Professional English and Communication Skills

Whether we are writing a report or giving a presentation, our objective is to communicate our key ideas clearly and to do this we need to keep our audience´s attention.

One of the ways we can do that is by using connectors (connecting words). Connectors are used to start a sentence and to connect ideas and clauses within one sentence.

They are the signposts of your roadmap, which the audience and reader need to follow your ideas.

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Type of Connector	Starting a Sentence	Starting a clause within a sentence
Comparing & Contrasting	However, Nevertheless, Alternatively, Instead, After all, In contrast	although, however, though, while, yet, whereas, even though
Causes, Reasons, Purposes & Results	Therefore, Consequently, Hence, As a consequence, Thus, As a result, So	because, since, as, so, in order to, so that
Adding Ideas	In addition, Furthermore, As well, Similarly, Moreover, Also, What's more	n/a
Time: 2 events at same time	Meanwhile, At the same time, At that time	while, as, when, whenever
Time: 1 event before another	Then, Soon, Afterwards, After that, Before, Subsequently	after, before, as soon as, since

Peak Performer, Effective working in English²

The compact field attachable connectors are IP67 rated for protection from water and debris. Both male and female connectors are available in three- and four-pin versions. Connectors are attachable with cable diameters between 3-5mm and wire cross-sections from 0.14 to 0.34mm. The design is suited for automation and network applications.

I could use a DB9 plug inline with all the wire's, but there is no good way to seal them from the elements, especially when you are running individual wires in and out of the plug. Here is an example of a sealed DB9 backshell that would work if I was running a sheathed multi-conductor cable. The DB9 option is also around 15 dollars per backshell, so a complete DB9 setup, including plugs, could easily run 35+ dollars for one connection.

There are many round sealed connectors available, and they have been well tested and are ready available form DigiKey or mouser. Amphonal and Tyco (among many many others) have been making this stuff for years. Most company's offer metal versions of their round plugs, which makes for a very hefty plug in feel and price. Most plastic connectors start in 10 dollar range per half and the metal ones start in the 20 dollar per half and go up quick!

There are other options though, the GM "weather pack" style of connectors are great and well proven and whole assembly kits for them can be had on eBay for a very reasonable price. RS autosports, among many others,  resells them for a reasonable price as well.

Amp's many mat-n-lok series of connectors are also very economical and good for use with individual wires. I have used these for many projects in the past and they have worked just fine.

Also, while talking about connectors I should really mention Deustch, they make awesome stuff. They have a large selection of parts that will work for my in-line plug application, they are compact and easy to assembly and take apart. I have used there DT/DTM series on a few projects and they are great! They are a bit more pricey, (not as much as metal round ones) and last time I bought from they I had to buy from LADD indistries, the only US distributor for them(they are a family owned US company, last I talked to them). So you can't buy them from DigiKey, or unfortunately even get prices on-line.

Lastly I have recently come across Sure Seal Connectors, apparently they were once a part of ITT/CANNON connectors but have split, although it looks like ITT still sells versions of them. I've ordered a sample of them to see how they look, they are more expensive than the mate-n-lok solution, probably around 10-15 for a complete assembled 10 pin connector vs ~5 for a mate-n-lok.

I've got the temp sender in hand now so it's time to start wiring!

Trouble is, the power and SATA I/O connectors remain on the back of the 2.5" drive (scroll to the bottom here for a look), completely out of place for a 3.5" hot-swap enclosure to a SAS/SATA backplane. Tragicomic, one would have to say. (link)

This was back in the old testament, BB (before blogs), and really there's not that many traditional media outlets in Singapore that run movie reviews. Perhaps 30 or so. So theoretically, if that was your purpose, you could run preview screenings in a theatre the size of a large walk-in wardrobe.

I'd show up to these private screenings with the invitation I'd been sent in my pocket and I'd look around at the familiar gang of free movie-moochers. Sure enough, there was a core of reviewers, but the majority were what you might call "people about town". People in fashion, design, Media Corp bit-part actors, restaurateurs, radio DJs, hairdressers, tai-tais.

Kick-backs and favours? Well, partly. But partly it's because the film industry is a big believer in the power of "influentials" - people who are hot nodes on the grapevine.

It's not a difficult or esoteric theory and it makes perfect common sense. If 100 people a day are passing through the doors of a hairdressing salon, and the hot chit chat is your film then, when you consider the multiplier effect, that's got to be good for business.

