Just thought I’d let everyone know that I’ve been so incredibly busy that I haven’t been able to post much. Recently, I bought a new desktop and customized it a lot. I’ve been configuring a broken apache, php, and pear. I’ve also messed a little bit with Ruby on Rails. While I’m at home, I spend more time reading than anything else. I TiVo “Office” which I’m convinced is the funniest show on TV and Jim Cramer’s Mad Money (although I don’t watch that as often as I record it). If you have any other shows you would recommend for me, I’d love the suggestions.

Okay… the point of this entry. I spend so much time reading and I’m amazed at all of the information online. There are some really big names publishing really valuable information online. I ran past a link that posted a good list. If you’re interested in continuing your education, check these out. If you’re not interested in continuing your education you probably accidentally ran up on this blog and will never come back anywyas. I know my loyal viewers will enjoy these…

Without further ado…

http://mitworld.mit.edu/video_index.php
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Global/all-courses.htm
http://www.princeton.edu/WebMedia/lectures/
http://www.vega.org.uk/series/bysubject/index.php
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikiversity
Too Long Link
http://www.cmu.edu/oli/
http://cnx.org/content/
http://www.doaj.org/
http://arxiv.org/
http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/31426
http://www.rsa.org.uk/events/index.asp
http://www.gutenberg.org/

      

I’ve been urged to switch banks recently and it seems pretty attractive. Not because I can get a .00001% higher interest rate on my savings account but because I can go to the bank from 7 to 7. I’m buying into convenience.

Everyone said Wal-Mart really took off when it started putting a Wal-Mart on every city block. But putting one on every city block wasn’t what made them the largest retail store in the world. Wal-Mart understood the importance of convenience. That’s why there is a Wal-Mart in every city. A lot of people interpreted this as, “if you put one in every city, you will be successful… Just like Wal-Mart”. But Wal-Mart did this to add convenience. They understood that 24-hour support meant a whole lot. And that allowing their customers to go to one place for every need was valuable. They also understood that by offering convenience, their customers would reward them with loyalty.

Would you like to be rich or just have happy customers/users/etc.? Find something to make your users/customers life more convenient. Find something that allows them to spend less time doing the services you provide and more time to do what THEY WANT.

Good luck and let me know if you have good ideas.

      

Okay… I made up a new buzzword… I call it CEIP which stands for Control of Electronics of Internet Protocol. It’s the movement toward the ability to manage all of your electronics over the internet. Yeah, it’s not a new concept but it’s probably a new buzzword and everyone loves buzzwords.

Why can’t we control our oven, air conditioner, or lights from the internet? It seems like a small jump. Just think, you put the meatloaf in the oven before you leave for work. At 5:00 PM you make your last web visit to your oven and BAM! Meatloaf is hot and ready when you walk in the door.

The other idea came to me when I found a really cool web site. I was pretty excited because I was the first person to give it a “thumbs up” on stumbleupon (some of you firefox users that don’t know about stumbleupon need to get in the loop).

EvokeTV.com allows you to get all of your local television listings online. It’s similar to pressing the “guide” button on your remote control. It’s neat to be able to scroll through the guide and find neat things to TiVo. But why can’t I tell Evoketv.com to TiVo something that I find interesting? Is it TiVo’s fault? Surely they can allow third-parties to make “value-added” products. I mean, this type of product would marry me even closer to TiVo…

PS… I use the term “TiVo” because it’s become the household name (like Kleenex or Swiffer)… I actually use DISH.
PSS… CEIP is also going to be the move toward Web 3.0… that’s where you gain real controll over the Internet.

      

Lately, I’ve been wondering what makes something addictive. It really seems weird that some there are things in the world that you just can’t get enough of. I’m not talking about a physical addiction like drugs, alcohol, etc. But addictions like stumbleupon, pornography, facebook, gambling, etc. What keeps these people attention? What keeps them wanting more? I haven’t figured out the answer but it sure is fun to think about.

If you’ve got any good links or a good explanation for me, I’d love to hear it.