Every Friday, we take a quick look back at the week and highlight five members or moments that were especially awesome. Here’s who and what rocked it out this week.
5. The Most Commented Blog of the Week goes to Brent Kastner’s Apple vs. Android, iPad vs. Android Tablets. I guess it’s no surprise that this post spurred a lot of discussion with Christmas right around the corner and people snatching up these products left and right. It’s also kind of funny how people are more and more divided into Mac users vs. non-Mac users. In the spirit of keeping things unbiased, here are comments for each side of the argument.
One of the key strengths of apple is that other industries have adopted the technology. I go anywhere and more than likely I can find a product tailored for the iPhone or iPad. Even vogue magazine advertises Versace cases for the iphone and gucci hand bags for the iPad. I can find alarm/radio clocks/speaker phones that integrate with the iPhone. Go to the mall and Bose systems and bang & olefson systems integrate seamlessly with apple. What about my car radio or even an alarm system? There’s a direct integration with apple: I don’t need an adapter, products were made directly with an apple interface.
– Bruce Hendrickson
Android all the way…and specifically in response to your second point against Android…when I found the stock ROM and UI on my HTC Hero slow and battery intensive, it was a relatively simple matter to root the phone, flash a new ROM (CyanogenMOD) and, voilà, it’s a whole new phone running a newer OS than my carrier and the phone developer included. Being able to get deep into the phone, deleting the junkware it was preloaded with, and really making it work the way I want/need it to…that’s Android’s biggest advantage. – T. Carter Ross
4. The Top Forum was Tim Bonnemann’s ExpertNet RFI. If you haven’t read this one yet I would highly encourage it. Tim outlines something that GSA is working on which could be the next big thing in opening lines of communication between government and citizens. Just read the following quote and tell me you don’t get goosebumps.
“ExpertNet would tap the expertise of the public in a manageable and structured format. The goal of ExpertNet is to enable government officials to search for and communicate with citizens who have expertise on a topic, giving them the opportunity to participate in a public consultation relevant to their areas of interest and know-how, and pose questions to and interact with the public to receive useful, relevant, and manageable feedback.”
3. Most Active Group honors go to Internal Communications. The group had good discussion about whether or not polls and surveys work on a agency or company’s intranet.
We had a daily online poll on our Intranet that asked questions about the department or initiatives taking place with the odd fun poll thrown in. It was quite successful–one of our most popular features–but we were asked to remove it by a senior manager for a specific reason (long story). – Allison De Toni
2. Quote of the Week comes from R. Anne Hull. Anne was responding to Doris Tirone’s post Take the “Difficult” Quiz. Anne really puts forward some good advice on how to be viewed as the right type of difficult in the workplace.
“I like the distinction you make between positive and annoying difficult employees. You make some excellent specific points for being an effective complainer. Its often hard to keep negative emotions in check and be seen as a whiner. But the wisdom of “think before you speak” has saved many reputations. Being known as someone who takes the initiative and actively seeks to understand the other point of view results in better solutions…for all.”
1. Finally, Rockstar(s) of the Week go to Sam Allgood and Sue Webster. Sam has been working behind the scenes with GovLoop to massively improve how to find content on the site. Sam has really aided our tags for content and the first fruits of his labor can be found in this dataset. Sue on the other hand has been making GovLoop more awesome this week by inviting several new members to the site from FEW. Not only has she been getting new members but has also been contributing to our charity drive for FEEA where we donate $5 for every new member!