Happy Data Privacy Day!

Who knew? I was greeted this morning with a Tweet about Data Privacy Day and since it's a topic that is on a lot of minds as we do more and more personal business online, I had to investigate further.

According to The Privacy Projects:

Businesses develop software, build hardware and provide services designed to enhance individual productivity, communications and safety.  We have come to depend on mobile communications, instant access to information, and intelligent services.  We are empowered by these technologies in ways that those who have lived before us could never have imagined.

Despite all of the benefits of these technologies, doubts and worries persist about just how much personal information is collected, stored, used, and shared to provide these convenient and pervasive tools and services.

Data Privacy Day is an international celebration of the dignity of the individual expressed through personal information.  In this networked world, in which we are thoroughly digitized, with our identities, locations, actions, purchases, associations, movements, and histories stored as so many bits and bytes, we have to ask – who is collecting all of this – what are they doing with it  – with whom are they sharing it?  Most of all, individuals are asking ‘How can I protect my information from being misused?’  These are reasonable questions to ask – we should all want to know the answers.

Their website provides lots of information and links to issues that business and consumers face as well as tips on what one can do to protect one's privacy.

I have heard many job seekers who are concerned about the kind of information that potential employers are requesting online just during the job application process...long before a job seeker is narrowed down as an actual candidate for a position. This includes the agreements that one agrees to online just during the application stage, such as a credit check, drug screening, providing one's social security number, and more.  A job seeker wants to provide sufficient information to be winnowed down into the candidate pool and invited to interview, but may feel distrustful of an employer that requires so much information at this early stage.

I don't have the answers to this as it must be considered on a case by case basis, depending on the job that one is interested in and the potential employer. In other words, how much do you want this job and how badly do you want to work for this employer?

"We dare to dream"

Word cloud of President Obama's prepared State of the Union speech this evening, courtesy of NPR's Andy Carvin. Brilliant, inspirational speech...now let's all work together in a cooperative spirit and move the country forward.

And of course, there was one concept that all job seekers are focused on: reinvention.

Goodnight Moon. Hello Audi.

I love this new television ad for the new Audi A8. It's a visually stunning ad that tells a story, keeping you engaged through all of the mansion vignettes, along with the copy that's a knockoff from the children's story, Goodnight Moon. The message here is that luxury car buyers no longer have to confine their selections to the likes of the stuffy Mercedes Benz (or BMW or Cadillac).



The car itself is beautiful (and I'm not a huge car aficionado), but the ad drew me in as did the exquisite photography and design of the car. Love the headlights.


The ad was created by Venables Bell & Partners, a San Francisco based ad agency.

A Friday Smile

License plate spotted today in Maryland:


YESMYLV


Is that romantic, or what? The car was being driven by an elderly gentlemen, and I couldn't help but smile as I drove past him. 

A day of numerological significance?

It’s 1/11/11 (okay I removed the 20 in the year, but you know what I mean). I like the symmetry and beauty of seeing all the same number when I write the date. It feels special, equal, a beginning, as though it should have some karmic significance.

If I were a dedicated numerologist, as my friend George is, I would surely know the significance of this date. He may even have discussed this at his seminar last weekend, which I unfortunately was unable to attend. 

According to Numerology News, the number 11 relates to our intuition, instinct and faith in ourselves, and the repeating 1 may signify that we are missing something and need to dig deeper to find the information.  Apparently, we need to tap into our intuition to help us uncover and learn the information we need to make well-informed decisions. In other words, we should heighten our sense of awareness. Easier said than done!

Also, Numerology News advises, “the key to harnessing the power of 1/11/11 is to know that that this is your time; your time to find the missing piece of your puzzle, to interlock it into your life and to start moving forward with the complete puzzle intact.”

Brilliant words of wisdom for a Job Acquisition Specialist. I’m ready, how about you? Time to meditate.

Nothing quite as refreshing...

...as a lovely cup of tea.

And what is the perfect thing to do on a cold winter day, traces of snow outside, cozy warm inside? Brew a perfect pot of tea.

"The perfect temperature for tea is two degrees hotter 

than just right."

- Terri Guillemets

After enjoying a brisk afternoon out and about, or taking care of chores in the house,  it’s so comforting to relax and rejuvenate with a cup of tea.

I love this adorable teapot set that Erin brought me from England. It’s perfect for a 2 cup afternoon tea break, and the brewing tea warms up the cup nicely. The saying on the pot is, “ Nothing quite as refreshing as a lovely cup of Rosie Lea.” The Rosie Lea is actually Cockney rhyming slang for tea.

Today’s tea: Assam. It’s grown in the Brahmaputra Valley in northeast India and has an almost malty, strong taste.

Perfect.

