All in Soapbox

Diary of a Trend Stalker: Chapter One

Justice Mitchell
Design, Research, Soapbox, Trends
Every day I wake up, look in the mirror and marvel at the gorgeous physical specimen staring back at me. I soak it all in and think about how lucky my wife is to have me. Then I shake off the remnants of that final pre-alarm dream and take another look at the disheveled guy with unruly red locks and badass Jedi boxers. That’s when I see the 40-year-old father of a 4-year-old daughter, a husband, and a friend to what seems to be an endless array of people. I am blessed with innumerable online "F3s" (friends, fans and followers) with whom I feel the need to connect in some way. I also feel hopelessly out of touch.

"Occupying" My Thoughts

Justice Mitchell
Anarchy, Business, People, Soapbox
I'm torn. One side of me really understands why disenfranchised Americans coalesced under the banner of the Occupy movement. I’m proud of them for asking questions and exploiting the media to take advantage of the platform. I really am. The other shoe drops for me when I see nothing but the loudest, least eloquent protesters at center stage. Not to mention that the "movement" appears to be intolerant of discussion or even agreeing on its key desires. Where's the puritanical manifesto? - This intolerance of so many issues creates confusion, and doesn’t do the Occupy movement any favors.

Twenty Years of Crap Management

Justice Mitchell
Blogging, Parenting, Soapbox
Currently we are a three-feline family: two Siamese brothers named Ricky and Bobby, and a ragdoll/shorthair mix named Niko. I've also had a tabby and a polydactyl American shorthair. What does this mean, other than all my furniture is scratched, and I can't walk out of the house wearing a suit without meticulously using a military-grade lint roller?

Bullies And The Fork In The Road

Justice Mitchell
People, Soapbox, Storytelling
Most of you don’t know this, but the beta version of Justice was a far cry from the uber-social techno-dweeb you know today. My “once upon a time” took place in Breckenridge, Colo., circa 1977. I was not part of any clique, wasn’t a trust-fund kid, and didn’t have a huge network of homeboys. My funny name didn’t help. And to top it off, I was in educational support classes because I had to play catch-up after starting in Florida’s rudimentary education system.

Learning From History: 20 Years Of Mistakes

Justice Mitchell
Business, Management, Process, Soapbox
There's no chronological order to the countless mistakes that I've made over the last twenty years, nor I'm sure the same will be said for the next twenty years. Many of you will look at this list and laugh and think "what a fool." Others of you know that this industry, having been building site since 1994, had no rules, no manuals, no "best practice," just a lot of us 'winging it' and hoping we would make something great.

Why News, UGC & Social Media Will Be To Blame For All Future Wars

Justice Mitchell
Anarchy, Interactive, Soapbox, , Television, Trends
I was hit with sound clarity in a discussion over the weekend that came to a crystal-clear resolution for me is that the United States of America is going to be in an never-ending conflict with factors beyond our control due to the advancement of social media, it's citizen journalism and the emotional weaknesses of its people. If you have a cell phone you have the power to enact great emotional upheaval. And dependent upon your view of chaos math, that content could even go as far as starting a war. And this does not come on a soapbox claiming innocence of this stance, I will outline thoroughly that I'm as/if not more guilty than you all.
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