Daniel's Place

An update for all my readers: I won’t be updating this blog for the foreseeable future. Have a nice day :D

Happy new year! And with this joyous new decade comes, for me, a move to a smaller place. I’m unloading some fine items that have served me well for years. Now’s the time for bargains. Why pay retial?

$20 – 19″ LCD flatpanel 1280×1024: http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/sys/1539557409.html Sold

$10 – 20″ Magnavox CRT TV: http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/ele/1539538589.html Sold

$50 – Ikea “Galant” L desk: http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/fuo/1539553113.html Sold

$300 – Ikea “Kramfors” couch: http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/fuo/1539546083.html Come on now. You know you want it!

All items are cash only and you must pick them up.

I recently read an article by Saad Fazil reviewing different location-based social media startups. In essence, the software is suffering less than rapid adoption because of a “I don’t want to disclose my location to people I don’t know” fear. And that’s valid. Props to everyone running these startups, it doesn’t look easy.

But I wonder: is there an theory behind this? Has anyone studied how humans, especially technology first-adopters, cluster, make friendships, judge potential friends, and behave in first-impression scenarios? Some academic armchair sense would suggest so. If it’s not happening already, we should consider the possibility of including and studying these basic interactions before attempting to create revolutionary new paradigms around the age old process of meeting people.

Of these several contenders how many will win out, get acquired, or fail?

Is Star Wars sci-fi or fantasy?

Probably SyFy, but I digress.

This minimally vexing question will bring out the nerd in all of us. I believe it’s fantasy but am too lazy here to do more than make a list of common straw-man arguments and poke fun at them.

For reference, there is a 12 page thread from 2001 on the same topic. I can’t bring myself to read past the first page.

Star Wars happens in the future!

You’re kidding, right?

But there are no dwarfs and mages and stuff

True, but they have ewoks. And don’t forget Jar Jar Binks whose race would never have survived even the most forgiving of natural selection.

The Force is basically advanced telekinesis

Some science fiction novels have fantastical or unexplained elements like telekinesis and things. Arthur C. Clarke once said “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” That’s cool. However, The Force brings back dead people and makes them see-through.

In some cases, it can even go back and switch heads around, totally screwing over the dude on the left.

Magic.

Parting Thoughts

I love Star Wars. It’s got a kickass universe and has some awesome adventurous stories.

If I could be any Star Wars characters I would have trouble choosing. Probably Jango Fett because beheading by Samuel L. Jackson beats the hell out of losing control of your jet pack. And there’s an entire army of buffoons patterned after him.

How do you listen to music?

Singles that top the charts are fun. That song you can listen to four times in a row and not get tired of. Go ahead and push repeat, it’s one of my guilty pleasures too.

After a while though, a single gets too repetitive. So I’m glad music comes in albums.

An album is an experience, a full musical meal composed by the band that offers a little more insight than that four minutes of foreplay. Albums have their own track ordering, selection and deliberately flow. Once I’ve discovered I like a band, I hop into their albums. Once I’ve heard the entire album a few times, I will play it through again and again (though not back to back, that’d just be crazy). Good albums, like King Crimson’s THRAK follow a very deliberate flow that make the entire album a musical piece in itself with musical waves larger than individual songs.

Of course, I will skip some tracks; not everything a band slaps on an album is musically tolerable (e.g. The Gutter Twins’ poetic but musically crappy All Misery/Flowers hurts their otherwise masterful Saturnalia).

In my experience, listening to the whole album instead of a smaller selection of songs stretches the listenable lifespan of the band. Hopefully until their next album. For some people, that may be a little too much Led Zeppelin. For me? It’s usually the right amount.

When I was younger, I remember saying to myself that I was born too late. If I had grown up in the 70’s or 80’s I would’ve wrecked shop.I would have the technical vision to bring humanity to its present or better. And even if I was just a small participant, I would have done well. It would have been easy to see how all the pieces fit together.

Of course, this thought only makes sense with an impossibly futuristic dosage of hindsight. It should be more along the lines of: If I had grown up in the 70’s or 80’s, knowing what I know now, I would’ve wrecked shop. Futurists, authors, and strangers on the street profess to know which way the winds of change are blowing. What do they know? They’re not from the future and neither are we.

The fact of the matter is that we don’t understand what is coming next and only a few people can see and act on the relevant facets in this world to produce the “killer” program, product, or idea. Venture capital groups invest in loads of start-ups with the expectation that only a few of them will pan out in the marketplace. While this strategy seems to work, the world is so unpredictable that even our brightest and wealthiest minds make egregious errors (see also: everyone who trusted Bernard Madoff).

Now what?

To date I have not produced any killer apps, wrecked shops, or created any history-changing feats of innovation. But I have seen and studied people who have. One thing is clear to me: they work smart and they’re lucky.

Great! I’ll approach every problem with a premium on the users’ laziness, and keep rolling the dice.

Once in a while I see something that outrages me so much that I gripe about it on the internet. This is one of those times.

I saw an article in Reuters about children of a school (ages 6 – 11) voting (13 – 1) in favor of slaughtering a lamb they have raised as part of an educational program. The news has sparked some controversy and groups of animal and human rights activists as well as a bumper crop of celebrities and facebook users are voicing overwhelming idiocy.

What disturbed me most was not the animal rights activists or the celebrities. I understand where they’re coming from and they are perfectly correct in voicing their grievances in the matter. No, it had to be the “human rights activists” about whom was said the following:

“…and human rights campaigners worried about the emotional impact of Marcus’s death on the children.”

Seriously?

Let me put it this way: human rights are an important thing and we have violations of human rights happening all over the world. I am at a loss for metaphors, but if the human rights issue were a burning house these folks seem to be obsessed with polishing a leaky faucet in the basement.

