Amitai Givertz's Blogversity Blog » Blogging http://blogversity.com A Crucible for Blogging, Business & Life in the Bubble Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:33:41 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= Microsoft’s Future Grounded in the Here and Now http://blogversity.com/2011/10/31/microsofts-future-grounded-in-the-here-and-now/ http://blogversity.com/2011/10/31/microsofts-future-grounded-in-the-here-and-now/#comments Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:46:31 +0000 Amitai Givertz http://blogversity.com/?p=840 Microsoft have unveiled their vision of the future in a slick tube imaginatively titled Productivity Future Vision (2011). While the video showcases Microsoft “innovations” [rather than an actual vision of the future] some of the the comments are timeless, ensuring this glitzy promo will be talked about for all the wrong reasons…

  • “I never asked for this.”
  • “Fake! The World will ends in 2012.”
  • “OMG, you left your porn on the fridge again.”
  • “I was expecting more than a better touch screen.”
  • “Cannot retrieve user data. Data Plan may be exceeded.”
  • “How about Microsoft stop daydreaming and create some damn jobs for the working class.”
  • “That mom is having affair with that Japanese administrator, while father is forced to stay home with daughter, cooking like a woman.”
  • “Where are the fucking robots and flying cars already?”

Do leave a comment of your own, won’t you?



[No video? watch it on YouTube]

 

]]> http://blogversity.com/2011/10/31/microsofts-future-grounded-in-the-here-and-now/feed/ 0 7 Reasons for the Rise of Mediocrity by Rajesh Setty http://www.rajeshsetty.com/2011/10/25/7-reasons-for-the-rise-of-mediocrity/#ixzz1cBbowrdR http://www.rajeshsetty.com/2011/10/25/7-reasons-for-the-rise-of-mediocrity/#ixzz1cBbowrdR#comments Sat, 29 Oct 2011 15:51:50 +0000 Amitai Givertz http://blogversity.com/?p=836 We all are familiar with mediocrity. It’s everywhere and growing rapidly. Here are seven reasons that are contributing to the alarming rise of mediocrity.

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]]> http://www.rajeshsetty.com/2011/10/25/7-reasons-for-the-rise-of-mediocrity/#ixzz1cBbowrdR/feed/ 0 What Happened to Downtime? The Extinction of Deep Thinking and Sacred Space by Scott Belsky | 99 Percent http://the99percent.com/articles/6947/what-happened-to-downtime-the-extinction-of-deep-thinking-sacred-space http://the99percent.com/articles/6947/what-happened-to-downtime-the-extinction-of-deep-thinking-sacred-space#comments Wed, 19 Oct 2011 03:45:43 +0000 Amitai Givertz http://blogversity.com/?p=796 Interruption-free space is sacred. Yet, in the digital era we live in, we are losing hold of the few sacred spaces that remain untouched by email, the internet, people, and other forms of distraction. Our cars now have mobile phone integration and a thousand satellite radio stations. When walking from one place to another, we have our devices streaming data from dozens of sources. Even at our bedside, we now have our iPads with heaps of digital apps and the world’s information at our fingertips.

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]]> http://the99percent.com/articles/6947/what-happened-to-downtime-the-extinction-of-deep-thinking-sacred-space/feed/ 0 The Essential Twitter Dictionary by Lauren Dugan | Mediabistro.com http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/the-essential-twitter-dictionary_b1205 http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/the-essential-twitter-dictionary_b1205#comments Sat, 13 Aug 2011 18:20:54 +0000 Amitai Givertz http://blogversity.com/?p=715 Whether you’re a Twitter power user or a nervous neophyte, there are some words you’ve just got to know in order to interact on Twitter. We’ve compiled the essential Twitter dictionary so you can tweet with confidence, @mention frequently, and sift through your followers and friends without getting them mixed up.

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]]> http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/the-essential-twitter-dictionary_b1205/feed/ 0 Drugs and the Meaning of Life by Sam Harris http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/drugs-and-the-meaning-of-life/ http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/drugs-and-the-meaning-of-life/#comments Wed, 13 Jul 2011 17:45:36 +0000 Amitai Givertz http://blogversity.com/?p=697 Everything we do is for the purpose of altering consciousness. We form friendships so that we can feel certain emotions, like love, and avoid others, like loneliness. We eat specific foods to enjoy their fleeting presence on our tongues. We read for the pleasure of thinking another person’s thoughts. Every waking moment—and even in our dreams—we struggle to direct the flow of sensation, emotion, and cognition toward states of consciousness that we value.

