Odds-and-Ends

It had been a few days since I posted anything, so I thought I would put up a couple of experimental shots that have been highly adjusted in Photoshop. Truth be told someone who knows what they are doing can probably accomplish this stuff with two clicks of a mouse, but I dilly and dally taking the long way home.
I also have been meaning to post two books that I highly recommend. Of course one has been out forever and I just got to it in my stack. The World Is Flat [Updated and Expanded]: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas Friedman. He made a strong case for what needs to happen for companies to be competitive in the global economy. I really enjoyed the case studies and personally I learned a lot about the computer industry and the ever flattening world. Not that I agree with it 100%, but I think it should almost be required reading for anyone studying management today.

The second book I just finished is Naked Conversations: how blogs are changing the way businesses talk with customers by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel. Some of you may already be familiar with Scoble's efforts at Microsoft. I have a personal fascination with blogs and we have decided to make a blog the Internet "Front Door" in my Division at work...so I wanted to do some background reading. The book was actually developed using a blog and they make a strong case for positive results (most of the time) that the two-way conversation a blog can allow can bring to a business...especially a small business, but good examples of the impact of blogging at large corporations is also provided.