There’s a great moment, in an old Will Smith film called Six Degrees of Separation, where an art teacher is showing off the water colour paintings of a classroom full of eight year olds.  Somehow, these paintings are magnificent.  Every one of them a bold and wonderful landscape, or haunting portrait or daring abstract, each with brilliant composition and personality.

All of them.

These are the canvases that generations of expressionists have longed to be able to create, all dashed off by eight year olds with casual ease.

“How on earth did you teach your students to paint so beautifully?” the art instructor is asked.

“I taught them nothing,” she answers,  “I just hand them the brushes and watch them paint.  My trick is knowing when to take the paintings away and knowing how to crop ‘em.”

The untrained mind creates some of the most interesting art.  The example above is by my untrained ten year old Sean.  It’s a portrait of his eight year old sister.  And here’s what I like about it  beyond the proud papa, lookie at what muh BOY did aspects…!   I like that he liberally mixes pencil crayon colours in the hair and face, including some BLUE(!) in the facial features.  I never put blue in a flesh tone until college, and even then against my will.  But there it is.  And the blacks in the blonde hair to tone down the way-too-yellow pencil crayon that was supposed to be blonde.  Lovely.

I like the eyes being white, with blue pupils, around gray dots.  That’s my favorite part of the portrait, simply because my mind would never go to that interpretation of reality.  There’s a bit of Modigliani in there, perhaps. The family has large, framed reproductions of his work up in our house, and he’s one of my favorite painters.  To the left is one of the two that hang in his parent’s bedroom, and the elongated face so common to Modigliani’s work is visible in it.

Another painter we have numerous examples of, up around the house, is the deco master (or mistress) Tamara de Lempicka.  Her work also features a glassy eye and an elongated face.  Since I ain’t a zillionaire, we have framed copies of her work darting about our walls, another influence into the ten year old brain, mayhap…?

And finally, I like that Sean has a habit of cutting his artwork out of the paper it’s drawn on after he’s done.  There’s always an element of treating the drawing itself as an object with him…once the art is cut out, it’s then glued to something else, or folded into something, or often just given away in its cut out form.

The trick is knowing when to take it away.

So…take it away Sean Templeton-Smith, this was your first gallery show, and in the company of two modern masters, to boot!

I have four kids in total, each with their own stunning set of talents, so be forewarned, this feature will likely show up again.

Ty the Guy.  Once again, tricking the family into doing his job for him.

There has been a flurry of discussion around social media and its implication in the last few  months , So I thought it would be good to have some of these arguments laid out in one single post. Social Media has entered every business and industry even, inside the US Intelligence Community, who sorted out their knowledge-sharing problem and a problem with locating expertise—throughout the  bureaucracy of 16 federal agencies—using  simple tools like an intelligence community–wide Wiki and blogging environments among other things

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Social Media and Sales

“My sales people are wasting valuable time on Facebook and Linkedin when they should be selling”: that usual rhetoric many sales managers would say now a days.   Does Social Networking help sales people sell I liked that statement especially since it came from Microsoft executive.  As I have also faced the ire of top management for using social media in my career, . So this report is an eye opener for opponents of social media for sales. Read the Full Article.

LinkedIn insiders know that you can use the site’s information for more than job, sales, and partnering leads – you can find out what others are up to as well. There are downside to using Linkedin last fall an Apple employee revealed that he was managing a team developing a new chip for the iPhone while the information was still secret. . So be careful LinkedIn or any other social tools can bite you back if not used properly.

I would partly agree to the argument that social media and internet created a lot of distractions, but I dont think this is something new, we had distractions in our daily life and in office environments even before theadvent of internet. the only difference now it is easier not to do your job and indulge in something else while you are supposed to be at work when in office.

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Social Media and Influence on Decision Making

Second on my reading list was the study conducted by Don Bulmer (Vice President Global Communications- SAP ) with Society for New Communications Research. Take a look at this in his blogpost  at Social Media’s Impact on Business and Decision Making Everyday Influence blog .  Result of the study concludes that Top execs  are influenced by social networks . The copy of the report is on SNRC website

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Social Media Investments

Third on the reading list was a New Study from Deloitte, Beeline Labs and the Society for New Communications Research Indicates Despite the Recession, 94 Percent of Enterprises Continue to Invest in Online Communities & Social Media  Full Article

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Then there was  presentation by Steven Tylock, on Social networking meets sales , the presentation is on  Microsoft website

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Compliance and Social Media

The Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics and the Health Care Compliance Association conducted a survey among compliance and ethics professionals in late August 2009 to see what employers are doing about the use of these sites by their employees.

They got back almost 800 responses from their members using an online survey tool.

• 50% of respondents reported that their company does not have a policy for employee online activity outside of the workplace
• Of those companies that do have a policy, 34% include it in a general policy on online usage
• Of those companies that do have a policy, just 10% specifically address the use of social network sites

It would be interesting to see How companies are going to include a clause on their information protection and compliance rules to define what information an employee can add to his linkedin profile during or after his tenure with the organization, especially information related to projects.

For example When an IA rep uses Twitter to send a link to an article from an online magazine, newspaper, or other site to clients and prospects “following” him, that communication is subject to SEC advertising rules. However, Bernstein says that merely sending a link is not advertising—as long as you don’t give your opinion.

A “recommendation” on your Linkedin profile by a client does indeed constitute a testimonial and, thus, violates SEC rules prohibiting RIAs from using client testimonials in advertising.

The SEC will be busy in coming months addressing the many issues posed by advisor use of social media. FDA has already release its framework on use of social media in Drug Marketing.

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Drugs, Heallthcare, FDA and Social Media

The FDA is currently considering how to handle social media, such as SideWiki, Facebook, etc. Companies such as Google, Sermo, and Twitter are playing an increasing role in marketing products to consumers and healthcare professionals, whether our customers like it or not. Technology and Life Sciences companies are pushing the FDA to come up with standards and templates. The following article has some great links to presentations from PhRMA, Google, and even from Pfizer’s Chief Medical Officer.  

Read about Googles pitch to FDA for online Drug Advertisements from the wall street journal

An archived webcast and other details of the FDA  Public Hearing on Promotion of FDA-Regulated Medical Products Using the Internet and Social Media Tools is available at the FDA website

Here what emerged from this hearing

FDA explained in the Federal Register notice that “entities should review any Internet sites sponsored by them for Drug Adverse Event Information, but are not responsible for reviewing any Internet sites that they do not sponsor; however, if they become aware of an Adverse Drug Event on an Internet site that they do not sponsor, they should review the adverse experience and determine if it should be reported to FDA.”

Numerous speakers stated that drug manufacturers are hesitant to fully engage in online social media specifically because they want to avoid learning about potential AEs and the resulting reporting obligations, particularly because the guidance in this area is unclear

Pending further guidance, companies should prepare for further FDA scrutiny of this area by developing compliance
policies to address the challenges of involvement in Internet and social media tools, including but not limited to:
„„policies relating to employee involvement in social media, and in particular statements regarding company products;

„„company involvement in physician and patient-focused social media, including both company-sponsored sites and third-party sites run by third-party organizations (and particularly those receiving manufacturer support through grants or other funding);

„„addressing the challenge of Sidewiki and similar functions that make third-party generated information directly available in conjunction with company websites;

„„updating promotional review policies to ensure consistency with developing FDA approaches to risk communication on the Internet, including sponsored links;

„„policies regarding statements that company-affiliated parties (e.g., investigators, patients) may make on the Internet, which may constitute endorsements or testimonials requiring both review and specific disclosures; and

„„ensuring a consistent and compliant approach to pharmacovigilance with respect to Internet-reported adverse events of Drugs.

I know one company that provides  Content Monitoring, Control & Recording across Web 2.0; User Behavior Reporting over Multiple Modalities, Regulatory Compliance for management and security of Web 2.0 applications such as social networking, blogs, wikis, webmail and social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube instant messaging, and Unified Communications. But at a cost of $9,200, it would be out of reach for individual and SMEs.  Still have a look at the recent press release by factime on its FaceTime’s Unified Security Gateway

If only it was six degrees of Kevin Bacon, then this would have been a 10/10!

Paul (Will Smith) is a charming and engaging young con artist who appears one day on the doorstep of Flan and Ouisa Kittredge (Donald Sutherland and Stockard Channing). Professing to be a friend of the affluent couple’s son, Paul spins a tale of celebrity and despair that deeply affects the pair and their socialite friends.

This film is based on the stage play by John Guare, which actually was inspired by a true story itself. Now I know the original story, and I was not very disapointed with this adaptation one bit.

The one thing about this film that planned out really well was how it was told. Most of it through flashbacks and narration from families who experienced Paul the con artist. They narrate and show you how each and every little situation all relate to each other, and I never lost track of what happened.

I just felt like the film didn’t quite have as much humanity to it as the film tried to bring up. These characters didn’t seem so real in their actions and by the way they talked. We also never really got to know them real well, other than their just a rich couple, and are having problems with their children.

I also didn’t like how the con artist was reflected in a very negative light. Though he was doing crimes, I’ll say that, but he was the one who brought these people to realize who they were and he was like the patron for having them realize it. All the rich people were made to look all glamorous with the occasional problems, while Smith was looked at as just a perv among society.

The film is uptight and the dialogue is often delivered with the flare of an old classic. The lines are witty, sharp, delightful and the gay stuff is fake near laughable. I enjoyed how the film did a real great job at combining comedy with drama, and making the film a lot more compelling than what it seemed to be.

