Use of Silencers in Crimes

Western Criminology Review found that "in the 50 cases of silencers found in drug raids, none of the defendants used a silencer to shoot at police"

http://wcr.sonoma.edu/v08n2/44.clark/clark.pdf

Social Sharing - getting it shared

Earlier we saw how to set up your page to get it ready to be shared across social networks. Now, how exactly do you share it across all those different social networks?

You have a couple of choices. First, you could visit the top 5 or 6 social sites you want to share on and dig into their sharing API to find out the exact parameters to use to generate their cute little button. Or you could leverage a service that does all that API gazing for you and keeps up with the constant change of sites and API's. I'm assuming you want to take the easier route, so we'll look at the most popular of the sharing aggregation sites, AddThis.

AddThis.com lets you set up a free account and grab sharing buttons for nearly every social network in the world - from Facebook and Twitter to Orkut and things I can't even pronounce, let alone read. They use their internal algorithms to determine what the most popular sharing sites are, and show those first in the list of buttons. They also keep track as visitors share using AddThis across the web and set individual personalized preferences. If your mom shares a lot by e-mail using AddThis, then the e-mail icon will show most often.

Once you've created an account on AddThis.com just click 'get the code' for sharing buttons. They offer lots of options, but lets focus on the most basic, sharing on a website. From the 'Get Sharing Buttons' page, you can select several different visual styles, from 16px to 32px buttons, vertical or horizontal, or just a little sharing bar. Pick what fits your page the best. Notice how the code on the right changes slightly - that's how the display is customized to show different options. Once you have the layout you want, just select the sourcecode in the textarea, copy and paste it into your website in the location you want. Sprint uses this on the Phone Details page, just under the main column key features.

Location is important - if you bury the sharing buttons in the header or footer, you'll get less content shared. You should have the sharing buttons as near to the content the customer is reading as possible. This helps them to remember to share your special content and say 'thank you' to you for providing such awesome content! Sharing cool stuff also gives them credit in their social economy; the more and better stuff they share, the more prestige they get from their networks. But more on that in a future post . . .

Now, back to that code. It's pretty simple HTML:

<!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --> <div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style "> <a class="addthis_button_preferred_1"></a> <a class="addthis_button_preferred_2"></a> <a class="addthis_button_preferred_3"></a> <a class="addthis_button_preferred_4"></a> <a class="addthis_button_compact"></a> <a class="addthis_counter addthis_bubble_style"></a> </div> <script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=xa-52376d2e5d4cb5e5"></script> <!-- AddThis Button END -->

You're making a new box on your page with a few links. Those simple links get rendered into pretty round-corner web 2.0 buttons by the javascript call. The 'class' tag tells the javascript how to render them. You'll note the first four links are 'preferred 1,2,3 and 4'. That's the personalization I was talking about earlier. AddThis uses the visitors preferred sharing sites or methods to populate those links. The last two tags set up the 'Plus' button and the counter for how many shares you've had. Once you get more familiar with AddThis you can add, remove, change the order and a whole lot more in this simple block of HTML code. For now, publish your page and see how it looks with the new sharing buttons!


Wait a couple of days, then log into AddThis.com and see analytical reports on how your sharing is going and what kind of social lift your content is getting from your new buttons!

Planning SEO for the Holiday - with humanity

Search Engine Watch online offers a set of solid tips that may be of value to those new to the Internet and marketing.

 First off, people search for holiday bargains, deals and gifts. And secondly, if you want to get in front of those holiday shoppers, you should have specific pages for them to find in the search engine.

 You're going to need a plan around the holiday calendar - early October for Haloween promotions, early November for Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, the last day you can offer free shipping for holiday delivery, post holiday cleanup sales and more.


Now, you know when you're going to offer what - but how to get it in front of the shopper? Use the right keywords. Drill into Google Keywords - Google Trends and Google AdWords Keyword Research Tool are invaluable sourcing for brainstorming keyword lists and uncovering potential new target terms for holiday 2013 optimization. Find terms that will help educate shoppers about your offers and promotions. Be darn sure that the keywords you're including on your page are reflected in the page content. If you're offering 'secret santa' gifts in your keywords, you should have relevant, targeted content about secret santa gifts you offer. The big search engines will penalize you if you're spammy in your keywords, using words unrelated to your page content. Your customers will also punish you, dropping you from their consideration and mindshare if they click through and find no related content.


Beyond your keywords, you should make sure your page titles, Open Graph titles and body text all reflect the search terms you're keying in on for the holiday season. Don't be a dweeb though; this is overkill and reflects poorly on the site. Keyword loading may get search hits, but between the typos (foe?) and the spammy title, you're not going to be generating any long term or quality customers.


Search engines take some time to crawl and index your pages; pre-publishing landing pages with some good textual descriptions and hints about what's coming is handy to give the crawlers something to latch onto. Use social sharing too, so your visitors can share the sweet upcoming deal with their networks.

