"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." "Like I always say, there's no 'I' in "team". There is a 'me', though, if you jumble it up." We would worry less about what others think of us if we realized how seldom they do. Wisdom - that part of knowledge that isn't only true, but also happens to be helpful. Wisdom speaks softly... Thereafter the volume increases proportionate to the level of ignorance A punctured bicycle
On a hillside desolate
Will nature make a man of me yet? All designed objects are propaganda for a certain way of life. Sometimes we need to stop analysing the past, stop planning the future, stop figuring out precisely how we feel, stop deciding exactly what we want, and just see what happens. We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person. "Never ascribe to malice that which can be explained by incompetence." --Napoleon Bonaparte The best designed clothes: invite being removed but reward being kept on. It's that you just can't take the effect and make it the cause | Yes, I still loathe the liars who run the nuclear industry. Yes, I would prefer to see the entire sector shut down, if there were harmless alternatives. But there are no ideal solutions. Every energy technology carries a cost; so does the absence of energy technologies. Atomic energy has just been subjected to one of the harshest of possible tests, and the impact on people and the planet has been small. The crisis at Fukushima has converted me to the cause of nuclear power. Why Fukushima made me stop worrying and love nuclear power | George Monbiot | Comment is [ continue reading Why Fukushima made George Monbiot stop worrying and love nuclear power ] All of which brings me back to Egypt as the canary in a very large coal mine. It’s hard to overstate just how unexpected a transformation is occurring in Egypt. Death, taxes, and Hosni Mubarak — they were the three great certainties in modern Egyptian life. But just underneath the surface, the tectonic pressure of dumb growth was steadily mounting. Bogus prosperity’s like magma, filling the volcanic chamber of a society: you can bottle it up for only so long before it erupts, and spectacularly. Today, the world’s gaze is fixed on the pyroclastic flow: never-ending demonstrations, protests, people [ continue reading Egypt’s Revolution: Coming to an Economy Near You ] Only a hill ; earth set a little higher above the face of earth : a larger view of little fields and roads : a little higher to clouds and silence : what is that to you? Only a hill ; but all of life to me, up there, between the sunset and the sea. Speech by Robert Kennedy, 18 March 1968, University of Kansas. ”We will never find a purpose for our nation nor for our personal satisfaction in the mere search for economic well-being, in endlessly amassing terrestrial goods. We cannot measure the national spirit on the basis of the Dow-Jones, nor can we measure the achievements of our country on the basis of the gross domestic product (GDP) Our gross national product counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for those [ continue reading happiness ] Robert F. Kennedy, Speech at the University of Capetown, 6 June 1966 The second danger is that of expediency; of those who say that hopes and beliefs must bend before immediate necessities. Of course if we must act effectively we must deal with the world as it is. We must get things done. But if there was one thing that President Kennedy stood for that touched the most profound feeling of young people across the world, it was the belief that idealism, high aspiration and deep convictions are not incompatible with the most practical and efficient of programs — [ continue reading Robert F. Kennedy, Speech at the University of Capetown, 6 June 1966 ] [link to Wikipedia] “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and [ continue reading Gettysburg Address, 19 November 1863 ] I’ve posted previously about Dr. Seuss’s “School of Unorthodox Taxidermy,” a sculpture series that Theodore Seuss Geisel created in the 1930s. Reproductions are available, but an incredibly-rare original set is now on eBay. They are currently on exhibit at the Chateau de Belcastel monument in France, but they can be yours for just $1,000,000. From eBay: This collection would have been originally purchased in the late 1930’s. They were kept in a child’s room, and eventually retired to the storage barn next to a chicken coop in upstate New York. The set was acquired for a substantial sum in [ continue reading Original Dr. Seuss taxidermy on eBay – Boing Boing ] I am opposed to the building of the “mosque” two blocks from Ground Zero. I want it built on Ground Zero. Why? Because I believe in an America that protects those who are the victims of hate and prejudice. I believe in an America that says you have the right to worship whatever God you have, wherever you want to worship. And I believe in an America that says to the world that we are a loving and generous people and if a bunch of murderers steal your religion from you and use it as their excuse to [ continue reading If the ‘Mosque’ Isn’t Built, This Is No Longer America | MichaelMoore.com ] “Institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution.” — Clay Shirky I think this observation is brilliant. It reminds me of the clarity of the Peter Principle, which says that a person in an organization will be promoted to the level of their incompetence. At which point their past achievements will prevent