"One sip of this will bathe the drooping spirits in delight beyond the bliss of dreams.”

- Milton

Art to Delight and Amuse

Tongue in Cheek (or apple or flint or a piece of chicken in cheek)

The art of Arcimboldo, a current exhibit at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, is a show that will make you look long and hard at each painting to discern all of the elements that make up these amazing portraits. Arcimboldo depicts the four seasons in fanciful portraits composed of all manner of flora and fauna.  The realism of each of the flowers, twigs, birds, fish, and vegetables is extraordinary. And he so perfectly melds each piece together to create these beautiful, and fun to explore, paintings.

Some portraits intricately incorporate professional tools to represent a particular occupation, such as The Librarian or the rather grotesque The Jurist.

From the Four Seasons to the Four Elements, each one made me smile. Study each painting and one discovers such amazing detail and often a wicked sense of humor.

Hurry: this must see exhibit is at the National Gallery of Art until January 9, 2011, or after that catch the show in  Milan, Italy. 

Buzzwords and Jargon continue...2011's hit list

bandwidth chain circle diva dna

food fruit granular ladder

learnings low-hanging

monetize net-net page pocket

rockstar value

Last January, I wrote a post on buzzwords often used in business situations that I hope to never hear again. I’m relegating those terms to the past decade. However, there are still many phrases I hear in meetings, read in professional publications or online newsletters, see in the business pages, and see in job postings that make me cringe.

As we start a new decade, how about we relegate some of these terms to the junk pile and come up with phrases and sentences that really mean what we intend to say. Some of these words are over-used, they just don’t really mean what they imply or they don't feel honest…and they are much too easy to slip into everyday language. It often makes me wonder if the writer or speaker really understands the subject matter he/she is talking about or is he just trying to convince me that he does.

• Learnings
• Value add
• Monetize
• It’s in our (company’s) DNA
• Bandwidth
• Same page (Are we all on the same page?)
• Low-hanging fruit (oh please…this may the most over-used phrase of the past decade).
• Circle back
• Run it up the food chain
• Granular
• Out of pocket
• Rock star (as used to praise someone’s work)
• Ladder up
• Diva
• Net-net
• It is what it is

Mean what you say and say what you mean. Don’t use jargon just to sound “in the know," otherwise you may leave people guessing what you really intend to convey.

Paddling upstream (or going with the flow?)

Potomac River, Great Falls

The first Monday of a new year holds such promise. It’s opening the calendar to a new work week, the holiday revelry is behind us, and the to-do lists start over. I get excited about a new year the same way I was excited about starting a new school year when I was a child. Now the decision looms…what will you make of this year? 


While others return to work after their holiday breaks, I will return to the job search committed to:

• Another chance to do it right
• Focusing on myself and what I want my life to be
• Areas to cultivate
• Learning: Expand knowledge of and practical uses for business of additional social networking and online marketing sites
• Developing multiple revenue streams

Sometimes life as job seeker feels like you’re paddling upstream and not making much progress. But I’m hoping for smoother sailing in 2011.

C&O Canal, Great Falls, Maryland

What will your life mean?

What will be your life’s proudest achievements?

It’s something to consider when one visits Monticello. One not only sees this beautiful setting and familiar architecture, but learns much about Thomas Jefferson, including what he held as his most important achievements.

A perfect day trip is a drive through the Virginia countryside to Monticello, the former home of Thomas Jefferson near Charlottesville, Virginia. This spectacular home, with a stunning view of the surrounding rolling hills and fields, has been beautifully preserved and offers a glimpse into the personality and life of Thomas Jefferson, a true renaissance man of his time and the architect for Monticello. Everything was built to his specifications.

What I especially enjoy about visits to historic sites, such as Monticello or anywhere in the world, is what they tell us about the actual people – often the facts and anecdotes that aren’t included in the history studied in school. For example:

• Mr. Jefferson didn’t want a large ostentatious staircase into the foyer of his home so he would not make such a grand entrance when visitors came to call. Instead the very narrow staircase is tucked away discreetly and is entered from an interior hall.
• Mr. Jefferson kept a Farm Book, meticulous records of every plant grown on the farm and person living at Monticello.
• Because of his constant adding-on and renovating his home, when he died, he left his heirs in debt.
• After returning from France and his term as ambassador to France, the influences of architecture he saw in Europe caused him to change his vision for Monticello and tear down much of the completed construction to start over.

One of the stunning things about the person is to learn the things he wanted on his tombstone. And what were the life accomplishments of which he felt proudest and asked to be remembered on his tombstone?

Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and father of the University of Virginia.

Few of us can achieve the things that Thomas Jefferson did in his lifetime. But what would you want on your tombstone; what do you want to be remembered for?