Of course since then we've all become citizen journalists, self publishers and website magnates, and what is perfect common sense got repackaged, over-complexified and hyped to the hilt. It spawned Word of Mouth Marketing, Buzz Marketing, Viral Marketing, Seed Marketing, Influentials, E-fluentials, Malcolm Gladwell's book The Tipping Point and Ed Keller and Jon Berry's book The Influentials.

The new incarnation of influencers talked about by Gladwell, Keller and Berry, Influencers 2.0 if you like, is an attractive concept for people working in marketing and PR. Reverse engineering the Six Degrees of Separation research of Stanley Milgram in 1967, they discovered that the final link in that chain basically came down to three people, which Gladwell labelled Connectors. The books both discuss how, a small number of superinfluential people in a particular niche can trigger trends. These people would be highly connected, charismatic and respected in their niche.

I don't mean any disrespect to either of these two books, because what are highly nuanced, situation dependent, if-the-wind-is-blowing-in-the-right-direction-and-the-moon-is-full type concepts basically hit pop-culture and got quickly dumbed down. White papers were written, companies offered "Influential Marketing" in their menu of services and it got applied to everything from youth fashion to soap powder.

For a while there it was the golden key to success. Mass marketing was dead, but don't panic because Influencers would save you and your marketing budget from going under. Your product would be the must-have of the summer if the cool people liked it.

A classic incarnation is David Armano's Influence Ripples:

As research by Duncan Watts, discussed in Clive Thompson's Fast Company article Is The Tipping Point Toast?, has confirmed... the miracle cure for marketing ailments is a big fat maybe. He's done some extensive and thorough multi-agent simulation research and it shows clearly that trends are seldom the result of charismatic, connected social alphas. What he's found is:

• Trends are much more likely to be triggered by an average Joe than someone with the characteristics of an Influential
• Influence spreads in many different ways and the mechanics vary according to different situations
• If society is ready to embrace a trend, almost anyone can start one, and if it isn't then almost no one can
• If you think of trends as being like forest fires, then the "spark" has very little significance in its spread. It's about the environment at the time.
• What takes off as a trend is fairly random and almost impossible to pick or influence
• The most effective way to pitch your idea is mass marketing with built-in tools to facilitate and encourage sharing

It's bad news for people who fancy themselves as "hit makers", but it's a positive blow for common sense.

There's no doubt that some people are more influential than others. We all know that things that get featured on Oprah get talked about.

And there's no doubt that the cool kids can sometimes get the ball rolling. The brand that provide Victoria Beckham with her handbags, sports stars with their shoes and me with my free movie review tickets know that.

But as Clive Thompson says in his article:

"Watts does agree that some people are more instrumental than others. He simply doesn't think it's possible to will a trend into existence by recruiting highly social people. The network effects in society, he argues, are too complex--too weird and unpredictable--to work that way."

A prime example of that very thing in action is polaroid cameras. Rob Walker points out in his New York Times article Photo Finish:

"Traditionally, the role of those in the creative and cultural fringes is to lead: embracing unusual ideas, modes of expression and even products that gradually catch on with the mainstream and the masses. (By which time, of course, the fringe has moved on.) But in a recent reversal of the fringe-to-mass journey, many adventurously creative individuals have lately been in a state of rage, mourning and protest over the disappearance of a treasured tool — one that years ago reached, saturated and then passed out of the mainstream: Polaroid instant film."

And as Gavin Heaton points out in Just Because I Read Your Blog Doesn't Mean I'm Under Your Influence, this misunderstanding is leading to companies totally misusing social media and then scratching their heads and wondering why it's "not working" for them:

"I think this is where social media, and blogging in particular are interesting. While we spend quite some time and effort talking about the way in which social media is "changing the game", we also tend to rely on the measurements on which "traditional" advertising has been built. And the influencer as a new media "celebrity" is a case in point. Where the actual change in game has occurred is in the balance of power -- marketing is no longer about B2C or B2B but about Brands-to-Community."

Ultimately, if something is valuable to people they will adopt and recommend it. That value is much more important than how they leant about it. Trends can't be bought or created, they have to be earned, and if you want people to talk about you then you have to give them something great to talk about.

Being connected is not the same as being persuaded.

