Today we mourn the passing of Common Sense. A beloved old friend who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered for having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

• Knowing when to come in out of the rain
• Why the early bird gets the worm
• Life isn't always fair
• Maybe it was my fault

Common Sense lived by simple, yet sound financial policies. Like, don't spend more than you can earn. And reliable strategies. Like, adults are in charge, not children. His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place:

• Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate
• Teens suspended from school for using mouth wash after lunch
  
• A teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student
  

These only worsened his condition. Soon Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student, but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

He soon lost the will to live as the churches became businesses, and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault. He finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement

Common Sense was preceded in death by...

• His parents: Truth and Trust
  
• His wife: Discretion
  
• His daughter: Responsibility
• His son: Reason

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers...

• I Know My Rights
• I Want It Now
• Someone Else Is To Blame
• I'm A Victim

Not many people attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, please pass this on. If not, then join the majority and do nothing.

Original Author: London Times

Technorati Tags: Lessons Life Parody Symbolic

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Our values develop our character and our character creates our destiny. When we're out of touch with our values, we are blown about like autumn leaves, caught up in mindless routines... But when we affirm our guiding values, our lives are inspired by our deepest beliefs.

Diane Dreher, Ph. D.

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More and more small business folks are giving in to what seems like an insurmountable mountain of hype and jumping on the twitter bandwagon.

But, some people still look at twitter on the surface and conclude that it’s one big waste of time. I can’t say I disagree completely, however, like all social media and marketing tactics, before you can determine if something makes sense you need to analyze your objectives. So, instead of asking why you would use it, ask how it might help you achieve some other already stated objectives.

1) Would you like a way to connect and network with others in your industry or others who share you views? It’s a good a tool for that.

2) Would you like a way to get instant access to what’s being said, this minute, about your organization, people, products, competitors or brand? It’s a good tool for that.

3) Would you like a steady stream of ideas, content, links, resources, and tips focused on your area of expertise or interest? It’s a good tool for that.

4) Would you like to monitor what’s being said about your customers to help them protect their brands? It’s a good tool for that.

5) Would you like to extend the reach of your thought leadership – blog posts and other content? It can be a good tool for that.

6) Would like a way to quickly find vendors, partners, tech help, even employees for your organization? I can be a good tool for that.

7) Would you like to promote your products and services directly to a target audience? Not such a good tool for that, but it can light a path back to your web site!

Now, if that weren’t enough, the open nature of the twitter platform is spawning uses far beyond what was ever imagined or what many people can grasp - and this use of the technology will only get bigger.

Here are few things you may have never considered

Publish your Flickr photos on twitter - Visit twittergram and set-up an account and then just upload to Flickr but tag your photo twitter and it goes into your twitter stream.

9) If you use online todo list Remember the Milk - you can set it up to flow into twitter - this might be a way to assign todos to remote teams

10) Using strawpoll you can create mini polls into your twitter stream - great for flash feedback

11) Use twitter to keep up on traffic jams with commuterfeed

12) Have twitter alert you when you have a meeting with timer

13) Get and fill current job openings with tweetajob

14) Track FedEx, UPS and DHL shipments with TrackThis

15) Get help quitting smoking

16) Keep a diet journal

17) Get a tweet when your plants need water - - okay this one would be way cooler if it simply tweeted you when the plant watered itself.

Illustration: Pasquale D’Silva

Original Author: John Jantsch

Technorati Tags:

Twitter, Tools, Business, Useful

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