Rapid Fire Learning - January 2008

January is coming to an end quickly. I am late with my Rapid Fire Learning so without further ado, here we go:

1 - "caveat emptor" - 'let the buyer beware' comes true again. I could have been a buyer had their letter been more fulfilling than it was. Suffice to say, do your due diligence before the offer is made. You will be in a better position to know what to do at that time.

2 - A free-lance writer from the Guardian contacted me about a post I had made earlier with a meme I had picked up on readability tests.

Were you aware that the blog readability test is a promotional device which tries to boost the search results for a site called cashadvance1500.com? If lots of bloggers use this code on their sites, then it pushes the loans site up Google's search results.

He went on to detail how the html code was hiding the link. I have since removed the offending code and will be much more alert when posting future memes of this sort.

3 - Active.com has undergone a major overhaul, and for the worse. As a runner, I had come across this site for the occasional race that used the Active online registration process. I did have an account but didn't use it other than for race registrations. Now, the new version synchronizes the account with CoolRunning and incorporates a whole load of other (I think) unnecessary stuff. While it used to be a race registration convenience, now it seems to be trying to combine blogging, social networking, and community forums all into one. Oh, and while they are doing this, when you use their account you still need to input items on the registration form that should be in your profile (well actually those data elements are there in the profile but they don't get pre-filled). Go back folks, complexity kills, simplicity is king.

4 - "Point of view" is so important. Where is someone coming from? What is their perspective? What are their expectations? If you stop and consider, you may avoid a rash assumption or not say something that may worsen a simple situation. Understanding, or at a minimum, appreciating an other's "Point of view" can make all the difference.

5 - I have been filling my bag on our weekend walks. I ran one 7 mile route on Sunday that will take quite a few bags to make a dent into the roadside recyclables that are available. Why don't you consider doing something simple as taking a plastic bag along on your walk to pick up recyclables. One small step, one can (or bottle) at a time.

What have you learned this month?