Great story for the post feminist American career girl trying to find balance in an increasingly stressful and alienating urban world.
As we go through our daily bounty of beauty and bread, a large number of factors constitute our lives. We operate on many layers and receive very many influences from our minds, our bodies, our histories, our families, our cities, our souls. We become an ever-evolving assortment of numerous physiological, psychological, genetic, cultural, astrological, karmic, evolutionary, dietary, hormonal, philosophical, seasonal, environmental, divine and chemical factors…
But even in this titanic mania of frenzied factors and synchronized chaos, never forget that once, in an unguarded moment, I recognized myself as a friend. And in a strange interior gesture of friendship, there’s always a lending hand of me to myself, when nobody else is around to offer solace, saying:
“I’m here. I love you. I don’t care if you need to stay up crying all night or haunt the hallways at dawn. I will stay with you. If you are moody or ailing and need medication. I will love you still. There’s nothing you can ever do to lose my love. I will protect you til you die, and after your death, I will still protect you. I am stronger than depression and braver than loneliness and nothing will ever exhaust me.”
I’m documenting this so if ever they ask me why I did it I cannot lie:-)
An entrepreneur is the kind of person who will jump off a cliff and believe she can craft a plane on the way down.
If I knew there would be this much ‘exhilaration’ I may have told my self-assured streak to take a chill pill. But now that the race is on I’m glad I’m in it.
We are in the beginning of the beginning, and yes, I know its a gamble. It hasn’t been done before, but I believe I can do it successfully. Odds that I’m right are less than 10% but if I am, this is really big.
Either way, in the end I know I’ll walk away with something. Something money can’t buy – although it certainly made the journey feasible – and I feel immensely fortunate that I have been able to take the leap because of it.
This journey offers intellectual adventure, exposure to amazing people with brilliant ideas and a chance to make a positive impact in the world. Sure its an emotional roller-coaster with highs and lows I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, but when I look back I know I’ll be able to say I had a good run. I’ll have some fascinating stories to share with anyone who cares to listen and hopefully I’ll be able to say I have left a lasting legacy – a meaningful change that touched more people than me and my family.
Right now, I wouldn’t trade that for the world.
People devote only 5% of their time online on search engines. The rest is spent on social networks and browsing other sites.
If marketing could follow us without actually eavesdropping they would be able to compile comprehensive dossiers based on the type of sites we visit, the things we read, the videos we watch and products we shop for. It sounds spooky, of course and people claim they do care about the lack of privacy.
A UPI-Zogby International poll from 2007 found that 85% of respondents claimed privacy of their personal information was important to them as consumers, and 91% said they were worried about identity theft. In another UPI-Zogby poll, 50% expressed concern over the privacy of their medical records. Most, however, aren’t concerned enough to do anything about it.
If privacy, is as Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis proposed 80 years ago, is “the right to be left alone – the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilian men,” which he included as part of a set of conditions “favorable to the pursuit of happiness” laid down by the founding fathers in the constitution, how would he view our current surveillance society? Over the course of a day the typical American is caught on camera 200 times: at traffic lights, paying highway tolls, walking the dogs, taking money from ATMs, shopping in convenience stores, and a tiny fraction are caught committing crimes.
Within a 20 block radius of New York University, there are more than 500 surveillance cameras, which catch students and professors doing everything from buying Falafel, racing past the iconic fountain in Washington Square Park, on the way to class, or purchasing allergy medicine like Claritin D for which they are required by law to show their ID, because it contains a common substance used in meth.
It’s not just New York’s Greenwich Village, where NYU is located with its own 24-7 reality show starring… everybody. Dozens of states have set up traffic light cameras that ticket drivers for running red lights or speeding. Casinos in Las Vegas zoom in on player’s hands at the black jack table. Cameras are mounted on police cars, they hand from trees in public parks, they are affixed to the walls in sports stadiums and shopping malls. David Brin, author of the transparent society, postulates a Moore’s law of cameras.” He sees them roughly “halving in size, doubling in acuity and movement capability and sheer numbers, every year or two” Look out a decade and nano cameras as small as grains of sand may create a world in which the wind has eyes.
