Technology As Innovator

What is Twitter?

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users’ updates, which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.

You can follow and have followers on Twitter. Followers can read updates of the followed. Updates from many people that you follow are aggregated on one page.

Why Twitter?

• It’s not real time so you can just leave your message and the intended receiver will pick it up when s/he login
• It’s quick to write small stuffs
• It’s helpful to update activities you wouldn’t normally blog on
• It helps you to stay connected more closely to those you care about

See this video for more information:

What is BackType?

BackType = Comment Tracking + Twitter’s Follow

What BackType does

1. It searches the web for noteworthy comments that might otherwise be lost in the noise
2. It allows you to follow people who leave those comments. Excuse me, are you interested in Michael Arrington, Darren Rowse or Pete Cashmore and want to know what they comment on other blogs? If yes, BackType is the place for you
3. You can submit your link so that BackType would aggregate all comments to your account
4. BackType requires NO installation
5. You can find discussions on you or your services by searching

BackType is NOT CoComment

If you’re not familiar with CoComment, it is a plugin which tracks comments on discussion threads and emails you when there’s an update.

BackType is not CoComment in the fact that CoComment is discussion-based and BackType is URL-based and commenter-based.

Twitter and BackType enforce classification in web users

Twitter’s usage turned from personal to authority

Foremost on Twitter’s homepage you read this:

Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?

The initial intention of Twitter is for people with real relationships to know one another more. And how have power users of Twitter utilized it?

1. Those who have interesting things/opinions to share use Twitter as a sharing channel
2. Businesses use Twitter as an announcement board
3. Service providers use Twitter as a channel to communicate with clients
4. Those who need updates use Twitter as an information goldmine
5. Those who seek to expand their networks use Twitter as a networking tool

In fact, these usages have been emphasized much more than the initial intention of Twitter. Top bloggers and some service providers have utilized Twitter to strike up or engage in conversations, update their lines of services and express their opinions. Twitter has become a place where power media users extend their influence on the web. That’s exactly where all the buzz is about.

Meanwhile, you or I can still follow our ‘real’ connections’ lives, only more quietly.

BackType further boosts the influence power of power users

When BackType was introduced, the enthusiasm burst out almost immediately. People are talking about how BackType is yet another information goldmine: you have always got information from news, blogs, Twitter - now you have comments served on a plate! There they are, your favorite top bloggers right on the front page! Can’t be sweeter.

However, this is where hierarchization forces its way.

Power media users become even more powerful when, by default, they are on BackType’s front page right from its launch. They had the power of opinions on blogs and the power of audience on Twitter yesterday, now they are having more power of comments on BackType.

So what?

Actually I believe it’s a fair game after all. Power users invest their time and efforts to tie their career with the media they create and it’s worth for the recognition they’re gaining. It’s also fair for BackType to try to win quick endorsement from top users by featuring them on the front page.

Just my observation that hyrarchies and long tails have been formed in the web society. Breakthoughs from starters must be done with more innovation & boldness than ever.

Introduction

Six Thinking Hats is an important and powerful technique used to look at decisions from a number of important perspectives. This forces you to move outside your habitual thinking style, and helps you to get a more rounded view of a situation. This tool was created by Edward de Bono.

Motivation

Many successful people think from a very rational, positive viewpoint. This is part of the reason that they are successful. Often, though, they may fail to look at a problem from an emotional, intuitive, creative or negative viewpoint. This can mean that they underestimate public resistance to plans, fail to make creative leaps, and do not make essential contingency plans.

Similarly, pessimists may be excessively defensive. Emotional people may fail to look at decisions calmly and rationally.

If you look at a problem with the Six Thinking Hats technique, then you will solve it using
all approaches. Your decisions and plans will mix ambition, skill in execution, public
sensitivity, creativity and good contingency planning.

You can use Six Thinking Hats in meetings or on your own. In meetings, it has the benefit
of blocking the confrontations that happen when people with different thinking styles
discuss the same problem.

Technique

Each “Thinking Hat” is a different style of thinking. These are explained below:

White Hat

With this thinking hat you focus on the data available. Look at the information you
have, and see what you can learn from it. Look for gaps in your knowledge, and
either try to fill them or take account of them.

This is where you analyse past trends, and try to extrapolate from historical data.

Red Hat

“Wearing” the red hat, you look at problems using intuition, gut reaction, and
emotion. Also try to think how other people will react emotionally. Try to understand
the responses of people who do not fully know your reasoning.

