Woodway At Dusk

Woodway At Dusk
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
A view of Woodway in Houston from the parking garage of my building.

Stuffed Animal Destruction

Stuffed Animal Destruction
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Puggles brings a violent end to his stuffed pig friend.

Salted Nuts

Salted Nuts
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
The building staff brought platters of salted nuts to tenants this afternoon. The pecans were quite good.

Long Tongue

Long Tongue
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Puggles panting after our trip to the dog park.

iPhone Homescreen December 2010

iPhone Homescreen December 2010
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
The Google Voice app is anticipated to get heavy use this holiday season.

Laptop Fairy

Laptop Fairy
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
She delivered a shiny new MacBook Pro to my desk at work while I was away for lunch today.

Celebratory Bottle

Celebratory Bottle
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Autographed bottle of champagne to commemorate my first day at ChaiONE. Each new employee has their bottle on display in the office.

Badge, Key, & Bag

Badge, Key, & Bag
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Just like when I turned in my Active Duty military ID, another end of an era. The next chapter begins tomorrow.

Snake On A Rock

Snake On A Rock
Originally uploaded by Juston Western

Samuel L. Jackson was the inspiration for the commentary immediately after spotting this creature.

Software Saturday - Gas Cubby

This week's app selection is one I've been using for almost a year. Gas Cubby is a simple logging app that allows you to store information related to your automobile's maintenance & gas mileage.

I use it to keep tabs on the gas mileage in my car, and when my wife's car is due for an oil change. Each time you fill up with gas, you enter your odometer's mileage, the number of gallons you put in your car, and the price per gallon. Gas Cubby will calculate your gas mileage between fill ups based upon these inputs. Aside from the basic inputs, you can also record items such as gas brand, payment method, & type of gas.

Using the app is a helpful way of keeping track of gas prices in your area and can give you insight as to whether your car may need maintenance should you see your gas mileage average is dropping over time. It's also useful for budgeting purposes if you want to see exactly how much you're spending on fuel over a given period of time.

You can choose between a free ad-supported version or a paid ad-free version of Gas Cubby. Links to both versions are available at the developer's website below.

http://appcubby.com/gas/index.html

Aon Hewitt Flag Above The Woodlands Campus

Duck Family

Duck Family
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
As seen upon the shore of Lake Woodlands.

Auburn #1 In The BCS

Auburn #1 In The BCS
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Auburn tops the 2010 BCS rankings after week 8...War Eagle!

Rolling Toomer's Corner

Rolling Toomer's Corner
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
The post-victory celebration from Auburn's win over LSU, ultimately vaulting Auburn to #1 in the BCS standings.

Tiger Walk

Tiger Walk
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Waiting for the Auburn football team to make its way through campus to Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Inside Toomer's Drugs

Inside Toomer's Drugs
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Home of the best lemonade on Earth.

Auburn-opoly

Auburn-opoly
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
An Auburn-themed Monopoly board game as seen inside Toomer's Drugs.

Nap After Travel

Nap After Travel
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Puggles exhausted on the townhouse couch after traveling from Houston to Auburn.

Puggles, Texas Ranger Chews A Bone

Geeking Out At BW3

Another Sunday, Another Sports Bar

Another Sunday, Another Sports Bar
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
This week to see New Orleans take on Tampa Bay at Buffalo Wild Wings.  Next season, I think we're just going to pop the $350 and get NFL Sunday Ticket To-Go. That way I can watch on my iPad or hook up my MacBook Pro to one of our home TVs via DVI.

Family On TV

Family On TV
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
My brother & his girlfriend on CBS in the Auburn football student section after a Cam Newton touchdown against Arkansas.

Auburn Game On CBS Sports Mobile iPhone App

Auburn Game On CBS Sports Mobile iPhone App
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
10 year old Juston with his portable Sony TV would be fascinated by this technology.

Software Saturday - Due

While I use Remember The Milk for most of my task management needs, sometimes a full-blown reminder with a priority rating and due date/time is overkill.  Usually if I needed to remind myself to do something within a short period of time, I'd just use the iPhone's built-in Clock app.  Using the timer function in the Clock app was somewhat inconvenient, though, since you could only set one timer to run at a time, and if you frequently set timers of different lengths, you'd need to adjust the time wheel before each use.  Due addresses each of these shortcomings.

Within Due, I've created different timers for each of my frequently used short-term tasks.  Such tasks include when to switch my laundry or how long to keep the humidifier submerged in distilled water when I'm recharging my humidor.  Once you've configured your timers, you can enable each one by flipping the button shaped like a light switch.

