AllThingsD: 'iPad Mini' to get its own event in October after new iPhone reveal
BY MAT SMITH
POSTED AUGUST 25TH 2012 12:17PM
After refreshing its computer range, Apple's gearing up for two events for its new phone and tablet hardware, according to sources at AllThingsD. Given the excitement welling up behind its next iPhone, many have noted (including Daring Fireball's John Gruber) that it would make a whole lot of sense to furnish both the phone and the heavily rumored smaller tablet with individual events -- and that is, apparently, what's going to happen. Unfortunately, the anonymous sources weren't revealing anything further -- Apple's yet to confirm that posited September 12th event date, let alone any secondary event. But when it does, be assured that we'll be there to cover both of them.
AllThingsD
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Humor, the tonic of success
Drew Tarvin runs Humor That Works, a website and consultancy dedicated to the idea that bringing a little levity to your workplace can only increase your bottom line. He left his job at Proctor and Gamble at the end of June to go it full-time as a humor/business guru. A self-published book is forthcoming in the fall. We spoke with Tarvin to trade quips and witty repartee, all while sustaining a higher-than-average level of productivity.
FAST COMPANY: Who are you?
DREW TARVIN: I go by Drew, though the name out there is Andrew Tarvin. Through Humor That Works, I teach people and organizations how to use humor to be more productive, effective, and awesome. So far I’ve worked with more than 50 different organizations, including Proctor and Gamble, GE, and others.
When did you realize the power of humor in the workplace?
Over time, it happened. I’m an engineer by mindset and degree. However while in college, my best friend convinced me to start an improv comedy group. I didn’t have any type of performance background. I continued doing that while working at Proctor and Gamble after college. Over time I realized that a lot of the success I was having at P&G was due to stuff I’d learned at improv: the ability to think on my feet, not to be nervous at a presentation, connecting with people, and creating rapport. I started researching humor, and found out that it’s not just this soft skill--there’s real business value to it. Studies showed that it increased productivity in employees and enhanced creativity for problem solving.
Can you teach it? Aren’t comedians born, not made?
I disagree. A broad definition of humor is something that causes amusement--it may not cause laughter, but it may cause you to smile. It could be as simple as using pictures instead of words in a presentation, or including a personal story--something a little bit different that gets people to perk up, pay attention, smile, and stay invested. I think in large part, because of how dry a lot of workplaces are, there’s a much lower bar in terms of doing something humorous.
It’s sad that so many workplaces are so dry that all it takes is a shred of humanity to qualify as “humor.”
It is sad. It’s one of those things where, I wish I didn’t have a job--I wish what I did wasn’t needed, that people didn’t need a coach to say, “Hey, use humor.” People don’t realize the benefits of humor. One study showed that people who used humor in an initial interview, actually were making more money years later. There was a positive correlation between humor in the job interview and how much they were compensated later after having gotten the job.
MY RESPONSE WHEN PEOPLE SAY THEIR ORGANIZATION IS TOO SERIOUS IS, “IS IT MORE SERIOUS THAN THE CIVIL WAR?”
Willy Loman in “Death of a Salesman” thinks that to get ahead you just need to be “well liked.” That doesn’t work out so well for him, but it sounds like you’re saying he might have been on to something.
That’s part of it, but the base assumption here is you still have to do good work. If you’re a salesperson, you can’t be bad at sales and just be likable. You still have to do the work, to have results. But humor can be a way to improve results. It’s like dating--most people say a sense of humor and personality is most important. But there has to be a base level of attraction.
What do you say to the argument that some workplaces are too serious for humor?
If I’m getting heart surgery, that’s not necessarily the time I want the surgeon to add a bit of humor. “What would happen if we made his aorta into a balloon animal?” But one of my favorite anecdotes on this is about Abraham Lincoln. The story is that in the middle of the Civil War, Lincoln gathered all his cabinet members and brought them together to share an important document. But before he did that, he read a bit of Artemus Ward, a humorist at the time.
While he was reading it, he was cracking up--but he looked around and saw that no one else was laughing. He read another piece, and still no one was laughing. At this point he said, “Gentlemen, why don’t you laugh? With the fearful strain that is upon me night and day, if I did not laugh, I should die. You need this medicine as much as I do.” The document he read after that was the first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation. One of our best presidents, at a crucial time, was presenting an important document--and he opened with humor. So my response when people say their organization is too serious is, “Is it more serious than the Civil War?” To me, no place should be completely devoid of humor.
Tell me a workplace humor joke.
I came up with a fake conversation. “How good are you at Powerpoint?” “I Excel at it.” “Was that a Microsoft Office pun?” “Word.”
