Thierry Breton, CEO of Atos (one of Europe’s largest information technology services companies), is going to ban his staff from sending each other emails. He said it’s a waste of time and outdated form of communication. Apparently he wants this new  “zero email” policy to be in place within as early as 18 months! He argues that only 10% of the 200 average emails his employees get each day turn out to be useful. Instead of email he’s pushing for instant messaging and Facebook style communications (status updates, notifications, etc).

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Could your company survive without email? When I look at my email I see a lot of the following items:

• Corporate news notifications
• Nags to do things I haven’t done yet (from various systems)
• FYI emails

What if we took all of our “notifications” and “nags” and plugged them into an employee Facebook-style “homepage” (along with some embedded experiences to handle the notification without leaving the homepage)? What if your travel approvals displayed on the homepage and when you hovered you saw the full request – and better yet you had the accept/reject links right there (handle without leaving the page). Might that be more efficient and make email more meaningful?

I think having a company sponsored no-email day to raise awareness of what email is useful for – and to experience how much more we might be able to get done would be very interesting! Wouldn’t you love starting the week with a no-email Monday?

In 2003 I found myself in the job market (not by choice) and rethinking my career options. I decided to take my passion for coffee up a notch and learn about roasting, espresso preparation, and small retail business. At the end of the day I decided to stay an IT guy, but I became significantly more caffeinated in the process. I’ve also learned a few things along the way. I’ve never been much of a “detail” guy and even less of a process/measurement type of person.  To me details have always been boring and the idea of measuring things to improve was about as motivating as a poke in the eye. Comically what I found on the journey to the perfect espresso shot was a path of details and refinement – and some unexpected tools.

Background : Espresso is a small thick dose of coffee made by passing near boiling water through finely ground coffee under pressure. The flavors you find in the cup (or shot) are very concentrated. Some people like it; some people ruin it by creating Pumpkin Spice Lattes (just kidding). In case you are interested, a double shot of espresso in your latte typically has less caffeine than the average cup of coffee (2 ounce shot in 12 oz Latte ~ 100mg , 12 ounce coffee ~ 200mg <varies>).

So how do you know if the Espresso you make is “great” if you are diluting it with milk? You don’t – you drink it straight or diluted in several ounces of hot water (called an Americano). My first shots were light colored and bitter (not good bitter, spit-it-out-fast bitter). After practice, I got something that was decent and made espresso drinks for friends and family that were pretty good.

Several months later, I went to the National Coffee Association show in Chicago to see the latest coffee happenings and take some training. In the vendor hall checking out equipment a guy pours me an espresso with a new kind of  portafilter (the thing the coffee goes in) that has NO spout on the bottom (called a bottomless portafilter). See the difference?

I was mesmerized with the soft-serve ice-cream like flow of the coffee from this new device. The barista called it “naked extraction” because you can see the whole process. The spout hides important details about how even the tamp was and the thickness of the liquid.

Can you say Christmas gift?  Christmas morning I start with my new filter – waiting to see my new amazing espresso pour out. What do I get? I get coffee shooting out in different directions making a MESS. Maybe my espresso isn’t as great as I thought?

Remember, I’m not a detail guy so at this point I’m thinking, “too much work, put it in the trash”. Instead, I went back to my technique of grind, tamping, etc. and carefully taking notes on the results. I tried quite a few times (more than pride will allow me to mention) before I got it down. You can see the difference below, and boy could you taste it.

Now I was quite perplexed. Behind this little spout was hidden all information I needed to make “perfect” espresso. So for years I’d brushed off measurement and analysis and now through a very simple example I saw the beauty of improving through measured observations. I’ve since applied this new appreciation to my roasting of espresso beans – a longtime frustration, and achieved great results.

So I learned in some small things (but important to me) the value of measuring, tracking, and getting feedback. I’m still learning on how to apply that to my work. Unfortunately, I’m the type that has to see the value in something before I have any motivation to even entertain doing it. Going forward I’m going to tackle new things by simplifying them and trying them in a way more relevant to me.