Currently I'm only utilizing the Timers feature within Due, but the app also has a more traditional Reminders section, allowing you to remind yourself after a certain period of time.  My mind immediately leaps to using Remember The Milk if I'm going to enter a reminder, though, so I likely won't use Due's Reminders section much.  Unlike Remember The Milk, Due doesn't use a Push Notification server to deliver reminder alerts, so in the event you won't be in an area of data coverage, Due's reminders could represent a better solution.

You can read more about Due and find the download link at the developer's website.

http://www.dueapp.com/

#FF Twitter Recommendations - Auburn

This week's Follow Friday entry spotlights the Twitter accounts of notable Auburn University alumni.  I'm heading up to Auburn next week for the Auburn vs LSU football game, so it seemed like an appropriate time to point out these Tigers.

Jimmy Wales - Founder of Wikipedia - @jimmy_wales

Jimmy Buffett - Leader of the Parrot Head Nation - @jimmybuffett

Mark Spencer - Author of Pidgin IM client - @markster

Eric O'Neill - Spy hunter & counter terrorism consultant - @eoneill

Jake Adam York - Poet - @jakeadamyork

AUHD - Operator of the giant video screen at Jordan-Hare Stadium - @AUHD

Auburn University - Official Twitter account of the university - @auburnu

Tulane Class Ring

Tulane Class Ring
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
After sending my Tulane ring back to Balfour to get repaired, it came back as shiny as the day I received it back in 2003.

Puggles, Texas Ranger Destroys A FedEx Box

Dog On A Chair

Dog On A Chair
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Puggles lounging on a Thursday morning.

Wednesday Night Jams

Wednesday Night Jams
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
My dog digs house music played in our living room.

Nintendo Entertainment System 25th Anniversary - JW's Favorite Games

As we approach the 25th anniversary of the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America next week, I wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on my favorite games from that generation of video game consoles.  While there were several NES games I owned, rented, or played at friends' houses, I've selected five that represent where I logged the most hours and generally had the most fun playing.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

My parents got me this game for my seventh birthday.  I'd become familiar with The Legend of Zelda by first playing it at my babysitter's house in early 1988.  After enjoying that game, and then getting sucked into the Zelda II marketing hype from coverage in Nintendo Power Magazine, I knew I had to take the plunge.  The better part of 1989 & 1990 I spent playing this game.  Even after I'd defeated Shadow Link in the final palace, I couldn't get enough of visiting villages and working to increase my attack strength.  

Super Mario Bros 3

Not only was my imagination captured the moment I saw this game portrayed in The Wizard, I don't think I've ever been more excited for a video game to be released than I was for Super Mario Bros 3.  My mother patiently put up with my requests to call every video game retailer in the greater Columbus, GA metro area until we finally tracked down a copy at Wal-Mart about a week after the official release in early 1990.  World 4 with the giant enemies and pipes/blocks still brings a smile to my face.

Marble Madness

I used to play this game in the Diamond Jim's arcade inside Peachtree Mall before it was released on the NES.  My dad actually bought me the Nintendo version as a consolation prize for not being able to find us two tickets to the 1989 Iron Bowl (the first ever played at Auburn for you college football history buffs).  It worked out for the best, though, because I was still able to watch the Iron Bowl on TV, and then had countless hours of fun with Marble Madness.  It's tough to capture in words how happy I was the first time I beat the final level in this game.  To call the level challenging is like saying the Mario franchise is kind of popular.

Super Mario Bros

Ah, the first game we all got to play on the NES.  Finding my console on Christmas morning of 1987 with this game was like Ralphie receiving his Red Ryder BB Gun in A Christmas Story.  Just how ingrained is this game into my psyche from countless hours of gameplay?  To this day, I frequently find myself whistling the Super Mario Bros theme song when I'm walking around the house or office.  Figuring out how to get to level -1 also made me feel like a rockstar for weeks at school.

Bases Loaded

This game definitely contributed more to my understanding of the rules of baseball than my limited stint as a tee-ball player ever could.  I convinced my parents to buy me this game just as Atlanta Braves fever was starting to sweep the southeast in the early 90s.  I always played as Utah on the game, and the player named Auga seemed to always launch home runs when I got him up at bat.  The graphics were poor in this title, but it was definitely my favorite multi-player game ever released for the NES.

Torpedo at Tailgator's Pub

The Torpedo

The Torpedo
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
This beer dispensing device keeps 8 pints of your favorite brew cold and ready at your table at Tailgator's Pub near our house.

