10/14/2012
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Books

Not a Literary Critic reads It Worked For Me

One Saturday at work I had C-Span 2’s BookTv on in the background.  One of the top-selling books they mentioned that week was It Worked for Me by General Colin Powell.  Having enjoyed his book My American Journey I made my way to Barnes and Noble and picked it up (yes I read printed books and go to brick and mortar bookstores to buy them).

It Worked for Me is a leadership book born of Powell’s personal experience both in and outside the public sector.  His leadership rules of the road, boiled down to “the 13 rules” which started as scribbles on bits of paper throughout Powell’s career and became the foundation of this book.  Here’s a sample of the 13: #2 Get mad, then get over it; #7 You can’t make someone else’s choices. You shouldn’t let someone else make yours.; and #10 Remain calm be kind.  What’s beautiful about this book is that the 13 are given at the very beginning of the book, the remainder of the book is told as a series of stories that are examples of the 13 but aren’t enumerated as such.  Thus the book is not a prescription so much as it is a loose set of guidelines for persons in leadership in any arena.  Powell is at his best telling stories in lieu of being formulaic in his approach, which I feel is typical of books of this genre. What happened to me as I read the stories, I felt almost as though I were listening to him tell them instead of reading them.  For example in regards to coming in new and taking over as the leader over a group of people Powell says: “start out trusting the people there unless you have real evidence not to. If you trust them they will trust you, and those bonds will strengthen over time.” I would nod my head in agreement.

What are some of these stories? One of my favorites was near the end of the book in which Powell talks about some Brazilian exchange students, participating in the State Department’s Youth Ambassador’s program.  Meeting with these students before their departure home, they tell them about their visit to a Chicago restaurant in which they didn’t have enough money to cover their bill.  The restaurant manager picked up the bill and thanked them for coming to the restaurant and wished them well during their stay in America.  The students were overwhelmed by the kindness shown to them as was Powell.  He ends the chapter by talking about how it was the people, not the congressmen and members of the cabinet these students met who were America’s best ambassadors.

What was the biggest takeaway from the book? That leadership in Powell’s view comes down to thirteen concepts, but at th end of the day, for him is about service to those above, below and around you.  What Powell speaks of is what worked for him as a leader.  I’m inclined to think that his approach would work for anyone in a position of leadership.  If you’d like to learn more and get a fresh perspective on leadership, I highly recommend It Worked For Me.

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09/02/2012
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Books

Not a Literary Critic Learns “How to Be Black” yeah, that’s #howtobeblack by Baratunde Thurston

Leave it up to an untimely illness I missed the opportunity to see the author live, but said illness did allow me time to finish reading the book.

It was through social media, i.e Twitter that I learned of the author.  Twitter opened me up to his work on Jack and Jill Politics, The Onion, Netroots Nation and appearances on networks like MSNBC.  He’s known for his comedic chops and is (in my opinion) a political activist technologist, who analyzes and then communicates, the political, the technological and the racial in a comedic and palpable way.  Needless to say that I was pleased as punch regarding the release of How to Be Black, and even more pleased after reading it.

How to Be Black is a memoir/manual  about Thurston’s black experience in America and and that of his selected panelists, including a white Canadian.  The story is told as sort of a comedic instructional manual on blackness that left me laughing out loud as well as shaking my head in agreement with some of his examples. The “manual” portion of the book including how to be the black friend (maintaining your cultural connection and serving as intelligence for your home base, while educating white folks), the black employee (doing the job you were hired for, while making the company, diverse, non-racist and cool) and in this particular season, the next black president (with an extensive list of duties).  These roles are all easily identifiable and their descriptions are both humorous and sad because they all delve in to the navigational issues encountered while being black in America.

Interspersed through the manual are not only Thurston’s experiences but those of his panel. Of particular interest to this reader was the question of when Thurston and each of the panelists realized they were black.  In some instances, blackness or the knowledge of one’s blackness was based on the blackness they lived in and were surrounded by versus the blackness that was used divisively, as in the case of Cheryl Contee who described herself as beige (based on the proximity of her physical color to it) when a white nursery school mate informed her that she indeed was black. Contee was introduced early to “othering”.

