Welcome to the personal blog of Joe Hackman. Joe is an Entrepreneur, IT Consultant and Blog Talk Radio host. Joe has great interest in community and conversation.
@sanford Wonderful a baby girl to bring more joy (and less sleep) to your Holidays. Wishing you and your family health and happiness. in reply to sanford#
Not long ago we were reading how Mozilla Firefox had more exploits than Internet Explorer and today I am prepared to go out on a limb and recommend a point release of a Microsoft Operating system. What the heck is going on in Redmond? What happened to our churn the product out and let the customers find the bugs then patch the frequent security issues 2 months after they hit the wild company we grew to love? Apparently they have been listening to feedback and have made unprecedented improvements in product quality and security maybe we should send them a thank you card. Wait a minute, before we decide who we should thank, let’s look at some of the motivation that is driving the changes – namely competition. Apple has put up a very strong showing with their industry standard design and solid performance. This has created market share for them at a very fast pace. Google and Microsoft are also heating up the competition in a number of areas but perhaps most importantly the operating system arena with the upcoming Google Chrome Operating system. So before you mail your thank you card to Redmond, let’s remember that without strong competition they would not have been quite as anxious to improve their products.
We skipped Vista, don’t get me wrong we used it and we knew it but we did not advise any of our customers to use Vista at any point of the product cycle. In fact we made efforts to have them avoid it, basically advising our customers that Windows XP was the way to go for business. That has all changed thanks to the fantastic work that Microsoft has put into making the point release of Windows 7 my favorite operating system ever. Yes I am excited about Microsoft product again, it’s been a long time but I am grateful because I’ve had a love/hate relationship with them for years. My relationship with Microsoft has had its ups and downs:
• DOS was ok.
• Windows 3.x was ok.
• Windows NT (3.x) was ok.
• Windows NT (4) was ok.
• Windows 95 loved it.
• Windows 98 was ok.
• Windows ME hated it!
• Windows 2000 loved it.
• Windows XP mostly loved it.
• Windows Vista mostly hated it.
• Windows 7 Love it!
So as you can see, without getting into disasters like Bob, or the security lapses, etc, the ups and downs I’ve experienced with Microsoft Operating systems have been significant. Please don’t tell Balmer that I like Windows 7, I want them to continue to think like they have been since they started working on Windows 7. Let’s let this be our secret.
I became a member of a Toastmaster club around 2003. Toastmasters is really an incredible opportunity for persons from any walk of life to gain confidence, leadership and public speaking skills. I was fortunate to have two very important people in my original club, the woman that would one day become my wife and the mother of my first and only child and Art Breslow a wise old Toastmaster of 50+ years! To say Toastmasters changed my life would be an understatement but you really need to be ready for change to happen, that was up to me. One of the most valuable lessons I learned that I’ve seen the majority of speakers I’ve watched error on is in the naming of podium and lectern. Most speakers call the stand that they put their notes on a podium but it is a lectern. A podium is an elevated area where a speaker gives his or her presentation. I’ve watched many accomplished speakers make this mistake so I am hoping this helps them become even that much more accurate of a speaker. I have to confess, the lesson learned was thanks to Mr. Art Breslow. Mr. Breslow was keen at keeping certain inaccuracies from perpetuating in his presence often in a very spirited way. I can still here him piping up when people used certain jargon, his memories haunt me in a good way. Thank you Mr. Breslow.
RT: @waynesutton So now my dad is on Facebook & we're friends and he's trying to friend my father-in-law who's on Facebook too. #
@natasha I've had some of my best "ideas" when I wake up spontaneously at night. I had one that cost me a lot of sleep and change my life. in reply to natasha#
Traces of explosives found at Russian train crash site, likely to have been an act of terrorism. http://bit.ly/5T9S1U#
Is there any reason you can think of to NOT make the best of every day of your life? Each conversation you have with family, friends or your spouse, work and even parenting. Today I challenged myself with that very question and I could not think of anything that stuck. I came up with excuses but I could not come up with reasons. It sounds so cliché – “Live life to the fullest” or “Carpe Diem” but you know what, those are some of the wisest words man has ever uttered.
Take an honest assessment on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 meaning horrible and 10 meaning completely dominant – how powerful would you rate your commitment to everything you do in a given day? I suspect if most people are honest with themselves it comes in well under 5, it would for me and I am at what I feel a very high level of productivity/attitude for my lifetime. Now imagine how effective you would be if you increased your commitment to everything you do in a given day 10% or 1 point on that scale. Think about your relationships with others, your children, your co-workers, your boss, or even your clients. How much of an impact would it have in those relationships if you cared more today than you did yesterday. I would be willing to theorize that for every 10% you increase that scale you would feel a very big improvement in the quality of your life, your health and the lives of people you interact with.
Today is a day that we give thanks for the bountiful harvest in our lives, much as the pilgrims and Native Americans did during a time of peace and prosperity that inspired this Thanksgiving Day ritual. For me I have an additional thing to be thankful for, awareness that I can be happier, more productive and successful in every aspect of my life by making a series of decisions to commit to excellence. Also the pride I have that these decisions will bring happiness, joy and success to the people that I care about and to people I’ve never met.
RT @AnnePMitchell @joelcomm has his finger on the pulse of the average iPhone user. Sadly Apple won't admit to having average users. #
@AnnePMitchell I loved your observation, its dead on and funny! Things are good, looking forward to turkey and family tomorrow. U? in reply to AnnePMitchell#
@AnnePMitchell I understand completely Danville is an island and while not perfect it's pretty darn good. I spent some time in rural areas. in reply to AnnePMitchell#
@AnnePMitchell Metaphoric reference. It's a great place for families. I think Colorado is very nice, love the access to the outdoors! in reply to AnnePMitchell#
Did you know that your 503(c) or similar non-profit can receive for no fee premium YouTube services? The service includes a number of very beneficial features including:
@chrisbrogan The twitter of 2 years ago reminds me a lot of experiences past w/ tech. Thanks for the link and what a cool story. in reply to chrisbrogan#
@JoeBonsai I've run an IT services company I started for the last 12+ years. That has made much possible for me. Loving social media. #
How are things with your Interact club? in reply to christinawongg #