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SVUGA logoThe listing of Silicon Valley User Group Activities is now included as part of this SVCS.NET website.  You may still reach the listing at SVUGA.ORG or by clicking on either the logo at the left or on the 'Meetings' tab above.

The Fine Line

Innovation has got to be one of the most used, overused words in the 21st century.  No one simply produces a new, better product...they innovated, changed the entire industry.   They totally reshaped your universe while you were asleep last evening.  Innovation doesn't necessarily mean a new product/solution that will turn the earth on its ear.  It's a new, better way of looking at what you're using, doing in a totally different way.  Sometimes - ok lots of times - you look at what Apple, Samsung have done and you say "big deal."  But it's the elegance of what they achieved that you can use immediately and it feels as though you've always done it that way...that's true innovation at its best.    Read more... 

Believers

Twitter - 140 characters you can shoot from the hip with the blink of an eye (and people do) and hit your foot BAM!!!!.  The social media whatever has done a lot of good and brought embarassment to more folks than you can count.  We've got an account gathering dust somewhere but we're shy...bashful...quiet.  That and you just know some Twitterer will make the most of it and spread it around the globe at Internet speeds.  Guess Twitter can be fun but just remember if you're heavy into its use and proud of it, it's all about you.  If it was really meant to help folks then more companies would have people actually respond when customers have a problem/issue.   But it's so tough when they're busy Twitterin about...themselves!   Read more... 

FBI warns many won’t have Web access on July 9th

An estimated 330,000 people are going to lose Internet access on Monday, but it’s unlikely that they haven’t already been warned. Google, Facebook and many ISPs have been sending out alerts to users who appear to be infected with a malware Trojan known as DNSChanger.

To verify any particular computer’s status, users should visit http://www.dns-ok.us or http://www.dns-ok.ca (for the United States and Canada, respectively) for an automatic checkup. Additional countries and further information can be found at the DNSChanger Working Group’s site.

Green Boomers

Your grandparents probably retired at a respectable age, maybe your parents did as well.  But while today's boomers may be looking at retirement it's in the long, distant future.  There are a lot of reasons including feeling more youthful and a retirement fund that is upside-down.  In addition, companies are anxious to hang onto their most valuable resource - the accumulated experience and expertise.  Today's boomers not only focus on staying mentally, physically fit they also focus on staying abreast of and mastering our increasingly diverse, complex personal, home technologies.  Seems like they won't go quietly or gently... Read more...

Teens, Video

Someone probably told you once that TV would rot your brain well it didn't (hopefully) so it probably won't do the teens of today in either.  They sure get more video content than we did at their age.  They've got screens everywhere -- the theater for a date, TVs around the house, their iPads, their smartphones.   They've got all the channels including YouTube.  Sometimes they have the home set, tablet, phone going all at once on different "channels."  At some level they're even absorbing it all.

Boy they've got it so good...we guess!   Read more... 
 

Change Makers

Perhaps the most difficult position to fill in any company today is the head of marketing.  Sure there are a lot of people who want the job but finding the individual who's right for your organization is difficult.  It isn't how they look on paper.  It isn't how well they performed at their last job.  It's a mixture of hard and soft experience and expertise that helps them build a strong team of individuals who can determine what is beyond the horizon and can help the company achieve its goals.  The best marketing executives encourage and help people do more than they thought possible.  He/she lets people stumble, analyze their mistakes, learn and grow.  The best marketing person is known by the team he/she builds, keeps.   Read more... 

 

Social Media Mix

We know folks who swear social media was developed so that they could run their ads, their publicity in your social network of friends/family.  Sorta like their coming to your party, handing out sales brochures and waiting at the door to collect your orders.   But a few firms are finding that social media can actually change and improve their complete business model. It can bring all of the parties - suppliers, internal staff, channel partners, customers closer together.  It's called social business and will turn everything inside out...for the better for everyone.  It's way beyond you, your friends, your family, getting together online.  And it will be a whole lot different from most of the social marketing we see today.  It'll be an improvement just difficult for people who like control, authority.    Read more...

New Drupal Mini-Books

Packt Drupal MinibooksDrupal is an open source Content Management System on which developers can build everything from enterprise-grade applications and international e-commerce sites, to personal blogs.

Packt Publishing has just released three new Drupal books, but these books offer something slightly different from Packt’s large core Drupal portfolio. Packt’s Mini books are packed full with just the information you need on concentrated tasks or applications.

The New Ride

We can't buy the new things that are going to make our present things old-fashioned fast enough.  Every time we turn around there's a new something that a reviewer tells us with a perfectly straight face has wiped out our old stuff. In no time someone else tells us why the other expert is all wet and the stuff we've got is so much better than the passing fancy someone just introduced. 
Truth is if it works for you, does the job for you...it's right for you.  Problem is our new S3  and iPad 2 are so lightning fast they make our notebook feel sluggish and heavy.  So we can't wait for the newest ultrabooks to hit the physical and online stores.  Need one?   No.  Want one?  Darn right!  But folks stop with the intros...let us buy one then we can regret our decision.   Read more... 

Customer Satisfaction - A Metric for Success

Larry O'Connor of Other World ComputingOWC (Other World Computing) was recently named one of Chicago Business' Fast 50 List of Fastest Growing Companies for the third year in a row.  Larry O'Connor, founder and CEO, spells out how the 24-year-old company measures their success and growth in a two-part article on customer service and the metric he uses to determine success.  Read more... 

 

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