Ph34r th3 Riot and Women

"Pussy Riot aren't just on tour. They're on the run. When we meet in a secret location in central London, they make it clear that this interview is on condition of anonymity." Pussy Riot: "People fear us because we're feminists"

This is not a joke, not a game, it is deadly serious, and in many ways a "crime".

We should be 7 billion (and counting) working together to make a world for all, and lay the foundations for expanding off it.

Not be spending our time trying to put half or more on the bench.

Too young, too old, female, gay, colored, atheist, anarchist, 99%, lowlife, wasted youth or unemployed.
What ever the label, it serves to divide us, keep our minds in the mud of the past.

Just to put it into context, another piece by Penny red at the New Statesman; Emily Wilding Davison made the only choice she could bear

In old footage of the suffragettes, they look like a gang of angry bantams, flapping about in their outsized hats and ridiculous full skirts. The very word “suffragettes” sounds like the kind of fusty, village-hall girl band your auntie might sing in at weekends, rather than a revolutionary organisation whose members were prepared to die so that others might live free

This is the world we live in. Where everyday millions have to fight for what we took for granted. What should have been won generations ago, paid in blood and suffering, is still contested. Be it in the squares and mosques of Cairo, or on the sporting stage in Russia.

So why SHOULD you vote?

take a trip, down mystery lane

Large version

Or Diagon Alley at any rate. It certainly feels a bit like magic to use Street view at normal locations. But then they go and get something like this. From Warner Bros studios, so obviously they love the exposure. The details are amazing, guess you can really zoom in on the HD copy of the movies and read the book covers and more.

Hatussa, I barely knew thee

I was under the impression that I had a decent overview of history, at least as it pertained to the Nordic region and before that the Ancient civilzations of Rome, Greece and Egypt. Been to Rome, to Knossos and the Valley of Kings.

Then I caught a show on the secrets of Hattusa and had to reboot that a little bit.

As the germans put it;

Besides Egypt and Assyria/Babylonia the Hittites were the third superpower of the Ancient Near East

For a great detailed account of the 2005 project, head over and read about the reconstructed (1% of) wall - staggering to think how they got the whole site built in ancient times.

Not to mention the cost of lives - like the Great Wall - working high walls and heavy bricks with very limited supporting structures.


It is a world heritage site, and apparently the peace treaty they made with Ramses II of Egypt is now in the UN;

comprehensively excavated ...1906, which was the memorable date of the discovery of a copy of a peace treaty between Hattushili III and the Pharaoh Ramses II, which made possible the identification of Hattusha.

So, another site to add to the travel list when I get back on the road (figuratively speaking) - provided things settle down or clear up a bit first.

Dig in, or skim along?

Snippets from Seth - on the willingness to go the distance, to read the whole story and understand the issues:

No need to read the whole book, I can just glance over the Cliffs Notes... I get it. No, I already heard about your vacation... remember, I saw the Instagram feed.

[via Pocket, "I get it"]

Are we going more shallow by having the fire-hose available and on at all times?

Does 200 or 500 friends mean you don't need to really pay attention to any single one?
When the book title is a story in itself, do we need to have it hammered in repeatedly over hundreds of pages?
With over 200 dimensions and metrics - does it make any sense to look at more than pageviews?

Simplification due to sheer volume and complexity - since we can't do it all, it is easier to cut corners?

It that why the allure of "BIG DATA" is so strong? Sure, there is to much to make sense of, so we'll just slap an algorithm on top, do some correlation and there you are!

imagine images everyday

I currently have some 200 images on my phone. That I have yet to sync, duplicate and sort on the laptop. That is just from a short period of time, and I've deleted a bunch along the way as well - keeping only those that are good enough.

Back when using film it was 24 at a time. Maybe for some trips you would do two or three rolls. Now that is a trip to the playground, or a long walk when the weather has changed. 

Just knowing they are there, that I can have a look is (so far) more rewarding than looking at a lot of them. They are a gift to my future self. For remembering days, weeks and months now gone. For inspiration, and joy. And for limited curation, in terms of prints, books and magnets.

The reading that inspired this little tangent on volume and remembrance by camera;

"All of this is closer to the now than to the future. We've already seen tagged photos streaming forth from a billion networked smartphones, broadcasting the Arab Spring to Twitter and police brutality at Occupy to YouTube."

[clayton cubitt  blog post - on the constant moment]

How will you deal with everything seen being stored? 

What could you do with it? Make art? Explore your life?


- ...and the sun was here every day in July - bringing monthly rainfall below 10% of normal... but as we entered August the backlog came back, and so did the scheduled buffer for a bit - 

It's not madness if you have a chart

This entry was posted in philosophy, sickness.

[You never know. Or do you?] Dilbert is great, but when it comes to pure brain teasers and real laugh out loud, Indexed is having a good run this summer.

This one takes a nice twist on one of my favorite quotes - the definition of madness is doing the same thing over and expecting different results - by adding chaos theory.

As Nate Silver pointed out in Signal and Noise - sometimes the changes are so small that you think you're doing the same thing, but it is just enough to give a different outcome (page 118 paper version, since that is searchable on amz but the kindle isn't...). Because chaos theory isn't about chaos as we normally think about it - it is not really random, it is just that there are some many things involved that we are unable to map them and model it all. And it all ties into the flow and effect. 

Make mistakes. All the time.

Quote and image from Chris Brogan this time around - on the willingness to be wrong;

"The amount of mental energy we expend by trying to be right all the time is a waste. I have come to learn that it’s a lot easier to be wrong from time to time, and that the process of being wrong can certainly speed up the finding of what it is that ends up being right."

[Be Willing to Be Wrong]

Part of a recurring theme here - failure is not a bad thing. Failure is bad if you don't use it for something. And it is better to "fail fast", than to drag your feet - or keep pouring resources onto sunk costs.

As long as you are open about it in the process as well; our best estimate is that.... based on what we can find today it .....

Decide how much time you have to make sure, then use your best judgement, launch, measure, change and do it again.

Don't go for perfect track records.
Go for always trying.
And always improving - if only by a little bit each time. It adds up.

Zen and the war of ideas

This is very much a work in progress, and jumping all over the place - as I re-read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance ("Zen" later in the text for brevity). It started last summer, when Part 1 took on work vs passion, then part 2 explored the chapters dealing with mental models.

Then this year along with the general blog reboot, I got back to reading Zen. So, the third part in the flow of the book delved into insanity and reality. This post got pushed a bit further out in the schedule, but will also hopefully bring us back around to the end of part II - and the fifth post that snuck in and screamed to be let out.

Although, from rereading the quotes and notes, and getting them formatted below, it does seem like there will be yet one more for the road. We'll just have to see how it turns out - if it does run a bit long or gets a consistent flow.

All quotes are from the Kindle edition, with the location marked (@...) - and also linked

Understanding and knowledge - a little means a lot

Central to the mental journey, and also for the underlying motivation of the real journey - is understanding. A quest for knowledge, but also a desire to expand the actual "mass" of knowledge we have.