I found How to Be Black not just entertaining but found it to be first: a model for educating in blackness which was best exemplified by Thurston’s mother’s multi-pronged approach to his education, one that would get him to Harvard (via Sidwell Friends school), and one that would constantly envelope him positively in his blackness (via the Ankobia program, and a collective of his mother’s black and brown friends and;  secondly and most importantly that being black and experiencing blackness is not a singular thing.  There’s not one way to be black and not one way to do it.  Being black is being yourself and doing those things that are critical to your own experience, not something that is prescribed.

If you haven’t read How to Be Black yet, I suggest that you do.  You will be enlightened, entertained and will recognize some portion of the experience because it is part of your own.
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08/24/2012
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Technology

Not a technology expert is skittish about “the verdict”

All my feeds are jumping with the news of Apple’s $1+ BILLION award in this Apple vs. Samsung fight.  I wish I could say that I don’t care but quite frankly I’m a bit skittish about it.  Do I have reason to be?  I’m hoping that the real techies and geeks out there can ease my nerves by answering a couple of questions.

Will sales of existing patent infringing devices cease?
Does Samsung have technology at the ready to push out new devices that would not be in violation and I mean stuff that is tested (or however that goes) and ready to head to the FCC and then to market?
What affect will this judgment have on consumer choice?  I think (but could be wrong) that Samsung is the biggest (in sales) manufacturer of Android devices, then HTC, then everybody else.
What impact will the judgment have on Samsung’s bottom line, both immediate and future?
Will devices already in use experience any problems?
Does Apple now officially rule the world?

I hope that the answer to the last question is a definitive no.  As I prefer my apple to be of the Golden Delicious variety.

If you have answers, please let me know in the comments or hit me up wherever you linked to this post.

This is one of the infringing devices :-/

Guilty
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08/23/2012
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Photography, Uncategorized

Not a Photographer but I’m doing the G+ 365 Project Anyway

After joining the Google+ community (and yes it is that, forget what you heard) I found it to be a great place for photo-sharing.  As a person who is not a photographer but takes a lot of pictures and likes to share (some of them), I wanted to participate in/engage with the photography community. During the Christmas holiday last year, a door was opened, called the G+ 365/366 project.

About the G+ 365 project

In a nutshell G+365 is a photo-a-day project.  You take a photo every day, tag it with the +G+ 365 Project tag and share it.  The curators of the project/page may also reshare your “Public” photos.  Day 1 of your project starts whenever you decide to start so if you didn’t start on January 1, it is okay. Overall the guidelines for participating/posting are simple and of course participants have to adhere to Google’s Terms of Service.

Why did I do it?

First there was an expectation that viewing, commenting, re-sharing others photos and sharing my own shots would be inspiring.  Secondly, some skills had to be learned if I wanted to get any better and eventually upgrade to a DSLR. Participating in the project would be an education. Thirdly it was a test to see if for ONCE this old broad could stick to something for an extended period of time, without it being required.


How’s it going?
  • A month and half in, my camera broke (not really just the battery door), other than that snafu it’s been great. Thus far I’ve:
  • viewed a lot of beautiful photos
  • talked to real photographers, who are all very nice
  • learned by imitation and by just trying to stuff to see if works
  • found a couple of photography themes that I really like including +Sacred Sunday and +Powerline Friday 
  • been inspired to look at my surroundings differently
and
  • not quit the project 🙂
There are days when I’m tired after work and don’t feel like shooting.  There are days when I have no ideas, no inspiration and not even the strength to look up a theme to help me, but at the same time, quitting has not been an option. The rewards of participating however, greatly outweigh those bad days, just because of all the cool, quirky and even mundane things that I’ve seen along the way. So if you’re looking for something fun, yet challenging I highly recommend the G+ 365 Project.
In case you’re curious about what a non-photographer shoots you can see my album here.
 