Stockard Channing naturally holds the film in place but her screen presence is so big and the camera is so small. Channing has to keep moving in order to stay in the film. However, by the middle of the film you begin to feel Channing’s break away from the theater and she delivers her lines with the grace of a Hollywood star. But, Will Smith probably has one of the greatest performances of his career in this film. It must have been hard for him to play a gay man, but he was so believable and genuine in it, that I almost forgot this was Will Smith I was talking about.

Consensus: A funny and moving drama with some great satirical messages about society, Six Degrees Of Seperation is moving but doesn’t feel too humane.

9/10=Full Pricee!!

Why is the defense sending their crack PI out investigating Roy Kronk? Why aren’t they searching for Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez instead?

There is a game I’m sure you are all aware of called six degrees of separation. The premise is that if you are one step away from each person you know and two steps away from each person they know, then everyone is, at most, six steps away from any other person on earth. It was popularized by the play, Six Degrees of Separation, written by John Guare in 1990. It was also the title of a movie released in 1993. I’m sure you are familiar with the very similar game known as The Kevin Bacon Game or Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. It started after he claimed that he had worked with everyone in Hollywood. The objective rests on the assumption that any actor can be linked to Kevin Bacon through his or her film roles within six steps.

My challenge is to prove that Casey has a definitive and viable connection to Roy Kronk and I will do that. First, I’ll try an easy one, just for kicks. I can connect Casey Anthony to Kevin Bacon and I can do it in less than six degrees of separation. Wanna bet? Casey knows Jose Baez, who knows Geraldo Rivera, who knows Dennis Miller, who knows Kevin Bacon. That’s four, so there. No Zenaida anywhere in sight and it is not my intent to provide any evidence of Kevin Bacon’s guilt or involvement in the murder of anyone, so I will leave his name out. God knows he could be implicated by the defense. In the meantime, I fully expect tabloid fodder to soon read something like this…

ALIEN ABDUCTORS TELL TRUTH ABOUT CAYLEE

ROY KRONK IS CAYLEE’S FATHER

OK, back on solid ground. You know how absurd it is that Roy Kronk could be a suspect in the disappearance and murder of Caylee Anthony, but toss the idea around in your head for a while. OK, it’s still bizarre. No need to continue. It’s as crazy as the above headline and it’s ludicrous to remotely conceptualize, but the bottom line is that good old boy Roy is expected to be one of the key witnesses for the state. We think, in unison, that the defense is grasping at straws, which it is, but I firmly believe the only objectives here are to poison the state’s forensic evidence, or if that fails, to create an element of doubt in the minds of jurors. Could it have been someone else? We know the state must prove Casey’s guilt, so the onus is on prosecutors. Do I personally think the latest motion in limine* filed by the defense is an injustice to Mr. Kronk? You bet, because law enforcement cleared him early on, but in the defense team’s scheme, all they have to do is attack his credibility as a state witness. Mark Fuhrman knows all about that from his experience with defense attorneys at the OJ Simpson murder trial. Did Roy ever use the “N” word? Yes, as in “Nope, I had nothing to do with it.” Toss out a blinding smoke bomb. Confuse the 12. Before this comes in front of a jury, though, the defense wants the case thrown out because their client was the only person of interest in a murder and that’s an injustice, pure and simple. Unethical and unfair. The real killer could be hiding among us to this day, or it could be Kronk.

If we ever saw bad medicine in the making, there’s a Doctor Baez needle of doubt waiting to be injected. The only thing is, neither the judge nor a jury need or want a dose of whatever he’s dispensing. Personally, if the prescription remains the same, it’s more like laughing gas and it’s a malpractice suit in the form of a retrial waiting to happen around the corner of a big time cancerous conviction that will sap the life out of their patient, one Casey Marie Anthony. This is no precision incision. It’s plastic surgery gone wild.

Let’s see what the doctor is telling us the symptoms are:

Tell me, are young girls and toddlers one and the same? Define young girl for me, Mr. Baez. Has Roy Kronk ever been convicted of any of your allegations? They sound to me like nothing more than old, rancid, bottles of wine; sour grapes, and they leave a bad taste in my mouth. Is Roy Kronk the only man on the planet who walked away from prior relationships on not so friendly terms and got his reputation bashed? What does his “sordid” past have to do with the murder of Caylee? It seems to me that the defense team AND the Anthonys should be eating the part of the turkey that goes over the fence last come Thanksgiving Day because they were the first ones to say that the sins of Casey, as in check fraud, do not a murderer make.  How could anyone possibly cull a murder out of Roy Kronk? Where, perchance, is the direct evidence that ties him to the death? Is he also guilty of stealing money from Amy Huizenga? On numerous occasions, I have used the word hypocrisy. The worst offense of all is the so-called “evidence that indicated” that Kronk is – not was – “involved in an imaginary world of fantasy and violence.” With young girls, to boot? Excuse me? Who is really living in a fantasy world here? Who sits in jail for murder, most likely committed violently by a fanatical young woman? Just who is this private investigator and professor at DePaul University, Mort Smith, who helped conjure up this nightmare? What is their motive? They intend to assassinate the former water company employee’s character and ruin his credibility on the stand. Will the defense, because of their sexual innuendos, accuse him of a meter violation?

There’s more to this than just that. I understand what Baez & Co. are up to. It is so powerfully clear that their intent is to dupe the judge and jury – not into thinking Roy actually committed the act of murder, but to set into motion what I feel is the whole basis of the defense strategy: that the state never looked anywhere else. The state never fully investigated Roy Kronk and they cleared him prematurely. In other words, their private investigator was more thorough than law enforcement. Quite clearly, none of the evidence ever pointed at him or anyone else, either, so why would authorities waste taxpayers’ money grasping for straws like the defense is doing now? I think it is quite evident that this defense is lost. It has no focus. No direction. This is a body of attorneys without a head and as much as I hate to say it, they are clowning around with a very serious matter. Instead of throwing cream pies at the court, they are throwing apples in an orange grove and calling them nectarines. With this sort of strategy, there is no doubt who will be buying the farm and the injection Doctor Baez intends to administer to the judge and jury will instead lead to one carried out by the State of Florida at the Lowell Correctional Institute. This is no laughing matter.

Somewhere, somehow, there are six degrees of separation between everyone, so they say. Here is what links Casey Anthony to Roy Kronk. It doesn’t go through Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez because in real life, fictional characters do not coexist with real people. Fictional characters are as imaginary as Casey’s, well, imagination. My best shot, based on true and documented information taken from law enforcement interviews is that the degrees of separation are simple. They are very concise and very much after the fact because there never was a before: Casey Anthony to Yuri Melich to Roy Kronk. Cut and dry. The sad part about it, in real life, is that there will never be more than zero degrees of separation between poor Roy and the late Caylee Marie. You’ve got to ask yourself, what would Caylee say about this mess? She’d be talking by now.

*Motion in Limine – Although motions in limine are most often used to exclude evidence, they can also provide an opportunity to obtain a pretrial ruling on the admissibility of certain evidence. Source: Professor John Barkai, William S. Richardson School of Law.

“My sales people are wasting valuable time on Facebook and Linkedin when they should be selling”: Now thats what most sales managers would say. I know thats true , I have irritated fare share of my managers by using social media to create and close sales and in lead generation. And I continue to do it today, thanks to my current orgnaizations forward looking ways , this time around I have the support of my management to these activities.

Society for New Communications Research (SNCR) has oublished a research that shows that company executives are influenced by their online networks.

Here are some key findings from this survey 365 business professionals:

- Professional decision-making is becoming more social – enter the era of Social Media Peer Groups (SMPG)

• Traditional influence cycles are being disrupted by Social Media as decision makers utilize social networks to inform and validate decisions
• Professionals want to be collaborative in the decision-cycle but not be marketed or sold to online; however online marketing is a preferred activity by companies.

– Professional networks are emerging as decision-support tools

• Decision-makers are broadening reach to gather information especially among active users

- Professionals trust online information almost as much as information gotten from in-person

• Information obtained from offline networks still have highest levels of trust with slight advantage over online (offline: 92% – combined strongly/somewhat trust; online: 83% combined strongly/somewhat trust)

- Reliance on web-based professional networks and online communities has increased significantly over the past 3 years

• Three quarters of respondents rely on professional networks to support business decisions
• Reliance has increased for essentially all respondents over the past three years

- Social Media use patterns are not pre-determined by age or organizational affiliation

• Younger (20-35) and older professionals (55+) are more active users of social tools than middle aged professionals.
• There are more people collaborating outside their company wall than within their organizational intranet

I have also found a similarlt interesting  blog . Hosted at Sales20Book.com

“My sales people are wasting valuable time on Facebook and Linkedin when they should be selling”: Now thats what most sales managers would say. But does Social Networking help sales people sell Full Article . I liked that statement especially since it came from Microsoft executive. . As I have also faced the ire of top management for using social media in my career, some time even in Oracle. So this report is an eye opener for opponents of social media for sales.

