jetlounge.net - Opinion

LinkedIn Etiquette: Or What NOT to do with LinkedIn

2008-03-23T15:16:00Z

The net is replete with some decent DO's an DON'Ts of LinkedIn. I wont rehash them here in detail...but the highlights are typically the following:
- Don't accept every single invitation
- Don't request an invite to someone you don't know without a thrid party introduction request
- Try not to be a LinkedIn Rolodex whore
- Don't join the Forbes group

All good things to consider, but recently I have discovered a new problem with Web 2.0 social networking...the unsolicited request for advise that clearly extends to abuse of social nettiquette. What to do when a random request for a just a bit too much of your time or information comes your way?

Case in point, I was recently contacted by a random who wanted to connect via LinkedIn. Ok, at least it wasn't the standard form letter, but here is what I received:

"I would like to inquire on your expertise in the fashion and apparel industry. I am a software/services professional and I am working with clients in the apparel industry and I would like increase my knowledge of how to identify and solve the key business issues companies in this industry are facing.

Would you be open to share with me some of your experiences as well as publications you follow? In addition, I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. "

Whoah. That's a pretty bg request right there. From someone I don't even know. Provide the highlights of 15 years in an industry, a list of periodicals (no biggie there) and..oh yeah you can add me to your LinkedIn profile too?

Yes, my contact information is out there..it says you can contact me...but these requests really need to be balanced between true networking, online collaboration and downright abuse. There is a fine line between instant contact and request for "mentoring" and abusive pumping for information.

I thought it rather rude that this person wanted to dive head-in to a conversation where I provide a free flow of experience. Nonetheless, I responded with the simplest request and a query to begin a casual dialogue. My response was a list of a few peridicals specific to the industry and ended with "In what type of software/services do you engage? "

At this point I already knew where he worked (from his profile)..and I wanted to give him a chance to open up the dicussion. I decided to take this a little slowly. Oh yeah...he works for a competing software/services company in a different geography, but a competitor nonetheless.

So the next day I receive an email back (misspellings preserved):
"I represent Oracle's line of software solutions: ERP, SupplyChain, Demand Management, PLM and other solutions. If you could share some of the top key business issues you see Apperel companies are facing today and how they work arround these or solve these issures would be of great help to me. "

The cajones on this guy! I don't know this person from a hole in the wall...but let me get this...I should provide him with highlights of 15 years of experience because it "would be of great help" to him! Well, in that case...where do I begin? Let's just stop whatever I am doing so I can help you compete better against me!

It's unbelievable how obnoxious some people are on the Web. It's somewhat anonymous, with minimal direct contact and firing off an email is just way too easy. So I guess it's ok if you're inconsiderate...because it's out there in digital ether..who cares what comes back, right?

So let's break this down. If you were to pick a colleagues brain for something that demanded his or her time...in real life...you know, like a flesh and blood meeting or over the phone...how would you do it? You might ask them to chat over a cup of coffee...offer to buy them lunch...you might offer something in return. With that in mind, here is the first rule of asking for unsolicited help, advise or anything other than directions to the Mall....What are you going to do for ME??
That could be a latte, a lunch, a brainstorming of collaborative ideas...or in the case where you have nothing tangible to offer, a sincere "..would be very appreciated.." might be persuasive.

However, this person made no attempt to discuss how he might be able to offer me assistance...Even if it had no value to me. Perhaps in another industry...perhaps you'd like to share that information with me. And no, he wasn't 3 months out of college simply looking for a mentor.

