Since I found this last year, I was curious to see what the latest presentation from JWT would bring. From a T-F perspective, these entries caught my eye: BYOD – Bring Your Own Device. I actually have been using this phrase for a while now at my work because we have been experimenting with checking [...]
This TED talk really spoke to me. The last part is something to keep in mind…. This is what I have found: to let ourselves be seen, deeply seen, vulnerably seen; to love with our whole hearts, even though there’s no guarantee — and that’s really hard, and I can tell you as a parent, [...]
At a recent unconference I attended, the “keynote” speaker, closed his remarks by listing some things that can help you live, in his opinion, an “authentic” life. He said these actions help you create a Point of View that is yours and yours alone. These were: Create memories (his suggestion was to participate in a [...]
I know that I have already blogged about how BIG the internet is. But, in many ways, it does feel small. For example…. Earlier this month, I was sitting in a webinar learning about new functionality for a system used at my school. It was quickly getting over my head so, of course, I went [...]
It’s a snow day, which means I “get” to play on the computer more than work since it is a Monday and all. I have had the new interface for Facebook for a little while now. I like it. Cleaner, easier to use and things make sense up at the top rather than the bottom [...]
This blog has a tagline about exploring “both sides” of the brain and I do try to explore and nurture both the techy and the feely of life. Of course, I am always interested when they intersect. Part of the official parts of my job is to be technical support for the faculty and staff [...]
I have a ukulele now. And I take piano lessons. Add in the drum set in the basement and the guitar in the closet and there are a lot of musical opportunities in the house these days. Right now, the uke is the winner…it sits out by my desk and I pick it up about [...]
I guess I am at that age where many of the famous people who were influential on my growing-up are starting to die. I noticed that several of my recent posts have been about recent deaths. Yesterday, we lost Mary Travers (the Mary of Peter, Paul and Mary). While Michael Jackson certainly was a huge [...]
Since I found this last year, I was curious to see what the latest presentation from JWT would bring.
From a T-F perspective, these entries caught my eye:
BYOD – Bring Your Own Device. I actually have been using this phrase for a while now at my work because we have been experimenting with checking out iPads to faculty and students and my take on the results is that they are truly “personal” computers and don’t share well with others. We need to expect to bring our own devices, customized as we want, to all kinds of locations and get the cloud based services we are using.
Social Media in the Olympics: I am a HUGE Olympics fan (yes, I braved the crowds in Atlanta!) and with the IOC now allowing athletes to use social media during the event, we are primed to see the Games in all kinds of new ways and at new levels of access.
Online Living in Print and Your Public Story: This is fascinating to me. We archive our lives online and on our phones at this point. The only hard copy pictures I get are from older relatives who still print all of their photos. But, there is also (according to the JWT) a growing appreciation for physical objects like stationery and personal postcards from digital photos. This takes it one more step with services like Social Memories that can pull out your digital archives from Facebook and put them into a book format and IBM’s Museum of Me that builds a virtual museum from your Facebook activity. Or, get more professional and use about.me (Check out my about.me profile!)or Storyvite to pull from all of the different sources and create a collated record of your online professional life.
Split Personality Smartphones: I have had this conversation with folks at work several times. While I don’t carry two devices, I do know people who do – one for work and one for personal. This prediction, that kinda mirrors what Apple tries to do with Spaces
Check out the whole thing. What grabs your attention?
As I plan to start taking piano lessons again tomorrow, I found this oldish video of an amazing musician turning a standard piano into a multitude of instruments.
Having just finished a holiday trip, I thought this video of a bag’s trip through an airport was interesting. Delta airlines ad nonwithstanding.
I totally love this idea. Connecting people via social networking AND spreading lovely holiday lights all over the place in sync. Fantastic.
Visit CheerLights for the details. And, if you don’t have a strand of the CheerLights (like me), then get the Android App! (I will soon)
Maybe I need to learn how to build one of the actual strands…..
Since one of the many nicknames for my dog is Boom-Boom because of how hard she wags her tail against furniture and other objects, I thought this video montage of Steve Jobs was appropriate.
I have really only cried when two celebrities died: Roberto Clemente and Jim Croce. I was much younger then, of course, but while I have been saddened by the loss of a favorite singer, actor or other celebrity, I have not really been moved to tears in a long time until I heard this morning about the death of Steve Jobs.
