Just do your stuff

Going more and more pure digital - added a subscription for Fast Company on the iPad, and started off wtih the 100 creative people issue. Way back when (before this blog, actually last century...) used to subscribe to both FC and Wired, but along the boom and bust FC got axed. And I've been meaning to pick itup again for some time now. But with the digital price approaching a single printed copy at the newsstand there really wasn't any need for consideration.

Now I just need to find a good way to get the ideas easily off the app and into the blog. (All the while working away at the Wired backlog stack still occupying a corner of the desk)

But enough meta, and onto the meat


Best quote so far from the 100 most creative list;

"I want to say that, instead of im-possible, I'M possible,” ... "And so are you.” CeeLo

Sure there are thing that are impossible. And sometimes we meet people we feel are impossible. But just move beyond it. focus on yourself and how you can move (yourself or others) forward.

It is so easy to just get into the funk, and let it bring you down as well.

Amazing how much better things get when you improve the bits you have control over rather than ranting about the ones you don't.

@codepo8 

Getting both that tweet in the stream and reading the CeeLo piece on the same day felt like a happy coincidence. And it sparked another boost of energy, creativity and finally now blogging.

This is going out 'realtime', with the archive posts coming up being backdated to fill the gaps from last week.


As a suitable side note, the soundtrack for this writing is Girl Talk and All Day. A true example of making impossible into possible. Mashup (archive ftw) at it's finest?

18.5 days of music on the laptop feels like magic. Sure Spotify and Wimp brings everything and then some. But I still enjoy having "my" collection - since it allows for fun trips down memory lane, like picking up Tommy Tee from 1998 and Dr Dre from 2001, or working out again to Prodigy, like way back when.


...and the sun made a short but crucial appearance today - otherwise it feels like the end times, rain rain rain for days and days...

From the third rock outwards

Wired had a piece on the Mars simulation mission - where they got to interact with some of the participants before and during the 'trip' to Mars.

I tried to find my original post on the announcement and call for participants, but only found this piece from 2007 on finding new planets way out there. And the reason was that I only posted about it in Norwegian. Back on November 1st 2009 actually. Here is a quick blurb, translated and edited;

Have you planned your vacation next year and the year after? If you really need a break ESA might be looking for you, as they are planning a full simulation of a round trip to Mars.

And quotes from the full ESA Call for Candidates, deadline on November 5th 2009;

"The crew will follow a programme designed to simulate a 250-day journey to Mars, a 30-day surface exploration phase and 240 days travelling back to Earth. The isolation facility at IBMP in Moscow, Russia"
"... aged 20–50, motivated, in good health and no taller than 185 cm… Selection will be based on education, professional experience, medical fitness and social habits."

The concept is incredible in many ways. 

First off, the fact that we are actively planning and working on ways to explore Mars is beyond cool. And by we I refer to humanity in its broadest sense. Taking the long term view, we need to be able to get off Earth at some point. Either due to our own actions or inactions - or because the Sun makes things to hot for comfort. 

Secondly, actually locking someone up for more than 500 days? For science? That needs a pretty "big hairy goal" to justify. And the billions an actual trip wold probably cost, combined with the end goals do certainly fit that category.

But how to you go from thinking and acting like you are locked in a box, to acting like you are actually the first humans bound for, and landing on, Mars? 

Sure, Big Brother and the rest of reality TV has shown that a lot of people are completely able to forget where they are. But then you have the actual prize in the end to vye for. And on a real trip, that prize would be truly spectacular. As for sitting in a box? Not going to get you all that much attention when you get out. 

Still, I would have signed up for the real thing. Strings be damned - to boldly go and so forth. 

Glory, glory - what's the story?

Story inspiration this time - Pseudopod - is mainly a horror podcast, but episode 266 is as much about life as things that go bump in the night.

The theme brings to mind Bruce Springsteen and "Glory Days" (embed below) - looking back as much as ahead, or simply at right now. Living in the moment, or for the moment.



Sure there might be wonderful things hidden behind the fence.
But there might just as easily be things best left undisturbed.

We glorify youth, and by extension say that growing up is not a goal as such, just something that happens as you try to (re)capture that feeling of owning the world and everything in it. When everything was all about the here and now, when it felt like nothing outside mattered, and everything was still possible - because tomorrow hadn't started.

But every day is a new day, every dream another chance. Carpe Diem isn't just about the big dreams. It is also living life as it happens. Every day a little piece of the puzzle. Every (chance) encounter another moment to savour.

So, as summer is setting in, projects and deadlines are winding down, are you preparing for fall, or just staying in the zone of now?

And thus we reach the end of 2011. Or at least the bottom of the stack of Wired from last year. Still got a solid dose of 2009 prepped for future ideas. But it feels good to be blogging, having cleared out the draft pile and move the last issues from 19- into the basement.

Had a post on Hunch. And how they had ended up. This time it is Quora. The profile talked about the influx of users, the money raised and the addictability of pushing answers out there. And to loop it back Quara has some answers on Wired as well.

My take? A fun playground, mainly for friends of friends of friends - and for those that want a bit more opinionated 'facts' than they can get on Wikipedia, but without reading a handful blogg post to get it.

There is still a lot of start up, and by extension tech topics covered. But there is also a lot of "long tail" content, like where to get biltong in Amsterdam.

Not my first place to go to for information, but would and could probably be included when doing a bit more general research. Possibly also because it hasn't gotten any google love for the subjects I've needed additional details on lately. Blogs, groups or Wikipedia tends to cover the results.