them from being fired, but their incompetence at this new level will prevent them from being promoted again, so they stagnate in their incompetence. The Shirky Principle declares that complex solutions (like a company, or an industry) can become so [ continue reading The Shirky Principle; ‘Institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution’. ] Google has reached a pivotal moment in its history. What can it do to expand beyond its incredible core business, which is now reaching a more mature phase? For insight on how it can develop, let’s look to Pixar. Pixar is as close to a constant learning organization as there is, with a proven ability to reinvent and a genuine cultural humility. Google’s founders could learn from Pixar’s founder and president Ed Catmull’s prolonged and [ continue reading What Google Could Learn From Pixar ] Gawker is spreading the rumor that Wired magazine editor Chris Anderson will argue that “the Web is Dead” in an upcoming cover story: Anderson is expected to argue that more tightly controlled corners of the internet, especially iPad and iPhone apps, are gradually supplanting the open Web as means of publishing and online networking. The digital prognosticator isn’t alone in seeing such a trend; author Jeff Jarvis has publicly fretted over the rise (of) apps. (CLICK HERE FOR MORE »» textually.org Will apps kill the Web?: .) [ continue reading Will apps kill the Web? ] The Taxonomy Of The Apple iPhone. A very smart and good-looking analysis of the infrastructure that supports the existence of the iPhone from Ben Millen. Both from a physical point of view and a Heideggerian perspective, in the context of culture and society. (Do I sound like I know what I’m talking about? Excellent.) You can zoom on the two images here and here. (Having to zoom into these images is annoying. Visualizations don’t always work that well on screen. They’re usually much better in print. Someone ought to create a sumptuous, colourful coffee-table book [ continue reading iPhone + Heidegger = Woot? ] I was recently reminded of some reading I did in college, way back in the last century, by a British historian arguing that the critical technology, for the early phase of the industrial revolution, was gin. The transformation from rural to urban life was so sudden, and so wrenching, that the only thing society could do to manage was to drink itself into a stupor for a generation. The stories from that era are amazing– there were gin pushcarts working their way through the streets of London. [ continue reading Gin, Television, and Social Surplus – Here Comes Everybody ] A Prophecy Within three months I imagine that any Lib Dem/Labour/Others coalition will fall, a General Election will be called, the Lib Dem vote will be decimated, the Conservatives brought to full power and Electoral /Constitutional Reform will be nothing but a wistful memory as those of us with distaste for conservatism hunker down for the duration. Demos, riots, overturned cars in the streets, many more homeless, infrastructure decay, a rise in crimes against the person and property, a happy time perhaps for the City and the secure middle classes, a dreadful time for the vulnerable, the disabled, the [ continue reading Stalemate: PR and PR, Ice Cream, Bananas and Fudge ] Paul “Bear” Bryant was a coaching legend. During his 25 year tenure at the University of Alabama, he was college football’s winningest coach, leading his team to six national championships. As a young man he was tough-he earned his famous nickname by volunteering to wrestle a bear at age 13 and played in a game with a partially broken leg during his time as a college player. He carried this toughness over to his coaching where he demanded excellence of his men on and off the field, and looked dapper while doing it. Losing was not an [ continue reading Bear Bryant ] Vote with your heart, vote with your head, vote with your gut: your heart, your head, your gut – no one’s else. I just hope you have courage, style and charm enough not to hate me for what I am about to say, for I assure you I will not hate you if you say the exact opposite. Trollers, resentful maniacs, weirdos and abusive beasts can stop reading now, I have no interest in horrible and offensive meanness of spirit. You must believe me when I say that I have never hated any fellow countryman or woman because of how [ continue reading How I will vote… « The New Adventures of Stephen Fry ] I wrote yesterday’s piece about Twitter very quickly, too quickly — because I came up with a shitty title that didn’t reflect how I was thinking about it. We’re in the phase of the tech loop where what matters is how impressive your latest press event was. To illustrate the effect of a great press event, look at this post by Scoble where he basically says Game Over, point-set-match to Facebook, checkmate, everyone go home, the fat lady has sung, etc etc. The problem is that Scoble (who I love as a dear friend) will write the same freaking [ continue reading How Twitter can save itself from Doom ] To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, ’tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off [ continue reading A bare bodkin! ] ascensiones in corde suo disposuit He has set ascents in his heart; or, as we should phrase it, He has set his heart on ascents. … Gestalt psychology or gestaltism (German: Gestalt – “essence or shape of an entity’s complete form”) of the Berlin School is a theory of mind and