Vos Virtual Network

Bono turned 48 yesterday. Bono is the lead singer for the popular Irish rock band U2, and a prominent “human rights activist”. Bono was born on May 10, 1960. His real (family) name is Paul David Hewson. Bono has frequently used his fame as a rock musician — as a platform (or pulpit) — to proclaim the message of reconciliation, salvation, redemption, and the Year of Jubilee (canceling debts, and setting slaves free). The message is not always understood, but this has not seemed to hinder his huge success as a “Rock Star”.

To celebrate his 48th birthday, Bono had a small dinner party at Sass’ Café in Monaco. On the guest list: Brad Pitt, Monaco’s Prince Albert II and the Edge.

Bono was born to a Roman Catholic father and a Protestant mother during a time when Ireland was sharply divided among sectarian lines. Back in 1977 (the year I graduated from high school), in the city of Dublin, Paul (Bono) and “school friends David Evans (later ‘the Edge’), Larry Mullen, Jr., and Adam Clayton formed a band that would become U2. They shared a commitment not only to ambitious rock music but also to a deeply spiritual Christianity.”

In this YouTube video clip he talks about growing up when “Ireland was divided along religious lines”. He shares a few memories and says that “young people like me were parched for the vision that poured out of pulpits of black America, and the vision of a black reverend from Atlanta — a man who refused to hate, because he knew love would do a better job.” (See M.L. King video with U2-Bono song - In the Name of Love.)

Continuing in the video clip Bono says:

“These ideas travel you know [ideas about love, instead of hate] and they reached me, clear as any tune, and lodged in my brain like a song… and may I say it was the poetry, and the righteous anger of the black church that was such an inspiration to me, a very white, almost pink Irish man growing up in Dublin…. True religion will not let us fall asleep in the comfort of our freedoms. Love thy neighbor is not a piece of advice. It’s a command.”

Sources:

Youtube video clip of Bono speech at NAACP gathering (posted March 2, 2007) <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRY2sOiBZxI>.

“Bono.” Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 11-May-2008 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/860737/Bono>.

Tags: Africa, AIDS, Bono, justice, NAACP, U2, video

Star Parker, founder of the Coalition for Urban Renewal and Eduction ( CURE ), has written 3 books. Uncle Sam’s Plantation, published in 2003, is her second book. ISBN:0785262199

Prior to her involvement in social activism, Star Parker was a single welfare mother in Los Angeles, California. [ Wikipedia article about Star Parker ]

Back Cover Synopsis:

“America has two economic systems: capitalism for the rich and socialism for the poor. This double-minded approach seems to keep the poor enslaved to poverty while the rich get richer. In Uncle Sam’s Plantation, Star Parker offers simple yet profound steps that will allow the nation’s poor to go from entitlement and slavery to empowerment and freedom. Parker shares her own amazing journey up from the lower rungs of the economic system and addresses the importance of extending the free market system to this neglected group of people.”

Gary from Kansas City says: “This lady is bold and very aware of what is going on in America, especially in the black community. She is saying what everyone’s thinking but afraid to say.”

Jason Sheck says: “Growing up a ‘privileged white male’ allowed for me to become complacent and uninformed of America’s most significant social ills. Star Parker’s book has totally showed me the reality that people are facing everyday in this country.”

Tucker Anderson says:

Star Parker doesn’t hesitate to speak truth to power, since she has the credentials to do so. She has lived the self destructive and joyless life so prevalent in the welfare community and she has overcome incredible obstacles (often self imposed). Thus, while anyone can fairly disagree with her often controversial conclusions and recommendations, she clearly has the moral legitimacy to present them. These are insights invariably gained from personal experience and sharpened by an inquiring mind.

… the book describes the devastating effects of government dependency not from an academic perspective but rather through the eyes of someone who has escaped from the addiction which entraps so many individuals. The book is almost conversational in tone, yet provides many powerful philosophical insights and much well reasoned discussion. At times, some of the imagery created by the author’s prose almost becomes poetic. While I was familiar with both the author’s background and much of her philosophy, I still found the book both enjoyable and thought provoking.

