Same Cheshire cat grin I get when I meet any amazing entrepreneur

I met the Nigeria Numbering Manager at Comptel one year, and soon after intervewed him. The talk is at http://didx.net/podcast/?p=episode&name=2009-11-24_adoganigerianfccmanager.mp3.
Today I found this excellent article by Sarah Lacy on TechCrunch.

I am so moved by the first-hand stories of interviews she has held with the infamous Yahoo Boys of Nigeria and insight into why people do this and how they are not so different from legitimate entrepreneurs in developed countries. (Just think 914 Nigeria scams, BRAIN virus, Craig Newmark's Craigslist, and Mark Zuckerberg's Compare app.) So moved, that I am reposting here but with all credit to Sarah. I wanted people to be able to click the Odiogo button so that they could not only read the stories she shares, but also listen to them.

"Ever since he could remember, Ibrahim Boakye had a knack for understanding how things worked. There were things he could just do that no other kids– let alone adults– could understand. By the time he was five-years-old everyone had stopped questioning it, and neighbors were calling on him to fix their broken toasters, irons, or anything that was the least bit mechanical.

By his early teens, he was getting things out of the dump and fixing them for fun. Soon after that, he was teaching himself to code. He’s made an outsized living no one in his family could have anticipated by outsmarting other people on computers ever since. It’s never been about money or even in those early days about doing good deeds around the neighborhood. He gets an intoxicating rush from solving the hardest technical problem he can find and from knowing that he’s the best.

As I sat in a hotel lobby in Lagos listening to his story, I couldn’t help being reminded of Max Levchin of PayPal and Slide fame. Levchin grew up in Soviet Russia and had the same knack, that same innate ability to understand how machines worked. He learned to code on whatever he could find– calculators, pen and paper, old Soviet microcomputers. When his family moved to America, he rebuilt things he found in dumpsters too. Watching the nightly news on a old black-and-white TV helped teach him English.

For Levchin, it was also about the thrill. He once got in trouble with the FBI for cracking video game codes for a Chicago crime boss. He didn’t really think about the fact that he was doing something illegal, he just loved the challenge. And like Boakye, he’s made an outsized living no one in his family could have anticipated by outsmarting other people on computers ever since. His rush also comes from solving the hardest technical problem he can find, and from knowing that he is the best.

But there’s a big difference between the two. Levchin immigrated to the US at 16, went to University of Illinois and was inspired by the example of Marc Andreessen. He moved to Silicon Valley at the best possible time for an aggressive, insanely-competitive coder to move to Silicon Valley. A company as complex and lasting as PayPal was hardly all luck and timing, but Levchin took advantage of being in the right place at the right time and meeting the right people, most notably PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.

By contrast, Boakye grew up in a poor section of Lagos. In a way, his timing was also serendipitous: The Internet’s emergence in Nigeria breathed new life into an old national scam: The 419 letter. And a new generation was making hay out of the naiveté of millions of new Internet users. For Nigeria’s massive unemployed population– some fifty million people today– this was every bit the gold rush that Silicon Valley was in the 1990s. And the “entrepreneurs” concocting these schemes late night after the doors were locked in Nigeria’s Internet cafes needed a brilliant coder who was more motivated the bigger the challenge. Boakye was one of the best in the country.

Like Levchin, he took advantage of being in the right place at the right time and having the right skills. Only most would say he met the wrong kind of people. At his peak he was making as much as $50,000 per day as a freelancer hacking into bank systems, stealing social security numbers and credit cards, and exposing the Web’s deepest vulnerabilities for Nigeria’s “Yahoo boys,” called that because they were known for using Yahoo email addresses.

Boakye has since left the life of crime, he says. We met my last day in Lagos; one of nearly a dozen interviews I did with current and reformed Yahoo boys in Nigeria. I won’t detail how I got the meetings, because of the elaborate personal assurances of safety. I’ve taken pains to disguise any details about the man whose name is obviously not really Ibrahim Boakye. Appropriately, I got that name off the most recent 419 email I found in my spam folder. Some of the juiciest parts of the accounts I won’t detail here, lest it put the people who personally vouched for me at risk.

Finding Yahoo boys to talk to me was near-impossible; a big change from a few years ago. The 419 scammers used to be the rockstars of Nigeria’s underground world. “Girls wanted to date us because we were smart,” one told me. “We could get money out of white men using only our brains and a computer.” There was also the justification that this was some how a revenge for colonialism; when white men took Africa’s natural resources without consent. And– as is the case with every black market– there was the lure of all that cash. Skills were flaunted in cafes, whole organizations were built out, and even rap songs were written glorifying 419.