If privacy, is the state of being free from unsanctioned intrusion,” which is the American Heritage Dictionary definition, what about the Department of Motor Vehicles, famous for peddling information to anyone who will buy it? Or the credit rating agencies like TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian, which profit by selling access to our financial histories? Or the most brazen of all the government, which stiff armed companies such as AT&T to record our phone calls and sniff our email, all in the name of fighting terrorism? Or if privacy is the power to selectively reveal oneself to the world, a view tendered in the essay ” a Cypherpunk’s Manifesto” what’s the deal with Gmail which keeps carbon copies of our email correspondence for ever, so google can birrage us with more ads? Or American Express which collects the details of billions of customer transactions, weaves them into models of behavior then sells this data to junk mailers of all stripes and sizes?
The truth is, the battle over privacy, no matter how defined has already been lost. As Sun CEO Scott McNealy infamously put it, “you have no privacy. Get over it.”
In all sincerity, we consumers have been complicit in this post privacy smack down. However, it’s not necessarily bad. In fact, it could be good, and not just for the corporations that profit from it or the government that taps into it to control it’s citizenry.
Information wants to be free is the hacker’s credo. In reality information has a price in the form of convenience, cash or security. It’s why we shop with credit cards even though they lead to mailbox-cramming junk mail, and sign up for loyalty cards with Barnes & Noble or CVS’s Extra Care Program, which has enrolled tens of millions of Americans who receive 2% back on every purchase and additional dollar for every prescription they fill in exchange for tracking every purchase. It’s the reason we use cell phones when we are out of the office, GPS when we are on the road, and Onstar for the few who buy GM cars, all of which can pin point our location. We still surf the web, despite our internet service provider (ISP) knowing what sites we visit and how long we search with google which maintains lists of the terms we’ve queried.
Remember that late night tequila binge and that curiously odd sexual… never mind. None of these are spy technologies, but they might as well be.
Donald Kerr, Principle deputy director of national intelligence, said in a speech in October 2007 that Americans would have to change their view of privacy which no longer can mean anonymity, he said. Instead it should mean that government and businesses properly safeguard people’s private communications and financial information.”
He added, “Protecting anonymity isn’t a fight that can be won,” which is creepy coming from one of our nation’s tops spies. No surprise that the blogsphere squealed. After all, a staggering 127 million sensitive electronic and paper records were lost and pierced by hackers in 2008, while identify theft runs rampant affecting one in eight Americans, and growing every year. The idea of the government safe guarding our information is laughable. Naturally we can blame technology and the greater interconnectedness of our world since it replicates our personal information and spews it far and wide in cyberspace, stashing it in far-flung databases outside of our control. We don’t just have Big Brother to content with, we have a series of little brothers – your googles, Double clicks and ISPs, the credit rating agencies, social networks like myspace and Facebook, and marketers who want to know everything about you.
With advanced data sifting techniques, the rise of massive databases and the permanence thereof, once your information is out there it can never be taken back, out deepest darkest secrets instantly available to anyone with the desire and know-how to learn them.
If Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, can’t keep secret his home address, the value of his house, date of birth, net worth, value of Google Stock, hobbies, quotes he’s just as soon take back (like Evil is what Sergey says is evil) what chance do the rest of us have? With Google Earth it’s even possible to view his home and property (it’s amazing what $3 million will get you). If you recall, in 2005 Google briefly blacklisted CNET because a reporter Googled Schmidt, then published what she found (things like he wandered the desert at Burning Man and earned $140 million dumping google stock). The company didn’t like the fact that CNET published the Google CEO’s private information, which the reporter found using the company’s own product.
It’s easy to find people to gripe about privacy, laying blame at the feet of big business and government, but what to do about it? Talk to the privacy hawks at the Electronic Privacy information Center and they’ll tell you what the problem is, decrying the actions of the credit agencies, Google and the government, but not how to fix things, other than to offer consumer bromides like “pay with cash where possible,” don’t share any personal information with businesses unless it’s absolutely necessary, and choose supermarkets that don’t use loyalty cards. But companies have a powerful profit motive. Our information, the more personal the better, is worth billions. The better they know us, our likes and dislikes, the easier it is for them to induce us to buy, buy, buy and the the more money they’ll make.
The only way to keep our personal information personal is to unplug from the grid; pay with cash, don’t surf the web from home or your job, don’t go out in public without a mask, don’t drive a car, don’t maintain a checking or saving account, don’t use a cell phone or PDA and under no circumstances take out a mortgage. Good luck.
