May

20

Mobile news done right

Filed Under Mobile | Comments

I have never been a big fan of reading paper newspapers for the latest news. I have, however, recently become a regular visitor to mobile news sites because of the iPhone. My most frequented mobile site has been The New York Times. The full version of their website has been used to showcase loading a regular web page on the iPhone Safari browser since it was introduced. It is great that Safari on the iPhone has the ability to load the full site without any changes, but I still prefer the mobile version when on the go to save on loading times and because of its simplicity. Here is why I think m.nytimes.com is done right:

The right text sizes and easy to read fonts.

The text used is large enough to read without having to adjust the phone distance from your eyes to bring it closer. This also saves a lot of work on the readers part because of not having to zoom in and out frequently like you would have to on the full website once its done loading (iPhone specific).

The right mix of photos and information.

When most sites introduce mobile versions, they usually strip all images and miscellaneous media to save on loading times and bandwidth. That’s not the case here because articles on the NYT’s mobile site usually starts with one related picture at the top. I think this is important because the photo keeps the content from being to dry. It also encourages me to read more to know the back story behind the photo.

Easy to navigate news sections and content.

The mobile homepage is presented in a very clear and organized manner with news topics in a larger, bolder text followed by several articles for each topic.

What I think is amazing is the fact that the New York Time’s has created a very similar look and feel of their newspaper across three different mediums (web, mobile, and print). They are adapting very well to the changing publishing industry.

Also, if you check email on your smartphone frequently and want to get breaking news alerts delivered to you, they also offer a service that sends news instantly. I subscribe to this service and find very informative. Just create an online account if you don’t have one already and then go to the Member Center > Email Preferences > then check the ‘Breaking News Alerts’ box.

Update: There is now a New York Times native application for all iPhone owners. The problem is, it takes too long to download the latest articles when it’s initially launched. The app is great if you need to be able to access multiple articles when you have no service (on the subway). But for now, I will continue to mainly use the iPhone optimized web version. They are also using Twitter to send out news alerts to almost 50,000 people (some of which have most likely opted for instance SMS delivery).

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May

5

Ever have a career flash forward?

Filed Under Books, Career | Comments

Everyone should pick and read Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. Although it’s not a business book, I would highly recommend it to anybody because it’s one of those books with many valuable lessons from the life of a very generous and fearless man – two traits that when combined can be very powerful in doing a huge amount of humanitarian good or help you become very successful in business.

Here is a quote from the second to last page of the book when Mortenson finds out he has the support needed from a powerful leader to continue with his mission and build more schools in the Afghanistan region:

Mortenson had always doubted that the entire life a person led could flash before him in the moment before death. There didn’t seem to be enough time. But in the second it took to look into Sadhar Khan’s dark eyes, and then through them, as he contemplated the vow he was being asked to take, Mortenson saw the rest of the life he had yet to live unreel before him.

How often does one experience the same type of flash forward with their work career when a life changing opportunity is presented to them? I could imagine entrepreneurs experience this type of moment when they get the funding needed to get their business off the ground or even when an employee find out about a major promotion or an exciting new job offer. In this case, Mortenson felt a sigh of relief from all the obstacles and hardships he had just overcome. He also felt a surge of confidence and excitement for the new challenges that lay ahead, which were very clear in his mind because of his experiences so far on his mission.

We should all hope to one day come across an opportunity like this, but of course nothing this rewarding ever comes easy. It will, however, hopefully come with a lot of hard work and dedication. The first step is to figure out exactly what you want to accomplish during your career and then to keep working toward those goals while constantly making new goals as you achieve old ones.

For Greg Mortenson, all it took was one unfortunate mountain climbing accident for him to see the opportunity to make a difference by building a school for the children of a small village in Korphe, Afghanistan. Once that first school was complete, he just knew he had to continue building more. I won’t go into detail about all his accomplishments and how much of an impact he has made to that region because its a book worth reading on your own. While reading it, make note of the impact one person can make and hope to one day be able to get as excited about your career as he was about his mission.

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