It’s much harder to make money today. That’s mostly because Internet companies have made it harder, through restricting mass emails and educating people not to purchase any goods from Nigeria. Most ecommerce sites block Nigerian ISPs. And consumers have gotten smarter, too, the Yahoo boys say. The Nigerian government has also made greater efforts to crack down, under International pressure and pressure from the country’s legitimate tech entrepreneurs who are furious at the Yahoo boys for globally sullying the country’s reputation. The people still doing it have been driven underground, forced to keep a low profile. They don’t talk about what they do even with friends. They can’t trust anyone. One current scammer told me he couldn’t invite friends over because of the noticeable stench in his bedroom from all the stacks of money stashed under his bed.

For most of the day, I sat transfixed listening to their stories. Of course it was impossible to know whether they were telling the truth about everything. But so many of the individual stories corresponded to one another, and the complex systems of scamming were too elaborate to have been made up on the spot. Each boy would start telling his stories shyly, but once he got going he couldn’t help but boast about his methods. Sometimes the hardest thing about committing the perfect crime can be keeping your genius to yourself.

Boakye’s sheer hacker genius was the most astounding. It’s not just technical ability– he tries to figure out how the person who set up the security system he’s trying to break thinks, and outsmart him at his own game. If he can’t crack the software, he studies the hardware and learns its vulnerabilities.

The way he described the chess match with this unknown nemesis reminded me of another entrepreneur in the Valley: Dennis Fong. Fong spent his teens as a professional gamer, better known by the name “Thresh.” He rarely lost thanks to an uncanny ability to anticipate opponents’ moves. Opponents called it “Thresh ESP,” and it earned him six-figure computing endorsement deals. The way Boakye explained how he breaks into multi-national banks was identical to Thresh’s approach. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s hacked into at least one of my accounts by now just out of curiosity. I asked him not to do anything malicious, and he promised he wouldn’t. But we were both pretty convinced he could.

As a person, I found these meeting more terrifying than my run in with Bones and his machete men in Alaba. As a business reporter, I couldn’t stop the broad smile from spreading across my face as we spoke, even breaking out in laughter once or twice. It’s the same Cheshire cat grin I get when I meet any amazing entrepreneur, anywhere in the world. You know them after five minutes of conversation. And several of these guys just had it. Born into a different circumstance, they could be on the cover of any magazine, ringing the opening bell at the Nasdaq.

This is the darkside of what we know in Silicon Valley: That great entrepreneurs can come from anywhere in the world. Sometimes some of the best technical minds fall into a life of crime. And just like corporate giants can’t keep a hot startup from disrupting them; law enforcement can’t keep people like Boakye from accessing your information.

There weren’t just stunning personality comparisons between someone like Boakye and Fong or Levchin, there were stunning industry comparisons. Like entrepreneurs in the Valley, the industry has evolved to the point where few of them need to be hard-core techies. Today, the Nigerians focus on user experience– put a less euphemistic way, their job is to find the mark and rope him or her in. Any hardcore hacking work is outsourced to Vietnam, India or elsewhere– particularly now that Boakye has retired from crime. One Yahoo boy told me he met his Vietnamese partner online when he tried to scam him. The man wrote back, “I’m not going to fall for this, but I know what you are doing and I can help you.” The world is flat for criminals too.

Don’t let the clunky syntax on these emails fool you. The Yahoo boys I met are masters of human manipulation. The latest scam revolves around online dating. Yahoo boys find a lonely man– sometimes a single man who wants a mail-order bride; sometimes a married one with kids who wants an escape on the side. They key with 419 scams is always finding someone who wants a easy shortcut in money or love. An elaborate relationship over IM begins. One boy I met excelled at these. He says he just closes his eyes and pretends it’s a woman on the other end he’s seducing. He uses carefully constructed porn clips for video chats; other scammers hire actresses to portray the fictional girls.

This Yahoo boy carries on five to seven relationships at once, playing the dutiful girlfriend to each– down to helping them pick out their clothes for work everyday. When one suitor lost a job, he used the Web to help find him an interview and pumped up his confidence to apply. He gave him several months to get back on his feet before asking for more cash. One time, he even sent the mark cash, to show how much he — or “she”– cared. “I take care of them,” he says. “They are the people who feed me.”

He helps build them up; he listens to their problems. He makes them feel loved. He calls each an innocuous pet name, lest he accidentally type the wrong message into the wrong chat window. He asks for a little bit of money here and there, until men are sending him steady amounts from each paycheck. He says it takes exactly one month for a man to fall in love with him, and once he has a man’s heart, no woman can take it.

This isn’t a short con, this is a long term game of constant maintenance. He creates fictional Web pages to back up the fictional girl’s story, so if the man Google’s her, he finds seemingly legitimate confirmation. When he goes to church, he tells them “she’s” going to church. When he makes dinner he tells them “she’s” making dinner. He’s less a 419 scammer, and more a long-distance emotional prostitute, providing a service men appear to be happy to pay for. Like any great entrepreneur, this Yahoo boy knows his customer. “if you get their heart, you have control,” he says. “You white people have very flexible hearts. We’ve seen it. That’s why there can be no true love in Nigeria. Your closest friends rip you off here.” He continued, “I wish I could stop. I’m not into the black man power like some people. I don’t want to make someone sell their house; I don’t want to take everything. I just can’t find a job. If I had a junior brother I wouldn’t teach him. You get addicted to it.”

