Wise Contradictions

Spreading Lies: McCain Campaign

I can't say that that I'm surprised that the McCain campaign has resorted to lies and distortion to scare and deceive American voters--this is the Republican party that launched a smear campaign against McCain himself back in 2000 when it looked like he might defeat Governor Bush.  The deceptive tactics that McCain has employed--chronicled and debunked in this video, show just how low he's willing to stoop.  These ads all from the "straight talk" express.  Doublespeak, is more like it.   America deserves better--needs better leaders than what we're getting from McCain and his doublespeak campaign. Credits: Video is from: Brave New Films Larry Lessig inspired me to get the word out.

Ubiquity: Mix Your Own Mashups in Seconds

I never met a keyboard shortcut I didn't like--spend a little time learning a combination, save a load of time everytime you use it.  Every program has them--many even work from one program to another.  (Everyone knows control-A to select text, control-C to copy and control-V to paste--right?)  It beats going to the Edit menu everytime.)  I'm a fan of programs that help you do more with shortcuts like Quicksilver and replace text you type often, like Textpander but Ubiquity puts dynamic mashups within the reach of mere mortals. Want to to send an email to a friend with a map of where you're meeting? Just type send this map to Joe, and off it goes from your GMail account. Ubiquity understands plain english and the contexts we work in. Looking at a list of addresses on Craigslist and want to see all of them on a map? Just type, "map this" and Ubiquity generates a map. The project is ambitious--they're trying to shift the web to be user centric instead of application or service centric--in other words, you tell the machine what you want and it stitches the services--calendar, map, reviews, together. Note, it's not even a beta--it's an experiment. One worth participating in. Intrigued? Watch the video--go ahead, install it. And tell me you haven't been wishing for something like this all along.
Ubiquity for Firefox from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.

Classical Music Rocks: Zander Explains Why

I'm coming out of the rock and pop closet and declaring my love for classical music. Benjamin Zander, a conductor gave this talk on how classical music speaks to all of us at the Technology, Entertainment and Design Conference. He's managed to explain how classical music is magic in a way that I've never heard before. This talk is as much about leadership and our shared humanity as it is about music--very much worth watching and listening too--as are the other TED talks. They are indeed "ideas worth spreading."

iPhone 3G Experience: Line Me Up, I'll Take It

It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that a geek, in possession of good fortune, must be in want of an iPhone.

That's me.  

I work in SoHo, just off Lafayette Street, and young kids regularly line up for product launches at the skate stores.   When I see this happening, I wonder, who lines up and waits a day to SPEND money.  I mean, what's the sense of that?  What's the opportunity cost?  This is conspicuous consumption at its worst.  Is this how we form communities?  Around products?  What's America coming to?

Right.  And so, on Friday, July 11, iPhone 3g day, at 8:40 AM, excited, hungry, and eager I took my place at the back of the line outside the Short Hills Mall,  and I was not alone--at least 500 others had the same idea.  And then I was flooded with a new sensation:  worry.  What if I didn't get one?  (Yes, I admit it's ridiculous, but if reason carried the day I never would have been in line in the first place.)   Should I go to the AT&T store?  My twitterpack urged me to stay put.  Apple has deep stock.  "New shipments are coming all day," said Katie, the bubbly but tight-lipped, orange t-shirt wearing Apple Concierge working the line.  And so, with my line mates, Randy (who got a phone call about every 3 minutes) and Ravi, I settled in for the long wait. 

9:49 AM.  The security guards, with backup from the Millburn police, usher us into the mall, where we see, the heavenly glow of the Apple logo against brushed metal, and a line that's 4 rows deep and about 100 feet long.   One of my fellow line-mates, Randy, earned his PhD in math or finance--he develops a model that predicts when we'll arrive at the store's entrance.  Like any good model, it undergoes revisions to reflect change--like that AT&T's activation servers are overwhelmed by demand.  The line stops moving for 45 minutes and I lost my ability to tweet because my Blackberry battery dies.  Fortunately, I was still able to rely upon a much older technology, speech to learn more about the people around me in line.

Ravi had a passion for yoga.  Brandi had three kids and worked for the State of New Jersey cracking down on fraud, which apparently there's quite a bit of.  We nursed our free frozen, chocolate-mint lattes from Starbucks and passed the time.  I felt like I was playing hooky, which probably added to the fun.  We parted when Apple reps finally admitted to the store.  I was surprised to learn that 2 of the store staff that I spoke with had been there since its opening 6 years ago--and they seemed happy to be there--I dare say, proud, that they helped create the store.

And though this was a product launch and Apple commodities like computers and music players what they really create are experiences.  The line was absurd, but they had folks out there working it, water, free coffee, and there was a positive buzz that only got more intense as we neared the story.  I think part of the reason that I'm so keen on Apple products is that my associations are overwhelmingly positive.  I am consistently, pleasantly surprised and pleased by what they've built.  They create technology that lets us be ourselves--that celebrates our humanity.  And though they've gained in popularity, I still think most technology forces us to think like a machine.  I am an Apple fan boy, have been for years, but no one does it better.  

