Ryan Lawler (GigaOm) has written a fascinating post on HDTV adoption within the U.S. – what demographics are adopting it, how frequently, and so on. No, I’m not a big TV guy either – but this article is fairly fascinating.

hundreds of new stories in a single day – and task management posts are usually filed away [...]]]> For the last few months the buzz around Asana, a new task management application, has been increasing. But my Google Reader is pretty packed with blogs – oftentimes

Image via CrunchBase

hundreds of new stories in a single day – and task management posts are usually filed away for review another day…when I eventually have time. I went back through most of my “for a later day” posts and found a number of task management related posts – including ones for Asana. I visited them all…expecting that none would offer the unique set of features I have been hoping for…but so far Asana is looking AMAZING. I’d like to take you along on my journey of exploration…

One’s initial visit to the Asana website shows an aesthetically pleasing design – but a little busy. Perhaps I’m different from most people^[1], but I hate watching videos and prefer reading text.^[2] The Asana homepage puts the emphasis on signing up or watching a video – bleck! Thankfully, if you scroll below the fold you’ll find “Learn More about Asana” and get a quicker view of the featureset.

Here is what impressed me at this point:

• It is Free – For all intents and purposes, Asana is free. Sure they are interested in profiting from corporate sales, but for your general needs and for any small to medium sized business, Asana is free.
• It is Team – A lot of great task management applications are out there, but many of them cost an arm and a leg or they don’t support teamwork…being weak in either of these areas really undermines the product…and those that are strong in these two areas then oftentimes demonstrate weakness in underlying features.
• People Views - The ability to view what is going on by the person responsible is pretty sweet. Not entirely a new concept, and maybe just cooler b/c it is called “People Views” instead of “User Views” – it feels more Facebookey (umm, Facebookie, Facebookesque, someone help me out here!).
• Calendar Sync – This is a pretty sweet feature, though it isn’t one I personally find essential.
• Inbox Integration – One of the goals for Asana is to completely replace a diversity of workflows – ensuring data is recorded within Asana. Part of this involves automatically integrating email conversations into Asana threads. This is a simple feature many do, but Asana’s looks really slick.

Not to say that is all there is to see…there are numerous other neat features – those are just the ones that I really like – mainly b/c a lot of other task management applications are missing one or all of these features.

I do have one question at this juncture: Is thirty team members a firm number or does this reset for each workspace? I’m guessing it is the former, but hoping it is the latter. I suppose the latter option would open Asana up to abuse by its users – who could theoretically just create a new workspace whenever they ran out of users (but that would get extremely unwieldy). Reason I ask is b/c I’m involved in multiple venues – and thirty people is a lot when each venue can contain thirty, but not so many if thirty has to last over all my different venues.^[3]

Next thing I did was explore their blog – from the beginning…and I was impressed. The frequency of posts is regular enough and the quality of the posts is quite deep. At the bottom of this article I’ve included links to additional reading, including a few by the folks at Asana. Take a read and you’ll quickly see that these posts reflect a depth of philosophy, clarity of communication, and quality of composition that exceed many technology blogs whose sole purpose is to cover technology – not sell a product.

One item that becomes very clear while reading the blog posts is that Asana is being utilized heavily by Asana – and this is always a good thing. Products suffer when the creators of the product do not have an investment in the product beyond monetary success. Asana will oftentimes provide its own most standing criteria for ongoing featureset.^[4]

Okay, so I have some more stuff I like about Asana:

• Company Culture – Some tech companies have really led the way in creating (again) a culture where the company cares about its employees. For a while employees were disposable assets – but some companies have moved back and forward at the same time – back in purely statistical financial analysis but forward in employee satisfaction, productivity, and longevity.^[5] Asana seems to be following this tact with company-wide lunches and regular yoga sessions.
• The Methods – It is obvious that David Allen‘s GTD methodology is widely utilized within Asana – but beyond this one sees numerous management innovations to streamline and increase productivity, reduce errors, allow rapid development, and so on. These models are impressive and could be copied elsewhere (and perhaps where copied from elsewhere).

On the other hand, and this is not uncommon in technology culture, I’m wondering how many hours the folks in Asana are putting in a week? In this post Jerry Phillips notes folks eating lunch and dinner together (at 7 p.m.) which makes me ask, “When did you start working?” Sure, sometimes long hours are required – especially in IT and especially during the startup phase – but this can become a dangerous, long-term practice…and usually does not involve overtime compensation for the employees.