Just like you have people in the Valley looking to flip products and those in it for the long haul; in the 419 world you have kids who try it out for easy money, and those who commit to it. To be successful today you have to work as many hours as a Valley Internet entrepreneur and have just as long term of a focus. There’s just as much creative problem solving involved; this is something you can’t really teach. A lot of these Yahoo boys told me they’ve tried to take on apprentices, but few of them last. It’s not the glamorous, quick-money world it used to be. Today being a scammer takes smarts and stamina.

Nigeria is undoubtably one of the juiciest markets in the emerging world, and by many accounts the juiciest in all of Africa. And legitimate tech entrepreneurs will be understandably upset about Western reporters fixating on the 419 world. But if they want to stay in Nigeria, they’ll have to get used to it. These kids, the circumstances that created them, and the lasting impact of the damage they’ve done to people aren’t issues the country can shrug off no matter how much it would like to. “We use our brains to get what we want. For us it’s the only way to live and survive,” one boy said. “As long as technology keeps advancing, there is no way to stop us.”

It’s Nigeria’s central issue that it will have to face, own up to, and tackle if the country is going to play a greater role in the global economy. Ignoring it is like ignoring China’s lack of political freedom; India’s deep poverty and infrastructure problems; or the civil war going on in Brazil’s favelas between drug lords and the frequently corrupt policemen cracking down on them. The reason Westerners tend to fixate on these issues isn’t because we’re opting for easy stereotypes. It’s because they are each huge problems without easy solutions. Problems that have to be faced. And you face them by talking to the real people behind them, not by sweeping them under a rug, assuming they’re all two-dimensional villains or dismissing them as a made up stereotype.


One of the active scammers I spoke with is supporting his whole family, including several siblings he is putting through university, so they have a chance at a better life. But one of them has been out of school for years, and still can’t find a job. It’s not a ringing endorsement to go legit. This guy doesn’t feel great about what he does, but he says he has no other option. He goes to church several times a week, where he wrestles with it. He tells himself he is on God’s path, and he has faith it ends with him leaving this life behind.



He’s describing the hope of anyone who is touched by the genius and the opportunity in Nigeria, as I was during my trip. That this stunning raw talent can find a way to stop relying on bilking Westerners out of cash and start using their wily genius to create local jobs."

Who Should Have an Exhibit at CTIA Wireless?

What kind of companies should exhibit at CTIA? Where do you fit? · Apps/Software – content aggregators/owners/providers, developers*, platform providers*, aggregators*, media companies* etc.

· Carrier/Provider – wireless carriers, service operators, cable providers, internet service providers, prepaid providers, MVNOs, utility companies etc.

· Devices – manufacturers and suppliers of handsets, tablets, MID’s, chips, OEMs, etc.

· Enterprise & Vertical Markets – companies providing products, solutions and integration services to companies of all sizes, including healthcare, banking, energy and transportation providers, security services, machine-to-machine/RFID and sensor providers etc.

· IP Infrastructure – cloud networking, services and applications, LTE/4G infrastructure, 3G, VoIP products and services*

· Mobile Social Commerce (MSC) – location-based services, social networking*, mobile advertising/marketing etc.

· Network Infrastructure – providers and manufacturers of amplifiers, test equipment, towers, antennas, backhaul solutions and equipment, billing & accounting services, wireline infrastructure, cabinets/enclosures, etc.

· Professional Services – consultants, law firms, marketing and advertising agencies, creative services agencies, industry publishers, etc.

· Retail – companies who primarily sell products and services at or to retail i.e. accessories, commerce solutions, retail displays, warranty and repair services, recyclers and refurbishers, batteries, etc.

And what does it mean to exhibit? Best practices?


* These types match our company's services, and so we will be at CTIA Wireless March 22-24, 2010 in Orange County Orlando Convention Center, Orlando, FL! Sign up early and start planning for great success now.


... other blogs from our Super Technologies' team at http://blogs.didx.net/ and http://blog.tmcnet.com/monetizing-ip-communications/, our online magazine at http://www.techistan.com/, our iTunes channel, and DIDX podcasts. Find out how to bring new customers to your telephone company with local phone numbers from 70 countries. We are excited to be a part of helping 1000s around the world start a business, have success and connect with others via our Super Technologies' services such as DIDX, Techistan, Virtual Phoneline, CFMS or HVOIP white label business and more.

Meet Up with Like Minds in Innovative Mobile Everything at GoMobile

Sign up with code word " didx " or " techistan " to get red carpet treatment! GoMobile.



