Sara's World

What a Site!

2010-09-16T11:08:00.000-04:00

The Tiobe Index - which charts the trajectory of programming languages' popularity over time (see a sample of their work below).

For a description of Tiobe's methodology, look here.

Words of wisdom, from Omar Little

2009-02-21T20:37:00.005-05:00

(On why he doesn't always carry a gun)

"Sometimes who you are is enough, dawg."

Great personality test site -- worth visiting

2008-11-26T14:26:00.003-05:00

After posting about the "Typealyzer," I found a site that is much better. Really outstanding. It's called Signal Patterns and is now in beta. Since I am a psychologist by training, I know a lot about personality tests. There are a very few good ones. On the 'net, there are even fewer. However, this site has tests that are based on solid, valid and reliable research. I definitely endorse it. BTW, the charts are very, very cool!

A new toy for belly-button gazers

2008-11-26T12:12:00.008-05:00

(...Not that there's anything wrong with that). Check this out: The Typealizer, a site that analyzes your blog using the Meyers-Briggs (MBTI) personality instrument, then 'tells' what 'type' you are based on its content. This is how I, as the author of this blog, was thus described:

INTP - The Thinkers

The logical and analytical type. They are especialy attuned to difficult creative and intellectual challenges and always look for something more complex to dig into. They are great at finding subtle connections between things and imagine far-reaching implications.

They enjoy working with complex things using a lot of concepts and imaginative models of reality. Since they are not very good at seeing and understanding the needs of other people, they might come across as arrogant, impatient and insensitive to people that need some time to understand what they are talking about.

Geez. This makes me sound awfully serious.....

"So out you're in. "

2008-09-02T00:39:00.002-04:00

I've coined a phrase! Out of my own personal experience, too. Whether anyone else likes it or uses it is not important. I like it and that is its own reward.

Goals are important

2008-07-20T00:09:00.002-04:00

All the research shows that goals are important, and that writing them down increases the chances that one will attain them. Thus, I share with you one of mine:

To consistently eat dinner before midnight.

I believe I can do this. I just know I will.

Cheers et bon appétit.

Speaking of Skills...

2008-04-19T10:33:00.005-04:00

It is with pleasure that I present to you The Poetic Prophet (AKA The SEO Rapper).

This guy's really got skills.

Sweet.

Towards a More Perfect Union-Redux

2008-03-06T10:38:00.008-05:00

Courtesy of the New York Times (and YouTube):

“Dang! That pilot has some skills."

Jeep

A man's got to have a code

2008-02-18T20:21:00.008-05:00

Bunk's comment about

(R.I.P) Omar Little.

Omar's Obituary

you feel me?

Good Advice from an Impeccable Source

2007-11-29T11:28:00.000-05:00

Cultivate a friend whose ways are seven: He gives what is hard to give, does what is hard to do, bears what is hard to bear, he confesses his own secrets and keeps your secrets, in times of trouble he does not forsake you, and he does not forsake you when you are down.

- Buddha

Take Heart

2007-09-20T12:09:00.000-04:00

"Life has taught me that it is not for our faults that we are disliked and even hated but for our qualities." - Bernard Berenson

Un Petit Sondage

2007-08-26T13:11:00.003-04:00

Recémment, j'ai visité le site Passion for Fashion, et en si faisant , j'ai trouvé un lien a Chic in Paris. J'ai bien aimée le style de Chic in Paris, mais je l'ai trouvé un peu trop agé pour moi, et trop concentré sur la couture. Quel est vôtre opinion?

Je m'excuse en avance pour la qualité de mon Francais. J'adore la langue mais je n'ai pas beacoup de chances pour la pratiquer. Je crois qu'il n'y q'une solution de ce probleme: je dois aller en France pour une visite prolongée.

The Philosopher Spake Truth

2007-06-05T10:44:00.000-04:00

There art two cardinal sins from which all others spring: Impatience and Laziness.

Franz Kafka

(Sometimes I think I suffer from both. Thus, I seek redemption.)

The virtues of obliviousness

2007-04-09T18:02:00.000-04:00

.....A small object lesson.

Purely Outstanding

2006-11-24T11:54:00.000-05:00

Why gild the lily?