The complete presentation and arguments are available on http://www.sales20book.com/wp/2009/05/social-networking-in-sales-show-me-the-money/

Internet se ha convertido con el paso del tiempo en la herramienta por excelencia para la comunicación en todos sus aspectos. Las relaciones interpersonales han encontrado en el ciberespacio la posibilidad de instalarse en él en las denominadas redes sociales. Millones de usuarios a nivel mundial han sido atraídos a ellas y las han incorporado en sus vidas de manera tal que las visitas a estos sitios se repiten varias veces al día y son el punto de encuentro para todo tipo de actividades.
Las nuevas tecnologías que lo permiten se basan en aplicaciones que permiten el uso común en un único sitio con protocolos informáticos como el correo electrónico o la mensajería instantánea, o aplicaciones que permiten la subida y la descarga de fotografías, es decir que lo que se permite principalmente es el intercambio de información de forma eficaz e inmediata que facilite la comunicación y la interactividad entre las personas.
La primera red social de Internet fue www.sixdegrees.com, actualmente inactiva. Surgió en 1997 y permitía al usuario crear su perfil, tener una lista de amigos y de amigos de esos amigos. Esta red se basa en la teoría homónima propuesta inicialmente en 1929 por el escritor húngaro Frigyes Karinthy en un cuento llamado Chains. Esta teoría lo que intenta es probar que cualquier persona en el mundo puede estar conectada con cualquier otra mediante una cadena de conocidos que implica a 5 intermediarios, es decir ambas personas estarían conectadas mediante seis enlaces y eso haría posible que la cadena de conocidos se convierta en la población del mundo.

Según esta teoría, cada persona conoce de media, entre amigos, familiares y compañeros de trabajo a unas 100 personas. Si cada uno de esos conocidos cercanos se relaciona con otras 100 personas, cualquier individuo puede pasar una determinada información a 10.000 personas con un solo mensaje tan sólo pidiendo a un amigo que lo pase a sus amigos. Si esos 10.000 conocen a otros 100 la red ya se ampliaría a 1.000.000 de personas conectadas en un tercer nivel, a 100.000.000 en un cuarto nivel, a 10.000.000.000 en un quinto nivel y a 1.000.000.000.000 en un sexto nivel.

En la década de los 50 el Instituto Tecnológico de Massachusetts y Manfred Kochen de IBM intentaron demostrarlo matemáticamente pero no quedaron del todo satisfechos. En 1967 un psicólogo estadounidense, Stanley Milgram, intentó nuevamente problarlo con un experimento que denominó “El problema del pequeño mundo”. La investigación consistió en hacer que varias personas del oeste de Estados Unidos enviaran postales a algún extraño en Massachusetts. Los emisores solo conocían el nombre, algunos datos y su localización aproximada del destinatario y debían hacer llegar la correspondencia entregándosela en mano a un amigo, aquel que realmente tuviera mayores posibilidades de llegar hasta el sujeto final. Todos pensaban que la cadena de intermediarios sería centenaria, pero en un tercio de los casos (y solo esto es lo que hace que muchos desconfíen) las postales llegaron tan solo entre 5 y 7 intermediarios y fue entonces cuando se le dio el nombre de ‘Seis grados de separación’.
Ya en los 90 la teoría fue llevada al teatro y en 1993 se estrenaba una película protagonizada por Will Smith y Donald Sutherland con su nombre aunque el argumento difiere de la teoría. También hubo una serie para la televisión realizada en 2007 por J.J. Abrams, el creador de Perdidos que no consiguió cautivar a la audiencia y dejó de emitirse tras el cuarto capítulo con la promesa de que volvería. La idea se convirtió en cultura popular a raíz un juego para ordenador que se localizaba en el sitio web de la Universidad de Virginia, su creador Brett C. Tjaden utilizó la web Internet Movie Database (IMDb) para documentar las diferentes conexiones que se iban realizando entre los diferentes actores; en 1996 la revista Time lo posicionó entre los diez mejores sitios web del año.

En la actualidad gracias a las nuevas tecnologías y principalmente a Internet la teoría parece más fácil de ser comprobada.
En 2001 aparecieron otras redes como BlackPlanet o MiGente que permitían crear redes de amistad o profesionales dentro de la propia red social. Actualmente las que se quedan con la mayoría de usuarios son Hi5, MySpace y Facebook. En esta última, existen cientos de grupos y páginas que incluyen en su nombre alguna variante. Pero un grupo en concreto se denomina “Six degrees of Separation – The LARGEST Group On Facebook” que cuenta con 5.606.800 miembros, lo que podría llevarnos a pensar que la teoría está muy difundida y que la gente está dispuesta a demostrarla, o por lo menos que tienen la esperanza que sea verdad; son cientos los blogs, vídeos y entradas en wikipedia que muestran las relaciones que personas anónimas demuestran tener en un sexto grado con algún famoso. No creo que fuera la idea original de la teoría, pero si ello ayuda a comprobarla, bienvenido sea.

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Name:  Six Degrees of Separation
Release Year:  2009
Genre: Documentary
Director: Annamaria Talas
producer:  Chris Hilton (BBC)
Language: English
RunTime: 48 min

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Description:

Documentary unfolding the science behind the idea of six degrees of separation.

Originally thought to be an urban myth, it now appears that anyone on the planet can be connected in just a few steps of association. Six degrees of separation is also at the heart of a major scientific breakthrough.

That there might be a law which nature uses to organize itself and that now promises to solve some of its deepest mysteries.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00kdtvv

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Watch Now Full Documentary

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>> Click Here to Watch Documentary <<

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The following concept comes from a recent blog entry I read from Mitch Joel, author of Six Degrees of Separation. I recently finished his book (an excellent read by the way, especially if you want to learn more about how business should work together with consumers to create a fluid, interactive online social media presence) and I went over to his blog, where in one of his entries this week he talks about people and learning. The concept that struck me is a simple one: whether you are 16 or 90, whether you’ve been in your particular business or craft for a year or forty years, you should always be in student mode because you don’t know everything and you might miss a keen insight that can take you to new horizons unforeseen.

I’ve been a bowler for 33+ years in league competition, and 35 years overall. I’m always open to learning new techniques of lane play, ball selection, targeting, and what others are doing that I may be able to modify and adapt to my personal tool box in league, practice or tournament action. I don’t proclaim to know everything about the sport. I do believe I can help others in terms of their mental skills, because once you reach a certain point with your physical game it does become more of a consistent, repetition process and you have to have the ability to relax, keep composure and assess what you see out there on the fly.

As a music critic, I study the craft of all the writers on the websites I currently contribute to. I also read as many other websites as I can in my heavy music specialties. I subscribe to Decibel magazine and follow many of their writers. I know that my writing may not reach the sense of humor ability of say Chris Maycock or Ula Gehret, or the historical knowledge and insight of say Matt Johnsen or Jeff Wagner, or even the critical second by second analysis of S. Craig Zahler- but I believe that I’ve developed my own set of standards and attempt with each piece I write to give the reader a sense of what they will be getting into even if they’ve not heard of the band or a note from the group.

I definitely do not know everything regarding parenthood or adoption. Humans are not robots, and every individual comes with a different set of emotions and ease with which they want to be taught life skills. I rely on a large pool of teachers, family members, therapists, doctors, friends, and knowledgeable authors in the adoption field to make some sense of what’s going on. Yes there’s a lot of trial and error taking place. We take what works and keep it in play, and we take out what doesn’t work and move on to something else. My wife and I have a strong marriage and we communicate as often as possible so that we are both on the same page when it comes to our daughters.

Remember that you can learn as much from the person who is a novice as the person who is the expert. Take the time to research both and see what you can get out of each experience. Surrender yourself to the process of discovery and insight. It’s how we grow as people and move on to a new level of being, of sharing, of caring. Use the free tools of internet social media and search engines to your advantage- it’s a time period in our world that makes information access and retention much quicker than your parents generation and definitely your grandparents’ generation.

It’s fine to be a teacher and pass your knowledge on to others in need- but never forget the student inside of you, wanting to learn yourself.

It's sort of like this, only we haven't aged quite so much. And we're not Angelina Jolie.

In a rather short period recently, I have managed to search for and “friend” (thank you, Facebook) hundreds of long lost friends, colleagues, classmates, distant relatives and acquaintances. I guess the correct term would be “re-friend,” since I was at one time actually friendly with these people in the old-fashioned, pre-internet social networking sense of the word.  Since I am only now back in touch with these individuals after not having seen them for many (in some cases more than twenty) years, it seems to me when I see their profile pictures, that they have aged from teenager to middle ager in an instant. It’s not exactly like looking at time lapse photography. It’s more like traveling through a time warp, and it is a very trippy experience. I have taken the express train, not the one making local stops, to my reunion with everyone.

But I am not going to kid myself that having someone’s gravatar (a new term I learned around the same time I started “friending” all my friends) in the “friends” list on my Facebook profile page is tantamount to my being back to having slumber parties and all-night gossip phonefests with them. Some of my “friends” really are my friends (either newly acquired or ones with whom I have been in touch all along without the assistance of Mark Zuckerberg and his gang) at this stage in my life, but for the most part my “friends” constitute what is known these days as my “social and professional network.”

Facebook is the extent of my online social networking right now. But it's good to know I have other options.

Nonetheless, I can’t help but marvel at how technology allows us to reconnect and stay in touch with people over time and space in a way that former generations could never have even dreamed of. When my Zaida and Uncle Noach left Russia and Poland respectively as teenagers, they in effect said goodbye to each other and everyone else they had known there. A few letters may have made their way between them in their new homes in Canada and Israel and the relatives remaining in the Old Country (prior to WWII, but not after), and between the two of them as they built their lives on separate continents. Never would they have fathomed that their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren could keep abreast in real time of every little detail of one another’s lives. To exactly what degree depends, of course, on how narcissistic and voyeuristic they are.