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04/19/2012
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Music

Not an Opera Connoisseur but LaRoche was Lovely

As a matter of fact I know nothing about opera other than what I seen on TV and what my parents told me as a child. I can name who I know on one hand, Marian Anderson, Leontyne Price, Kathleen Battle and Luciano Pavarotti. I’m not an opera hater, quite the contrary, I recall “fake opera singing” quite a bit as a child. I just never carried any enthusiasm for it into adulthood until now early one Sunday I watched with bleary eyes a community program on TV People to People which did a segment on a local opera production called LaRoche by Americolor Opera Alliance. The story was compelling, centered around Joseph Philippe Le Mercier LaRoche, the only black passenger on the Titanic. I called up my always game for something new girlfriend and we set out for LaRoche.

The Sights

The performance was held at Atlanta Metropolitan College in a classroom. The set was minimal with the chamber (musicians) seated diagonally from the state. The stage was soon lit up upon the arrival of the performers, who in the first scene of Act I were in a Haitian marketplace.

The Sounds

From the opening of Act I to the finale in Act III I really enjoyed all that I heard. The cast members all sounded beautiful in chorus in each of the scenes that featured choral type vocals. There were of course some really standout performances as follows:

Reisha Lauren, soprano – Ni Ni, flower vendor in the market place. Lauren had a beautiful voice and great stage presence Her range could probably break glass. I tapped my girlfriend and said “that girl can SANG.”

Timothy Harper, tenor – President La Conte, Mr. Futrelle, Father Byles. There was no raised seating in the room and I was seated behind some fairly tall people. When I heard his voice, I had to stand up and see from whom that sound was coming. His voice was really moving.

Marlyssa Brooks-Alt, soprano – Juliette LaFargue LaRoche. The clarity and strength of her voice was the perfect vehicle to portray the heartache Juliette must have felt as she first separated from her father to go back to Haiti with her husband, and when she separated from Joseph who went down with the ship.

Wendel Stephens, bass – Joseph LaRoche. Stephens voice was surprisingly beautiful. Not because I had an expectation that he couldn’t sing, but surprising because his voice had “boom”. I guess I expect a big guy to sound like that, yet he was a really average sized guy who produced a really big vocal which was fitting as the lead of the production.

Special Treats

This wasn’t all opera as it had elements of a stage play, parts of which were absolutely hilarious. The farewell dinner with the back and forth between the LaRoche servants as they mocked Madame LaRoche (Joseph’s mother) was dead on and Madame LaRoche had the aristocratic demeanor down pat. There was also a funny scene (if you can imagine) as the Titanic was going down between two drunken card players, who continued to “drink to that” as though the fun they were having at that moment was all that mattered.

Overall Impression

LaRoche was a perfect first timer’s Opera. The founder and director of Americolor Opera Alliance, Sharon J. Willis has done a masterful job at bringing opera to the masses in a palatable form, while telling a compelling story. That the company is primarily made up of persons of color made it all the more worthwhile for this first timer and has even piqued my interest to go hear more. What I’d like to see happen with the Alliance is growth and that growth can happen through sponsorship. As such if you’d like to know more about Americolor or become a sponsor, please visit their website.

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04/01/2012
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Photography

Not a photographer and still don’t have a tripod

In my last post about the Nikon L105 I talked about how there is no full time image stabilization.  Nikon calls it motion detection and it is not available in the following situations:

  • When the camera is set to Fill Flash
  • When the ISO is set to a specific number in Auto Mode
  • When using multishot
  • When using these scene modes: Night Portrait, Dusk/Dawn, Night Landscape, Museum, Backlight
  • When using Sports Continuous mode
or when the subject is too dark or too far away, like the moon. Whew!

I haven’t tried to get the moon again at night, but lucked up on it this evening near sunset.  I know there was some camera shake because of the way I positioned myself on top of the car.  This is what I got:

 
A little fuzzy, but not too bad and no post-processing.

Think I may wait on the tripod a little while longer.

