But I still love technology

Ed, congrats on your Twitter account.  I will be the first to admit that although I have been dubbed the “tech savvy” one in the family, Twitter is something that I’ve chosen to ignore from the beginning.  For some reason, Twitter has irritated me, probably in the same way that Facebook has managed to work its way under Brad’s skin.  I’m so tired of hearing a Twitter reference in every news story in existence today.  Twitter was invented for lazy journalists.  And no offense Ed, but I don’t think that there’s anyone that I feel like I want to follow every second of every day. 

Here’s the thing about technology – it’s supposed to help.  People can let technology run their lives, when technology is supposed to work for them.  For those of us on Facebook, we all know people who make it their whole lives.  They “check in” every time they move more than 25 feet, they post every random thought that pops into their mind, they post a picture of everything that they eat, and they generally just live their entire life as a slave to the FB.  It’s irritating.  FB doesn’t have to be that way.  I spend a lot of time on FB, but I’m not a slave to it.  If it disappeared tomorrow I would be totally fine.  So in general, if the technology doesn’t enrich your life, and actually becomes a chore, then it’s time to get rid of it.  I don’t care how “advanced” it is, if it doesn’t help, then – well, it doesn’t help!

Although I admire older people who try to stay on top of new technology, it can be a wee bit trying when you get tagged as tech support.  I know Mom is going to read this, and yes, I consider her to be one of those people that at least tries.  Having spent about an hour and a half this evening walking Mom through some of the finer points of Facebook, it can be a little bit tiring.  But you know what?  My Mom is on Facebook, which is more than I can say for one of my brothers.

As a technological side note, based on my line of work, the next war will be fought (and already is being fought) in cyberspace.  Our society has progressed to the point that a huge majority of our infrastructure relies heavily on cyber technology.  If you want to win a war against a foe, you attack the infrastructure, right?  In the past, military forces have always relied on “hard kills” to take out infrastructure, but what if you could take it out without firing a missile or dropping a bomb?  It’s called a “soft kill”, but the end result can be the same.  America is no different in regards to our infrastructure, and that’s why cyber defense has become so incredibly important.

The Iwo Jimas and Normandy beaches will all be in cyber space in the next war.

Ed on My New Twitter Account and Tech/Social Media

I'm working on my tech savvy ... and attempting to get a little cooler in regards to how I go about "sharpening my saw" and the late Steven Covey would say.

As a relatively old Gen-Xer the tech thing scares me to death.  Not enough for me to close the door entirely (volley to you Brad), but every time I learn about the next tech wave my heart rate goes up like I'm on an 8% incline on my bike.  Yeah, I'm trying to keep with the times.

My main thrust of gaining info to stay current is as traditional as they come ... magazines, books, newpapers (albeit occasionally on line) and email.  Now the email is the most tech savvy element of that list.  Yikes right?

But I've got a Facebook account for my personal stuff, a LinkedIn account for my professional stuff, contribute to a couple of blogs (this one, my previous employers internal one, and one other HR blog) ... and now just recently got a Twitter account!

"Whoa big fella", that's what I've been telling myself.  And I'm pleased to say I jumped into the Twitter pool in the same way I did the others I've named above - with both feet!  Lately I am proud to say I can actually surf the web for news I'm interested in, participated in a webinar this morning compliments of fistfuloftalent.com and even tweeted a few times today.  So, am I there yet?

Not by a long shot.

But that's the thing about this tech stuff.  First, lean on your kids.  They know a lot about technology.  Second, lean on your brothers.  One more than the other.  They know about this stuff too.  And then take some Nike advice ... just do it!  Yeah, I'm sure I've made some mis-steps but that's the cool thing about all this tech savvy stuff.  It's not on paper, let alone a stone.  So it's gone almost as fast as it appears.  And that can be refreshing if you feel like a dope for something you just posted on Facebook or Tweeted.  Another great thing is that only people who will probably forgive you are part of your networks.  Or at least they can appreciate the effort.

And I'll keep reading magazines, books and using email.  There are still a few traditionalists and lots of boomers still out there, lurking.  This is the world I grew up in.

And for you Gen-Y, millennial and next generation folks hold on to your hat.  Ed is still pedaling.

Up the hill, standing on the pedals, breathing quickly, attempting to keep from falling over ... on the tech and social media scene.  For someone who is only 5 years from their AARP card and a $3.99 Denny's grand slam I would say that's pretty damn good.  And I can see the crest of the hill in the not too distant future.

And you know how the story goes from there ... all down hill!

Dominant now or greatest ever?

I'd like to say that I was just waiting for the right time for my post, but that just isn't true. But Tiger's 3rd win of the season, more than any other in golf this year, makes it timely.

I think we need to split the question, most dominant now and greatest ever are two drastically different questions.

Greatest ever, I think Federer is right there in his sport as being the all time greatest, but his time is past for improving on that list. Tiger is in a similar position but I think will continue to ascend that list for many years and ultimately end on top.

The most dominant in their sport, well that is a definite neither. But if one gets the title it is Tiger. Any conversation in golf has once again reverted to Tiger v. the field. There may be 15-20 guys that can win on tour each week, but few would bet against Tiger v. any other single player. For tennis, it gets down to the final 4 each tourney. There may be 3-5 others that can surprise in a tournament, but usually not. You will usually end up with Djokavic, Federer, Nadal and Roddick. And Federer is likely 3rd or 4th on that list of most likely to win the tournament.

Like it or not Marc, Tiger is clearly better now and all time in his respective sport.

Cousins by Brad - Matt, Doug, Phil

Okay guys, I've been a bit behind of late on the blog posts. Since Ed decided to go rapid fire I haven't been able to keep up. So my easy way out is a combo-post and bang out a few of the cousins memories:

Matt - I grew up with Matt and we got in all kinds of trouble together. The memories are too many to share but I'll give a couple highlights. Matt was always adventurous and looking for company. Sometimes I was "company". One particular time we tried to make parachutes out of 2-3 large garbage bags. We climbed up the tower hooked to their house, probably 25 feet above the ground and jumped for it. In case you didn't already know...yea that plan didn't work out so well.

Matt story #2 - Matt had a creek behind his house and we used to cook up all kinds of stuff back there. It had heavy brush on both sides which is very relevant to this story. We were curious if we could light the creek on fire. So we took tennis ball cans full of gasoline down to the bank and poured it in the creek and threw in a match. The answer is yes, you can light an entire creek on fire. it is a wonder we didn't burn down a city block!

Doug - for the older cousins I don't have as many direct memories and wonder how many "memories" are just stories we've told over the last two decades. I do have one specific memory which may have happened many times over. When we were outside at our house playing something with a ball (a dangerous situation for Doug) he would go inside to go to the bathroom. When we went inside later we would find all our rubix cubes completed and those bi-colored snake things perfectly folded into balls.

Phil - I'm going very recent for Phil. When the cousins recorded our first album we had awesome participation including Phil. After everyone participating through some liquid courage it was Phil's turn to record his solo. Solo's so far that morning had consisted of 1-1.5 takes of marginal to no talent singing and it was a wrap. Well Phil had something else in mind. 45 minutes later we had a professional recording of War Pigs by Black Sabbath. While Dad may think that "screamin' mimi" shit isn't music, it is one of my two most listened to songs on the album. Strong work Phil!