Undead

A quick survey of popular fiction is enough to give one the impression that Zombies are all the rage.

There are video games like Left 4 Dead, Resident Evil or even Plants vs. Zombies. There are movies like 28 Days Later, Dawn of the Dead, or even Shaun of the Dead. The mere fact that comic book-turned-television-series The Walking Dead enjoys such critical acclaim is perhaps the best possible sign that Zombies have gone mainstream.

What to make of this? That Zombies make for great entertainment, sure; yet more than this, maybe that we are just a tad engrossed by the idea that one day the Zombie apocalypse will occur, allowing the dead to once again roam the earth.

I was thinking about this recently because it struck me how a lot of people appear to get through their days like soulless zombies.

It happens to the best of us. Sometimes, we just get caught up in the day-to-day that we lose sight of the bigger picture and end up doing things by rote or routine. We become drones who follow the manual because that's what we're expected to do, and sometimes we forget that our work is more than just a job to do -- that it's actually an opportunity for each of us to make a difference. Devoid of enthusiasm, we lose our sense of purpose and meaning, and just go through the motions like empty vessels because, really, we're simply waiting for it all to be over.

So in many ways the Zombie Apocalypse is already upon us. As such, I would surmise that, just like in the movies, it's the few who have the tenacity to fight against it that will come out heroes in the end.

MacBook Air = Presentation Lemon

For the most part, my 11" MacBook Air (MBA) has lived up to expectations. Its balance of processing power and ultraportability still make it a compelling laptop to own for both office and personal use.

But there is one critical area in which it fails spectacularly: presentations.

One reason I took the plunge with the MBA was that it looked like the perfect presentation device. As a heavy Keynote user, I welcomed anything that would be more powerful and lighter than my trusty yet failing PowerBook G4. So on these accounts the MBA seemed ideal.

Until I hooked it up to a projector and found my slides too dark to see.

The first time it happened, I thought the issue was the projector's bulb. But then it happened to me again. And again. It was like a crapshoot: I'd hook up the MBA to a projector at one venue and everything would be perfect; but at a different venue my slides would once again be unreadable -- despite the fact that other laptops would have no projector issues. The problem has gotten so bad, in fact, that I've now made it a point to have a PDF copy of my presentation with me in case I'd have to present off a Windows laptop (using Adobe Reader...in fullscreen).

It turns out that this is an issue that has plagued the MBA line of laptops for some time. Had I known, I may have gone with a MacBook Pro instead. But the genie's already out of the bottle.

Some people I know have suggested that the MBA's graphics card might be underpowered. On various discussion boards, the single most common piece of advice offered by people who have encountered the same problem involves tinkering with the MBA's color calibration settings (which, from my experience, doesn't really help much). For my part, I've noticed that the problem doesn't manifest itself with all projectors; anecdotally, I've experienced the issue with Epson and Sanyo ones, but not with Toshiba and Panasonic units.

But that's neither here nor there. No one should have to worry about calibrating color settings each time they connect to a projector, and it would be the height of impracticality to identify which units work best with a MBA (if not to get one for its exclusive use). So unless Apple manages to develop a software fix for this problem, the inescapable conclusion is that the MBA is for all intents and purposes a lemon when it comes to presentations.

Alas, caveat emptor.

Philippine Politics and Governance

Teaching Philippine politics and governance was particularly memorable for me: it was the first course I ever taught in my brief stint as a teacher.

I published my last lecture slide deck from that course on this blog last week. For those of you who haven't been keeping up with the irregular posting schedule of these slides -- or if you just need a crash course on the subject -- I've got you covered:

1. Overview: What is Politics?
   
   
2. Basic Political Concepts
   
   
3. Philippine Political Culture
   
   
4. "Guns, Goons and Gold"
   
   
5. State, Government and Constitution
   
   
6. Philippine State Policies (Article II of the 1987 Philippine Constitution)
   
   
7. The Philippine Bill of Rights (Article III of the 1987 Philippine Constitution)
   
   
8. The Legislative Branch of Government (Article VI of the 1987 Philippine Constitution)
   
   
9. The Executive Branch of Government (Article VII of the 1987 Philippine Constitution)
   
   
10. The Judicial Branch of Government (Article VIII of the 1987 Philippine Constitution)
    
    
11. Accountability of Public Officers (Article IX of the 1987 Philippine Constitution)
    
    
12. Corruption
    
    
13. Bureaucracy and Bureaupathologies
    
    
14. Elections and the Philippine Electoral System
    
    
15. Media and Politics

Going It Alone

Frustration often compels us to conclude that "if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."