From what fragments of memory I have, Phaedrus had a high regard for DeWeese because he didn’t understand him. @2252

How can we extend our ideas? By reading things that are just a little bit hard to grasp, by having to reread, refelct and discuss - by not just flowing into the next chapter, but stopping.

And that is par of the motivation for me, in taking some extra time to re-read the book, but also in blogging about it along the way (even if it has taken quite some time, and a few stops along the way).

Zen is not just a story. It is not just a 'painted' image of the world and our roles in it. It is in many ways more about a path, a way to find 'enlightenment' or understanding, by pushing against some of the 'set' constraints.

Just like creativity often works best with certain limits (use only blue, no circles, ...),so basic learning needs to rest on assumptions and terms. But when you have the basics, then maybe it is time to question the assumptions, break the rules and explore why and how on the outskirts.

The real University is nothing less than the continuing body of reason itself. @2416

Because it is when we think and reason that we use knowledge. and when we share it we help it grow. So open source, sharing and collaboration, makes us push ourselves and express our preferences in terms of improvements. There is nothing better than showing how you want something "fixed" - rather than just complaining about the current state of things (or knowledge).

Which brings us onto the more spiritual part of Zen;

He became aware that the doctrinal differences among Hinduism and Buddhism and Taoism are not anywhere near as important as doctrinal differences among Christianity and Islam and Judaism. Holy wars are not fought over them because verbalized statements about reality are never presumed to be reality itself. @2311

Truth is not a given, not a final thing. From this perspective it is a process, and a goal, a state of mind more than anything written down and passed on. A path to understanding, not a set of facts.

Which ties over to motivation, or dedication - because it isn't about facts, you need to take a 'leap of faith' when you start a journey of this kind;

You are never dedicated to something you have complete confidence in. No one is fanatically shouting that the sun is going to rise tomorrow. They know it’s going to rise tomorrow. When people are fanatically dedicated to political or religious faiths or any other kinds of dogmas or goals, it’s always because these dogmas or goals are in doubt. @2456

.
..
...
....
.....
Just take some time to reflect on that.
.....
....
...
..
.
It was one of those moments as I read it. It just seems so obvious now afterwards. Sometimes it is too easy in hindsight.
Facts are beyond feelings
Passions are beyond facts

music

art

politics

We can engage because the answer is not given. There is no single way to see Picasso. Or to hear Vivaldi. You can't be sure if you are "doing it right". You have to have faith in your impression, your process and path. 

The path is the goal at any given time

The statement “To travel is better than to arrive” comes back to mind again and stays. We have been traveling and now we will arrive. For me a period of depression comes on when I reach a temporary goal like this and have to reorient myself toward another one. @2485

 always fragments, pushing forward. Each section a story unto itself.  But what is the overall flow? Is there even one, or are we just so good storytellers that we always manage to tie the treads together? Was it a step in its own right, or just a smaller fragment of things to come? How do we tell? How can we know?

“You look at where you’re going and where you are and it never makes sense, but then you look back at where you’ve been and a pattern seems to emerge. And if you project forward from that pattern, then sometimes you can come up with something. @2730

Is it storytelling or "lies to children"? Does it make sense because there is meaning, or because we make meaning?
And does it matter?
If we understand the events by the story, then the events have a part of that story, even if it is only a temporary collection of fragments. It is not right. Or wrong, fact or fiction. The story is. The whole of the parts is.

Molecules are molecules. They don’t have any ethical codes to follow except those people give them. The test of the machine is the satisfaction it gives you. There isn’t any other test. If the machine produces tranquillity it’s right. @2671

 gaggia time. serenity now. it just is.

Too good to fail?

Kicking off the week, and starting the autumn season with some thoughts on this piece by Seth on competence as a barrier to possibility. Basically considering that when we get good at something, we know how it is done and what the result should look like.

And just maybe because of that, it is easy to loose sight of the possibility of "creative mutation" or "successful failure"

Just like automation takes out the "handmade" feel in products?

Jaime Oliver used to say that he intentionally cut pieces at odd angles and assorted widths, just to retain that feeling of a personal touch. Smashing up the onions and the mushrooms a bit, so it looked like "real" pieces, rather than machine processed goods.

How easy is it to use an error as something to build on, rather than just something to be pruned out with out further consideration?

Chances are, if something is a bit off, it might trigger ideas that then lead to further changes and explorations.

But they could also just lead you on a tangent. So setting aside some time, rather than doing it every time is a good idea

Love the one you're with! For free.

Love the one you're with? Yes, it seems like a trite old love song. But is about trying to find the gold you have access to. Rather than dreaming of the Moon, you need to live on Earth a while longer.

Mitch did a short piece on motivation and work with a video talk by Dan Ariely included as extra bonus.

Mapping with lists

Cleaning out the gmail box as well, since all the old drafts and direct ideas are gone.

And what is more suitable then htan a post on getting ideas. The tools and the structures we can play with.

Randomness in a world of abundant filters

Intelligent Life - Serendipity

Way back when I would love picking up Intelligent Life at the newsagent. As the time for a new issue neared I'd peak more frequently at the shelves.

tsundoku, not just sudoku

Wow, the Japanese have a word for "the act of buying books and not reading them, leaving them to pile up": tsundoku 

Wondering if it applies to dvd and games as well?

Or if they have separate terms for the assorted forms of lacking consumption despite the desire.

The backlog is pretty stuck, at least not buying any new stuff. Mostly. Physically.

Got close to half a shelf full of fun stuff from Amazon, mainly photo and drawing or animation related. The stuff that isn't just about reading, but needs some doing as well. Aspirational, more than pratical plans.

Regular books are only Terry Pratchett. And with his health I've been holding off a bit on reading the latest books. Just in case. And despite some splurge shopping the Kindle reading list is in pretty good shape.

Then there are the iBooks shelves - running up a technical backlog, mainly things that are somewhat tangential to "business as usual", since 50% deals at O'reilly are to frequent and to much fun. Daily deals and then some.

Then there was that batch of games during the GOG drm free weekend sale. ONly 15-20 titles depending on how you count expansions. Does that count? Actually considered buying some games on dvd rather than there, since summer sales are in effect other places as well.

...and then there is that 2 month free trial of Comoyo video I've been meaning to get started with. Free. No strings attached.

...and also really should get on Netflix soon, rewatch House of Cards, and some series - but they don't have Sopranos or Wire, so getting a binge on for those will need another solution, like testing out HBO.

How many #backlogs do you have taking up space or mental effort?

Is it a problem, or a pure luxury?



wondering a bit about Google - midway through writing I was "logged out somewhere else", and asked if I wanted to log in again... no, no, just in the middle of typing a sentence, no need to do anything else. 

Story sketch - the forking election

Saw this tweet way way back, and RT'ed with the comment; there is a short story in that. 