That’s pretty funny.
Give me a subject, and I’ll try to come up with a pun on the spot.
IPOs.
Did you hear about the IPO for corn on the New York Stock Exchange? It was a really bad stalk option.
Ooh. That one's timely.
Exactly, because of the drought! I needed to work that detail in.
This interview has been condensed and edited. For more from the Fast Talk interview series, click here. Know someone who'd be a good Fast Talk subject? Mention it to David Zax.
FAST COMPANY: Who are you?
DREW TARVIN: I go by Drew, though the name out there is Andrew Tarvin. Through Humor That Works, I teach people and organizations how to use humor to be more productive, effective, and awesome. So far I’ve worked with more than 50 different organizations, including Proctor and Gamble, GE, and others.
When did you realize the power of humor in the workplace?
Over time, it happened. I’m an engineer by mindset and degree. However while in college, my best friend convinced me to start an improv comedy group. I didn’t have any type of performance background. I continued doing that while working at Proctor and Gamble after college. Over time I realized that a lot of the success I was having at P&G was due to stuff I’d learned at improv: the ability to think on my feet, not to be nervous at a presentation, connecting with people, and creating rapport. I started researching humor, and found out that it’s not just this soft skill--there’s real business value to it. Studies showed that it increased productivity in employees and enhanced creativity for problem solving.
Can you teach it? Aren’t comedians born, not made?
I disagree. A broad definition of humor is something that causes amusement--it may not cause laughter, but it may cause you to smile. It could be as simple as using pictures instead of words in a presentation, or including a personal story--something a little bit different that gets people to perk up, pay attention, smile, and stay invested. I think in large part, because of how dry a lot of workplaces are, there’s a much lower bar in terms of doing something humorous.
It’s sad that so many workplaces are so dry that all it takes is a shred of humanity to qualify as “humor.”
It is sad. It’s one of those things where, I wish I didn’t have a job--I wish what I did wasn’t needed, that people didn’t need a coach to say, “Hey, use humor.” People don’t realize the benefits of humor. One study showed that people who used humor in an initial interview, actually were making more money years later. There was a positive correlation between humor in the job interview and how much they were compensated later after having gotten the job.
MY RESPONSE WHEN PEOPLE SAY THEIR ORGANIZATION IS TOO SERIOUS IS, “IS IT MORE SERIOUS THAN THE CIVIL WAR?”
Willy Loman in “Death of a Salesman” thinks that to get ahead you just need to be “well liked.” That doesn’t work out so well for him, but it sounds like you’re saying he might have been on to something.
That’s part of it, but the base assumption here is you still have to do good work. If you’re a salesperson, you can’t be bad at sales and just be likable. You still have to do the work, to have results. But humor can be a way to improve results. It’s like dating--most people say a sense of humor and personality is most important. But there has to be a base level of attraction.
What do you say to the argument that some workplaces are too serious for humor?
If I’m getting heart surgery, that’s not necessarily the time I want the surgeon to add a bit of humor. “What would happen if we made his aorta into a balloon animal?” But one of my favorite anecdotes on this is about Abraham Lincoln. The story is that in the middle of the Civil War, Lincoln gathered all his cabinet members and brought them together to share an important document. But before he did that, he read a bit of Artemus Ward, a humorist at the time.
While he was reading it, he was cracking up--but he looked around and saw that no one else was laughing. He read another piece, and still no one was laughing. At this point he said, “Gentlemen, why don’t you laugh? With the fearful strain that is upon me night and day, if I did not laugh, I should die. You need this medicine as much as I do.” The document he read after that was the first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation. One of our best presidents, at a crucial time, was presenting an important document--and he opened with humor. So my response when people say their organization is too serious is, “Is it more serious than the Civil War?” To me, no place should be completely devoid of humor.
Tell me a workplace humor joke.
I came up with a fake conversation. “How good are you at Powerpoint?” “I Excel at it.” “Was that a Microsoft Office pun?” “Word.”
That’s pretty funny.
Give me a subject, and I’ll try to come up with a pun on the spot.
IPOs.
Did you hear about the IPO for corn on the New York Stock Exchange? It was a really bad stalk option.
Ooh. That one's timely.
Exactly, because of the drought! I needed to work that detail in.
This interview has been condensed and edited. For more from the Fast Talk interview series, click here. Know someone who'd be a good Fast Talk subject? Mention it to David Zax.
Drop your phone? Is it soaking wet?
Washing machines, toilets, cups of tea, foggy weather...these are a few of our favorite things. That is, until they fill the lungs of our cherished cell phone, leaving us weeping over a soggy, lifeless metal carcass.
