On the way to work this morning I encountered the following scene. Ten or so students sharing their morning journey with and through their smartphones. Received wisdom says we are alone with our smartphones, due to our intimate relationship with them. However, recent observations show mobile experiences can also be shared experiences.
Of special note is that they weren’t involved in isolated activity, the majority were involved in at least two other friends’ activity.
©Neil Guanlao http://www.neiguanlao.com/
Last week I had the pleasure of attending WordCamp Sydney 2012 and presented for the first time in a while. It was on a subject near to my heart, inclusive design. The biggest thrill for me was being able to present early and against someone I though would claim the entire crowd, Kimanzi T Constable who was following the keynote in the larger lecture hall. I still had a decent and enthusiastic crowd who posed some good questions. It was great to get the preso over at the start of the conference so I could relax and enjoy the rest of the conference, which I did, thoroughly.
The entire event is archived at Eventifier, which is well worth investigating in itself, as it collects public traces of your event through the content shared on twitter via hashtags, and there are better writers than I who chose to write about the presentations they saw there.
Provocative presentation from Brett Solomon, Campaign Director at Avaaz.org about Citizen Journalism and Democracy. Great stats, interesting and useful facts, and an intelligent view, based on fact, not rhetoric. Covers several different issues in one sweep in 14 minutes. well done!
Tuesday June 1st is Corporate Tuesday, according to my chums at the Inspire Foundation. So in order to convince you to part with your lovely waterproof Australian money, I will be wearing a suit for the day.
If you already wear a suit to work you will be aware of Dress Down Fridays, where the normally be-suited wear casuals or jeans and shed some money for a noble cause. Well Corporate Tuesday is both similar and different. Similar in that it is in order to raise funds for a charity, different in that it involves wearing a suit instead of casuals. You probably already know I’m most comfortable with ancient trainers, comfy scruffy jeans and some sort of comedy t-shirt. I don’t even wear ties to interviews! So on 1/6/10 I’ll be wearing:
BUT: If you want me to wear something more, ahem, embarrassing, (it must still b a “suit”) well that comes down to what you’re willing to part with. There will be no shortage of cameras on the day (no-one at inspire wears suits!). So offer me a challenge and put your money where your mouth is if you want to embarrass me in front of my work colleagues.
The reason I am doing this is because suicide remains one of the leading causes of death among young people aged 15-24, alongside road and traffic accidents, and 75% of mental illness begins before age 25, so helping young people find a way through tough times is one of the best things we can offer the world.
So if you want my attire on Corporate Tuesday to be different to the usual “Whistle and Flute”, please visit my donation page and see what you can offer.
I bet this is not what you thought I’d be posting about Social Networks, here, namely as it is not about digital Social Networks but physical and tangible ones. These people actually touch each other.
Updated: 05/9/09
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People of my age remember watching men walk on the moon, on our television sets, when we were young kids.
I have no doubt, it shaped us profoundly and irrefutably. Practically, in the way we viewed the world & humanity, and spiritually, in how we saw our fragile breed, riding this blue marble.
in the 40 years since that landing, I probably thought about being an astronaut a million times, I’m sure. I’m not alone among the people who abandoned sporting and historical heroes to replace them with the riders of rockets to the unknown; with heroes of the future; with the scientists and engineers who made things happen, as much as with the rocket pilots themselves.
Millions of people will write about what the anniversary of the moon landing means to them. I won’t add to it. Instead I’d just like to say “thank you”.
I’d like to thank the millions of people who made it happen, from the astronauts themselves, to the parents of the factory worker who tightened any one of the thousands of bolts on the LEM, or approved the velcro strips as they slid past them on the quality assurance table. They’re all in there. They were all important.
The Apollo missions marked the age I was a child of, Aquarius, and influenced my era in ways we have yet to fully explore. And fortunately, we’re still learning from it, and still pushing the boundaries.
And to those who think it didn’t happen? Sorry. I don’t believe you.