Yet this doesn’t mean we are heading toward some William Gibson-esque techno-dystopia. Since we can’t parry the privacy hounds, we need to embrace the idea of a more transparent world. Realize for all the brouhaha surrounding this issue, there’s little tangible harm that arises from your personal information being used to target more relevant advertising at you. Google knows you have a taste for mud wrestling or middget tossing, so what. They’re not talking unless the government subpoenas them. Facebook told your friends you rented a slasher flick from Block buster? They might simply ask which one? Yahoo has proof you’ve been using webmail to conduct a hot, tawdry affair? Yahoo is the lest of your worries.
Looking on the bright side the wide dissemination of our personal information – that’s the unintended byproduct of social networks – could lead to a more tolerant less judgmental society.
I view acknowledging and defeating confusion and chaos as important aspects of growth and success.
Sometimes, I feel like I am facing an immovable wall of pain, negativity and confusion.
Even after trying mediation, positive affirmations and prayer, there’s this sinking feeling at the pit of my stomach that reminds me of my imperfect mortal being in conflict with the part of me that’s seeking spiritual elevation.
Today my mother reminded me that at those times I am forgetting that the concept of perfection includes confusion, indecision, in aciton and chaos. A perfect marriage is comprised of ups and importantly, the downs of everyday relationships. An Olympic gymnast’s perfect racting of 10 includes, along with the shining advances during training, all the personal missteps, falls, depressions and fears that bore the athlete to that public triumpant moment.
The audience and judges are only privy to the final performance. The athlete retains the memories of each step and ultimately realizes that all seemingly negative elements were as important oas the positive ones that contributed to the final eclat. They are important, not because they surfaced, but because they were dealt with and defeated. I was reminded that we can apply that same appreciation to the bumps along our own paths by recognizing and overcoming them.
Interactive web and mobile browsers, communities, social networks, wikis, blogs, and microblogs are all part of our lives now … all that’s missing is participation… by more people and companies – and that’s coming. Rapidly!
Within a few years companies that don’t engage in this sort of activity will look dated. What would you think of a company that had one static graphic and no links on it’s home page? In 1995, that was typical. Now it’s laughable. And in the same way soon companies that aren’t wired into this new interactive world will look very twentieth century – which is to say, out of touch.
This future will foster a culture of responsiveness that’s needed to create effective long-term strategies. Big thinking comes with the territory. Companies will need creative minds that can adapt quickly to a ever-evolving landscape.
People pay more to be entertained than to be educated, so companies will need big thinkers who embody a fun, innovative, collaborative spirit. Big thinkers who can work with others to come up with creative ways to provide personalized content fed by an individual’s social networks and accessible on the go via mobile phones and tablets.
It’s big thinkers and innovative players with emotional intelligence and an entrepreneurial mind set who will create the next generation of Internet experiences for consumers and advertisers across the globe.
People 3.0: Leadership Beyond Barriers TedxChumash was a phenomenal event organized by Jacky Lopez, Founder of the Central Coast Women’s Network. Speakers included Dr. Mark Juretic, Mathew Linden and Blake Irving -Yahoo EVP of Product Development
They say internet marketers work 20 hours a day so they can make money in their sleep.
“Guilty”
But hopefully in those 20 hours a day I’ve learnt some things that I’d absolutely love to share with you. Of course I can’t cover 20 hours a day in 15 minutes but what i would love to share with you right now is my passion and fascination with this space. I’m working in 4 related niche markets right now but Twittrafficpro has been a particularly fascinating project because
1.its given me the opportunity to engage with some brilliant and creative people
2. its opened my eyes to the possibilities in this mobile, local, social real-time space – try saying that fast five times:)
So today I’m going to talk about 140 Characters and the internets impact on offline consumer behavior.
But before I get started on that lets give a big hand to Jacky for putting this remarkable event together, for bringing such brilliant people into one room to share and reflect on ideas worth spreading. A BIG HAND.
We know something is happening.. and we’re beginning to sense what it is…
We’re speeding up
We are accelerating development with widespread digitalization, broadband internet, environmental and energy breakthroughs, medical advancements –
Our technology is speeding up… lifestyle, work, arts and entertainment, the pace of innovation and change — it’s all speeding up.
And this was something that James Gleick noted in 1999
How are all these changes affecting you and me and him and her…
We know the way we consume the web will look very different in a few years
So for example:
How many of you are on Facebook?
How many were on Facebook five years ago
It took radio 38 years to reach 50 million users. Facebook had over 100 million users in less than 9 months. The iphone had over a billion app downloads in 9 months.
How many people have smart phones in this room? or should I ask … Or should I ask . . . Who doesn’t have a smartphone?
