Monday, February 8, 2010
How to Kill Your Career on LinkedIn
I've been quiet on this blog because I've been writing stuff on other blogs. Plus I've been pretty busy the past couple of months. But don't worry I'm trying get back into my writing groove. If you haven't read my post on the 7 Deadly Sins of a LinkedIn Profile you should check it out.
I asked my network on LinkedIn about what they find the most annoying about LinkedIn; everyone said spam. Spam in the form of groups, spam in the form of people who are adding you without knowing you. The worst kind of spam? Asking for recommendations without knowing the person. This was so basic that my network didn't bring it up in the Q&A. There's nothing much to explain here. If person A hasn't worked with person B or even know that person, how will he or she give a recommendation?
Well, one person just did that, and asked the wrong person. He received quite the recommendation -- but poor fellow probably couldn't read properly or thought that he has to post every recommendation that came his way. So, he posted that recommendation even when it said that he was an asshole. This is just stupidity in the highest possible degree. I was an eye witness from the start to finish. We thought he'd just send an apology or ignore the fake recommendation but he didn't, he went ahead and posted it! I've seen mistakes by companies, people, and even I've made bad decisions on social networks but this is by far the most surprisingly dumb thing I have seen. Click here to read about the whole story.
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinmarks/ / CC BY 2.0
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Reading Newspapers - A Lost Art in America?
I watched Obama's inauguration with two American friends in Kolkata. I think we watched it on BBC because we didn't like the commentary on CNN or something. All of a sudden, the news presenter mentioned Howard Dean. Both of my friends passively asked, "Who's Howard Dean?" Shocked, I stared at them for a moment and asked with my accusatory tone, "You don't know who Howard Dean is?" I didn't wait for their response, "He's the chairman of the DNC, which is like the governing committee for the Democrats."
"Well how are we supposed to know that!" was my friend's reply. Then she said, "We have three people here and the only person who knew about Howard Dean is a non-American. That just tells you how much we know about our country..." Sometimes it is true that people outside America know more about what's happening in America than the average American. We often joked about how rickshaw wallas in India read newspapers everyday and knows what's happening around the world. For some taxi drivers in Kolkata, they make it a habit. Even if they can't read in English they'd read the newspaper in Bengali. There would be boards on the street with papers posted so that people who pass by or folks who can't afford them can read. Usually these are posted by party cadre of a particular ward.
For those taxi drivers who can, they would read the paper in English. In the beginning it surprised me to see an English paper in a cab, but later it became almost a norm. It's also one of the ways I can identify whether the taxi driver is from West Bengal or new from Bihar -- a state in North India that has the most migrant workers. Never mind how accurate or not the paper is, what matters to them is that they learn how to read, practice their English, and are in constant contact with the world at large.
I made my dad subscribe to New York Times and the Nation when I was in high school. It was one of those things I just had to do as a nerdy, goodie-two-shoe student council kid. But my paper reading habits have been really bad since I left New York (and I'm no longer 'goodie-two-shoe'). I have a feeling my attention span is also shorter -- thanks to social media. I still read NYTimes, but it's all online. I'm trying to get back into the habit of reading newspapers but it's been tough. We subscribe to two papers here -- Times of India (which I don't really like but it has Soduku, and a relatively reliable schedule for movies), and Economic Times (because that's the only paper that seems to edit their stories, and it has Dilbert and the exchange rates). I'd also recommend Hindustan Times. I'm more into magazines because I like the style of writing. I prefer in-debth coverage to run of the mill regurgitated press releases. I've heard more than once from folks who write press releases of how "journalists are lazy" -- well you should come here and really see to what extent it can get. Case in point: a recent coverage of the American in Delhi blog. The reporter almost copy-pasted an entire post and did no leg work. She wrote whatever it is that she found on that blog. The blog isn't hard to find, it's #1 on Google for... you guessed it: "american in delhi".
As of April this year, according to New York Times, circulation numbers have been dropping in America. It's because of budget cuts and the fact that people are moving online to read papers. One thing about online reading though is it's up to the user. They'd choose which sections to see via email or RSS feed and completely disregard other sections. News is more funneled and gets viewed only when it becomes popular. It's up to to the user now to figure out to what extent they want to know about the world. So if you just follow popular celebrity news, you might be an expert on Michael Jackson but won't know what the heck ASEAN is or even think Burma is a province of China. (Oh believe me, I've come across those people more than once.)