Most importantly though; remember not to burn your goodwill and customer sentiment on oneshot marketing efforts. Seth Godin phrases it best: "In the connection economy, though, the thoughtful, patient, mature and modern approach wins out. Because connection is built on trust and generosity, not on snark and short-term wins." It takes years to build a reputation and high search engine rank. And a couple thoughtless decisions to ruin it.

Social Sharing - setting up your page

OG social sharing:
a mimeographed self-help file

Social Sharing has been going on for a long time - first, people would send around typewritten, mimeographed jokes, lists, or other neat stuff. Next came the digital world of forwarded chain emails. Then the web, where you could copy and past the URL to a site and either link to it on your home page, or send it by email. Now, social sharing has become embedded into your everyday life. Everyone has seen this:
A block of icons we all now know as 'share this page to Facebook, Twitter, email or Google Plus'. Click the button and by magic it's posted on your newsfeed or wall! But how does it work? Unlike magnets, there's no real magic there, just some basic page coding tools.

First, you need to be sure your page is ready to be read by a machine. That means you need a good title in your 'title' tag, proper HTML that mostly validates and maybe a few images on the page that can represent what you are talking about. If you want to get fancy, you can add a couple more tags to more accurately describe your page to Facebook and Google Plus. Those tags are called 'Open Graph Tags'. At the least, you can put a Title, Description and Image for your page up in the head of your page.   of your page. That's as easy as typing the 'title' tag correctly - just key in:

There are five key properties you'll enter in a 'meta' tag:

• og:type
• og:url
• og:title
• og:image and 
• og:description

Usually, you are sharing a website page, so that's the type. The url is the absolute URL to this page; useful if you use dynamic navigation or other stuff. It can be ignored though for static websites. Title is pretty self explanatory. The image is the thumbnail shown on the left of the link in the Facebook timeline or Google Plus post. If you leave out the 'description' tag, you end up with the facebook crawler picking some snippet of text from the top third of your webpage. In a lot of modern dynamic websites, that's not really what you want to display to your visitors when they see a link to your site on Facebook or Google Plus.

This is the foundation to having a good, sharable page across all modern social networks, and it sets your page up for being part of the new, wider social graph that Facebook and Google are pulling together to define the new web.

Top Ten List of Questions for a Business Analyst

A long time ago, I was asked what my 'rubric' or list of questions were for my new job as a Business Analyst. I didn't have a clear answer. "It Depends" wasn't really a good answer.

Well, I've finally found someone smarter than me that has that list of questions. Just check out:

http://www.batimes.com/articles/carls-top-ten-list-of-questioning-techniques-for-new-and-not-so-new-business-analysts.html

Excellent groundwork questions that can be used and adapted to any situation as we build and define projects and programs, starting with "Be Prepared" and continuing through leading your customer through iterative designs for how they want the solution to work. Delivering quality work depends on getting the solution well defined at the beginning. 'Misses' in requirements lead to rework, defects and less than optimal customer solutions.

Anything you'd add to the list that isn't domain specific?

United Way?

Spent the better part of the morning writing up a script for a couple dozen team members to use in making personal contacts across the organization asking for donations tot he United Way.  Yup, it's that time again - the United Way is the big charity that my company has supported for years.

I donate every year; they directly support several local initiatives including the Boy Scouts of America and the Heart of America council, that I am pretty passionate about.

But I've never figured out the motivator for the higher level team to drive such passion around the United Way campaign.  They don't get paid cash for their work with United Way; the exposure and networking doesn't seem that important. Is it just the 'in' thing to do in Oak Row for the executives?

One of the interesting things I had to do in composing the script was build a set of answers to overcome objections.  Really, I've only heard two - charities are scams (United Way only keeps about 10%) and 'I already donate to xyx'.

Do you donate to United Way?  Why?  Why not? What do you think?

Buff and Polish

New owners over to the Far East, and so I've been going through what I should do to ensure I 'best contribute to shareholder value' - in other words, how do I keep my job?

Figure a couple things will help:

• Show up more often.  We get a lot of location freedom to work from anywhere.  But oldschool face to face never hurts people to remember what you do and why you are there.
• Clean up a bit.  Get the hair cut monthly.  Hit the thrift store for some wool blend stuff and cash in the gift cards for a couple more button down shirts.
• Self promote.  I've started an internal public blog about tools, technologies and stuff inside the company; I'll copy-post those out here too.  May help build internal and external reputation as someone with a clue.
• And of course, the basics - deliver results, drive operational efficiency, act with integrity, the whole 'Seven Imperatives' thing.