Now, what about the team? The team behind a product is an important consideration. In general I like two types of teams: the teams where you don’t know anyone and the teams where you see everyone’s legacy. The teams I don’t like are ones with a lot of fluff and bravado without necessarily a lot of accomplishment or technical ability. So, I tend to prefer companies that are either lean, mean startup machines run by some guy in his basement or companies that have be-knighted geniuses on the workforce.

• Dustin Moskovitz – “co-founder of Facebook” (yup, that is impressive), “CTO…VP of Engineering” (okay, that is much more impressive…not just an idea guy, this guy works with the tech…and Facebook has some pretty impressive tech). Last but not least, note that Moskovitz dropped out of Harvard^[6] and didn’t major in the technical field yet excelled in it.^[7]
• Justin Rosenstein – Justin may not have been CTO or VP, but he did hold significant positions at both Facebook and Google – mecca^[8] tech companies. Again, appears to have dropped out of college…not that I’m suggesting that is a good idea (I completed my degree and work for a higher ed institution), but it occasionally indicates someone just has such great ideas or ability for self-learning that they are able to “skip a step.”
• Malcolm Handley – Worked for Google on several significant projects including Android, Google Earth, and Mobile Maps. All pretty sweet products.
• Greg Slovacek – Again a Google guy – his work seems a little more from a niche, but this can be good as well – indicating a passion for deep understanding of particular topics and a willingness to slog through the mundane work it takes to make stuff happen.
• Jerry Phillips – Okay, she gets a pass b/c she studied psychology and now is working in technology…I just think that is cool.
• Jack Stahl – Stahl seems like an interesting character – and interesting characters oftentimes bring something unique and powerful to a team. Note Stahl attended Burning Man, and while that is kind of mainstream, its also like the outstream portion of mainstream…nothing I plan on attending. He also impressive technical experience from Yelp.
• Avital Oliver – Wow. Look at this list: “started coding as a child”^[9], “large-scale re-implementation of the Israeli Air Force tactical information system”^[10], and “founded the School of Mathematics in Brooklyn, NY”^[11]
• Kris Rasmussen – Was “chief architect” at Aptana – an impressive company with impressive products. Don’t forget he co-founded RivalMap^[12] and worked for numerous tech. companies including the (to some) tech mecca Microsoft.^[13]
• Theresa Singh – Okay, can we get Theresa to write some articles for us on Post Colonial Literature? That’d be sweet, thanks.
• Yup, I’m getting tired of ooh’ing and ahh’ing over the team Asana has assembled…but there are still a lot more folks who stick out on the team: Donnie Thompson (gourmet chef), S. Alex Smith (machine learning at Facebook), Jackie Bavaro (Google and Microsoft^[14]), David Braginsky (Facebook, Google, “numerous startups”), Andrew Watterson (Meebo), and Bella Kazwell (Gmail, Google+).^[15]

Now, with such a great team I’ll admit I have some hesitation over Kenny Van Zant – but with the rest being so excellent – I imagine I am mistaken. Let me explain. My hesitation with Van Zant comes from his association with SolarWinds. I’ve used a number of their products – both free and trial – but always found them to be of that somewhat lumpy enterprise class that Asana is attempting to overcome. I also hate having to enter my contact information every time I want to download one of the products – free or trial…but I’m sure Van Zant is great and maybe he can put in a word to his friends at SolarWinds that the contact info. every download is annoying (maybe we could just create an account so we only have to enter the info. once…?) and provide some streamlining of the enterprise feature-set but sometimes clunky products (no, I haven’t actually used SolarWinds enough to give real feedback…I just know when I’ve tried them they haven’t been entirely intuitive or slim and I’ve found other options I like better).

Wow, this is a really long article…guess this is what happens when you can’t sleep from 4 a.m. till (now) 6:30 a.m. In any case, I’m going to sign off for the time being. I’m not 100% sold on Asana yet, I haven’t played with it enough – but I figured it might be helpful to compile the info. I’ve been compiling myself about Asana into one place…b/c I have OCD and do things like that.

The Problems:

Okay, so I’m working through Asana and I’m seeing a few issues. Here is what I’ve found so far:

• Asana does not support recurring tasks – this is a killer for me! They are apparently working on it currently…
• The new workspace setting is a bit buried, there seems to be plenty of real-estate on the lower left where it is nested to display it directly.
• It isn’t clear that keyboard shortcuts such as new task work only when  one is already in an existing task.