We are at the beginning of the beginning with –
Exciting pocket computers and tablets
Ubiquitous connectivity
Culture of participation/sharing: “tweets, updates, tips”
Geotagged data, matched with places
The Cloud: my content on any device
cool stuff like augmented reality
Now we
use these devices to help make decisions – I was speaking with a 65 year old man recently who was really excited about his iphone because he uses it to make decisions about what he can eat to stay on track with his weight loss plan
We can take the Internet with us
are Influenced by opinions and recommendations of others to find deals, discounts, incentives
The implications are huge!
Think about it – The convergence of Mobile, Local, Social and Real time Search – all these connected so we get geotagged data at crucial decision making moments.
What does that mean?
It means we can become brand evangelists. You can quickly see without calling which Starbucks coffee your friends are hanging out at, and maybe even get Starbucks to pay you for letting your friends know where you are hanging out.
It means for example in real time we can see what events are happening in an area and the sentiment around it with tweets from real people in our community
So we’d get a sense of what an exciting place this is to be tonight and definitely make sure we don’t miss out next year – anyone tweeting?
So with all this talk about the world wide web – Local? Who cares?
Well, let me tell you something – if search were a marathon local is the last mile and mobile is the last yard to the finish line.
96 % of transactions still happen offline
But lets imagine this – what’s your favorite store – Shout it out someone (Trader Joes)
What your favorite product in that store? (Coffee)
Ok great – Trader Joes is having a sale. You’ve been a loyal customer. You happen to be walking right past Trader Joes as they are having a sale on that special Kenyan arabica you’ve been meaning to try out. You had no intention of going into Trader Joes but you were interested in getting that coffee when it went on sale. Right as you are walking by you get a txt letting you know about that sale, along with 3 reviews from your friends… just in time.
In 140 Characters… ok, 160 that’s an SMS… in real-time.
Do you see now how mobile, local, social and real-time converged – of course that’s just scratching the surface. There are lots of other exciting applications for this technology. My point right now is local is about driving that point of sale – whether its for coffee or shoes or your favorite charity or a soccer game or.. whatever.
Where does the world wide web come in?…
We’ve just seen a glimpse –
Off line purchases increasingly web influenced – 80-90% will do online research before purchasing, bring in the possibility of recommendations from friends… and the implications are endless
It’s all about making those decisions online so we can then go do offline.
Let’s take a slightly closer look at each of those…
Mobile – Mobile Buyers actively looking – Iphone proved that as you can tell by most users addiction to the iphone store – and that means the leads could potentially be better. A word of caution tho’ we’ve noticed most people who’ve had success use mobile in tandem with online and print
Social – Facebook has such precise targeting: you can literally target people by demographic, Geographic location and, Interest… and my guess is the new open graph social will facilitates recommendations by friends.
And then, let’s talk about real time
Twitter has over 300,000 new users sign up per day. Receives 180 million unique visitors per month , Basically go into the Twitter search engine, type any question and you’ll get a plethora of responses from real people in real time.
So when people ask me why they need to understand this wave, I often say it’s not why buddy, its when…
Thanks for your time, it’s been a blast and feel free to reach me with question or comments on my website – wandia.info
Valentine’s day is close.
Sent this to my friends.
Thought it would bring a
little bright moment to
their day. Hope it makes
you smile.
I loved pharma. Had great pay, a great boss, a flexible schedule and the opportunity to be around really fun people. But the one thing that killed me was my lack of authenticity. My success depended on the ability to win over people, and it became more and more important to be liked and admired. My ego found it advantageous to say and do what pleases others – at the sacrifice of my own authenticity.
Let’s face it, life as a people pleaser has its advantages. If I agree with you and do what you like, I convinced myself that you will like me and accept me. And I did it over and over again, and didn’t realize I had lost myself so completely to the outside world I didn’t even know who I was any more. Until it hit me… I could no longer clearly define who I was. I had sacrificed what I believed in and denied myself my own loving. I had lost contact with my true essence – the part that makes me unique and special.
I wanted to find her again.
In a world filled with people pleasers, subterfuge and manupilation, I wanted to remain authentic to me, for my own peace of mind and harmony, so I could look in the mirror and love me. I did not want to feel like I had to be someone else to be loved.
If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy.
If a child learns to feel shame, he learns to feel guilty.
If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement he learns confidence
If a child lives with praise, he learns to appreciate.
He a child lives with fairness, he learns justice.
If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith.
If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, he learns to find love in the world.
This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind…let it be something good. – Author Unknown