I’ve been wanting to write about the changing work tools and collaborative landscape for a while now. My original notes were from over two years ago, but recent events prompted me to put my thoughts down. I’d love your take on this, discuss on the Slack, we accept English and French 😀
On to the update.
Computer Systems, Operating Systems and the Digitisation of Tasks
Sunday mornings is my time. I wake up early, usually around 5am, so that I can have a coffee and prepare my things for a morning ride. I’m a (Sunday) cyclist and have been cycling for many years. It’s a ritual that is not only good for physical health —I have a resting heart rate of someone may years younger— but it is very good for the mind too.
On the horizon this morning, a beautiful scene of rising Cumulus clouds being lit by the warm sunrise. I couldn’t take a photo. I tried, but I couldn’t, because of a technical problem.
No. Battery.
My DSLR’s battery had died overnight, apparently from my stupidity. Not switching it off and placing screen down with the lens pointing up, pressed buttons that eventually ran the battery down.
LinkedIn is a great resource for professional use. Links to colleagues (if you’re working in an international company), articles and insights in your domain of work and of course the potential of career advancement.
However, lately I’ve noticed that the platform has started to become filled with inane postings and uselessness posing as wisdom. I’ve even seen conspiracy theories being propagated, and of course, the inevitable cancer of junk advertising.
We’re heading into peak hurricane season as this graph from the NOAA shows, notice the sting in the tail in October. Do your preparations and check on them weekly!
On to the update.
One of the most beautiful periods in the year, September, gives us stunning sunsets almost daily, like tonight’s you can see above.
But we know that a storm is often around the corner and that September is the most deadly period of the hurricane season, that runs from June 1st through to the end of November.
3 September 2019 — French West Indies
The scenes coming out of the Bahamas are just heartbreaking. I fear we haven’t seen the worst yet. What used to be the airport looks like the Atlantic Ocean, reports of a storm surge of around 20 feet (6 metres) affecting some areas, it’s just apocalyptic.
My heart goes out to those impacted.
2 September 2019 — French West Indies
You may be wondering what RSS is, however, if you listen to podcasts regularly then you’re using it every time your app renews the list and downloads new episodes for you to listen to.
RSS is the unsung hero of the Internet and is getting bigger and bigger, largely thanks to the podcasting boom. But it has another usage, one that it was originally intended for that has a knock-on consequence that might just save your sanity. The original intent was to simplify the discovery and reading of news articles from popular websites.
Hurricane Dorian is looking increasingly dangerous and could impact the northern Bahamas or Florida as a Major Hurricane (Category 3+) as early as this weekend. My thoughts to my friends in those areas. Get your preparations finalised today!
On to the update:
After the announcement that the long-standing newspaper of the FWI was in real financial difficulty, I thought I’d take a look at the business model and why it failed, what can be done and how it should be a cautionary tale for newspapers throughout the Caribbean. As ever, this is my opinion and you’re more than welcome to challenge and discuss directly with me. Join me on the Slack discussion group.
Customers 2.0 and the importance of word of mouth
In trying to be brief and to simplify the customer’s journey to buying products in modern times, I think I may have not been as clear as I could have, which led to some confusion:
This affects how customers behave in their consumption and how they discover new things. Here in the Caribbean, word of mouth is still a strong discovery tool, but it is becoming less and less relevant when we’re consuming more products and services online. The search engine has rendered word of mouth a secondary validation tool. Today, customers search first, then ask peers and online forums for recommendations.