Heart, Soul, and Song

2006-11-12T15:48:00.000-05:00

The ineffable power of music, per Amos Lee's wonderful song, "Long Line of Pain," from the Supply and Demand album.

Here is a rich, deep, wide, and varied musical resource, the contents of which make clear why we call it Soul Music. If you go to visit the Soul Patrol, you may end up staying all day.....and it will be worth every minute.

My modus operandi for today

2006-10-07T13:08:00.000-04:00

"You are never behind. Jump in where you are." - The FlyLady

Etiquette Questions

2006-09-01T10:38:00.000-04:00

1. Why is it desirable to be "fashionably late" in a social setting but a sign of moral turpitude, sloth, or worse, to be 'fashionably late' to work?

2. Is it necessarily the case that people who are early to arrive at work are getting more done than those who drift in a bit later, but crank it out when they are there and/or stay late to get it done right?

Larger Philosophical Questions

1. What is the connection between fascism and an excessive focus on punctuality (to wit: Mussolini made the trains run on time, but at what cost)?

2. Physicists have found that time forms in zones and moves in waves. Why, then, are we all still pretending that time is a grid and that each box on the grid is the same as all the others?

The unity of wisdom and humor

2006-08-27T12:07:00.000-04:00

......As epitomized in the life and words of Dr. Suess. Here's just one among many pieces of evidence:

Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.

-- Theodor Seuss Geisel

Source: The Quotations Page

Glacier Preparedness

2006-06-25T13:17:00.000-04:00

Have we worried about this enough?

Silent Blogging

2006-06-17T13:06:00.000-04:00

I've decided this is a Quaker blog.

I was born and raised as a Quaker, which is among the most abstract of all religions. I kid you not. Sitting through a Quaker Meeting for Worship (aka almost complete silence for an hour, with others) was pure pain when I was a kid, but now that I better understand the concept,* I like it a great deal more.

In any event, I have decided my approach to blogging is Quaker-ish because I only post something when I feel like it. Often times, I don't feel like saying anything at all for months on end.

The conventional wisdom is that if you want people to read your stuff, you must update frequently. After months of ceaseless (& ineffective) nagging on the part of my superego I've instead determined that:

1) This is hooey,

2) My purpose in writing is simply to write -- or as Cyril Connolly
more eloquently noted: "Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self." (NB- it does nonetheless make me happy when you read it), and

3) I don't want to talk just to talk. I would rather say something when I feel like it. Otherwise, I think I'll just do something else. The world is noisy enough as it is.

...As long as I'm launching this mini-manifesto, I will also assert that I am not in any way required to say anything important. Of course, if you have ever read this blog before, you know this has always been my modus operandi...

*(Remember, Quakerism is highly abstract ....concepts really matter.)

Towards a More Perfect Union

2006-02-07T03:28:00.000-05:00

Vortex Central

2005-11-23T12:38:00.000-05:00

Sadness, confusion, loss. Procrastination. Lots of activity, little product. Argh. I should follow my own advice. Now that would be a first.

Exquisite Flick

2005-11-21T22:28:00.000-05:00

In her shoes

Pick du jour

2005-11-03T17:12:00.000-05:00

Peter Tosh, Steppin Razor

More Tragic, Appalling Proof

2005-09-06T01:50:00.000-04:00

Radio interview with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin

Newsman Bob Shieffer on Face the Nation

Even Fox New's reporters don't buy the spin.

Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu

Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard

As you can see,

2005-08-26T01:31:00.000-04:00

I was really bummed by the November election. So much so that I have spent almost a year literally and figuratively holding my breath until I was blue in the face.

As an act of protest, it didn't pan out quite the way I had hoped. You might have noticed that. Plus, I got sick, lost consciousness, and generally sat alone in my room feeling wretched. In the world of conscientious objection (or however else one might describe my little 'strike') it was akin to the proverbial unobserved tree falling in the forest.

In fairness to myself, however, I must point out that subsequent events have abundantly demonstrated the appropriateness of my 'pout.'

The past 24 hours.

