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The AP is Changing the Way Their Reporters Use Twitter reports that the Associated Press (AP) is forbidding writers from sharing opinions in Twitter, including opinions of others through retweets. I understand AP wants to ensure its reputation for unbiased reporting remains intact.

My initial reaction was tripping over my jaw that had somehow landed on the floor. But the more I thought about it, the more I understood the concern. Let’s say you read an unbiased AP article about hydraulic fracturing. If the AP writer who wrote the story has a Twitter account and tweeted that the problems surrounding hydraulic fracturing are overblown, how would that affect the article? Future articles?

What if the writer makes no mention of writing for AP in his Twitter bio? When I tweet a link to a story, I often look up the writer for a Twitter ID to credit the person with writing the story. If I do that with the hydraulic fracturing writer and see opinionated tweets on the subject — could that reflect on AP and the writer?

As I think about this, I’m at a loss on the right way to handle this. With so much low quality, biased reporting today — maybe it’s necessary for AP to do it for the sake of integrity.

What do you think of AP’s actions? Are they exempt or should it apply to other publications? What about companies? Can employees be allowed to share opinions about competitors and their industry?

And now for your weekly links.

Brain food …

• Salvage Your Holidays with 15 DIY Christmas Ideas. Of course, good for any holiday. I do the bakin’ thing. Got a favorite recipe you’re willing to share? My top recipe is the chocolate mint cookies … everyone has this recipe, but I make ‘em anyway. I used to make fudge. I’m not sure why I stopped. I think I got wrapped up with raising three kids and didn’t bake for a few holiday seasons. Then, I decided to go the cookie and granola route.
• To Automate or not to Automate Your Personal Productivity System. Another great one from Lifehack that helps you figure out what you can automate and what you shouldn’t. I have templates for some of my clients’ invoices where the activity is the same, I just add in numbers or hours. I also have automated entries for expenses that repeat every month. I do not have automatic credit card bill payment set up, as I want to reconcile the bill before I scheduling payment.
• How to Curb Three Major Stressors in Life. This time of the year is both wonderful and stressful. Three things in my arsenal: Exercise, “no” and skipping something if it’s too much.
• 10 Business Cliches to stay far away from and why. “Content is king / queen” overused, too.
• These 18 Napkin Sketches Will Teach You Everything You Need To Know About Saving Money. Love these business / finance / personal sketches. Tells story in few words.
• Steve Jobs’ Influence on Our World. Nicely done interactive GQ chart …

For fun …

• Future Generations and Screen Names. True! I tried to get a Gmail ID for my son and nothing decent worked except using his unusual middle name, which he prefers not to do.
• Eyebombing. Not as weird or as gross as it sounds: “Humanizing the world, one goggly eye at a time.” Yep.
• 10 Craziest Christmas Tattoos. Ever wonder what Santa looks like when he’s Darwin? Wonder no more.
• Dear blank, please blank. Hilarious letters where users write letters using this format: “Dear … Please … Sincerely …” And now they’ve been turned into prints.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Meryl Evans

I’m grateful to live in a time and a place where we treat people for who they are inside not what’s visible.

Brain food…

• Authors: How to write a press release for your book: While press releases aren’t the best route for marketing a book, you can make sure that the PR you do is the best possible with these tips. [Link: Jane Friedman]
• How to Write Copy that Connects using a Tried and True Formula: One thing I work to do… avoid “we” or “company name” and make it about “you.”
• Social Media Measurement 2011: Five Things to Forget and Five Things to Learn: I love this article. It’s not your usual social media metrics article. For one, it says forget about following numbers. Agreed. People ask me, “How did you get so many followers?” That’s not the point. The point is whether they’re the right folks. Of course, if you’re looking for a social media expert and see a self-proclaimed expert with 20 followers — pass.
• My Favorite Question: Makes you think about a company’s strengths. “If brand dies tomorrow, and you had to deliver its eulogy, what would you say missed the most? What would make you genuinely sad?” This helps writers who work on content for companies.
• 5 Tips for Freelance Mentor Relationships: Some of you may have  gotten emails from newer writers asking for advice. At first, it may frustrate you because you’re thinking, “I worked hard by myself to get where I am. Why don’t you Google that?” True. But put a positive spin on it. The person contacting you sees you as a success and that you have the answers.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Should I Work for Free? Debated whether this was brain food or fun. It’s both. [Link: Karen Swim]
• Pac-Man Ghosts: Another mashup. Inky, Blinky, Clyde and Sue replaced by Waldo, Stormtrooper, Superman and Megaman.
• Apple’s Rise to Number 1 Infographic: How Apple went from Homebrew Computer Club to number one.
• 15 Funny Exam Answers: Makes me wonder how my teachers would’ve responded if I had given smart aleck answers. Probably just mark ‘em wrong.
• 10 Most Curious Birth Stories: I would’ve love to have a kid born in 09/09/99, 03/03/03 or 05/04/03 (missed by one week), but it wasn’t to be. Fascinating stories.