Dropped your handset in the bath? Fumbled your phone and plopped it in the loo? Don't panic -- just follow these steps and you'll have a good chance of breathing life back into your drowned smartphone. Just be sure to check out our list below of what not to do for some useful mythbusting.
What to do
While dismantling your phone completely would help it to dry out more effectively, doing so will void your warranty. It usually requires specialist tools and may jeopardize your phone if you're not careful, so I don't recommend it. Instead, follow these steps:
1. Firstly, retrieve your handset from the drink right away. A prolonged plunge will increase the risk of damage.
2. Resist the urge to check if it still works or press any buttons, since putting pressure on the keys could shift liquid farther into the device.
3. In all cases, the best thing to do is immediately pull out the battery, thus minimizing power to the device that may cause it to short circuit.
4. If you own a handset with a nonreplaceable battery, like an iPhone or Nokia Lumia, then pulling the battery isn't an option. You'll have to risk pressing a few buttons to check if it's still on and to swiftly turn it off if it is. Take care when handling the phone in this case.
5. Remove any peripherals and attachments on your phone, such as cases.
6. Extract the SIM card and any SD cards it carries, leaving ports or covers on your handset open to aid ventilation.
7. Dry off everything with a towel, including the exterior of your handset, being careful not to let any water drain into openings on the phone.
8. Even when everything's dry, it's very likely there's latent moisture within the device that you'll want to get out before turning it on. The most oft-reported fix for a sodden phone is to bury the handset in a bowl of dry rice. Desiccant materials, such as rice, have hygroscopic properties that can attract and absorb moisture. You can also use silica gel packs -- the kind used in shoe boxes -- to greater effect. If you don't have any lying around, uncooked rice will do nicely.
Place your phone in an airtight container and completely cover it with your choice of desiccant. Leave the container for 24 to 48 hours for the material to draw all the moisture out of your handset. If you feel like splashing out, you can buy silica-lined, hermetically sealed pouches that are specifically designed for the task.
9. When you're confident it's dried out, replace the battery and try switching it on. Good luck!
What not to do
A purported fast-track method of drying out a wet phone is to use a hairdryer, or applying heat to the device in other ways. While this would successfully evaporate all the moisture still sitting within the handset, it risks becoming too hot and causing damage to the components.
In cases of severe waterlogging, the steam created may not be able to fully ventilate and would simply condense again elsewhere in the phone. You may get away with it, but it seems rather perilous, so my recommendation is to avoid this method.
Another recurring recommendation is to stick your phone in a freezer, wrapped in paper towel to prevent frost damage. Supposedly, the reduced conductivity of water when close to freezing temperatures will stop your phone from short circuiting when in use.
This is definitely not a long-term solution, however, since as soon as the ice begins to thaw, you're left with the same, if not exacerbated, problem. In the process you'll probably mess up your phone's very fragile screen, which hardly seems worth risking for a short-term fix of dubious effectiveness.
For less-severe dunkings, you may get away with drying your phone thoroughly on the exterior alone, paying special attention to openings like the headphone jack and USB port. To this end, a few have suggested gently poking into them with a toothpick wrapped in paper towel. While jabbing into your phone with a stick is always a bit iffy, the biggest risk is that rags of sodden paper could get stuck inside your phone and play havoc with its innards.
One suggestion is to overcharge the handset so that the build-up of heat is gradual and not excessive, but this carries all the risks you'd expect with running a current through wet circuitry.
Inevitably, someone reading this will wonder if it's possible to dry out a phone by putting it in the microwave. Please see this for an adept response.
Beware corrosion
If you succeed in reviving your phone, then congratulations! But you may not have yet won the war with the Grim Reaper of gadgetry. The metal within your phone coming into contact with water and oxygen may create rust that will corrode over time.
While a professional phone fixer may be able to clear out any corrosion by swabbing the circuitry with rubbing alcohol -- again, don't try this at home, kids -- in many cases, the eventual demise of your phone is only a matter of time. Sorry.
Is your warranty still valid?
Seek out the liquid contact indicator (LCI). It's a small white sticker that turns red when it comes into contact with water. Manufacturers place LCIs on their products to use as a litmus test when deciding warranty claims. In most cases, they can refuse to fix or replace your handset if the LCI has been triggered.
Their location varies from phone to phone, and increasingly, manufacturers have taken to hiding them out of reach of Wite-Out-wielding customers.
Irrespective of the LCI's state, you should contact the manufacturer to see if it can help. That's a long-term solution, but if you need a phone (or the data it holds) right away, you'll need to dry out your phone before you try to use it, as outlined above.