I see a lot of crazy metrics to measure things in the workplace, I’m not always sure they are meaningful – as a matter of fact most of them make me cringe. I’ll try not to let that deter me in the future from finding that valuable raw data to improve.

I’ve been on a journey to migrate my “stuff” to digital – and most recently to the cloud. My last holdout was the trusted journal/notebook. I think I’ve turned the corner here and will share story from my new iPad notebook (forgive the handwriting, it’s never been my strength).

If you’ve been considering the same all I can say is, “TRY IT!”.

Yet another nifty thing for small websites from Google. Web Elements let you magically weave in content to your site with carefully crafted iframed widgets.

I’ve used the search/news widget on several sites and it works great! Anywhere you can embed some HTML you can use these widget.

Read More and Try it out

Not really.

I get an average of five election phone calls a day and over half a dozen letters in the mail (nice big color ones). Most all of them are negative, but I’ve learned a new trick to figure out what people are for based on the bashing. One fiscal conservative I plan to vote for is accused of wanting “guns in schools”. I’m guessing that means he supports our current state law, not that he wants tweens packing heat at the local middle school. The same guy is labeled as a puppy hater. A puppy hater? Well there is a big fight over a new law to stop puppy mills (I guess all the ones we have aren’t enough yet). Because of the two party system my options get pretty narrow after the primaries. I’m sure people in politics would tell me this is all part of the process of our democracy. Just like the founding fathers imagined it right? … well we aren’t supposed to talk about them anymore.

The way I see it the majority of people representing us are part of a political system we don’t really understand  and it’s broken. I’m biased, but I think we have the best form of government on the planet.  Maybe you look around the world with romantic notions about Venezuela, Iran, or Sweden but I don’t.  In some sense though I feel like our government is held hostage. I see a two-party system controlled by big companies, unions, and special interest groups. The people they control build huge election war chests and continue to “serve us” election after election. As our government has become more centralized and powerful so have the forces that seek to influence it. When I look at a number of our “representatives” I see a lot of millionaires, many that got that way while in office [hmmmm]. I see men and woman that started out trying to make a difference and became a part of a dysfunctional machine.  President Obama is an example of this. I don’t agree with his “progressive” philosophies but I do think he was interested in a more open, transparent government. He figured out quickly that the political machines didn’t see it his way. Before long his idealism was lost and he was operating just like the ones before him.

Tomorrow you probably have two imperfect choices.  One of them is likely to be a progressive. This person wants us to continue the path of growing the government and it’s role in our lives. Maybe it makes sense to have the Social Security Administration take and manage your 401k? Maybe all student loans should go through the government. Maybe the government should decide what light bulbs people should buy, what night they trick-or-treat, and what 3 types of healthcare insurance should be allowed for sale (but you must buy it).  Generally they support higher taxes to pay for their programs (nothing is free) and more deficit spending if required. Progressives want everything to be “fair” and generally equal for everyone. The other option you have is some sort of conservative. They might have a label like libertarian, tea-party, or neo-con. They are pretty pessimistic about the role of government and think we need to take a step back and have a smaller, leaner government. Some of them want very little government at all. Regardless of the size of our federal government, all of them want  it operate generally within its means (without new taxes). That sounds good, but most of them aren’t ready to make the needed cuts to achieve their goals. Their view is that everyone should have a fair and equal opportunities for success but everything isn’t going to be fair or equal in the end.

The options tomorrow might not all be great, but they are clear. We can keep moving toward the government as the centerpiece of our American existence or vote to take a step back.  If you think your government is doing a great job, vote for more of the same. If you think our government is growing out of control, vote for a change.

Comments closed, this is a soapbox entry.

