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Pretty Good Hat

Clearing the Desk

These are the short versions of some thoughts I schemed to turn into more elaborated posts. I didn’t make it, overwhelmed and busy with the daily episodes and activity of a handsome and precocious two-year-old, tiring work days and just keeping up with the needs of the house. But the drafts keep sitting there staring at me, so I’m clearing them out for the benefit of my clarity of mind and nominal benefit to anyone who cares to read.

Paying attention

There’s a common remark over on App.net/Alpha that users are finding more conversation and engagement there in a short period of time than in weeks or months or more on Twitter. I don’t think that’s necessarily not correct, but I do think that idea needs some unpacking to really understand. It’s possible that having paid for the service encourages users to take more advantage of it; certainly the longer post length allows for occasionally deeper discussion; and, right now, many users are very focused on the quality of their interactions – good for them, to be sure. And I’ve had much the same experience, so I’m not noting this to take anything away from ADN, but rather to suggest that at least some of the qualities that seem to make ADN appealing aren’t necessarily baked into the service and therefore exclusive to it.

I’ve received three or four versions of the following helpful email:

Hi Alan,

I’ve reported a broken link on your site […] that links to http://www.moleskine.com/eng/default.htm and haven’t heard back, so I just wanted to verify whether you’re the right person to contact? If not, could you direct me to the person maintaining the website? If you would be interested in updating your website, I have a similar resource that you are more than welcome to use to update. Let me know!

Link Replacement Option: http://www.learnstuff.com/learn-about-moleskines/

Best, Hannah Edwards

(Emphasis by me) Sorry, “Hannah,” I won’t be taking advantage of your useful report and suggestion that I redirect my link to your spammy ad-farm. I wonder how often this actually works?

Milestones

I recently hit a big milestone at my employer: Five years of work there. I’ve lived and worked here nearly as long as my previous gig (grad school), which feels like something significant. I also feel good about having been successful at the job, and this milestone finds me in the middle of a couple of big projects and the beginning of a new one. Keeping busy.