2004-11-03T22:52:00.000-05:00

Exhilaration. Inspiration. Disbelief. Numbness. Sat alone in my room (office), door barricaded. No wish to talk to anyone. Crunching numbers. Columns of numbers. Soothing. What's next?

Degrees of separation (unspecified number ) and their potential intended/unintended implications.

2004-10-31T01:16:00.000-05:00

For some unknown reason, my life has connected me quite personally to some seminal events of the past half decade. Cases in point: in 1971, my family moved to Cambodia - shortly afer Nixon's invasion thereof. My dad worked in the U.S. embassy, and as a Democrat in a Republican administration, it was one of the few posts that did not require him to submit to White House clearance. "We" spent two years there, until my mom and my two youngest brothers were evacuated sometime in 1973. However, I spent most of my time at Abbot Academy, an all-girls boarding school in Andover, Mass. [Hint: the "all girls" characteristic was a covert yet- I realize in retropsect -= central selection criterion for my parents.]

You know the scene in Apocalypse Now where the soldiers water-skiied on the Mekong with flames arising all around them? Well, Apocalypse now was a move, and, pardon me, a somewhat oversimplified version of Conrad's Heart of Darkness. However, my experience was real--not imagined by a film producer in Hollywood. I was fifteen, awkward, overweight, and under dressed.

Something I know to be true....

2004-10-29T10:06:00.000-04:00

and am glad to be reminded of, with such eloquence:

Understand the paradox: If you study the physics of a waterspout, you will see that the outer vortex whirls far more quickly than the inner one. To calm the storm means to quiet the outer layer, to cause it to swirl much less, to more evenly match the velocity of the inner core " till whatever has been lifted into such a vicious funnel falls back to Earth, lays down, is peaceable again. One of the most important steps you can take to help calm the storm is to not allow yourself to be taken in a flurry of overwrought emotion or desperation thereby accidentally contributing to the swell and the swirl.

from "Mis estimados: Do Not Lose Heart" by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Neutral but challenging (and I believe, accurate) statement

2004-10-28T23:33:00.001-04:00

"The snow goose need not bathe to make itself white. Neither need you do anything but be yourself." - Lao Tzu

Opening night: the World Cafe'

2004-10-03T10:25:00.000-04:00

Last night we attended the opening night of The World Cafe', WXPN's (88.5 fm) new studio and affiliated restaurant.

What a spot!

For once, we weren't packed in like sardines. There was no smoking, so I didn't smell like an ash tray when I got home. Fabulous acoustics. The place seats only 300 people: you can see the stage no matter where you sit. No need for TV monitors, binoculars, or to squint, straining your eyes to find that extra-special speck, purported to be the headliner you just paid an inordinate amount of money to "see."

Great performances, too. David Dye (Swarthmore College, class of '72!) is the godfather of the World Cafe' show; Michaela Majoun seems to be the godmother of the venue. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts (and believe me, my best efforts are very good), I just cannot find the name of the opening act (a male singer). He was funny and had a good strong voice.

Now, for the main point. Jonatha Brooke rocks. I mean, she rrocksss. She has a great stage presence, a sweet-smoky-powerful-nuanced voice, and the songs--many of which are her own--were superb. She's got great, natural moves--she and her band, I should say, because they were clearly in synch. I have her CD, Steady Pull. It's very good, but it's just no match for Jonatha in person.

Spectacular as were Jonatha Brooke, her band and the venue, the food situation was out-of-control miserable. By this I mean: chaotic, unproductive/stingy, and disappointing to at least the power of three. Basically, other than a gigantic sauteed vegetable (which I don't consider to be a legitimate entree), there were only three main dishes on the menu. We ordered the first one, but they were out of it. So we ordered the second one. Well, gosh they were out of that too. The third was, as I recall, a hamburger with a pretentious description, and I was not paying something on the order of 19 bucks for its renaming.....especially when the appetizers (most of which they were also out of) puny, dry, and equally overpriced. I ordered a glass of chardonnay, of which there were two choices, one for $9 and one for $10. Did I say "glass?" Oh, oops, mistake. That is not entirely accurate. The portion actually constituted a fraction (e.g. 1/4) of a glass.

