Friday, April 11, 2008 |
Facing the Opposition
There a a few things that we truly are not capable of until we are put into a certain situation. For example, moms have lifted cars off of their child or the nicest person in the world shot and killed someone in the act of defense. In these scenarios we will never know what we are capable of until it actually happens. This is how our minds work. In James 1 it explains how we need to consider it joy when we face trials and tribulations because it is strengthing us but it's hard to see how this can be until later. If we are wise, we will realize that some amazing things couldn't happen until some negative things happened first.A little while ago I wrote a blog titled "Living for Life" in which I talked about a lot of things that I believe were important to life. It's obvious that most people do not share the same views and that is awesome because that is part of what makes life exciting because the dynamics of people keep us entertained. Earlier today I received a comment on that post reporting that Jesus was sweet and that He jumps on pogo sticks.... I thought it was awesome that this person decided to break this news on my blog. Who could have even imagined that he would pick me. Ok, so there was more to his comment than just that breaking news. Logically I should have been offended but this is just another example of where our logic often throws us of course of just living life for life and, ultimately, leads us to feelings of worthlessness. In a way this goes back to my analogy of a surfer who harnesses the awesome (and many times negative) power of waves and has fun with it -- and the bigger the wave, the bigger the thrill. It's a lot like this in life too. If we are to really enjoy our lives we need to learn to harness the power of our opponents who attack us and have fun with it. In high school I was picked on a good bit and, yes, it did bug me. I guess it's also true that no one totally gets over the fact that people attack them but it's really an issue of how you respond to that attack internally. I've had a lot of people tell me that I have matured just about every year that has gone by and I think one of the key points to this is that I've learned how to better harness this power and allow it to not upset me but to confirm that I have a purpose in what I am doing. I think just about any blogger would agree that the worst type of comment is the one that isn't left. I gave up caring what people thought of me a long while ago. I've realized that the logic that our society uses is what is hurting us the most and if I want to deviate from this logic in any way then I really need to understand that people are going to attack me and disagree with me and I need to understand that if I really believe the words that I say then I need to realize that when words I say strikes a chord with someone then I am actually making an impact on someone's life which is exactly what I am hoping to do. When I receive a negative attack I think the more negative that it is the more it gives me purpose and fuels me to keep doing whatever it is I do here. Back in 2006 I wrote a blog based on starfish that I think also captures what I am trying to say here. The people that are constantly picked on tend to be the people that make the largest impact in this life. You may want to consider it a phenomenon but I really believe that its because these are the people that have the potential to become extremely motivated for the right reasons in life. They have experienced first hand that attacking someone for their beliefs doesnt get anyone anywhere so they embrace their own beliefs, become proud of who they are, and they work towards the things they believe are important. Those same people end their lives knowing they lived a full and worthwhile life and having made a great impact on this world. It's never about what bad luck comes your way or how much people hate you but its about how you feel about you and how you take the things that come your way. Opposition fuels advancement. The human race has invented things the fasted out of mother necessity. The more that we have an opposing force the more that we will work towards answering that force. I'm sure the Wright brothers faced a lot of opposition but I'm also sure that when people attacked them they didn't argue with them.... in fact, maybe they listened to what someone was saying and maybe the person calling them stupid actually gave them a new perspective. Ultimately, they flew..... and I'm sure there were people that were humbled. It all boils down to believing in who you are and what you believe. If you doubt yourself then anything that is said to you will cause you to falter in what you are trying to accomplish. On the other hand, if you truly believe in whatever it is that you are doing then the only thing your opposition does is confirm that you are working on something that is worth noticing and, in that realization, understand that negative comments and attacks really are a cause for celebration. Labels: attacks, blogosphere, emotions, psychology, purpose, society (C)2003-2008, Bob K Mertz - Some Rights Reserved |
Wednesday, April 02, 2008 |
Another twitterer fights breast cancer
Just as an awareness post to my friends on twitter and who are part of the Frozen Pea Fund, another one of our community has been affected by cancer. There is a site that is selling pixels to raise money for Tricia and for the Frozen Pea Fund. Please check it out at http://4tricia.com/pixels-4-tricia and buy a pixel for you or your company. Read more information about it here.Labels: blogosphere, breast cancer, community, twitter (C)2003-2008, Bob K Mertz - Some Rights Reserved |
Monday, December 17, 2007 |
Final Thoughts on T-Mobile
