I Like (Finally) Twitter

OK, I’ll say it. I like Twitter. Finally.



For me, this was a long time in coming. I was an early adopter and got involved with Twitter in its formative days. I tweeted, read posts and followed people… people I really wanted to listen to. And then I started following lots more people…lots and lots more people so many so that I couldn’t seem to follow what anyone was saying anymore. I felt like I was sitting on the bank of the Shoshone River in Wyoming just watching the water rush by…except in my case it was watching a river of tweets run past me and there was no way I could see what anyone really was saying any more and worse yet I was missing out on lots of interesting content. For me, content is the king on Twitter as I love seeing people suggest articles in places that I’d never find. But with so much stuff roaring past me, I knew I was missing out on stuff I really wanted to read.



I talked to folks and they told me to “unfollow” people, but for my Midwestern sensibilities that just seemed plain rude. So I stopped using Twitter. Oh, I’d post things and read a bit here and there, but for me Twitter was a non-factor. And then, right before I left Syracuse to come to Lynn University, I asked social media guru Kelly Lux what she used, and she recommended Hoot Suite.



So I set up Hoot Suite, read some more stuff on the internet about Twitter, and I can say I really “get” it now. I’ve set up multiple streams on Hoot Suite that I’ve divided into things I like to read about. I’ve got an entrepreneurship stream, a politics stream (wish I had a better idea who to follow here), an interesting persons stream, a sports stream and a foodie stream. And I’ve arranged people I’m following into those streams; not everyone ends up there, so I still following the rushing river, but I just do it a couple of times a day. And I use my “streams” a lot like I would a newspaper (or CNBC on the TV in my office)…I go to it in the morning, around lunch and again in the evening to see who is saying what, and more importantly what articles they’re linking to. Which for me, is the best thing about Twitter, it allows me to read more things and be connected to more interesting content than I ever would have previously. So even though I jumped on it early, I can now say that I’m really using Twitter…and yes, I really like it.



And you can follow me at DeanTomKruczek...on my new friend...Twitter!

Dog days of summer

Unusual angle on a dragonfly. (Lynn's photo)



The dog days of summer - but you probably already know...

In Roman times, the hot, languid days of summer were believed to be caused by the dawn rising of the Dog Star, Sirius. An appropriate sacrifice (a brown dog) was made to appease the angry Sirius in attempt to ease the heat wave.

From just a little bit of reading, I've found that we should see Sirius clearly in our winter sky, when it's overhead, and located not far from Orion's belt. I guess in the summer it's up during the day (logical, since it rises with the sun).



Okay, this Dog Days bit was prompted by Lynn's cellphone video of the chirring of a Dog Day Cicada. The cicada itself, she says, is just above the cluster of red leaves!

Link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81bfLTKHB2A





Calvatia cyathiformis - Purple-spored Puffball, growing over near the blackberries. (Lynn's id)



Okay, I'll try to get a bird list squeezed in here, between photos.

Another two-week period, but with fall migration approaching, it may be time to get back to weekly listing and blogging.



Birders for the weeks of August 8-12 and 15-19, 2011:

Lynn, Sue, Tom



Birds for the two-week period:

Wild Turkey

Canada Goose

Killdeer

Herring Gull

5. Great Blue Heron

Turkey Vulture

Osprey

Red-tailed Hawk

Rock Pigeon

10. Mourning Dove

Northern Flicker

Blue Jay

Common Raven

American Robin

15. Northern Mockingbird

Gray Catbird

European Starling

Cedar Waxwing

Black-capped Chickadee

20. House Wren

Barn Swallow

Yellow Warbler

American Redstart - possible/likely

Northern Cardinal

25. Song Sparrow

American Goldfinch

House Finch

Common Grackle

House Sparrow





one of our paths is choked with poison ivy!





and our blackberries are ripening in the warmth of August

Goin' Downtown! Ryerson University:

Having missed my connection , whom I was to meet at a Starbucks at Ryerson ( it turns out there are a dozen and his phone was off), I figured I would walk through the campus myself. It was a revelation. While the U of T St George (main) campus is certainly urban, it is its own island in the midst of the city. Ryerson, on the otherhand is woven right into the of retail and business in the heart of the downtown action. While it was orgtinally a church based college, it has assimilated several blocks of the downtown core. It is part of the core.

basic student union building fare...

As Providence would have it I fell in with a campus tour. Andrew,  our guide, walked us through the various buildings and sections of the campus. As it turns out, with space at a premium, the various faculties all share lecture space. Students will most likely have one three hour lecture per course per week and then do their various projects and homework in the rest of the time.

Tour Guide Andrew and my BFFH ( Best Friends For an Hour)

When we walked into the Architecture Building, I originally thought it was a display of ironic humour. It was bare and ugly. Not unlike the Brutalist architecture on some other buildings on various campuses. However, it turns out that this is intentional. The idea is to have everything stripped and open so the students can “see” what has gone into the construction of the building. It does make sense.

Architectural Bldg

The tour nears the end...

Ryerson is located on the edge of the middle of what I have dubbed the Commercial Power Corridor. Dundas/Bay/Yonge. 



Dundas and Yonge ( corner of Ryerson)

Note the Ted Rogers School of Mgmt – connected with the Eaton's Centre and bordering Bay Street. In Canadian commerce this place rocks. And Ryerson is right in of the action.

from 100m to the west .. The Eatons Centre/ Ryerson-Rogers School of Mgmt.