More DIDX and Techistan sponsored and recommended events at http://www.techistan.com/2009/10/15/techistan-recommends-global-events/ around the world. November seems to be the month of the best conferences in Asia and Middle East!

.. other blogs from our Super Technologies' team at http://blogs.didx.net/ and http://blog.tmcnet.com/monetizing-ip-communications/, our online magazine at http://www.techistan.com/, our iTunes channel, and DIDX podcasts. Find out how to bring new customers to your telephone company with local phone numbers from 70 countries. We are excited to be a part of helping 1000s around the world start a business, have success and connect with others via our Super Technologies' services such as DIDX, Techistan, Virtual Phoneline, CFMS or HVOIP white label business and more.

VoIP Conference & Expo at IIT Notes SIP Tutorial Classes are 90% Filled

Program Highlights
Keynote Speakers

"How Will VoIP Reincarnate the Web and Cloud Worlds?"
- Henry Sinnreich and Alan Johnson, Industry Consultants and Authors

"Policy and Technology: The FCC's Goals for Broadband Technology, 911 Alerting and Cyber Security"
Jeff Scott Cohen, FCC - Public Safety and Homeland Security

"Sense Everything, Control Everything - Connecting VoIP and Location with the Physical World"
- Henning Schulzrinne, Columbia University

"Panel Discussion: Carriers View of VoIP and the Future"
- Christopher Mayer, VP, Verizon Communications
- Michael Paradise, AVP, AT&T

Program/Schedule (90% Filled)
SIP Tutorial - 1 day preconference tutorial by industry experts (Oct 12)
Emergency services /NG911 - Mini-Conference
Cloud Telephony & Voice on the Web
Unified Communications
Future Networks - Voice, Video, Mobility - Architectures and Protocols
Security
And, more!

Speaker and program info at www.cpd.iit.edu/voipconference

Our DIDXchange is a media partner. Want to one of the highly respected sponsors?

Sponsorship Pricing
Platinum - $1500
Gold - $750
Silver - $500
For more information on Sponsor and/or Exhibitor opportunities, contact Scott Pfeiffer at pfeiffer@iit.edu /
630-682-6001.

Current Sponsors Include:
Platinum: AT&T, Verizon, Tellabs, Mu Dynamics
Gold: Avaya, InCharge Systems, S-Net Communications
Silver: Tekno Telecom, AG Projects
Organizational: NENA, IPTComm, SIPForum, Clue Con, NGN Forum, IMS Plugfest, DIDXchange, No Jitter, Techistan, biz-news, IEEE

.. other blogs from our Super Technologies' team at http://blogs.didx.net and http://blog.tmcnet.com/monetizing-ip-communications/, our online magazine at http://www.techistan.com, our iTunes channel, and DIDX podcasts. Find out how to bring new customers to your telephone company with local phone numbers from 70 countries. We are excited to be a part of helping 1000s around the world start a business, have success and connect with others via our Super Technologies' services such as DIDX, Techistan, Virtual Phoneline, CFMS or HVOIP white label business and more.

A Conference that Treats International Special

And what does international mean? Are you outside of Malaysia? Yes? You are international. Get ready to be treated as special as you deserve!

May I share the opportunity from CommTechAsia to connect with thousands of movers/shakers in areas of telecom, mobile, social/business networking in beautiful Kuala Lumpur at the GoMobile Conference?

And before you read on, be sure to reply to me with a press release, announcement, product review or other media about your company that we can publish on our www.techistan.com magazine, compliments of DIDXchange ... www.didx.net! It will not have a fee. Back to the conference! GoMobile!

Conference we warmly invite you to: GoMobile 2010 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Date: Nov. 12-14, 2010 (GoMobile is the best global conference scheduled in November related to telecom, mobile, social and business networking.)
Website: http://www.gomobile.my/2010/

The GoMobile Show is a 3-events-in-1 show. It consists of a mobile lifestyle exhibition, a conference and an awards presentation party. We conceived the event to showcase the latest in mobile technologies and mobile lifestyle trends to consumers, SMBs, entrepreneurs and the mobile industry. The event has the support and resources of Mobile World magazine (http://www.mobileworld.com.my/ published since 2002 and the region’s leading English mobile lifestyle magazine. Fifty thousand participated in the 2009 GoMobile!

So... we (DIDXchange and LTT) aim to make your international (all outside of Malaysia) participation in GoMobile an enjoyable and rewarding one. You will be treated special! Parties, tour the areas, special treatment at the conference... you deserve it.