Software Saturday - Boxcar

Boxcar is the Swiss army knife of Push Notifications for the iPhone. By linking your Twitter account to Boxcar, anytime you receive an @-reply or Direct Message on Twitter, you'll receive a Push Notification on your iOS device.

This makes using Twitter on the go a lot easier, since you don't have to open your favorite Twitter app to see if someone has responded to you or mentioned you on the service.

When you receive a Push Notification via Boxcar and then slide to view, the app will launch and then immediately launch your mobile Twitter app so you can see and respond to the message. If you don't immediately slide to view your message, you'll have a badge on your Boxcar app icon when you come back to your device.

While I use Boxcar purely for Twitter Push Notifications, you can also link it to send Push Notifications for Facebook, Gmail, Growl, or RSS feeds.

Boxcar is a free download and sports an optimized interface for both the iPhone & iPad. You can find out more about Boxcar at the developer's website below.

http://boxcar.io/

ESPN Gameday Football Signs

ESPN Gameday Football Signs
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Antoine Dodson had a premonition about South Carolina taking down Alabama.

Waterway Square

Waterway Square
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
A view of the arc leading into Waterway Square, as seen from the patio of The Goose's Acre in The Woodlands.

Taps at Goose's Acre

Taps at Goose's Acre
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
A subset of the beer selection at this Irish bar in The Woodlands.

Gadget Hobby

Gadget Hobby
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
With prices so low, I've ordered upwards of 40 cables from Monoprice in 2010, mostly of the HDMI & CAT-6e persuasion.

Gowalla at Work

Gowalla at Work
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
I've had a few check ins since SXSWi earlier this year.

What You Say

What You Say
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
You have no chance to survive make your time.

JW's Guide To Millennials In The Workplace

A few weeks ago I was approached by one of my managers seeking advice.  The topic was Millennials, commonly referred to as Generation Y.  This manager, roughly 10 years my senior, was having difficulty understanding what made Millennials tick: what mattered to them from an employment perspective, what (if any) were their common values, and why so many chose to job hop.

I fit into the Millennial age range sweet spot, having graduated high school in 2000.  I'm also wildly passionate about technology, a character trait frequently attributed to members of Generation Y.  Since I believed this manager was sincere in his desire to learn more about the demographic to increase his effectiveness as a leader, I agreed to put together a crash course on the generation through a workplace engagement lens.

The training program consisted of daily readings e-mailed to him with a brief introduction about the article.  At the end of each week, I scheduled an hour long meeting to discuss the readings and answer questions.

While you won't confuse this for the curriculum of a university course, I thought others who manage Millennials could benefit from the information.  Below you'll find my e-mails and suggested readings.

Day 1

For the next two weeks, I'm going to send you a daily reading that gives insights as to how Millennials see the world and the workplace.

Although I've gathered much of the material already, I want to expose it to you in daily chunks so you have a chance to reflect on the content.  On Friday afternoon for the next two weeks, I'm scheduling an hour meeting to discuss the readings and what each means to Hewitt and DSS Tech.

If you intend to conduct interviews with members of this generation within the next month, I'm confident you'll be better equipped to market the company and our team after we finish this two week training.

To start us off, we'll use this insightful piece from the New York Times that I ran across this morning.  It's not Millennial-specific, but speaks very much to that world view.

New York Times: A Technology World That Revolves Around Me
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/13/technology/13future.html

More to come tomorrow.

- JW

Day 2

Today's installment consists of two bite-sized blog posts from digital marketer extraordinaire, Seth Godin.  And while not specific to this Millennial training, I also highly recommend his Purple Cow book if you're interested in new ways to market your company and yourself.

Senior management
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/08/senior-management.html

Why jazz is more interesting than bowling
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/09/why-jazz-is-more-interesting-than-bowling.html

More tomorrow.

- JW

Day 3

Today's selection comes from Hewitt's own Robert Gandossy, Global Practice Leader for Talent, Leadership, & Engagement.

While this article primarily addresses retention, I think it's applicable for employee acquisition, too.  If you've got a dearth of leadership & an uninspirational story, it's tough to sell the organization to either current or future employees.  The secret is identifying key talent and then relentlessly marketing the business's opportunities to that pool.

Stay or Go?
(Link omitted due to inaccessibility outside of corporate LAN)

More tomorrow.

- JW

Day 4

Today's selection addresses the concept of branding.  While this article speaks of brands in the context of products, I want you to look at it through the lens of a product being a company.  You're selling Hewitt.

