Queen Charlottes
19.8.04
17.8.04
Good Work
"It is of course not possible to summarize the results from so wide ranging a study and one, moreover, that is still very much in progress. We can say that professionals in most domains do have a clear vision of what constitutes good work and how it might be achieved, even as they recognize the challenges to carrying out such good work in the current milieu. Good Work is most readily carried out when the various interest groups are well-aligned - that is, when the long term professional mission, the individual practitioner, the current institutions and gatekeepers, the shareholders - in the case of for-profit enterprises- and the society's stakeholders all want the same thing from current work.
"In contrast, when there are wide disparities within and across these interest groups, good work is elusive. Nonetheless, even under less favorable conditions, some individuals and institutions succeed in carrying out good work and these exemplars serve to inspire others. Moreover, some individuals are actually stimulated by misalignment and proceed to 'right' the institutions in which they work or to devise new ones that realize their ideals.
"On a less positive note, many young workers feel that they cannot afford at present to be ethical as well as excellent. They believe that others around them are cutting corners all the time, and if they are to be successful, they must also sacrifice the means to achieve the desired ends. One day, they are confident, when they are in a position of power, they will be able to achieve and exemplify good work. This discouraging finding underscores the need for educational experiences that foreground goodwork as well as for periodic booster shots, should the image of good work become blurred. "
~From: About the GoodWork Project
"In contrast, when there are wide disparities within and across these interest groups, good work is elusive. Nonetheless, even under less favorable conditions, some individuals and institutions succeed in carrying out good work and these exemplars serve to inspire others. Moreover, some individuals are actually stimulated by misalignment and proceed to 'right' the institutions in which they work or to devise new ones that realize their ideals.
"On a less positive note, many young workers feel that they cannot afford at present to be ethical as well as excellent. They believe that others around them are cutting corners all the time, and if they are to be successful, they must also sacrifice the means to achieve the desired ends. One day, they are confident, when they are in a position of power, they will be able to achieve and exemplify good work. This discouraging finding underscores the need for educational experiences that foreground goodwork as well as for periodic booster shots, should the image of good work become blurred. "
~From: About the GoodWork Project
16.8.04
15.8.04
iPlan - Community engagement techniques and tools
"... clusters of techniques that best suit each phase of plan making and development assessment processes."
iPlan - Community engagement techniques and tools
iPlan - Community engagement techniques and tools
Collaboration Tiers
Many-to-Many: Collaboration Cases and Spaces
"The broadest tier is a guest space, available to all.
The second tier is a knowledgebase, accessible to all employees and contractors.
The third tier is product development, for employees and contractors bound by a confidentiality agreement.
The fourth tier is for the core management team to share confidential financial and HR information."
"The broadest tier is a guest space, available to all.
The second tier is a knowledgebase, accessible to all employees and contractors.
The third tier is product development, for employees and contractors bound by a confidentiality agreement.
The fourth tier is for the core management team to share confidential financial and HR information."
14.8.04
Happiness in Everyday Life
Happiness in Everyday Life: The Uses of Experience Sampling
"The strongest predictor of trait happiness was how Excited (vs. Bored) a person felt, followed by the variables Feeling Good about Self, Proud (vs. Ashamed), Sociable (vs. Lonely), feeling Active and Strong (vs. Weak). The correlation coefficients of these variables with Happiness (and controlling for age), were .58, .59, .47, and .53, respectively (with N= 799, all p?s<.0001)."
"The strongest predictor of trait happiness was how Excited (vs. Bored) a person felt, followed by the variables Feeling Good about Self, Proud (vs. Ashamed), Sociable (vs. Lonely), feeling Active and Strong (vs. Weak). The correlation coefficients of these variables with Happiness (and controlling for age), were .58, .59, .47, and .53, respectively (with N= 799, all p?s<.0001)."
More Flow ...
Eudaomonia, The Good Life
"Central to Seligman's positive psychology is 'eudaemonia, the good life, which is what Thomas Jefferson and Aristotle meant by the pursuit of happiness. They did not mean smiling a lot and giggling. Aristotle talks about the pleasures of contemplation and the pleasures of good conversation. Aristotle is not talking about raw feeling, about thrills, about orgasms. Aristotle is talking about what Mike Csikszentmihalyi works on, and that is, when one has a good conversation, when one contemplates well. When one is in eudaemonia, time stops. You feel completely at home. Self-consciousness is blocked. You're one with the music.'