I’m disappointed with how hard it is to get people to use feeds to track updates on websites. The idea is pretty simple. You start your online browsing experience from a special feed reader tool that collects updates from your favorite websites. It’s a real time-saver because you don’t have to visit the websites to keep up, the latest stories are delivered to you. I think one of the barriers to these tools is that the user interface to track the latest stories often looks more like an email program – it just doesn’t draw in users.

Those "boring" days should be ending with new feed tools that create special custom pages and integrate social networks. The new FireFox tool called Feedly is a great example.

So what’s cool about this? Feedly works with Twitter and Google Reader (feed tracking tool) to create a magazine-style page with graphics, summaries, and more. I can use the navigation tools at the top to pick categories like "nook" or "news". When I view a story I see the latest tweets on the topic. The only thing missing with Twitter integration is for me to share stories with people in my Twitter network. Very nice work, I like it!

So what’s cool about this? Feedly works with Twitter and Google Reader (feed tracking tool) to create a magazine-style page with graphics, summaries, and more. I can use the navigation tools at the top to pick categories like “nook” or “news”. The only thing missing with Twitter integration is for me to share stories with people in my Twitter network.  Very nice work, I like it!  If you are a Firefox user check it out at http://feedly.com.

Google Reader has just rolled out a new feature aptly called “Play” that does a slideshow of your latests website updates. It makes it fun and easy to recommend and favorite items. Check it out at http://www.google.com/reader/play/

The folks at Google decided to re-invent e-mail.  What would e-mail look like if we could “start over” and re-create it? You might think, “e-mail isn’t THAT old is it?” Actually it is. Internet e-mail and the specifications that define how it works have been around since 1982 (http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc821). In the last twenty-seven years we’ve seen many fresh ideas about how to use technology to exchange information – Wikis, blogs, SMS, and IM are just a few.

Think about it. What if e-mail was more collaborative? What if an e-mail thread (the conversation) occured in a shared medium that could be updated realtime? What if, as you typed in information, others could watch your updates? Maybe we could combine e-mail conversations with the real-time aspect of instant messenger and throw in a little wiki-style editing for collaboration and history? How about having the ability to embed this conversation on a web page for a larger audience! That’s Google Wave – part document, part web, part conversation.

We’ve all become used to using a variety of communication tools that share a lot of similarities but aren’t integrated. Wave tries to merge communication and collaboration into a single interactive tool that you can easily extend and build upon.  In a large business we often use email and IM to communicate changes we are making on wikis and other collaborative sites.  I’m not sure Wave completely hits the mark for me but I love the idea of making email more like IM and placing collaborative tools in the space with the conversation.

What I like:

• Live update.  As you type, add pictures, or do anything the wave (the shared conversation) is updated realtime. I’d like a way to have it share only when I hit return, though!
• Put a variety of content types in your Wave.  You can write your own plug-in and make it embeddable in a wave.
• Very easy to create waves and add people to them.
• Interesting protocols built on XMPP.

What I don’t like:

• Not completely open source. Parts of it are, but you can’t download all the components and run it internally on your corporate intranet.
• Too discussion-focused.  I’d like a “shelf” that I can put collaborative documents in the wave to draw attention to that as separate from the conversation.
• UI is more “cool” than intuitive. I’m sure a lot of people will start with Wave and say, “huh?”.  Of course the answer is to watch the video demonstrations. Let’s just say it’s “google-ish”.
• I’d like more structure to the wave (see shelf idea above).
• Not available yet.  You have to be lucky enough to get an invite.

Anyway, that’s my half-baked opinion from a couple of days of use. If you haven’t seen Google wave you should watch the video. It’s much easier to see it in action.

We’ve switched back to Netflix from Blockbuster (because I loathe Blockbuster for a variety of reasons).  A bonus of being back on Netflix is using the Instant Play feature (VOD) to watch streaming movies.  I already get a great amount of VOD from my AT&T U-verse box but it tends to be more stacked with recent movies.  I don’t have a Netflix device yet (newer blue-ray player maybe?) which would make it easy to watch Netflix on my home theater.  We do have a Wii, so I did some poking around to find out if the Wii could maybe stream movies.  There is a new product called “PlayOn” that works for many different platforms to do just that.