What's going to resonate with the prospective employee sitting across the interview table from you?  Similar to the lesson from yesterday's reading, the narrative is critical.  Fitting the new hire into that narrative in a meaningful way is critical.  If the story isn't compelling, you lose.

Millennial Values Behind Lifestyle Brands
http://itsjosipnotjoseph.com/2010/08/millennial-values-behind-lifestyle-brands/

I look forward to our conversation tomorrow to discuss the readings from this week.

- JW

Day 5

(No e-mail since the hour long discussion was conducted on this day.  I did, however, suggest this for-purchase longer article from the Harvard Business Review as weekend reading:  http://hbr.org/product/how-to-keep-your-top-talent/an/R1005B-PDF-ENG )

Day 6

Two short readings today:  the first comes from someone who provides consulting services to companies on how to attract, engage, & retain fresh college grads.  The second addresses the belief that Millennials are annoying to manage.

What Millennials (Generation Y) Want Out of Work
http://www.employmentblawg.com/2007/what-millenials-want/

Generation Y Is Annoying to Manage, But That's a Good Thing
http://www.employeeevolution.com/archives/2009/06/02/generation-y-is-annoying-to-manage-but-thats-a-good-thing/

More tomorrow.

- JW

Day 7

Two articles again today.  The first appeared in Forbes a couple of months back, and highlights former health care CEO Bill George's thoughts on leadership traits exhibited by younger workers.

The second article struck me by its simplicity.  Taken in sum, these questions can sometimes be the elephant in the room, but instrumental in developing trust within an organization.

A Massive Generational Change in Leadership
http://www.forbes.com/2010/07/19/bill-george-generations-baby-boom-millennial-leadership-citizenship-ethisphere.html

Love Em Or Lose Em
http://kirkweisler.com/t4d/2010/04/15/love-em-or-lose-em/

More tomorrow.

- JW

Day 8

Today's readings focus specifically on how to effectively manage members of this age group.  As we've discussed before, I draw a distinction between "managing" & "leading".  These articles aren't as strict in their classification, but still provide helpful guidance.  I especially like the approaches outlined in the PricewaterhouseCoopers entry.

Managing the millennials: HR strategies for the next generation of workers
http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/managing-tomorrows-people/future-of-work/managing-millennials.jhtml

Tips for managing the Millennial Generation
http://www.examiner.com/office-politics-in-national/tips-for-managing-the-millennial-generation

More tomorrow.

- JW

Day 9

The final reading I've selected for you is an excerpt from an interview conducted with author Lynne Lancaster, who wrote "The M Factor: How the Millennial Generation Is Rocking The Workplace."

It speaks to some of the inherent friction between Generation X & Y, and how each side can benefit from the other's perspective.  I think this article is an appropriate one to end our series on, given its optimistic tone.

Why the Millennial Generation Is About to Rock the Workplace
http://www.lemondrop.com/2010/05/10/why-twentysomethings-make-better-workers-than-gen-x-or-boomers/

I look forward to our discussion tomorrow.

- JW

Day 10

Today marks the end of our two week research project on Millennials.  For your reference, I wanted to provide you with a link to the full report the Pew Research Center published on Millennials earlier in 2010.  The first link is to an executive summary of the report, while the second link is the actual 150 page document.  You may find these useful if you need hard data points in the future.

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1501/millennials-new-survey-generational-personality-upbeat-open-new-ideas-technology-bound
http://pewsocialtrends.org/assets/pdf/millennials-confident-connected-open-to-change.pdf

Looking forward to our discussion on the readings this afternoon.

- JW

Google Goggles

Google Goggles
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Testing out the new Google Goggles visual search functionality by snapping a shot of my iPhone 4 box.

Corporate Gifts

Corporate Gifts
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
A gift box distributed to all employees at my company to commemorate the closing of our corporate acquisition.

Even A Stopped Clock Tells The Right Time Twice A Day

Football Sunday

Football Sunday
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
JW & Puggles, both sporting their Saints gear. Who Dat?

Software Saturday - reQall

I have a problem.  Inexplicably, the act of driving causes me to remember tasks I need to accomplish or things I want to research.  By the time I reach my destination, though, I frequently forget what that task or topic was, as my mind has moved on to thinking about other things.  This used to really bug me, until I found reQall.

