My couch or your?

Wired [19.03] - finally getting rid of the stack, both the digital one in terms of drafts from (oh yeah) last year, and the paper one of old issues of Wired mag, saved for a post or two.


Main topic was a mention of couchsurfing - and the founder Casey Fenton.
The concept sounds really appealing, get around the world by hooking up with other (presumably) geeky people for a few days at a time. Even so, I think I'd personally feel more comfortable using something like aribnb - at least as a main solution, it just feels more right to spend a bit of money on the transaction.

I do love having friends over, and a spare room for those that either live out of town, or have to leave the car for a few hours. And I'd probably lend it to a friend of a friend as well, without any reservations. But beyond that? Not so sure. How about you? Where do you draw the line "in the sand"? Who and how long is OK for a house guest? Should they help with chores, do some shopping, or are they guest first and foremost?


ad for; Eee Slate Ep121 - windows7 !!??!! seriously? and a stylus to boot? Nice that it has usb, hdmi and then some, but since it is in all but name a laptop sans the keyboard I'm not really impressed. Sort of makes sense as a second device for the C-level and consultant lifestyle - if it supports MS Office fully, that is.

But I'll give Asus one thing, they keep pushing assorted form factors into the market, looking to either give the consumers a lot of choice, or just hoping to find one that sticks. But seriously - the Eee Pad range? Right ho'.



I'll be scheduling these old post up for the week ahead at the time of writing, so June of 2012 will be the most posted month for quite some time. Maybe a revival of sorts as we enter the final ten months of the first ten years (!!!).  Today it is 3-6-12, and so a good magic number for doubling up on content and ideas. in the early evening sun.

- ...and the sun shines bright enough to open the windows wide...

Time to chill - the doc said so

Stress ("Under Pressure") is a fascinating and detailed piece. (And one I had to reread to make sense of the notes here... ended up with moving it into a separate post for now) Also a short interview last year at boingboing

I think it is one of the least understood effects of the "modern" lifestyle in general, and perhaps the digital connectedness in particular. Setting boundaries, accepting lack of control, and most of inability to do, see, read or understand everything. Even everything for a small subset of things.

When I started studying computer science, there was more or less a handful of programming languages, slightly related and you could have a grasp of their different roles and constructs. Then the web exploded, bringing new languages and variations. And now it seems like just within little Javascript, there are so many different MVC type models or toolsets, that understanding them all means leaving out a lot of other areas.

But back to the article. Four interesting points to touch on:

1. meditate and training when you want it - better for stress to do it based on desire, than a rigidly fixed schedule adding pressure instead of relieving it
2. the reward is chemical - dopamine,  you get a "kick" from it. This gives a boost, thereby both making it more attractive to do it again, and enabling you to have the energy to go one more lap
3. The other way is to zone out ... and that can be done (for me at least) really laid back with a great latte. Meditating without the ceremony or strict formality. Making latte focuses the mind on the minutiae of the task at hand, the grind, the stomp, the brew, the froth. Freeing up mental energy
4. A good book or fun game can get much of the same effect; giving pure focus- stripping away the "normal" world for a dedicated session of deep engagement. Sometimes with a direct mental benefit in terms of ideas read, and sometimes just for rebooting the system

Want to dive deeply into the research and findings? Google can give you a hand:
How do glucocorticoids influence stress responses? … - Sapolsky - Cited by 2354 (PDF)

Hunch'ed up

Do you remember what you read last summer?

Well, here are some things from Wired 18.08 to jog the memories... even if by now that is the summer before last. Just goes to show, digital is almost forever.

First just a quick note - on the major piece regarding infrastructure: Iphone use 15 times more data than other subs? Even other smart phones? ATT numbers: $37 + $13.5 bn used to build the infrastructure needed. Wonder how much more it is now in 2012. And how much they've made up for it in terms of overall revenues, which will keep on coming after the network is in place.


The, the main topic:


HUNCH - was mentioned as a major part in the profile of Caterina Fake (gotta love that last name for verified online profiles).  I was planning on making some snaps from my profile, but it seems I've gone and gotten it all lost (or better, I had used Twitter initially, but probably revoked access at some time, so after reallowing I got in, but to a more Pintrest looking site. Guessing they've had time for a pivot or two in four years - even ended up as part of ebay I discovered in the Faq). So the old reflections will have to serve as a basis for now.