I understand that it was opening night, and am not one to make a stink. We gently suggested to the waiter, who was apologizing incessantly while producing almost nothing, that perhaps given the inability of the establishment to produce food, it would behoove them to be a bit less stingy with the drink: sorry, no dice. The bartender would not permit it.

So, we got 2 teensy, dry crab cakes, 1 small order of hummus, and two glass-fractions of wine. With tip (hey, we were frustrated, but we're not mean!), the bill came to $96 and change. (We had already paid $40 each to see Jonatha Brooke, but that was a bargain).

As we were leaving, the waiter once again said, "cut us a break." Geez I thought it was the other way around. We did cut you a break. We were pleasant, polite, and understanding. But when you, the establishment, screw up, isn't it you who is supposed to cut us a break? Being stingy even as you mess up is extremely uncool. And the World Cafe' is sooo close to being exceptionally cool. Are you listening, guys? I sure hope so. For your sake.... and for mine. I badly want this thing to work!

An experiment in speedy reporting

2004-09-15T23:13:00.000-04:00

Tonight we went to see Citizen Cope at the Tin Angel. We went to the early show (or as my spouse described it--speaking only for himself--the "old folks hour"). I suspect the later set is currently underway, thus the lead-in to this post. He has a new album out as of September 14.

The performance was purely excellent.

When "Cope," whose given name is Clarence Greenwood, greeted the audience with "Hello Philly, how ya doin'?" I answered not with a whoop but a clearly stated: "Very fine, thank you very much."

....I was simply following Shakespeare's advice ("This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man." Polonius, Hamlet, Act 1). Why fake it? I have good manners. I can't just bark like a dog. I did witness others doing so once, at a Prince concert in 1983. If they were being true to themselves, which certainly seemed to be the case, I salute them.

Quickly thereafter, I discovered that sitting still was very hard. This music invites movement. It insists on it. It's a sweet, compelling invitation. It's a question I want to answer. Why anyone expects anyone else to remain stationary under such circumstances is something I will never understand. I did pretty much behave myself (the place is tiny and if you stand up you block others' views), although I would have preferred not to.

[Please note that I don't love every show I see---I'm only motivated to write about the good ones. The last time we saw Cope, I was in the midst of a shockingly negative reaction to some ravioli, which colored the entire experience a bilious green. I did not write a single word.]

Je Rentre au Monde des Blogeurs

2004-09-06T16:40:00.000-04:00

Translation: I return to Blog World.

I haven't been away, just summering. I like summer. It's outdoors time. Of course now that I have my Airport Express up and running, I can be connected all the time, anywhere in my little 'zone.' However, computers don't like to get wet, which means one must be very careful when using them outside. There are also bugs--which do land on them and seem to like all the little crumbs someone (moi? jamais!!) left on the keyboard.

I'm thinking that I'll ease into fall. In so doing, I offer a few scattered vignettes, anecdotes, and etc.

1. Spent some time "off the grid" on Prince Edward Island. Enchantingly beautiful. Wanted to go even farther into the remote zone, to visit the Iles de la Madeleine--a 6 hour ferry ride from PEI. Liked being off the grid, but felt a little anxious about it, and the re-entry was jarring.

2. Saw Norah Jones at the Mann in Philadelphia. Wonderful night, wonderful performance. Her albums don't really convey the power, range, and subtlety of her voice--nor the muscularity of her band.

3. I've been thinking a lot about French Hip-Hop. When I was a teenager living in West Africa, French pop music was horrible (my opinion): kind of like a wussier version of disco music, rendered even worse in comparison to the fabulous Zairoise and Soca music that was everywhere. However, in the past few years I have become aware of artists like Les Nubians and Doc Gyneco, whose music is original, soulful, and infectious. What happened? Whatever is is or was, I endorse it.

4. Scenes from the modern world:
--The 'crisis' phone calls I get from my family invariably relate not to their health but to their computers.
--Yesterday I sat on my back porch downloading the latest "security update" while mending my husband's pants.
--My daughter has her own blog, and is hounding me because I haven't updated mine.

Addendum

2004-06-16T21:06:00.000-04:00

to my 5/24/04 playlist

...And, I might add, a very important one:

The entire Graceland album.