Black Hat

Using black hat thinking, look at all the bad points of the decision. Look at it
cautiously and defensively. Try to see why it might not work. This is important
because it highlights the weak points in a plan. It allows you to eliminate them, alter
them, or prepare contingency plans to counter them. Black Hat thinking helps to
make your plans tougher and more resilient. It can also help you to spot fatal flaws
and risks before you embark on a course of action. Black Hat thinking is one of the real benefits of this technique, as successful people get so used to thinking positively that often they cannot see problems in advance. This leaves them underprepared or difficulties.

Yellow Hat

The yellow hat helps you to think positively. It is the optimistic viewpoint that helps
you to see all the benefits of the decision and the value in it. Yellow Hat thinking
helps you to keep going when everything looks gloomy and difficult.

Green Hat

The Green Hat stands for creativity. This is where you can develop creative
solutions to a problem. It is a freewheeling way of thinking, in which there is little
criticism of ideas. A whole range of creativity tools (see Module 1) can help you
here.

Blue Hat

The Blue Hat stands for process control. This is the hat worn by people chairing
meetings. When running into difficulties because ideas are running dry, they may
direct activity into Green Hat thinking. When contingency plans are needed, they will
ask for Black Hat thinking, etc.

A variant of this technique is to look at problems from the point of view of different professionals (e.g. doctors, architects, sales directors, etc.) or different customers.

Example

The directors of a property company are looking at whether they should construct a new
office building. The economy is doing well, and the amount of vacant office space is
reducing sharply. As part of their decision, they decide to use the 6 Thinking Hats
technique during a planning meeting.

1. Looking at the problem with the White Hat, they analyze the data they have. They
   examine the trend in vacant office space, which shows a sharp reduction. They anticipate
   that by the time the office block would be completed, there will be a severe shortage of
   office space. Current government projections show steady economic growth for at least
   the construction period.
2. With Red Hat thinking, some of the directors think the proposed building looks quite ugly.
   While it would be highly cost-effective, they worry that people would not like to work in it.
3. When they think with the Black Hat, they worry that government projections may be
   wrong. The economy may be about to enter a “cyclical down-turn”, in which case the
   office building may be empty for a long time. If the building is not attractive, then
   companies will choose to work in another better-looking building at the same rent.
4. With the Yellow Hat, however, if the economy holds up and their projections are correct,
   the company stands to make a great deal of money. If they are lucky, maybe they could sell the building before the next downturn, or rent to tenants on long-term leases that will
   last through any recession.
5. With Green Hat thinking, they consider whether they should change the design to make
   the building more pleasant. Perhaps they could build prestige offices that people would
   want to rent in any economic climate. Alternatively, maybe they should invest the money
   in the short term to buy up property at a low cost when a recession comes.
6. The Blue Hat has been used by the meeting’s Chair to move between the different
   thinking styles. He or she may have needed to keep other members of the team from
   switching styles, or from criticizing other peoples’ points.

Key points

Six Thinking Hats is a good technique for looking at the effects of a decision from a
number of different points of view.

It allows necessary emotion and skepticism to be brought into what would otherwise be
purely rational decisions. It opens up the opportunity for creativity within decision-making. The technique also helps, for example, persistently pessimistic people to be positive and
creative.

Plans developed using the 6 Thinking Hats technique will be sounder and more resilient
than would otherwise be the case. It may also help you to avoid public relations mistakes,
and spot good reasons not to follow a course of action before you have committed to it.

Previous volumes of the series

1. Introduction
2. Reversal
3. Appreciation
4. Drill Down
5. SWOT Analysis
6. Risk Analysis

Citizendium is an online wiki-based encyclopedia that introduces a new “editor” role for specialists in particular subjects. It is the new competitior of Wikipedia, founded by Larry Sanger - Wikipedia’s founder

Have you registered for it? I did!

Possiple Benefits

• Share your knowledge, receive addition and feedback, engage in discussion, and reach deeper level of insight on the subjects
• Build your network with specialists from the Wiki community
• Add up to your portfolio
• Become known over the net as world-class specialist

Biography used for registration

I am Tai Tuan Tran, a Vietnamese IT Business Analyst.
I got a degree in Software Engineering (with Distinction) from RMIT University, Australia.
I am working for First Consulting Group, whose HQ is in Atlanta, GA, US.
In current job’s everyday work, I work to assess client’s business needs and business processes, in order to propose IT solutions to their problems. I can also do programming, analysis & design and testing.
I join many NGOs; some may include charity groups and environmentalists groups.
I have strong interest in researching psychology, human relationship subjects. I am willing, and am working to sharing knowledge to other interested people, especially students.
I do best as a counselor, who guides and inspires.
In my information processing, I attend to the big picture first, before going to details.
I am committed and loyal to an organization, as long as my need for learning from colleagues and works is satisfied.

Bibliography

This is a terrific article on Citizendium, so good that Larry himself replied http://moderndragons.blogspot.com/2006/10/citizendium.html