Features I’d Like to See:

Here is my wishlist:

• Support for recurring tasks. This functionality has been added, though they are doing a “roll-out” which will take several weeks.
• Some form of chore assignment functionality similar to ChoreBuster.
• A Windows desktop application that would feel similar to Notepad…I don’t like having to even open a browser.
• Native Android application.
• Granular Permissions for Workspaces so one can allow individuals to see one project but not another, without barring everyone from access to a project.

For those interested in some further reading…Here are some good articles/posts:

• Kenny Van Zant (Asana). Introducing Asana: The Modern Way to Work Together. 11/2/11.
• Justin Rosenstein (Asana). Every step. 10/27/11.
• Jack Stahl (Asana). Post-Launch Check In. 12/19/11.
• Jerry Phillips (Asana). A Day at Asana. 12/16/11.

Related articles

• Facebook Co-Founder’s Startup Asana Launches Publicly (mashable.com)
• New Tools for the New Year: Management (lifehack.org)
• Asana – Task Management App (seeingfuture.wordpress.com)
• Facebook Co-founder Dustin Moskovitz Quit To Build… This App? (businessinsider.com)
• The Renewed Focus On Getting Work Done (alanlepofsky.net)
• Do It Tomorrow-Time Management Made Simple On Your Mobile (alltopstartups.com)
• Any.DO – Make Things Happen With Collaborative Task Management (freetech4teachers.com)
• Task and Compliance Management (bettermanagers.com)
• Your last task for 2011: Try Any.DO for Android (gigaom.com)

1. ^[1] Okay, okay, I know my friends are going to jovially reply, “Dave, of course you are, you are strange.” But what I mean here is, in this particular area am I strange? ↩
2. ^[2] I think this has to do with my ADD, I have a hard time sitting still while videos meander about stuff I know or don’t care about when text allows me to jump in and out exactly as I desire. ↩
3. ^[3] For example, I would want to do workspaces for work, for home, for church, for other projects…for any one of these thirty team members is enough – but if I have to have only thirty members between all the workspaces? Might be a little tight. ↩
4. ^[4] For example, as I was reading Asana posts I thought to myself (and I don’t know what already exists at this juncture), “Boy, it seems great…but what if someone at Asana is slacking off? How do they track that?” I’m sure Asana will hit that bump (may have hit?) and will respond appropriately…this is the advantage of a company using their own software. ↩
5. ^[5] Perhaps the tech industry innovated in part out of necessity. The technology sector requires specialists – the longer you stay at a job the better you are at it…picking up a n00b may save a few dollars, but there will be a huge learning curve and the lost experience and productivity are significant. ↩
6. ^[6] I’m assuming since he only spent two years as an economics major. ↩
7. ^[7] He was an economics major at Harvard…someone correct me if he had a technical background from elsewhere… ↩
8. ^[8] Nope, not a spelling error, “pilgrimage” doesn’t connote the right sense here. ↩
9. ^[9] This isn’t surprising, but it does indicate that technology runs in his blood…Something those who have it sometimes wish they could escape, but never can…the draw of tech. always calls them back when they attempt to pursue other ventures. ↩
10. ^[10] This probably means he’s an algorithmic genius… ↩
11. ^[11] Ummm…You don’t look this old dude. ↩
12. ^[12] A company somewhat in the same arena as Asana. ↩
13. ^[13] I think Microsoft is impressive, and a ‘mecca’ though I don’t know much about their corporate culture. Yeah, they have been a pain at times but they’ve moved in some really great directions over the last number of years with much more openness…though this whole Windows 8 / HTML5 push…I’m not sure about. ↩
14. ^[14] Wait, is that allowed? Isn’t there some sort of “I will always be an enemy of (insert Google or Microsoft here) for as long as I am alive?” ↩
15. ^[15] I apologize to those team members I didn’t mention explicitly – Stephanie Hornung, Tim Bavaro, Kenny Van Zant – I expect great things from you as well, I’m just not as personally familiar with your accomplishments. ↩

First off, for those who aren’t [...]]]>

Image via Wikipedia

Back in February I bought a Zeo. Its been around eight months now and I figured I should provide an update on how the Zeo has been going for me. I have both good and bad to report, but overall – I’d say it was a worthwhile investment.