There's only one problem with this line of thinking: competence doesn't scale.

Or at the very least, it only scales up to a point. Sure: if you're intelligent and talented, you're probably the best person for the job. Maybe even jobs. But there will come a point when, juggling so many things at once, the wheels will simply start coming off.

Economists call it diminishing returns. But perhaps it's merely the all-too-often taken for granted corollary of going it alone: "if you want something done wrong, do everything only by yourself."

Moonwalking

Why is it we can put a man on the moon but we cannot:

Put an end to poverty.

Stop climate change.

Find a cure for (insert disease here).

Conquer the business cycle.

Stop cruelty, discrimination, and meanness in whatever shape and form.

Win the war on terror once and for all.

Find a better alternative to daylight savings time.

Defeat all computer viruses.

Put an end to traffic jams.

Really build a better mousetrap.

Give all people anywhere in the world access to clean water and electricity.

Put an end to dropped calls.

Replace paper currencies with purely electronic ones that won't require exchange rates (or loose coins).

Build a camera that only takes beautiful photos.

Manufacture fabrics that are at once machine washable, non-iron, stain- shrink- and fade-resistant.

Develop a foolproof means to overcome jet lag (besides "don't travel").

Find all the "other socks".

Be happy.

Why?

Maybe the conspiracy theorists are right and the moon landing was just an elaborate hoax.

Top Ten Uses for Facebook

1.) To waste your time.

2.) To waste your time.

3.) To waste your time.

4.) To waste your time.

5.) To waste your time.

6.) To waste your time.

7.) To waste your time.

8.) To waste your time.

9.) To waste your time.

10.) To waste your time.

The Site's Having a 'Moment' [The Internet Is Down]

Came across the following error message over at lonelyplanet.com:

Great uses of colloquialisms in the message (i.e., "having a 'moment'" and "no joy"). I think it humanizes the glitch very well, making it much easier for the site's visitor(s) to forgive the inconvenience.

Unfortunately, I encountered the error message while surfing on my phone and haven't been able to recreate it on my browser (no matter how I try to game the site). But here's a more complete view of the error message provided by Google's cache of the page:

Personally, I find the accompanying photo amusing, too. But that's just me.

[Confused about The Internet Is Down? Then read the first in the series.]

Evil Plans

Hugh MacLeod is angry.

He's angry that so many people just don't realize their potential. He's angry that far too many people are stuck running in place, oblivious to the fact that they're addicted to the lifestyles their jobs afford without having the time to actually enjoy them. Most of all, he's angry about how people just settle, when in fact they can be doing what they're good at, what they love, what really matters.

So he's written a book to help people come up with their own "Evil Plans" to break from the drudgery and do something meaningful with their lives -- and it is deliciously, deviously compelling.

Like his massively successful first book, Evil Plans is again a collection of thoughts and cartoons with MacLeod's undeniable wit and humor, this time urging people to go be successful on their own terms. It's not simply about autonomy and entrepreneurship (though MacLeod clearly has a bias for both). But the underlying message is how every person can do what they have always wanted to do, be what they have always wanted to be, and make the difference they have always wanted to make by deciding to take the plunge -- realizing it will be difficult, but doing it anyway.

Hugh MacLeod is correct: everybody needs an Evil Plan; in fact, most people already have one. In this unexpectedly inspiring book, he not only explains why, but also urges anyone willing to listen to carry theirs out.

[Above image by Hugh MacLeod, via the Gapingvoid newsletter.]

Media and Politics [Presentation Thursdays]

View this presentation on Slideshare

The last set of slides from my days lecturing on Philippine politics and governance. This is a rudimentary slide deck on media and politics.

I'm particularly happy about the aesthetic of the opening slide. Simple joys, that.

[Confused about Presentation Thursdays? Then read the first in the series].

Price, Upsized

In case you haven't been paying attention, prices of coffee at Starbucks in the Philippines have gone up.

It used to be that a tall latte would cost an even Php 100 -- a convenient amount, to be sure, since there does exist a peso note in just that denomination. If only for that reason, you'll always catch me ordering some variation of the tall latte each time I'd visit a Starbucks.

But I ventured into a Starbucks over the weekend and was surprised to find that my trusty latte costed an additional Php 10 more -- inconvenient, to be sure, since I'd now have to pay with both a note and a coin. Naturally, this price adjustment wasn't limited to just the tall-sized drinks, but across the board for all drinks on the menu.