If Kevin Bacon were Jewish, that number on his t-shirt would be a much lower one.

Facebook’s keeping track for you not only of your “friends” but also the “mutual friends” you share with each of your “friends” is a very handy application. Although I can’t claim to have done any scientific study on this, I do think that it has helped prove beyond any doubt that when it comes to Jewish Geography, there are far fewer degrees of separation than six. It could be that those who cannot claim MOT status, including many people who think they are somehow affiliated with actor Kevin Bacon, do really need quite a few links in the social chain to ultimately connect them to specific others. But we Yids are all one big mishpocheh. The Rabbis weren’t joking when they proclaimed, Kol yisrael arevim zeh la’zeh (all Jews are bound together).

As tempting as it is to knock the oversharing (to understand this term, just read some of Ayelet Waldman’s works and listen to interviews in which she admits to this possible vice) that is a byproduct of the usage of social networking sites, I do have to credit it with enabling me to be present at (in the loosest possible definition) some important milestones for people of whose lives I had lost track. Without pursuing an in-depth correspondence with these individuals, I can at least now wish them “Mazel Tov” on a child’s bar or bat mitzvah, or congratulate them on the completion of a major professional project or the achievement of a personal goal.

English speakers say time flies. For Hebrew speakers, it runs.

I still remember a song my class sang as part of our junior high graduation: Od shanah, ve’od shanah, hazman hu galgal anak (Another year and another year, time is a giant wheel). Close to thirty years later, I have become quite reflective about the passage of time and the cycle of life as I read and see on Facebook that my friends and I now have children of the same age that we ourselves were back when we were truly part of one another’s daily lives. This kind of thing makes me all wistful and nostalgic. On the other hand, doing the math and recognizing that some of my former students are now as old as I was when I taught them (not to mention that some are engaged to be married) just makes me feel old.

We can see from this illustration in Haper's Weekly from 1872 that time didn't fly back then.

In English we say that time flies. In Hebrew, for some reason, time doesn’t fly. It runs. To tell you the truth, I’m not really sure which idiom I like better, or which makes more sense. There’s a saying about time in Hebrew that, unlike others, translates well into English. Hazman oseh et shelo means “Time does its thing.” It certainly does, whether you take this to mean that time heals all wounds or that it just plain does a number on all of us.

As I have my fun socializing in cyberspace, I sometimes think about some old friends who I will never be able to find on Facebook. It’s not because they are technophobic or can’t abide this particular internet site. It’s because they are no longer alive, having died due to accident, illness or suicide. No matter whether it flies or whether it runs, time is indeed precious.

© 2009 Renee Ghert-Zand. All rights reserved.

Since the FDA cracked down on social media marketing and online advertising, drugmakers have been walking on eggshells. A key FDA meeting is scheduled for Nov. 12-13. Read on …

Drug Marketing and Advertising
Are You Prepared for the Challenges of Social Media?
An FDAnews Webinar
Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009 • 11:00 a.m. — 12:30 p.m. EST

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Internet marketing and social media offer powerful new tools to communicate the benefits of your drugs and biologics. But with the FDA a threatening question mark, it’s hard to know how to move forward.

What are the best practices firms can employ while the FDA determines its approach to regulating social media and internet advertising?

Consult the experts.

Dr. Mark DeWyngaert is a leading consultant in drug sales and marketing; he helps drug and biologic makers thread through the FDA maze. Alan Bennett is managing partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Ropes & Gray and has represented clients at the FDA and in Congress on many of the critical issues that affect the pharmaceutical industry. We’ve invited them to spend 90 minutes with you, explaining what the FDA is doing, where it’s heading, and how you can meet your marketing goals — without crossing regulatory boundaries.

In 90 fast-paced minutes, without ever leaving the convenience of your office, you’ll have the opportunity to pick our experts brains — at a cost that’s a fraction of what you’d pay for an on-site consulting visit. They’ll fill you in on key points from the November public meeting and help you prepare for whatever new FDA strategies emerge. Here’s just a taste of this webinar’s agenda:

• The 5 issues DDMAC is citing in enforcement letters
  
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• The 3 main types of social media: user-generated content, bookmarking and sharing, and social networking
  
• What YouTube, Wikipedia, Facebook, Linked-in and Twitter have in common, and how consumers are using them
  
• The 6 types of adult online consumers
  
• Social media advertising trends
  
• How brand reputation is affected by growing product awareness, patient interaction and portability
  
• Social media tools — which are high risk, which are low risk
  
• Developing an innovative social media monitoring program
  
• Using social media monitoring and text mining to create models and identify consumer trends
  
• And plenty more!

Because this seminar is web-based and totally interactive, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to email all your questions and receive answers before the session ends.

Advertising and marketing cut across many company departments and functions. Dozens in your company may wish to attend. That’s no problem. As many personnel may log on as you like — for one low registration fee. There are no restrictions except that all registrants must be at the same company location.

The FDA has made no bones about plans to step up enforcement, and DDMAC is at the forefront of agency plans. Now is the time to prepare. Make plans now to log on for this one-time-only session.

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Dr. Mark DeWyngaert is a managing director in the Life Sciences Advisory Practice at Huron Consulting. Trained as a molecular biologist, he specializes in assisting pharmaceutical manufacturers, biotechnology and medical device companies with identifying and mitigating regulatory risks and valuing intellectual property. As a consultant, he leads teams in the assessment of sales and marketing, medical affairs and clinical development activities, and he assists companies in the redesign of business practices to comply with regulations and standards.

Alan Bennett is managing partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Ropes & Gray and formerly served as co-chair of the firm’s Life Sciences Group. He focuses on legal issues surrounding the development and marketing of medical products and has served as outside counsel to many pharmaceutical and medical device firms. Alan’s practice at Ropes & Gray has involved counseling clients, and representing them at the FDA and in Congress, on many of the critical issues that affect the pharmaceutical industry. He is a recognized expert on issues that arise under the Hatch-Waxman Act, as well as on issues involving pharmaceutical marketing, promotion and education.

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A PhD student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s famed Media Lab, Mr Pranav Mistry, 28, has come a long way from being the president of the Young Scientists Club at hometown, Palanpur, in northern Gujarat, India

‘SixthSense’ is a wearable gestural interface that augments the physical world around us with digital information and lets us use natural hand gestures to interact with that information.

Called SixthSense, the prototype is made of a pocket projector, a mirror and a camera. The hardware components are coupled in a pendant-like mobile wearable device, while the projector and the camera are connected to the mobile computing device in the user’s pocket via bluetooth.

SixthSense promises to combine the physical world with digital information, without compromising on the ease of doing an ‘offline’ transaction. Its easy-to-grab applications: walk into a random book store, and see the price, ISBN, and a short review displayed on the cover. Or, draw a circle on your wrist, and check the time.

“When you’re cooking, you are also smelling the preparation and your mind starts working accordingly. What we need is a similar seamless communication with the physical world using this solution,” Mr Mistry says.
Press Coverage and several videos available at the website http://www.pranavmistry.com/projects/sixthsense/#VIDEOS

According to Mr Mistry, the real power of SixthSense will be to empower people who lack fourth or fifth sense. “There are some organisations talking with me about how to empower the visually-challenged and hearing-impaired using this technology,” he says.
Meanwhile, consumer electronic companies, including Samsung and LG apart from Microsoft and many others, have expressed interest in making SixthSense a commercial reality.

“Most of these companies already sponsor projects at the Media Lab, and they have been working with me,” said Mr Mistry. Some of the potential applications could include real-time surgery using SixthSense, besides, bundling mobile phones with software, which will empower users to try different applications.

Fraud In Other Movies

Stop by your local video store, grab a bucket of popcorn and study these films about fraud and fraud deterrence. Get the books at your local library or bookseller to discover even more details about the fraudsters and investigators.

Movies – New Listings Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room The Prime Gig The Inspector General Scroll down for the movie and book summaries, and more alphabetical listings

1. Catch Me If You Can (Film released 2002, VHS 2003, DVD 2003)Based on the bestselling book, this is the autobiographical story of Frank Abagnale Jr. Pursued by the FBI, Abagnale spent four years of his life impersonating an airline pilot, doctor, and attorney – all before he was 21. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Martin Sheen, Christopher Walken, James Brolin, and Jennifer Garner. Frank W. Abagnale Jr. appears in the movie as a French policeman. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Studio: Dreamworks Book: New York Times bestseller. “Catch Me If You Can: The Amazing Story of the Youngest and Most Daring Con Man in the History of Fun and Profit” by Frank W. Abagnale. Hardback, 1980. Hardback, publisher Mainstream, 2001. Paperback, publisher Broadway, 2000. Audio cassette, Audio CD, and e-book also available. 2. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (Film April 2005, DVD January 2006)) An excellent documentary about the fraudulent, fast growth of Houston-based Enron Corporation into the seventh largest US company and its rapid destruction. It was worshiped by investors and feared by rivals. The leaders were lauded as visionaries. Major banks, brokerage firms, politicians, and auditors at Arthur Anderson were caught up in the frenzy. It seems like an entertaining fairytale, but it changes into a catastrophic shocker as more facts are revealed. The movie includes videos from the energy company’s meetings and television coverage, arrogant phone conversations, internal memos, and document shredding. Oddly-named schemes like “Mark-to-Market,” “Raptor,” “Death Star Transactions,” “Ricochet Purchasing,” “Get Shorty,” and “Rolling Blackouts” are explained. The movie shows how greedy executives like Kenneth Lay, Jeff Skilling, Andrew Fastow, and Lou Pai were involved in the schemes. The executives reaped millions of dollars in compensation and left the employees,  pensions , and the State of California in a financial crisis. Obviously, Enron did not follow one of its own mottos – “Ask Why.” The film includes interviews with whistleblower Sherron Watkins and the authors of the book. Directed by Alex Gibney Studio: HDNet Films/Magnolia Pictures The movie is based on the best-selling book “The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron.” It was written by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, senior writers for Fortune magazine. McLean also wrote “Is Enron Overpriced?” for the March 2001 issue. Hardcover, 2003, Penguin Group (USA). Paperback, 2004, Portfolio.