“Tuned in” explains the difference between Apple Newton’s failure and iPod’s success. Apple wasn’t tuned in when it created Newton, but when it promoted “1000 songs in your pocket,” Apple solved several problems: giving people a way to carry their songs in something small, making it easy to get songs from computer to iPod and creating a product that is easy to use.

Not all stories in Tuned In: Uncover the Extraordinary Opportunities That Lead to Business Breakthroughs come from big and innovative companies like Apple. In fact, we learn about a tuned in magician (one-person business), niche camera (not a well-known brand), StubHub and a company’s newsletter.

Many companies fail to ask prospects what problems they need solving. Instead, they create a problem and a solution that they think people need. An excellent example comes from Magnavox. Did the company think people needed more features on their TV sets?

No. Instead, Magnavox interviewed customers to find out what problems they had with their TVs. Sometimes customers don’t know that answer and it’s up to the tuned in company to help them figure it out. Through this process, Magnavox stumbled on a problem we all have (including my own household) — we lose our remotes on a regular basis (as hard as I try to teach my kids to put things back, they conveniently forget to do it).

So what does the company do? Added a button on its TV sets to locate the remote. Now I wish I knew about this before I bought my last TV. And this feature should become a standard for ALL TV-related products that come with a remote.

Some employees think talking to friends and family helps them tune in. But really, it doesn’t. They can’t always be the dream customer for a company’s products and services. Here’s where knowing customers enters the picture. When a company knows its customers well enough, it knows where to find them and interview them to tune in.

The book could use more examples especially of one-person or very small business stories like the magician who found his niche. The start of the book captivates, but then it drags by the middle as it falls in the trap of what some business books tend to do and starts spending too much time on its framework. The examples draws the reader in more than anything else.

For the most part, the Tuned In: Uncover the Extraordinary Opportunities That Lead to Business Breakthroughs is a fast and breezy read offering valuable insight into the six-step process for tuning in by using real-life examples.

• Title: Tuned In: Uncover the Extraordinary Opportunities That Lead to Business Breakthroughs
• Authors: Craig Stull, Phil Myers, David Meerman Scott
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISBN: 047026036X / 13: 978-0470260364
• Date: 2008
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 224
• Cover Price: USD: $27.95 / Amazon Price: $16.77

TechCrunch reports that Microsoft calls its next operating system (the one after Vista) Windows 7. Mickey comments:

I’d love to see them start using logical numbers again, but it doesn’t add up:

Windows 3.1 (“Windows 3″)
Windows 95 (4)
Windows 98 (5)
Windows ME/2000 (6)
Windows XP (7)
Windows Vista (8)
Windows 7 (9?)

I guess maybe if you call Windows 3.1 “Windows 1″ (since that was the first one that was any good), then it increments to the next version being 7.

This makes me wonder if Microsoft was influenced by Seinfeld’s George’s liking of “Seven” as a name for a kid. Hey, Jerry was in the commercials… so the connection could be there.

Numbers work most of the time in the software business, but not for many others. If Microsoft sticks with Windows 7 and proceeds to follow it with 8, 9, 9.5 (Photoshop 5.5 was a biggie) then it should work out fine as it has for Explorer 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

Look at Firefox — 1.x, 2.0, 3.0. Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X. But then Apple had to go and confuse us with Mac OS X Leopard (it’s Mac OS 10.5).

But for other industries, number names get lost especially in the automobile industry. I’m trying to come up with a couple of examples of cars using numbers (other than what I drive — guilty of a “letters and number” name with no words) and they’re not coming to me or I am not sure if I remember right (“Is it 30 or 31? Audi or Infiniti? Or maybe Lexus.”).

Yet, I can identify an Expedition and Suburbans and can tell you who makes each one (Ford and Chevy in that order). So is a GLX better than an LX because it has an extra letter? But what if it’s an SL? Which one is better? LX or SL? Some cars use names like Sport, Touring, Grand Touring. So is Sport the fully-loaded one or Grand Touring?

Good thing we couldn’t have had a V9 or V12. How would we distinguish those from a V8 other than they might contain more vegetables? Good thing the company stuck with V8 and expanded its product line around that name.