@mwiik Thinking: In the future, candidates for president will advertise "fork me on github" #hacksociety

Not going to write out a full story, most likely, but wanted to get some ideas and hooks down here in case it feels right or triggers something else. Maybe something to pick up in time for NaNoWriMo, or just a fun fragment to look back at a while down the line.

title ideas

the forking election

one man, one fork

don't just vote, push

chars

bob - candidate 1, running for the incumbent party, wants to change it up, but unsure of how far his mandate will hold. Wants to use politico.code [PC] to explore the fringes.

harper - the upstart in the challenger party, pushing for a broader agenda. has a long stint as founder and tech lead behind him, before converting to politics. still dabbles in open source, to keep connected and credible. One of the first ten politicians to structure his platform on politico.code [PC] , and a strong supporter of the vote-platform auto integration

emma - current tech lead for voter engagement at the incumbents, has been an intern in one of harpers start ups, and also at [PC] before getting the current posting. Loves the tech chances the job offers, but unsure about the nuances in the politics of the party.

NN - political hacktivist, loves to challenge politicians on their lack of track record for voting along their stated platform.

scenes

bob office, emma and bob discuss areas suitable for wider testing on [PC] 

coffee shop - harper surfing blogs for ideas, new ad campaign, finds discussion with prominent political thinker X and NN, decides to "challenge" NN and his ilk in the campaign - "keep me honest"

(soundtrack; Count Basie, the kid from red bank, opening track on Complete Atomic Basie)

bob launches his [PC] effort just hours before harpers campaign kicks off, making it a feeding frenzy for talkshows, blogs and corridors

(soundtrack; Christina Aguillera, Fighter)

talk show - bob and harper face off, hangout style on boingboing - [PC] goes mainstream, signups skyrockets

challenger party first tier nominee hopefulls finds themselves sidelined, all the debates are about bob vs harper - with [PC]  taking center stage

the election sees record particiaption - both of "old school" voters who want their voice heard directly, and by the "new gen" of the [PC] involved activist coder voters

closing scenes, bob and harper watching the buzz as voting closes, blogs, feeds, dashboard from last minute [PC] suggestions

THE END 

Test like there is no tomorrow

Why have a series of meetings, when you can set up a test in minutes or seconds?

Why is it so scary to let go, and test your way forward?

Robots and calculators all around

Mitch is asking marketers to let their ego go;

What if everything you have been bringing to the table could be debunked with a simple multivariate testing regiment?

Twisted tales of Buffy meets Donnie

This is not a review, but some musings that I wrote down after watching Southland tales - definetly on my top ten mental movies list. But still a must see. In a way. 

IMDB says people who liked it also liked Brazil and Bladerunner. Which makes a twisted kind of sense. My summary is simple;

No fear no launch?

Hence the opportunity. If you do things that are safe but feel risky, you gain a significant advantage in the marketplace. [seth]

Since everybody else is shying away from those things that feel risky, but in fact are probably not - just new and strange, actively pursuing those "blind spots" can be a worthwhile endeavour.

This of course is based on a few assumptions running as a red thread through seth godin's later works;

Fear is a natural thing, but not a rational one - meaning it doesn't really make sense to fear the things that were scary 10 000 years ago (change, loud noise, uncertainty) when we have culturally evolved our settings to such a degree.

Secondly, you have to be able to differentiate risky from risk - some things and efforts are still liable to burn through a lot of money. Fast. And depending on your position that could hurt. But doing an online start up, using cloud services and open source baseline, you can scale both up and down a lot more effortlessly than during the 2000 bubble.

Third, it has to be something that is sustainable, and not something everybody will just copy when you have proved it viable

And that last part is probably the hardest, with so many people doing start ups, apps, re-nnoavtiong or pivots - finding a good spot to take a business might be harder than going ultra niche and global.

So, let fear be an indication that you are moving into a zone of opportunity rather than a danger zone, but keep the scope sane

42, 46, 98?

Oh the irony that is my tagline.

Initially i figured that writing would make more sense in the winter, since less time is spent outside then than in the summer months of lazy long sunny evenings. There by leaving more time to read articles, magazines and non fic books.

And by extension; more time to write and reflect, triggering more writing and musings.

Well, the last two years have shown a slight change in that idea. It seems almost like I'm mentally in a coma during the winter - I read, I get the job done and I play some games, watch some tv. But adding more value than 140 characters including a URL has not been a top priority.

Come summer and sun, the energy soars, the ideas floursih, the tv is all but banished (due to reruns of reruns from mid/early May), the games forgotten or unplayable with the sun going until late. And so the blogging picks up.

Hence it has been early summer that has triggered a resurgence of posts, and come fall this 10th year of blogging on and off I'll try to keep it going at a more measured pace.

Aiming for two post each week, possibly scheduled four at a time, seems like doing about five in a sitting works pretty well, as long as the drafts are there with links, quotes or snippets.

With 46 in the bank from May and June, another half year of twice weekly works out to around 98 for the year overall. a stretch but doable. First two full years clocked in at 107 and 98, so putting that out there as a ballpark seems right.


Update @15.7; despite a full stop the first part of the month, there are now ten posts published or scheduled 



- ...and the sun shines in the distance as I write this, who knows how it will be when I polish it up, or when it hits the blog proper...

Faster, bigger, better, MOOOOOOORE

Picking up the ideas from the last post on convergene and pace of change;
then again - like the brilliant The Pace of Modern Life shows, we have felt for a long time that the past was a lot simpler, the pace more bearable, the interactions more meaningful and deep.

Perhaps it is like Agent Smith implied in the Matrix, feeling a bit miserable and nostalgic is part of the core of the human spirit and our underlying "OS". We fill whatever time is available to the brim and then some, and then we look at change as something unnatural when it is the only constant.

Reboot?

Quick meta note; this should go out as post 26 for June, and 46 in total - making the first half of 2013 match the total for 2012 - meaning also that we are on good track to finish on par with the 06-08 run of around weekly post on average, at the very least.

Fragment my convergence

Mobile and digital is making everything possible, and breaking down boundaries between products, services and utility. And it is happening at speed.

This is not about media convergence. It's about something bigger. Things change. Things change so fast that sometimes, it's hard to see it. We tend to think about our businesses and our lives in terms of keeping up with change.

The New Convergence by Mitch Joel, ends on the question: what do you think?

I think it will go to pieces for a while

In that the world we've had for a few years now, with Google and Facebook dominating the web, and Apple driving mobile and apps forward is changing into a plethora of markets, devices, ideas and changes.

Kickstarter is one force driving that forward. Products like the Pebble e-paper watch sold for $10 million unseen, untested and with out reviews. It could have sucked. But it still got made and changed how a watch and a remote and a sensor display is viewed.

Sure it has a lot of potential for improvement, but compare the Newton to the iPad and add in innovation at a digital pace - and five or ten years down the road you might be able to "drag" any app from your main device onto one or more support devices, to show the data you need right now just right.