Did I mention that much of the food we eat every day comes from animals? What would the emotional impact to children be when they learn that meat comes from animals? Would they ever be the same? Or would the trauma be so hard on their hearts and minds that they snap and lose all empathy toward their fellow man? Grow up.

The irrational preservation of “innocence” in children is not a human right. If anything, it should be considered a violation of human rights to not properly answer the “where do hamburgers come from?” question.

The children have exercised a vote. I support their decision either way. Now go do something meaningful for human rights.

What happens when all the world’s a Twitter?

Many folks have heard of an election in Iran, Michael Jackson’s death, and Jeff Goldblum’s fake death. We know that news is spreading virally, spreading faster.

Jeff Goldblum’s death may not have been a mistake. Jeff Goldblum played Ian Malcolm in the movie versions of Jurassic Park and The Lost World. Perhaps his fake death is an allusion to something the Ian Malcolm’s character mentioned in The Lost World.

 …Although, personally, I think cyberspace means the end of our species…

…Why is that?

… because it means the end of innovation.This idea that the whole world is wired together is mass death. Every biologist knows that small groups in isolation evolve fastest. You put a thousand birds on an ocean island and they’ll evolve very fast. You put ten thousand on a big continent, and their evolution slows down. Now, for our own species, evolution occurs mostly through our behavior. We innovate new behavior to adapt. And everybody on earth knows that innovation only occurs in small groups. Put three people on a committee and they may get something done. Ten people, and it gets harder. Thirty people, and nothing happens. Thirty million, it becomes impossible. That’s the effect of mass media-it keeps anything from happening. Mass media swamps diversity. It makes every place the same. Bangkok or Tokyo or London: there’s a McDonald’s on one corner, a Benetton on another, a Gap across the street. Regional differences vanish. All differences vanish. In a mass-media world, there’s less of everything except the top ten books, records, movies, ideas. People worry about losing species diversity in the rain forest. But what about intellectual diversity-our most necessary resource? That’s disappearing faster than trees. But we haven’t figured that out, so now we’re planning to put five billion people together in cyberspace. And it’ll freeze the entire species. Everything will stop dead in its tracks. Everyone will think the same at the same time. Global uniformity.

Sounds scary. But I don’t think Ian Malcolm’s proposal is coming to life and the four horsemen of the apocalypse are riding into town tweeting on their Blackberries. It just means that in our increasingly connected world, we should view individuality as a more prized commodity.

Why you should present at BarCamp

I recently attended participated in BarCamp Seattle. BarCamp is an ad-hoc gathering of folks to openly discuss interesting subjects in the tech field. Sessions put heavy focus on discussion and knowledge sharing. It was my first time and I’m hooked. 

While the BarCamp website has loads more information, the rules of BarCamp struck a note very close to my eastside condo-living heart: 

• 1st Rule: You do talk about BarCamp.
• 2nd Rule: You do blog about BarCamp.
• 3rd Rule: If you want to present, you must write your topic and name in a presentation slot.
• 4th Rule: Only three word intros.
• 5th Rule: As many presentations at a time as facilities allow for.
• 6th Rule: No pre-scheduled presentations, no tourists.
• 7th Rule: Presentations will go on as long as they have to or until they run into another presentation slot.
• 8th Rule: If this is your first time at BarCamp, you HAVE to present. (Ok, you don’t really HAVE to, but try to find someone to present with, or at least ask questions and be an interactive participant.

The 8th rule I read the night before the event. With plenty of time left over, Matt and I worked until the early hours of the morning on a presentation. We posted our topic on the wall (Matt makes the coolest cards): 

Twitter is Dead (long live Twitter): an open discussion on new directions for social media

With no sleep and a high blood-caffeine content, we stood in front of an audience and gave a sparsely practiced talk about the future of Twitter and social media and how it could become more helpful to our daily lives. Once the talk was over, an open discussion began. 

The results blew me away. 

People around the room diverse in career background, Twitter/social media experience, and opinion began to build on our talk and offer critiques. It seemed that most people in the crowded room had a thought or question to share and the presentation morphed into an open discussion moderated by the presenters. 

Matt and I collected an invaluable pile of thoughts and questions to ponder throughout the rest of the day. I also got in some much needed presentation practice. 

The bottom line: Anyone with a good idea and a chance should give a talk at BarCamp. It’s fun and educational.

Other sessions

I attended other sessions covering social media information overload, user centered design, startups, social media analytics, and the amusing PowerPoint Karaoke. Each session broke into a discussion and some sessions were entirely discussions. I heard the thoughts and experiences of industry professionals, enthusiasts, and casual users. 

Where many conferences offer the speaker a pulpit and too much time, BarCamp gives the audience significant control and participation. The speaker even learns a thing or two. 

Thanks!

A special word of thanks to all of the organizers. You put together an amazing venue, brought a great interactive crowd, and kept us all fed, caffeinated, thinking, and entertained. I look forward to my next BarCamp. 

Closing thoughts 

Go to BarCamp. After the first day we all headed to the Red Door in Fremont to drink for free (thanks Bing!), be merry, and network more. The whole event was a blast and a great way to spend a weekend in Seattle. 

Here’s a list of links: 

• Flickr photos of BarCamp Seattle
• BarCamp website
• Twitter is Dead slide deck

Last weekend I went to BarCamp Seattle. I’m in the process of writing up that experience here. Matt and I got great feedback on our presentations and we’re working diligently to bring some of these ideas to life.

In the meantime, I am left with this warm glowing feeling that my blog can take a new direction from “ROFL C#” and “I Can Haz Right of Way? (another ranting cycling blog)”