3. The Prime Gig(Film 2000, VHS 2002, DVD 2002) Pendleton “Penny” Wise is a gifted telemarketer who can sell almost anything over the phone. He works for a small-time operator who goes bust and doesn’t pay Penny his sales commissions. Broke and out of a job, Penny is approached by Caitlin Carlson, who is recruiting telephone salesmen for Kelly Grant. Grant is a legend in the telemarketing industry, but not always for positive reasons; one of his previous operations landed him in jail, and Penny isn’t sure if Grant’s latest scheme — selling shares in a gold mine — is on the level. Greed, distrust, and betrayal are at the core of this drama of high-pressure boiler room operations. Starring Vince Vaughn, Julia Ormond, Ed Harris,  George Wendt, and Wallace Shawn. Directed by Gregory Mosher. Studio: New Line Home Video

4. The Inspector General(Film released 1949, VHS 2004, DVD 2004) An illiterate stooge is fired from a traveling gypsy medicine show. He wanders into a Russian village begging for food and is picked up on a vagrancy charge. The villagers and corrupt officials mistake him for the inspector general, they think is traveling in disguise. Fearing he will discover they’ve been pocketing tax money, they make several bungled attempts to bribe and kill him. He falls in love with the only honest person in the village. This is a hilarious view of loyalty, deception, mistaken identity, and friendship. The film was also released under the title “Happy Times.” It is included in several boxed sets of comedy classics. Starring Danny Kaye, Walter Slezak, Barbara Bates, Elsa Lanchester, Alan Hale, Alan Hale Jr., Gene Lockhart, and John Carradine. Music by Johnny Mercer and Sylvia Fine Directed by Henry Koster. Studio: Warner Brothers   The film was based on the Russian masterpiece “The Government Inspector” by Nikolai Gogol (1809 – 1852). When the satirical play was first performed in 1836, Gogol was driven into exile. Student edition, paperback, 2003, Methuen Publishing. The Government Inspector has been translated 17 times by other publishers. A new paperback will be available in April 2006.

Movies – Alphabetical Boiler Room Catch Me If You Can Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Eight Men Out The Emperor’s New Clothes Fargo The Flim-Flam Man The Freshman The Grifters Matchstick Men The Music Man Quiz Show The Scam (Afera) Shattered Glass Six Degrees of Separation The Sting The Sting II Traveller Waking Ned Devine The Yards Scroll down for the movie and book summaries.

5. Boiler Room (Film released 2001, VHS 2002, DVD 2002) In this morality tale, a college dropout abandons his illicit casino to please his father who is a judge. He joins a low-end stock brokerage firm which turns out to be a bigger scam. High-pressure salesmanship is used to bilk families out of their life savings. Starring Ben Affleck, Giovanni Ribisi, Nia Long and Vin Diesel. Directed by Ben Younger. Studio: New Line Studios

6. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Film released 1988, VHS 2002, DVD 2003) Two international con artists cross paths as they ply their trade on gullible wealthy women up and down the Riviera. Freddy Benson (Steve Martin) is a loud crass American. His competitor, Laurence Jameson (Michael Caine), is a suave European. The two are forced into a rivalry which results in a wager to see who can be the first to bilk an American heiress out of $50,000. The winner gets to stay in the area to continue his schemes and the loser has to leave. Is there honor among thieves? Starring Steve Martin, Michael Caine, and Glenne Headly. Directed by Frank Oz Studio: MGM/United Artists This hilarious comedy is a remake of the film farce “Bedtime Story” starring Marlon Brando, David Niven, and Shirley Jones  (Film released 1963, VHS 1994). A musical adaptation of “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” premiered in 2004 at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego. It moved to Broadway in March 2005 and stars John Lithgow, Norbert Leo Butz, and Joanna Gleason.

7. The Emperor’s New Clothes (Film 1987, VHS 1993) A funny satirical tale by Hans Christian Anderson about vanity, incompetence, corruption, and lies. It interweaves schemes by the Emperor’s court and tailors to deceive him. Two swindlers persuade the emperor that their magical cloth can’t be seen by any person who is foolish or incompetent. Only one young lad dares to tell him the truth. Starring Sid Caesar, Clive Revill, and Robert Morse. Original music by Sid Caesar. Directed by David Irving. Studio: MGM/United Artists   8. Eight Men Out (Film released 1988, VHS 1999, DVD 2001) Based on the 1977 book, “Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series” by Eliot Asinof. A historical portrayal of bickering baseball team owners, famous crooks, lowlife gangsters, and the low-paid baseball players of the Chicago White Sox. It details the conspiracies, payoffs, scandals and trial of the team that won the pennant and intentionally lost the World Series. Starring D. B. Sweeney, John Mahoney, Charlie Sheen, John Cusack, Studs Terkel, and Christopher Lloyd Directed by John Sayles. Studio: MGM/United Artists Book: “Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series” by Eliot Asinof. Hardcover, publisher Henry Holt, 1977. Paperback, publisher Henry Holt, 2000. Audio download also available.

9. Fargo Film release 1996, VHS 2003, DVD 2003) A dark, funny thriller about a rural  Minnesota car salesman who scams General Motors and he’s about to get caught. In desperation, he orchestrates the kidnapping of his own wife for ransom and things go horribly awry. A very pregnant sheriff runs across the scheme while trying to solve multiple murders in the middle of a snowy winter. Starring Frances McDormand (who won the Academy Award with this performance), William H. Macy, Harve Presnell, Jose Feliciano, and Steve Buscemi. Directed by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen Studio: MGM/UA Video Awards: Academy Award for Best Screenplay

10. The Flim-Flam Man (Film released 1967, VHS 1997) A comedy-drama about Mordecai Jones with his quicksilver tongue, the hands of a grifter, and a heart full of pure larceny. It follows the scams of Jones and his apprentice Curley Treadaway on their train-hopping travels in North Carolina. Starring George C. Scott, Harry Morgan, Jack Albertson, Alice Ghostley, and Slim Pickens Directed by Irvin Kershner Studio: 20th Century Fox   Book: “Ballad of the Flim-Flam Man” by Guy Owen. Hardcover, publisher AMS Press, 1965. Paperback, publisher Coastal Carolina Press, 2000.

11. The Freshman (Film released 1990, VHS 1991, DVD 1998 and 2002) Carmine Sabatini is a powerful New York importer, who bears a funny resemblance to Don Corleone in “The Godfather.” Clark Kellogg is a naive film student who is short on cash and accepts a job working for Sabatini. His misadventures involve lost luggage, the boss’s beautiful daughter, contraband, and an organized crime family. As if he is trapped in a comic nightmare, Clark finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into an ingenious scam involving an endangered Komodo Dragon and an illegal gourmet club.  When the FBI asks Clark to snitch on his colorful employer, he discovers a strange loyalty to this wry and wise fatherly figure. Starring Matthew Broderick, Marlon Brando, Bruno Kirby, Penelope Anne Miller, and Bert Parks. Directed by Andrew Bergman. Studio: Columbia Tristar

12. The Grifters (Film released 1991, VHS 2002, DVD 2002) Based on the novel by Jim Thompson. The story of a mother, her son, and his girlfriend who are con artists caught in a world of ropers, suckers, grifters, and squares at the race tracks, bars, and the streets in between. Starring John Cusack, Anjelica Huston, Annette Benning, Sandy Baron, Pat Hingle, Jeremy Piven, J. T. Walsh, and Martin Scorsese Directed by Stephen Frears Studio: Miramax   Book: “The Grifters” by Jim Thompson. Paperback, publisher Vintage, 1990. Audio cassette also available.

13. Matchstick Men (Film released 2003, VHS 2004, DVD 2004) There is no honor among thieves – or is there? This is a dramatic comedy that centers on Roy, a divorcee whose career as a master con artist or matchstick man is complicated by his ongoing struggle with obsessive compulsive disorder with various quirks and rituals and his distrust of banks. He and his partner swindle elderly people out of money by posing as telephone marketers who promise trucks, package vacations, and other fabulous prizes which they never get. For a quick buck, they follow up with schemes using money couriers, overhyped water filteration systems, rescams and mutilated lottery tickets. His wily partner Frank has criminal ambitions that are greater than Roy suspects. They are on the verge of a lucrative swindle involving money laundering and a Jamaican switch when a punky 14-year-old girl arrives claiming to be the daughter Roy has never known. It turns out that she has a knack for dad’s profession. Starring Nicholas Cage, Sam Rockwell, and Alison Lohman, and Bruce Altman. Directed by Ridley Scott Studio: Warner Home Video   Book: “Matchstick Men” by Eric Garcia. Hardback, 2002, Random House. Audio book, 2003, read by Stanley Tucci, HarperCollins Publishers.

