As usual, we decided two days before the actual day that we were going to go to Myrtle Beach. I think

we do much better with spontaneous vacations. Our kids get more excited and they don’t bounce around the house for days asking if we are leaving that day to go. I have also found that there really aren’t any deals to be had at the place we like to stay – Embassy Suites @ Kingston Plantation. It’s very family friendly and the kids love it. I don’t think the value exchange of $50 savings for very happy children / wife is worth it, so we just keep going back to the same place.

What do I remember from this beach trip:

1. A calculator is both essential for a trip to the beach and bigger than an iPad.
2. Krispy Kreme is both technologically advanced and still the best donut in town.
3. Jellyfish stings still hurt. Email me for the full story or check my twitter feed.
4. Buddy really likes swimming at night.
5. You can’t have too many snakes in your bed when you go to sleep at night.
6. Men’s Toms (what are these?) are sparkly silver.
7. No matter how cute the kids are … paddle boats are very hard to peddle

That’s it … lucky 7. I don’t want to admit that I learned that Kingston Plantation overplays Electric Slide, Get Funky, and Cupid Shuffle way too much or that beers and drinks are $7 a piece there. Those might send the wrong message.

I guess we’ll go back again next year … but I can’t tell you on which day / month / time.

-Dana

-Dana

My core thought is that senior technologists don’t use Twitter because they don’t know why they should. So, here are my first thoughts on CIOs and Twitter …

• PEOPLE: The next wave of the workforce is on Twitter and it is a greatly diverse population. It took me a while to realize that I wasnt exactly a Senior, a Boomer, an X, or a Y. I was a mix of all four given my set of diverse, life experiences. After a year on Twitter, I have met both online and in person several thousand people that fit all sorts of backgrounds. I find that I engage in more, different types of conversations. There are management consultants, deep technologists, moms, dads, athletes, newscasters, etc who are all on my follower and following lists. Twitter has contributed greatly to my understanding of different ages, professions, interests. All of that rolled into one has helped me understand different people, how to work more effectively, and what trends are occurring in people’s lives.
• IDEA EXCHANGE: Twitter is a next generation technology and hot bed for learning about new technology. How should Twitter be used in the workplace if at all? Well, the answer is that it should and that the use of it should vary company to company. Twitter is not all we should be thinking about as technologists. I give as an example the recent collapse of Google Wave. That’s technology that conceptually should bring people together. At the end of the day (and the end of Google Wave), it was technology that nobody understood or cared to learn about. I recently held a few discussions via Twitter all sorts of people on the topic of Google Wave. I was able to quickly discern that nobody understood it and nobody wanted to put the energy to determining how to use it with the exception of one person who used it well. Of course, the example that person gave was that they used Google Wave for design documents and job postings which is about the the only way I have heard of anyone doing anything with GW. There are also technologies that are becoming more popular such as Flipboard which most of the Twitter population heard of and was using a month before it hit blogs and magazines. My view is that Twitter is a great way to learn about the latest technology first, digest how others are using it, discuss with others how your company might use it, and then contribute back other ideas. Another option would be to just read the same old magazines and blogs which will get you a load of the same old ideas.
• CUSTOMER REACH: Twitter is a free way to reach to your customers one on one in a time effective way. I work for a company in the recent past received a significant portion of negative press. This negative press empowered people to become more vocal on Twitter on topics such as pricing, technology availability, customer service and even the same topics on the competition. I didn’t and don’t typically interact directly with them. However, I do send Tweeps to our customer service desk and I do listen to the ideas and bring them back to the business leadership table. Interacting with current and future customers on a personal level is very exciting and informative.
• FUN: A technologist should use Twitter because it is fun. Not everything on Twitter is serious or “social media” related. Sometimes people take on the personality of something goofy such as the famous Cookie Puss cake from Carvel. Ever wonder what the online rivalry between Cookie Puss and Fudgie the Whale would be like online? Well, why not find out by following them?  If you are a Star Wars fan and wonder what Darth Vader would have to say on Twitter, you can find that out too. While you won’t learn much from following those, it will provide comic relief in your day. There are countless other personalities you can follow – ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption, Mark Cuban, Martha Stewart, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

I look forward to interacting with you on Twitter. You don’t have to be a CIO, technologist, social media expert, computer person, etc … you just have to be able to interact and form thoughts in 140 characters.

Feel free to peak in on what I have to say on Twitter – either on the right hand side of this website or at http://twitter.com/danaedwards. I follow just about everybody back and I enjoy the conversations.

-Dana

This is not a forced photo by any means. Her eyes are rolled back in her head. I really wish I could sleep like that!

