Toronto Transit Commission accepts influence of bloggers

2007-01-072007-01-07 Colin Henderson

All I can say is wow!~ to this Globe and Mail story (hat tip Susan) where the Chairman of the Toronto subway (TTC) has agreed to meet and work with bloggers to make a better website and maps, that will focus on the people who actually need to use them. The new TTC chairman, Adam Giambrone, seems to have accepted the challenge. Today’s Globe and Mail reports that he will be meeting with the bloggers to discuss their ideas, and a new site should be up and running by the summertime. !!! Source: Customer Experience Crossroads: Co-creating with your customers: … Continue reading Toronto Transit Commission accepts influence of bloggers

VRM

Introducing Operator; a Microformat Detection Extension for Firefox 2

2007-01-072007-01-07 Colin Henderson

I found this new beta (hat tip to Chris) fascinating, and a clearer example of how microformats work to the layman. Its the first effort that starts to play out the vision that I see for microformats and Banking. Operator is a firefox extension that “watches” for information that it understands. The simple example provided here is for areas where standards exist, such as dates, addresses, and photographs. Operator requires information on the Web to be encoded using microformats, and since this method for semantically encoding information is relatively new, not all sites are using microformats yet. …. As more sites … Continue reading Introducing Operator; a Microformat Detection Extension for Firefox 2

Uncategorized

Banks go green – but HSBC don’t do it so well

2007-01-052007-01-05 Colin Henderson

Green seems to be the political colour for 2007, with governments of all stripes picking up that flag. Interesting this is also being picked up by the banks, with the earlier example of green debit cards from Barclays, and now this from HSBC. However while the Barclays one was quite clear … this from HSBC is a totally different story. Welcome to the Green Sale from HSBC Until January 31st we’re offering great deals on a wide range of our most popular products and services for Personal and Business customers. For every Green Sale product sold we will make a … Continue reading Banks go green – but HSBC don’t do it so well

VRM1 Comment

Microformats as information brokers – revisited

2007-01-052007-01-05 Colin Henderson

I was chatting with a colleague about the reference to microformats to support VRM, and it struck me I am not being clear enough, and haven’t thought this through sufficiently to make the case. Thanks JPG 🙂 So I thought I would give it another shot. First the VRM concept, outlined on the Project VRM site. In this picture of the model, ‘Me’ represents you, the consumer. VRM is an idealistic view that places the consumer in charge of merchants of any type, trying to sell things to you. In this vision, presumably, tools exist to protect you from unwanted advances … Continue reading Microformats as information brokers – revisited

VRM10 Comments

Microformats as information brokers – the intelligent agents to support VRM

2007-01-022007-01-03 Colin Henderson

I have been thinking a lot about Vendor Relationship Management (VRM) over the holidays. Doc latched on the the concept as the the corollary to Customer Relationship Management (CRM). He spoke of VRM finally delivering the Cluetrain promise, and that got my attention. CRM places all the power in the hands of the vendor (Bank, telecom, retail store ) and that’s why you get annoying phone calls at dinner time, junk mail, or those annoying “can I put you on hold” comments while the poor call centre rep reads up on your history. CRM does nothing for you as a … Continue reading Microformats as information brokers – the intelligent agents to support VRM

Uncategorized

Rumours of Googles death are greatly exaggerated

2007-01-012007-01-01 Colin Henderson

Bloggers are an idealistic lot, often with very thin skin. Is it just me or during the run up to Xmas, and the light blogging period during the holidays, the negativism that set in suggested a few were getting punchy. We had; “Google in trouble” meme (is their blog a blog, and another one that I misplaced, but concerning Googles method for determining what is #1 on their search list, and suggesting they are manipulating it) (Incidentally, check out this search “google in trouble” – it appears Google have been in trouble for years) “Social Media is no mo“, followed by, … Continue reading Rumours of Googles death are greatly exaggerated

Uncategorized1 Comment

Happy New year to all!

2006-12-312006-12-31 Colin Henderson

Wishing everyone all the best for 2007! Continue reading Happy New year to all!

Innovation, Open Finance, Open Source Banking

23C3 – Lawrence Lessig – On Free, and the Differences between Culture and Code

2006-12-312007-01-01 Colin Henderson

This speech by Lawrence Lessig is quite brilliant. He is speaking about the shifts and strains caused by democratisation of technologies that allow anyone with a $1,500 computer to take media, and create. He relates these tools to the pen and typewriter, and makes the argument that trying to remain with the status quo in terms or rules and regulation will fail. The Q&A is particularly insightful, talking about the diferences between US and Europe … how the US in promoting freedom does quite the opposite. Overall, the 1 hour 16 mins is well worthwhile. Grab coffee or New Year … Continue reading 23C3 – Lawrence Lessig – On Free, and the Differences between Culture and Code

Bankwatch

PRODUCTIVITY Progress in era of Artificial Intelligence