GoMobile International Exhibitor Package USD 2,500 which includes
• One standard expo booth (3m by 3m)
• A seat at the GoMobile conference
• An Awards Night Party pass
• A half day tour of Kuala Lumpur
• A business exploration day trip to MSC Malaysia
• A Networking Evening get- together
• Access to online event and networking platform.
GoMobile International Participant Package USD 700 which includes
• A seat at the GoMobile conference
• An Awards Night Party pass
• A half day tour of Kuala Lumpur
• A business exploration day trip to MSC Malaysia
• A Networking Evening get- together
• Access to online event and networking platform.
Conference Only option USD 450
Party Only option USD 250
As you can see from the package rates, participation costs are very low because we (DIDXchange and GoMobile) would like to offer this opportunity to as many mobile and telecom industries companies as possible – new start-ups, emerging companies, and traditionals ready to embrace new ways to generate revenue and gain new markets.

Is your company involved in back-end and infrastructure side of the telecom and mobile industry? GoMobile participants such as SMBs, wireless operators, and entrepreneurs are looking for you at GoMobile. Are you providing services that leverage and take good advantage of telecom and mobile tools? GoMobile conference attendees are looking for you!

History: The GoMobile Expos in 2008 and 2009 each saw more than 50,000 people visitors. The expo saw the participation of all major phone brands and mobile service providers. The expo is a unique mix of consumer show (with many products available for sale) and trade show (which highlights offerings by apps and content creators)

The GoMobile Conference 2009 was graced by Malaysian Information Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim. The Mobile World Star Awards & Gala Dinner 2009 was graced by Malaysian Deputy Information Communication and Culture Minister, Datuk Joseph Salang. Both events saw the full participation of the industry and regulators.
GoMobile 2008 and 2009 had the support and endorsement of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (SKMM) and Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) as Strategic Partners of GoMobile. Maxis was the pinnacle sponsor for both years.

Please advise me if you need any more information. Thank you so much for your support. Hope to see you in Kuala Lumpur.

Take care and have an awesome 2010 :) and tell them Suzanne Bowen sent you.


Contact information at GoMobile:
Rani Wemel
rani@lttcom.com
mobile:+60192070510
Connect on Facebook, too!





.. browse some of our team's other blogs at http://blogs.didx.net/ and http://blog.tmcnet.com/monetizing-ip-communications/, our online magazine at http://www.techistan.com/, our iTunes channel, and DIDX podcasts. Find out how to get your telephone company to offer phone numbers from around the world. You're welcome to comment, contribute, and collaborate any time. We are excited to be a part of helping 1000s around the world start a business, have success and connect with others via our Super Technologies' services such as DIDX, Techistan, Virtual Phoneline, CFMS or HVOIP white label business and more.

Street Kids of Pakistan, an Act of Love by Ozair Rao and others

Ozair, thank you for sharing this story. It sounds like some of mine when I taught at George W. Carver Middle School in Century, FL. I hope you don't mind that share the mission of "street kids of Pakistan" and your recent letter with the world here on my blog.

Mission:
did u guys know? a child's basic need is to atleast have a glass of milk every day, not so suprisingly our steet kids have grown other needs, such as "samad bond"(glue sniffing), ciggrettes, "churs" (weed) etc..

many of these kids are either runaways, kicked out of the house, born to beggars, born to women in our prisons. what is a woman in our society to do if left out on the streets with their kids after serving their yrs in prison...wud YOU give them work?? then who will and who should? ..the govt should! every country has a ministry for children as operational departments of their goverments..

we have thousands of ngo's but only a handful are actually using those donations to help out the street children of pakistan.. guys this is our governments duty to actually do something about these kids, open up a ministry open up schools, open up shelters, educate them, vaccinate them, save them from street abuse, save them from aids and other deadly diseases...

is this the future of our country? ...join this group only if u r willing to make a difference..guys we want to take this to the supreme court asap as a suo moto (public interest) case, so sign up and lets spread some awareness...

btw if u get time watch the documentary made by the dawn news features staff on street kids, its called equinox.

Ozair Rao from the street kids of Pakistan on June 14 at 5:00pm
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=216302&id=739631070&l=e71dfceb0b

Off we went to the beach in this big bus.. picking up a few kids on the way as well.. dancing fighting and singing in the bus.. on reaching the beach a few of the bigger kids jumped and swap up to a few air boats and i i had to shout well yell out my lungs to call them.. then we had lunch.. chicken biryani and juices.. and went back to the beach.. with a lot of mangoes.. which we had on the beach... came back.. toook a chips biscuit n juice break again and again we went off to the beach playing cricket... footaball and with balls in the water... ok now that the electricity didnt come back due as our president was visiting the city.. so our music system went to waste.. and so we decided to ride camels and have fun.. and so we did.. next again before leaving we had another biryani drinks biscuit chips meal... candies nimco and the left over drinks we utilized on the way as the dacning session continued in the big bus... a few left overs.. i.e a box of chips a little nimco and a box of biscuits and a few drinks we given to the street kids organization specially for the education session that is being held every day between 2-4 pm. Also an amplifier was given to them that they could utilize in future outdoor visits.