I’ve always thought telephone companies with initials just didn’t sound as powerful as those with a word or two in their names (MCI Worldcom does not count). Verizon and Cingular smartly dumped their initialized company names for memorable ones. Of course, Cingular went away with the merger and returned to initials.

Tried to find other articles on the topic, but with keywords like brand, number, names… not an easy task. Did find one good one: Counting on Your Brand’s Name.

What do you think of brand names with numbers and letters? Sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t? Doesn’t work without at least one identifier (like Windows or Explorer)?

• The Best Damn Web Marketing Checklist, Period!: Indeed!
• Freelance Writers and Referral Fees: Would You Charge (or Pay) One? I tried to thank someone for referring me to a new client and she wouldn’t accept it. I also don’t expect payment for referrals as like the article, networking goes a long way.
• Signing Client Contracts: When Negotiation is Futile: Excellent points of what to expect.
• What I’ve Learned About Writing From My Friends Online: Proof that participating in the blogosphere can be valuable.
• 30 Poems in 30 Days: I used to write lots of poetry while in school. Boy, I wish I put them on my Apple ][+ computer, then I might still have had them today.
• Wikibooks: “Community for creating a free library of educational textbooks that anyone can edit.”

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Cool Hunting: Hunting down cool things.
• U.S. Paralympic Team: I wish the games were on TV!
• GuysRead: Hilarious author Jon Scieszka (and a popular one in my household) started this site to provide book recommendations to guys of all ages. His list hits all the biggies in my household (two sons).
• TeenReads: Like Guys Read only for teens.
• Book Adventure: Motivates kids to read.

How many times did you complete a form only to push the “Clear” button instead of “Submit”? What about “OK” vs. “Cancel” on a popup window? (Raises both hands — one for each.)

Why does this happen? Do we expect one button on the left and the other on the right? Are they too close together?

Jakob Nielsen reports that Windows applications put OK first, Cancel second while Apple places OK last. In this case, he advises developers to design OK/Cancel based on the platform they design for. The above screen shot comes from Thunderbird in Windows. The below image comes from Microsoft Word.

For Web forms, I suggest using one button. Of course, circumstances may prevent that. For example, you’re completing an order and you’re on the last page. Ecommerce sites certainly don’t want to give you another button to cancel the order, but users need assurance that they’ve canceled the order by pressing “Cancel Order” rather than just closing the window.

From my experience, I tend to read popup windows and zip through Web-based forms. I always assume software developers don’t create their popup windows the same way. But online forms — that’s another story. Silly, isn’t it? We shouldn’t expect Web designers to create forms the same way either.

Here, Nielsen gives two guidelines that make sense:

• Name a button based on what it does. Instead of “OK,” consider “Yes” when the dialog box asks if you want to do something.
• Highlight the most often used button except in cases where the action is drastic (of course, I can’t think of an example at the moment).

I think one more guideline would help especially where Web-based forms come in:

• Avoid putting the buttons close together: This forces us to pay attention and lowers the incident of “mouse slippage” that causes us to accidentally select the wrong button.

Many of us hit “Enter” when we finish a form or to begin searching (after entering keywords). Take care to prevent the application from executing something big when someone presses “Enter.”

You have to give Microsoft credit for its Windows XP shut down dialog box as shown below. Three options appear (Stand By, Turn Off, Restart) and each in a different color (yellow, red, green respectively) plus a Cancel button in gray and away from the others.

As users, we should look closely these windows and form buttons. In our fast-paced and overloaded world, we forget. Hence, keeping buttons at a reasonable distance from each other can give us the visual cue to look at the buttons.

What works for you? What doesn’t work?

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Meryl Evans

The iPod has that certain something that leads its users to adore it like nothing before. People want nothing but an iPod. No substitutes even when the non-iPod has more memory, comes in your favorite color and costs over $100 less than an iPod. So how did the iPod earn this special treatment and the ability to compel people to say, “Cool” when they hold one?

A book cover in the disguise of an iPod, albeit on paper, still manages to ooze coolness though it isn’t the real thing. Scroll your finger over the cover’s button and scroll wheel and you can feel the smooth button extend slightly above the scroll wheel. Apple has established itself as a company that goes all out when creating a product, but there’s much more to the iPod story than people realize. The Perfect Thing explores many aspects of the story.

As a deaf person, I’m hardly the music lover who would take an interest in the iPod. I received the book as an abstract assignment and it gripped me from page 1 to the index. I received an iPod video for a gift (I do enjoy some songs that I pick up and learn by heart. Plus, I used it to listen to children’s books in audio to practice listening), but someone stole it.