So here is why I decided to decline further discussion:
1 - Those typo's in the email...those are real. If you ask for unsolicited advise...for Pete's sake use spell-check! So put your best foot forward.
2 - People help those who look like they have done a little homework. The advise on the periodicals...look if this is your industry you should know them. And if not, about 5 minutes and Google will provide you with all you need on ANY industry. You really should know this.
3 - The person was a random direct competitor...That might be ok..but explain why/what/how this is helpful. Which brings me to...
4 - This person made no offer to collaborate, or to provide anything of value to me
5 - I don't sell Oracle, but if you push their "ERP, SupplyChain, Demand Management, PLM ..." then you should start with their playbook on selling solutions. I have to believe they have something. See #2...Tell me you read something about Supply Chain from Oracle for Industrial Distribution companies and wanted to know how XXX might translate to a need in another industry.
6 - If you work in this industry, then leverage your DIRECT contacts first, before contacting randoms.
7 - Lie to me...tell me you are interested in what I do or what my company offers

Since this person broke every single rule I decided not to provide my time (I spent it here blogging instead), and not to open up my digital Rolodex (which is what I assume he really wanted).

LinkedIn Etiquette: Or What NOT to do with LinkedIn

2008-03-23T14:11:00Z

Case in point, I was recently contacted by a random who wanted to connect via LinkedIn. Ok, at least it wasn't the standard form letter, but here is what I received:

Would you be open to share with me some of your experiences as well as publications you follow? In addition, I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. "

Since this person broke every single rule I decided not to provide my time (I spent it here blogging instead), and not to open up my digital Rolodex (which is what I assume he really wanted).

Upgrade Norton Internet Security to Norton 360 and Lose Password Manager??

2008-01-04T00:40:00Z

That's right. And Symantec doesn't tell you that until it's too late.

My Norton Internet Security 2006 was up for subscription renewal. I had purchased it over a year ago as a bundle with Password Manager 2004. PM 2004 is a nifty little app that prefills my id's and passwords as well as name and address into windows and web forms. Very handy for not having to remember all of those little passwords. And I'd rather store them in an encrypted database instead of little sticky papers.

Sure, there are downloadable widgets for free, but those come with adverts and frankly I can't trust some fly by night widget company. I can of course trust Symantec...or can I?

So when launching the subscription renewal page at symantec.com, I was greeted by a marketing initiative to get me to upgrade to the all brand new Norton 360. The price differential wasn't bad, and the app got some decent reviews on CNET..so what the heck?

During the install, as expected, it went through an uninstall of NIS 2006. But then it went on to uninstall my Password Manager. I let it continue, rubbing my hands together, hastily waiting for all those upgraded goodies.

Guess what? Norton 360 has no Password Manager application. Anywhere. And I lost my database in the uninstall. Online chat with Symantec...that was a waste. I called support in India. The agent told me that no other Norton products could run along side Norton 360. I told him I understood about NIS, but why Password Manager?? Why delete an application and provide absolutely no upgrade for it. He could only sympathize with me and say that this was the first call he had ever received regarding the issue.

I told him that this information was nowhere to be found on the site, that I was pushed to upgrade during my simple renewal process, and in fact if you do a search on symantec.com for "Password Manager 2004" you are instructed that the application is no longer available, but there are new upgrades. First on the list...Norton 360.

File this one under you've got to be kidding me. If you do plan on upgrading, there is a silver lining. It seems that Password Manager 2004 does work with Norton 360. I still had my downloadable file and product key and reinstalled in on my Windows XP laptop. I can't verify if this will work on Vista.

I lost my database and if you are reading this you may have too. But if I can save just one person, I will have accomplished something. Before installing Norton 360, open Password Manager and backup your profile, by clicking the 'Backup Your Data' button. After you reinstall the application you will be able to restore your passwords.

You've been warned.

Lotus Notes: More Examples of Poor Design

2007-12-28T14:00:00Z

Lotus Notes gives me great opportunity to visualize many of the methods that should not be employed in application design. Today's snack is the storage of user preferences when using a web application.

In the Lotus Domino Web Access client from IBM, I prefer to view my Calendar as a month-at-a-glance. By default, the calendar displays as a single day. Sure, I can select Month. But this setting is only preserved for the life of my browsing session. If you fire up a new browser, you'll have to select your favorite view again. Tomorrow, same thing. That's lost productivity and raises user frustration. I tried looking into the Preferences page, but could not find an option to make this option stick.

