“Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.”

-Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

Technorati Tags: Leadership, Benjamin Franklin, Optimism

I don’t know Brandon Zeuner, but got a kick out of his Web 2.0-esque web page:

Technorati Tags: Web2.0, Social Media

When Ziggy can listen to podcasts on seashells, we know that social media has entered the mainstream of our social consciousness!

Technorati Tags: Ziggy, Social Media, Podcast

Earlier this week, I saw a great series of ads on the on the Boston Subway (the “T” in the local vernacular) for Dentyne chewing gum. These ad were particularly adroit in capturing the essence of our electronically connected society while firmly emphasizing the ageless quality of in-person interaction.

Thanks to a rapid email response from the Dentyne customer relations folks, I was able to enjoy the “Make Face Time” ad series again on the web. A series of six ads are available for your enjoyment.

You may also enjoy entering the Dentyne.com site via the front door and experiencing the high tech “Flavor Analyzer.”

Enjoy! I feel a sudden urge to rush out and buy some gum.

Technorati Tags: Dentyne, Social Networking, Social Media, Chewing Gum

Taking the “Keep it Simple, Stupid” school of thought to the extreme …

Technorati Tags: Dilbert, PowerPoint, Presentation

My hat is off to Sun Identity Management expert Jeff Bounds, who set up Sun Identity Manager Developer Wiki on wikis.sun.com:

“This is a repository for Identity Manager customers, partners, and Sun Employees to contribute ideas, code, and tips on how to best use Identity Manager. Anyone can contribute, our only requirement is that you register.”

I look forward to monitoring and contributing to this open forum, which I believe will become a vital part of the Sun Identity Management community.

Technorati Tags: Sun Microsystems, Identity, Identity Management, Digital Identity, Community, Wiki

The terms TIM and TAM are well known in the Identity Management market – short for “Tivoli Identity Manager” and “Tivoli Access Manager”, respectively. Not quite as frequently, some people refer to the Sun Identity Manager and Sun Access Manager products as SIM and SAM.

I propose we combine and shorten those two acronyms to SIAM. It’s comprehensive, catchy and just think, Yul Brynner could be our patron saint!

For those of you too young to remember, Yul Brynner was the bald guy who played the King of Siam in the 1956 classic movie, The King and I. He made baldness cool long before Michael Jordan or Charles Barkley were even born.

Technorati Tags: The King and I, Yul Brenner, Sun Microsystems, Identity, Identity Management, Digital Identity

Social networking spawns some interesting conversations. Earlier this week, Paul Hinz, a colleague at Sun, sent the following message to accompany his LinkedIn connection request:

“Great meeting at ASM. Here’s the proverbial LinkedIn request. In 20 years, what will we think about the phase of “hey, let’s connect”? Will it be as common as flying cars?”

To that pithy question, I had to respond. For what it is worth, here’s what I offered in return:

“Thanks for the connection. I hope that in 20 years, connections via social networks (or what every they are called then) are more automatic, such as registering a connection when we shake hands, like we did at ASM. I’ve really tried to keep track of people I connect with for the last 20 years, with increasing degrees of sophistication. I sense that the next 20 will bring a flood of improvements we haven’t even thought of yet.”

Re-reading that, I think I waxed a bit too philosophical at the time. But it will indeed be interesting to look back in 20 years and remember what the wild and wooly west of social networking was doing in its infancy.

Technorati Tags: LinkedIn, Social Networking, Flying Cars

I participated in a fascinating meeting this afternoon held at the MIT Media Lab under the direction of Dazza Greenwood, who saw my Twitter post on Facebook this morning at 2am when I touched down in Boston and immediately sent me an invitation to join an Identity-focused design session while I was in town.

We in the computer industry tend to think of Digital Identity as purely related to computer systems and software. But the folks I met with at MIT are exploring how Identity can determine how vehicles designed within MIT’s Smart Cities project will be personally configured and securely authorized for use. These compact, folding CityCar vehicles are designed for use within a shared-use concept similar to the shared bicycle system in Paris.

Just imagine approaching one of these little beauties. The car immediate knows who you are and whether you are authorized to use it. Then, the car is automatically configured specifically for you – seat position, driving characteristics, handling modes and even color!

You might enjoy, as I did, taking a look at a couple of videos about the vehicles being developed under this program by MIT:

• CityCar
• RoboScooter

As you wrap your mind around these stimulating concepts, consider a challenge from one of the meeting participants regarding Digital Identity (paraphrased): “We must think about Identity beyond the desktop, about how it applies tol other things we have in our personal and business lives.”

It’s going to be a great ride!

Technorati Tags: MediaLab, MIT, Smart Cities, CityCar, Identity, Digital Identity, Identity Management

Obviously, “Discovering Identity” can mean more than the arcane technology I discuss in this blog now and then, according to the Sam’s Club advertisement that dropped into my email box yesterday.

One thing is clear – all of these dorm rooms have a distinctively more picturesque and expansive Identity than the tiny crackerbox in Stover Hall at BYU where I spent the first year of my college life.

Technorati Tags: Identity, Dorm