14. The Music Man (Film released 1962, VHS 1998 and 2000, DVD 1999 and 2004) This musical is based on Meredith Wilson’s 1957 Broadway hit. A fast-talking traveling salesman, Professor Harold Hill, goes from town to town selling citizens on starting a boys band. He extracts money from them to order instruments and uniforms, with the promise that he will reduce crime and teach the kids to be musicians. After collecting his bankroll, he usually skips town. Marian the librarian in River City considers him a fraud when he promotes The Think System of learning music. This is a masterpiece of con games, romance, and fun. Starring Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, Buddy Hackett, Paul Ford, Hermione Gingold, Pert Kelton, Mary Wickes, and Ron Howard. Directed by Morton Da Costa. Studio: Warner Home Video Awards: Academy Award for best adapted screenplay. Golden Globe Award for Best Picture – Musical.

15. Quiz Show (Film released 1994, VHS 1998, DVD 1999) An entertaining thriller based on true stories of the 1950s game show scandals, when TV shows were rigged to attract higher ratings and lucrative sponsorships. The story focuses on the Congressional investigation of the quiz show “Twenty-One.” Popular contestant Charles Van Doren agrees to win by using answers supplied by the show’s producers. They even coached him on his facial expressions, so that he appeared to be struggling with difficult questions. The reigning champion Herb Stempel is unfairly beaten and blows the whistle on the scam to deceive the players and the TV viewers. Starring John Turturro, Ralph Feines, Rob Morrow, Paul Scofield, Hank Azaria, Mira Sorvino, Martin Scorsese, Calista Flockhart, Ethan Hawke, and Barry Levinson. Directed by Robert Redford Studio: Hollywood Pictures Awards: Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Director. Golden Globe nomination for Best Director.

16. The Scam (Afera) (Film released 2001, VHS 1993, DVD 2004) Successful businessman and former physicist Andrei Davydov plots an unprecedented scam aimed at causing the downfall of the world’s financial markets. He has no doubts that he will succeed, but speculating on an ecological catastrophe is a dangerous gamble. Especially when love interferes with his carefully thought out scheme of operation. Starring Mariya Globkina, Alexander Lazarev, Jr., Emmanuil Vitorgan, and Vladimir Siminov. Directed by Yevgeny Lavrentyev Studio: Image Entertainment / Alchemy-Film Russian with subtitles in Russian, English, French, Spanish, and German.

17. Shattered Glass (Film released 2003, VHS 2004, DVD 2004)This drama is the true story of a fallen journalist and pathological liar Stephen Glass. It demonstrates how Glass could single-handedly betray the trust of vigilant editors, writers, fact-checkers, and copy editors. He falsified 27 praised articles for The New Republic, a weekly political magazine in the late 1990s. Glass gets caught when a writer for the online Forbes magazine tries to research the sources in the articles and no one can trace them. The revelations of fraud had a profound effect on the ethics and operations of the publishing business. The disclosures were as shocking as those about Janet Cooke at the Washington Post and Jayson Blair at the New York Times. Starring Hayden Christensen, Peter Sarsgaard, and Hank Azaria. Directed by Billy Ray. Studio: Lions Gate Home Entertainment   Book: “The Fabulist” is a novel by Stephan Glass. Hardback, Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group, 2003.

18. Six Degrees of Separation (Film released 1993, VHS 2000, DVD 2000) Based on John Guare’s hit Broadway play about an Upper East Side New York couple that gets bilked by a charming young black man who claims to be Sidney Poitier’s son. Inspired by a true story, it reveals that art dealers and wealthy people have scams as well. Starring Will Smith, Donald Sutherland, Stockard Channing, Ian McKellan, Mary Beth Hurt, Bruce Davison, Anthony Michael Hall, and Peter Duchin Directed by Fred Schepisi Studio: MGM/United Artists   Book: “Six Degrees of Separation” by John Guare. Paperback, publisher Vintage, 1990. Hardcover, publisher Bt Bound, 2001. Audio cassette, Audio CD, and Audio download also available.

The Sting (Film released 1973, VHS 1998 and 2001, DVD 1998) Winner of 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture. Set in 1936, a bogus bookie joint is set up to run a variety of cons with lots of twists in Chicago. It’s a high-stakes game of small time grifters played against the police and the master of all cheating mobsters. Starring Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Ray Walston, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning, Eileen Brennan, Harold Gould, and Leonard Barr Directed by George Roy Hill Studio: Universal Studios

19. The Sting II (Film released 1983, VHS 1998) The sequel to The Sting. Starring Jackie Gleason, Mac Davis, Teri Garr, Karl Malden, Oliver Reed, and Harry James Director: Jeremy Paul Kagan Studio: Universal Studios

20 Traveller (Film released 1996, VHS 1998, DVD 2000) A gypsy-like clan of Irish con artists sells defective trailers and runs construction scams in the southern United States. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Bill Paxton, Julianna Margulies, and Jo Ann Pflug Directed by Jack N. Green Studio: Hallmark Home Entertainment

21. Waking Ned Devine (Film released 1998, VHS 2001, DVD 2003) A clever comedy about 51 inhabitants of a village in Ireland who devise schemes to deceive lottery officials and share the new wealth of  Ned Devine, who died of shock when he discovered he had a winning ticket worth 7 million pounds. Starring Jackie O’Shea, Michael O’Sullivan, David Kelly, Ian Bannen, and Jimmy Keough Directed by Kirk Jones III Studio: Twentieth Century FoxBook: “Waking Ned Devine: An Original Screenplay” by Kirk Jones, Danny Boyle and Andrew MacDonald. Paperback, publisher Screenpress Books, 1999. Includes deleted scenes.

22. The Yards (Film Released 2000, DVD 2001) Leo is a young, poorly educated ex-con who is out on parole for a crime he didn’t commit. He seeks an honest job from his relatives, so he can support his ailing mother. Soon he discovers his uncle’s business and family loyalties are not what he expected. The dark gritty business of repairing New York City subway trains involves bribery, racketeering, sabotage, political corruption, contract rigging, a conspiracy of silence, and revenge. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix, Charlize Theron, James Caan, Ellen Burstyn, Faye Dunaway, Tony Musante, and Steve Lawrence. Directed by James Gray Studio: Miramax

Notes: DVD – Digital Video Disc, a five inch optic disc that has more storage capacity than a compact disc (CD). DVDs were introduced in 1996. VHS – Video Home System, a half inch wide video tape format, packaged in a plastic cassette and introduced by JVC in 1976.by Larry C. Adams

Great word slack.  So descriptive…

Certainly not using it in the business sense, nor is it anything physical (ooer missus), but more in terms of my updating you on my travels in straaaaailyaaaa.

Well, to be honest . It’s just been ok.

Sydney on paper, scores well. Good centre of commerce, business opportunities, stunning weather, views, established ‘cool’ scene, plenty lovely bars, restaurants, clubs and although it has The Opera House, it does score fairly low on the cultural side.

The harbour and ‘that view’ are picture perfect, but Sydney itself is a 60% facsimile of a city like London. Sorry Sydney-siders I know that will not be a popular view, but despite trying I just find myself a little disconnected, unable to emotionally connect (jeez, get me to Oprah’s couch), with this as a place.

That said, I’m having a grand old time.

Great working with my very talented colleagues out here (unsung heros in my book), and I’m living the life with my apartment, dinners out every night, you know how it is. I’ve also been lucky enough to catch up with a couple of old agency mates (one more to go), caught up with someone I worked with donkeys years ago randomly in the six degrees of separation exercise (although out here it’s more like one or two), eaten in a lot of lovely eateries, etc, etc, etc…

This weekend however, the tour takes me to Melbourne. A city I love!

It has a cultural heart. It has a European soul. It has blue blood running through its lovely little veins. The weather might throw four seasons at you in one day, but by god it’s stunning. When I was here three years ago, I was there for about five days, two of which I sadly spent bedridden with a horrible flu (my travelling companion found plenty to stay occupied with however!).

So, it’s off to see Pinky and Princess Jay, who is the little sis of one of my closest high school chums. They’ve prepared the West Wing for me, and I can’t wait to see them. More tonight on the Kodak moments of the past few days, a jesus racing van (seriously!), Alf Stewart, the odd Opera House snap, and a few of the reasons why I do like Sydney…

Iain is ready for Melbourne!

You all know the expression “six degrees of separation” and probably have a working understanding of its meaning. It’s something like this: the distance between any two people in the world is six human relationships.

Used to be that level of connectivity was a source of wonder, as in, “Wow, are we connected or what?!”

With the proliferation of social media, the wonders of web search and always-on communications, embracing six degrees as an awe-inspiring measure of human interrelatedness is simply quaint.

Feedback to a recent blog post brought that home and has me pondering how many degrees apart we really are, and how to manage the reality that six degrees just isn’t what it used to be.

First, a summary of events that prompted this topic. Agency Babylon carried a post a few months back about changes in a local agency. The changes were notable, not yet widely known but definitely alive on the street. Now, Agency Babylon just happens to know some folks at that agency. Yet contrary to what you might think, these people were not sources for the blog post. Unfortunately, some of them came under suspicion by their bosses who, to be fair, were just trying to manage their internal matters a bit less publicly. So a bit of awkwardness ensued, which in due course I learned about from sources (once again) connected to but not in said agency.

That minor episode has led me to a major rethinking of communications conduct in a heavily connected world. Let’s examine it from two perspectives: the communicator of information (that would be me in the example I shared) and stakeholders in the dissemination of that information (that would be the agency owners and managers, the departing staff and my internal friends).