'The good life consists of the roots that lead to flow. It consists of first knowing what your signature strengths are and then recrafting your life to use them more - recrafting your work, your romance, your friendships, your leisure, and your parenting to deploy the things you're best at. What you get out of that is not the propensity to giggle a lot; what you get is flow, and the more you deploy your highest strengths the more flow you get in life.'"
"Central to Seligman's positive psychology is 'eudaemonia, the good life, which is what Thomas Jefferson and Aristotle meant by the pursuit of happiness. They did not mean smiling a lot and giggling. Aristotle talks about the pleasures of contemplation and the pleasures of good conversation. Aristotle is not talking about raw feeling, about thrills, about orgasms. Aristotle is talking about what Mike Csikszentmihalyi works on, and that is, when one has a good conversation, when one contemplates well. When one is in eudaemonia, time stops. You feel completely at home. Self-consciousness is blocked. You're one with the music.'
'The good life consists of the roots that lead to flow. It consists of first knowing what your signature strengths are and then recrafting your life to use them more - recrafting your work, your romance, your friendships, your leisure, and your parenting to deploy the things you're best at. What you get out of that is not the propensity to giggle a lot; what you get is flow, and the more you deploy your highest strengths the more flow you get in life.'"
Thinking about Africa
Virtual Communities: Africa Rising
"About a decade ago, I migrated directly from a frontier Wyoming cattle ranch to the frontier of cyberspace. I began to focus on concepts rather than cows. It was a surprisingly easy transformation.
But there is a surface tension on this new world that some folks find difficult to penetrate. It appears to me that common perceptions of the potential of virtual commerce, digital society, and intangible work are limited by the habits of mind one develops in an industrial society.
I believe that my background of working in agriculture, avoiding television, and living in a small town rather than a 'burb spared me some crippling assumptions about this emerging world. And it therefore seemed likely that others in the so-called developing world - Africans, for instance - might have been spared these illusions as well. "
"About a decade ago, I migrated directly from a frontier Wyoming cattle ranch to the frontier of cyberspace. I began to focus on concepts rather than cows. It was a surprisingly easy transformation.
But there is a surface tension on this new world that some folks find difficult to penetrate. It appears to me that common perceptions of the potential of virtual commerce, digital society, and intangible work are limited by the habits of mind one develops in an industrial society.
I believe that my background of working in agriculture, avoiding television, and living in a small town rather than a 'burb spared me some crippling assumptions about this emerging world. And it therefore seemed likely that others in the so-called developing world - Africans, for instance - might have been spared these illusions as well. "
Keith Hart?s Memory Bank - Biography
Keith Hart?s Memory Bank - Biography: "KEITH HART is an anthropologist who lives in Paris and commutes to London, where he teaches part-time at Goldsmith?s College. He started out studying classical languages and literature and went on to explore Atlantic society from the point of view of Africans in North America, West Africa, the Caribbean, Britain, France and South Africa. He has taught in ten universities on both sides of the Atlantic, for the longest time in Cambridge, where he was Director of the African Studies Centre. He has worked as a consultant, journalist, publisher and gambler. He contributed the concept of the informal economy to development studies, and has published widely on economic anthropology, especially about money. The abiding theme of his work is the relationship between movement and identity in the transition from national to world society. His life is now defined by the poles of solitary writing and world travel. He is sustained by his family and the virtual intellectual network in his laptop. He is currently writing a novel and several other works of non-fiction. His greatest ambition is to be a movie critic. "
Keith Hart?s Memory Bank - Welcome!
Keith Hart?s Memory Bank - Welcome!: "Money and language are the main means of communication available to us and both serve as a store of individual and collective memory. The idea of a ?Memory Bank? refers to the convergence of the two as information ? especially now that the exchange of objects through money and the exchange of meanings through language are coming together in a single network of communication, the Internet.The various sections of this portal give access to my published and unpublished work on people, machines and money? as well as to other forms of creative writing and information about me. The site grew out of the publication of my book, The Memory Bank (Profile Books, London, 2000), which was later published in the U.S.A. as Money in an Unequal World (Texere, New York, 2001). "
The New York Review of Books: Twilight at Easter
The New York Review of Books: Twilight at Easter: "Why were Easter Islanders so foolish as to cut down all their trees, when the consequences would have been so obvious to them? This is a key question that nags everyone who wonders about self-inflicted environmental damage. I have often asked myself, 'What did the Easter Islander who cut down the last palm tree say while he was doing it?' Like modern loggers, did he shout 'Jobs, not trees!'? Or: 'Technology will solve our problems, never fear, we'll find a substitute for wood'? Or: 'We need more research, your proposed ban on logging is premature'?