Platforms like Arduino and the Raspberry Pi are making the "somewhat smart" gadget even more affordable and providing a huge step up to total diy. We put up a Pi showing 3 twitter feeds on a dedicated screen, at a fraction of the cost of a whole laptop, and also a lot cheaper than trying to get a  better gpu. Because it was disposable, we might as well give it a shot.

Mobile is back in the trenches, Android gaining ground as the smart phones move into mass market and lower income brackets, and as the top of the line models outstrip the 5 for power, style and innovation. Microsoft still pushing, with some Nokia steam. Blackberry not so much in Europe, but die hards in the US pushing pushing. And Samsung? Making everything from TV to fridge, and a lot in between. Will they make a substantial move, or continue to play the horses?

And startups? With Amazon, Google, Microsoft and more pushing the cloud solutions onwards, upwards and all over every day, the barriers to entry are mostly about attention.

So, change is here.

It will be here for a long time.
It might not get faster - at least not on the same scale as the last two decades,
but it will certainly be stranger.

Music makes me take control

Bodum Pavina - double layer for extreme isolation and clear taste

Two things for inspiration and finding the flow - coffee and music;

The coffee has reached room temperature. The bitter bite reminds me that it is time to refill the cup again. Morning will not move forward without this action. Refilled I can once again type. Let the words pour forth with the hopeful goal of something worth keeping.

Like the post on toes in the grass, this one called Finding the Flow came up over the weekend, by another member of the rat pack of social and digital media - aka Media Hacks.

CC is clearly carving his own path, doing speaking and books, along with being a dedicated dad, rather than working for an agency. Pushing the podcasts every now and again, as another item in the content mix.

And that is part of the joy of reading his post, hearing his thoughts and reflecting on his questions.

He brings another view and vibe, kicking it up with the music, relaxing with a cup, and generally bringing a smile.

I've had a lot more fun with music over the last few months, after I (finally) got on the streaming bandwagon and subscribed to Wimp (similar to Spotify, Norwegian based rather than Swedish, paid only and more focus on blog and recommending music across genres, less cover bands)

Rather than having it as background while doing things, I've used it to explore new ideas and themes, and to have a jump back into years long gone - songs that played on the radio that never bought, artists that seemed strange at the time but grew into something more.

Not simply a tool to tune out and zone in, it has added a little bit at times when that was needed. And all for one less pint each month. While feeling sort of good that some of that money is being kicked forward.

Unnamed idea

"I know who I want to be. Do you? An important part of discovering / creating your own future is to find out, or plan, who you are going to become."

From the aptly named Untitled Essay - by the foul mouthed media hack extraordinare, Julian Smith. Currently making the world (or at least the US for now?) a bit of a saner place with Breather, basically a half way house between hangign in the nearest coffee shop and taking into an hotel for a full day.

It all seems so simple when people like Seth spell it out. Be the linchpin. Make the purple cow. Fly high towards the sun.

Yet it is hard enough that most people never do, try or imagine a reality like that.

Then there are books like the last manifesto in the Domino series. Flinch by Julien. Still free for Kindle thanks to generous sponsorships. And listed as "best books of 2013 so far" - despite coming out in december 2011....

Walk the talk, and those who can do - are perhaps trite, but in this case it fits. Julien took his own advice to heart, built a future he wanted and a service he felt improves the world a little bit every day.

Sure, Breather might fail, or it might be a tiny tiny niche even years down the line. But he stood up, faced the darkness, the voices inside and said; lets do this.

How large of a buffer do you need?
How many hours of planning, dreaming and doodling?
How many stories of "rags to riches" to make it better than playing the lottery?


Along with Pressfield, Flinch is on my re-read for summer list. And pushing content here five times a week on average is a step on the way to that end.


Then, come summers end?

...?

idea?
plan?
action?
ship?

Feels like clover

I read recently that the very simple act of walking barefoot on grass is a powerful and natural stress reliever.

Brogan post, via Pocket, The Business of Simple - and also testing a bit of typing with the touchfire, since it seems that the web version on blogger works passably well for basic use in chrome on the iPad. (Meaning I'll add in the links later, just doing placeholders and typing out the ideas for now)

With summer more or less in full effect the outdoors is an ongoing topic of interest for several blogs, this one resonated well with my own feeling of bliss sitting in the playground earlier as junior ran around enjoying life.

Walking barefoot in the sand or in high grass gives extra texture to life, reminding us of something more than just the digital grind and the laptop. It shifts around, it teases and touches us. Shifting but constant at the same time.

Looking in close at something so seemingly simple and uniform as sand is also a good way to appreciate complexity.

The myriad of small crystals that make up a simple handful is staggering.

A good way to test your digital camera, in terms of resolution, sharpness and stability. Get down there and discover the magic.

In a sense that is a benefit with the keyboard here as well, giving that little bit of tactile feedback during the typing, means that the speed is almost up to my normal typing on a smaller keyboard. With a bit of predictive type ahead, it works out reasonably well overall.

Minor gripe that I'm now typing unseen, behind the keyboard, had to do a double finger scroll to get back in screen, but still a lot better than any previous blogger iOS experience. Guess that says a lot about understanding mobile and tablet, and why Android is still filled with 3rd party "skins" on top and fragmentation like nobodies business. I mean, Samsung is releasing 3 tablets - using two differnt versions.

Better to have than never?

Just a short post, going out directly not from a draft but from a too long open tab, as summer vacation takes it toll on the posting streak;

Now or never, now or never, now or never—the words niggled at me like a song stuck in my head.

The quote is from the intro to the story in PodCastle 219: The Circle Harp - and you can listen in full, for free as with all the goodness from Escape Artists. The theme is about taking a chance or sticking to what you know.

At what point will it be better to go for something "a bit over the moon", rather than playing in the same small pond? Is it better to lose in the big leagues, than to dominate in the minors?

Can you develop your art without stretching beyond the comfort zone? Do we need to push it into the next gear? Or is there a place for doing it good enough, providing what is needed and valued by the audience we have? Trade off or cop out?

- ...and the sun is promising a warm wonderful day of summer, and 7 new drafts made it into the backlog via ifttt ...

Democracy, because you're worth it

"Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want 

and deserve to get it good and hard."

via Quotes of the Day, one of many attributed to H. L. Mencken - listed as US editor (1880 - 1956) and it is the second to last of the draft backlog here. Fitting in a way.

It certainly reflects on thoughts going back to Plato and others, that the masses are more or less stupid, and giving them the full power will give them what they "deserve" rather than what they "need". Guidance rather than understanding being the defining bias. Some know better, and they should not only be elected, but preferred.

Democracy is not a single thing, and every nation that has at least one version running, does it differently. It is the ultimate open source forking model. Some states run things differently for different levels. Local, regional and national each having their rules and measures.

So it is a "broken" concept, yet it is vastly better than the alternatives seen so far. We can live with the small "injustices" of uneven representation or extended campaigning over political labour. And come fall here in Norway, the whole spectacle will get into gear. Because we deserve it. Because it is worth it.

