How Internet Access Changes Failure

Being a geek, I assume you remember the time you discovered Mystery Science Theater 3000.  If you're one of the poor souls that doesn't know what it is, it's a show where characters mock old movies, and at times obscure movies.  These films get a new lease on life – and the show, in my opinion, increased interest in cheesy old films.

Of course before that there was the Golden Turkey Awards, which awarded various bad films awards for their "achievements."  This book is one I credit with giving Plan 9 From Outer Space more prominence, though it certainly called attention to other films.

Many films in the above media, and in similar media like Late Night Movies and the like, are films that are at best weird, and at most very bad.  Many would be considered outright failures, yet because of their very flaws, they get a kind of new life.

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How To Communicate – With Measurement

I'm big on measuring success – you've had to tolerate me going on about that before.  I'll repeat for those that have't gotten tired of me saying it; you need to measure, in numbers and dates and other data, your progress and results in your career, from job search to education credits, to dates of certification.  Measurement lets you see your success – or correct errors you find.

We're geeks.  We're usually good with numbers

I'm also finding out, more and more, that its a real necessity for everyone, to communicate their career progress with others.  Our friends and family want to know how we're doing so they know we're OK – or that they need to help us out.  We want to communicate the state of our career to others so they can help us out – or leave us alone.

If you want to show people how you're doing in your career, from a job search to getting an advanced degree, or what have you, you should be making sure the numbers you measure can also be communicated to the people who care about you.  Or the people who you want to annoy you less.

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