Will and Nikki's Devil's Tower Adventure

We just got back from a nice 7 day tour of Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming - about 1,750 miles, all on a pair of Honda CBR 250Rs.  More to follow, but here's our rough route map:



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Revised 2013 Vacation Day 3

Basing this leg off a Google Plus page for a motel!  The S and H Motel has fantastic reviews, so why not try it out.  220 miles more or less, all Z to A stops, plus a side trip to the center of the USA at Lebanon, KS!




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Revised 2013 Vacation Day 2

Abilene, KS to Colby, KS vai lots of Z-A stops.  Looks like good mexican for dinner, Motel 6 or a local joint in Colby.

265 miles, about an 8 hour day...



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Revised 2013 Vacation Day 1

Ok, Kentucky isn't in the budget.  So, a little bebop through Northern Kansas.

Day One: KC to Abilene, KS.  200-odd miles, 6 or 7 hours riding time.  Stop at a motor lodge, spend the evening poking around the museums and mansions.

Along the way:
Eudora, KS for the Z to A tour;
Topeka, KS for the Z to A tour;
Ada and Alta Vista KS for the Z to A tour;
The Atomic Cannon at Junction City for the Tour of Honor then over to Grandview Plaza for the Z to A tour.



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Day Three to STAR: Coon Dog Inn and Mammoth Caves

Day three - forcing a longer day to pick up some points, eat breakfast at a place called 'Coon Dog Inn' and at least get a stamp from Mammoth Cave!  Points include:

• Kuttawa, KY 
• Fredonia, KY - home of the Coon Dog Inn
• Salvisa, KY

Added one more stop in Hopkinsville, KY to pick up a Tour of Honor stop at the Peacekeeper Monument in Fort Campbell Memorial Park.

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Day Two to STAR: MO to KY

Updating the route again with stops from the Z to A Grand Tour; can only catch four points on this leg.  We could get five, but it'd route us near and through Paducah, KY.  BTDT, never again.  So - we're hitting a few more in the Bootheel of MO and one in Kentucky:

• Winona, MO
• Zalma, MO
• Delta, MO
• Sedalia, KY

Assuming we make all our stops we're up to 9 points and over half way to Lexington for STAR 2013!

Added one more stop in East Prarie, MO at the Veterans Memorial so Nikki can get her Tour of Honor point.

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Day One to STAR 2013

Updated the first day ride - added about 70 miles and 5 (count em, FIVE) points toward the Z-A Grand Tour!  Still going to West Plains, MO via:

• Osceola, MO
• Urbana, MO
• Niangua, MO
• Ava, MO
• Pomona, MO

Nice - check out the map embed below; zoom out for the whole route:

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Voyager Legend and Microsoft Lync

I use Microsoft Lync extensively in my day job; 6 to 10 hours of calls every day over Lync.  Nearly everything we do is on Lync.

So far I've been tied to a dodgy wired USB headset; it's what was provided with the UC rollout years ago.  Sturdy but a real pain to haul back and forth to the office and back.  Today I picked up a Plantronics Voyager Legend bluetooth headset.  It's the basic $99 version, not the full boat $199 UC version.  So far it works for basic functions with Lync - I get audio in the ear from Lync, and the called party can hear me without difficulty.

On the PC with Lync:

• It does not answer from the headset.
• It does not update the Mute status when you mute on the headset.
• It does not update your presence when you put the headset on or take it off.

That experience is using the built in Bluetooth stack on my HP 8440 laptop under Windows 7.  Very basic functionality, and fair sound quality.  Some static, breakup and digital hash.

It does pair both phone and A2DP audio to my older Motorola Photon.  No caller ID announce though; apparently the Photon doesn't support Address Book profile on Bluetooth.  Need to get a newer phone.  Next month . . .


So, I'd like some more integration - I've got the $50 BT-300-M bluetooth dongle on order to see if that will pair up with Lync and the Voyager Legend headset to tie it all together.  Should be in within a week, so I'll update the post when it arrives.

6-March:

Oddly enough, the best price anywhere for accessories is the Plantronic Shopping site.  Everyone else has markup over their prices.

13 March:

Received the BT-300M Bluetooth Dongle today.  Followed the instructions to pair.  Launched Lync and found that it had autodetected that I had the adapter in and was working perfectly.

Massive improvement in PC phone call quality.  Landline class clarity, no bluetooth breakup or digital hash.  It also fully controls Lync with presence, mute, mute on the PC controls mute on the headset and more.  Fantastic.  Worth every penny if you use Lync.   I only wish I'd bought the bundled setup for $139 to $199 or so.  Indoor range is about 45 feet through multiple walls.  Basically can cover the whole house.

Also, after a few connections the contact data did finally port in from my Motorola Photon, giving you the caller ID announcement   "Call From Will England, Answer or Ignore" -- then you speak Answer, and it answers.  Very nice.

