Impact of the technology revolution has barely begun

April 29, 2013, 7:56 am

(Cross-post from my other blog, Outrun Change.)

That we haven’t seen the full impact of IT is a comment I heard the first time a few years ago. That sort of made sense but didn’t really register. This blog is focused on sorting out that change. The idea that the technology revolution has barely begun finally clicked for me with a column by Matthew Yglesias – Why I’m Optimistic About Growth and Innovation.

A few industries have seen huge impact from technology. Think of book publishing, journalism, and music. Those industries have been turned upside down. I read a lot and listen to a bit of music so am quite attuned to those areas. The way everyone consumes news has been transformed. I regularly read dozens of blogs a day. They just appear on my computer screen with a mouse click or two. I’ve always been a news junkie, and my consumption has soared in the last few years.

However, as big as those industries are, they are a small part of the total economy.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Information Technology, Pondering | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

3 posts on implications of technology change

January 10, 2013, 10:05 am

Here are three posts from my other blog, Outrun Change, looking at some implications of the rapid technology change taking place around us.

New technology is very cool, yet we need to ponder the implications:

Leave a Comment » | Information Technology, Pondering | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

5 warnings on how technology can trap you

December 31, 2012, 7:36 am

There is danger in letting any vendor have too much control over your life. That warning applies doubly so to software and double again for social media.

I have five different ways to tell this story. 

A simple change in rules or pricing can devastate you.

That big ol’ company can dump a software that doesn’t have enough customers for them to bother with but is mission critical to your operations. 

If some of those little things happen, you will suffer.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Information Technology, Pondering, Social media | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

Don’t let your social media platform control you

December 27, 2012, 7:48 am

There is danger in letting any vendor have too much control over your life. That warning applies doubly so to software and re-doubled for social media.

Don’t let your marketing be controlled by Facebook or MySpace or anyone else that can wipe you out with a rule change or by fading away.

Many businesses build their entire marketing campaign on Facebook. I even made that suggestion. Nonprofits can do the same.

One rule change can wipe out years of marketing.

Mark Schaefer explains the risk in his post, A cautionary tale: Putting your business in the hands of Facebook.

Read the rest of this entry »

3 Comments | Information Technology, Social media | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

Do you own your data that is stored in the cloud? If your cloud provider gets in a jam with the government, can you get your data back?

November 19, 2012, 9:20 am

Those are two extremely serious questions that everyone who is storing data in the cloud should start asking.

What would happen to your business or ministry or hobby if the feds seized the server of your cloud provider and you had to fight in court to get your data back?

How would you cope with this situation:

Megaupload is a cloud provider who stands accused of essentially being a storehouse of pirated videos. Their servers were seized by the federal government. That means the data of every user was also seized.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Information Technology, Non-profit accounting | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

Nothing like recovering from a computer failure to show how much change is going on

May 16, 2012, 9:47 am

(cross-posted from my other blog, Outrun Change.)

One of the main computers I use in my business failed Sunday night. For various reasons, I’ve held off on making several major upgrades, like jumping to Windows 7 and Office 2010.

So I shopped for new computer, have it in place, and as of yesterday have almost all the software running. Still have a couple of things to bring online, but they can wait for the moment.

Making the jump to a host of new technology tools all at once highlights the volume of change surrounding us.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Information Technology, Pondering | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

Technology can be used at the government level to monitor e-mail and social media

December 14, 2011, 11:23 am

Some ministries are engaged in activities overseas that are moral and ethical by our standards but may not meet with full approval of the government of other countries.

If that is the case (and you know if that description applies to you!), you would be well advised to ponder the incredible technology capabilities available to governments.

I have a post at my other blog, Outrun Change, discussing a series of articles that have appeared in the Wall Street Journal.  My post:  Cool internet capabilities can be used for censorship and suppression of dissent.

Might be worth checking out that article.