Mr. Club Soda says:

… a once free people are inexorably drawn into the bondage of the nanny state and the soft bigotry of lowered expectations. Star Parker, a black woman who was once a slave to the cycle of welfare and abortion, calls it Uncle Sam’s Plantation, which is an apt description of the powerful force government’s endorsement of vice and misery has on regular people, and particularly the disadvantaged.

The book is also referenced in the International Journal of Public Administration, Volume 30, Number 1, January 2007, pp. 77-93

Abstract:

“African-American and Latino under-representation in the Information Technology (IT) industry appears to be perpetuated throughout institutions in society. An examination of the institutional and ideological social forces which arguably perpetuate the exclusion of African Americans and Latinos from greater representation in the IT field will be provided.”

Tags: dependency, diversity, empowerment, free market, welfare

Book Review

Facebook is a popular, fast growing, social networking website that combines the best of blogs, online forums, photo sharing, applications, and interaction among friends, and networks of people. The one thing it didn’t have until now was a user’s guide - in book form.

Facebook: The Missing Manual provides a very clear and entertaining introduction to the many fascinating things that Facebook has to offer. Written by E. A. Vander Veer, and co-published by Pogue Press/O’Reilly, in January 2008. (US$19.99) - ISBN 9780596517694

Why am I doing this book review? I met a publicist from O’Reilly publishing on - you guessed it - Facebook, and she asked for volunteers to review the book. So I got the book, and read it over several days on the commuter bus, and found it to be an easy read.

The book is a quality production, from an experienced author — with a comprehensive outline, and clear writing style; full of interesting tidbits, sidebars, and colorful illustrations. It faithfully follows the missing manual formula, with excellent layout and typography — and the result is a first-rate, quality, how-to-manual about getting started with Facebook. Spotrick, a blogger from down under, says the book exudes quality.

Topics covered: How to get started, creating your profile, help in Joining a network (business, geographic, city, country); finding friends, looking for people, college buddies and old acquaintances, viewing your friends, organizing your friends, responding to friend requests (or not); Sending messages to friends, and poking people (a Facebook phenomena). What it means to “write on someone’s wall”. How to stay in touch with friends through status updates, news-feeds, mini-feeds, RSS-feeds, notifications, subscriptions, etc. — and controlling what kind of information other people can see about you (privacy, security, etc.) There is even a whole chapter (chapter 13) dedicated to the topic of Facebook privacy concerns.

Other chapters: Chapter 6 - Participating in groups, finding groups, joining groups, creating groups, and participating in groups. (Note: personal observation of group behavior on Facebook… a lot of people know how to join groups, but very few know how to participate. ) Chapter 7 - Events and calendars; planning and event, or party; finding events, how to RSVP to an event, creating your own events and inviting people to join the event. (Note: I was looking for a little more help in chapter 7 and did not find what I was looking for. I had done a few event announcements to large groups in Facebook, and found that the Facebook software was very buggy — or network congestion at the Facebook server farm caused the trouble on several occasions — and it took three attempts to mail an invitation to all the people in my group (over 900 people), because the system kept timing out. Some things on Facebook work very well with smaller groups; less than 200 people - but not large groups with thousands of people … and I was hoping “the missing manual” would help me out on this.) Chapter 8 - Going shopping, placing an ad, finding stuff, answering ads. (Note: this was something I had overlooked on Facebook, and looks like a feature I need to explore more.) This was a helpful chapter. Chapter 9 - touches on business topics like recruiting people for a business, gathering prospects, looking for a job. Chapter 10 - talks about using Facebook for collaborating on business projects, setting up meetings, exchanging ideas, and exchanging files. Chapter 12 - All about Facebook applications, and customizing your settings. As stated earlier Chapter 13 covers security and privacy issues, and does a reasonable job of explaining how the interface works, and how to adjust your personal profile settings. This chapter alone might be worth the price of the book, if you are concerned about this issue, and are confused or bewildered by it.