brain positing that the operational principle of the brain is holistic, parallel, and analog, with self-organizing tendencies. The Gestalt effect refers to the form-forming capability of our senses, particularly with respect to the visual recognition of figures and whole forms instead of just a collection of simple lines and curves. In psychology, gestaltism is often opposed to structuralism and Wundt. The phrase “The whole is greater than the sum of the parts” is often used [ continue reading Gestalt psychology ] “If Twitter wants to be a force for good they should stick to small things they have high leverage over, not fancy “big picture” things that any other rich person could do. Bill Gates made this mistake. Instead of cutting off the air supply of his competitors and landing his company in antitrust hell, he could have been a Force For Good by welcoming competition as a way to keep his company tough and on their toes and responsive to customers. [ continue reading Twitter as a force for good? ] Forget Paypal. Virtual currency and online payment systems are proliferating like weeds. These systems provide an alternative to the limitations of official banking systems (although at greater risk). Most of them integrate with credit cards and cell phones. In many cases it is possible to exchange cash between different systems. Here's a taste of some of the offerings (some of these do a huge volume of business). Moving money has never been this easy or anonymous. Liberty Reserve. Costa Rica. Yandex.Money Tied to the Yandex portal. Russia. Ukash. Ukraine. Webmoney. Russia. RBK Money. Russia. Roboexchange. Virtual Currency [ continue reading JOURNAL: E-Currency Systems ] According to religious texts, Ezekiel ((Hebrew: יְחֶזְקֵאל, Yehezkel, IPA: [jəħ.ezˈqel]), “God will strengthen” (from חזק, hazak, [ħaˈzaq], literally “to fasten upon”, figuratively “strong”, and אל, el, [ʔel], literally “strength”, figuratively “Almighty”), was a priest in the Bible who prophesied for 22 years sometime in the 6th century BC in the form of visions while exiled in Babylon, as recorded in the Book of Ezekiel. Christianity regards Ezekiel as a prophet. Judaism considers the Book of Ezekiel a part of its canon, and regards Ezekiel as [ continue reading Ezekiel ] I quit my job at Oracle in 1999 because I couldn’t stop thinking about a simple question: “Why isn’t all enterprise software like Amazon.com?” Why couldn’t applications be run from a simple website, without software or hardware to install, and pricy consultants to hire? Why couldn’t we just compute in the Internet, or the cloud, and get away from the data center and all its complexity. Simply put, I wanted to simplify the enterprise. It was a pretty straight-forward idea, but from the confines in which I sat, there wasn’t anything close to a straight-forward solution. (CLICK HERE [ continue reading The Facebook Imperative ] augment verb |ɔːgˈmɛnt| [ trans. ] make (something) greater by adding to it; increase : The latter half of the 20th century saw the built environment merged with media space, and architecture taking on new roles related to branding, image and consumerism. Augmented reality may recontextualise the functions of consumerism and architecture, and change in the way in which we operate within it. A film produced for my final year Masters in Architecture, part of a larger project about the social and architectural consequences of new media and augmented reality. Augmented (hyper)Reality: Domestic Robocop from Keiichi Matsuda on Vimeo. [ continue reading what is reality anyways? ] Example: Pizza Ordering Application Users are hit with this registration demand when all they want is to browse a selection of yummy pizzas. This was very off-putting to our test users. The proper sequence? Show the list of basic pizzas. Let users customize their order. Show the price, along with any salient ordering info (perhaps after having users enter their ZIP code to get delivery times and such). Take the order. At this point, it’s appropriate to ask for personal info because users are now sufficiently committed. iPhone Apps Need Low Starting Hurdles Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox. [ continue reading iPhone apps need low starting hurdles ] | Shirdi Sai Baba: "Before you speak, ask yourself: Is it kind, is it true, is it necessary, does it improve upon the silence?" Well known fact that any kiss where one or other party is in control of heavy machinery doesn't count for quality assessment purposes. There is no nonsense so arrant that it cannot be made the creed of the vast majority by adequate governmental action. The honest heart that's free frae a' intended fraud or guile. However fortune kick the ba', Has ay some cause to smile. Life consists in replacing one worry with another, and one desire with the next, what the Buddhists call ‘grasping’ or upādāna in Sanskrit "Every saint has a past. Every sinner has a future." "Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die." A wrong decision isn't forever; it can be reversed. The losses from a delayed decision are forever; they can never be retrieved. heavy words thrown lightly And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. Whenever you commend, add your reasons for doing so; it is this which distinguishes the approbation of a man of sense from the flattery of sycophants and admiration of fools “The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for.” |
| 
| category: 
| comments are closed 