I don't blame them. I don't usually get mad either, I just find it funny. Occasionally I'd retort, "Well, it's almost like a province of China." (But that's an inside foreign policy joke.) I also have my own weaknesses -- just because I know who Howard Dean is doesn't mean I know every famous or semi-famous American. I don't know all the governors in all the states. I also wouldn't be able to identify American Idol contestants or winners. An average American might be able to identify Linsay Lohan from a mile away. I wouldn't, whether she's naked, clothed, running, walking, sober or high. I can't even spell her name right the first time.
What about you? Do you still read physical newspapers or does your life revolve completely around the Internet?
Photo by: DRB62
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Spymaster: New Twist to Flames & Cyber Bullies?
Spymaster is the latest sensational Twitter game that was just recently launched on Facebook as well. Ben Parr wrote on Mashable that, "Spymaster has become the standard in Twitter games." I got invited a while ago from one of the people I was following on Twitter. I didn't get around to try it out until yesterday. I loved the interface, the premise, and the connections that I can make to my friends. By this morning I was hooked. Just like I get into World of Warcraft or Westnoth (the open source, turn-based, tactical strategy game) I started carrying out espionage tasks as much as I could.
I left my Twitter followers alone though. I figured there would be a ton of auto-tweets and messages if I played it. I know to what point my obsession can run with RPGs. (And no, I'm not too old to be playing games, thank you.) I lucked out that the Facebook invasion was launched last week. My Facebook posse (though weaker spy ring) is more tolerant with game messages since they also play games. They're also friends who I've met, who can control what they see as opposed to the Twitter crowd who I talk to mostly for professional exchange of ideas.
So today I explored other parts of the Spymaster universe. I read the Directorate's blog and signed myself to the Spymaster Fan site, which is using the Ning custom social network platform. There's also a Spymaster Fan group on Facebook if you want to network with other spymasters.
What I saw in the forums at the Spymaster Fan site didn't surprise me. There was a woman who said she'd be quitting because another spy master had been assassinating her, winning, and getting her assets. She equated her losses to be a case of harassment and bullying. Those who replied to her SOS post (including me) wanted to gang up on the fellow and assassinate him in return. After all, making and helping allies is a part of the game.
Apparently picking on certain spy masters as target to be assassinated on a schedule is used by some as game strategy. It's not a bad game strategy, but it's a boring strategy. It takes the fun out of the game. I've picked on lower level newbies from time to time but never the same target. That's just really really boring. Plus we have the whole of Twitter and Facebook universe to explore, which means two hundred million or so potential spy masters are out there.
While it's not really nice to be picking on just one person because you know the odds are in your favor, it's not really the case of cyber bulling either. Cyber bully implies that you don't really have any choice and you're psychologically attacked. Here you have groups to turn to for help and other spy masters who are willing to help you. It's also the premise of the game. After all being a spy means you'd be at risk for assassinations and psychological warfare. You should also know that you've already agreed to notifications etc.
Here's a screen shot of the 'dossier' of the spy master who had been attacking the woman spy master. Judging from the messages, it has both the 'assassin' and the 'victim'. And maybe other spy masters as well.
In dossiers screen names don't come up like regular messaging boards because they're not supposed to be a wall or a messaging center. It's a heated discussion. There will be more heated discussions over wins and losses. And there will be wars between groups. I'm interested to see addition of new spy group affiliations other than the Russian, CIA, and MI6. Personally I'd like to see Mossad and RAW (Research and Analysis Wing - India).
As to controlling cyber bullies on Spymaster, ground rules should probably be developed. In certain games there would be ground rules or pre-defined system settings. But this is a spy game -- you ARE supposed to be killing each other. Maybe people are taking their role playing too seriously. (Another thing that is so common in RPGs or MMORPGs.) Maybe Spymaster should develop algorithms or "cooling off periods" in place for spy masters. What's your take on this?
P.S. If you are playing the game you can add me to your spy ring by sending me a friend request on Facebook. Send the message "Spymaster" along with your request. If you're on the Fan site, you can go ahead and add me as a friend. If you're in the CIA, you can join this group. ^_^!
Update: Here's a great post on Spymaster and why people play it. You'll understand more.
Photo by: Whiskeygonebad