Dumb and dumber? D'oh...

Well now, as Wordpress would say, this is a bit embarresing... down to the last few drafts and then there is this;

Ben canosha:

1. Review information omnivore ?

2. "web makes smart people smarter, dumb people dumber..."

- need skill to get value  Easy to fall through auto cracks?

So, it looks like I wanted to write something about Ben. Casnocha that is. Most likely after hearing him on SPOS #310 a year ago. But trying to find the book review he talked about is turning up as little now as it most likely did then. 

Guess we'll have to run with part two - more or less a qoute at that;

"web makes smart people smarter, dumb people dumber..."

If you just let the sites serve up what ever makes their ctr go boom, then you might not be getting all the value you could from the web. It is still a slightly lean forward proposition, at least in terms of curating your curators.

Of all the millions of twitter accounts you can follow, how many add value, for you, in your position at your skill level and in that industry? Or the industry you want to get to? 

Make a list, or three. And then cull it every now and again, removing those that no longer add to the flow.

Same goes for blogs and assorted sites - get a reader, like feedly, set up with a handful of starting points. Then follow links and add in the good ones you find.

Supplement it with a semi-smart tool like Zite or Flipboard, but spend some time pushing the direction you need to go up front.

Find three or five key areas you are intrigued by, and that will help stretch you. Find a few at the edge of comfort, and at least one just beyond.


Then take a step back, add a list or two just for fun stuff, and do the same for blogs or topics. Be it specialty coffee, ManU or Dilbert. Every diet needs a bit of sugar and dessert.

Urgency is a state of mind

Of course you need to click and get all of it from Seth Godin: Urgent, please read asap

That's what gets done, of course. The urgent. [...] The problem, of course, is that the queue of urgent never ends, it merely changes its volume as it gets longer.

Stay the path

Back? Yes, you need to finish up here, then on to the next post or the next feed. Then that other app. And then newspaper. Quickly back to the inbox, skim a few more messages.

Fire off a reply, forward another message and push the third into the todo folder. Not the urgent folder, or the current project. Just the todo. For those days that never come.

The daily uploads to YouTube are probably more minutes of video than you will watch. Same for the snaps on insta. Not to mention the number of newspapers and tv channels around the world.

There is no way you can see, read, understand or watch it all. FIlters and priority is a fact of life. No one is going to celebrate if you give it the extra 5%. They will just assume you have yet another 5% and continue to push things your way.

Me? 

I turned off my work email on the iPad since that is my main device for consuming news and secondary for books. Set up auto away mode on the phone, and if I'm off for more than a weekend I'll turn off push notifications on the phone as well. Made 8 subfolders under to do, all for storing ideas and links that might be useful, depending on which project actually has priority at any given time.


How are you swimming in the currents, playing with the flow and surfing the expectations?
#urgenttodo

-...and the sun will shine, and the rain will fall, and we'll be here, through it all ...

Snap your way around

There is no better way to change how you experience the place you live, than by getting out the camera - and going for a walk. And since I like a lot of others use my mobile as only camera, the first part is easy.

Stuck in time

The second part - the walking - might require a bit more effort. Hopefully summer will grace us with some suitable days, but if not - then a large umbrella and some boots will make the experience as memorable.

For some having a clear path is the best way to get to it. Personally I prefer the random stroll, letting the images build the story and the path.

Pick a place you often walk past. But stop there. Try to take ten snaps, at least five different subjects - right there. 

Then pick one of them as a theme for the next hour or so, and off you go.

Remember the "keeper ratio" - one in fifty might be the one to print and hang on the wall. Five can go on insta. Burn the others to a disc for eternity and beyond.

Post inspired by CC, namely the Wandering and Wondering;

Never forget that we don’t need a map to find our way. Yesterday, as I took my camera for a walk along the coast of Victoria, British Columbia I had no purpose beyond enjoying every minute of it.

Factual dreams - a true oxymoron

Sometimes it is easy to forget how "magical" current tech would seem to a visitor from the pas, or even ourselves enough years ago. 

Sitting here typing on a laptop with glowing keys so the light can be down and the sky outside can set the mood (scheduling pub time, summer dusk at present) 

With music coming down from the cloud, landing on my small slab of a mobile (or smart glass, or mini computer) and out via the connected speaker.

 Eva & The Heartmaker: Live fra Rockefeller http://wimp.no/album/20517767

And then glancing down at my e-paper watch to see the track title, and maybe skip or pause. 

In another ten or five years, the keyboard might be connected to the phone-slab as well, with the screen being multipurpose, rather than welded onto a battery and cd combo. Or the phone will be gone, replaced with a small biometric knob - able to connect to assets at home, at work and in the coffee shop.

Or not. It will change, but how it will transition is still thankfully unclear. We can dream, play, test and explore our way forward. Ipad,Air or MS Surface - will they become one or will all three have their niche? 

Why am I writing this on the big MBP, and not the iPad - or even over at the workhorse stationary pc? Full size keyboards on both, but the immediacy of the mid sized screen up close, as opposed to the vastness of the 24'' might be part of it. Or possibly the avoidance of distractions - games are lined up over there, a backlog of golden rpg games, bought digitally to fill in the gaps in the collection. Same goes for the iPad, the lack of full on keyboard (despite the nifty Touchfire needing some love) and an abundance of consummation apps makes other uses better than blogging. 

And still I lust for a brand new Air. Not because I need more gear. Nor because it is time to replace the latop. But because it is new. And shiny. And better than the one I lusted over last year. 

Solved it then by having a friend buy one with myself as advisor during the test and purchase. Not to mention rebooting the iPad2 for a forth gen. A cheap perk for my employer, considering the hours spent reading and staying up to date, on my own time. For now blaming the lack of instant OS update might be enough. Hassle free being a key decider in anything that will be just for fun and on my own time.

On that note it seems right to get around to the quote that started the tangent off:

This is the challenge of the Kickstarter artist, the growth stock CEO and the well-published author. Dreams are irresistible, but they will never match reality when it finally appears.

[seth G, my link added]

And that is why Kickstarter is the ultimate "weird" shopping experience - you get to play along with the process, so by the time you get the product you are vested, and using it feels a lot more natural than something you "just" bought in a store.

For some products the experience up to the product might be enough in and off itself. The feeling of being a patron of the (creative) arts making a transaction justified even if you don't really need the product that much.

Might also be why I had more or less shifted into digital only projects. Until a weak moment saw a dual dose of robots getting some support. So by xmas there should be a Sparky trotting along with some sort of BrickPI creation. Provided they both make it past customs and survive shipping.

Think bad thoughts, it is worth it

Ending the weekend with a "live" post - more stream of consciousness than overly planned. The quotes were trimmed down a few days ago, so we'll see if it still makes sense now. More scheduled stuff coming in the next days, counting down towards zero in the backlog of drafts!

