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Trademark FAQ
Since starting Common Craft, I've been thinking about using trademarks and copyrights as a way to protect my intellectual property. To this end, I've found some good resources that folks in my position may find interesting:
10 Big Myths about copyright explained
Trademark FAQs (.gov)
I wasn't aware of this...
Q: When can I use the trademark symbols TM, SM and ®?
A: Any time you claim rights in a mark, you may use the "TM" (trademark) or "SM" (service mark) designation to alert the public... Continue Reading
Now that’s 2004 I’ll go ahead and do my part in predicting what we’ll see in the year ahead. The predictions below are completely unscientific and highly biased…
Weblogs will continue to grow in visibility (I know- no duh). But I think that we’ll see even more mainstream coverage- the Weblog phenomenon will grace the cover of a news magazine like Time or Newsweek- possibly based on the success of the Dean campaign.
This increase in visibility will cause many non-high-tech... Continue Reading
I don’t think anyone would disagree with the age-old adage “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know�?. It applies across our business and personal lives- the one who connects the best wins. Using a network of people to your advantage is as old as business itself- a strategy that hasn’t changed much over the years.
However, just recently, the networking landscape has changed significantly. The same principles of trust, communication and relationship building still apply, but the... Continue Reading
News.com reported recently that the CEO of Phones 4 U has banned email in the office.
"I saw that e-mail was insidiously invading Phones 4U, so I banned it immediately," Caudwell said in a statement. "Phones 4U staff have been told to get off the keyboards, get face-to-face or on to the phone to colleagues.
While I can certainly see how email can waste time, this seems extreme. This CEO is throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Here are some things that I think are bad about a policy like... Continue Reading
InfoWorld: E-mail's special power: September 12, 2003: By Jon Udell
I really liked this article about email. Jon Udell asks what would happen if all email crashed- what would we use to replace it?
By asking these questions, he helps to define the best uses of email. By looking at a world without email, we begin to see how other technologies like RSS, Weblogs, Instant Messaging etc. can fill in the gaps. But, most importantly, it shows what gaps cannot be filled. The result is what email is... Continue Reading
This interview with Peter Coughlan, by Mark Hurst of GoodExperience.com, provides a good look at the "broken" state of hospitals and how his company IDEO works with hospitals to improve.
Having a Masters in Health Administration, I hold this stuff close to heart. I think there are incredible opportunities to help hospitals improve and I like the way Peter describes their process.
Ordinarily the hospital spends a year or two in committee, create what they think is the perfect team process, and... Continue Reading
The Small Business Blog pointed me to an article that's about "Three Traits of Successful Websites.
Since "success" is so subjective, I'd clarify this by saying that the article is about small commerce sites and what successful site owners have in common. While the themes are nothing revolutionary, I think they are certainly applicable and based on reality. They are:
Get started- even if it's not perfect
Focus on your niche
Model Success
With all the high-brow analysis out there, I... Continue Reading
In this entry Joi Ito describes how just hired two people from "IRC" a chat resources. Because they participated over time, he got to know them, became trustful of them and eventually hired them.
I recently hired two people who were IRC regulars. I felt very comfortable after "getting to know them" over the last few months on IRC. Of course face to face meetings and interviews were essential, but the time spent with them on IRC really added to my ability to judge their character.
His post... Continue Reading
Online Community Report: Interview with Dan Gillmore
I really like these short and insightful interviews by Jim Cashel. In this one Dan Gillmore talk about the value of online communities, group interaction and weblogs. Some good quotes:
What we need to see is a big company really open itself to what the Cluetrain guys were talking about: the market as a conversation. I just don't see it happening yet, but it will.
Man, so true, the Cluetrain Manifesto first lit my fire for all this stuff... Continue Reading