First off, for those who aren’t familiar with the Zeo it is an alarm clock with some extra intelligence. It has a headband one wears which measures the quality and extent of one’s sleep. This information is aggregated and analyzed and allows for one to review and optimize one’s sleep schedule. It also can awake you during a period of light sweep, allowing you to wake up more refreshed.

I bought the Zeo because I have a hard time waking up in the morning and because I regularly experience significant daytime sleepiness. I also knew I was frequently tempted to stay up too late…so I figured the Zeo could help me get my sleep habits under control.

When I first began using the Zeo it seemed like a god-send. I was waking up 1 hour earlier than usual, feeling more refreshed, and forcing myself to go to bed at a better time. I was able to see the quality of my sleep and determine objectively whether I was getting enough sleep – rather than subjectively by how I felt or thought I’d slept.

At first I wasn’t doing very well, but as time went on I got better and began to sleep more appropriately regularly – thanks in large part to the Zeo. Unfortunately, the morning wake-up effects seemed to be declining simultaneously. I was having the same issues getting out of bed and I also was still feeling regularly fatigued during the day.

The headband was a bit of a nuisance to wear after its novelty wore off and it sometimes slipped off, it also tended to smell unpleasant as weeks of sweat accumulated on the sensor, and I did experience some very minor skin irritation and creases from wearing the headband – but nothing that would keep me from wearing it.

Still, the excessive fatigue didn’t go away and it was largely the knowledge that I was getting enough sleep but still feeling exhausted that pushed me to make the appointment with a new primary physician and begin what has now been going on two months of tests to determine what is causing the excessive fatigue. Thus far test results are indicating that I have some form of auto-immune disorder and this is likely liable for the fatigue as well as a host of other complaints.

I’m not sure whether the Zeo’s effectiveness for me decreased with time or whether the illness’ power increased with time. I suspect it was a combination of the two, with the latter being the more significant contributor. Other symptoms besides chronic fatigue have grown progressively worse over the last number of months (joint pain, chest pain, inflammation, etc.), so it seems likely that the fatigue also would worsen.

The Zeo was never made to be a medical device. I knew that when I purchased it. But I hoped that maybe there wasn’t something “deeper” wrong and that some better sleep hygiene and discipline would provide me with the extra energy boost I desired – it didn’t. So, in one sense, the Zeo didn’t provide me what I wanted – but on the other hand it did one better – it forced me to stop putting off seeing a doctor because, “I’m sure I just didn’t get enough sleep last night” and admit that there was something more wrong here and that I needed to take it seriously.

Now, setting aside my particulars, lets talk briefly about what I do and don’t like about the Zeo as a device and whether I think you should buy one.

First, the Zeo uses a memory card to store data which can then be transferred to a computer and uploaded to Zeo’s site via a USB flash drive. This is annoying in a day of ubiquitous wireless in the home. I’m not happy that I have to take the time to frequently upload my data, this should happen automatically.

Second, the headband is a bit of a nuisance. It isn’t overwhelmingly so, but I have to wonder if there aren’t better and smaller ways to track how well I’m sleeping. I know some other products are available – wristbands and so on. I know most are not of the same accuracy as the Zeo – but development in this area is really important, as the headband is awkward. Ideally I’d like something that was thin like a bandaid.

Overall, I’d say if you really want it – get one now…but if you can, wait for the next-generation. I would hope/expect that both of these issues will be eliminated (or at least significantly mitigated) with the release of a newer technology.

I’d also note that I’m not sure about Zeo’s long-term future with its current business strategy. Zeo is currently focused on sleep – they need to expand. The devices of the future will not be focused on one aspect of health but will cover a multitude – and numerous other vendors are making strides in this arena – oftentimes for a lower price tag than Zeo offers.

Related articles

• Zeo Personal Sleep Coach (kk.org)
• Reflecting on my recent sleep experiments (feedblog.org)
• Roundup: iPhone accessories to help you get a better night’s sleep (gigaom.com)
• Your Partner’s Sleep Habits Can Influence Yours For The Better (businessinsider.com)
• The 3 Rules Of Deep Sleep (businessinsider.com)
• The Future of Fitness and Health (thenextweb.com)

I recently decided I wanted to ride my stationary recumbent bike to get in shape, but as always hate [...]]]> UPDATE: Back to the drawing board. After using it for a few days I placed my laptop on the desk and it promptly flipped! So…I’ll see if anyone wants the desk and start over again.

