted to crawl under the rug.

So if this teaser has worked, you can add Miss Browneyedgirlie to your RSS Reader of choice and follow on with her exploits as she completes student teaching and then hunts for a permanent job.

Planet Nomad

The dusty trail winds up on the edge of the Sahara Desert at Planet Nomad, which "Nomad" describes:

Sometimes, it’s like another planet–one filled with nomads, where sandstorms are a part of life and where things just look a bit different. We’re an American family living and working in Nouakchott, Mauritania, located where the sands of the Sahara Desert meet the waters of the Atlantic. This blog chronicles the various aspects of our lives, from university students to leaking water heaters to the kids learning Arabic in the French school. I am wife to Donn and mother to Elliot, 11, and boy-girl twins Abel and Ilsa, 9.

Nomad's blog is one of many "expat" or expatriot blogs, which are blogs written by Americans living in other countries. There's a whole directory for you to puruse, if you like reading about how life goes on for some Americans in other parts of the world. Culture shock is often the least of what they routinely deal with.

Here, Nomad shares insights from one of her friendships:

I love my friend Aicha for many reasons. We have that soul connection that makes friendship possible across the boundaries of culture, language, political and religious views, and even diverse topics like race, or what constitutes beauty. Why are we good friends? We just like each other, in that mystical way that happens when you find a real friend. We like being together; we like talking about things. We may disagree, but we listen to each other.

One of the many things I appreciate about her is the way she has, more than any other single person, introduced me to Mauritanian culture. She has opened the door to me. Aicha comes from a very conservative tribe but she is university-educated. Her traditional background makes her a great source of information. The culture was always somewhat divers, made up of various tribes each with their own oddities and special areas of expertise--the scholarly tribe; the warrior tribe; the tribe of griots, or singers. Different tribes have embraced modernity to varying degrees. Aicha's tribe is well-connected and educated in general, but they have also fiercely held on to their traditions. Talking to her, I get a glimpse into another world.

Here, she chronicals the "simple" adventure of taking a trip to a conference in a post entitled: You Never Know What Skills You'll End Up Needing.

Debbie and I decided to attend a conference being held in Dakar, Senegal. Neither of us wanted to drive, because when driving cross-country in Africa it’s handy to have some men around; to deal with police checks (police relate better to men), to change flat tires or deal with engine trouble, to scrape locusts off the grill in the event of an invasion, to deal with the myriad problems that can arise. Flying is expensive. So we decided to take bush taxis.

The ride from Dakar to Rosso takes about 8 hours. We left about 6 a.m. The taxi whizzed along, stopping occasionally in tiny roadside villages for cold drinks and snacks. By about 11 a.m. we were in dire straits. The taxi had stopped in a really remote village, and Debbie and I crawled out to stretch our cramped limbs. We were desperate for a spot of privacy, so in great determination we crossed the road, heading for a field with some lovely big tall weeds. We soon discovered, however, an obstacle; a deep ditch full of fetid water, too large to leap, extending as far as we could see alongside the highway. What to do? We glanced back at the taxi and saw that it was ready to depart, waiting just for us, a taxi full of men glancing our way. Some of the villagers were also out for a glimpse of the white women squished in the back of a taxi. We looked at each other in despair. There was no way we could get back in that taxi and wait any longer to relieve ourselves.

Nomad writes with insight, humor, and compassion, while giving us more than just a peek at life on the Sahara.

Ramblings from a gypsy soul

From France to the Philippines can be a long flight, or a single mouse click. In this case, the click worked and we find ourselves visiting Christine at Ramblings from a gypsy soul. Good thing that we are kind of hungry, there are plenty of appetizing recipes here.

Come along and see how to make chutney:

Yesterday, I did just that. I almost danced a little jig as I crossed out mango chutney from my 'list of food to try and make at home', from hereon we will refer to simply as The List. Our chutney supply comes from my tita who lives in our village. The fact that our source is only a few blocks away has proven to be so convenient especially when curry is served for Sunday lunch and we whip out the jar only to find that we're running dangerously low on chutney. So while on one of these chutney runs I thought, why don't I make my own? And so that was the day it was added to The List.