Started reading "Random Acts of Violence", about 1/3 of the way in, and it still is a bit unclear how to describe the book... it is sort of a typical "YA" diary, growing up story. But every few pages there are drops of something darker, more sinister in the background than just plain vanilla NYC.

But it none the less ties nicely into the post by C.S.Penn that initailly sparked the title;

An odd metaphysical thought (re)occurred to me last night while reading some of the day’s news stories. Maybe a contributing reason to why it feels like we’re experiencing more trouble in the world is because we’re actively wishing for it. [src]

Do we make the world we want? Or are we just flowing along in a comfort zone until it all breaks apart?

News and images coming in from Turkey over the last few weeks seem to enhance the "shit hits the fan" theory. Been there for vacation, and got more or less the same vibe as the majority of Mediterranean spots - secular, modern, a bit pushy and "fast and loose" with the stories.

Today the "official" protest is reported at a million in attendance... austerity in Greece, minor collaps in Cyprus and all out war in Syria. Now try sitting in the middle.

Our politics are more about putting the other guy/gal/party/ideology down than they are promoting what we believe in, so much so that we define candidates by what they oppose instead of what they support. [ibid]

Typically US? Or spreading a little bit every day? We are heading into election season in Norway, a slow simmer during the summer then some crazy weeks in early autumn. So far it looks like a lot of "name calling" dressed up as "taking a stand". On both sides. Both the incumbent coalition, and the opposition trying to figure out what kind of constellation they might win with and live with.

How will the overall tone be?

Last election was local, and came not to long after 227. So it was strange and respectful at the same time. This time it is national, and the stakes are higher than in a long time.

8 years of rule that has in most ways kept us out of the Housing/Euro/austerity crisis rolling across Southern Europe and the US.

But how much would really change? In the largest city in southern Norway, the two main opposing parties ruled together last term - because they both had issues with their respective coalition partners. And the direct changes in the budget (ie above and beyond the running costs and long term agreements) is tiny.

If a company or organization does something good, does something constructive, then reward them with your business. Be especially vigilant about rewarding people of opposing viewpoints when they do something that’s good – recognize that even in your differences, we all share the same common hopes and dreams. [ibid]

So play nice, reward nice - and think about the choices you do make - be it of action or omission


The post How to starve trouble appeared first on Christopher S. Penn : Awaken Your Superhero - read it in full there!

It's all about the execution, stupid

Not really, since Strategy matters more than ever:

When everyone is playing the same game, your execution is critical. [...] Not changing your strategy merely because you're used to the one you have now is a lousy strategy.

Yup, Seth again, this one from July 23, 2012 - such a treasure trove. The gift that keeps on giving.

Does digital open up for more copycats, or does it force us into our own path and localized maximum?

There are probably more Groupon clones, than there are active users of coupon services. But there are still more other start ups playing in the distribution, rewards and benefits arena. And as the different ideas gain traction, it makes a lot more sense to do it differently, rather than trying to "out Amazon Amazon"

Not even sure if Google or Microsoft* can do that in terms of cloud offerings - AWS is THE dog, it plays for scale and pushing costs to zero. Having services like Netflix does a bit for your volume and requirements.

Same way YouTube totally dominates in video hosting, distribution, monetization and partially creation. Pushing the scope ever outwards, doing hangouts on air, paid channels, longer clips, higher quality. Step by step eating up the niches. Vimeo made sense in a more constrained time for the "above average" video producer, but now?  

The same digital flexibility is what you need to play around with, map out not THE path, but a set of options, interconnected or related, and figure out how you might need to pivot up front. Just like playing chess - if competitor X launches this, we'll do ..., but if competitor Y appears, we'll just ...

Run the scenarios. Describe the story. Map the future. 

Rinse, repeat. Because in 6 months there will be new players, models and options.



* love how the blogger dictionary doesn't see the need to capitalize Blogger or Google, but microsoft gets a red line

-...and the sun has been staying around in the early days of June, here's to hoping for many more lazy days and late warm nights...

Share a way, then I can find my way

[chris brogan] did a post called "Owners start with recipes";

I’ve made a mistake over and over again. I continue to believe that we don’t want recipes, that we don’t want leaders. But neither are true.

[...] If I don’t show you what I know, and if I don’t show you how to cook a “something,” you might not feel confident enough to first replicate that something, and then vary and create your own magical dish.

It feels so right when you read it like that.

Not everybody is an explorer.

We can't all make our own MVC javascript framework (or we shouldn't - but that's for another rant)

But at least some thing are better off with a bit of guidance.

I had played around with d3 a bit - but it was only with Scott Murray's brilliant book that I both sat down for some extended time - and got a lot of ideas for minor tweaks, and then put some into the wild, and got more ideas by seeing other projects. All because I knew I had the "basics" in hand should I need to reboot.

The book is both a contained entity, promising that you can get through it and on to your own playtime, and a natural progression - chapters and pages flow from the barest basics to fully working and useful examples

Also probably why business books will continue to sell well - there is always a need for some handholding, just getting a consistent story and a feeling of "overview".

Not to mention consulting. Having someone who tells you that "this is the way it is done in business A and market B" makes for a good starting point.

But for both books and consulting, the difference between wasted time and world class can be hard to spot - since it depends a lot on your own situation and level;

- how far along are you on your journey from reading the FAQ to writing it?

Some lines are there to cross, others to sharpen the image

The power of zero spend [src];

Rigidity is rarely your friend, but well understood boundaries make decision making a lot easier.

Two Seth quotes almost back to back, but they are from months apart initially. This also marks a push of the draft box into single digits. And that is a nice simile here - having pushed a lot of links partially out by lack of proper draft API, it was time to clean up the blog. Doing that by focusing on getting out at least 5 posts each week, and mainly by eliminating the backlog has made for a bit of extra structure and push.

Same goes for getting a project off the ground - set some (arbitrary) ground rules;

• we'll be testing 3 ideas at a time, but revise that to 2 if the differences are large enough during first runs
• each period will be more or less a week, so we have time to get data, make new ideas and run the numbers
• keep the numbers simple, and consistent - do initial comparison within each test, then combine and compare after 3-4 runs

SImple steps, but makes the difference between going all ad hoc, and being to rigid to flex out the time. 

Had a similar experience in terms of design constraints - a subcontractor just blew past the boxes that had been set up. But the end result was so much better, and inline with the actual goals (rather than the guides), that is will serve as a new template - at least for now.

Some boxes you play nice with, others you just rip apart, and use the shreds to pave a path forward.

But how do you figure out ahead of time which kind of box you are in?

This is MY place - for now

@avinash sharing Baekdal quoting Avinash,  with the subtlest prompt:

[If you read only one thing in Jan] *Rented or Owned: Where To Focus Your Brand Content*  

[src]

A good piece with some nice charts for illustrating how you can think about what content goes where, and why you should have a clear understanding of it. Still a must read for anyone doing more than "just" blogging for their own benefit.