Enjoy the photos!
Dana

Little Buddy is still crazy about the solar system! Then again, who isn’t? He drew this in Microsoft Paint at Mimi’s house.

He does have a few persistent questions – “Why is Pluto the smallest in the solar system?” and “Why is Jupiter the biggest planet? And plus it has a big hole.” and “Nothing else.”

-Dana

So, he came up with the idea on his own to make the planets. As we made them, he told us all about each one. Some are gassy giants and some are not. He explained which were hot, etc.

Anyways, he designed it and instructed is on what to do and this is what he designed …

- Dana

These results are actually from this past Sunday the 18th of April. The next results will be posted tomorrow and will be for the current week.

This week’s biggest loser was me – Dana – and I lost 2.11%. Unfortunately, Deanna and Jill gained small amounts.

Here are the current total competition rankings as a percent of total weight:
1. Dana 95.95%
2. Deanna 96.93%
3. Jill 97.36%

Good luck to everyone following along and to my fellow competitors!

-Dana

Smooth sailing … Nice job US Air. Thank you for a good flight. The only odd thing that occurred is that the flight attendant again pointed at the “emergency lights” and there were none on the floor. What’s up with that?

- Dana

It’s 10:22 as I sit on the plane in seat 14D. Unfortunately, it should be 10:07 but this is not a Hot Tub Time Machine. This is US Air and we were late boarding by 15 minutes. This may not seem like a big deal but I have a packed schedule in Jacksonville. I am eager to get there and get started. Kudos to US Air for announcing the late boarding and then following up with a notification at exactly the time they said they would provide an update. Any way you look at it, we boarded late.

So, we boarded late because of a “maintenance issue”. I am very happy that they chose to fix it first because I don’t think the technology to do maintenance in the air exists yet. The slightly worrisome thing about the flight is that after I was seated and before the captain announced his greeting there was an alarm that lasted around 5 – 10 seconds. What the heck was that and was it related to the maintenance issue? I guess I will never know.

The captain reinforced that we should listen to the flight attendants so I decided to do so. His exact words were “… No

matter how many times you have flown, it is always good to listen to their important information …” Uh, ok. In my mind, I was thinking they would do the normal “1L 1R” and “Fasten your belt tight around the waist by pulling the end” talks. Guess what? They did! Then, I got a chuckle out of it. The attendant then did the emergency lights exit row part and pointed to the ground to the “lights”. Well, I didn’t see any lights but I did see a string (see pic below). I poltilely asked the attendant, “That?” He chuckled. Needless to say, a chuckle was not the response I was expecting. I still wonder to myself at 10:35 if he will pick it up or is he in the back laughing with the other attendants about it the smarty pants passenger in 14D. What I do know is that if the plane crashes, I will pick up the string and be safe. Phew …

The ambience has greatly improved. The intermittent 1-3 second long beeping noise has stopped. Thankfully, when I get fixated on something I count, catalog, and generally obsess even more on it. So, at 10:41, we have experienced sixteen 1-3 second beeps. I have got to listen to music at this point so I don’t hear the beep anymore.

Oh my! We have an update in the safety features of the plane! We now have a cap of some sort to guide us to the exit. Perhaps, I can create a tool of some sort from the string and the cap to bale water out of the plane if we crash in the water. That might take a while. Oh, I know … I will use the cap as a thimble as I repair the inevitable hole in my shirt that will occur after we crash and the string / cap combo guides me to the exit. Of course, first, I will tie the string around my finger to remember to follow it to the exit because the singular aisle in the plane is sure to be confusing in case of an accident. String and Cap Safety Friends – I love you for making me feel safe.

Ironically, “Signs” just came on my iPhone. I think a sign on the floor like an arrow might provide more guidance than the string. But what do I know?

Ok. Time to land. I wonder if my luggage is ok. We’ll see.

- Dana

The kids had very different experiences at the movies. The girl who is 3 was very confused at the beginning of the movie during the raid scene. She was under the impression that all dragons are good. I couldn’t see her face but I think she may have even wanted to leave. Towards the end of the movie, she was very excited that you could train a dragon and it would be good. There may have been a point at the beginning where she was even scared. Again, it was hard to tell because it was dark. Her favorite dragon was Toothless because “he is the nice one.”

My son who was six was enthralled by the movie the whole time. I think he was mentally cataloging all of the different types of dragons. His favorite was the two-headed dragon.

For me, I thought it was very entertaining and wouldn’t mind seeing it again. The 3D was just so-so and the story was fun.

- Dana