And read about Lunch at Charley's

I think we were all so excited about the food and the company that we weren't prepared for the scene that awaited us. Hidden behind a massive stone wall lined by mahogany trees, was a beautiful first-class ranch complete with thoroughbreds roaming freely. Perhaps I was expecting something a little more rustic because it was out in the country. But whatever it was, I was pleasantly surprised.

If these items wet your appetite, then make one click to add Christine's page to your RSS Reader of choice.

A Girl's Guide to Managing Projects - Elizabeth

The trail takes us to France where Elizabeth writes A Girl's Guide to Managing Projects. In her post this week she writes:

This is the difference between skills and knowledge - let’s leave aside innate ability for the moment which our prof de danse obviously had in spadefuls. Skills are things that help you gather knowledge: competences, abilities, whatever buzzword you want to use. Knowledge is teachable and therefore learnable. Some people would argue that skills are teachable. I agree to a certain extent but there is a difference between teaching communication skills and teaching how to manage a risk. Skills are things you can build on, improve with practice and awareness and you can cover up your lack of them by being excellent in other things. Missing knowledge lets you down with a bump.

Read the full post here.

She writes in her about page:

Although I work as a senior project manager and writer, the views on this site don’t necessarily represent the views of my employer or my co-workers. They are just my ramblings!

All links on this site open in a new window, except when they refer to another blog post here.

This site looks best using Mozilla Firefox.

Terms of engagement: I’ll endeavour to post an article each Monday. If you get something else during the week, count it as a bonus.

I can confirm that her site works better in Firefox. I tried to copy the text above initially with IE and failed. Firefox was able to copy the text nicely.

Consider adding Elizabeth to your RSS Reader to keep current with A Girl's Guide to Managing Projects.

Balanced Life Center Blog

Continuing to explore the trail amongst the long tail, we find Nneka writing at the Balanced Life Center Blog:

Hi, I’m Nneka (pronounced en-nay-kah), the daughter of a musician and a closet fashionista. That’s me singing. I was born and raised in the southern-most island in the Caribbean, Trinidad. At 8, I was taught to meditate and I’ve been experimenting with it since (present commitment to daily meditation). I was exposed and acculturalized to diverse creeds and cultures.

I’m passionate about expressing Spirit in my life and helping you do the same. For me, right now, that means writing about spirituality and how to apply it to life on Balanced Life Center. For you it may mean composing a symphony, being a conscious entrepreneur, a magnetic salesperson, or a patient, loving stay-at-home mom.

In the Fab 5 on Friday posting, she writes:

Going even further down the rabbit hole with Steve Olson’s post Do You Know What is Real? We can go in circles all day long with this stuff, but Steve explains it in everyday language that takes the circular logic out of it. The concept is still mind bending, but it’s easier to swallow in this post.

She recently interviewed good buddy Phil Gerbyshak:

Nneka: What do you enjoy most about blogging?
Phil: I love the community and relationship aspect of blogging. Since I started blogging in March of 2005, I’ve been able to call many bloggers, yourself included, my friends. Not readers, like you would call people who read a newspaper or magazine column, but friends. People that if they were coming to town, you would change your plans so you could spend time with them. And the old saying of birds of a feather flocking together is true. If you want great people to come into your life, start a blog and share of yourself in an authentic way. Soon, you’ll have more friends and more community than you ever dreamed possible.

Read all that she talked about with Phil here.

Consider adding Nneka's site to your RSS Reader.

All Things Workplace- Steve Roesler

Another blog on the plentiful trail amongst the 2000 Bloggers, we find All Things Workplace where Steve Roesler writes:

Have you ever noticed that business people seem to read the same popular business books?

Then we ask people to "think differently" about business.

I'm keen on exploring new ways to look at how we live, work, and connect. I find that the latest "10 Things You Must Do To__________" gets stale. I don't want to just think about what to do. I want to know "why" and "how" and then apply it to my own situation.