I am an unabashed Apple fangirl and I have been since my first experiences with the Apple II during undergraduate school and the time that a friend brought over this new computer called a Macintosh..it was cute. Small. “Portable”. And this mouse thing was really something else. I was hooked and have been ever since.
Several models later, a few iPods, iPads and so on (except for the iPhone – never had that), I remain brand loyal and a big Steve fan. Yes, he has an ego. Yes, he sometimes pushes things that I don’t think are the best move but by golly, his vision wins and then all of the sudden we realize that we didn’t know we needed (fill in the technology here) but we certainly cannot live with out it now!
His vision of technology is one of beauty, simplicity, power, creativity and fun. How can you not love that?
Some things to share about Steve Jobs:
A nice video tribute from Gizmodo using the text from the Think Different campaign
Lovely tribute photo and text
An oral history interview from the Smithsonian.
11 Best Steve Quotes (via Huffington Post)
His Stanford commencement speech:
Image via Tom Davenport
I am continually inspired the more I read and learn from Brene Brown’s work on vunerability and whole-hearted living. Then, the other day, I was visiting her blog and noticed this badge:
I was intrigued. In a nutshell, Free-Range Social Media encourages you to share yourself openly, use others for inspiration but not for wholesale copying and not to hide behind the easy to use anonymity that many social media/networking sites allow you to do. You can read more at her FRSM page.
I have shared her TED talk earlier here and I just re-watched it yesterday. It really speaks to me and I think I need to watch it a few times a year just to remind myself of how I need to work on being open and honest. At the first part of her talk, she states that we are all hard-wired for connection. This is the same conclusion that the author of the common book we all read last year at my college drew in his book: The Geography of Bliss. It is all about relationships and connecting.
In this hypertexted/hashtagged world of social networking, I began thinking about how we connect beyond just the basic communication tools like texting, comments, email (oh so 2009) and so on. We also link to each other’s work, pass along URLs via Twitter, post YouTube videos on Facebook, etc.
Brene Brown also links to another person’s badge called Link with Love, which has this badge:
This reminded me of Alan Levine’s definition of “linktribution“, which I latched onto right away, of course, this approach’s definition is much more “feely” so it works on a different level, I suppose. It is about accepting responsibility for what you do online, respecting the intellectual property of others and yourself and protecting those rights.
And, it also seems to ring more true for the connections and relationships. If you choose to link to something, it makes sense to share it in the world appropriately and with respect to whoever created it. You would expect the same from someone else.
I think I have always tried to follow the precepts of the Free-Range Social Media but I will be aware even more.
I was quite taken by a story I heard while driving home this week. On National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, they shared a story about photo retouchers working on damaged photographs rescued from the tsunami that hit northern Japan earlier this year.
The sentiment by the main person profiled in the story really struck me:
“There’s always someone who’s got something to say about how thin someone is made or how flawless someone’s skin is and the effect it has on young women,” says Manson. “So when I set up the project, it was nice to think we could actually do something to help someone.”
As I work with technology and try to find ways it can help those I work with teach, work, live more efficiently and effectively, it can be easy to lose sight of how truly helpful a specialized skill like photo restoration can be and how truly magical the experience of gaining back something like a photograph that was considered lost can also be.
I know I will continue to work with technology and I know it will always be changing. What I hope will not change is my drive to find ways for it to help others make their lives better, provide happiness and simply feel good.
I haven’t had/taken the time to work on my contemplative photography but this view struck me walking into work yesterday morning so I tried to catch the morning sun shining while the moon was still there.
I have been reading about contemplative photography and I am intrigued and challenged to give it a whirl.
What started as a quick glance through the bookstore of the Shambala Sun has developed into much more of an interest. Basically, the practice takes photography away from simply subject matter and into the mind/body/spirit of the photographer so you are more aware of noticing the image, taking the image and creating the equivalent image in your camera to what you noticed.
Of course, the website, Seeing Fresh, explains is much better than I can.
I am part of a Flickr group for Shibui, which is a Japanese term referring to a particular aesthetic of simple, subtle, and unobtrusive beauty. And I can see a relationship between the two. I just want to bring in some awareness and mindfulness into my photography and I hope this might do it. I so enjoyed my Project 365 from several years ago and I guess I am ready for another photography experiment.
Stay tuned.