PlayOn doesn’t run on the Wii, it runs on a PC in your house (not a Mac).  It grabs the video on the PC, and the Wii streams it from the PlayOn server (the software you installed on your PC).

The install on the PC was a snap.  I put in my Netflix ID and password so it could login and get at my Instant Queue.  We went to the site playon.tv on the Wii and it found the PC we installed their software on.  We were able to watch Netflix, Hulu, and a variety of other sources.  PlayOn is a platform content providers can create plug-ins for.  That means if you have a streaming resource,  you can create a plug-in anyone with PlayOn can consume your video from the platforms they support (PLAYSTATION 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Moxi HD DVR, NETGEAR EVA2000, HP MediaSmart TV, or other DLNA-compliant device).

What Worked?

• Easy Install on PC.
• Wii connected well, no network issues.
• Free Trial.

Downsides?

• No sound on Netflix
• Jerky video all around
• Wii support in beta mode.
• $40, expensive to me.

Neat idea, easy to get running.  Video was no where near the quality of hooking up my laptop.  Would I use it? Probably not due to the cost. If it was $20 and the quality was as good as laptop…

In an earlier entry I looked at Thousand Hills coffee.  It didn’t quite make the cut for me (or several of my co-workers).  Recently I was gifted a second bag (Thanks Therian!).  This bag was the Vooba Vooba Espresso blend.

This blend is made with both Nicaraguan and Rwandan beans, not the traditional choice for an espresso blend.  I changed the grind a few times to try and dial in the perfect shot and got a decent pour with some crema.  The flavor was a bit sharp and maybe a bit acidic.  Overall it made a decent espresso drink (my favorite is a strong Americano). I’d probably stick with a more traditional blend that had a higher crema production and a more well-balanced cup.  It was bold enough to work well in any milk-based drink.

I meant to try it just as a brewed coffee and forgot!  Now I’m wondering if every coffee they make uses Rwandan beans!

Instant coffee is typically freeze dried crystals of a prepared coffee that can be added to hot water to make a quick coffee drink. I guess the ultimate goal is making a coffee drink that’s not fresh brewed coffee that still tastes like fresh brewed coffee. Via is Starbucks answer to your father’s Sanka instant crystals. Via has a new form of instant mixed with some very finely ground coffee (they call it micro-grounded).

My bottom line: Via tastes like correctly brewed stale coffee with a bitter finish.

When I first opened the package I noticed a strong bitter smell.  I got some of the Via on my fingers and smelled it for a while.  The smell reminded me of the bitter coffee oils from a dirty espresso machine.  I dumped the Via into my cup of hot filtered water and noticed the Via didn’t want to easily come out of the packet.  Maybe steam had condensed inside the packet or it was static – I don’t know. I tried the two varieties of Via I found and drank 3 cups of Via for my test (not all at once!)

My first thought was, “WOW”.  Instant coffee is disgusting.  Via isn’t disgusting.  Right off the bat I give Starbucks my award for best instant (I haven’t tried many).  As I drank I noticed a pretty obvious bitter finish that bordered on “bad aftertaste”.  I drank the cup and thought, “this almost tastes like brewed coffee”.  After the second cup I decided it did taste like brewed coffee, just stale coffee.  I’ll confess I’ve had WORSE coffee in many local coffee shops.  I would attribute that to the fact many shops leave coffee sit too long or brew it improperly.

Via is expensive. It comes in small single serve packets that cost about $1 per prepared up. That’s about 10-12 times the cost of most instant coffee.  Unless you are nowhere near a kitchen to use a pourover, and there are no coffee shops nearby, I can’t see Via being a great option.

Try it, you may like it.  It’s expensive and not as good as properly brewed coffee.