(this is also the last "back dated" post - filling in the gap week and making June-12 a truly all time high in terms of posts, 22 and counting - passing October of 2004)

The insights of Khan

Another back issue of Wired, another post based loosely on a theme explored.

Education - and how we can change it using digital tools.

Nothing less is the driving force for Khan Academy, featured in 19-08 (link added):

Khan’s videos are anything but sophisticated. He recorded many of them in a closet at home, his voice sounding muffled on his $25 Logitech headset

The piece also had an overview of some other edu sites, on the second page online. But with John Resig aboard the Khan team I can't help but but hope for and expect (more) great things from them in the years ahead.

It must be exhilarating going into school now - knowing that if you don't really get things the way the teacher tries to explain it, there is Wikipedia, Youtube and dedicated sites for most things to give you a second shot. And most of them for free (well, provided you have a computer and internet connection - or can access one at school, the library or similar)


see video in context and with links to the "rest" of Art History collection

Aside; noticed now that the piece was written by Clive Thompson. No wonder it resonated, love the writing style, even if a few of the regular columns seems a bit rehashed. Guess it comes with the turf, and is the reason I try not to reread to much of my own old stuff.

You make what you measure

C.S Penn piece with the snappy title; What cake can teach you about metrics:

The next time someone insists that they need a simplified, single dashboard metric of all your marketing performance, remind them that they are far more comfortable with 5-6 metrics (cups, teaspoons, inches, temperature, ounces, etc.) for a simple cake.

It is almost sad that the mantra "you get what you measure" is so little understood. Focus on call times and everybody will escalate or 'try this then call back'.

Not because people are evil (...) but because we are good at adapting. And at learning how our rewards work. If we can adjust our behaviour easily we will. As long as the cost of change is less than the imagined (or subconscious) reward, there will be an effect.

So take the time to find the balanced overview, take the time to dig into the factors - and think about what you would do yourself if the goals changed.

Just look at measuring a website

Users?
Pageviews?
Bounce rate?
Time on page?
Engagement, actions?
ARPU?
Frequency?
Recency?

There is a reason for tools like Google Analytics having all this and more. One nail does not a house build. The interplay, to consequences and the trends. Not the actual number as of last night. Either the number the last five seconds, then the last 30 minutes. Or the last month.


...and if you need more specifics on all that jazz - there is no one like Avinash. Read. Do. Learn.

Magazines go web?

Several concepts and developments so far this year, in bringing a more flexible set of tools for presenting content on the web, in the browser.

Adobe is really pushing the boundaries and working hard to maitain a position as both tech and thought leader. Issue #3 of Appliness just came out, and as both a tech demo and a reference the first two were solid. (Even if the site has bugs in the archive links on the blog, and lacks links for the authors listed...)

And the work on text flow inside containers first released as a special version of webkit? Stunning. Took some time but it made it into a few builds.

Looking forward to hear if there is any further enhancement in the iOS 6 package. It is listed as "partailly" supported in the upcoming Safari 5.2. Thankfully the specs are moving ahead independently of the test cases.

Shame can't get the demo to run properly now in v19 [woops - forgot the about:flag - has to be enabled manually for now...] - here is the  announcement and link from back in november 2011:

Corlan provides a demo page that enables you to see text reflow in action (assuming you've the latest release of Chrome, naturally)

Netmag piece on Chrome support

- ...and the sun is fading in the sky as this is written - had to pump up both the screen and the backlight from 1 to 3. Still not putting on the lights. Summertime. When the living is easy...

Play my life

First time back in OSLOVE post 22.7
the roses held the ground

the lost post

and a blank canvas

just a tagline remains

vague ideas of original intent

replaced with a new world



where roses are more powerful

more lasting

and more widespread



than hate, or fear,
or cries for a starring role
if not as hero, then villain or anti-hero

and so the cycle moves once more

from pain to gain

life, death, love, remembrance

OSLOVE.

28.7 #KRS

Natural 11

Wired 18.11 - the "natural" breast issue caused a bit of a stir. But what got my attention was something completely different.



Phineas & Ferb mainly. The piece was just around the same time as they started airing big time on Disney Channel over here. I must admit to being  pleasantly surprised to hear that the were Disney made (or paid, same distinction).

Became a fan watching it with junior (who wanted to hear the songs over and over and over and over... especially the "big tune" #1 song - he has since moved on to Dora as the main "want to see")

I had some fun with the ToonTips - short clips showing how to draw one character in one simple pose, using the stylus and the iPad to sketch out some simple characters (heads at least). The simple style makes it both memorable and replicable even for a simple dabbler such as me. Even downloaded and printed out a four page guide for when junior gets around to drawing somewhat planned.

Then there was the launch (?) of wired.com/rawfile - photoblog with a twist. Which is still going strong, actually ended up there a few days ago for the 'screaming' images (one seen left - worth reading and seeing the whole piece)


And finally, WDYDWYD. What a fun acronym, impossible to sound out compared to saying it in full. And so simple to understand when you have heard or read it once.

What is it that motivates you? Makes the blood pound a little bit more, makes you get out of bed in the morning?

Seeing it's been taken a step further with a .com - get some text on an image to express it - WHY do you do what YOU do?

Sometimes just asking it makes things clearer. And sometimes if you really dig into the answers you might find that it is time to change. 

Be it a pivot or a "war" - or a FLINCH! (still free, still awesome, still nagging me)




- ...and the sun is probably shining today, so I'm out at the swings, while the nice servers pushes this out there for you. Yes YOU.