Rogers/Ryerson - on the corner of Bay and Dundas

Incidentally, Ryerson is named after Egerton Ryerson, one of Canada's outstanding evangelical Christians ( in fact, a truly outstanding Canadian!) - considered the father of Canadian public education - an all around Rennaissance Man.

Egerton Ryerson

Here is some basic information about Ryerson from Wikipedia - a decent summary.

Ryerson University is a public university located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its urban campus is adjacent to Yonge-Dundas Square located at the busiest intersection in Downtown Toronto. The majority of its buildings are in the blocks northeast of the square in Toronto's Garden District. Ryerson's business school, Ted Rogers School of Management is on the southwest end of the Yonge-Dundas Square, located on Bay Street, slightly north of Toronto's Financial District and is attached to the Toronto Eaton Centre. The university is composed of 31,000 undergraduate students, 2,170 graduate students, and 65,400 certificate and continuing education students.^[4]

In June 2001, the school assumed its present name as Ryerson University. Today, Ryerson University offers programs in chemical, civil, mechanical, industrial, electrical and computer engineering. The university is also one of only two Ontario universities to offer a program in aerospace engineering. Ryerson offers the only stand-alone biomedical engineering program in all of Canada.

For what it is worth; Numbers like these would place Ryerson as one of Canada's largest universities. With its multicultural dynamic and strategic placement,  it also has the potential to be one of its most influential. We are looking forward to seeing what God is going to do here...

Technology and the Magic Kingdom

I spent part of today having a fascinating conversation with Chris Boniforti, the CIO at Lynn University. He was telling me about ways Lynn is using and planning to use technology to make everyone’s time more productive and to make things better for our student’s as well…plus making the educational experience so much richer. He even convinced me to get ready to ditch my beloved Moleskin notebooks and use an iPad instead using Evernote. Chris also told me about Inkling, a new company developing interactive textbooks for the iPad.



On the topic of technology, a friend from the southwest sent over this blog from Jennifer Fickley-Baker. This is a very nice “backstage” look at how the Walt Disney Company is using new technology to renovate their attractions. Taking a look at the video, it’s a wonderful way to use the new tablets while making it easier for your team to work together http://tiny.cc/ddpyd

Another mid-summer bird list.

Common Raven, Corvus corax, on a campus rooftop [photo Lynn Jones]



Contributing birders:

Lynn, Sue, Tom



Bird list for July 25- August 5:



Wild Turkey

Canada Goose - a little flock is back, feeding on campus

Double-crested Cormorant - fly-by

Herring Gull - the only gull around campus now

5. Killdeer

Great Blue Heron - fly-by

Osprey

Turkey Vulture

Rock Pigeon

10. Mourning Dove

Northern Flicker

Downy Woodpecker - not common, but find-able

Eastern Kingbird - first of the summer

Blue Jay

15. American Crow

Common Raven - two, possibly three on the roof of the C-buildings

Cedar Waxwing

European Starling

Barn Swallow

20. Tree Swallow - a good fly-by

Northern Rough-winged Swallow - another fly-by

House Wren

Black-capped Chickadee - not common, but always find-able

American Robin

25. Gray Catbird

Northern Mockingbird

Yellow Warbler - still a few around

Common Yellowthroat - a female

Northern Cardinal

30. Rose-breasted Grosbeak - a female

Song Sparrow

American Goldfinch

House Finch

Common Grackle

35. House Sparrow



Thirty five species is very respectable for mid-summer on our little patch of turf (the 135 acres which is West Campus).





Eastern Coyote, Canis latrans. One of this year's pups.

Photo by Brendan in Facilities.

Morning Reading

This morning’s New York Times had quite a few interesting articles. The artcle on Danny Meyer by Sean WIlsey was outstanding. Now I do like anything with food in it, but this piece dealt with entrepreneurship, leadership, customer service and quality…all things that companies no matter where they are on the growth scale should be thinking about. He also goes into some of the entrepreneurial demons that Mr. Meyer had to deal with as he grew his company.

The other food piece that I enjoyed dealt with Pret A Manger. The article, Would you Like A Smith With That, by Stephanie Clifford, discussed how the British company is trying to bring better customer service to the fast food industry.

I also liked the interview of Joe Torre that discussed respect in baseball…something that our world, sports or otherwise…is dearly in need of.

Summer Reading- Part 1

Through the course of the summer I had the chance to catch up on some reading. In particular, I liked two books…Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki and Double Double by Cameron Herold.
First to Mr. Kawasaki. Now I’ve been recommending Kawasaki’s Art of the Start for some time, as well as his company’s Garage Technology for resources for entrepreneurs…especially the pieces about writing an executive summary and making the pitch. Both are outstanding and I make sure to give the executive summary piece to students, entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs who are writing a business plan. Enchantment was a different kind of book than Art, but very interesting. The book addresses what I would call is a higher level of marketing…enchantment. Lots of great examples and stories are included, and no doubt, you’ll be seeing him speaking at a location near to you. If you do, go see him…he is well worth the time and money.

Double Double was a book about growing your business. While I’m never enchanted with books that either have lists (Top 10 Ways…) or wild promises in the title, I nonetheless found D-D interesting. Since finishing the book in June, I’ve recommended this book to a number of student entrepreneurs as a grass-roots approach to developing a focused approach to starting or growing a business. The book starts with an invitation to think about your vision for the company and then moves on to specifics areas of concern to the entrepreneur such as communications, PR, technology and (one of my favorites) how to grow when it's slow. In addition, I liked the chapter, “The Roller Coaster Ride of Entrepreneurship as it brought make many memories and reminded me of other things that I need to talk to both students and entrepreneurs about.