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3 Words for 2016

January 1, 2016 By Greg Falken 4 Comments

For the past few years, I’ve been following Chris Brogan’s practice of coming up with three guiding words for the coming year. Chris wrote a post about his 3 words for 2016 but here’s the basic idea:

Pick any three words that will guide you in the choices you intend to make for 2016. They should be words that let you challenge yourself as to motives and decisions. They should be words that help you guide your actions.

The idea behind there being three words (and not five or seven or one) is that you can create a kind of “triangulation” between three words, such that they can stand alone and work together.

Sharing your three words gives them a little added impact and hopefully stimulates some discussion. Here are mine. I add a few words of explanation to them, so I don’t forget what I was thinking when I picked them.

Refine

I want to take a higher level view of what I can offer, extending the concept of humanizing technology. This may take the form of developing websites with higher standards of design, UI and UX. It may also apply to other, as yet undeveloped services.

Guild

One person cannot meet all needs. I want to collaborate with others who strive to bring their best efforts to their area of expertise.

Create

The making of new things must take place frequently. While I am most comfortable repeating patterns, this ultimately just uses up time. Find new things to create, refine them, and move on.

Your turn. Share if you want or just put them away for future reference. Do go back and look at them from time to time, so that they can help keep you on track.

Have a great 2016!

Don’t Militarize Our Sheriffs

April 20, 2015 By Greg Falken Leave a Comment

An open letter to Evan Royce, District 3 Supervisor, Tuolumne County

Dear Supervisor Royce,

I am writing to express my concern over the possible purchase of an armored vehicle for the Sheriff’s Department. I am concerned about the message it sends to the public and the attitude it may encourage within the Department. Policing is not the same as military operations and in recent times, confusion between the two has led to tragedy. I admit to having no first hand experience, either in police work or the military. However I am painfully aware of cases in which the police and the members of their community view themselves as armed combatants. Thankfully, I don’t think this is true in Tuolumne County and I wish to keep it that way.

I’d like to know what the designated purpose of this vehicle will be. In my view, SWAT operations should be limited to well defined, high risk situations such as hostage, active shooter or terrorist scenarios. Too often, SWAT teams are used to execute routine search warrants, essentially allowing the use of paramilitary tactics to conduct domestic drug investigations in people’s homes.

In many parts of the country, tensions between police forces and the communities they serve have never been higher. Well educated, affluent people are hesitant to become involved with or assist the police. Increasingly sophisticated weaponry has not made the public or the police any safer. Let’s make sure that our police and sheriffs are equipped to do the job that they’re charged to perform, not make them into an occupying force.

Sincerely,

Greg Falken

“Unbreakable” News Report and Theme Song

April 19, 2015 By Greg Falken Leave a Comment

If you’ve watched Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt on Netflix, you’ve probably had a hard time getting the theme song out of your head. If you haven’t watched, the show is kind of Mary Tyler Moore meets the Simpsons, with more gags per frame than anything in recent memory.

The song comes from a news report in the opening episode that sets up the entire series. Watch the interview with Walter Bankston (played by Mike Britt) and then watch the extended version of the theme. There’s a lot going on in there.

Find your lost phone by Googling it

April 16, 2015 By Greg Falken Leave a Comment

Self driving cars and Wi-Fi bearing balloons are all well and good but Google’s latest feature is one you can actually use. Now you can locate your (Android) phone simply by typing “find my phone” into the main Google search page. If you find that it’s nearby you can also make it ring to help locate it.

A couple of caveats: Your phone must be running the latest version of Google Search and you must be signed in to the same Google account that your phone uses when you do your search. You may also be asked to enter your password again before the location is displayed. Here’s my phone:

Originally published on webdancers.com

Three Words for 2015

January 1, 2015 By Greg Falken Leave a Comment

Rebuild

Return to things that I know, seeing them with fresh eyes. Returning to sole proprietorship with the intention of building a team who will deliver on the promise of excellent service.

Train

Keep working towards virtuosity. Discover new tools and perspectives. Share knowledge with others. Train my body to support me physically in my efforts.

Serve

It’s not about finding the best product to sell. It’s about being of service and offering the help that people need.