For information communicators:

1. We’re more findable and knowable than ever. I have this blog, for example. I’m also active on LinkedIn and Facebook, use Twitter frequently, have Ning and Twitpic accounts, recently posted a Google profile, often serve as a professional/media contact for my company, and generate an interesting mix of Google search results from activities in years gone by. Not only can you find me, you can begin to assemble a narrative about who I am, mistakenly or not, based on what you find.
2. What we say and write and do is more public than ever. That means that what I write, say and do is easily searched and shared, even when I’m not doing the sharing. In social media marketing, that is a desired outcome, as it is in professional networking. Ergo all the tips about optimizing online profiles, taking a public stance via Twitter and blogs, and aggressively networking far and wide.
3. The portability and sometimes ubiquity of words and deeds might have unintended outcomes, good and bad. In my case, the bad was that friends without blame fell under suspicion even though I tried to mitigate that possibility by holding my powder on the information for more than a month. Conversely, in the best of social networking we promote and support our friends, like driving traffic to their blogs or job-search profiles.
4. Communicate socially as if you’re a marketer. Be intentional about your online and social media participation. You might be a professional marketer of some stripe and know to do this in the context of your job. But carry it through when you’re communicating your personal brand as well. There are endless examples of people who failed to do this on YouTube and Facebook and elsewhere, only to find themselves suspended from school, scorned at work or ostracized in social circles. Be aware of the potential impact of your post, tweet or status update in the context of your entire wired presence. That single post or tweet might seem harmless, and you might know that it is a real departure for you. Yet it could color someone’s perception of who you are. And as in my case it could roil waters, no matter how well-intentioned the communique.

For information stakeholders:

1. You no longer own and control all the conversations about your stuff. With all the sources and portability of information do you really think you still rule the roost — even when it’s your own information? You absolutely have the right to control dialogue around proprietary, personnel and otherwise highly privileged information. And I hope you do it well. But rumors have been around since the dawn of communication, it’s just that it’s now possible for someone to propagate those rumors on YouTube in a video parody. Embrace the reality of that.
2. You can and should significantly drive the conversation, but only when doing so really matters. Don’t fuss. Don’t fume. Monitor. Learn. Participate. Shape. Not every conversation about your company or brands, whether internal scuttlebutt or external messaging, has the same priority. Monitor and participate in all that you can, but leave others to run their own course. There’s an old saying about taking a chill pill. Get a prescription with lots of refills.
3. “I don’t care what they say about me so long as they spell my name right.” That’s another old saying, and while we no longer feel we have the luxury of its literal meaning there’s much to learn from its figurative intent.
4. Those you consider to be the usual suspects…usually aren’t anymore. Again referring to my situation, the agency in question jumped to a conclusion that was wrong. Not only were they surprised by the information being public (how very naive of them) they assumed that my first-tier friendships were the sources. In fact, the information came from third-tier connections. Reliable and highly accurate ones but none with direct personal or professional ties to me. So in the zeal to manage information, take a deep breath before accusing anyone of indiscretion. Consider first whether it matters that the information has become public. Then decide if it matters in a good, neutral or negative way. If the information is not truly top secret, forget about recriminations and go back to point number 2 and act accordingly.

As a reward for getting this far in the post and pondering these pointers, here is a link to the Wikipedia entry about the trivia game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.

Bob Wolpert, 2003 recipient of the Distinguished Junior High School Mathematics Teaching Edyth May Sliffe Award – and my Math teacher at IST, sent me a reference to Improv Everywhere, in particular this video of Frozen in Grand Central Station, NYC:

Harmless, good, clean fun!

You can browse through the Improv Everywhere site too for more videos – or click on the link in my sidebar widget.

Turns out that Improv Everywhere’s creator, Charlie Todd, was also taught by Mr Wolpert. Talk about six degrees of separation! By the way, I loved Will Smith’s performance in the movie by the same name, didn’t you?

Here’s a similar, though more musically oriented stunt, from Antwerp, Belgium:

© Sosha Srinivasan

I haven’t really documented very much about how the search is going, or what I am doing and interested readers of my blog will wonder. Of course I have indicated that I hope, through the internet, human web and the ’six degrees of separation theory’  someone will come forward with information. I have also indicated that progress is slow in my ’slow and steady wins the race’  blog.  However I have not been like the hare, I have been the tortoise, plodding away. It is in my nature to be like this, I am a Capricorn, a mountain goat who will keep its feet firmly on the ground whilst steadily and safely climbing to the top, slow and steady, nevertheless reaching in the end. I have a strong background in  research and I am a very systematic and organised person, so using my skills and experience I have found my self applying a logical and systematic approach to the problem.

I decided to get as much documented  information together, then analyse the findings, validate the evidence and hopefully form an exact account . I have always been told by my elders that around the time of my father’s disappearance the British  foreign office came up with 3 separate accounts of my fathers fate and that each one confirmed as being ‘from a very reliable source’. Each of these accounts apparently said about the same thing that happened, but in different places at different times, so obviously were not all reliable.  

My mother said that to know what had happened was worse than not knowing, and it was her wish for me not to be told. Destroyed by her grief my mother contracted bowel cancer and tragically died at the age of 52, in 1989. She died a horrible death, grasping for breath and life, crying ‘more‘, ‘more‘, clearly she did not want to die. My mother adored her two baby grandchildren with whom she sadly had such a short time. After she died we had a memorial service at the crematorium for both her and my father and later scattered her ashes on the beach at Blackpool which was her wish, as she was ’sand grown’ (born and brought up in Blackpool). She had spent so many happy hours ‘on the sands’ and even I have fond memories of sitting in deck chairs eating fish and chips with bread and butter, grains of sand in my teeth. My Aunty (my father’s oldest sister, to whom he was very close) told me that she knew in her heart, that where ever his remains are (presuming they are in Uganda) they are where he would have liked to be,  he so loved the country. Some time after my mother’s death my brother had a dream in which he saw our parents dancing together, waltzing around and around, reunited and happy in another place.  

It is for my brother in the main part that I carry out this research. He told me some years ago, when I asked him for his consent to go on this journey of discovery, that he would like to know where our fathers remains lie, if indeed they do.  I never liked to ask my brother to tell me what is said to have happened to my father, as I knew it was my mother’s wish for me not to be told. I also know that it is still very painful for him to talk about so aggrieved is he. It is not that I am not pained, it is that my pain is different and this journey will, perhaps, help to exorcise my anguish.

My brother was in an interview on ‘Breakfast Time’ TV years ago. I was watching the broadcast from my friends flat in London. I don’t have very strong memories of the interview. I think I must have been too overwhelmed by the idea of my brother being on the television. I have known for years that  ’off screen’ or ‘back stage’, after the interview, my brother was told what had really happened. Like I said, my mother believed it would to be too distressing for me to know and so I was not told. I wonder if this is why I am on this quest, because I have never been told what is supposed to have happened, the information available for all these years, reports from the Foreign Office, oral histories etc have never been shared with me, so I still don’t even know what might have happened.

Out of respect for my brother, not wanting to distress him further by asking him to act against our mother’s wishes, I have never asked him directly for information. A few years ago, after I told him I was going to try to find out what happened to our father, he told me what he had been told. My brother said he was told petrol was poured on my father in a room at the state research bureaux and he was set on fire. My brother did not feel that this was the truth.

My husband is in Bangkok right now. Last night, he unexpectedly bumped into a guy I grew up with. Neither of them live there. Both were visiting Thailand on business, a place that neither of them visits regularly. Oh, and did I mention that blogger Robert Lamb happens to be over there this same exact week, too? Such are the coincidences that finally led me to do a little digging on Stanley Milgram’s small world/six degrees of separation theory.

The social psychologist probably more famous for his shocking experiment  (see Josh’s posts on horrific psychological experiments) was actually the guy behind what we now know as six degrees of separation. Well, he and the playwright John Guare, who wrote a play in the 1990s titled “Six Degrees of Separation.”

Milgram said that everybody in the United States is connected to one another through a maximum of six steps. Kevin Bacon had nothing to do with it back then, although if you want to play that game, you can at the Oracle of Bacon. Back in Milgram’s day, there was no such thing as e-mail or Facebook, none of the electronic social networking tools that have cast a vast web across humanity. In Milgram’s time, it was kind of surprising if someone from Maine was connected to someone from Nevada in only six short steps. Today, not so surprising, as Duncan Watts and the Columbia Small World Project, among others, have discovered.

So if it’s no big deal, why do people like me keep bringing it up? Well, because network paths affect us. Pardon me while I state the obvious, but it really is about who you know (although “know” is a relative term in the age of 1,000 Facebook friends). As Stanford sociologist Mark Granovetter writes, a short path can mean a better job for you. On the flip side, it can also mean a short path to infectious disease. But there’s more at play in network theory than that. We’ll have to save it for another post.

And I did learn one thing. The whole Bangkok story? It seems like just a coincidence, rather than a direct example of the small-world theory. I kind of feel like Alanis Morrissette missing the mark on irony.

Read more about networking with everyone in the whole wide world, plus a little something about science, at HowStuffWorks.com:

Are social networking sites addictive?
Can Facebook make me rich?
Are people more honest or dishonest on social networks?
10 Science Experiments That Changed the World

Maypole Speed Networking at FBBC

While networking is a good source of business, there are still a large number of people who approach it with some trepidation.  There’s no doubt walking into a room full of strangers can cause a few anxious moments, for even the most gregarious amongst us.  So if nerves are affecting your networking opportunities, what can you do about it?