For more commonly used preferences that require "stickyness", don't use Session or Cookies for your web applications. Each new Session or cookie refresh means those preferences will be lost. It also means that if a user attempts to access your site/application from another terminal, broswer, internet cafe, kiosk...those settings are unavailable. Don't frustrate your users. And if the bulk of your application is datacentric or database enabled, there is simply no reason not to store those settings on a server.

Session and cookies should only be used for those items that you (or your users) intend to have a short life span.

Going Crazy With Lotus Notes Web Access

2007-12-24T21:03:00Z

A few annoyances with the Lotus Domino Web Access console, a web client they offer..I am using it for the advanced real estate (smaller fonts mean I can display more inbox mail) and because it is slightly better than their thick client. Oh, I use Microsoft's fine web browser, version 7.0.

Have fun going nuts with these inefficiencies:

Create a new subfolder process

1. Create the new subfolder
2. Screen refreshes and not a single folder is expanded...especially not the one you just created.

Drag and dropey no workey for folders
Inability to drag/move a folder to a new destination as you can in Outlook. Instead you have to delete the folder and recreate. Fun!

Click a mail and try to move it to a folder or trash

Every 1 in 5 attempts is futile as you click the item, and attempt to drag. But the page script doesn't recognize your click so instead you are either dragging air, or you do an html text select of the screen.

The only way to rectify is to click elsewhere, to "clear" it, and then try, try again.

No ability to tell how many unread mails you have

In outlook the number of unread mails is displayed in parenthesis in bold. I believe I saw this also in the Notes thick client. If you can see it on the web, I have no idea how to turn it on.

Forget about DAMO

2007-12-19T01:50:00Z

The honeymoon is over with IBM's Domino Access for Microsoft Outlook. Only 4 out of 5 emails I sent today actually went out. One, fairly lengthy email with a PPT attachment apparently went into the abyss. It is in my Outlook sent folder, but I have yet to get a single response to mail.

Speaking of the Sent folder..yet another reason not to use the client that Domino provides for Outlook. Items sent will only be viewable from your Outlook client. These mails will never make it to the sent folder in your Lotus Notes mailbox.

I did not think I would be saying this, but I am better off just sucking it up and using the Notes web client for mail. I simply cannot wait until the Exchange conversion. I will dance a jig that day.

And on that note, how many people do you bump into who say they are converting to Lotus Notes? I'd be willing to bet that conversions to MS Exchange/Outlook far outweigh conversions to Lotus. At a recent holiday party, a new colleague formerly with IBM in hardware sales told me that whenever she introduced herself as an employee of big blue, a typical reaction was "I hate Lotus Notes." Her only retort was, "Me too. But I have nothing to do with that product."

The Trouble With Trying to Access Lotus Notes Mail from MS Outlook

2007-12-18T14:51:00Z

I installed the Domino Access for Microsoft Outlook. This is the IBM utility for Domino. Forget about the free Microsoft download, I could not get that to even recognize my mailbox. Anyway, this utility installed, and while the interface to mail was much nicer in Outlook 2007, there is still no joy with this marriage.

Here's the problem: All message changes are stored locally in Outlook, and are not passed back to Lotus...sort of like a download to offline mode. Any attempt to modify these preferences seems to be an exercise in futility.
So if you read a message in Outlook, it will still be marked as unread if you browse to your mail on the Lotus Notes client. The same is true for messages you move to folders, or delete. No matter what you do, these instructions are not passed back to Lotus. So if you commit to using Outlook as your client you can forget about ever using the Lotus client again. This is especially challenging in situations where you might want to check for mail or calendar items from a web browser while on the road. With the Lotus web client (unless there is an OWA client...but I assume this is non-existent) you would have a very difficult time navigating your Inbox. Not to mention the fact that as cleanup never occurs on your mailbox you will undoubtedly be getting a call from your mail administrator when you've reached your storage limit.

