Paul Papadimitriou

Defamation On Twitter

2010-07-29T08:54:49Z

We may eventually develop a set of social rules and legal conventions that acknowledge that an angry tweet is less likely to be considered defamatory than a published article, but we are not there yet.

I seriously doubt it. While the social norms will eventually adapt to open communication, libel will remain. We have to take responsibility for what we write. What we do in public. ➡ Be careful what you tweet

Treating Facebook Like An Utility

2010-07-29T08:42:55Z

Treating a company like a utility [...] can help to lock in its dominance and discourage innovation.

➡ Facebook Is to Power Company as …

DoucheRank

2010-07-27T11:25:07Z

Have you ever worried that you might be a douche? Or if you’re douchier than friends or colleagues?

➡ DoucheRank

Syncrisis

2010-07-26T13:28:38Z

La belle Antiquité fut toujours vénérable;
Mais je ne crus jamais qu’elle fust adorable.
Je voy les Anciens sans plier les genoux,
Ils sont grands, il est vray, mais hommes comme nous;
Et l’on peut comparer sans craindre d’estre injuste

➡ Parallèle des anciens et des modernes en ce qui regarde les arts et les sciences, Charles Perrault, p. 173¹

Slowly first. Faster then. Jerking off.

That’s basically Miyazaki‘s definition of the iPad culture.

Of any culture that doesn’t use a pencil.

To each his own. I prefer sex over the iPad or a pencil.

But I dislike arrogance.

Arrogance, that bastard child of the classic case of the old v. new quarrel. The old-fart quarrel.²

In 17th-century Renaissance Italy, paragone -or comparison- was the hottest debate around. Being able to compare was the new paradigm. It equaled freedom of thought.

Boileau and Perrault were leading the same argument in France.
In red shorts, The Ancients, led by the former, believed we were stuck at imitating the perfection in Arts that the Greeks and Romans had set. Rules had to be followed. Dues had to be given.

The Moderns, in blue shorts, thought that new forms of art had to be invented. Rules could be broken. Innovation spurred.

Authority v. Progress.

Syncrisis.³

You aren’t going out into the real world and pouring your creativity into something [...] nothing more than consumers.

➡ How dare he dislike my gadget!

While Miyazaki makes a valid point about cases of herd psychology shown by people wanting the latest gadgetery⁴, his prism is blocked by his ceteribus paribus assumptions.

The real world is his own⁵. Creativity is his own.

These are his rules. His Greeks. His Romans.

Ironically, they collide with the credence -or authority- his comments are getting, as it is derived from the same factor the Japanese director criticizes: a communion of opinions, i.e. a mass of people flocking to see his art and approving it. Let’s call that mass approval⁶.

Creativity is not measured by the level of old-schoolness -or authority, again- you’ve got. It’s not because you’re using a ballpoint pen that you’re a better writer than someone using a typewriter. The same goes between analog and digital photography. Or a pen versus an iPad.

Don’t blindly follow those who tell you how things should to be done. Don’t fall into that type of herd behavior: non-sensical collective worship of modern so-called creative Gods. Miyazaki, Jobs, Nolan or Gladwell.

he is coming from an “All I need are pencil and paper” point-of-view. That might be all he needs. He’s Hayao Miyazaki!

➡ Hayao Miyazaki Compares iPad Use To Masturbation⁷

Get a clue. The communion of opinions about Miyazaki -his authority, again and again- validates the bashing of the communion of opinions on the iPad -his old-fartiness. Non-sensical.

Expertise -authority, yes …again- gives an opinion more weight -authority, always. It doesn’t make it of higher value.

Learn from the Ancients, respect them, give dues if you wish, but don’t let them tell you what your path should be. How your creativity should be shaped.

Don’t mix the medium and the format. Don’t mix the goal and the means.

Use a pen, an iPad, whatever suits you. Define your world. Break the mould. Be a consumer. A prosumer. A producer. A watcher. A stroker.

You’re probably going to become an old-fart anyway.

The great Ancient History always was venerable; But I never thought it was adorable. I see the Ancients without bending [my] knees, they are great, it’s true, but men like us; One care compare without fear of being unjust. Translation mine.
I’ll readily disclaim it. Not even 35 and I’m somewhat in the former category already. Took me ages to go from film to digital. Will take me forever to accept 3D movie technology, the most idiotic & useless trend. I’m an old fart.
Syncrisis [sin'-cri-sis]: from Greek syn ”with” and krinein, “to separate”/”to compare”. A comparison and contrast in parallel clauses.
or willing to flock to the latest movie …even when as stupid, boring and dangerously backwards as Avatar.
one which somewhat lacks introspection, the real world also meaning taking care of your son, in my humble opinion. The real world not being limited to staying in front of a piece of paper for hours. Again, to each his own. Maybe.
don’t get me started: you’ve got to be delusional -or Ancient- to derive authority from the essence of his art.
emphasis mine

Lost Return On Investment

2010-07-26T11:40:19Z

Going through and computing the LROI of your campaigns can be a very integral exercise in building a business case for transforming your lead-management process and developing lead nurturing campaigns.

While one of the key elements of any campaign is measurement, standardized metrics all have flaws. That Lost Return on Investment (LROI) is an interesting take on how B2B campaigns rely on somewhat skewed ones. ➡ False Numbers, Lost Revenue & ‘The Karate Kid II’

Unsure

2010-07-24T14:10:32Z

A lawyer for Facebook Inc. said she was “unsure” whether company founder Mark Zuckerberg signed a contract that purportedly entitles a New York man to 84 percent of the world’s biggest social-networking service.

Whether it’s a forgery or a case of signing contracts in college without thinking too much about it, “unsure” is not a term I’d like. Business Insider has more. ➡ Facebook Lawyer `Unsure’ Whether Founder Mark Zuckerberg Signed Contract

The Willingness To Be Vulnerable

2010-07-23T16:40:14Z

Vulnerability. It is the most poignant quality in every entrepreneur I know. [...] Vulnerability is the absence of cynicism. And the absence of cynicism is love.

➡ Misfit Entrepreneurs

This Magazine Was Built For You

2010-07-21T12:46:35Z

Flipboard will soon integrate the semantic data-analysis technology [...] in order to app better determine the relevance of the information and updates from your various social networking connections

Robert was right. Revolutionary or not, this iPad application is mesmerizing. The addition of semantic data-analysis is what I’m looking mostly forward though. My6Sense, your turn to up the ante. ➡ Flipboard, New “Social” iPad Magazine will be Powered by Semantic Data

Livecasting The Mt. Fuji Climb

2010-07-19T12:59:04Z

At 3,776m, the summit of Mt. Fuji – a dormant volcano that last erupted a little over 200 years ago, puts you almost within arm’s reach of the International Space Station.

I cannot not link the crazy experiment we’re running at Mobile in Japan thanks to Joseph. Full live cast of the Mt. Fuji with mobile technology. ➡ Pushing Mobile Tech to the Limits: Mt. Fuji Live

Technology As Enabler Or Gatekeeper Of Creativity

2010-07-16T13:25:18Z

The geeks – the people who have, so far, been the dominant part of culture in technology and the Internet – are like priests of a religion that finds themselves no longer the centre of their culture’s world. They are displaying all the standard behaviours of a dying religion [...] they no longer run the world [...] and their creativity is no more – or less – important than anyone else’s.

The future of creativity. Technology as an enabler or technology as a gatekeeper. ➡ The myth of “programming is the only creativity”