"Crowdsourcing" - New Word for "Wisdom of the Masses?"

"Crowdsourcing Milk the masses for inspiration" "Business Week" (September 25, 2006)

Like so many other good ideas, sorting nuggets from the gravel you can get when dipping into the wisdom of the masses requires good sense and careful planning.

The main points sound familiar:

1. "Be Focused"
2. "Get Your Filters Right" (define, define, define)
3. "Tap the Right Crowds"
4. "Build Community into Social Networks"

All in all, a fairly fast read: and potentially useful.

Working From Home: Kids and Computers, Utopia and Reality

My 12-year-old son talked me into letting him download a Disney online game.

• On the 'main' computer
• The one I use to create graphics, manage websites, and keep records

He's quite persuasive. And, he did try to install the software on his laptop first. Besides, it's quite a cool game: "Pirates of the Caribbean."

This is not what any sensible consultant would advise a small business owner to do. There should be things that are strictly and exclusively for business use:

• Equipment
• An area of the house
• At least one telephone line
• Blocks of time

I'd like to have one of those home offices that we see on television ads. You know what I mean: a room that boasts

• Upwards of 200 square feet
• Glass-paneled, curtained double doors
• A desk that's bigger than some of the beds in my house
• Wood paneling, probably oak

I know that it's possible to dedicate space, equipment, and time to a home business. I also know that this household doesn't work that way. We've got a long-standing policy of having multi-purposes areas, sharing equipment, and having schedules that are more flexible than Gumby.

If there's a lesson to be learned here, it's that ideal outcomes aren't always practical - or the best use of resources. If that sounds familiar, you've probably read "The Principle of the Speckled Ax."