Ravenweb Blog

I heard this weekend of the passing of Sam Lloyd, who played the hapless lawyer Ted on the show. Sam Lloyd was very talented and funny, and one of the enduring secondary characters that made the show seem like a real close-knit community. My favorite Ted memory wasn't one of his comedic scenes but the end of the episode "My Way Home" (the one inspired by The Wizard of Oz) when Ted and his band sing a rooftop version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". RIP, Sam. Peons will assemble over the rainbow.

Music has always inspired and motivated, and it's been no different during this pandemic. Over the past month, this playlist came together as I was exercising or lying in bed at night. These are some of my favorite songs, old and new, that collectively shout and soar above the coronavirus. I've uploaded the playlist on YouTube and below is a list of the songs. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbsn1a1MJMq7ITnSS5qY8jF4fNyU3Orx- "Better Days" - Goo Goo Dolls   "Over the Rainbow" - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole "Don't Stop Believin'" - Journey "My City of Ruins" - Bruce Springsteen "Give a Little Bit" - Supertramp "Don't Give Up" - Peter Gabriel (with Kate Bush) "Things Can Only Get Better" - Howard Jones "Lean on Me" - Bill Withers "Livin' on a Prayer" - Bon Jovi "You Gotta Be" - Des'ree "Hall of Fame" - The Script (with will.i.am) "

Zucked is a sobering and important book for the stand it takes in calling out Facebook and major Internet platforms in how they are addictive by design, are eroding our privacy, and are susceptible to manipulation by bad actors threatening democracy.  I especially appreciated the coverage of filter and preference bubbles and the explanation of how and why modern online platforms can contribute to self-perpetuating beliefs and tribalism.  The author read widely about the subjects covered in the book and included a rich bibliography for further reading. Even if you don't read Zucked itself, I've included below some of the organizations, peoples, and books mentioned so you can explore. By coincidence or not, just one month after its release, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg published a lengthy blog detailing how Facebook will shift to become more of a privacy-focused communications platform . Organizations Center for Human Technology Common Sense Media - Non-profit

Today is Read Across America Day , and to celebrate the day I wanted to share what I'm reading now and recently finished. And, of course, Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss! Reading Now Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin Extreme Ownership is written by two former Navy SEALs and conveys leadership principles from battlefield experiences. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl This is a reread for me. For those unfamiliar, the book is Viktor Frankl’s memoir of life in Nazi concentration camps and focuses on how though we can't avoid suffering, we always have a choice in how we react to it. Recently Finished What Every BODY is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Speed-Reading by Joe Navarro and Marvin Karlins This was a useful and readable primer on understanding and reading nonverbal body language by a former FBI counterintelligence officer. Blubber by Judy Blume Judy Blume's classic about bullying is still as relevant today as it was

I'm excited to have been selected to present at Connect 2017, the premier social business and digital collaboration conference. This year, I will be co-presenting with Purvi Trivedi from IBM. Below is the description of my session: A Customer Success Story: Evolving Your Social Business to Efficiently Collaborate Externally Internal collaboration platforms like IBM Connections are increasingly being expanded to external audiences. Come to this session to learn how Superior Group has eliminated organizational boundaries and evolved IBM Connections to collaborate efficiently with a variety of external users, including customers, contractors, suppliers and business partners. We will showcase our external user deployment, discuss the initial involvement with legal and IT, and highlight the business value and use cases. We'll also share some of the technical challenges and successes. The session will provide valuable lessons learned for you to consider when planning and orch

I am excited to have been selected to present at Edge 2016, an IBM conference about solutions and technology for the cognitive era. Below is the description of my session: CLD-2194 : Building the Most Adaptable Workforce Vendor Management System Companies are outsourcing more and more of their workforces. To help companies manage their growing contingent workforces, providers have developed technology solutions, including the contingent labor Vendor Management System, or VMS. As technology has evolved and matured, so have the capabilities of VMSes and the expectations of business stakeholders using VMSes. Today's VMS must not only automate contingent workforce management, but provide an adaptable experience that's complex yet simple, with rich analytics and dashboards, integration capabilities, and cloud performance and reliability. Our session will demonstrate how Superior updated its VMS Work Nexus using IBM technology into a modern business application. Stream: A