Dropped your handset in the bath? Fumbled your phone and plopped it in the loo? Don't panic -- just follow these steps and you'll have a good chance of breathing life back into your drowned smartphone. Just be sure to check out our list below of what not to do for some useful mythbusting.
What to do
While dismantling your phone completely would help it to dry out more effectively, doing so will void your warranty. It usually requires specialist tools and may jeopardize your phone if you're not careful, so I don't recommend it. Instead, follow these steps:
1. Firstly, retrieve your handset from the drink right away. A prolonged plunge will increase the risk of damage.
2. Resist the urge to check if it still works or press any buttons, since putting pressure on the keys could shift liquid farther into the device.
3. In all cases, the best thing to do is immediately pull out the battery, thus minimizing power to the device that may cause it to short circuit.
4. If you own a handset with a nonreplaceable battery, like an iPhone or Nokia Lumia, then pulling the battery isn't an option. You'll have to risk pressing a few buttons to check if it's still on and to swiftly turn it off if it is. Take care when handling the phone in this case.
5. Remove any peripherals and attachments on your phone, such as cases.
6. Extract the SIM card and any SD cards it carries, leaving ports or covers on your handset open to aid ventilation.
7. Dry off everything with a towel, including the exterior of your handset, being careful not to let any water drain into openings on the phone.
8. Even when everything's dry, it's very likely there's latent moisture within the device that you'll want to get out before turning it on. The most oft-reported fix for a sodden phone is to bury the handset in a bowl of dry rice. Desiccant materials, such as rice, have hygroscopic properties that can attract and absorb moisture. You can also use silica gel packs -- the kind used in shoe boxes -- to greater effect. If you don't have any lying around, uncooked rice will do nicely.
Place your phone in an airtight container and completely cover it with your choice of desiccant. Leave the container for 24 to 48 hours for the material to draw all the moisture out of your handset. If you feel like splashing out, you can buy silica-lined, hermetically sealed pouches that are specifically designed for the task.
9. When you're confident it's dried out, replace the battery and try switching it on. Good luck!
What not to do
A purported fast-track method of drying out a wet phone is to use a hairdryer, or applying heat to the device in other ways. While this would successfully evaporate all the moisture still sitting within the handset, it risks becoming too hot and causing damage to the components.
In cases of severe waterlogging, the steam created may not be able to fully ventilate and would simply condense again elsewhere in the phone. You may get away with it, but it seems rather perilous, so my recommendation is to avoid this method.
Another recurring recommendation is to stick your phone in a freezer, wrapped in paper towel to prevent frost damage. Supposedly, the reduced conductivity of water when close to freezing temperatures will stop your phone from short circuiting when in use.
This is definitely not a long-term solution, however, since as soon as the ice begins to thaw, you're left with the same, if not exacerbated, problem. In the process you'll probably mess up your phone's very fragile screen, which hardly seems worth risking for a short-term fix of dubious effectiveness.
For less-severe dunkings, you may get away with drying your phone thoroughly on the exterior alone, paying special attention to openings like the headphone jack and USB port. To this end, a few have suggested gently poking into them with a toothpick wrapped in paper towel. While jabbing into your phone with a stick is always a bit iffy, the biggest risk is that rags of sodden paper could get stuck inside your phone and play havoc with its innards.
One suggestion is to overcharge the handset so that the build-up of heat is gradual and not excessive, but this carries all the risks you'd expect with running a current through wet circuitry.
Inevitably, someone reading this will wonder if it's possible to dry out a phone by putting it in the microwave. Please see this for an adept response.
Beware corrosion
If you succeed in reviving your phone, then congratulations! But you may not have yet won the war with the Grim Reaper of gadgetry. The metal within your phone coming into contact with water and oxygen may create rust that will corrode over time.
While a professional phone fixer may be able to clear out any corrosion by swabbing the circuitry with rubbing alcohol -- again, don't try this at home, kids -- in many cases, the eventual demise of your phone is only a matter of time. Sorry.
Is your warranty still valid?
Seek out the liquid contact indicator (LCI). It's a small white sticker that turns red when it comes into contact with water. Manufacturers place LCIs on their products to use as a litmus test when deciding warranty claims. In most cases, they can refuse to fix or replace your handset if the LCI has been triggered.
Their location varies from phone to phone, and increasingly, manufacturers have taken to hiding them out of reach of Wite-Out-wielding customers.
Irrespective of the LCI's state, you should contact the manufacturer to see if it can help. That's a long-term solution, but if you need a phone (or the data it holds) right away, you'll need to dry out your phone before you try to use it, as outlined above.
Getting down to it...
If you really want it, chances are it's there, waiting.
Five Reasons Americans Are Not As Wealthy As They Could Be - Forbes
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)