Similar questions arise for every society that has inadvertently damaged its environment, including ours today. It turns out that there is a series of reasons why people in any society? whether Easter Islanders, Maya, or ourselves?may make fatal mistakes that will look foolish to their successors. They may not anticipate a problem, because of the problem being unprecedented in their experience: e.g., today's overharvesting of the ocean's seemingly inexhaustible fisheries, for the first time in human history. They may fail to perceive the problem when it does arrive: e.g., global warming today, initially difficult to distinguish from just the usual year-to-year fluctuations in temperature. Conflicts of interest may prevent them from addressing a perceived problem: e.g., dumping toxic wastes into rivers is bad for people living downstream but saves money for the company doing the dumping. Some problems just prove too difficult to solve with current abilities: e.g., no one has figured out how to eliminate the Dutch elm disease that reached North America. Probably all of those kinds of explanations apply to deforestation on Easter Island, but the most important reason there may be conflicts of interest. A chief's status depended on his ststatus depended on his statues: any chief who failed to cut trees to transport and erect statues would have found himself out of a job.
The Easter Islanders' isolation probably also explains why their collapse, more, perhaps, than the collapse of any other pre-industrial society, haunts readers and visitors today. The parallels between Easter Island and the modern world are chillingly obvious. Thanks to globalization, international trade, jet planes, and the Internet, all countries on Earth today share resources and affect each other, just as did Easter's eleven clans. Polynesian Easter Island was as isolated in the Pacific Ocean as the Earth is today in space. When the Easter Islanders got into difficulties, there was nowhere to which they could flee, or to which they could turn for help; nor shall we modern Earthlings have recourse elsewhere if our troubles increase. Those are the reasons why people see the collapse of Easter Island society as a metaphor, a worst-case scenario, for what may lie ahead of us in our own future."
Similar questions arise for every society that has inadvertently damaged its environment, including ours today. It turns out that there is a series of reasons why people in any society? whether Easter Islanders, Maya, or ourselves?may make fatal mistakes that will look foolish to their successors. They may not anticipate a problem, because of the problem being unprecedented in their experience: e.g., today's overharvesting of the ocean's seemingly inexhaustible fisheries, for the first time in human history. They may fail to perceive the problem when it does arrive: e.g., global warming today, initially difficult to distinguish from just the usual year-to-year fluctuations in temperature. Conflicts of interest may prevent them from addressing a perceived problem: e.g., dumping toxic wastes into rivers is bad for people living downstream but saves money for the company doing the dumping. Some problems just prove too difficult to solve with current abilities: e.g., no one has figured out how to eliminate the Dutch elm disease that reached North America. Probably all of those kinds of explanations apply to deforestation on Easter Island, but the most important reason there may be conflicts of interest. A chief's status depended on his ststatus depended on his statues: any chief who failed to cut trees to transport and erect statues would have found himself out of a job.
The Easter Islanders' isolation probably also explains why their collapse, more, perhaps, than the collapse of any other pre-industrial society, haunts readers and visitors today. The parallels between Easter Island and the modern world are chillingly obvious. Thanks to globalization, international trade, jet planes, and the Internet, all countries on Earth today share resources and affect each other, just as did Easter's eleven clans. Polynesian Easter Island was as isolated in the Pacific Ocean as the Earth is today in space. When the Easter Islanders got into difficulties, there was nowhere to which they could flee, or to which they could turn for help; nor shall we modern Earthlings have recourse elsewhere if our troubles increase. Those are the reasons why people see the collapse of Easter Island society as a metaphor, a worst-case scenario, for what may lie ahead of us in our own future."
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection: "The David Rumsey Historical Map Collection has over 10,000 maps online. The collection focuses on rare 18th and 19th century North and South America maps and other cartographic materials. Historic maps of the World, Europe, Asia and Africa are also represented. "
Geospatial Solutions - From Parchment to Ether: Fusing Historical Maps with Web GIS
Geospatial Solutions - From Parchment to Ether: Fusing Historical Maps with Web GIS: "For the past 20 years, I have built my map collection with the help of dealers, bookstores, auction houses, and other collectors. Today, with more than 150,000 maps, the collection is recognized as one of the largest in the United States focusing on 18th and 19th century North and South American cartographic materials (see 'What's in a Collection?' sidebar). The collection also features maps covering the entire world and includes atlases, globes, school geographies, maritime charts, and a variety of pocket, wall, children's, and manuscript maps. "
10.8.04
Blog de Jour: Journal
Journal: "Ledger 1.7
Version 1.7 of Ledger, the command-line accounting tool, is now available and ready for download. This tool is written in C++, and depends on the GNU multi-precision library (gmp) and the Perl regular expression library (pcre).