Yet what's interesting to me is how Starbucks has managed this change. When I ordered my usual (now ten percent more expensive) tall latte, I was treated to a complimentary upsize for my drink. So was everyone else: anyone who ordered a drink was given a similar upgrade to the next bigger size at no extra cost. The baristas made it a point to inform each customer that this offer was for a limited time only (it ran its course on March 6th).

On balance, it's a pretty simple and savvy move. In the short term, customers get used to paying the incrementally more expensive price and feel they're getting a discount in the process. With enough word of mouth, this promo might even have resulted in more business for Starbucks while in effect, especially among the caffeine-dependent crowd. On the other hand, customers are bound to forget about both the price increase and the promo in the long run; yet for those who remember, the resulting goodwill is priceless.

Starbucks is known for a variety of gimmicks aimed at engendering customer loyalty: free coffee when a new branch opens, baristas trained to remember your choice of drink at branches you frequent, and in this case a complimentary upgrade of your drink because they've raised their prices. There's no denying that these are only small gestures for the company; yet they are effective ones that make good business sense precisely because they strike a nerve in the consumer psyche.

Poke the Box

The question Seth Godin asks in his latest effort is both deceivingly simple and profoundly important: What have you started lately?

Poke the Box is a manifesto about taking initiative. It is a call to action for people to get over their inhibitions and get out of their own way and instead get out there and do something meaningful with their lives. And it's not just about kicking things off only for the sake of doing so. Rather, it's about getting started on projects with a reasonable expectation of success instead of setting out on mission impossible, about putting in the work rather than just phoning it in, about realizing that sometimes you do have to put yourself in a position to fail fast in order to succeed faster.

Certainly, these are themes that Godin has been espousing in much of his recent work. Yet, Poke the Box conveys this message with undeniable urgency, and is worthwhile reading for anyone who aspires to do things that matter. The message is crystal clear: Poke. Prod. Get started. Try stuff out. True: the worst that could happen is that it just won't work out. But you can always start over. And who knows? You might just accomplish something amazing.

Foolish

When people are afraid to try, it's not failure they're afraid of per se. Rather, it's failing and looking like a fool in the process.

The fact of the matter is, no one likes to be remembered as the one who snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, who choked during crunch time, who fumbled what should otherwise have been a sure thing. The fact that failure follows from each we can live down. But being remembered by people we know as the fool who pissed it all away -- being that guy -- is something we can't seem to abide.

So rather than stick one's neck out when it can make a difference, the default reaction is to duck and cover, and prepare to watch the train wreck that can only result in another person crashing and burning like a fool.

What's ironic is that these are the same people who have no qualms about the fools they make themselves out to be on their blogs and social networking sites. These are the same individuals who worry about looking like an idiot in front of their boss and co-workers but have no reservations uploading silly photos of themselves or posting mundane stupidities about what they're eating, wearing or buying. The difference, however, is that the latter behavior is actually rewarded by one's "friends" with comments, "likes" or "shares", creating an ever-increasing spiral of shallowness, fickleness, and ultimately, foolishness.

No one suffers fools lightly. Yet sometimes we are bigger fools than we care to admit.

The Dragonfly Effect

First things first: no, The Dragonfly Effect isn't about how an insect, flapping its wings in the tropics, causes a hurricane at some location on the opposite hemisphere of the world. All things considered, though, that wouldn't be too far off a description for a book that isn't about chaos theory.

Rather, The Dragonfly Effect is about how people, under the right circumstances, can make effective use of available technologies -- particularly social media -- to achieve goals much larger than themselves.

Jennifer Aaker and Andy Smith's book derives its title from the fact that the dragonfly is the only insect that can move in any direction when its four wings work in concert. As applied to social psychology, Aaker and Smith submit that individuals can be successful at motivating others to work towards a cause and wage successful campaigns with the proper focus, and when using right tactics to grab attention, be engaging, and ultimately take action.

Strategies for effective social campaigns have become a popular subject in both academic and business circles, with many a book purporting to offer its own unique laundry list of ingredients required for success. In this regard, The Dragonfly Effect is different because it is, in its own way, unpretentious. Notwithstanding the four-fold strategy outlined by the authors in keeping with the dragonfly's wings motif, Aaker and Smith present less of an itemized how-to guide to successful social media campaigns and more of a framework discussed by way of storytelling, referencing short cases to drive their points home. That the authors persistently adopt design thinking in their discussion as a means for readers to better absorb the rationale behind their ideas is also a noteworthy approach that adds to the book's appeal.

In all, The Dragonfly Effect is light and enjoyable material on social psychology and social media. Read it and learn something about how to focus, grab attention, be engaging and take action that will lead others to support worthy causes you believe in.