Crastinate

I’m pretty open to new ideas and I think I’ve proven from this blog and my Twitter account that I’m okay with putting a lot of myself, and my opinions, online for public distribution. I think I draw the line at my readers, or anyone for that matter, knowing where I am at any given point during the day.

Google announced today a new program/application called Google Latitude where you can set your phone up in such a way that others can see where you are at all times. You can enable privacy options where only your friends can see where you are and the program can, but doesn’t have to, set your location automatically (you can set it manually).

I don’t see anything inherently wrong with this program. The right privacy options are installed so that users won’t get stalked too easily. But my question really is why would anyone want to use this? I honestly can’t think of a good reason to use this at all. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

When I moved into my neighborhood four years ago, I barely knew anyone. I spent the first couple months meeting a few couples here and there but I felt that I was going to have to accept the fact that I was not going to have many close friends in my neighborhood. Such is life.

But then I did something that changed my situation. Instead of expecting others to find and befriend me, I reached out to those who were in my position as well to befriend them. My wife and I joined the community welcoming committee. We suddenly had a reason to walk up to anyone and everyone and introduce ourselves. We had people over for meals and tried to make new families feel welcome when they moved in.

This idea is applicable in many contexts. At work, when someone is new, do you go over and introduce yourself? When you’re at a conference and see someone standing on the side, do you go over and say hello? When you’re at a cocktail party, do you introduce yourself to the couple that’s standing in the corner?

I look around my community now and I know every other person that walks by. And while they’re not all my close friends, I know them, they know me, and we, as a collective, are a cohesive community. And I am part of that community because I was proactive and didn’t just sit on the side.

Be the welcoming committee, wherever you are. Soon enough you’ll turn around and not only will you know almost everyone in the room, they’ll know you, and as a collective, you’ll be a community.

I was spending some time this afternoon with my six year-old nephew. He wanted to play a computer game so he turned on the laptop and went to Y8.com. I’ve never heard of the site but it had some fun flash games that my nephew seemed to enjoy.

I asked my brother-in-law how my nephew found the site. He had no idea. So I asked my nephew. He said he found it on Google. That’s right. Six year-olds have the mental understanding to turn on a computer, go to Google, search for what they want, and then go to the provided sites. I still have to use LetMeGoogleThatForYou for some people because they ask me questions and can’t do what my nephew can do. I’m fairly convinced that by the time he is ten he will be smarter than me. Okay, stop laughing. Maybe nine.