Potential audience: This might not be the best book for the millions of people who were already using Facebook (eg, college students - they already know how to use facebook) but it is probably a helpful book for the millions of people who are still joining Facebook. High-schoolers, or college-agers that need to understand how Facebook security actually works, might benefit from this book. But the biggest audience for this book, might be the millions of people over 30 (and the grandma, granddad crowd) that are now joining Facebook in droves. (Personal note: I am a 49 year old grandpa-type.) Lots of older business people might really benefit from reading this book, if they are a little timid about social networking websites, and need some support.

This book is an introduction, or a beginners guide. It does not cover some topics in depth, and does not attempt to cover topics like how to write Facebook applications. (Perhaps OReilly will publish other books like: How to Write a Facebook Application.) This book is a user’s manual; like a tourist guide for someone traveling through Facebook-land. Enjoy the journey.

What other are saying about the book:

Mantex says…

When you’ve posted all those snaps of yourself getting drunk at the parties - did you know that it’s quite difficult to take them down again just before that vital job interview? If you’re going to use Facebook and take it seriously, you need a guidance manual, and there hasn’t been one - until now…. takes you through the whole process, step by step, from registering and creating your profile to joining networks and finding friends. And every one of those steps is spelled out in a commendably clear manner.

Duffbert says in his random musings - recommending this book…

So let’s say you’re someone who hasn’t dabbled much in the Web 2.0 world, and you’re wondering what all this talk of Facebook is about. Or, you’re a parent and you’ve heard media reports of how dangerous Facebook can be for your kids if they’re not careful. If you want to get a overview of the site without getting totally bogged down in the details once you log on, Facebook: The Missing Manual is a good option to pursue. You’ll find out the reality of what Facebook offers, why people find it appealing, and what sort of security matters you should keep in mind as you (or your kids) establish a presence there.

Tags: book, book review, facebook, How To, social network

Today is my 40th year remembering Dr. King, who was killed when I was a young boy — and I still love to hear the stories about M.L. King and his concern about being a person of character, and raising up people of character, who will stand against all kinds of hate, and bigotry; and stand for what is good, and right.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was one of the pivotal leaders of the American civil rights movement. He became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–1956) and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (1957), serving as its first president. His efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. Here he raised public consciousness of the civil rights movement and established himself as one of the greatest orators in U.S. history. In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee.

Pause a few moments and review a video tribute to Dr. King.

Tags: character, civil rights, History, martyr

Quick update. The DWWS group on Facebook is now over 1100 members — in less than 2 weeks. Members are from more than 45 different countries. Everyone is talking about Web Standards.

Update (11-Apr-2008): the  DWWS group  is now over 3000 members.

Tags: book, DWWS, facebook, group, social network, Web Standards

Last Saturday, I started a Designing With Web Standards group on Facebook. You might be familiar with the book, by Jeffrey Zeldman, Designing With Web Standards. I’m happy to report that (as of this writing) over 600 members have joined in the first week, from all over the world.

Members are from the following countries, or regions: Australia, Belgium, Belize, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Haiti, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, UK, USA, Venezuela, etc.

Please join us as we are talk about HTML, CSS, JavaScript, ECMA-script web standards in the Facebook discussion forum.

Tags: book, CSS, facebook, HTML, Web Standards

Back in July, I began an article on How to Manage Your Blogroll. Managing your blogrolls and managing your RSS-feeds is really all about “staying in touch” with wonderful, intelligent, funny or witty people. Be careful who you delete. Be careful who you add. It’s all about reputation. It’s about the global conversation, and taking a ride on the ClueTrain. It’s all about loving and respecting people. It’s all about the cycles of life, your circle of concern, and your circles of influence. It’s all about listening more than you talk.

God gave us two ears and one mouth, to remind us to listen more than we talk. My blog roll is full of links to many people that I have never met-in-person. I may disagree with some of the things they write, but I love and respect them all.

So, I was talking about various rules you might use — to know when to delete blogs from your list. Is there a book on blogroll refactoring? How do you know when to delete a link from your blogroll?

Tags: blogging, blogroll, blogs, community, conversation, listening, refactoring