Learn From Other Geeks

I like to use the things I geek out over in my career, which is somewhat obvious by the fact I help run a blog about the very subject.  I'm a big advocate that hobbies, jobs, and interests really should be mostly the same thing.

However, it's too easy to get caught up in our own obsessions, our own geeky, our own fanning.  Sure we can learn a lot from our obsession with video games, our passion for digital art, and our interest in writing.

However if you really want to be a passionate fan-to-pro type you need to study the geekery of others.

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Why FaceBook and Company Aren’t Really Web Pages

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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Fandom Advantage: Netowkring

Networking is the key to success.  I know, we hear it all the time.  I say it all the time.  We're all a bit sick of hearing it really, especially those of us that feel guilty that we don't network better.

But, herein lies another advantage to being a fanboy, fangirl, otaku, and utter geek: we have tons of networking resources.  That's something we should appreciate.

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