Leave a Comment » | Information Technology | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

Software tracks everything you do on a smart phone – yet another reason to be attentive to privacy issues

December 5, 2011, 8:24 am

Software from an outfit called Carrier IQ seems to be available for all the smartphones, if it is not already loaded on all of them.  Their software can track everything you do, down to monitoring key strokes and web sites visited.

So what?  Think passwords to bank accounts, apps used, all data searches performed and what results were viewed.

Remember the discussion on your phone tracking your location every moment?  This goes beyond location tracking.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Information Technology | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

15 tips for QuickBooks

November 30, 2011, 10:01 am

A Quick Guide to QuickBooks from the December Journal of Accountancy provides 15 great tips for more efficient and effective use of QuickBooks.  Check it out for ideas you haven’t seen before.

A few highlights of interest to small NPOs:

Memorized transactions – you can memorize recurring transactions, such as the rent or copier payment and have them posted automatically on a chosen day.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Information Technology, Non-profit accounting | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

Pendulum swings in how we use computers

November 5, 2011, 9:57 am

The swinging of a pendulum is a great word picture for describing change.   Especially helps for explaining shifts in computing power.  The pendulum swung from dumb terminals to personal computers and now to ‘the cloud’.

I mention this in a post at my other blog, Outrun Change:  The computing pendulum has swung back to dumb terminals and service bureaus – will it swing back?

There I discuss and link to a post by John Bredehoft.

By the way, my ponderings about the change taking place around us are posted on the other blog.  That leaves this blog focused on nonprofit issues.

Leave a Comment » | Information Technology, Pondering | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

Online security primer from Facebook

August 31, 2011, 7:35 am

(cross-posted from my other blog, Attestation Update.)

Facebook has posted a really good guide to online security:  Own Your Space – A Guide to Facebook Security

It is focused on Facebook, of course. It also has a lot of good stuff, such as general discussion of how to recognize a scam as a scam.  Good ideas on general defensiveness when online. 

Would be good for your staff to read it.  Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Information Technology | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

Teen’s purchasing power from working for the summer in 1952 and 2011

August 19, 2011, 7:46 am

What could a teenager working minimum wage 60 years ago buy with his summer earnings compared to now?

Mark Perry has a calculation at his blog Carpe Diem: Young Americans: Luckiest Generation in History:

Here is the short version:

1952 after working for the summer, a teen could buy:

  • Typewriter
  • Phonograph
  • 17” TV

2011, after working the summer, a teen could buy the functionally equivalent items as 1952:

  • Laptop & printer (if you can call that comparable to a typewriter)
  • Ipod,
  • 32” HDTV, blue-ray player, home theater system (just a tad bit more than a 17” TV, but still comparable functionality, sort of)

Plus in 2011 our hypothetical teen still would have enough money left over at the end of the summer to buy some bonus stuff on top of matching types of things from 1952: Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Economics, Information Technology | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

A field trip from August 2011 to August 1981 and back

August 13, 2011, 9:32 am

John Bredehoft has a creative two-part post comparing technology in 2011 and 1981. Focus is on the change in portability – the ease of getting news anywhere and being able to reach someone anywhere.

What if modern portability existed, or didn’t exist, 30 years ago?

More on changes in portability

Communication then:

Read the rest of this entry »

3 Comments | cartoons and other creative visualizations, Information Technology | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

Options for online backup of your critical data

August 9, 2011, 7:26 am

You already know you really need to get your most critical data backed up. Losing all your ministry data or donor information could destroy your ministry.

But backup is such a hassle.

Here are eight online services that allow you to do backups out on the net. That makes it a lot easier and makes your data a lot safer.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 Comment | Information Technology | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

Time to start putting some expectations in place for staff using social media?

August 5, 2011, 8:49 am

Whether you serve in a church or ministry, having your staff use social ministry to communicate is a very good thing. The social media tools available today are easy, cheap, effective, and far-reaching. It is fascinating to think how easy it is to communicate with your audience.

Just like everything else in life, there is a downside.

Your Church Blog points out a few things we should be careful of:

Read the rest of this entry »

1 Comment | Information Technology, Social media | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

« Previous Entries
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 34 other followers