Perhaps we should start cataloguing all the quagmires and quandaries that social networks have gone and created for us.
I actually have a queue of friend requests stagnating at each and every social networking site I belong to because I just don’t feel like I’m “friends” with these individuals. And I feel guilty, because even though I know that the web wants me to accept a very broad definition of what a friend is, I cannot help but resist. They’re acquaintances, cool people, etc., but not really friends. Our interactions are amicable, but not at the “friend” level. Admittedly, that’s my own assessment. I feel bad for leaving people hanging, like I am rejecting them.
While some add friends left, right, and centre, like there’s no tomorrow, quite often people they’ve never met, or exchanged no more than a single email with, I for one will only accept friend requests under the strictest of conditions… you ask me. :)
Spilled Coffee #1 by Jeff Ventura, and the beginning, by the looks of it, of another episodic writing series at clusterflock.
She had just moved into his house, and it was weird. Not weird because he had been Mr. Happily Single or HBO primetime I’m-afraid-of-commitment fodder or anything like that, but because they weren’t partners at all. They even had an awful sex life, where awful means once every two weeks and it was work, god was it ever work. It often resulted in crying. And they were going to be married in about a month at a fancy country club and it was going to cost upwards of $20K and the only thing he wanted out of the deal was a huge house in the right zip code to show everyone he had actually arrived, because that was what he had been taught was important. Of course, she wanted babies and to quit working, because that equaled an identity.
Fiction or non-fiction?
How’s this for a photographic assignment, collect photos of trailer trucks that each feature a different letter of the alphabet.
Just so your task isn’t too straightforward, you must track down the appropriate vehicles on relatively deserted roadways, and only at certain times of the day.
Simple, just ask photographer Eric Tabuchi.
Tabuchi has photographed trailer trucks on empty highways, each bearing one letter of the alphabet. His set of 26 trucks is perfectly uniform in scale and composition and lighting. Uncanny. The project also serves as a sort of visual typology of truck typography.
Via Chris Glass.
News that workers at an IBM facility in Sydney are considering strike action suddenly seems to make the concept of a designer’s union somewhat more palatable:
In early 2000, at the height of the US dotcom boom, I told my colleagues at Sapient that we should start a knowledge workers labor union to ensure that when things went sour, which they always do, that we could keep our M&Ms, free food and drinks, Aeron chairs, bonus compensation, message therapists, lock into high worth stock options, good medical coverage, nap rooms, flexible schedules, etc. They laughed at me saying the equivalent of, “Dude, we got it so good. What do we need a labor union for?”
At a guess, because they are not of Chinese origin, something that became more than apparent to Jennifer 8. Lee when she handed them out in China recently:
Often times, they would put the cookies in their mouth, and then be surprised when they found a piece of paper either in their mouth or in a cookie.
Another clue to their “origin” surely lies in the word cookie, derived from the Dutch word koekje, meaning “little cake”, which was popularised in the United States, not China.
Will the growing desire for separate sovereign states, as witnessed, for example, by the break-up of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia in the 1990s, eventually lead to the World Wide Web becoming a series of localised intranets, accessible only to those within the confines of certain geographic territories?
So what if you put all the three trends together: rise of nationalism (both geographic and linguistic) and technical advances, you see a pattern emerge: the very same governments that are often cited for repressive controls, are the very same ones who are demanding their very own internationalized Top-Level Domain (TLD), and very soon. (See this story for instance.) The repressive governments have succeeded in clamping down on traditional media, but online content is far harder to filter, if the operations running the resolution are not within your control. It is one thing to burn the books one by one, but another to control the distribution plant.
This evening I ventured into Sydney’s CDB for the opening of the Post Mortem Exhibition, at Kinokuniya in The Galeries Victoria, which features the work of Akina, Bei Badgirl, Benjamin Constantine, James Jirat Patradoon, Leigh Rigozzi, Nanami Cowdroy, and William Loeng.
Kinokuniya, if you’ve not been there before, is possibly the smallest exhibition space I’ve seen, but don’t let that deceive you, Kinokuniya is definitely about quality rather than quantity. Post Mortem concludes on 9 September.
A few obligatory fly-on-the-wall photos are now on my Flickr page for your viewing pleasure.
The crew at Sony Ericsson recently gave me one of their newest mobile phones, the C902 Cyber-shot to call my own for a couple of months.
Given my love of taking photos I’ve been waiting for a chance to try out the phone’s five mega-pixel camera up at the nearby UNSW campus (where I have a stack of shots from my digital camera to base comparisons on), but to date Sydney’s topsy-turvy weather has thwarted me.