So in the end.. everyone had a great time.

.. browse some of our team's other blogs at http://blogs.didx.net and http://blog.tmcnet.com/monetizing-ip-communications/, our online magazine at http://www.techistan.com, our iTunes channel, and DIDX podcasts. Find out how to get your telephone company to offer phone numbers from around the world. You're welcome to comment, contribute, and collaborate any time. We are excited to be a part of helping 1000s around the world start a business, have success and connect with others via our Super Technologies' services such as DIDX, Techistan, Virtual Phoneline, CFMS or HVOIP white label business and more.

Change is under way at ThinkBalm

Group: ThinkBalm Innovation Community
Subject: Change is under way at ThinkBalm
Hello, innovators.

At ThinkBalm we’ve had a couple of great years as industry analysts dedicated to covering work-related use of immersive technologies—an early-stage, emerging technology market. We have worked with some terrific people at great client organizations like Altadyn, BP, Chevron, Forterra Systems (now part of SAIC), Linden Lab, Moondus, ProtonMedia, Teleplace, and Tandem Learning. We’ve published nine comprehensive reports spanning market overview, business value, technology selection, barriers to adoption, and best practices—and made this research freely available via our Web site. We launched the ThinkBalm Innovation Community, grew it to more than 470 members, and hosted more than 35 facilitated work sessions, training sessions, and networking events. More than half of our research reports arose directly out of ThinkBalm Innovation Community activities.

We believe that mainstream adoption of immersive technologies in the workplace—virtual worlds, immersive learning environments, and virtual event platforms—is a matter of when, not if. But these technologies are still a new concept to most organizations and overall the barriers to adoption are quite high. In April, we modified our earlier prediction that we expected to reach the early majority adoption phase in 2013, to say we think it will take longer than this. One thing is clear: this emerging market does not yet require full-time, dedicated industry analysts to cover it.

In early July, Erica will be joining the marketing team at QlikView, a business intelligence software vendor. Sam will stay on with ThinkBalm for some time to work on client consulting engagements. We won’t be publishing any more general research, and plan to disband the ThinkBalm Innovation Community.

One of the greatest gifts of the past two years is the people we’ve met. The people who are working on Immersive Internet initiatives are innovators and free thinkers—truly a special breed. Thank you to all of you who have participated in ThinkBalm Innovation Community events and activities, and in ThinkBalm’s research.

You can find more details about our future plans in this ThinkBalm blog article: http://www.thinkbalm.com/2010/06/15/change-is-under-way-at-thinkbalm/ .

Please contact Erica or Sam if you have any questions. Info is below.

Erica Driver, erica@thinkbalm.com, (401) 592-0170
Sam Driver, sam@thinkbalm.com, (401) 996-8061

Regards,
Erica





.. browse some of our team's other blogs at http://blogs.didx.net and http://blog.tmcnet.com/monetizing-ip-communications/, our online magazine at http://www.techistan.com, our iTunes channel, and DIDX podcasts. Find out how to get your telephone company to offer phone numbers from around the world. You're welcome to comment, contribute, and collaborate any time. We are excited to be a part of helping 1000s around the world start a business, have success and connect with others via our Super Technologies' services such as DIDX, Techistan, Virtual Phoneline, CFMS or HVOIP white label business and more.

Mzinga, Techistan and Rad-Info Share Social Media for Business Marketing

First, let me thank the guys from Inc.com who used my camera to film this. In fact, if anyone was at this panel discussion during ITEXPO East 2010 that Mzinga, Rad-Info and I were a part of and knows these guys, put them in touch with me. I want to thank them and love the commentary behind the camera. You must listen. If you can't see the video on this blog, go to Viddler. The video is 34 minutes long, too long to upload to Youtube. The original, much better quality version was almost 1 1/2 GB large, so I had to reduce the size and therefore the video quality, but the voice sounds pretty good.

Second, so sorry... me, the English teacher starting the presentation with a subject verb non-agreement. __________ and __________ is? Bad, bad. On the other hand listen to Isaac, Peter, some the audience and me as we share tips.

Mzinga's Isaac talks about who is the audience, solving your audience's needs, being a good observer, keeping in mind membership ROI (your networks)... It's a toolbox that enables conversations. Traditional marketing like mass emails compared to the new shows the greater efficiency of the new. He shares two case studies, the second one was their client AllState Insurance. The company looked to Mzinga to help them guildi a community on Allstate website for social networking. It would help their clients really interact with representatives about things like teenage car drivers, drinking and driving, seatbelts, senior citizen and estate planning, etc. Instead of keeping this in a walled garden, Mzinga helped Allstate use what is already available on the Internet in the form of social media.

