Are YOU a collaborator?

Google has just announced it's to stop supporting Wave. I suspect few were aware of Wave but some websites felt that this was Google's attempt to usurp Facebook but flunked it. trouble is, this is like comparing apples with oranges. Facebook is a social tool whilst Wave is a collaborative tool, with a place in the corporate/enterprise world rather than in the wider public domain. The geeks amongst us (what is a nice way of saying 'geek'?) will know the difference and more than likely be exploiting that difference.

Thing is, Facebook provides an awful lot that Wave doesn't but what Wave does do, it does miles better than Facebook. Elements of Facebook do require collaboration; games like Frontierville and Cafe World all require the assistance of players for the games to progress. On another level MMORPGs like World of Warcraft can be played individually but when working as a group it's possible to raise the game to another level (a WoW pun there) and to be able to achieve more and to complete tasks so much more easily

Collaboration is an important part of all our lives and extends from home to work, from childhood to adulthood. Many of us find that we just can't get on in our daily lives without some collaboration, whether it's with work colleagues or with family members. As someone with a background in the Royal Navy, I found collaboration was exppected and vital. Submariners, Royal Marines, driving around Iraq, all required collaboration to ensure the safety and security of one's peers and friends. Nowadays as a project manager, I need the collaboration of all those connected with a project for it to succeed.

Consider how much more difficult your life would be without other people's collaboration. Better still, consider how much effect your collaboration can have on the lives of those around you.

Freecycle

Something else I've recently discovered is freecycling. Essentially it's giving unwanted stuff away to people that can find a use for it. The advantages of  this are that varied; it helps people out who may not have the immediate funds to resolve a problem, it reduces (or at least slows down) the amount going to landfill, I don't have to get up at stupid o'clock to go to a car boot sale where I have to beat people off as soon as I open my car boot, and finally, it provides a quicker response than ebay, for example , with a greater chance of items being taken up.
We've successfully passed on a rabbit run and a sleeping bag, for example.

If you're interested in getting involved go to http://www.freecycle.org/ and go nuts!

Friendship

It's become clear to me (or perhaps less clear) that friends do not have to be around one all day, every day. They're not necessarily someone who plays a constant part in ones life.

A friend - someone I'd not seen in years - is undergoing some real, and I mean HUGE, challenges in his life. And yet a cri de coeur brought forth a flood of support, much of it virtual by way of social media, but all of it sincere and concerned. Hopefully, that support that has appeared will help him through the months to come until, he can get the professional support he needs.