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03/27/2012
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Uncategorized

Not photographer but I may need a tripod

I wrote a post in February about my camera woes.  My Canon SX130is (point and shoot) suffered an injury and requires special care when in use, it is thank goodness, not completely broken. During the camera’s downtime, the backup camera a smaller less powerful was put in use for my daily photo-taking needs.  On a Saturday night whim I went into Target and rolled up on this:

for $89 bucks and the 15X zoom I figured, this was a no brainer.  My dad uses a Nikon DSLR, I liked it I figured I could get a baby one to meet my needs.  For the most part so far, it has. For the most part.
What I dig about it
The weight.  Some folk don’t like heavier point and shoots, I do.  The smaller camera’s like the A2200, though it takes some pretty smashing photos feels a little fragile in my hands.  The L105 is listed at 14.4 oz.
The Zoom
Is a 15X Wide Angle zoom.  Since I’m not a photographer I don’t know what all that means but I do know that I can be a bit further away from the object that I’m shooting and capture a nice image.
 
The Speed
Seems much faster especially when using flash.  The delay is not nearly as long as what I was accustomed to between shots.
It’s Simple
There’s really a ton of scene modes on the L105.  I’ve used them all with the exception of panorama.

What I didn’t care for

The Simplicity
For a person trying to learn photography and absolutely adamant about not purchasing a DSLR until she’s satisfied with her skills, the simplicity of the camera is a drawback.  The scene modes, though plentiful don’t allow you to change much.  I was pretty much accustomed to using AV and making adjustments.  On the L105 you can make a few adjustments in auto mode, but it requires several clicks through the menu to get what you want.
Image Stabilization or the lack thereof
I didn’t know that I had such a shaky hand until I went out to take pictures of the moon.  Image stabilization is not a full time option on the L105.  Only certain scene modes and Auto without full deployment of the lense have image stabilization.  I would think (can could be wrong for doing so), that full-time image stabilization should be standard on a point and shoot.
Macro
Is weird. There is an obvious macro button, but when used, the focus goes completely out of whack.  My shots in macro mode have been hit or miss.
Those three things aside, I’m fairly happy with this camera.  I do think because of Canon’s image stabilization I’ll likely switch back on the next purchase.  In the meantime I will continue learning/using the Nikon day to day and use the Canon, when I want to shoot the moon.
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03/14/2012
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Social Media, Web/Tech

Not a Mergers and Acquisitions expert, but this gives me the willies!

I don’t know anything about websites, making them, coding them, hosting them or any of that stuff.  I’m just a blogger who needs to blog more and wants to be able to post content easily.  A few years ago on Twitter I kept seeing posts from this “dead-simple” blogging platform called Posterous.  I checked it out and loved it.  You could post by email, from a phone app or by web. So if the brilliant blog post came you could publish mind while in some random place, you could do it right there from our phone without even loggin in.  I went all in on Posterous and in 2009 purchased a domain name let Posterous do the hosting. Now after 138 posts I learn that they were acquired by Twitter.  Am I supposed to be happy about that?

Well I can tell you that I’m not.  Again as a blogger and not a tech person, the thought of having to move all of that content to another service just puts me in full freak-out mode.  I’ve done it twice.  Remember a service called VOX? Not an Expert started out there about three years ago.  They shut down and I moved it all to Typepad which was a mistake.  The service was just weird and seemed a bit old and limited so I moved again to WordPress, hopefully for good.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in love with WordPress either, but it’s not because the service isn’t good, it’s pretty feature rich, so rich that I can’t figure it all out.  Yet WordPress in the blogging world seems to be the standard and I thought it would be a relatively safe place to land.  That Posterous blog may land here too because I just don’t trust this acquisition.

Back in the stone age (the 80’s) during my first round of higher learning, Mergers and Acquisitions and “corporate raiders” were all the rage. They’d come in, rip up your company and sell the parts, basically killing it.  Here in the 21st century it seems that things haven’t changed much.  Just in my limited knowledge of the web and web-based companies, it seems that that old corporate raider style is en vogue.  A tech/social/web company gets gobbled up by the big boys some of the talent is retained but the product or service dies or morphs into something unrecognizable.