I recently decided I wanted to ride my stationary recumbent bike to get in shape, but as always hate exercising. Its not the physical activity that bothers me but rather the inability to accomplish other tasks at the same time. So, I built myself a “prototype” desk out of boxes, pillows (yes, pillows), and an old bunk bed ladder. It worked marvelously. I was riding my bike most days for two hours a day and accomplishing a lot to boot.

Now it was time to build something more permanent. I went to Lowes and shopped around but didn’t find exactly what I was looking for, so I began surfing Amazon for a pre-built product. Finally I stumbled upon Office Furniture in a Flash’s Angle and Height Adjustable Mobile Laptop Computer, which was being sold through CSN Stores. The price was right ($32 + S&H) for what was originally a “$199″ piece of furniture. I bit – $40 and a few days later the desk arrived…

Unfortunately, I’m not as impressed with it after assembly as I was when I saw it on Amazon’s site. Here are the main issues I encountered:

Two of the knobs broke during assembly. These knobs are used to regular the height and width of the table. In attempting to tighten them the heads came off two of them. Underneath was a normal screw, unfortunately the slots for a screw driver had been filled in – so I had to pry them out slowly and painstakingly.

The larger wood panel (for the table) isn’t entirely stable. The knob doesn’t seem to be enough and placing one’s weight on the table causes the table to rotate down – a very bad thing with a laptop sitting on it. I think they probably needed to have two or three holes for knobs on this larger arm…

The soldering job doesn’t look like a $200 dollar job. There are gobs of solder around various joints and gaps where there isn’t any solder at all.

• The wrist wrests are not large enough…and because you can’t really put weight on the table, fairly useless.

After assembling, I found the two pieces of wood seemed to be crooked. I attempted adjusting the screws to make sure everything was straight, but they still were crooked. Ohh well, I moved them further apart and it isn’t noticeable.

In addition to these design and manufacturing flaws I ran into additional issues due to my unique use case – which I don’t place upon the manufacturer, rather they are inherent to my usage. Particularly, it took me a long way to figure out how to get the table to stand over the recumbent at a reasonable distance without constantly banging my feet into one of the support posts.

Additionally, I find that the unit shakes a lot when I am riding. This is probably because the support posts are close to the recumbent and the floor is bouncing which in turn causes the table to bounce. It isn’t unworkable,  but certainly a tad annoying. This isn’t a problem if the legs (as in my prototype table) are further away from the recumbent – as it seems the bouncing decreases and its impact is reduced over distance.

Overall, I’m unhappy with the quality of manufacturing – but the price was decent. I think I’ll probably end up building or finding something different in the long run. I thought about returning it but it was $9 in shipping and I would have to pay for the returning shipping as well. By the time everything was said and done I’d only be getting $20 back and CSN Stores policies say they don’t accept returns of assembled products.

For those who would like to build a similar desk for themselves, here are a few photos of the end working product and a few tips I found to be useful….

Note that I removed the wheels off the stabilization bar, this lowered the height of the bars – otherwise they kept banging with the pedals.

It took quite a while to figure out how to get the table constructed in such a way as to allow the bar to be far enough from my feet while also ensuring the desk was over the bike rather than to the left/right of it and so that the desk was not too near/far. This is what I ended up going with.

If I was buying a new desk and didn’t already have a recumbent bike, I’d certainly consider FitDesk. The price total is around the same as I paid for my recumbent and desk combined. I haven’t had a chance to use one, so I can’t comment for certainty…

Related articles

• Ask Casa: A Desk For My Bedroom (casasugar.com)
• LifeSpan Fitness R3 Recumbent Exercise Bike [Deals] (blippitt.com)
• Ditching the desk for a wireless room (upyourego.com)
• 5 Most Unusual Office Desks (smallbizbee.com)
• FitDesk Wows Atlanta with World’s First Pedal Desk (prweb.com)

Recently I’ve been looking into what options are available for folks who need to run criminal background checks. This field has been changing rapidly over the past several years with technological advances and if you have been using a provider for a long period [...]]]> Update: See the end of this article for some important updates.

Recently I’ve been looking into what options are available for folks who need to run criminal background checks. This field has been changing rapidly over the past several years with technological advances and if you have been using a provider for a long period of time it may be worth your time to consider whether that provider is still the best and most cost effective for your needs.

