Avatar photoSteven Savage

Why FaceBook and Company Aren’t Really Web Pages

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Facebook has been in the news with it's recent announcements, changes, and of course, new features.  Over and over again I hear the same arguments about Facebook – lack of privacy, settings too obscure or complex, everything changes so much.  Facebook is this giant morphing ball of "stuff" that everyone likes and no one is happy with.

I'd like to focus on the complexity issues with Facebook, the arguments that its too hard to change settings and that when you dig into it, Facebook can actually be quite complex.

The complexity isn't a surprise to me, but I think it surprises many people.  The reason it surprises them is that they're treating Facebook like a web page or web tool, like a Google search or a Twitter feed.  Facebook is not a simple web page/tool.

Facebook is a web-delivered application (bordering in some cases on being an operating system as well).

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Don’t Let Employment Define Your Identity

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I remember my first layoff in 1996.

It was weird and traumatic.  I'd been let go before, I'd had temp assignments run out, but this was a case of everything just ended.  The company I worked for was gone, my co-workers scattered to the four winds, and I was out of a job.

I'd like to say that immunized me against future layoffs.  It didn't.  There's really something about your job just ending, and not because of anything you did – but because a company collapses, or runs out of money, or just decides to cut staff.  Your job is just gone.

In some cases, it feels like you're gone too.  You're not making money, not doing anything, and you don't feel like anyone.  Like it or not, we define a lot of ourselves by our jobs.

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Book Review: Craft, Inc.

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Craft Inc.: Turning your Creative Hobby Into a Business
By Meg Mateo Ilasco

PROS:

  • A mix of business and personal advice on turning a craft hobby into a career.
  • Provides excellent examples from actual successes.
  • Covers a wide variety of ground very well.
  • Extremely artistic layout makes it accessible (and a great gift)

CONS:

  • Occasional digressions can break the flow of the book.
  • Small typefaces may make reading difficult

SUMMARY: A useful, friendly, and information packed guide to turning crafty hobbies into paying business

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