I mention Linkedin recommendations and questions and answers; Facebook events, wall, pages and groups; Twitter's feed into Linkedin, mixing social media to help clients, vendors and industry partners get what THEY want. More on blogging and podcasting, digging to China,  and more. Isaac has a very professional social networking/media service at Mzinga that he discusses. I share one case study of the one year marketing campaign to help Kenyan Americans get Kenya DID on DIDx.

... browse some of our team's other blogs at http://blogs.didx.net and http://blog.tmcnet.com/monetizing-ip-communications/. Find out how to get your telephone company to offer phone numbers from around the world. You're welcome to comment, contribute, and collaborate any time.

Horchata and EXPO COMM MEXICO 2010

 
I like this song. I want to learn to make Horchata, a popular Mexican drink. I learned about this band and the drink spoken of from friends just now as I was discussing ... EXPO COMM Mexico conference with them. Our company's DIDX and Techistan are media partners and press agents for EXPO COMM.

... browse some of our team's other blogs at http://blogs.didx.net and http://blog.tmcnet.com/monetizing-ip-communications/. Find out how to get your telephone company to offer phone numbers from around the world. You're welcome to comment, contribute, and collaborate any time.

DIDX and Techistan Notes Speaker Opportunities for Connect IT Pakistan

Topics for Connect IT Pakistan, May 8-10, 2010

Day-1 TELECOM SESSION, Date: 8th May, 2010
Time: 2:30 to 5:30 pm

· Telecommunication Infrastructure optimization & Future Road Map

· Policy and Regulatory frameworks for the Converged Networks

· Mobile Applications - An Emerging Opportunity

· Value Addition in Telecom Services - Latest Trends, Opportunities & Limitations

Day-2 IT SESSION (Hosted by PSEB), Date: 9th May, 2010
Time: 10:30 am to 1:30 pm

· Role of ICT in Healthcare

· ICT & E-Government - Trends & initiatives

· IT Governance - Risk Management, Compliance and Information Security

· Scope and Limits of Public Private Partnerships in Pakistan – ICT perspective

· Exploring Animation Business Opportunities

· Pakistan as a BPO Destination - Foreign perspective

Day-3 YOUTH SESSION, Date: 10th May, 2010
Time: 10:30 am to 1:30 pm

· Scope of IT and Telecom for Higher Education

· Telecom Consumer Protection and Laws against Criminal Acts

· Public Information Technology and Transformation of E-Governance

Opportunities available . . . . .
Please contact Mrs. Saba Shaikh, Asst. Manager Conferences, sabashaikh at pegasus.com.pk with your application to be a presenter. Due date is February 15, 2010.

http://www.pegasus.com.pk/
You can ...

o Reserve a speaking slot at the Forum

o Sponsor the Forum and get maximum corporate promotion

o Attend the ICT Forum...
 
Join Connect IT Pakistan on Facebook, Linkedin, and TelecomYou today, too.
 
... browse some of our team's other blogs and media at http://www.techistan.net/, http://www.didx.net/podcast,  http://blogs.didx.net/ and http://blog.tmcnet.com/monetizing-ip-communications/. Find out how to get your telephone company to offer phone numbers from around the world. You're welcome to comment, contribute, and collaborate any time.

User-Centric, Technology that Really Works for You and Me

Imagine if your work life were like this:

• You are up to the activity.
• You are able to concentrate on the activity.
• The activity has clear goals.
• The activity has direct feedback.
• You feel that you control the activity.
• Our worries and concerns disappear.
• Our subjective experience of time is altered.
• The time you spend with your users has a more positive atmosphere.

More confident? Creative?

Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a Hungarian psychology professor, who emigrated to the United States at the age of 22, is known for his well-documented observations, research, and personal observations on the concept of "Flow." According to him, there is common and universal agreement that when there isn't a high correlation between the challenge (the height of the mountain, depth of the dive) and the ability to meet that challenge, fun is something we're definitely not having.

Cool! I've always enjoyed wishing people a happy new year like this: may your new year be the perfect combination of joy and challenge. Maybe I should start saying "challenge and ability?"

Friday morning, some of the DIDX and Techistan team, as well as others in the IP communications and media industry who were attending PTC, will attend a bloggers' breakfast with the topic of discussion "User-Centric Technologies." We'll share more details next week.

Some web sites to check out on user-centric anything:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihaly_Csikszentmihalyi
http://www.infoq.com/news/2007/02/post-agile-useability-process
http://webmonkeyswithlaserbeams.wordpress.com/2009/03/18/user-centric-development/ ***
http://www.usercentric.com/news/2009/01/21/whats-driving-mini-cooper-not-user-experience
http://ipcarrier.blogspot.com/2010/01/consumer-centric-communications.html
http://www.slideshare.net/missrogue/vrm-the-citizencentric-future-of-communications
http://auds.org/node/6

and of course, everything at http://www.usercentric.com/

(User Centric's growth has earned a spot on Inc. Magazine's Top 5000 fastest-growing firms for the last two years.)
... browse some of our team's other blogs at http://blogs.didx.net/ and http://blog.tmcnet.com/monetizing-ip-communications/. Find out how to get your telephone company to offer phone numbers from around the world. You're welcome to comment, contribute, and collaborate any time.