New York City Diary

2007-12-18T03:19:00Z

It's 18 degrees outside today. The kind of day where your spit freezes before it hits the ground; and some guy passes me on the street drinking his iced latte from Starbucks.

Another guy pulls out dental floss while riding the downtown E train and proceeds to clear the gaps between his teeth.

Only in New York.

You've Got Mail! Well, You HAD Mail...but you already knew that didn't you?

2007-12-14T14:46:00Z

This is my continuing rant on Lotus Notes & Domino. This application has to be the single most difficult email reader I have ever seen. Since I have to use it for work, all I can do is rant and continue my long list of what not to do when designing applications. It's a pretty healthy list and is great to fall back on when I want to be reminded of just how bad applications can be.

In a rare turn of the tables, I have decide to use the Lotus Domino Web Access client to access my Lotus Notes mail. The thick client takes so long to load and the interface is definitely hideous. The web client seems to be a little faster, but the overwhleming reason I use it is because with the smaller and more pleasing fonts, I can fit more mail items in the Inbox.

Interestingly, there is a script client that will pop-up a "you've got mail" type of indicator, which will then refresh your inbox so you can see the item. A nice touch, if it wasn't so retarded. You see , the Lotus Notes new mail indicator must be based upon a date/time parameter only, without regard to whether you actually read the item already.

So 9 times out of 10, I find that I am alerted to a new mail item 5 minutes AFTER I actually read it.

Mark this down kiddies, "What not to do when designing software: Lotus Notes."

To fix this, and to maintain my sanity I have disabled the alert feature from Lotus Notus. I'll go back to the old F5-to-refresh the screen technique.

To kill alerts for new mail in Lotus Notes:
1. Go to Preferences -> Mail -> General
2. In the Receiving section, uncheck "Prompt when new mail arrives"

Lotus Notes: An Illustration of Bad UI Design

2007-12-12T14:06:00Z

By default, all unread mail in Lotus Notus is noted by being marked in bright red. This flies in the face of conventional UI design that has been generally accepted for years.

Stop signs are red, traffic lights are red, tomatoes are red (I hate tomotoes). The use of bright red alerts tells the world: stop, this is important. Heed caution. In most email applications this would be used to note urgency or a mail message marked as "High Priority."

Perhaps this was another way of differentiating the product from Microsoft Outlook which uses red by default only for priority messages, and instead favors the use of bolding in black color those mails that have yet to be opened. "That silly Outlook, we'll show them," I imagine the Notes team thinking.

This story does have a silver lining, that is, until the Notes team paints that cloud red too!I was pleased to find the in Preferences -> Mail -> Display there is an option to turn off this hideous UI faux pas and instead use a bolded, black font. Hmm, wonder where they got that idea?

Notes From the Field: How to create a new mail message in Domino?

2007-12-06T04:29:00Z

So, today's little jaunt...I had to fire up a colleagues client because he was out of town and needed some files. No problem said I. His client version was a step or 2 below mine (version 8), but a cursory glance made it seem as though not much was different. Au contraire, mon frere.

The problem occured when my colleague simply asked me to write him a new mail message from his client. I stared blankly at the screen for a minute or two. I am an educated man, and have used computer applications since I was a fetus. Well, maybe not a fetus.

I clicked his Inbox..there was a familiar icon for that. But where was the New Mail button? Hmm...New Message perhaps? Nope. The only thing remotely familiar was a menu option for New Memo...New Memo? That certainly can't be it. Memo...like an idea to jot down, or a yellow sticky note perhaps?

I will spare you the suspense. New Memo was it. So in Lotus Notes "New Memo" provides the functionality for "New Mail." Whoever named that over at IBM was a developer or maybe in marketing...but it is clear that they never sent a mail message before...or perhaps they were "sticking it" to Microsoft Oulook and every other mail reader on the planet by designing their own vocabulary.

Remember, the elements of good application design are not simply formats, pretty hues, Flash or Silverlight. It's the simple stuff. Like calling mail...mail.