Do you sometimes feel the same way?

Read Steve's full posting here.

Steve's writes in his profile page:

I'm Steve Roesler, the guy behind the blog. Let me take a moment to give you a glimpse of who I am before telling the business story.

I am married to "B" and we live 20 miles from Philadelphia in a tranquil, wooded area surrounded by lakes. (We don't live in the woods because we were asked to leave the city--we just like it here). It's a welcome break from the many days of international and domestic travel that are a part of the consulting business.

Read Steve's full profile here.

Consider adding Steve's blog to your RSS Reader.

Family Oral History Using Digital Tools - Susan Kitchens

At Family Oral History Using Digital Tools, Susan Kitchens writes:

They tell where you come from. They hold secrets to who you are. This site explores how to use digital tools and media to record and preserve spoken memories of family members. Your host: Susan A. Kitchens (I got into this by talking to my grandpa; at the time he was 99 years old.)

Good idea. With all the tools around to use, why not capture your family history?

Read on for tips and tricks!

Trinity Rep Blogs!

Yes, Trinity Rep has not just one blog but two. One for their normal theater business, the other for customer reviews of their performances.

Their blog is TRC Blog. A list of the recent posts reveals the following:

• Speak Your Mind!
• Acting company workshops continue in the New Year
• Check out the OUR TOWN TV spot!

The posting on Speak Your Mind! announced the re-opening of the Public Square, their customer review blog. The blog actually is one post per show with comments allowed and moderated to enable the customer participation. I submitted my review/comment with the link to the full review on my main blog.

If you are in New England, try to schedule some time to catch a performance at Trinity! You'll be glad you did. No matter where you are, you can at least keep up with what is on stage.

Kelly Mooney's Blog

Continuing along the trail of the 2000 Bloggers, I find Kelly Mooney writing about shopping and the online experience. Kelly writes:

I admit it. I am a demanding consumer. But, aren't we all? We want everything better, faster, easier, and more personalized than ever before. We want to feel like we're important to the companies we do business with. But why is it that despite every marketing milestone and breakthrough many web experiences often fail to meet our expectations?

Blame company structure or budget or legacy systems or leadership or the weather. But the more you excuse it, the worse it gets.

I've made a career out of studying, advocating for, and creating customer experiences and sharing them with clients, in columns, speeches, a book, and now this blog.

A listing of her recent posts reveals:

• 'Twas the Season to be Shopping Online
• Williams-Sonoma Delivers Hot Chili on a Cold Day
• Beware the Risks of, um, Personalization
• Banana's Checkout a Slippery Deal

Consider adding Kelly's site to your RSS Reader!

Table for Five - Elizabeth

Along the trail of the 2000 Bloggers, I find Elizabeth writing at Table for Five.

She celebrated a birthday milestone and woke up feeling no different.

She made do for a whole weekend without cable TV or Internet access.

She wonders why she doesn't get invited to cocktail parties?

She writes frequently as a mommy blogger. Consider adding her site to your RSS Reader!

The Thinking Blog - ilker yoldas

Along the trail of the 2000 Bloggers, I find The Thinking Blog. Yes, you heard right. Thinking.

Sounds like this place is right up my alley!

How about sending an email to your future self? She writes:

I've seen this before, and maybe some of you have seen this as well, but I'm sure most people haven't. Even so, its time to bury your own personal time capsule! Ever wonder where will you be one year from today? Preserve your thoughts, resolutions, and memories on Future Me, then specify the date in the future when you want them emailed back to you.

Read her full posting here.

She also heard about First Life and writes:

Go Outside. Make some real life friends. Live your life. Second Life is a popular virtual world which recently crossed one million residents. To parody Second Life, Darren Barefoot created a one page satire site called Get a First Life which is a '3D analog world where server lag does not exist.'

So other than sending an email to yourself, or getting to live your first life, stop by and see what's up at The Thinking Blog.

