I Have Questions, Do You Have Answers?

I have not had a chance to update my Blog in a while and wanted to get something up. I was trying to think, “What can I blog about?”

I came up with nothing. Soooooo, I thought I would pose a few questions and see if I can get some ideas about what to write.

What is your favorite online video (YouTube, Hulu, Veoh, etc…) service?

Do you use a similar micro blogging service to Twitter (Laconica, Jaiku, Pounce, etc…)? If so, how do you use it?

Do you use an online storage site for storing things like files or backups? What site?

What is your favorite online image storage website (Flicker, Picasa, Photobucket, Shutterfly, ect…)?

Is there any online technology that you would like to know more about? I love researching tech, so if you have something that you want to know more about or something I can blog about that people might find interesting please let me know.

Mail Goggles. Don’t Drink and Email

 

For all those people (like me) that think Google is hilarious, well they have done it again. Google has launched Mail Goggles. 

 

The officail line from Google 

“Google strives to make the world’s information useful. Mail you send late night on the weekends may be useful but you may regret it the next morning. Solve some simple math problems and you’re good to go. Otherwise, get a good night’s sleep and try again in the morning. After enabling this feature, you can adjust the schedule in the “General” settings page.”

Basically this service will deter Gmail users from sending emails in a less that sober state. Once you turn on Mail Goggles, if you attempt to send an email between the hours of 10:00PM to 4:00AM (default time) you will be prompted to answer five math questions wi Emailthin a set time limit.

Unless you turn into Steven Hawking after a Guinness or two, this means it will be harder to send that late night drunken email telling your boss what you really think.

Although this has to be one of the funniest things I heard in a while, I do think this type of precaution can make the Internet better in the long run. Imagine if you are on your favorite forum and they implement this type of functionality. Imagine how many of the eight years old Trolls out there would be out of luck if they had to answer simple math questions.

New College Graduate Desperately Seeking Progressive IT Environment.

Until about three weeks ago, I had never heard the word millennial used in the context of referring to a specific group people. I first heard the word when I was in an hour long IT session, Web 2.0 Technologies. The presenter used the term millennials to describe college students who will be entering the workforce looking for the same functionality they use on the web to help solve business problems. Like most cliché technology words (solutions, beta, streamline, The Cloud, ect.) I’ve heard over the last three years, I did not pay this one any attention. Now, everywhere I turn, this word is working its way in to the business vernacular. It seems now that word is really starting pick up some steam. It will not be long, if it has not happened already, before we see Rick Sanchez twittering and talking on CNN about millennials.

If you are not sure what a millennial is then, join the club. Millennial is another name for Generation-Y. Depending on where you look you will find different number, but basicly millennials are anyone born between 1977 to 1998. These are today’s teens to early thirty something’s that have grown up in the internet age. Some key attributes of this group are the early adoption, multitasking, no brand loyalty, and the need for on demand services. Most millennials care more about functionality, simplicity, user collaboration while appearance is secondary.

A recent article I read in Computer World magazine, Vol. 32, Number 38 (September 22nd 2008), pushed me to write this post. The publication dedicated two pages about how “Millennials Demand Changes in IT Strategy.” This article talks about a new generation of internet savvy users who are more likely to work for companies that take advantage of progressive web 2.0 technologies. It the same regard, companies that have strict policies are likely to lose talented young workers.

Herein lies the problem, if you are an upstart business with minimal data restrictions building a mobile and dynamic environment, attracting young talented workers is easy. There are many pitfalls for government funded state organization . The major issue for this type of change is security. Government organization cannot sacrifice security for usability. There are so many restriction that have been legislated on government agency to protect information it is virtually impossible to get anything done due to the fear of being sued or in violation of outdated government mandates.

Very soon this governmental inability to progress forward is going to lead to a bigger issue than security. It was hinted in the Computer World article that the lack of hiring young talented replacements will come to a head as soon baby boomers start retiring. This mass exodus of institutional knowledge coupled with the fact that most of the talented college graduates are not looking to work for the government is going to crush the public sector within the next ten to fifteen years. As the pace of information moves steadily faster and faster, government Information Technology departments are doing all they can to stay afloat. With budget crises across the county, any type of progressive projects or recruitment within State and Federal government IT is limited. The fact is that millenials, who may be able to find solutions to upcoming technology issues, are going in to the private sector because of the antiquated policies of government. This is the basic “Catch 22″ that need a solution now, not later!

What are your thoughts on the state of Government IT or millenials?