Moments musicaux:

2004-06-15T18:28:00.000-04:00

Van Morrison's Into the Music,

Dag's "Lovely Jane"

And, oh yes, The Subdudes' "Morning Glory."

Today, June 13th

2004-06-13T20:48:00.000-04:00

A good and important day. A day, and a weekend, well spent. The scenes of my youth are beautiful, and the people I spent them with--then and now--make my heart smile. Also giggle. What magnificent weather. What fun. I'm sad it had to end.

Breakfast of Champions

2004-06-04T18:13:00.000-04:00

It doesn't get much better than this: chili lime taco chips and Izze sparkling grapefruit soda.

Better than diamonds....

2004-05-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

I got a favicon for my birthday!

Playlist for the day (5/24/04)

Citizen Cope: Hands of the Saints
Elton John: Tiny Dancer
Allison Krause: Down to the River to Pray
Miriam Makeba: A Luta Continua
Bob Marley: Redemption Song
Ziggy Marley: Beautiful Day
Van Morrison: Tupelo Honey
Les Nubians: Sweetest Tabou
The Police: Message in a Bottle
Phil Roy: Hope in a Hopeless World
Soul Brothers Six: Some Kinda Wonderful
Sting & Mary J. Blige: Whenever I Say Your Name
Zero Seven: In the Waiting Line

Wow

2004-05-16T22:00:00.000-04:00

Everything has changed here at blogger.com. I like the new look. For one thing, it shook me out of my obsessive, if silent, navel-gazing and jiggled me into looking at how fast the outside world is moving. More importantly it gave me a reason to utter a peep. The more one remains silent, the more one has to say. This can, in turn, morph into a verbiage-abscess, which either implodes or explodes. Either way, it is ugly. Gosh I'm glad I dodged that bullet!

However the original reason for my deciding to post after a comparatively long silence has regrettably devolved to vapor. This is a strange echo of certain substantially vapor-related but otherwise dissimilar late-adolescent experiences where I would have 'absolutely brilliant' thoughts that would later evaporate and/or turn into incomprehensible drivel.

I'm regressing!!! Or maybe I've fallen into some sort of strange wrinkle in psychic time......

Analyze This

2004-05-03T10:10:00.000-04:00

Last night I had a nightmare......about supply chain management.

Kismet

2004-03-03T23:10:00.000-05:00

My gut told me that today would be something special when, in the dark, at 5:48 am., I grabbed for some socks ---then, upon moving into the light, found to my surprise and delight that they matched.

More to follow.

Joy is Free

2004-01-30T14:07:00.000-05:00

Last night I went sledding with my 7-year old in the side yard. I sat on an orange plastic 'saucer', careening down the hill in every possible direction. I had very little control over my "vehicle." Occasionally I went backwards and I often landed upside down. What a blast!

On faith, hope, and the celebration of messiness

2004-01-21T22:48:00.000-05:00

"The arc of history is long but it bends towards justice."
Martin Luther King. Jr.

".....The opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty. Certainty is missing the point entirely. Faith includes noticing the mess, and emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns. Faith also means reaching deeply within for the sense one was born with, the sense to go for a walk."
Anne Lamott

"We ought to dance with rapture that we might be alive - and part of the living, incarnate cosmos."
D.H. Lawrence

Tweakage

2004-01-18T20:22:00.000-05:00

Finally and at long last, I have a fully functional computer, my links work, and my archives are the way I want them to be. It only took 40 days.....This is not minor, at least not for me. It's full personal vindication....and hard won at that! Life is good.

To complete that thought

2003-12-09T10:07:00.000-05:00

Didn't want to leave out today's musical selections:

"Mbube," by the Mahotella Queens
"Mbaqanga," by Mahlathini & The Mahotella Queens

...From the truly excellent album, entitled South African Legends.

My moment of truth, wherein I finally conclude I have to read the directions.

2003-12-09T09:42:00.000-05:00

I am not the world's most patient person. I do not like reading directions. For the most part I have gotten away with it, and have felt vindicated when people I view as 'real' experts have told me they, too, learned by fiddling with things, breaking them, then figuring out how they worked.

However, it appears I have attained my level of incompetence in two arenas.