Battery life is as advertised; after a full charge, I set it to play music from the Photon.  Each hour I'd check the stated battery level; started out saying '7 Hours', then 6, 5, 4 etc.  At a bit after 7 hours it beeped and shut down for low battery life.  So, 7 hours streaming audio.  Very nice.

Comfort and weight is fine still.  Easy on, easy off.  The large physical tactile buttons are still fantastic.

15 March:

Plugged the BT-300M into my Apple MacBook Pro running Mac OS 10.6.8.  Immediately recognized it as a USB Sound Device.  Since it was already paired from connecting it to the Windows laptop, the headset clicked in immediately.  Fired up Microsoft Lync for Mac version 14.0.4 and found that the default audio device was the BT-300M.  Worked exactly like the Windows version with presence, mute, volume and call control completely working as designed.  The Plantronics Legend headset with BT-300M is fully compatible with Microsoft Lync for Mac!  Great news - and exactly what I was hoping to find!  Now I just move the BT-300M dongle from computer to computer and enjoy full Lync wireless VOIP service on both Mac and Windows!

TL;DR:  Great headset.  Highly recommended. If you use VOIP, get the BT-300 adapter.  300-M for Microsoft Lync integration.

Postscript: If you paired your base headset to the PC before getting the BT-300, remove the pairing before using the 300M.  The headset can get confused and connect to the PC Bluetooth adapter instead of the preferred higher quality 300M.

STAR 2013 Route to Lexington, KY

Assuming we actually get to go, here's my tentative route.

Day 1: KC to West Plains MO.  Nice older motel there with doorside parking.  About 275 miles.


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Day 2: West Plains to Dover, TN Another cool older motor lodge, the Sunset Motor Lodge.  On a hill, overlooks the lake. About another 275 mile day.



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Day 3: Dover, TN to Lexington (via Land Between the Lakes NRA and Mammoth Cave NP) - about 295 miles, long Sunday, but some gorgeous riding and a luxury hotel waiting for us!


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Looks like some fan-tastic riding.  The whole outbound ride on one map:



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Cutting the Cord

Cutting the cord - dropping your landline service to use just a wireless phone.  I was thinking about that today; I was quite an early adopter.  I moved to Wichita in 1994 and didn't spend the money for a Southwestern Bell landline.  But I did have the money to see Blake at Baysingers Police Supply and get an Audiovox Bag Phone.  It had no battery; that was an extra cost addon.  I ran it from a 12V adapter in the car and a battery charger in the house.

Had a 'great' plan - 60 minutes talk time a month!  It was OK for ordering pizza or having a phone for quick calls.  But for long calls I'd drive out to the Airport and use one of their comfortable pay phone kiosks and my MCI calling card.  Ah, oldschool phones.  No text, no data, just 800mHz Analog with a 5 watt peak power radio. No dead spots with that beast!

That lasted till I moved out of the overpriced apartment and across town to an amazing 1 bedroom shack, for $200 a month.  And about that time 'da innernet came along, so I had to have a POTS line for dialup!  Cut the wireless and went all wired again, rockin a pager from Boeing.  A few years later Boeing got with the times and assigned the field support reps (me) Motorola Star Tac phones!  We were stoked - real flip phones with *two* batteries!  You could usually get through a whole 8-hour day on the first battery, then swap when you got home to the spare battery.  Still had the landline -- gotta have that dialup!

Moved to Overland Park in 1999; didn't check the DSLAM locations; over 20,000 wire-feet from the CO (no DSLAMS back then), so no DSL; barely could hold a 56K dialup connection in that townhome -- until Everest came along.  Crazy startup ISP running fresh fiber to the neighborhood and brand new copper coax to the houses, plus clean new twisted pair for a real analog phone line - none of this dodgy VOIP over Cable stuff.

Kept their landline until the 2004 election season - the political calls on the wall phone got to be too much -- I'm paying for this?  Cut the cord again 10 years later.

Point?  Not much.  Just a dive into history.

2012 Riding Map

Great year of riding - all local stuff, nearly 2,000 miles on the new CBR250R!  Got married, my new bride is learning to ride and we have two brand new CBR250R's.  Sold the Ducati and the broke ass BMW.  Lots of local destinations on the USA Grand Tour.

(nearly ran out of Google Maps pins - you can only do 21 destinations on a map!)



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2011 Riding Map

Got a 'new' 1994 BMW K1100LT in preparation for a multi-thousand mile ride to Nelson BC, Canada this year.  Check ride to Arkansas came out great!  Then 45 miles out of KC near St. Joe MO the rear main seal went out oiling the clutch.  Turned around and got the Subaru to finish the Canada trip.  But miles on the motorcycle were down - just over 800 for the year.  Riding also got put on the back burner - I met my now wife!



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2010 Riding Map

2010 - a bit busy.  Burned out on riding.  Or something.  Went to a lot of baseball games with the boy.  And Cub Scout camps.  But I did get out a bit (1600 miles)



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