I am afraid that my “dead simple” posting days to Posterous will soon be over once Twitter gets fully hands on. I’d like to know what you think about the Twitter acquisition of Posterous.  Do you think the product will be improved or enhanced or are we witnessing what the guys below are talking about. Let me know in the comments.

h/t +Keith Wilson for inspiring this semi-rant

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02/27/2012
4 Comments
Uncategorized

Not a photographer, but not exactly pleased with Canon

If’ you’re on Google+ you may know about my woes with my Canon SX130 is.  It’s a nice substantial point and shoot that I won back at the end of 2010.  I’ve taken a bazillion pictures with it and was working on the next bazillion when on Valentine’s Day it failed.
It kept cutting off and the lense wouldn’t collapse back into the body.  After being pissed about it for a few days.  I gave the camera a closer inspection and found that the battery door was cracked and wouldn’t close.
This is my fourth Canon point and shoot, the second with a battery door problem. Two Saturdays ago I took a chance at getting the camera fixed and stopped at Wolf Camera.  The salesperson said they don’t do on-site work, the SX130is was still so new that it was even listed in their service book and it would likely cost $200 to send out, which I thought was outrageous. She then suggested that I use duct-tape, proceeded to tape it up for me and also recommended another a repair shop to get the battery door replaced.
On President’s Day I went to Camera Repair Japan (CRJ) and a few days later they told me that Canon is not producing battery covers for this model and that they are only offering replacement cameras.  She like the lady at Wolf Camera recommended duct tape.
Friday I finally called Canon.  They told me that they are offering replacements for out of warranty models for $130.00.  I was like WHAT?  She also told me that there was a Canon loyalty program in which I could purchase another camera at a discounted price which included (all refurbs) the SX 120is, T1i, Rebel XS and T2i, but none of my current model.  Though I’d love an SLR I can’t justify that purchase right now due to my lack of knowledge (remember, not a photographer) and I just don’t have the cash.  I decided to roll with the duct tape or to hold the cover closed while taking pictures.
Then I went to Target.
There to pick up a new gym bag and socks I stopped in electronics and saw that my model was on sale for $99, there was also a Nikon on sale for the same price. The guy tells me the only $99 Nikon available was the display.
I walked out with the Nikon, like it so far and will discuss it in a subsequent post.
 
What rubbed me raw about the battery door situation was that Canon wanted me to buy a refurb for more than what a new one costs. Although the camera is just a point and shoot I do use it daily and want it to perform.  If it  doesn’t for whatever reason I really don’t want to go through a bunch of changes to get it fixed or replaced.
If it’s this difficult now, what will it be like be like when I plunk down DSLR change?
Photographers and hobbyists please weigh in.  What’s been your experience with Canon repair and replacement? Does it get better or worse as the price of your gear goes up?
Note: I am aware that Nikon is changing or attempting to change their policy which would prohibit local repair shops from receiving parts to fix their products.  What is going on with that?
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02/23/2012
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Music

Not a music jounalist finds heaven near the grind

The intention was to get a little walk, talk and look for a photo to post for the G+365 Project with a girlfriend of mine.  While looking for something compelling to photograph, across the street I saw some nice artwork on the side of a building.  I looked at the front of the building to see the name of the business which was Decatur CD.  Girlfriend and I decided we would stop in for a second on the way back to the office.

Why on earth did we do that?


The place gets no interior design points but it gets MASSIVE points for its music collection and the memories it invokes of the neighborhood record shops of old.  They have CDs and Vinyl which collectors will surely enjoy. What made me particularly excited was the jazz collection.  Being a worshipper of the Emperor Coltrane, the jazz section was my first stop.  A large portion of my Coltrane collection was on cassette, all of which was discarded over a decade ago with the intention of replacing these items by either recording to CD my father’s vinyl (which is massive) or re-buying everything on CD.  Digital was never an option for Coltrane as I MUST HAVE the liner notes to see the musicians and as well as the where and when of the recording. Low and behold two of my favorites (well they all are) were in the stack, Impressions and Africa/Brass.  Since I didn’t have sufficient funding I hustled my tail back to the office to get my card and went back to make the purchase.

The store owner’s sales records are decidedly old school, notebook and pen.  He said, “this is how we kept track of everything before computers.”  (He does have a credit card machine).  I’ve got no qualms with the way he keeps records as long has he has good music, I’m good.

If you’re in the neighborhood, go check out my man at Decatur CD and forget about leaving there empty handed.

 

Note: Africa/Brass was my first listening selection.  When I heard those first bass notes of the intro, I went into a FULL SHOUT in the car.

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