The reQall iPhone app itself is practically a full-fledged task management solution.  However, I don't really use it that way.  When you sign up for a reQall account, you input your cell phone number.  You're then provided with a 1-888 number you can call from your linked phone number on the account, and input tasks via voice.  reQall will interpret your message, transcribe it to text form, and then e-mail you the content.

As you may have already realized, this is a great solution for capturing thoughts while you're driving.  I've programmed one of the speed dial buttons on my car's dash to reQall's 888 number.  It initiates the call to reQall's service, and within seconds I'm greeted with:

"Hello, reQall here. Do you want to Add, Share, or reQall?"

A typical response might be:

"Add."  Then I'll wait 2 to 3 seconds for the beep and say something like, "Take laundry to cleaners.  Friday. 8AM."

I'll finally hit the end call button my steering wheel, and I can forget about it.

By the time I reach my destination, I'll have an e-mail in my Gmail inbox from reQall with a subject line of "Take laundry to clearners. Friday 8:00am."

I've also setup a filter within Gmail that takes any task e-mail from reQall, and automatically forwards it to my Remember The Milk personalized e-mail address.  By doing so, the task is added to my Remember The Milk to do list, complete with the correct due date & time.

So by using a combination of reQall, Gmail, and Remember The Milk, I can effectively add tasks to my to do list, all by voice, and without ever taking my eyes off the road.  Technology is pretty cool.

To learn more about reQall and find the download link to the app, visit their website below.

http://www.reqall.com/

Extreme Digital Cinema

Extreme Digital Cinema
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
The wall leading into the theater where we saw The Social Network on Friday.

Sushi at Kita

Sushi at Kita
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Enjoying a few rolls at the new sushi joint at Waterway Square, Kita Japanese Cuisine.

Optimus Saint

Optimus Saint
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
The October character on the Saints Super Fan calendar.

Planets HD Odyssey

Planets HD Odyssey
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
At the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands for the NASA-themed performance by the Houston Symphony.

New Apple TV

New Apple TV
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Scored one for my bar TV today. Hooray multiroom music!

Stop Plate Tectonics!

Stop Plate Tectonics!
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Saw this ribbon-style car magnet on the way into work this morning. Love it.

Panda Dunking

Panda Dunking
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
At least once a week, Puggles decides to drown an animal head first in his water bowl. I'm not sure why.

German Music At The Woodlands Oktoberfest 2010

Saint Arnold Booth at The Woodlands Oktoberfest

Saint Arnold Booth at The Woodlands Oktoberfest
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
We sampled a pitcher of their Oktoberfest & a pitcher of their Lawnmower brew before leaving this tent.

Tulane Marching Band Performs At Alumni Tent In Houston

Tulane Alumni Tailgating

Tulane Alumni Tailgating
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Before Tulane's football game at the University of Houston.

Software Saturday - GV Mobile +

I've been using Google Voice as my primary phone number since March of 2009.  Shortly after switching over, I read an article about Sean Kovacs, an iPhone developer in Florida who was creating a native iPhone application for Google Voice.  After a few e-mails were exchanged, he agreed to let me be a beta tester for his app, GV Mobile.

It was a great solution, and I enjoyed using the app for about 4 months.  Sadly, towards the end of the summer in 2009, Google & Apple had a falling out of sorts, which ultimately ended in the removal of all Google Voice apps from the App Store (not to mention an FCC inquiry of both companies).

Fast forward a year to September 2010 and Apple announced they were relaxing their App Store approval policies, ultimately paving the way for the return of Google Voice apps to the iPhone platform.  Last weekend that finally happened, when Sean's new GV Mobile + was approved and went live on the App Store on Saturday evening.

For iPhone owners who also use Google Voice, GV Mobile + is currently the best solution.  Although Google released a fairly useful web interface for Google Voice earlier this year, GV Mobile + is a more elegant implementation since it benefits from running as a native app on the device.

So why would you need a Google Voice app?  Well, if you want your Google Voice number to show up as the caller ID when you place calls, you need to initiate that call via an app or the web interface.  If you don't, your "old" cell phone number will appear on your contact's phone, leading to the inevitable question, "Hey, didn't you tell me you changed your phone number?"  Another benefit is that you can see the transcripts of voicemails within GV Mobile +, making it unnecessary to actually listen to the audio version.  And perhaps most useful of all, you can send and receive SMS messages directly from the app, usurping the need for a text messaging plan from AT&T.

You can find out more info about the app and follow its continued development at his website below.

http://www.seankovacs.com/

Puggle In The Dark

Puggle In The Dark
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Puggles, as I found him sitting up in the twin bed in his room.