Slate.com is featuring a five part series on how the US military captured the Iraqi dictator which you can read here. Apparently it took a fat man, a resourceful soldier and Facebook to pull it all off. I know it sounds a bit oversimplified. But essentially with the leadership of Colonel Hickey (resourceful soldier) the military decided to shift their approach in searching for Saddam Hussein by taking into account his personal relationships, charting it out (ala Facebook) and then pinpointing a particular connection (the fat man) that eventually led them to him.
It seems that their previous approach of mapping out Saddam's connections were similar to that of an organizational chart. They were going after people who he worked with in the past like government allies or ranking officials. However, Iraq has a strong tribal structure such that most of Hussein's top men were those that had strong personal connections with him and most are even related to him.
Now here is where the social networking theory or...err...more of the metaphor of social networking sites like Facebook come in. You see much of them work in the same mechanics as tribes do. In fact, social networking on the internet is more or less a centralized platform for tribal behavior rendered into modern format. If you actually visualize your connections on Facebook you will find that commonalities between you and your friends are often derived from shared interests and groups that you belong too. (Read Write Web features a nice app for this called Nexus here) Of course, you also have connections that are little on the fringe and may not make a lot of sense to your other friends at first look. Nonetheless they are as meaningful to you for reasons that, well sometimes, may only be known to you (it's ok we all have our little secrets).
This just makes it so fascinating to examine how online tribes work. Think about how powerful and easy online sites can be for building and growing anything from your own little empire to a large global movement. Seth Godin, popular author talks about this concept at TED on this video:
On the other hand, it's also scary to think that this sort of information- your personal connections and the activities revolving around them or between them- can get so exposed. I mean it really isn't a coincidence when you see targeted ads appearing on the sidebars of your Facebook or Gmail account. These sites actually collect information on your profile or on your activities in order to serve you micro-targeted ads (Read Majority Uncomfortable with Websites Customizing Content Based Visitors Personal Profiles). As Chris Matyszczyk expresses:
"However, perhaps one other thought might already have crossed your mind. If U.S. soldiers could construct a Facebook-like page of Hussein's relationships three months before Facebook was even launched, what kind of information is now laid bare for much less sophisticated minds to enjoy? Information about you, I mean."
Social Networking Theory led to Saddam Hussein's capture
Technology Predictions for 2010: The Next Big Things
Technology Predictions for 2010
Here they are:
Web 2.0 & Social Media
For 2010, Geolocation is the new buzzword for the online community. Last year, services such as Loopt and Google Latitude became popular applications that allowed people to share their real-time location to friends through any internet connected device. Experts think that this will continue to catch on for 2010. More businesses will offer location-based services that will allow you to identify exactly where objects and other people are. Even photos and videos can now be “geotagged”. Mashable has an excellent article that will give you a detailed account of what it would look like here.
Augmented Reality is also another technology that will rock Social Media in 2010. AR combines real images and virtual data into an interactive real-time 3d format. Layar and Yelp were the first ones to release apps for this. Now even Lonely Planet and the US Postal Service has it!
Google Wave will also become bigger. More people will be using it as a collaborative tool even small enterprises. Speaking of Google, it looks like a big year for them since they will also, possibly, release Chrome OS...that is if they are able to prepare for hacker attacks.
Devices
They will continue to be connected, portable, and smart. It would be interesting to see the Android and the iPhone battle each other out for the #1 spot for Smartphone of the Year in 2010. On the other hand, Netbooks and Ebooks will still make an appearance but sexy Tablets are going to make a big debut with Apple's iSlate looking very promising.
Electronics
Behold the coming of 3d TV! Ten years ago this was a technology that you could only see in science fiction movies, yet, we now have it in this decade. Of course, it will be very expensive but early adopters will be showcasing one of these in their homes in no time.
Gaming
Ever since Microsoft announced Project Natal in June 2009 (with no less than Legendary Hollywood mega-director/producer Steven Spielberg helping to unveil it), the world has been eagerly waiting for it. What they have is a device that could revolutionize the way people play video games. The motion-sensing, facial-recognizing, voice-controlled device could make the Xbox 360 unbeatable.
As for game titles, best bets for making it to the top are: Bioshock 2, God of War 3, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Final Fantasy XIII, Mass Effect 2, Gran Turismo 5, Metroid Other M and Bayonetta.
Green Tech
Although investments in clean technology are supposedly cooling off clean energy innovation will still be big in 2010. Consumers and businesses will also begin to monitor their energy use in real time and take steps through home energy monitoring displays. Lastly, electric cars such as the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf will sell this year.