Serenity Quest - Tisha Best

Along the trail of the 2000 bloggers, I stop and find that Liz Strauss just called Tisha an SOB.

No, that is not a bad thing. Tisha loves it!

Ha ha ha SOB stands for “Successful and Outstanding Bloggers” and Liz has got it in her head that I deserved the recognition.

Well my loyal readers I bequeath this honor to YOU! Yes to all of YOU, even the lurkers who come around to ogle my profile pic, I don’t even want to know what kinds of activities that has engendered, darts, mas…chuchum, and to all of you who comment sharing with me your thoughts, ideas, likes, dislikes, traumas, perversions, psychoses, YOU have become my friends [I am one sick little puppy to have friends like you] and YOU deserve the credit, THANK YOU!

Read her full posting here.

Jump on over to Tisha's place and check it out. You'll be glad you did.

Hitchhiker Guidelines

Troy Worman's first post here said:

The blogosphere is a giant time capsule that offers a panoramic view of our world. It is a collection of personal expressions that represent virtually every human perspective of our times. It is filled with millions of personal accounts, diaries, essays, stories and photos. It is filled with art. It is filled with emotion. It is filled with thought. It is our collective conscience. Better than any collection of books or articles, the blogosphere will capture the story of our existence.

My initial posting here said:

... consider this a trail head.

We are both hiking in the blogosphere.

We have our individual likes and dislikes, our passions
and a common desire to share the experience with fellow hikers.

As we find a blogger voice that sounds like something you might be interested in
we'll post it here.

So continuing the trail and hiking analogy, when you find a site you like and think others would be interested in, share it here.

We tend to focus on the less than A list blogs. Those already have a great level of readership and generally don't need any help. Occasionally, they may still get mentioned here just because.

How to share the site is open to your creativity. Good writing on most any blog will include links to the site, perhaps some specific postings, quote from the site...

You could follow the Blog Tipping guidelines

You could create a story like David has done, sample here.

One of Karen Shanley's recent entries can be found here.

Bottom line, the objective is to create something that will entice a reader to go there and explore that blog, and of course, come back here for more!

Inklings: On the Hunch that Science Rocks

The trail makes a pit stop at Inklings: On the Hunch that Science Rocks , a science magazine full of legitimate, though quirky, science articles.

The "About Us" page describes the magazine's mission as:

"dedicated to science as we see it. Founded in late 2006, we cover the science that pervades our life, makes us laugh, and helps us choose our breakfast foods."

Here are a few recent articles:

Pop Culture
For Those About to Hypothesize: We Salute You
A top-ten list to brighten the day of even the most oppressed Petri-dish slave.
by Kate Fink
24 January 2007

Health
Your Health This Week
Advice for a long life: swim safely, stay in prison, drink cranberry juice and keep a lid on your anger
by Anna Gosline
24 January 2007

Travel
Science Bloggers Avoid the Spinach Dip Brush-Off
A cocktail of lessons from last week's Science Blogging Conference
by Eva Amsen
24 January 2007

Health
Fighting Malaria with Mosquitoes
Malaria researchers learn to hijack mosquitoes' immune tricks for good
by Kurt Wong

I'd have to say I think they succeed at their mission. It's always funny and interesting.

Dipping into the archives

Looking back at who was found at this time last year is always interesting...

Tamarika is still writing here.

Christina is still writing here.

David is still writing here.


So if you don't find something current, don't hesitate to dip into the archives. They are full of goodness!

Kavit Haria

At this next stop along the trail we find Kavit writing:

Welcome to the official weblog of Kavit Haria. This is the single blog where Kavit combines all his work, writings, philanthrophy and his quest for lifelong fulfillment.

Kavit Haria is regarded as UK’s #1 Music Success Coach, a public speaker and coach who helps musicians have more successful careers and live more fulfilled lives.

As an established musician himself (multi-percussionist), he has played with many top name musicians in a wide variety of genres (fusion-style music) throughout his career.