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]]> http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/drugs-and-the-meaning-of-life/feed/ 0 Multiverse = Many Worlds, Say Physicists | The Physics arXiv Blog http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/26787/?fb_ref=blog http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/26787/?fb_ref=blog#comments Mon, 11 Jul 2011 00:55:43 +0000 Amitai Givertz http://blogversity.com/?p=692 The many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics is the idea that all possible alternate histories of the universe actually exist. At every point in time, the universe splits into a multitude of existences in which every possible outcome of each quantum process actually happens.

So in this universe you are sitting in front of your computer reading this story, in another you are reading a different story, in yet another you are about to be run over by a truck. In many, you don’t exist at all.

This implies that there are an infinite number of universes, or at least a very large number of them.

That’s weird but it is a small price to pay, say quantum physicists, for the sanity the many worlds interpretation brings to the otherwise crazy notion of quantum mechanics. The reason many physicists love the many worlds idea is that it explains away all the strange paradoxes of quantum mechanics.

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]]> http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/26787/?fb_ref=blog/feed/ 0 2010 Ethics & Workplace Survey | Deloitte http://blogversity.com/2010/12/31/2010-ethics-workplace-survey-deloitte-3/ http://blogversity.com/2010/12/31/2010-ethics-workplace-survey-deloitte-3/#comments Fri, 31 Dec 2010 17:35:26 +0000 Amitai Givertz http://blogversity.com/?p=331 During challenging economic times, the relationship between employees and employers is often tested. Frequently, executives are forced to make decisions that broadly affect their workforces and alter what matters in the workplace. Today’s business environment is no exception; it appears that the recession has diminished two important forms of business currency: trust and ethics.

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]]> http://blogversity.com/2010/12/31/2010-ethics-workplace-survey-deloitte-3/feed/ 1 Hey, Facebook is a Country, Y’all… http://blogversity.com/2010/09/04/hey-facebook-is-a-country-yall/ http://blogversity.com/2010/09/04/hey-facebook-is-a-country-yall/#comments Sat, 04 Sep 2010 23:13:18 +0000 Amitai Givertz http://blogversity.com/?p=165 I remember watching Web 2.0 … The Machine is Us/ing Us and feeling at the end that something profound had just happened. That was in 2007, not that long ago really.  Around the same time I watched Shift Happens and was left similarly inspired by the rate at which my world was changing.

Here I am today watching the latest in the now degenerated genre of let-me-addle-your-brains-with-a-factoid-video and find myself asking, “So what?”


[Trouble viewing the video? Watch it on YouTube]

Okay, so another 100 hours of video just got uploaded to YouTube — so what? 78 percent of articles on Wikipedia are not in English — your point is? 34 percent of bloggers post opinions about products and brands — who would have thought it!

Of course, if all this data does have import, and my business will suffer for my not paying attention to it, I might as well slink off now, huddle up in the corner, and die. Ah, but then what?

]]> http://blogversity.com/2010/09/04/hey-facebook-is-a-country-yall/feed/ 0 The Global Village Gets Social http://blogversity.com/2008/07/28/the-global-village-gets-social/ http://blogversity.com/2008/07/28/the-global-village-gets-social/#comments Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:39:13 +0000 Amitai Givertz http://blogversity.com/?p=74 Interesting stuff from Universal McCann and their recently released report: Social Media Research Wave 3 [PDF]:

Universal Mccann International Social Media Research Wave 3
View more presentations from mickstravellin

]]> http://blogversity.com/2008/07/28/the-global-village-gets-social/feed/ 0 WorkFast TV: The Future of Work is as Boring as Hell http://blogversity.com/2008/07/12/workfast-tv-the-future-of-work-is-as-boring-as-hell/ http://blogversity.com/2008/07/12/workfast-tv-the-future-of-work-is-as-boring-as-hell/#comments Sat, 12 Jul 2008 12:11:56 +0000 Amitai Givertz http://blogversity.com/?p=72 Just posted on Social Disorders: Do Not Adjust Your Set on my Recruitomatic blog…

Particularly disappointing was Scoble’s self-confessed, web-enabled obsessive-compulsiveness and apparent delight at finding new ways to feed it. Rather than seek help for what most would consider a disorder it appears he finds all the solace he needs in a similarly unhealthy physical attachment to his computer. I could be wrong but it just struck me that way, very odd.

If you want to cut to the chase, here’s the video…

[Wassup, can't see it? Try WorkFast TV instead.]

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