Version 1.7 adds support for historical pricing information, making it possible to generate cost basis reports, market value reports, and net gain/loss reports. See the new section in the README, under 'Currencies and Commodities'.
Sat, 17 Jul 2004 A house divided
Why is following certain standards so hard? Why can we not 'whip ourselves into shape'? Why do some behaviors feel impossibly hard to stop, with self-deception always making think we've succeeded, only to prove later than we still fail?"
Version 1.7 of Ledger, the command-line accounting tool, is now available and ready for download. This tool is written in C++, and depends on the GNU multi-precision library (gmp) and the Perl regular expression library (pcre).
Version 1.7 adds support for historical pricing information, making it possible to generate cost basis reports, market value reports, and net gain/loss reports. See the new section in the README, under 'Currencies and Commodities'.
Sat, 17 Jul 2004 A house divided
Why is following certain standards so hard? Why can we not 'whip ourselves into shape'? Why do some behaviors feel impossibly hard to stop, with self-deception always making think we've succeeded, only to prove later than we still fail?"
Krzysztof Kowalczyk weblog
Krzysztof Kowalczyk weblog: "Weblog Without Honor or Humanity
by Krzysztof Kowalczyk"
by Krzysztof Kowalczyk"
9.8.04
waferbaby
Not quite Everything but waferbaby is pretty interesting: "the details: originally developed in 1995 as a site for the author's shareware, waferbaby has since grown into a crazy web community, with most of the content created by the users. the name was originally intended for a comic label that has yet to see the light of day."
Software Project Management
Software Project Management: "Principles of Software Project Management (Q7503)"
tonypierce.com + busblog
tonypierce.com + busblog: "teenage fanclub is on my ipod talking about what they do when theyre fucked up.
ive got groceries in the trunk, the cubs on the telly, and a bbq at welches house that i am fixin to attend.
just after i write and tell you that this ipod deal is pretty sweet, i must admit."
ive got groceries in the trunk, the cubs on the telly, and a bbq at welches house that i am fixin to attend.
just after i write and tell you that this ipod deal is pretty sweet, i must admit."
Beijing Art Scene
Beijing Art Scene: "A decade ago avant-garde photographer Rong Rong lived in a ramshackle farmhouse and took odd jobs to support himself. "No one was interested in buying my work," he recalls. On the contrary: once when he was photographing performance artist Zhang Huan, who had stripped naked, covered himself with honey and then sat for an hour in a Beijing public toilet while flies landed on him, a villager stumbled upon the shoot and called the authorities."
Elsa Dorfman, Portrait Photographer
Elsa Dorfman, Portrait Photographer: "My web site is my obsession. Here is a map that Andrew Grumet and I came up with, inspired by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Browse on the different subway lines."
Before Sunrise @Everything2.com
Excerpt from the quirky, borderline encyclopedic Everything2.com: Before Sunrise @Everything2.com: "If you could take a whole bunch of questions and theories that relate to birth, life, relationships, and death and have two mutually attractive and intelligent people meet up to discuss them and maybe even fall in love at the same time, then Before Sunrise would pretty much be the result of filming them for a night.
What is interesting is the way in which the extremely sharp dialogue moves in cycles through these topics like the chronology of life itself, woven together with the dynamics of boy meets girl, of European meets American and the idea that even circumstances of complete alienation can bring about the strongest of connections. "
What is interesting is the way in which the extremely sharp dialogue moves in cycles through these topics like the chronology of life itself, woven together with the dynamics of boy meets girl, of European meets American and the idea that even circumstances of complete alienation can bring about the strongest of connections. "
4.8.04
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3.8.04
Edward Burtynsky: Photographic Works
Brilliant photos - Edward Burtynsky Photographic Works
"Exploring the Residual Landscape: Nature transformed through industry is a predominate theme in my work. ... These images are meant as metaphors to the dilemma of our modern existence; they search for a dialogue between attraction and repulsion, seduction and fear."
"Exploring the Residual Landscape: Nature transformed through industry is a predominate theme in my work. ... These images are meant as metaphors to the dilemma of our modern existence; they search for a dialogue between attraction and repulsion, seduction and fear."
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Representations of Global Capital
Toether with Chomsky's blog, a radical, intelligent critique: Representations of Global Capital: "Like the other ads in this campaign, this ad is structured by using the technique of splicing together the speech of many actors conducted in many separate interviews to create the impression that they are altogether uttering a common, shared idea. "
14.7.04
20.5.04
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