The main key here is social insights - the same thing that Facebook is betting the farm and then some on in terms of ads and like-mining the graph. And it is a difficult challenge to tackle, since most of the time we don't really know how or why we make our own choices.

My impressions of Hunch was that it was fun to build the basic profile, real nice use of gamification to get the answers flowing quickly. But a lot of them were very US centric in terms of topics, be it TV shows that never made it across the seas, or rituals like dances. So the overall feeling was a bit narrow in terms of recommendations, even after 182 questions answered. Heard the same about a year later from someone else.

Overall it seemed a pretty decent hit in terms of TV and magazines that I might want to look at.
Book? Not so much. Frankly hopeless compared to Amazon, and even they tend to get distracted and have a one track mind unless you go digging a bit across a set of tabs. Stuffing a large number of books onto four different wish lists has helped a bit with that.
The London TODO suggestions was abysmal - no Lonely Planet competitor to be sure. Not even on par with the free give away guidebooks from the local tourist office.

Perhaps the had some of the issues facing Wolphram Alfa going in - need a lot more raw data and basic information to populate the profiles. Either that or be bought by Facebook and assimilated - they might just have the raw data in terms of certain areas, and could quickly incentivize for more - ebay and paypal not so much, might help for discovering auctions and sellers you could connect to.


(man I miss the word count in WP... make progress so much more measurable and rewarding, even now when just dumping in the drafts to go)

oh my apple, a run-down on iBooks maker and iTunesU

ibooks author, evil incarnate because anybody can't make money outside iBookstore - or a true revolution for learning and coursebooks?

That was more or less the two sentiments raging through the blogs and twitter back when Apple launched their iBooks author software. And for once it was a subject worthy of some strong opinions here on the blog, just not musings.

First off, the student perspective.

Having spent 4.5 years with four or five courses each semester, with an eclectic mix of solid US hardcovers, printed handouts and student curated leaflets I've spent my share of time pining over the cost of new editions and hunting through used versions for fair quality ones.

Also, with out a dedicated reading space for the first two years, dragging around 500-1000 pages books, three or four at a time for that days classes takes it toll in terms of priorities every day. For study groups we actually set up a schedule - who brings which book on what day.

Apple 1 Haters 0

Then there is the year after - when you take the next class, it would sometimes be useful (especially at the start of term and before exams) to review a bit from the first book, but that meant sunk costs rather than recouping at least parts of the cost.


So, Apple has made a deal with the major text book publisher, and is pushing the price down. Way down. Talk of a max price set at $19 ???  New, normal books retail at at least three or four times that.

As an example, the MCGraw algebra book sits at $14.95 list price on iTunesU, while Amazon has a similar book at $93. The latter you can buy used and then resell while the former could be bought with volume and education discount (also sales tax free).

Imagine a student with student loans, considering getting an iPad, but needs books instead. Now every book saves the student over $40 - that adds up fast to finance the device instead. And let's face it - students want toys as well.

Apple 2 Haters 0

Then the educator perspective

The tools is free to download. You can import just about anything into it - word, pdf, code, and so on.
And anything shared directly on campus, be it in sorority, by professor or ta, or simply student groups making their own projects available - is also free, and can be distributed directly or via iBookstore / iTunesU

Apple 3 Haters 0

But... you have to have a Mac to use it. And a new one at that. And also you would probably do well with an iPad for testing the actual output as well. And the majority of educational institutions (over here at least) are like the corporations, stuck with a bunch of pc's. Of assorted age and quality. So the upfront cost could be a bummer.

Apple 3 Haters 1

Well what about the tech?

Is is all about putting things together. Not making anything that didn't already exists in some form or another.

Tools exist — they’re getting more powerful everyday — that allow us to treat digital objects as digital objects: to collect and organize them, to fashion stories from them, to turn them into bespoke devices uniquely tuned to unlocking the world’s mysteries.

And while iBooks is not the only or maybe best way to collect and enhance "other" media alongside text. Storify could do a lot of it, and a version of prezi more suited to long form text mix.ins wouldn't be all that hard. Why, all the assorted "html presentations" would be well suited to giving a structured mix of text, images, video and plug ins. So why didn't anybody else do this?

