I may have to go buy myself a new laptop backpack. I’ve been thinking about it anyway and I’m always willing to support a subversive sense of humor. We need more wry thinkers regardless of their politics
Bihn Label. Do washing instruction tags on Tom Bihn bags carry a hidden message in French? [New Urban Legends]
Thank you Jenny. Today it’s hot and humid instead of raining, but the walk to lunch was a nice break. Also, thanks for the pointer to the Neat Net Tricks blog.
Of Course, Right Now It’s Raining Outside.
A refreshing 404 Error Message [via Neat Net Tricks mailing list, which I just realized is now a blog with an accompanying RSS feed!]
Something to have handy while waiting to go through security screening at O’Hare.
Download the US Constitution for your iPod. An anonymous BoingBoing reader says, “The Constitution of the United States has just been released for the iPod. This is cool on several fronts, not the least of which is the fact that it was produced by the American Constitution Society, a progressive lawyer’s group associated with Mario Cuomo and Janet Reno. To my knowledge, this marks the first time a major DC policy group has attempted to use the iPod to accomplish its goals.” Link [Boing Boing]
Something to think about. No surprise, I’m sure, but I view the continued capacity to learn as the important factor here. Which generally depends on the capacity to not know and the capacity to be comfortable with not knowing.
I was lucky enough to go to schools that did not systematically crush and destroy that capacity. I guess that means I am still a kid. Fine by me.
One curious thing about being willing to not know. If you do succeed in getting conventional credentials that suggest that you have learned a lot, people assume that your claims of ignorance and not knowing are a strategy, not a simple claim of fact. They’re not.
[Seb’s Open Research]
Another bit of fun from Dina. I’ve been engaged in this argument for almost as long as there have been personal computers, perhaps longer than that. In fact, I think I will follow this advice now and call it a night. There’s certainly no way I’m going to catch up with Scoble anyway.
This is for all blog spouses – Judith sent me the link this morning – thanks J !
Do you find yourself in this situation ?
I do sometimes :):):).
This is a classic and largely familiar story of user center designed from the field of architecture. It had never occurred to me to make this very natural connection to blogs and blogging in the organization. Now that someone else has, however, I expect to use the analogy routinely (with all due credit recorded here).
Thank you, Dina.
Corporate Blogging – Blogs as Paths in Open Spaces.
One more way of looking at blogging in organisations …
“Blogging Paths in the Grass – Will Pate.
Jon Strande was blogging the other day about how Slonian corporate structures divorce employees from each other and customers. He told this litle story that sparked some thinking about one of my favorite subjects these days, organizational blogging.
An architect once designed a cluster of buildings. When asked by the landscape crew where to pave the sidewalks, he told them to plant grass between all the buildings, wait a year, then, after the occupants had worn the most useful paths, the architect told the landscape crew to pave the pathways that the occupants had created.
In an organization blogs can operate much the same way. They become open spaces where people can create their own path. Discussions emerge and the lines wear deeper into the solid ground, creating meaningful relationships built on common interests.”
I rarely live up to Tufte’s excellence in graphic design, but I figure it’s worth trying.
Tufte teaches about new word-sized communication vehicles.
Edward Tufte has posted a major update to his “Sparklines” chapter from his upcoming book. What are sparklines? Intense, simple, word-sized graphics.
I wonder how I could use Sparklines here on my blog?
Tufte is doing some deep thinking about information design and how it communicates.
This has been bouncing around in my aggregator for a few days. Who knows what notions of intelletual property I’m skirting, but I want to keep the handy for future reference.
Dina Mehta takes a break from her break to pass on this comic originally posted by Jan Karlsbjerg:
Hmmm, a great prelude to the next stage of the Corporate Weblogging Pitch Contest by the Judging Panelists?
Need a kick start to get this summer pitching fun going. Or, should I postpone to the fall?
And why shouldn’t he have one? This reminds me of the blog games a while back on seeing how far we could get a meme to propogate.
Nigritude Ultramarine, because Anil wants an iPod.
By Nick Bradbury. [Nick Bradbury]
Welcome, indeed. Nancy and I started talking about getting her up and blogging over a year ago. I’d like to think the delay was a function of other things on her plate, rather than testimony to my persuasive skills. Regardless, it’s nice to have her here finally.
Welcome, Nancy!.
Woo-friggin-hoo! Long-time online facilitation expert Nancy White has finally started her own weblog (did she hear my plea?). The online community toolkit that she s been building for years is chock-full of great material, which I suppose she ll do us the pleasure of introducing bit by bit.
A recent post reports on an experiment I d been meaning to try but had yet to find the right conditions for: having group of chat participants listen the same music while chatting – much as would happen at a party – as a means of creating a shared atmosphere and giving participants a better sense of togetherness. Apparently it turned out very well I ll really have to try it. Webjay could make it quite easy.
This post also appears on channel social software