Kavit writes:

Here’s another great music marketing strategy you may like to try out. Once your fans sign up to your mailing list at your website, offer them free audio samplers of your music. Then over a period of a few weeks, email them frequently and become their friend, not the sales person. Being the friend always is a good thing as they can see you taking an interest in them and what they are involved in.

Read the full posting here.

Kavit writes:

How clear and so useful for us today, no matter what religion it originates from. Start chunking down your bigger goals, ambitions and wants in life into smaller, simpler activities and just notice that you’ll get to the goal faster. Maybe you’re the kind of person that knows you’ve got to get something done, but you just don’t do it and sometimes you don’t even know why you don’t take action. Well most of the time, it’s the mind that’s afraid because it’s such a big task and if you don’t complete it, you put yourself down, lose focus and frustration. Well not any more. Follow the Tao’s passage above and break things into smaller and simpler tasks and then just take action.

Read the full posting here.

Consider adding this site to your RSS Reader of choice.

Live your bext life - Tim Draayer

The trail continues meandering today to eventually find Tim Draayer writing at Live Your Best Life.

A sample of Tim's recent postings reveal:

• Attitude of Gratitude
• Who are you working for?
• XELR8 Conference in Vegas and the Guru Complex
• Creativity Quote
• Are You a Motivation Junkie?
• Road Blocks, Time and YOU

Tim writes:

When I was younger I had little regard for my health and what I ate. My mom always told me 'You are what you eat'. I laughed at this but I think that the true saying is that 'We are what we think' because as the passage above states, our thoughts precede our ever action, create habits and then defines our character.

If you believe yourself to be successful, you are. If you think you have nothing to live for, you won't.

Read his full posting here.

Tim writes:

There is a lot of responsibility in making a New Years Resolution because you are placing a request upon yourself to make a change in your life. Changes are never something to take likely, especially if they will alter your life in big ways. For example, if you've chosen to loss some weight in the coming year. This means you will be fighting a battle of willpower but there is also allot of thought and planning that goes into it.

Read his full posting here.

Consider adding Tim's site to your RSS Reader of choice.

901am - David Krug, et al

The trail today turns to the z-list and one of the sites that has posted the collection of icons with links to each of the blogs.

901am is a website covering new media news. and blogging. My name is David Krug, I’m the founder. I have a lot of history in the blogosphere. Back in 1999 I started a publication called BloggerMag which was the first blogging news site in the industry. Over the years I’ve run blog networks including nanologs.com, and a Religious Blog Network. Over time I’ve changed about as fast as the blogosphere has changed. At times its hard to keep up with the two of us.

David is joined in this effort by Thord Hedengren and Muhammad Saleem

Recent postings include:

• How To Remove Blogger’s Block
• 2000 Bloggers, 2000 Faces
• 2008 Presidential Technology Race, Who’s Using What?
• The disgusting side of new media advertising

901am also provides podcasts and a newswire.

Plenty of good stuff here. Consider adding this site to your RSS Reader of choice.

Jessica Claire - Photo blog

The trail turns to take in a wonderful photography site where Jessica writes:

Welcome to my blog! Feel free to browse the entries for different shoots and events going on in my life. Please email me with any comments or questions, I'd love to know who is out there checking out my life!

The photos are wonderful. Jessica is an amazing artist!

Check out her blog.

Check out her FAQs for photographers.

Click through and check out her photo site.

Grasshopper New Media: Health

Yes, the trail has found another in the Grasshopper New Media sites, this one focusing on Health. This site should have some appeal to all of us, we should all be on the look out for good ideas and inspirations to maintain our health.

GNMHealth is a multi-media channel featuring blogs, podcasts and video, aiming to provide a full and rich content experience for people interested in getting healthy. Our goal is to inform, entertain and engage the community.

GNMHealth is managed by our Executive Producer, Kevin Kennedy-Spaien. He helps produce and promote all of the content, while adding new features and value to our audience.

