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Microsoft’s Browser Wars, 2011 Version

I came across this comparison chart today that reminded me of the early days of the browser wars between Microsoft and everyone else.  If you don’t follow such things, Microsoft has a long and sordid history of being unwilling to comply with standards that the rest of the world readily adopts. Internet Explorer (IE) is […]

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Fixing Radio

I remember being on a plane ride back in 2002 or 2003 where a good friend of mine and I got into a lively discussion about how to save the music business with a couple of music executives.  This was back when Napster was king and everyone was pirating music.  It was our conclusion that […]

Why You Should Record Meeting Audio

If you are like most people, you have inevitably come out of a meeting with less than perfect notes and had to try to recall important items from the discussion.  Missing important details inevitably leads to wasted time and effort, either by taking the wrong action or by having to circle back with the other […]

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How to Start Simple

You woke up this morning with a great idea, one that will change both your life and the lives of everyone you know.  It’s the next big thing, for sure.  The next question you inevitably have is, “What do I do first?” If you are a technologist like I am, the tendency is to start […]

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Dancing While the Ice Melts

There was a local election last night here in Raleigh, NC.  The big race was not the mayoral race, but rather the seats on the local school board.  As I have talked about in the past, the Wake County school board has been under fire for the last few years as they have moved to […]

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The Story of Chapman’s Ice Cream

Chapman’s Ice Cream is legendary in Canada.  They are a family-owned and operated business in northern Ontario.  What makes Chapman’s a great story is not the quality of their ice cream (I have never had it), but rather their response to a disaster in September 2009. On September 4, 2009, their creamery burned to the […]

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The Great Equalizer

There are at least a couple of ways to think about yesterday’s passing of Steve Jobs. One is to mourn the loss of the iconic corporate leader of our generation.  Many have written about how great he was, how much of a visionary he was, etc.  All of those things are true, and I admire […]

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Books to Read – October 2011

It’s been an unusually good month on the book front.  I hope you enjoy October’s selections as much as I have. The Lean Startup by Eric Reis This book, in my opinion, is a must-read for anyone in business today.  I have talked in this blog about the Lean Startup methodology and my disposition toward […]

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Google Finally Starts Appealing to Our Emotions

The latest ad from Google is the most compelling ad I have ever seen them create.  I saw it on Sunday.  If you have not watched it, check it out below.  Is it me, or did you feel like you were watching something from Apple?  Really well done, Google.  It makes me want to use […]

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Do Corporations Bear a Societal Burden?

I was listening to a podcast by Rebecca MacKinnon last night.  You can watch the video here.  Rebecca is an activist campaigning to retake the internet, which by her definition means lessening the influence and power of large corporations.  There were a couple of points in the talk that raised some interesting questions. Is modern-day […]

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