Related Links
Gadget and Tech Predictions for 2010 - ABC News
10 Predictions for 2010 - PC World
6 Tech Predictions That Helped Shape 2009 and 6 That Might Shape 2010 - Mashable
Tech predictions for 2010 - ZDNet
Technology predictions 2010 « Technobabble 2.0
Of Tweeting Food Trucks and Fighting Food Stands
Lately, I noticed a few interesting articles featuring turf wars and tweeting food trucks/stands. I wrote a post about Kogi the Tweeting Korean BBQ Truck not so long ago and I am amazed at how much it has caught on. But what really caught my fascination are the articles NYTimes published on Turf Wars for food trucks/carts (and apparently fruit stands?!). Hmmmmmm...maybe it's just me but it sounds sinister yet humorous at the same time. Like the story wants to be the next Judd Apatow film (VendorMan or Food Fight).
Tweetable Eats: What Street Vendors Can Teach Businesses About Twitter
The Truck Stops Here
Turf War at the Hot Dog Cart
Escalating Fruit Wars
Top 5 Social Media Lessons from a Taco Truck
If you are an Angeleno you probably know that one of the best things about this city is the Mexican food. However, not known to many is an existing subculture of taco lovers that make a pilgrimage to the streets in order to taste some of the yummiest amalgam of meat, cheese, beans, vegetables and tortilla one can only get from a...taco truck. Yes folks, blogs have even been dedicated to our flourishing taco scene. Check out the brave Bandini's The Great Taco Hunt for the evidence.
But before this turns into a foodie post. I bring ye the social media tale of The Kogi Taco Truck. Here are several lessons I have learned from them that I would like to share:
1. Don't be afraid to be different
The Kogi Taco Truck is different because it uses korean bbq to create a taco. Kogi actually means meat in Korean. Just take a look at their signature taco: The Korean Short Ribs (prntscrn image below).
Ultimately, what makes Kogi unique is the fusion of these ethnic ingredients. In a time where society is more aware of the importance of diversity their product has never been more appealing.
Lesson#1 in Social Media Terms: Get creative. Fuse ideas don't cut and copy.
2. Go flaunt your goods
According to Co-founder Chef Roy Choi, they didn't sell a single taco when they first opened. So they began peddling until the people finally caved in and took their first bite. Unable to resist the yumminess, the people started taking pictures of their taco sending it to friends and uploading it on facebook. This in turn made a lot of other people curious which obviously translated into a lot more sales for the Kogi team.
Now they have a Flickr photostream that makes my stomach grumble every time I look at that glint of grease in the night.
Lesson#2 in Social Media Terms: Spread the word out through pictures. A single jpg can be as powerful as 140 characters.
3. Unleash your inner cuteness
One of my most favorite blog posts on their website has to be Alice Shin's Things To Do WhiLe Waiting For KoGi #1: Romance is in the Air. Best line ever: "Dude, the crowd here is totaLLy different from the SiLverLake crowd. It’s cooL how each location has a different fLavor. Is this your primary KoGi spot?"
If there is anything we have learned from sites such as cuteoverload.com and icanhascheezburger.com is that cute is more than accepted in the web-o-sphere. It is embraced.
Kogi's blog is as cute and as funny. They're not out to impress their reader with fancy shmancy verbiage. They want to talk to the people in their own voice.
Lesson#3 in Social Media Terms: When communicating be yourself. Write as you speak even if you sound like Betty Boop.
4. Learn how to hustle
Aka "innovate"...the Kogi Team saw the power of web 2.0 and ran with it. Now dubbed as "America's First Viral Eatery", these Taco Trucks invaded the streets of the Twitterverse. Aside from tweeting times and places where they would be, they also tweet to tell everyone if they are stuck in traffic. I think that is just darn awesome. 
Lesson#4 in Social Media Terms: Why re-invent the wheel when you can just tweak it? Working smart means leveraging on tools.
5. Take it to the streets
Photo credit: astrobuddha
As you can see, people line up for The Kogi. This is the result of their mastery over social media marketing. I Survived The L.A. Kogi Truck Line: Masterful Marketing Meets Meaty Munchies is an excellent blog post about this. Going offline and taking it to the streets is still the best course of action. Online conversations are good but real life conversations are even better. It's all about communicating and building lasting relationships.
Lesson#5 in Social Media Terms: The real world is where the real magic happens. Go out...unplug yourself from the web.
