Seamus Phan - inspire+inform

Structured or unstructured learning at the workplace?

admin — Tue, 01 May 2012 10:29:24 +0000

When I was developing networked and computer-based learning in the 1980s, the writing was already on the wall, that self-directed learning will become a mainstay at the workplace. And today, in the 21st century, that is still true. As human resource development (HRD) professionals, I must confess I too would be tempted to prefer structured [...]

Is the customer always right? Not quite.

admin — Tue, 01 May 2012 10:10:38 +0000

One of those age-old ideas “the customer is always right” has always haunted service providers. It is not because service providers want to treat customers anything but nicely, but that the landscape of customer service has moved on from the last few decades, and today’s world is much, much more sophisticated and complex. The customer [...]

Employer-employee trust – It is a 2-way street

admin — Tue, 01 May 2012 09:56:52 +0000

One of the interesting topics that surfaced in the human resource arena is trust, consistently and even more frequently these days. It is understandable that employers and employees alike are talking about trust. The economic landscape today is volatile and uncertain. Is there a sustainable upturn? Is the economy, local, regional or global, truly on [...]

Cameras for donation or sale

admin — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 08:49:36 +0000

This is a rare post. I have a few cameras I seldom use, in great condition, that I hope can be given away to a legitimate charity which may need a camera to shoot their events. I have a Pentax K10 DSLR (great weather-sealed body with great lenses), a Samsung NX10 DSLR (compact and good [...]

Gadgets Brief – Apr 2012

admin — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 15:17:47 +0000

Fujifilm X-Pro1 The follow-on of the already popular X100, the X-Pro1 aims to rival the Leica M9 at a fraction of the price. The X-Pro1 features the APS-C sensor, shoots stills and video, and has some of the most legendary Fuji film rendering modes. The improved X-Trans CMOS sensor has a different repeating pattern compared [...]

Blogging as part of your social media strategy

admin — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 08:58:12 +0000

According to an insightful article in Inc. Magazine (April 2012 issue), business blogging is in decline (from 2010 to 2011), compared to the slow but steady growth of businesses on social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter. Does that mean businesses no longer need to bother with blogging? In my opinion, no. The reason [...]

“Rangefinder” my smartphone’s camera

admin — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 03:11:50 +0000

Now, life is not all about work. So here’s a little trivial post. I have always loved the Leica M rangefinders, but never could summon any bravado to sink savings into it. I have used the large-format view camera, and most of all, spent most of my serious photography phase in medium-format, using the Mamiya [...]

Carpe diem, and not just your career

admin — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 05:51:36 +0000

The water heater switch malfunctioned, and we needed an electrician to fix it. We found one and I took a morning off to wait for him. He turned out to be a most interesting individual I shared a good conversation with, while he switched out the damaged switch for the new one. Let’s call him [...]

Gadgets Brief – Mar 2012

admin — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:27:36 +0000

GoPano Micro One of the best 360-degree panorama tools on the go, for the iPhone®. It comes with a custom casing to attach the vertically mounted special mirror, which forms the 360-degree image onto the iPhone® camera lens. Very cool, very light, affordable, and captures not just a still 360-degree panorama, but a 360-degree panorama [...]

Website optimization for marketing campaigns

admin — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 08:36:38 +0000

Let us examine a typical scenario. A consumer products company engaged an interactive media agency to design a marketing campaign website for consumer engagement. While the site looks flashy, it ran into a lot of usability problems. How do you design a website for marketing that just works? What went wrong with that website’s usability [...]