“That brings up another reason the office phone call is worth preserving: there’s no ready substitute for practicing the necessary summoning of courage for potentially fraught encounters. Advancing in business is often a matter of gaining capacity for confrontation; to the best of my knowledge, no one has ever had to steel herself before sitting down to type a tough e-mail message.”

How often the phrase “Just pickup the **** phone!” is heard from my lips. As an Amateur Radio operation I am a communicator. I have been trained for it. It is instinctive for me to begin spelling by phonetics (”charlie-fox-echo-alpha-zero-niner-gulf” as a I relay a password over the phone to a user). Hams are trained in emergency communications to count words, spell uncommon words and use standard phonetics. authenticate the message. Repeat back only what is unclear for speed but also for accuracy. It is not our job to interpret only to relay is often told. So to be sure you must communicate clearly and effectively when using the phone, like email and other forms of communication there is plenty of potential for error and misunderstanding.

In summary I am one of the biggest proponents around for digital communications but even this old geek recognizes the need to just pickup the phone and talk to someone once in a while. On this 132nd anniversary of Bell’s discovery let’s resolve to make better use of it.

Two major points I want to emphasize here:

“Synergy happens when two people [or companies] with profoundly different ideas are able to listen to each other respectfully and with real empathy for the other person’s position, enough to let go of their own preconceptions. When they do this people become creative, rather than defensive. And this is when an elevated, third way, can be established that is better than what either party started with on their own. Synergy is not about compromise. It is about creating a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. It is about creating third ways.”

and

“But getting two parties to reach the place where they can forego their own visions or demands and open up themselves up to the possibility that something entirely different might be possible is difficult. “It requires a great deal of confidence on each one’s part, and a willingness to be made vulnerable in ‘the letting go,’ “ Dr. Covey added.”

Good stuff! Go read it here

“Automated DOMEX software, however, actually has the power to improve privacy - not so much for the general public, but for people who are targets of investigation. Today there are far more disk drives to be analyzed than there are examiners to work with them. The result is delays that can both dangerously impede an investigation and damage the civil liberties of innocent suspects.”

I found this statement particularly interesting because normally one does not think of automated software as privacy enhancing but rather the opposite particularly when it comes to harvesting.

The proof remains to be seen by me how this will enhance privacy since privacy by definition means seclusion and isolation. We will just have to wait and see how this brave new technology (and policy) plays out.

“Even companies well outside the tech field are hiring software developers, multimedia experts and the like to help them store and sort data, maintain secure networks, develop business software and create Web marketing strategies.

As a result, demand for information technology workers is at a five-year high, according to Robert Half Technology…”

The pre-installed Wayfinder will let N810 users plot their current position on a map and see the direction and distance to any chosen location. Users can also browse detailed street maps; search for locations like addresses, Wi-Fi hotspots, and points of interests (POIs); and take advantage of associated web links and dynamic information, according to Wayfinder. The map application also includes access to free worldwide maps that can be downloaded directly to the N810 handheld.

Hmm.. does that mean one will not have access to the GPS device without this Wayfinder software getting in the way? If that’s true then that is a definite turn off for me and would be a deal crusher.

Update…. I found this FAQ from Wayfinder for the map software.

nokia.com/OS2008 has been released today offering information and novelties about the operating system of the Nokia N800 and N810 Internet Tablets, related services and compatible applications. The site is warming up with a basic introduction to the OS and its main features, plus a selection of recommended software. The site will grow in few weeks, when the Nokia N810 sales start and the OS2008 is made available for N800 users.