As I've stated before lately, this blog goes back to pyralabs era, and the current google focus and understading leaves a bit to be desired. So I keep on pulling down a back-up, and playing around with WP options (occupational hazard at the moment as well) - and with a Kickstarter donation to Ghost (one of 5000 - yay!) I'll have to give that a spin in the fall.

27,000 code additions to the core repository in the last month (Ghost update)

Still it feels open enough at blogger, to let things roll along, at least the web interface works well enough for simple writing - and that should be the focus above all. Content, content, content. Then a sprinkling of links, and a small drop of design.

So the traction gets a bit harder, the volume a bit higher, and the swap is postponed once more. Until the fall at least, to see how far this "streak" of publishing can be extended. To see how "post Reader" Google behaves. 

i'm not young enough to know everything

- that's an Oscar Wilde quote taking the place of the title, having just heard it on Podcastle as I jumped off to get some thoughts in line here. Just realized the backlog and schedule was all out of content. But there are still a handfull of drafts to go - and then Pocket is filling up with good ideas and inspiration, so it looks like 2012 will be passed in terms of actual posts by the end of June.

Summer is a time of long afternoons stretching right into the night - half an hour to go for midnight, and still pretty light outside, a grey and rosy tint to the clouds. It is also a time for more reading of books on the Kindle in the sun, than skimming twitter and the web on an active screen like the ipad or laptop.

That might be why this quote is so suitable, from yet another Seth Godin post;

If you're upset that the hoi polloi are busy doing what you used to do, get better instead of getting angry.

Sure, you might feel entitled because you spent a lot of time (and perhaps a bit of effort) learning or getting access to things that were special - publishing a book, writing for a paper, designing visual or actual stuff - the list goes on. But now "everybody" can do it.

Doesn't mean they are going to be good at it.
Nor that they will be able to charge for it.

But it does mean that your nice little superior niche is busted wide open.
For some areas it means a lot more business - how many people make a living brewing coffee today?

For others it means a changing relation - being a wedding photographer amidst instagram and vine means you have to bring something more to the shoot, be it composition, scope or storytelling.

Just do it? Smarter, not harder.

Who's your master?

Been thinking about this post on and off for some time - partially based on the post [six pixels - Mitch Joel] - but also as I attended a "MOOC" on the Functional Art by Alberto Cairo, via Knight.

With so much information and insights all around, how do we best structure and create learning for ourselves and our peers?

Reading books, blogs, reflecting on them both in posts of our own.

Are blog posts the natural next level for term papers and other more scholarly deliverables? When we can discuss in forums online, do we need in class interaction - at all or for the same things?

In a single post you can explore an idea. Then across a series of posts you can start to get a grip on a topic. You can discuss quotes and include video snippets to set the stage for those reading at a later time, or simply to make the points more clearly.

You can edit. Sometimes almost to easily and carelessly. Wikipedia handles this by having the story right there, and WP3.6 is supposedly revamping the versions.

But can we all just choose and pick? Or are the ones who are able to just grab some books, read some articles and then just do it - the odd ones out?

How many of us are curios and driven, for how long? Is it school that "destroys" the lust for learning, the exploration and playfulness? Or is it something more at the core of each of us? Are we blaming the nearest and only common cause, rather than looking inside? Is it "the resistance" that drives us to prefer shelter and structure over "snacking" and exploration?


I'll let Mitch close this one out - not with his "punchline", but with the part that resonated the most for me:

Do not wait for a course to give you the answers. The answers are everywhere. Dive in. Be curious. Show up. Be serious. Be passionate. Be open.

taxi, taxi driver - drive me a story tonight

The result - a "moving" piece

Sometimes the simplest question begets the most amazing results. And this interactive represents one of those cases.

The background (as retold to / on Source) was simple enough, but represents a novel twist on the "and why should I care" conundrum;

My goal was to give the reader the experience of being down $120 and needing to earn that money back

How do you do that? Well, step by step is a nice starting point - and having a "running" meter beneth the map is a great way to connect the real world taxi with the visuals in the story

     var line = new Polyline();
        requestAnimationFrame(function() {
          var point = getNextPoint();
          line.addPoint(point);
        });

And here-in lies the beauty of the simple done good enough:

Speaking of judgment: this code is super duper non-optimized. It could be several orders of magnitude faster by throwing in some clever tricks and caches. But the fact is it works, and it works across platforms. That’s the most important requirement you face in a newsroom!

Everything could be made better, re-factored  generalized. But often times having that luxury would take time away from the functionality at hand. Just like a piece of journalism generally reads differently from a novel, and a studio produced movie looks better than a snap of a goal in a football match. Given the right time and resources everything can be polished, but often good is good enough. And something new every day is even better.

[src, via Source]

Kindle Reads? Good Fire?

The post on Open City, and thinking a bit more about openness, insights and sharing lead to this little wish list. Namely, how I'd love for Amazon and Goodreads to play together - for my reading, sharing, exploring and remembering pleasure.

Idea 1: wish shelf

Having the option of syncing each wishlist with a shelf, so one for non fic want to read, one for general genre fic, and one for darker tales.

Ideally books bought would move to another shelf, or into the "to read" mode.

Idea 2: my good

kindle.amazon works like a charm for looking up highlights, and for quickly updating the status of purchased books. It should be opened up or merged into Goodreads. Perhaps in an IFTTT kind of way, opening up the API for other stores as well.

Idea 3: wish buy

Not really related to Goodreads directly, but I find it really hard to understand why Amazon at all times neglects my purchasing behavior and signaling intent by using wish lists. 9 of the last 10 books bought have spent time on my wish list prior to the sale.

Then it would make sense to use that list as a basis for recommendations  It works that way for the regular cart.

But Kindle books don't play nice with the cart. Which is in a way another minor gripe, as I often buy 2-3 at once; why separate check out and receipt mail, not to mention separate debits of my card?

Idea 4: good app

Reading with the Kobo app can be a lot of fun, because it binds together the social, the metrics and the reading. It is no big deal, but having charts like Runkeeper for books and pages read, quotes shared and discussed would be nice. And pushing it into Goodreads with an open API would make even more sense, since readers are a small niche to begin with, the more the merrier.

What would you like to see? #kindleGood ?

- ...and the sun was away as this got underway, a small evening shower on Monday (still doing that schedule thang, and loving it) - but still warm enough by far to sit outside on the balcony letting the thoughts flow ...

The truth in fiction

You can get a lot of truth from a made-up story.

Another great card / image from Indexed, a book tells a story openly, but perhaps the best insight we get from it is the story that plays out inside our head.

Spinning on the ideas the book delves into, or simply how it relates to our own stories.

Finished Open City by Tehu Cole on the balcony over the weekend, and one of the highlights is right in line with that same sentiment.

on to a bit of longer a side note, 

Open City was one of those books that made it's way onto my radar, then picked up kindle ed and read almost instantly - in less than a month in total. Which is high "praise" in this day of digital access and overview. 

