Where I was behind on meeting my goal of reading one book a month this year and writing my “take-aways” from them here at The Hot Iron, I am well ahead on reading but behind on writing! This post gets me caught up on a journey of reading, not to mention clearing off my bookshelf. As I read books, I give them away. This makes room on my shelf and I can share what I read with others.

The book Not On The Level by Michael V. Maddaloni is a welcome departure from the books I have read so far as it is fiction. It is the story of Joe DeFalco, a first-generation Italian-American baby-boomer who grows up in Philadelphia and his life story from grade school to retirement. As an Italian-American myself, I greatly enjoyed reading this story.

If you read the story and then read the bio of the author, you will see they are very similar, so it can be assumed that much of the book is based on real events or stories heard through his life. The book takes you from his youth in Catholic schools to the Marines, college, the Secret Service and corporate America to this retirement. At each stage there are opportunities presented to Joe and decisions to be made. Where some earlier decisions in his life may not have been the best he made, many of these were influenced by his environment. As he grows and experiences more of life, his wisdom shows in his decision-making.

As a result a take-away from this book was on decision-making and how much they are influenced by our environment. Fresh in a new environment, these influences are greater than later as we get accustomed to it and make our own observations and couple them with past experiences. I also have to admit another take-away is to read something other than business books.

My overall take-away from this book is that you need to know who else is out there who shares the same name as you! Though our middle initials are different, I share the same name as the author of this book. I first found about the book and author when Googling myself, and many others have pointed this out to me as well. I don’t think we are related, as Maddaloni is a town in Italy and many people have surnames derived from where their ancestors are from. Nonetheless, in addition to my recommendation to read this book here on The Hot Iron, I will contact him directly with my praise for his enjoyable work.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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Book Take-Aways • Diversions • (0) Comments • Permalink

A civil debate has been hovering around the blog world for some time about whether full or partial blog feeds are preferred.

What am I talking about you may say? If, for example, you subscribe to The Hot Iron, you are subscribing to the feed of my blog. A feed is merely a file with the contents of each post. Your feed reader scans this feed file, and if there is something new, it is presented to you. If you subscribe to it by email, then you will get an email message when something new is written.

The full vs. partial debate relates to how much of what is written in a blog post goes into the feed file. For The Hot Iron, I use the full feed, so if you see one of my posts in your feed reader or email inbox, it is the complete text and images of what I wrote. If I had a partial feed, you may see the first paragraph or two, and a link back to the Web site to read the entire post.

I choose full feeds as I believe they work to the advantage of the writer and reader. A full feed is a standalone piece, and if it is forwarded to someone they see the entire thought and message. The reader gains as they have everything at once and if the introductory content does not entice them, they may not read it all, where if it is all in front of them, there is a better chance they will read it. My reader of choice is Google Reader Mobile on my Treo smartphone, and here I will see the entire feed formatted nicely on my mobile browser, where if I have to click a link to read more, the Web site that will load most likely will not format well on the small screen. For those who are visually impaired, they have the same benefit of reading the entire post in a reader that is best suited to them, where the resulting Web site may not be.

Using partial feeds requires the reader to view your Web site. I see the justification for that as you can better present your brand and other content, and of course advertising. Where this is an easy way to get people to your site, if this is your goal I recommend wording your posts and adding links that will get people to your site. You may publish separate posts for this reason. You can also add a footer or signature to your posts for this purpose.

Darren Rowse of Problogger has a poll and discussion on full vs. partial feeds and I invite you to participate. I am interested in reading both sides of this debate, though I doubt I will be convinced to change from using full feeds for myself or my clients. I also welcome the discussion here as well, after you read the full feed or course.

Technology • (6) Comments • Permalink

The next likemind coffee will be next Friday, September 21 in dozens of cities around the world. In Chicago, it will be at Intelligentsia Coffee, 53 E. Randolph, at the corner of Wabash.

I call likemind it a gathering of creative-minded people, from various disciplines including Internet, advertising, art, et. al. Coffee is free, provided by your gracious host Clay on behalf of Anomaly.

Business • (0) Comments • Permalink

You don’t have to walk far into any bookstore today to see a myriad of books about making money and getting rich. Where some of these publications give a unique perspective, some are merely reiterating timeless advice on money and wealth. This became more evident when I read Art of Money Getting, published in 1880 by an iconic businessman.

P.T. Barnum name is recognized in the full name of the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus. He was a businessman and showman whose entertainment was billed as “the greatest show on Earth” a phrase that still is popular today. He published several books in his life as a way to promote himself and his entertainment offerings. Art of Getting Money was one of them, and it is a quick read that offers very practical information about living life and earning, saving and spending money.

My biggest take-away from the book was how appropriate in 2007 Barnum’s advice is. For example, the chapter titled “Advertise Your Business” not only applies today, but today’s media, including online advertising. The name of the title speaks loudly of getting directly to your point without any fluff. For someone of Barnum’s reputation, he uses many quotes from famous people from Benjamin Franklin to Goethe to reinforce his statements and points. If this book was a Web site, it would be full of hyperlinks!

I recommend reading Art of Getting Money. It is a quick read that packs a lot of useful information is a confident tone. The book has attitude, and could be compared to The 4-Hour Workweek or any book written by Donald Trump. Now that would be a good pair to get in a room, P.T, Barnum and Donald Trump, but I digress.

Of note is how I read this book. I read the book over a series of email messages from DailyLit, a service that delivery many public-domain books in this manner. For this book, it was distributed over 26 emails. It will automatically send one email a day, or you can request the next message sent once you read the first one. Check out the site, as it is a unique and quality service.

Book Take-Aways • Diversions • (4) Comments • Permalink

It is hard to think it has been 6 years since the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington and what could have been of the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. I was sitting in my office in Boston’s Back Bay, in the shadows of the city’s second tallest building, where a few miles away the 2 planes that were hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center originated.

Information slowly came in what had happened and I tried to bring up news Web sites, but as everybody else was trying to do the same, every Web site for CNN and FOX News to the Boston Globe were unresponsive. I then called and emailed friends who work in Manhattan, some I heard from right away, some I did not. As the story of a small plane hitting one of the towers changed to both towers being hit by jet aircraft, we were told to go home. I called friends and family in Boston and, due to a reason I don’t recall why I drove to work that day, I gave several people a ride out of the city. As I sat and stared at the TV the rest of the day from home, I connected with friends and family near and far.

As much as we can prepare for all that life throws at us, things happen that we are not prepared for at all or happen in a way that we could have never anticipated. So we react, and hopefully learn from it and let it affect how we prepare for the future. We never forget what happened, and in turn help those who didn’t experience it themselves to understand and learn as well.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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Diversions • (0) Comments • Permalink