I got into the store at 2pm and am introduced to Tom, who gets me my first iPhone.  I think I'm going to be out of there in 15 minutes, but that wasn't the case.   I hit some sort of snag when they tried to transfer my number.  This gives me an excuse to spend more time in the store soaking up the vibe, and now I'm seated, in front of a 24" iMac tweeting like a madman and emailing.  There are worse places to wait.  Henley's negotiating with AT&T assuring me that it's going to get done, but he's got to leave at three, so he turns me over to Frances, who just started 2 weeks ago.  While she waits on hold for AT&T I learn that she's an art history major at Rutgers, that she was recruited to work in the store by her friend Johanna, (a former nursing, now Pharmacology major, also at Rutgers.)   I also learn that the shirts are color-coded.  Orange: Concierge--it's their job to connect you with people who know the technology--so they learn the people, and Blue:  the people who know the technology.  At least 2 other folks help troubleshoot the problem.  At one point I'm like, is this really worth it?  I should leave, but the truth is that I was having a blast.  I got to ask  Johanna a few dozen questions about Leopard, and just enjoyed hanging out in the store.  By the third phone activation, I had switch from black to white--thinking it might be good luck but Frances' persistence is really what did it.  

I never worked so hard to spend so much money, but it was a ton of fun.  Special thanks to my twitter posse, debwaldman, snark12, psyker390, clemtastic, nybble73, robmaruzi and the gang at Apple Short Hills.

What's your iPhone story?  Holding out?  Updating?  Blackberry Curve Forever?  And yes, almost 1 week later, I'd say it was worth the wait.

Change Congress

Gas is over $4 a gallon, the planet's getting warmer, we're fighting a war in Iraq, we live in the era of "No Child Left Behind," and we leave children behind. The old trope is that "people get the government they deserve." We don't. According to Larry Lessig, the founder of Change Congress, we must and can do better. Our problem: we the people, get interested in politics every four years. The solution: a congress--the people's house working in our interests everyday instead of the interests of lobbyists. You can help by taking the pledge at Change Congress and then checking on your legislator to see how he or she acts on key reform issues. Now, I agree, "Yes We Can" but we also need the persistence to sustain the movement--and that comes from a Congress that is truly of, by and FOR the people. For reference, here's Lessig's presentation about Change Congress. If you haven't seen him present, you must watch--he's got an amazing gift--he informs, entertains and insprires. What do you think of Change Congress? Are you happy with the representation you get in Washington? Locally, or are you tuned out?

The Five Phases of Facebook

If you thought Facebook was a time-drain before, now they've gone and added Chat.   Their stock price notwithstanding, these clever folks are taking notice of how annoying Facebook's become.  Between their choice of Billy Joel's "We didn't start the fire,"  for the melody, and replacing it with "we're getting sick of facebook," LLP81's video critique is one of the funniest things I've seen online in a while.  What are your thoughts on Facebook?

Here Comes Everybody (I'm here too!)

Clay Shirky's latest book, Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations, discusses how light-weight web-based technologies like blogging, twittering and photo sharing sites like Flickr result in real world actions.  Shirky talked about the book at the Markle Foundation on April 10.  I'm going to highlight a new of Clay's examples and then reflect on what I think his ideas mean for traditional organizations. 

In Defense of Food

In his newest book, "In Defense of Food, An Eater's Manifesto,"  Michael Pollan sets out to resolve the "Omnivore's Dilemma,"  where if you ate industrially produced food you were killing the environment, if you ate industrial organic, you were doing slightly less harm, but the carbon impact of your consumption remains an environmental killer.  You could hunt yourself, and become a killer or you could eat food produced on places like Polyface Farms-- if you live near such a famed place.  Reading The Omnivore's Dilemma was like eating from the forbidden tree of knowledge, it brought an uncomfortable awareness to every meal.  I wanted back into the Garden of Eatin'.  An Eater's Manifesto both raises awareness about how we got to a place where food needs to be defended and sets out an alternative path.  His advice:  "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants."

Innocents Do Good

Robert Strauss, a former Peace Corps Country Director recently opined in the NYTimes that "For the Peace Corps, the number of volunteers has always trumped the quality of their work, perhaps because the agency fears that an objective assessment of its impact would reveal that while volunteers generate good will for the United States, they do little or nothing to actually aid development in poor countries. The agency has no comprehensive system for self-evaluation, but rather relies heavily on personal anecdote to demonstrate its worth." He argued that the Peace Corps sends too many recent college grads who lack the skills to do their jobs. I disagree with Strauss and wrote the following response. Other letters both agreed and disagreed with his assessment. Perhaps it's not fair to generalize from one's own experience--which goes for Strauss and me.

One Twisted Path to the NYC Marathon

The legend goes that in 450 B.C., Pheidippides ran from Marathon to Athens, a distance of about 26 miles, to bring news of Greece's victory over Persia in the eponymous battle of Marathon.  Upon arrival in Athens, Pheidippides cried "Victory!" collapsed and died.  Last November, along with 39,265 others, I ran from Fort Wadsworth in Staten Island to Central Park in the New York City Marathon.    Pheidippides had some important news to deliver and was under orders.  Why would anyone else run 26.2 miles?