CONNECTING

Vancouver, BC 2008

2009-01-05T21:51:00.000-08:00

Vancouver, BC 2008

Lots of memory, very cheap, in a very small package

2009-01-04T12:40:00.004-08:00

I just ordered this card.
Man, 8GB under $20!
How low will 1GB be in 2010?

The new Windows Live client suite is very good

2008-12-20T12:31:00.001-08:00

If you haven’t yet, you should give it a try.

http://download.live.com/

2008-11-02T15:59:00.000-08:00

Brothers

Damien Rice: i remember

2006-12-14T11:19:00.000-08:00

The Laws of Simplicity

2006-11-21T15:19:00.000-08:00

John Maeda gave a very compelling presentation with quotes like: "Complexity is ok; what would the world be if everything was simple", "Relax, the world has been falling apart forever", "I'm in the grey area"

I recommend his book in which he describes the 10 Laws of Simplicity.

Posted from Mac Widget

2006-09-26T07:36:00.000-07:00

Very cool

At Cannon Beach, OR

2006-09-19T09:08:00.000-07:00

Haystack rock in the background

Flickr

2006-09-18T22:55:00.000-07:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Costa Blanca, Spain

2006-08-06T21:21:00.000-07:00

Overlooking the Mediterranean in Costa Blanca, Spain

Is soccer going in the right direction?

2006-07-12T11:53:00.000-07:00

Too much faking, plain lying on the part of the players and coaches. What happened to the "sport" spirit?

Making Meaning

2006-07-06T17:30:00.000-07:00

Good book on the innovation process and the importance of branding and the emotions it evokes.

The Alchemist

2005-11-29T11:35:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite books of all time. A fable about following your dreams. Simply and beautifully written.

Provocative Book - The Singularity is Near

2005-11-29T10:15:00.000-08:00

Predictions on the merging of technology and biology. I've only read the first few chapters and I like this book so much I had to post a recommendation - which I will update once I finish it :-)

Internet Trends (Morgan Stanley)

2005-11-29T10:12:00.000-08:00

Internet Trends -- Web 2.0

San Francisco, October 2005

Mary Meeker presented at the Web 2.0 conference taking place October 5-7 in San Francisco. Below, is the link to the updated presentation delivered at the event.

Internet Trends (50 pages)

Author's Brief Biography

2005-10-20T11:45:00.000-07:00

Julio Estrada is an acknowledged pioneer in the design of innovative, category-defining collaboration and social software. During the last 20+ years he has played the role of software inventor, visionary, architect, designer, and entrepreneur.

Julio joined Microsoft as Partner Software Architect in 2005, where he is designing a new consumer offering that spans the end-to-end user experience from client software to Web services to hardware.

In 2001, Julio founded Kubi Software to deliver his vision for the automation of compliant business processes using familiar Email patterns and technology. During the four years as CEO/CTO he led the startup company’s strategy, team building, fund raising, and development of its award winning products.

Prior to Kubi, Julio spent ten years at Lotus/IBM where he architected the Lotus Domino Web Server and Lotus QuickPlace products. Earlier in his career, Julio developed Call Center, Employee Management, and Access Control software for Fortune 500 companies.

In general, Julio is passionate about bridging technological promises with the realities of their human adoption. He is the principal inventor of many influential patents in the area of web-based collaboration, including web-based email and calendaring. In 2003, he was named one of Boston Business Journal’s 40 distinguished entrepreneurs under the age of 40.

What really matters

2005-10-14T10:45:00.000-07:00

Last night I read this book to my kids as they went to bed. It is a great book. The author does a wonderful job of stating what is important and what is not, about some basic things that surround us (a cricket, an apple, the rain, etc.)

"The important thing about rain is/ that it is wet./ It falls out of the sky,/ and it sounds like rain,/ and makes things shiny,/ and it does not taste like anything,/ and is the color of air./ But the important thing about rain is that it is wet."

I wished us adults asked ourselves that type of question more often: what's important about a real-estate transaction? a political candidate's record? a software design?