A sample of two recent days postings reveals the following titles

• The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show, episodes 17 and 181.18
• A Better Day: New Cardio Exercises and Positive Thoughts (Episode 68)1.16
• Health Hacks Podcast #18: Let An Evil Robot Help You Keep Your Resolutions!1.16

So with written word and podcasts to choose from, you can obtain good health info in a manner fitting your convenience.

Grasshopper New Media: Parents

While the trail has turned down the wedding aisle, it is appropriate to turn next to a site for parents.

GNMParents is a multi-media channel featuring blogs, podcasts and video, aiming to provide a full and rich content experience for parents at all stages of parenthood. Our goal is to inform, entertain and engage the community.

GNMParents is managed by Megin Hatch. She helps produce and promote all of the content, while adding new features and value to our audience.

There are a bunch of contributors spread across the world from Scotland to the Pacific Northwest and multiple parts in between.

Two days worth of postings reveal diverse titles

• Bangor Maine Bans Smoking in Cars with Kids1.19
• We Interrupt This Program for a Little Friday Meme: My Life as a Movie1.19
• Ten Reasons I’m A Youth Coach (and reasons why I think you should be too!)1.19
• When a Parent Has a Chronic Condition1.18
• The Second Festival of Family Flair!1.18
• No More Excuses1.18

If you are a parent, or know of one looking for some advice, or even looking to share some of their parenting advice, this is one stop to investigate.

Electrolicious - Ariel

The trail turns down the wedding aisle today.

Hey there. I am Ariel Meadow Stallings (bio), a native Seattlite who's written my way up and down the Left Coast. Electrolicious.com is where I post daily randomata, but I also write for a living. My first book, Offbeat Bride, hits bookstores in February.

Such reads the quick bio blurb on the home page of Electrolicious, Ariel's blog.

Her book has its own website and it's own Flickr group.

Be sure to check out the photos from the wonderful day in 2004 when Ariel and Andreas got married.

If you know of someone getting married soon or thinking about getting married, this book and web site collection should be on the reading and preparation list.

Grammar Girl

Continuing in the trail along a path of improving one's knowledge, the basics of communication using the English language can pose challenges from time to time. How do you say this? How do you properly write that?

Grammar.

Sometimes the rules are clear. Sometimes, there are style guides and not rules to follow.

Let Grammar Girl help you.

Her podcast and regular publication of the text that accompanies the podcast provide quick and easily understandable insights into the English language we use and sometimes abuse without trying. The grammar that maybe you came to dread in school. But now, the times are different. You may be ready to approach grammar and use it to your advantage. It is a critical skill to know and use on the trail.

Subscribe to Grammar Girl's podcast.


Thanks to Bryan Person whose interview with Grammar Girl can be found here.

60 Second Science

The trail requires preparation. Sometimes you can get by with what you have already. Sometimes, you need to increase your knowledge to continue to make it along the way.

How can you continue to expand your knowledge of the world around you?

The trail turns to Scientific American which publishes a 60 second podcast.

You can afford a little time to do this. It's only 60 seconds.

Just enough time to get a nugget a day, or to enjoy several at a time. Recent podcasts covered:

• The biochemical cascade caused by the common cold virus ultimately produces a protein, called carabin, that stops the sniffles.
• The energy requirements of mammals combined with the energy costs of hunting prey mean that no carnivorous land mammal could ever be much bigger than the biggest polar bears.
• A new study finds that lost dogs are found more often than cats, probably because a much higher percentage of dogs than cats carries some form of identification.

Check out Scientific American for their 60 Second Science

You will be glad you did. You will be more prepared for the trail.

2000 Bloggers - Tino Buntic

Tino Buntic is worthy of getting clicked to along the trail today. He is putting together a site that will ultimately contain 2000 bloggers. That's a whole lot! The Hitchhiker Team has found more than 500 since it began the trail in March 2005.

There are dozens of social networks that bring the blogosphere together, with Technorati and MyBlogLog being two of the biggest. I wanted to bring a whole bunch of bloggers together on one page. 2000 bloggers to be exact! As I write this there are 300 bloggers on the page to start. If you want to be included in 2000 Bloggers, leave a comment here with a link to your blog and your name and I will add you. Two requirements, though: 1. You must have a photo of yourself somewhere on your blog, and 2. Your blog must have been created prior to January 1st of this year.