Facebook Event Admin and Linkedin Claim Event Need to Marry

Facebook shouldn't be so rigid in its Events feature. Actually, I see Facebook and Linkedin have two different best practices that should be combined on both. On Linkedin, you can "claim the event," but not have other "Admins" like Facebook lets you. Ideally Facebook should let for example DIDXchange or Techistan add an event either is media partner or press agent for, let anyone else claim it as host such as Pegasus Consulting (Pvt) Ltd. for CONNECT IT Pakistan, and then the host can make the original "partner" like us to Pegasus Consulting (Pvt) Ltd. as another Admin.

See Linkedin "claim event" feature:

Facebook add Admin feature:

... browse some of our team's other blogs at http://blogs.didx.net and http://blog.tmcnet.com/monetizing-ip-communications/. Find out how to get your telephone company to offer phone numbers from around the world. You're welcome to comment, contribute, and collaborate any time.

Victor and I show the power of Linkedin Recommendations

January 20, 2010, at 2 PM, I join Rob Adler of Vantage Communications, Isaac Hazard of Mzima, and Peter Radizeski of Rad-Info, Inc. to discuss and interact with you the audience at ITEXPO East the topic of "How to Leverage Social Media for a Successful Marketing Campaign."

My take will be that *"leveraging social media for a successful marketing campaign" is not about analysing reams of data, being on every social networking site 24/7, having the most followers or friends, bombarding your audience with commercials or regurgitated news, or cutting your competitor. The key to success online is almost the same as the key to success offline. It's just with online, you have more power.

Adam Nash, blogger and a vice president at Linkedin says, "Fortunately, in the 21st century, with the birth of the social web, we have tools at our disposal that are orders of magnitude more powerful than we have ever had as individuals or as a society."

An example of successful marketing using social media is the Linkedin Recommendations feature. Sincerely and truthfully recommend at least one person in your Linkedin network each week.

One of Pensacola, Florida's most popular Microsoft consultants and open source enthusiasts Victor Rojas and I did exactly that. The positive results of our exchange has been, is and will be exponential. In the last 24 hours since Victor's comments, I've already recieved inquiries to advertise in our Techistan and some looking for Virtul Phone Numbers from our DIDX buyer members. It started with a few sincere words of praise about someone else. Recommend someone on your Linkedin Network this week! Victor and I would like to get to know you and see where we can help each other in business at Linkedin and other social media sites.

*Aw! "Leverage" is really a noun and hasn't quite made it into accepted standard Engish as a verb, but, oh well.

... browse our team's online magazine Techistan (also hard copy first issue soon) and other blogs at http://blogs.didx.net/ and http://blog.tmcnet.com/monetizing-ip-communications/. Find out how to get your telephone company to offer phone numbers from around the world. You're welcome to comment, contribute, and collaborate any time.

I Want QUALITY, Who Cares about QUANTITY?

First, this blog post is not targeted at one person. It is targeted at every person who puts QUANTITY ahead of QUALITY. It does not work, you all! It does not work.

Why is there this mad rush for quantity? Am I right? Large quantities of people surround you, pushing you, expecting you to amass large quantities of:

1. Twitter followers
2. Facebook friends
3. Multi-tasking at work and play
4. Cell phones
5. Social networking memberships
6. Sales leads
7. How MANY INSTANT MESSENGER WINDOWS can you have going at one time?
8. How MANY services and products can your company provide at one time?
9. Let's see how many projects you can take part in at one time for your company?

Results: NO QUALITY! This is my rant for this month. Those who choose QUANTITY. I am not sorry to say, I do not. I choose QUALITY.

I'm going to run a quality 3 miles in my neighborhood, I'll make a quality cup of coffee with just a little sugar, and I will dig into my quality calls, emails, projects, press releases, website debugging, award applications, HR training, new hosted rebranded client contracts, work for global conferences, etc. etc. etc.

QUALITY! Does everybody hear me? Love y'all. Gotta run!

... browse some of our team's other blogs at http://blogs.didx.net and http://blog.tmcnet.com/monetizing-ip-communications/. You're welcome to comment, contribute, and collaborate any time.

Found Gold at SUPERCOMM: Nokia N900 Demonstration Just for You

If Viddler is not through encoding this video when you click to watch here, don't give up, come back and enjoy! We recorded this video (Noreen and I) during SUPERCOMM 2009 in Chicago. We'll add a full commentary on Techistan (online technology magazine) soon.



... browse some of our team's other blogs at http://blogs.didx.net and http://blog.tmcnet.com/monetizing-ip-communications/. You're welcome to comment, contribute, and collaborate any time.