Networking – the bigger picture

Networking is a ‘slow burn’ activity.  If you go along armed with a handful of business cards and expect to come away with a full order book, you’re going to be sadly disappointed!  Networking is about building relationships.  The person you’re talking to might not need your services, but networking doesn’t stop there.  What about that person’s next door neighbour, his PA’s husband, or his company accountant?  The average person knows around 200 people and, when you talk to someone, that’s who you are networking with. Remember the six degrees of separation?  But nobody is going to recommend your services until they get to know you.  So don’t treat networking as a one-off activity – you have to persevere and attend regularly.

Set networking objectives

Of course networking is a social activity, but it’s important to remember why you’re there.  It’s a good idea to have a strategy and set yourself some objectives before you go, for example:

• How many new people do you want to talk to?
• Is there someone there you particularly want to meet.  If so, how will you go about it?
• How will you develop your relationship with that person?

A few years ago I met two very enterprising young men who built their business through networking.  They made a list of all the people they wanted to meet and did their homework.  They attended the right networking events and, one by one, got to meet everyone on their list.  Not many people are that dedicated, but it does show setting networking objectives is effective.

Breaking into groups

We were recently involved in a survey of newcomers to a networking group.  Without exception, the biggest bogeyman was the thought of entering a room and starting a conversation.  If this is you, think about it … why is everyone there?  Like you, they’re there to network and talk to others.  So will they object if you walk up and start a conversation?  No!  They’ll be only too pleased to meet you.  After all, you and your network might just put work their way!

When you walk into a room full of people, stop and look at their feet.   Body language is a wonderful thing.  If two people are standing with their feet straight and pointing towards each other, breaking into that conversation will be difficult.  They are engrossed.  However, if they’re standing a bit further back with their feet splayed, they are open and receptive to new approaches.  There’s a useful article on the Kintish website which demonstrates this. Follow the link and take a good look at the picture.  Which group could you break into?

The elevator pitch

Aaargh!  Speaking in public!  Panic!  When you’ve only got 30 seconds or a minute to introduce yourself, what do you say?  Some networking groups are ruthless about the time, so if you waffle you might find yourself cut off before you’ve even warmed to your subject.  Getting your elevator pitch right and well-rehearsed is vital.  If it helps, keep some notes to hand in case you dry up.   If you’re unsure what to say in your elevator pitch, take a  look at the BNET blog.  There’s a lot of useful information on it.

Finally …

Just a few more tips to help soothe your networking nerves …

• Think about the dress code! If you arrive wearing your old jeans and tee shirt, you might feel daunted being surrounded with smartly dressed professionals.  So scrub up well and put your best foot forward.
• If all else fails … smile! Who can resist a great big genuine smile, even if it’s from a total stranger.  And funnily enough, the tone of your voice changes when you’re smiling.
• Don’t dominate the conversation! Networking is a two-way street, so be prepared to listen to others too.
• Don’t go without your business cards! Networking meetings are full of people who apologise and say ‘ Sorry, I’ve run out and haven’t had time to get more printed’.  If that’s the case, they would be better off staying at home and ordering them online!
• If you’re still nervous, try arriving early! That way other people will be keen to come and talk to you.
• Now you’ve found them … hold on to them!  You’re first job when you get back to your desk should be to send an email to your new-found friends.  It doesn’t take much … sending a short ‘good to meet you’ message is polite and opens up a whole new line of communication.  Yet this is probably the one thing most networkers fail to do.

Degrees – Anybody can be a few steps from Kevin Bacon, but you have to be pretty famous (like us) to be this close to German B-movie schlockmeister and general bad human Uwe Boll. In this feature, we examine the many ways that we are connected to Uwe Boll.

This one starts with another former housemate:

housemate’s sister is Rebeccah, of Canada’s Next Top Model, Cycle 2.

Smiling with her eyes? Only Tyra knows for sure!

Canada’s Next Top Model is produced by…

This is my own fault for Googling "Tyra Banks scary"

Tyra hosted the 2nd Annual Vibe awards with B-movie all-star LL Cool J.

Not surprisingly, people were stabbed shortly after.

LL Cool J starred with Michelle Rodriguez in the 2003 film, “S.W.A.T.”, and Michelle Rodriguez was in the vampire swords-and-sorcery film “BloodRayne”, which we covered here before.

Pouty. Always pouty.

And, of course, “BloodRayne” was directed by this guy:

Uwe Boll: Bad for humans.

NOTE: When filming “BloodRayne” in Western Europe, Uwe Boll decided that he did not want to pay the actresses hired to play prostitutes, so he got rid of the actresses and got real prostitutes to play prostitutes. Because they were cheaper.

Me, a friend, and You? That makes two.

Microsoft did their Homework.

An article published by The Observer discusses the results of Microsoft’s study to prove or disprove the Six Degrees theory.  They studied 30 billion electronic messages and came up with one conclusion: we may be more closely related than we think.

The World Must Be Shrinking.

An article in TechCrunch reported that a French study has proved that there are not SIX degrees of separation, but THREE.  The study found that people generally categorize their relationships according to what they are most comfortable and familiar with, creating a network based on shared interests more than any other factor.

Had a Bad Day? Garret Popcorn Will Tweet You a Treat.

This article published by Tech News World shows how large companies are harnessing the power of the six degrees of separation to reach the average person.  This approach can become an extremely powerful marketing tool as companies build a personal connection with their audience and create a brand recognition that extends further than ever before.

Tom Thumb Donut Machine, MN State Fair, St. Paul, Minnesota, August 2008, all photos © 2008-2009 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.

No one leaves the Minnesota State Fair without a bag of Tom Thumb Donuts. I’ve gone a whole day, been dead on my feet, and made the trek back to the Tom Thumb stand to grab a 500 calorie bag of melt-in-your-mouth mini-donuts to eat on the long walk to the car.

I’m also mesmerized by the mini-donut making machine. It was invented in 1947 at the Ryan Aeronautical Company in California by a group of engineers who were sitting idle after the war. That year, they started greasing the wheel and each machine splashes out 90 deep-fried donuts per minute.

Tom Thumb Donuts was established a few years later in 1949. Do you know how Tom Thumb Donuts made it to the Minnesota State Fair?

 
According to a Chippewa Herald article by writer Tom Arneberg, John Desmond and his wife Janet brought Tom Thumb Donuts to the Minnesota State Fair in 1952. Then two boys in Desmond’s Minneapolis neighborhood, Ted Boecher and John Hanson, grew up working at the stand and took it over after John Desmond’s death.

Sadly, a few years later, Hanson died of a heart attack right in the main Tom Thumb booth next to Ye Olde Mill, leaving Ted Boecher to manage the stand.

 
Through 6 degrees of separation (and the framing of a Tom Thumb Donut bag kept in his kitchen), Tom Arneberg met manager Ted Boecher and he and his family were given a personal guided tour through the whole mini-donut making operation. Arneberg, a community columnist for the Chippewa Herald, wrote a piece in which he describes the whole experience, including his love for the Minnesota State Fair.

I found Arneberg’s column when researching the history of Tom Thumb Donuts to go with these photographs. You’ve got to read it to find out his personal best for bags of Tom Thumb Donuts eaten in one trip to the Minnesota State Fair!

What’s your personal best for your favorite State Fair food?

To jog your memory, this year’s whole list of Minnesota State Fair foods on-a-stick and a link to the FoodFinder (along with past State Fair posts) can be found at our annual red Ravine State Fair post MN State Fair On-A-Stick (Princesses & Butter Queens). We’ll be at the Fair this Friday. Maybe we’ll see you there!

Don’t Bite The Hand That Feeds You, Tom Thumb -
Light As A Feather, MN State Fair, St. Paul,
Minnesota, August 2008, all photos © 2008-2009
by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.

 
-posted on red Ravine, Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

-related to post: WRITING TOPIC – BAND-AIDS® & OTHER 1920’s INVENTIONS, the velveeta cheese of donuts haiku, Two Degrees Of Celebrity Sighting

The Six Degrees of Separationtheory (also called the “Human Web“) refers to the idea that if a person is one step away from each person they know and two steps away from each person who is known by one of the people they know, then everyone is at most six steps away from any other person on Earth i.e. anyone on the planet is connected to any other person on the planet through a chain of acquaintances that has no more than five intermediaries. 

 The theory, first proposed in 1929 by the Hungarian writer Frigyes Karinthy in a short story called Chains,  has captivated, and been  investigated in abstract, conceptual, and fictional terms, by many mathematicians, sociologists, and physicists within the field of network theory.

Due to technological advances in communications and travel, friendship networks have grown larger and span greater distances. Karinthy in 1929 believed that the modern world was ’shrinking’due to the ever-increasing connectedness of human beings (even back then!). He posited that despite great physical distances between the globe’s individuals, the growing density of human networks made the real social distance far smaller.

I had thought that I had left it so long to start the search for information about my father being MoM? (MurderedorMissing?). However the internet offers unprecedented opportunity. If the theory of six degrees of separation appliers, and I already know a few people in Uganda, and other people help too, through this blog and their connections, then I can not be so very far away from someone who will know something. It is not a need for retribution, for how would that help any body, but  a need to bring closure to this question of MoM?

Please! Please! Please!circulate this blog as widely as you can,  harness the opportunity presented by technology, word of mouth, snail mail, email, gossip and newspapers to find out once and for all what did happen to Bob Scanlon, my father, in Uganda, in 1977.