With light of the posts that have been coming out today, I have to agree with most of them in the stressing that this is not a Net Neutrality issue. As a fellow blogger, I am asking that everyone take into consideration that this is my personal blog. Understand that I post things here for my friends to know whats up with me and this included the issues that I was having with T-Mobile. I did not post any of the initial posts with the intent that it would go as far as it has and, as such, I posted without serious investigation to the laws that govern SMS. I will admit that I incorrectly placed SMS into a "network" category rather than a "phone" category that it should have been in. While I agree that if T-Mobile was filtering Twitter SMS (which they were not) it would be in violation of the spirit of net neutrality, it is not an official or legal part of the debate. This entire situation has shown many good things and many bad things. One thing that is a concern of mine was that many blogs and news site posted links to my blog and ran with it without even contacting me to confirm any information. It's actually just fine that the blogs didn't do that but the news sites, well, it's a little more of a concern. In fact, in this situation I think it went completely in the opposite direction. Almost all of the personal blogs that reported what I had posted actually confirmed the issue themselves. Even over at the Buzz Out Loud forum there was confirmation from another reader that he had received the same message. The issue, going forward, is not about net neutrality but about customer service and executive offices quoting things that were blatantly incorrect. It is now a very well known fact that the issue between T-Mobile and Twitter were, in fact, of a technical nature but this does not relieve T-Mobile of responsibility of the press that they are receiving and, in my opinion, the longer they go without making a statement, the more bad press they deserve. The fact remains that I sent an email to the executive office expressing my concern that T-Mobile was filtering Twitter, which I was told by a CSR at T-Mobile. The response to that email in a very harsh tone and, as we know now, full of incorrect information. I reported what had happened to me and, as fellow bloggers, it is your responsibility to fact check and confirm whether this is true or false. There are numerous people that did just that and there were many people that didn't. Before I turn this personal blog back into just that, I want to give my final thoughts. First of all, mistakes are common in the blogosphere but facts are something that can be confirmed. The issue of filtering twitter may not be a part of net neutrality but the fact is the content of the email that I received. Secondly, it's be confirmed that the issue was of a technical nature and that has been resolved. The thing that has not been resolved is why T-Mobile responded in the way that they did. While I sit here asking bloggers to check their facts, I am reporting on a company that didn't do that and, for this reason, I feel that T-Mobile owes their customers an explanation of the situation. T-Mobile has always been an incredible company in my eyes. Their concern for customer service has always been one of the greatest assets to the company and, as AlternaGeek reported, an amazing company for embracing new technologies. They continue to be my favorite mobile carrier. Some might say that can't be true because of the things I posted but the fact is the opposite is true. I want T-Mobile to address this issue because I don't want them to fall into the same category as the larger mobile providers that don't care about their customers. I believe that if a company is truly concerned about their customers they will investigate the things their own employees relayed and they will offer an explanation to their customers. If they stay silent then, to me, it would appear they really don't care what their customers think. Just remember that if someone is wrong about one thing it does not mean they are automatically wrong about everything and this also means that if a company makes a mistake it doesnt make them the worst company in the world. Happy Twittering! :) This will be the last post that I make to my blog related to this issue unless I would hear additional communication from T-Mobile. Everyone is still more than welcome to contact me at tmo-vs-twit@blog.bibleboy.org or to leave comments on this blog. I am a personal blogger and it's been a fun few days but I need to go back to my roots which are real life and not the New York Times Labels: blogosphere, net neutrality, sms, tmo-vs-twit, tmobile, twitter (C)2003-2008, Bob K Mertz - Some Rights Reserved |
A blogger attacks the blogosphere?
This really isn't totally related to the T-Mobile/Twitter issues but it appeared on the Twitter Blog related to my post(s) about T-Mobile. This really isn't an attack at anyone specifically but I'm just curious what people think about the situation and how people feel the Blogosphere works. There certainly is always the possibility of a blogger knowing what they are talking about and not knowing what they are talking about but, in my opinion, the blogosphere is the collective group of bloggers that back up and confirm each other. If every story on the internet right now about T-Mobile/Twitter was just a 100% copy of my blog, then this would be a completely different story. What happened is I seemingly posted to my blog first and people refered to it as the first story but numerous posts about this situation were related to people receiving the same email I received or, at the very least, the same response from customer service. There was even a post of someone claiming that a T-Mobile rep actually google'd my site and gave that email as their official response. Some confirmations occured on the Buzz Out Loud Forums while a good central point of confirmation after confirmation occured over at Satisfaction where Biz Stone himself said T-Mobile was blocking Twitter.What does everyone think? I'm really curious to hear what the overall thoughts of this entire incident is. Please leave your comments below or email me at tmo-vs-twit@blog.bibleboy.org Labels: blogosphere, net neutrality, sms, tmo-vs-twit, tmobile, twitter (C)2003-2008, Bob K Mertz - Some Rights Reserved |
(C)2008, Bob K Mertz - Some Rights Reserved
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