Tino also writes on his own blog:

Have you heard of Ziki? The first 10,000 people that sign up will get their names in a free sponsored listing on Google or Yahoo. Here's what I mean... Click on one of the following names to be taken to their respective search results:

1. Andrew Wee
2. Ben Bell
3. Nox Dineen

Read Tino's full posting on Ziki.

So two of Tino's links will get you many more links... how good is that!

Oh, and major thanks to Phil for the tip and link to Tino.

Driftwood Horses

The trail takes a turn to visit a place where weathered art melds with raw anatomy. The artist, Heather Jansch, fashions her magnificent life-size horses using driftwood pieces she collects from along the beaches in the beautiful Westcountry of England. Her creations are beautiful and eerie at the same time.

When asked where she got the idea to work with driftwood, she replies:

Entirely by chance and from seeking to find a unique form of creative expression that felt like my own. I was tired of following in other people's footsteps. I had been working with copper wire and the sculptures were like Da Vinci's line drawings but lacked the power I wanted. One day while I was out, my son couldn't find any kindling wood to light the wood-burner and had chopped up a piece of ivy that had grown round a fencing stake. He'd left behind a short section that I immediately saw as a horse's torso of the right size to fit straight into the coper wire piece I was working on. The next question was where could I find more or similar shapes, and the answer was of course driftwood.

Heather also works in bronze.

Two for one: Mother and Daughter

The trail turns and follows a few twists to end up finding Susie Writes and then her daughter writing at Sweet Tea on Avenue C.

Miss Parker's profile reveals:

I am a newly transplanted Southerner living in the East Village with my wonderful boyfriend, John. I work at the Humane Society of New York. I wish I knew how to play the drums. I think good manners are incredibly underrated; I long for the days when people addressed one another as "Mister" and "Miss." My talents are spread out among writing, knitting and photography; consequently I'm mediocre at all three. My real passion is history. If you need a quick historical fact, I'm you're girl. I love it when lists of things are alphabetized; I love making lists in general. [I'm a virgo, in case you haven't guessed that by now.] Oh, and did I mention I really really really miss sweet tea? No? Well, I do.

Miss Parker writes:

In six days I have to get on a plane. I haven't been on a plane since 2003 when I flew home from Ireland. [A terrible trip home, which I will one day have to recount for all you Voxies. I should have never left Ireland early.]

This shouldn't be a big deal anymore. I have traversed the Atlantic several times, and flown domestically all over the country. I've been flying since I was two. Nothing has ever happened. But it is a big deal. And, logically, I cannot explain why. It just is. And that should be enough.

I don't know where/when things went wrong. I wasn't afraid of flying as a child. And then suddenly I was, and I don't know how it happened. Maybe I just reached a certain age in my early teens and suddenly it clicked that being shot through the sky in a tube wasn't the best idea I'd ever heard of. The source of this fear is irrelevent. The fact is that it's there and it's unshakeable, and I have had a stomachache since my plane ticket home was purchased in November.

Read the full posting titled: All I Want for Christmas is to Not Die in a Fiery Plane Crash

Back to her mother, Susie Parker who recaps an eventful 2006 and says in part:

You know...point A leads to point B and if you make it to point B it will undoubtedly lead you to point C and, before you know it, you realize, a lot of it is rote and pointLESS.... At least, that's how it used to look from where I formerly sat. And then, well, I changed seats. I upgraded.

Read the full posting to find out about the upgrade.

Susie also writes:

The article came out and, I have to say with no small measure of relief, Ms. Amy Hotz got it right. She most certainly respected the guidelines I requested and, in the process, earned a huge measure of respect (and relief!) from me.

Read all about the article and what earned Ms Holtz Susie's respect.

Then consider adding both the Mother and Daughter blogs to your RSS Reader.