In this article I’m going to focus specifically on criminal background checks with a focus on the needs of non-profit organizations such as churches. I’ll be discarding without note the various providers who while providing background checks (including criminal) are not meant to be used officially to perform such checks and which may not include all the information that a provider giving official checks might provide.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions, comments, corrections, etc. in the comments section to this article.

• IntegraScan – Offers background checks starting at $18.95 for a state-based check (only checks for criminal background in one state) and then progresses to $28.95 for a nationwide check (for criminal background in all states) with the final option with even more information clocking in at $49.95. They do offer bulk pricing, but you have to contact them for further information.
• SentryLink – Offers criminal background checks for $19.95. Has a bulk pricing program one can contact them about. Also offers other reports – such as SSN traces and motor vehicle records.
• BackgroundChecks – Clocks in at a stunning $49.95 for a nationwide criminal background check!
• USSearch – Starts at $14.95 for their basic search, which includes state criminal background check and peaks out at $59.95 for their most comprehensive. They do offer bulk pricing, but again, must contact for quote.
• Intelius – A nationwide background check clocks in at $29.95.
• IntelliCorp InTouch – Pricing starts at $16.15 for a state criminal background check, then $17.95 for a nationwide check, and their most comprehensive is $58.45. But this is a consumer oriented product.
• IntelliCorp – The corporate arm of IntelliCorp InTouch. No pricing is available, one must request an account and await a call to find out about pricing.
• CrimCheck – No public pricing available, must contact.
• BackGroundPI – $15.95 for Criminal Background search. The site lacks enough detail and references, but the pricing is good. Would require further research to see if legitimate/worthwhile.
• eFindOutTheTruth – Site design is confusing and overwhelming, but pricing is very good and one can build custom background checks with only the desired features.

Based on my brief review of the sites, pricing, and etc. I would probably lean towards Intelius or IntelliCorp. They both offer a professional image and reasonable prices. But in the end, the best deal (for churches/non-profits) appears to be Group Publishing’s Church Volunteer Central (CVC). CVC costs $100/year and includes a wide variety of resources for running a church/non-profit and training/leading volunteers. It also includes a partnership with Lexus Nexus to perform criminal background checks.

Their basic background check is $9 and includes a national criminal search. For $23 one can add criminal records at a local county court. They also have a number of other packages available.

Update (9/24/11):

As I mentioned above, the CVC package seemed to be the best deal…but the process is quite painful, so I’ve gone with another alternative. Group (which owns CVC) partners with Lexus Nexus to provide the inexpensive background checks mentioned above, unfortunately Lexus Nexus has a frustratingly manual process before one can begin utilizing the background check service. This includes filling out detailed paperwork and faxing or emailing it to them (around fourteen pages worth) along with providing several forms of business identification (not all of which are always readily available) and several vendor verification forms (businesses which will verify that they do business with you and that you are who you say you are).

This in and of itself is a bit of a nuisance, but what really frustrated me was the technological aspect. On the form it asked questions about the IP address that would be used to access their system. Granted, I have a semi-static IP since it is a FiOS connection – but that isn’t truly static and I wasn’t looking forward to what I assume is a manual process to update the external IP records with Lexus Nexus when it changes.

I did some more searching and found that LifeWay, another major Christian company, had partnered with BackgroundChecks to offer affordable checks as well – and that their process was basically digital and simple. I went with them even though the price is perhaps $2-$3 more per check b/c of the ease. I setup my account and launched a background check on myself (as a test) without any problems. So far I’m pretty impressed.

Now, I think Lexis Nexus requires all the extra hoop jumping b/c they are providing information related to one’s financial state – and I can understand the need to maintain the confidentiality of this information, but in the case of churches and other non-profits, we don’t want to perform financial background checks – just make sure that criminal background checks are clear (e.g. no convictions for pedophilia).

For those who are interested, here is a link to the LifeWay co-brand page for background checks.

Related articles

• Background Check App – BeenVerified.com (itunes.apple.com)
• Gizmodo’s Mat Honan submits to a “social media background check” (boingboing.net)
• Hiring Home Service Providers Just Got Safer as AsktheSeal.com Announces SEAL-MAIL to Verify Employee Background Checks for Licensed and Insured Companies (prweb.com)
• This Is a Social Media Background Check (smarterware.org)
• Reputation | Pretty Fragile Stuff (clnprint.com)
• Background-check gun bill won’t pass, DeWine says (dispatch.com)