1. I just got a new cell phone. I insisted on one that has all the capabilities of a rocket ship, or possibly more. The manual is 99 pages long. I really, really wanted all these features, but I have no idea how to use them. Actually, I have no idea how to even answer the phone if it rings. (Fortunately it hasn't. I am afraid to give the number out.) I attempted to complete a Bluetooth file exchange between the phone and my computer yesterday. Although I was able to make the connection, I couldn't figure out how to input any text to send. Oh dear.

2. I just received a massive data file for a very important client project. It is an SPSS file, but I only know how to use Statview, the user-friendly version of SAS. Oh, did I mention that SAS was eaten up by another company that has decided not to support Statview? That it is, to my knowledge, impossible to exchange files between SPSS for OSX and Statview(which only operates on OS9)? I know, because I tried repeatedly! So, it appears I will need to learn how to use SPSS. It is a really, really powerful program and thus the tutorial/manual/directions are completely overwhelming. But I just tried to just fiddle and putz my way through the data without consulting them, and 10 hours later I was still in nowhere-land. In short, it's time to face the music.

I think that at some level I fear I'll be sucked in by the directions and never emerge. I'll never figure out how to use these things, but I will fall into a cycle of reading teensy weensy print that makes very little sense, forever.

I doubt that Eleanor Roosevelt was referring to tasks like reading the directions when she said,

"You can gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do."

...But I don't care. If reading the directions is my personal "frontier," so be it.

If you hear nothing from me for the next six weeks, please send in a search party. Oh, and don't bother trying to call. My silence probably means I still haven't figured out how to answer the phone.

Thought fragments

2003-11-22T21:19:00.000-05:00

1. I'm reading Quicksilver, the latest novel by Neal Stephenson. My favorite is still Snowcrash, which is edgy, brilliant and fun (for instance I know all too many people who live in burbclaves--even de facto apartheid burbclaves-- and drive bimbo boxes). I liked Cryptonomicon a lot. There is one particular scene that I adore and which I alone (among the extremely limited audience with whom I discuss these topics) find totally loopy in an incredibly insightful way. I am currently waiting for Quicksilver to take off for me, but it hasn't happened yet.

2. It is imperative that you check out The World Cafe hosted by WXPN's David Dye. Yes, I mean you!! Don't delay! Listen to everything available and file a full report as soon as is humanly possible. You won't regret it.

To Blog or not to Blog

2003-11-11T11:01:00.000-05:00

Here is a quote that nicely characterizes my point of view:

"Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self."

- Cyril Connolly

As long as I'm in quotation mode, here is one more I really like:

"We succeed in enterprises which demand the positive qualities we possess, but we excel in those which can also make use of our defects."

- Alexis de Tocqueville

Geez, I wonder if I can find an "enterprise" where I can succeed by distracting myself and everyone else, have a lot of fun doing so, and end up making a great big but somehow beautiful mess..................

Greet the Day

2003-10-30T13:09:00.000-05:00

It is a beautiful day here, after many soggy, gloomy ones. And, there is a new Van Morrison album out.

A quick thought, courtesy of Mark Twain:

"You can't depend on your judgment when your imagination is out of focus."

...And another, courtesy of Joseph Campbell:

"The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature."

Enjoy it!

'Fright Night' on the Hill

2003-10-26T15:55:00.000-05:00

"Seeing the adults dance was really scary," commented my 12-year old upon returning from a black tie benefit. As she tells it, she and her two buddies looked on in mortification as the over-the-hill crowd engaged in "spastic gyrations," which were rendered even more appalling by too-tight, shiny clothes that emphasized their lumps, bumps, and bulges.

With Halloween a full five days away, I shudder to think what's next.

Quel horreur!

....A wonderful poem, to picture, to ponder, to contemplate.

2003-10-15T22:46:00.000-04:00

The Door

Too little
has been said
of the door, its one
face turned to the night’s
downpour and its other
to the shift and glisten of firelight.

Air, clasped
by this cover
into the room’s book,
is filled by the turning
pages of dark and fire
as the wind shoulders the panels, or
unsteadies that burning.

Not only the storm’s breakwater,
but the sudden frontier to our concurrences, appearances,
and as full of the offer of space as the view of a cromlech is.