At any given time my two main wish lists for kindle books hover at or around titles 20 each (non fic and genre respectively , with another 6-10 ongoing or waiting in line in the app, and a total of 40-50 in a more long term limbo of assorted niche list.

back to the story

Our narrator reflects on a meeting with his neighbour [SPOILER - ALBEIT SMALL], and learning that the wife has passed away.

I didn’t switch on the light. A woman had died in the room next to mine, she had died on the other side of the wall I was leaning against, and I had known nothing of it. I had known nothing in the weeks when her husband mourned, nothing when I had nodded to him in greeting with headphones in my ears, or when I had folded clothes in the laundry room while he used the washer. [location 291]

A feeling of both being so close, yet closed out at the same time. The city is open, But are we, the people living in it? How can we live within a few feet of each other, and yet hardly interact? How many of your ten or hundred closest do you know at all? A friendly nod? A name? Some story or context?



-...and the sun is making art outside as this is written, painting the clouds in shades of yellow, gold, orange, pink... it is summer at last, and fully

I want to do it all, and then some more

How do you decide?

Chances are there are more thing you want to do, than people to do it.
More ideas than project teams.
More bugs than developers, never mind testers.

Should you focus on those big things that "wake up the neighbors" - attract a lot of attention and flair, preferably within the niche or market you play in - or should you do a lot of smaller, unknown and unknowing tests? Build the future stepwise, or stay the course first and foremost?

How do we find a balance? 

Can we?

Should we even try?

One reason that incumbents are so often defeated by newcomers is that the incumbents put their best people and their urgent focus on the stuff they used to do (like winning Pulitzer prizes, selling ads to cosmetic companies and counting dead trees) while the new guys have nothing but the new thing to focus on.

[seth, who else?]


Are you doing it wrong if you do what you know, what makes sense right now, and what "everybody" else is doing? Is radicall innovation and transformation advisable, never mind possible? Is it right to say to your current customers "sorry, we want someone else, so you'll be getting an inferior product - but it will be a lot better in a while, albeit something completely different"?

Apple could do the iPhone because they didn't have a phone business, didn't have telco relations to maintain, and an upgrade path to stick to. 3g, 4, 4s, 5? Incremental wrapping and icing on the cake.

Apple could also do the iPad, because they had 10% or less market share for laptops. Microsoft couldn't for the same reason. They had too many partners to placate, making the assorted touch screen laptops never-rans.

Facebook bought Instagram. Even if they had the bigger volume of users. Even if they had apps and were THE photo destination. But they didn't have or get mobile. As a core. As the only thing. Do they now? At least a bit more than before the 1 bn.

Just right, just so?

Not what I expected - but summer reading

But it is what it is. And this image from [Indexed] - posted on xmas - makes for a good reminder.

The tagline for the post was "may you live in interesting times" - so a natural summer reading recommendation would be:

Interesting Times - discworld novel #17, a bit of travel, some intrigue and politics, but most of all a great read.

I just finished novel #38 -Unseen Academicals, a great riff on sports, crowds and dreams, so I'm a bit fuzzy on the details for I.T - having read it back in '97 or '98 - but seem to recall it being a bit free standning, in that Rincewind takes a trip to the Counterweight Continent, making it both a jumping on point for new readers (where have you been hiding? 70 million books sold or so? Get with the program!) and a change of pace from the more connected story lines involving the Watch and the Witches.

For a full overview of the Discworld books and their internal principal connections, the LSpace has a "map".

And for some colorful background on the quote or curse, Wikipedia has the goods.

Give me an L, an O, N

Map of the Week: London Typographica showcases crowdsourced images of lettering and typefaces around London. It uses styled maps to both provide a clean background to display their markers and to allow people to navigate to areas they may want to explore.

[src]

via Google Geo Developers Blog - love the concept, and the execution of the map itself. Also a big up for having made an app for gathering the images directly with geocoding included. They have even made two different styles for the map, overriding the default google zoom detail levels.

What i miss as a user is some sort of guidance - a path or five through all the images.

• How do I find all the A's?
• Where are all the serifs? 
• The block fonts? 
• The signs rather than the street art?

Apparently, there is something in the works - or at least the idea is there - one image had this;

Tags: lettering, caps

So, I'll check back in another couple of months (GGDB post from Dec-12), and keep playing with my little statue location info app.

Consistency is a drag

"This is the best I can do" vs. "It's not good enough."

[seth]

Yes, it is another Seth Godin quote, there were a few in the draft backlog - deservedly so. Topic is failure to launch, innovate, improve and otherwise change.

For some it is due to a complacency - "if it ain't broke" type mentality. Change is hard and painful  Launching is scary. So it is a lot better to stick to the course, keep churning out the widgets / 30 second spots / 300 word pieces. We lull ourselves into thinking that we have tried and discussed other ways, but this is the best for the time we are in in, the people we have, the customers we serve.

For others it is due to perfection - it could be a bit better, the design needs some work, we have to get another blurb, run another focus group, wait for a better window, avoid this week, don't compete with that event. When there is no deadline, it is all to easy to let it be dead on the line instead.

The way to improve, is to change. And to change we have to get feedback. And to get feedback? Launch. Get it out there. Call it a beta or a soft launch, but get it out the door.


one caveat; make sure you set aside time to listen, evaluate and then re-launch or re-boot.

Summer reading - comic; Looking for Group

That’s right boys and girls, we are pleased to announce that LFG Volume 5 (in beautiful hardcover action) is now available for pre-order.

For the last books (vol 3 and 4) I re-read the previous collections before diving in. This time I've just left it a bit to really enjoy it during what will hopefully be some leisurely summer days. Have pre-ordered all five as they became available, so a signed collection

If you are new to Looking For Group, it is a webcomic, available to read for free - or you can pick up an omnibus edition for a mere $40 and support the artists. It is an epic fantasy comedy / parody / slightly twisted telling - and often "laugh out loud" funny, in a literal sense, not just LOL tweet.

You should handle the truth

So that went well. Or not. I'm still having a hard time with blogger not having a draft option in the API. Makes it close to useless in 2013 with apps and push and IFTTT ruling the flow of ideas and content.

Ranting done, the post I was planning on writing is a short spin of this note:

"Open DataExecutive Order signed by President Obama. Along with the order is an accompanying Open Data Policy released by the Office of Management and Budget and Office of Science and Technology Policy"

[via Pocket, U.S. Government Data To Be Made Freely Available]

Working with data both for analysis and viz, must say that this is great news. Others have gone into the details, and compared it to the British version.

My main "yay" is the focus on tools, including simple wrappers for making just about any database into a functional (REST based) data source and API. Oh. And did I mention they are open source?

Pushing the legacy forward, I think (and hope) this will be remembered as one of the great Obama moments. Understanding promotes stability and peace, and understanding starts with access.

So, here's to hoping for a good summer for open data, followed by inspired announcements in more countries as fall sets in.