“GSEA” for Collaborative Space Research
This is such an awe-inspiring moment for me. I’ve been viewing photos of Saturn this evening (Courtesy of NASA and the joint Cassini-Huygens project), and an inset of a “Bright Blue Dot” is represented as our planet, Earth. I was frozen by the view — literally. Immediately, I was overcome with anxiety and anticipation. Here are some of the thoughts which surfaced (as they regularly do) in my mind:
“There is so much more to life and living beyond our own sphere of confinement and contentment”
“Is there life on Saturn, despite it being a ‘Gas Giant’?”
“Within our solar system, would other life forms have any idea that we — human beings — exist on the ‘Blue Dot’ better known as Earth?”
“Saturn’s rings — a work of beauty and art”
“On Earth, what can we do to accelerate our space exploration efforts?”
Yes, what can we do? The Cassini-Huygens project is a joint venture of three space agencies — NASA (US), ESA (Europe) and ASI (Italian Space Agency). It is my belief that collaborative space projects are the future of space exploration. We should focus more on collaboration, rather than competition. Thus, I am dreaming of “GSEA”.
What is the “GSEA”? Global Space Exploration Agency.
What does this mean? Well, one of two things:
1. The world’s leading space agencies merge to form GSEA or;
2. GSEA becomes the “United Nations of space exploration”
Why are either of these two options important? Well, again, through collaboration, we can accomplish so much more with regard to space exploration. NASA and ESA alone would make for an amazing marriage of talent and capability to enhance the world’s mission of exploring our solar system and universe.
What incentives are there for our space agencies to co-exist? Wouldn’t they fair better as a single, integrated unit? Wouldn’t we realize efficiencies in cost, management, etc.? For years, our space agencies have long collaboarted on various space programs. The International Space Station (ISS) is one example. However, I believe we can do more — and faster than ever before.
Call it an act of desperation — or even selfishness — but I’d love to see some major advancements in space technology and exploration within the next 40 years. I am not confident that we’ll achieve this working independently of each other. For some things, we just need to set aside “ego”, “pride” and “control”.
Self and Assisted Propagating/Healing URLs
We’ve made some impressive advancements in technology over the last 100 years and we continue to make amazing progress overall. We always seem to discover new ways of doing things or solving complex issues when we pool our talent and intelligence collectively.
So, I’ve got a simple idea for the Internet and one which could improve the freshness and availability of the information we seek via the Web:
Self and Assisted Propagating/Healing URLs
There are a lot of broken links online. Pages have either moved, been deleted, or have changed altogether. Search engines such as Yahoo! and Google do a decent job of maintaining the world’s information, but they are far from perfect.
So, how do we improve our access to this information? How can we ensure that when content and links change, they are instantly recognized and made available to the world? Here are a few approaches:
1. Search Engine Propagation (assisted): Yahoo! and Google’s “web crawlers” scour the web daily for new and existing content. Their sole purpose is to grow and maintain their indexes so that we can find the information we need. When their “crawlers” discover a link that has changed — but hasn’t been explicitly defined — it will record this change and make it available in its next update (this is practical for pages which use the “refresh” meta tag, which most search engines seem to ignore).
This way, webmasters won’t have to worry about creating “301 Redirect” rules on the sites and so on.
2. Page Propagation (self): Let’s say you spend a considerable amount of time discussing your favorite hobbies and interests online. Chances are you’ll reference articles on your blog or others for additional information. Well, what happens if the link to that article changes? The one you cited won’t, unless you or someone else manually edit the page. Yet, what if this link has been made available across hundreds of pages. Yes, it’s a daunting task.
What if all of these links were, well, “inter-linked”. During a nightly “content update” of the website where this link was posted, the “link agent” would notice that the original link cited has changed and will update the link in your post accordingly. How cool is that? So the next time someone visits, they’ll still be able to access the content using the new link — all without user intervention.
3. Web browser propagation (assisted): Let’s say you’re the first person to visit a page which recently changed and hasn’t been indexed by a search engine or “link agent”. Chances are, the link will be broken unless a redirect of the content was provided. In the event that the latter is true, your web browser will instantly sense the change, notify you and the search engines of the new link.
A few hours later, thanks to your browsing and browser, the newest link is now available for the world to use. Pretty neat, eh?
What are your thoughts on self and assisted propagating/healing URLs? I look forward to your comments.
7 Cool Tips to Get Your Blog or Podcast Sponsored
Why this list? Because everyone needs inspiration to achieve a goal, and if you’re reading this, you are seeking ideas to get your blog or podcast sponsored. Look no further. As a blogger, podcaster (Interviews, The Funny Voices, The Real Speak Podcast) and new media producer myself, I know all too well about the pursuit of sponsorships.
Let’s get started …
1. Change your way of thinking - The first step toward sponsorship is to change the way you think about yourself, your blog or podcast. You must believe in yourself and the blog or podcast you maintain, because after all, if you don’t believe, who else will?
2. Identify your audience and target - Who’s tuning in to your blog or podcast? What is it about? You should know these things prior to approaching a company for sponsorship. If you already know these things, great! This is important because you’ll need to qualify yourself and what you do.
3. Think big / Get your foot in the door - If you are serious about obtaining a sponsor for your blog or podcast, then it is imperative that you understand there are no limits to what you can achieve. Do not allow yourself to become intimidated by large corporations or the people who work for them. Your goal is to get your foot in the door, no matter how large it may seem.
4. Do not be afraid to call (or e-mail) - In March, I decided to approach Cisco Systems as a potential sponsor of the Interviews Podcast. I planted in my mind that this podcast was worthy of Cisco’s consideration due to the fact that I’d conducted several relevant interviews with executives in the VoIP/telecom industry.
Within days, my inquiry gained some very long legs within Cisco. Let’s follow the life of my inquiry within the company:
- Left sponsorship inquiry (voicemail) at Linksys
- Voicemail forwarded from Linksys to Cisco’s Chief Marketing Officer, Susan Bostrom
- Voicemail forwarded from Susan to Diane Dudek, Cisco’s Director of Marketing Operations and Corporate Sponsorships
- Received a call from Diane’s assistant to forward additional information to Diane
- Sent official sponsorship e-mail to Diane
- Diane responds just over an hour later, stating the inquiry fits Cisco’s media sponsorship area
- Diane forwards the inquiry to the very top: George Gutierrez, Director of Worldwide Media Ops at Cisco
5. Do not decline an offer to help - If you find yourself fortunate enough to be offered help by a prominent figure to secure a sponsorship, do not decline their offer! In April, I interviewed the co-founders of Webaroo and after some chit-chat, they volunteered their resources in Silicon Valley to help the process. It was an unexpected gesture by some very humble executives who have sold companies to Yahoo, Amazon and others.
6. Do not wait for pending inquiries - Now that you’ve submitted a few sponsorship inquiries, what next? Send more (I’ve submitted inquiries to Intel, Novell, Best Buy, etc.)! I strongly advise that you not waste time thinking about the progress of your inquiry, because it will not change the outcome of things. Instead, focus on creating more content and sending more inquiries. You’ll hear something eventually.
7. Stay the course - If there’s anything you must know about podcast sponsorship, it is this: It’s still new and most companies aren’t bold enough (yet) to chance the investment or they lack a good understanding of the medium. This will lead to disappointment, because you will be declined, forgotten or ignored. Do not take this personally. It is not your problem. Take it in stride and continue producing content your visitors will find of interest. In the meantime, continue sending e-mails and making those phone calls!
Good luck, because there’s a whole world of opportunity out there!
Got questions? Feel free to reach me via live chat or e-mail.