Adding annotations, and storing them. Also packaging the content for download, with a quick course guide - read this, check. Now that is usability first and foremost. And that is why Apple might be the only one who really could make this.

Apple 4 Haters 1

The output of iBooks Author is no more intended to be an industry standard than are any other Apple-proprietary document formats — Pages, Numbers, Keynote, etc

Is it so strange to see that this is not all that different from Word outputting mainly Word .doc files - and actually using it's import from WP to move the market - or Microsoft XNA for Xbox live games not running all that well on a PS3?

They never said they wanted to make a new html. In order to actually move the market companies often times have to make their own solution rather than open standards. Kindle wasn't the first ebook reader by a long stretch. But it worked. Well. And it was easy enough to get books made for it and sold hassle free. While it could also read "generic" formats.

Apple 5 Haters 1

And in closing - the fine print

But the contract / terms and conditions, and the communication from Apple regarding the changes they made to clarify it? Yeah, vintage Cupertino.

Apple 5 Haters 2


And not getting worldwide deal in place, thus leaving a lot of us "out in the cold" once more? F.U publishers, studios, and assorted guilds.

Apple 5 Haters 3



Overall, big ups to Apple for moving the educational market forward, probably kicking and screaming most of the way.

Never again

XKCD Never:
 


Sometimes looking back makes for happy thoughts. And sometimes you get happier thinking about what isn't anymore.

Memory, truth or insight. We shape ourselves by our stories, and move on.

Godin goes aquatic - like an eel dodging an octupus

The starfish and the long tail have trouble getting along:

If you're a starfish, then, don't sign up with the long tail guys. Build your own universe, your own permission asset. Find a tribe, lead it, connect with it, become the short head, the one and only, the one that we'd miss if you were gone. The long tail is for organizations that own warehouses.

Great short post (as most of his are) by Seth G[1].

And what beautiful imagery, going aquatic. You don't get to meet the whale of your dreams by being a krill. Or as Cory Doctrow has put it - piracy isn't the enemy, obscurity is.*The huge number of books in Kindle version, or the number of podcasts in iTunes, the number of television channels or websites, the FB groups, pages and like-a-thons.

How can and will your content break through, connect with the readers, fans and co-creators it deserves?

Can the content stand on it's own, or does it have to be about YOU - the creator, the brand, the genius behind the mask?



* or as he quotes; Like Tim O’Reilly says, “Obscurity is a far greater threat to authors and creative artists than piracy.

Misty eyed

Quick post - and a bit of poetic ramblings to go on before we call it a night

Wired 19.02 had a list of terms for the underworld, or hell - and one just jumped out at me;

Mist of Darkness

2. Pet 2:17 - Guessing not a pet, but a biblical reference - so that's something to go on... and with google that was more than enough:

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.) [1]

These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.

So much more vibrant than a lot of the later 'translations' of the text. It paints an image or three. Of despair. Longing and suffering. Unrest. And at the same time loss.


- ...and the sun can't follow where we are bound to go- into the darkness, and then beyond, onwards, downwards, to the other side...

Revisiting mind over matter

So it would appear that a monkey won't make all the difference.

Looking back to 2005, and the post "mind over matter" - on using sensors for tracking brain activity. And then fast forward to Wired issues 20.04 - with the telling title of the feature; "A True Bionic Limb Remains Far Out of Reach"

Turns out that the complexities involved in both measuring and responding to signals is still significant. In addition it turns out that we may have been "barking up the wrong tree" - with the brain handing off some of the signal processing and response to the spinal cord.

Keep dreaming of electric sheep...


- ...and the sun wants to break through the clouds, but is settling for less...

Sort of an answer About Staircases

A Question About Staircases:

2. A broken one that is not moving at all.

At least my initial reaction would be to go for the "equal" race or terms, not getting a boost but not making things harder than they need be... But then again a broken escalator is in some ways a hindrance rather than level ground?!
Overcoming needless odds have never really held a maor appeal, guess that is part of the reason for mainly doing participatory rather than competitive sports growing up. And also for having a strong preference for mixed teams with complementary skills and complex tasks.

Good to have julien back blogging, and good to blog again as well, giving blog this on iPad another shot...