Google Reader

2005-10-07T10:45:00.000-07:00

I'm attending the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco.
Lots of cool stuff. Today Google just announced Google Reader a server-side RSS reader ala Gmail.
Interesting UI. Google continues to avoid offering folders as an organizational metaphor. Favors tags/labels/categories instead and not in addition to folders. Made by the folks at Blogger (now part of Google).

1: Control

2005-09-28T11:14:00.000-07:00

The user MUST be in control, all the time, always, without exception. The user wants, needs to exist. She needs constant reassurance that she does indeed matter! She must feel at all times (and especially while interacting with technology) that after all it is her, and not the computer, who is in control. Make no mistake, she needs continuous proof of that. A little hint of insubordination and the software is attempting a coup. When she makes a gesture, she only really connects with the kind of software which treats it like an order, responding immediately, doing exactly what she expects (predictability), and on occasion, perhaps doing a little more (discovery). Control, some times has less to do with functional capabilities and more with process control: start, stop, pause, re-start, undo, re-do, back, forward, beginning, end, abort, etc. - with the software immediately responding ever so closely to every capricious command. Guess what? Each time a command is met with an immediate and expected response, a little endorphin molecule is released (stay tuned for a definition of a software's endorphin factor). But isn't this obvious? Most obvious things aren't followed consistently. Like a puppy in training, consistency is the key. If the trainer introduces a little inconsistency, days of progress are suddenly erased...entire doses of endorphins are immediately replaced by aggravating stress inducing chemicals. Think about which software really makes you feel that you are in control, and why.

Blog power & nano's screen defect?

2005-09-28T10:44:00.000-07:00

Matthew Peterson's site which he setup to collect problem reports on the nano's screen causes Apple to "more quickly than pre-web" publicly acknowledge them/him.
Matthew writes:

"I am very delighted to see Apple take this issue seriously. It is sad that it took a website and a lot of publicity before they finally investigated but at least future Nano users with the same problem I had will not be subjected to the same treatment that I was. This was a real issue and most people tried to ignore it."

How much more power and influence can individuals harness from the web? Must corporations re-think the way they involve bloggers in product launch, support, refinement?

iPod nano and the jeans small pocket

2005-09-23T17:43:00.000-07:00

Steve Jobs does a brilliant job of connecting when he so masterfully, from the small pocket of his jeans (as he puts it "the one I've always wondered what it's good for") pulls and unveils the new iPod nano. And what a great tag line "1,000 songs. Impossibly small."
Worth watching the entire announcement. Simple, powerful messaging.

Damien Rice: intensely amazing music

2005-09-23T17:10:00.000-07:00

Damien Rice sure connects. This guy is frankly amazing. Experience "Volcano" and you will connect too.
What does this have to do with designing social technology (this blog's theme) you may ask? A lot, I say.
If we better understand why some people, things connect, could we envision better socially connecting technology? Sounds crazy? perhaps...stay tuned to this blog to find out more.
BTW, here are 5 other "contemporary" musicians who connect:
- Dave Matthews
- Eminem
- Jimmy Hendrix
- John Lennon
- Jim Morrison

Connecting, it's about me first

2005-09-23T10:07:00.000-07:00

Do we matter? Are we relevant?
As we converse, collaborate, compete, share, discuss, argue, publish, teach, entertain, play, cook, and vacation with our family, friends, strangers, colleagues, and foes, we connect.
I’d argue that one of the most visceral reasons behind our social nature which in turn drives our need to connect is a rather personal and selfish one: to seek reassurances that we as individuals do really matter, that we make an impact; reassurances that we have some control, and ultimately reassurances about our own universal existence. This stuff is really important to us. Connecting really matters to the individual.
Is this “motherhood and apple pie”? Perhaps, but I’d also argue that deeply understanding its individualistic nature can help [us] technology designers create better social technology.
This blog (itself a connection enabler) attempts to capture provocative thoughts about the ways technology succeeds and fails in helping people "connect".