While reading The Perfect Thing, I couldn’t help but order an iPod Nano straight from Apple’s Web site complete with my name engraved on its beautiful red skin. I also bought a cover to protect the iPod as I don’t like it when my gadgets get marks on them. But then I reached the part where Steve Jobs took offense to seeing Levy’s iPod covered up. Because of that, the beautiful red color and the way the aluminum felt — I took off the cover for good.

The chapters, like iPod’s shuffle feature, are independent and don’t go in a specific order except the first chapter. I don’t know if that’s true, as I haven’t seen another hard copy of the book.

“Perfect,” goes behind the scenes of iPod’s launch in October 2001, not the greatest timing after 9/11. “Download” covers the revolution of downloading and digitizing music including codec, MP3s, WinAmp, Napster and the record companies suing. “What makes an item cool?” sets the tone for the chapter titled, “Cool.” Can there be a formula for coolness? This chapter teaches great marketing lessons from Apple’s design, packaging and advertising of the iPod.

“Origin” returns to the iPod’s roots on its development and the things that came before iPod that affected the iPod’s creation. There’s a reason we use the word podcast instead of audiocasts when referring to audio feeds. “Podcast” visits the formation of citizen broadcasting from CB radio to podcasting.

People judge each other by the clothing they wear, they do the same by the playlists they carry in their iPods as “Identity” delves into the fashion statement of playlists. No one expected Apple to make a comeback, not even when Steve Jobs returned in 2000, and “Apple” touches upon the comeback and how Apple surpassed the market’s expectations. The iPod attracts thieves and the earbuds send a message to the public “to leave me alone” as the “Personal” chapter looks back at the Sony Walkman, the white earbuds, hearing loss and how users personalize their iPods.

The shuffle feature scrambles music hence the name for the cheapest and smallest iPod Shuffle. The feature is simple, yet the chapter on “Shuffle” offers fascinating insight into the possibility of a conspiracy behind the shuffle formula. Some people swear that some songs, artists and whatnot get more attention than others do. But everyone at Apple, including the engineers, says shuffle works randomly. Intriguing stuff anyway.

Marketers, iPod lovers, Apple lovers, Mac lovers, business people, technology people, gadget people. The book will appeal to all of them. After all, Levy writes, “The iPod is a pebble with tsunami-sized cultural ripples.”

Title: The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture, and Coolness
Author: Steven Levy
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 0743285220
Date: October 2006
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 304
Cover Price: USD: $25.00 Amazon: $16.50

Been reading The Perfect Thing, which covers everything you wanted to know about iPod from its origins to its popularity. Steve Jobs deserves much of the credit for the iPod’s existence and success. Jonathan Ive, who works for Jobs, also had a lot to do with the design.

The iPod has so much power that even my kids wanted iPods. My 13-year-old didn’t want another brand even though it could hold more music and came in more colors. So she received a 2gb black Nano. My eight-year-old originally didn’t care about the iPod — probably because he didn’t know of it. He was happy with his 6gb black Zen Micro.

Even Paul preferred the Zen over the iPod. I gave him an older iPod of mine and that thing didn’t last long before it died. But it was stolen first. The thief returned the iPod to his desk when the batteries died (strange, no?). My iPod also got stolen. Who wants an MP3 player that thieves love?

Now my eight-year-old wants an iPod, even a Shuffle like his friend’s. We told him the Shuffle doesn’t let him control songs and doesn’t hold as much music as the one he has. Talk about the power of iPod. My kids want the real thing. The original. THE MP3 player.

I recently got another iPod (since the company responsible made right on the stolen one), a beautiful red 4gb iPod Nano similar to the photo except it has white buttons instead of black. I like it more than the original 30gb video iPod. It’s lighter, prettier and feels good to hold. I’m not even a big music fan (hearing loss, you know) and I love looking at this thing plus I listen to music far more than I used to in the past.

The Zen Micros are nice, small and techno looking. But they don’t have the same feel and lightness as the iPod Nano. Apple took a lot of care into creating and upgrading the iPod. The company doesn’t simply design something to look pretty, but also cares about its functionality and operation. Something many tech companies don’t get.

The book gave many examples of how iPod boosted or renewed its owner’s love for music. Some owners treat their iPods like people or pets. One owner mourned the passing of her original iPod even though she replaced it with a new one.

No matter how the industry feels about Jobs, his fanatical attention to Apple’s products turns them into hits. And in the case of the iPod, Apple changed music and all Apple set out to do was sell iPods. That’s the power of marketing and attention to a product’s detail.