Pic: Deepavali Freakout! (Little India, Singapore) by creativespark

There was literally one person in front of me. It appeared as if he had finished his order and was chit-chatting with the clerk. I didn't want to come off obnoxious so I was willing to wait until their conversation ended. Before that happened, an older gentlemen (probably 80+ years) jumped ahead of me in line. The clerk ended her conversation. Even though she made eye contact with me...even gestured that she would be 1 second while talking to other person, she proceeded to help their older gentlemen who so rudely stepped in line in front of me.

I obviously was frustrated and decided to abandon the line. Was the turkey really that important to me or my daughter? Not really...good customer service is more important to me at the end of the day.

Should I blame the first customer for engaging in a conversation well past the customary service time? Should I fault the older gentlemen for jumping in line in front of me? Should we blame the clerk for pretty much everything?

I think at the end of the day I won't blame any of the three, but I will think twice before going back to the deli counter again. In the world of software performance, an experience such as this can be incredibly frustrating. Waiting for an assessment to load or a gradebook to render is no different then my example of waiting at the deli counter.

The key point is that every transaction matters. I kid around that I might not go back to the deli counter. I'm on half-joking. I seriously will have reservations about going back. If I see the same clerk, or see there's a line chances are I will be unlikely to get in line. I might even be unlikely to go the grocery store entirely if my first thought or memory when I have to go grocery shopping, is of this tainted experience. You might laugh, but cognitively speaking this is a realistic thought and one that could have a high probability of turning out.

The real question is why should this matter to the grocery store? Well, I am somewhat of a connector when it comes to grocery shopping. I like to talk about my experiences with my friends...especially friends who live near me and share a lot of the same experiences. I'm not suggesting that I will cause a Tipping Point of sorts with the deli counter at the Safeway, but I will go as far as to say that grocery stores are afraid of people like me just for this reason.

Does it make sense yet? It might not...but essentially what I am saying is that the transaction matters at the end of the day for two reasons. The first is that we don't want to impair the perception (as well as support) of our users to the point that they question whether they will come back to the use case or much worst, the system. Second, we have to be incredibly mindful (somewhat fearful) that those users who are affected are not capable of influencing other users to abandon use cases or the system as a whole. At the end of the day, our performance credibility is how we rest our laurels.

His tipping point theories can be applied to almost anything. Fashion, the Internet, Crime, Poverty, Politics.

For any idea or thing to become a phenomemon, he argues, you need the right personality types in place - only a few might do - and for the idea itself to be 'sticky' i.e. simple, easily understood and passed on.

Once these personality types convince a certain proportion of the population, it can then become an epidemic.

That brings me to the Glasgow East by-election.

The very constituency epitimises Labour's stranglehold on west central Scotland. If the SNP do well here then the subsequent political earthquake that Alex Salmond predicted may well happen.

I think Gordon Brown will try and ride out the storm.

But the SNP winning the seat or coming so close may just create a situation where public opinion catches onto to the perception that Labour is desperate and the SNP are on a roll. That seems to have a lot of stickiness in the current polls.

The question now is not so much has that tipping point been reached for Labour. You would be hard pushed to find anyone outside of the Labour Party who thinks they will win the next election. Even some Labour MPs think they'll lose it.

The question now is have the SNP come near to their tipping point? Because when that happens independence will be inevitable.

Like it or not, independence has Gladwell's quality of "stickiness". Its easy to understand and furthermore it has lots and lots of independent countries around the world that provide motivation. That motivation is an obstacle for unionists to try and push their own tipping point the other way. Why is independence good enough for other countries but not for Scotland? Its a tough argument to counter morally.

Gladwell, an American, offers the example of Paul Revere; the man who organised American resistance to the British in the American War of Independence.

He says Revere was a 'connector' - a man who knew the right people.
Revere was also a 'maven' - a man who had the right intelligence.
The other category is 'salesman' - obviously someone who can persuade people. And if those people have motivation and can see a multitude of success factors, its an easier sell.

Once these three types are on your side then The Tipping Point can be reached.

I'm sure both nationalists and unionists can identify people in their camps that are one or the other or even all three.

But the main problem I see for unionists is that their message lacks Gladwell's stickiness.

For one thing, unionists aren't even agreed on that message. The Liberal Democrats want federalism, the Conservatives are toying with English votes for English matters, Labour may want more powers or the status quo, depending on who you speak to.

Without that 'stickiness' of consensus from the unionists, all the connectors, mavens and salesmen of the unionists haven't a hope of stopping the independence bandwagon reaching that Tipping Point.