August is statistically Sydney’s driest month, but a clear sunny day, ideal for the outdoor shots I want, continues to elude me whenever I plan to be on the uni campus. Never mind, maybe next week.
Back to the C902. Mobile phones have continued to evolve far beyond being a simple telephone, and the C902 is the latest in this line of development. I have more than the means to simply phone or text home to say I’m running late, sitting comfortably and unobtrusively, in my shirt pocket.
I can send and receive email. Surf the net (reminding me that I need to create a dedicated mobile device stylesheet for disassociated), participate in conference calls, organise my calender and tasks (I’ve long since dispensed with a paper diary), film and view video clips, listen to the radio or MP3s, and of course take photos.
It’s certainly a stylish piece of equipment, and the black finish complete with the silver-gray trim, makes for a uber-appealing tool that permits me to take off into the wide blue yonder for days at a time without having to worry about being out of the loop.
Anyway a few observations to date:
Battery life
So far I have no qualms with the C902 battery. Mobile phone battery life is truly a case of “your mileage may vary” with any phone though. Some weeks my usage has been higher than others, and I’ve needed to recharge the battery after three days.
Another week passed before a recharge was required, with only a few short calls, but the phone on stand-by the whole time.
Reception
I’ve found reception to be very clear, and even if I’m walking alongside a busy road, or in an area where reception is not so strong, I can still hear a caller’s voice quite clearly.
Mind you I haven’t used the phone away from inner Sydney yet, so can’t comment on reception in rural, or more remote, areas.
Keypad
The keypad is rather compact, and sometimes I press the wrong key. My current phone is a Motorola MOTOKRZR K1 and I find its keypad easier to use. I do have have oversize hands though so this may not be a problem for everyone.
I also appreciate that that “clam shell” type phones do have a little more handset real estate, or room, to allow for slightly wider keypad buttons, as opposed to “candy bar” type phones such as the C902.
Text messaging
Despite my fat fingers text messaging with the C902 is simple and straightforward. I especially like what I call the “multi-choice predictive text function”. The C902 will offer several suggestions as to which word, or part of, you wish to use, as you are typing. This took some getting used to, but now I am finding it quite useful.
Screen Icons
I was a little confused by some of the icons appearing on the phone’s screen display, particularly a U-shaped like red arrow. Was it some sort of warning?
A browse of the phone’s manual failed to turn up a legend, or explanation, of screen icons. I have since deduced however that the icon is a “withheld”, or missed call, indicator.
Another initial puzzle was a “H” icon which was present on some occasions but not others. I noticed it would vanish from the screen if I stepped into a lift, or was in an underground car park, so I assume it is a “strong signal” indicator.
Security
One little gripe I have is with phone security, or lack of.
While the C902 does feature a keypad lock, this really only guards against accidentally dialing a number while the phone is in your pocket or bag. In comparison the MOTOKRZR K1 has a PIN activated phone lock, meaning I can’t do anything with the phone until I tap in a PIN code.
It’s an extra layer of security I appreciate. If the C902 does have such a phone lock, its activation eludes me.
Computer synchronisation
I was quickly and easily able to synchronise the phone to my laptop by way of the C902′s “PC Suite” software, which is included on the DVD that comes with the phone.
I can transfer photos and videos from the phone to my local drive, manage my contacts/phone book, appointments, and task lists, and best of all, send SMS text messages via the computer keyboard, something I appreciate no matter how big a phone’s keypad is.
Summary to date
Aside from the points I make about understanding screen icons and security, I am enjoying using this phone.
A “quick reference” page in the operating manual addressing points such as screen icons and phone security would be useful, as I consider these primary to the phone’s use, as opposed to, say, the camera, which strikes me as being a secondary function, and something I would expect to have to read more about before using.
Further reading and reviews
A few other Australian bloggers are also trying out the phone, Jen, Ben Barren, Neerav Bhatt, and Lee, so between the five of us you’ll end up pretty clued-up on the C902.
The ultimate sign of success in your field of work, being able to wear exactly what you want.
And these words of Erin McKean should be bottled: “people who are successful in business are usually also successful at being completely themselves”.
If you have a distinctive enough look, it can function as your own brand. People often cringe at the notion of “branding” themselves. But your personal brand doesn’t have to be a focus-tested, genericized, rubberized simulacrum of a real person; it just has to be a concentrated version of you. When people talk about having a “personal brand,” what they really mean is that people who are successful in business are usually also successful at being completely themselves. They don’t hesitate to express what’s important to them – their ideas, their vision, and yes, their style.
