LinkedIn has never been the most sexy service out there. But lately, they have done some improvements that I appreciate.

They just introduced InMaps (found via BVLG), a product that let’s you visualize your network. The result is a color-coded map that represents the different groups in your network. Colors are given to people who have (or had) the same employer, people working in the same industry etc. This is my map (click to enlarge):

On my map, I found 3 groups related to a former employer, 2 groups who are related to a specific industry and 3 groups who where difficult to label. A lot of my network consists of people I met on unconferences, blogdinners or via social media networks. The only thing they have in common is a blog and/or a Twitter-account.

Something interesting are the bigger names on your map. They represent people who are the most connected within that specific cluster or group. Most probably they are they are the ‘influentials’ within that group.

One more thing. I can’t really see who is closest to me on the map, but one of them is my better half. Funny.

In the future, I will be a big consumer of papers and magazines on e-readers. I’m just waiting for the technology and the publishers to offer me online subscriptions on a decent piece of hardware that doesn’t hurt my eyes (will the iPad get us there?).

Anyway, this month, I got a paper copy of the UK version of Wired. A few articles focused on the people who succeeded in turning around a lost business case into a success again. I liked the conclusion of the editor (David Rowan):

“The comeback of public figures ranging from Mickey Rourke to Martha Stewart illustrate that being knocked down isn’t necessarily the end. Not if you have a purpose and a mission, a reason to prove yourself and a willingness to innovate.
And if you stay hungry. And stay foolish.”

Stay foolish.  Must not forget (note to self).

This is a brand new blog, but I’m not new to blogging. So if you are not familiar with my past, you might want to know: who is Dr. Smetty and what is this blog about.

Smetty is my nickname (online and offline). A lot off people I first met online, don’t even know my real name. Besides a nickname, Smetty is also my online identity. So when I was thinking about a name for my English weblog, it had to be something with ‘smetty’ in it. Being a Ph.D. student at the moment, I came up with the idea to call this blog Dr. Smetty. In real life, I would never grant myself a title I don’t own. But, hey, this is the internet, and my online identity decided to blog as Dr. Smetty.

The content of this blog will be my thoughts in English, with a special focus on education and the road to my Ph.D.