Meanwhile, the connectors, mavens and salesmen of the SNP are given a free run towards that 2010 referendum.

Glasgow East might not be the Tipping Point.

But its as near as it gets.

Malcolm Gladwell's best-seller, "The Tipping Point," tells stories of how trends get started, often by a small group of highly-influential people he calls connectors.

Interpreting past trends, however, can be a little like Whig history. It is too tempting to look for the people who were involved in the early days of a trend and give them special status as trend setters. Much of marketing focuses on identifying potentially influential people and attempting to have them wear your shoes, listen to your music, or drink your vodka. In reality, it doesn't take influential people to start trends.

NPR's On the Media recently featured an interview of journalist Clive Thompson, author of "Is the Tipping Point Toast?" published in the February 2008 issue of Fast Company magazine. Thompson describes that the science behind some of the early studies of networking is somewhat shaky and doesn't hold up to current research.

For example, in the famous Stanley Milgram small world experiment conducted in the late 1960s, letters were sent to individuals in the Midwest directing them to forward similar letters through friends so that they end being delivered to a stockbroker in Boston. Milgram discovered that the average path length for social networks in the United States was about 6 individuals (to which the phrase six degrees of separation is attributed). Milgram also discovered that most of the letters that got to the stockbroker were sent via only 3 friends. These people are what is what Gladwell calls connectors -- individuals with very large social networks. Marketers believe that influencing this small group of people can lead to successful trends.

Duncan Watts, a network scientist at Columbia University currently on leave with Yahoo! recreated this experiment, only with email and not paper mail, and extended it to thousands of individuals around the world. While he was able to replicate the six-degree path length, he could not replicate Milgram's notion of connectors. Only 5% of the email messages were sent through these kind of individuals.

The notion that only a small number of highly-influential individuals can start trends is being revised by the notion that we are all capable of starting trends. What matters most is whether society is ready for a trend, and less on the persuasive ability of influential individuals.

If society is ready to embrace a trend, almost anyone can start one--and if it isn't, then almost no one can.

Using a metaphor to illustrate his point, Watts describes that when conditions are right (hot, dry, and windy) almost any lit match, spark, or lightning bolt can start a forest fire. It makes little sense investigating the properties of the first spark.

As a result, the traditional approach of mass advertising may be just as effective as selective (or viral) advertising when the conditions of the market are right.

The two ships will be named HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales and they will be able to carry up to 40 aircraft each! Each ship will be a very simular size to the cruise ship, QE2 with a flight deck space of about three football fields.

The best thing about this project is that it will create roughly 10,000 jobs across the UK. Building something like this is such a massive project for the entire country, I wouldnt know the first thing on how to start building something that big, its beyond me! I cant even begin to imagine all the tiny little bits and pieces which contribute to its design. There must be millions of electrical components, fuses, electrical connectors, loads of stuff! Way to complex for me! Though, I am pleased that it is bringing in so many employment opportunities for the country. Check out this video previewing the new aircraft carriers...

http://www.professionalavbuyersguide.com/milestek_05_15_08.php

Gold offers superior resistance to corrosion. Contrary to popular belief silver is actually a superior conductor to gold but it does not offer the same level of corrosion protection. Gold is however no slouch when it comes to conductive metals. It is second only to silver.

Com que necessitava ajuda, haig buscat llocs a on parlon de d'això i m'ajudon a buscar altres connectors. I de moment haig trobat esta pàgina de connectors. Avui pareix que no funciona, però podeu veure la còpia en memòria a Google. Si coneixeu altres pàgines igual d'interessants, deixeu l'enllaç als comentaris.

"Gladwell discusses the types of people that facilitate tipping points, and one of these types is called “connectors.” Everybody knows one, and maybe you are one. A connector is a person who knows a huge number of people and keeps loose connections with everyone he meets. He never forgets anyone - he has never met a stranger. They have huge social circles and are a hub for social interaction."

I would like to think that I am a connector. I have a huge network of folks that I socially interact with and I believe blogging has a lot to do with it. Sure there is the network of people through my kids activities, husband's business, and family connections but I have networked with people from all over the world since I started blogging and it has allowed me to not only connect with others but I have led others to a connection as well.

Think about it, are you a connector? Or do you stay in your own little comfort zone avoiding change? Something to think about.