For doors
are both frame and monument
to our spent time,
and too little
has been said
of our coming through and leaving them.

Charles Tomlinson 1927-

Musical Interlude

2003-10-04T19:06:00.000-04:00

Tonight's Picks:

Hey Ya! OutKast. Click on "The Love Below" and you'll find it.
Ekwa Mwata (Affirmation of the Spirits), Richard Bona
Itche Koutche, Angelique Kidjo
Tabou, Les Princesses Nubiennes. (Find it in "albums and videos" by clicking on the album cover for "Les Nubians." It's number 7.
Where is the Love, Black Eyed Peas. Click on audio/video, and you'll see the album cover for "Elephunk." It's at the bottom of the list. Stream it--you won't regret it!

This morning's lecturette

2003-10-03T09:55:00.000-04:00

I just sent this in to "Bloggercon," the site for a conference I wish I could attend. I just get so frustrated by the U.S. press's coverage of the rest of the world that occasionally I have to issue a proclamation!
____________________________________________________________________

I agree with Dave about the disturbingly high level of distortion in big-time press reportage. Add to that the binary, ideological manner in which it is organized and presented, and one wonders how anyone in the U.S. could possibly discern what is going on "out there."

I do think it's a mistake to attribute primary responsibility for this to individual reporters, since they are not the people who choose to hire, fire, print, or broadcast their work. The network brass are the people who do this, and if you want to see whose world view they don't want to feature here in the U.S., try watching the news at 3:00 am or even going to the CNN International web site. (These are just two examples.)

It appears to me that the U.S. media are so dominated by money, especially big money, that any view--no matter how ridiculous or uninformed--will get ‘play’ as long as people will pay attention. The "marketplace of ideas" is a nice phrase but is misplaced since we are not talking about something as simple and straightforward as buying and selling.

In this world, not everything is for sale. Experience is infinitely more colorful and nuanced than is the calculation of media market share. Moreover, I believe that ideas, yes-even ideologies--should exist in relation to empirical reality and to experience rather than being overlaid onto them. Tolerating the silly and pathetically limited coverage we get from so many of the major media outlets only hurts us in the end, since it keeps us ignorant.

That is one of the reasons why "newsblogging" is a good thing. Yes, some of the "newsbloggers" are just as ignorant and limited in their thinking as are the big-media outlets. However, because there are many, many voices, we have a chance to stumble on one that conveys a different view than our own…. But that in presenting things differently, imparts wisdom. When these views are "edited out" because they don't sell, we are all the poorer. Note that poverty--especially poverty of thought-- rarely brings out the best in people.

Hurricane!

2003-09-22T18:04:00.000-04:00

.......and minor thoughts on technology.

Isabel came to Philadelphia on Thursday night. Per usual, the local news stations were downright hysterical in their reportage leading up to the event. We scoffed at them, having noted that there is an inverse relationship between the amount of weather-related hype and the severity of actual weather conditions.

Indeed, Thursday evening was windy but not very rainy. I slept through the entire storm, but upon awaking noticed that the yard was littered with tree-related debris. We got the calls indicating that schools were closed. More scoffing. Then, at about 9 am., we heard a loud crash. "That's a tree falling," said my husband. Then, an even louder noise that sounded like a truck crashing........"um, well, maybe it's not a tree."

As it turned out, it was a tree, knocking over a major power line as it fell. The lights went out, the clocks stopped, and all those wretched hand-held phones went dead. At first it was an adventure, but there are a lot of trees nearby, and as the day dragged on into night we learned that ours was one of many neighborhoods that lost power--one of the ones at the bottom of the electric company's "emergency repair" list. All scoffing mysteriously ceased.

You never realize how dependent you are on electricity until you have none. For instance, it never before occurred to me that electricity fuels the hot water heater--and I really, really don't like cold showers. I love my WLAN--but as wireless as it is, it cannot work without electricity. I've attended any number of first-rate technology conferences where there were great WIFI connections for all to use---and enough electrical outlets to provide power to about 5% of them. Sub-optimal to say the least.

Hmm. It appears that Bob Freling has a point.

2003-09-12T02:12:00.000-04:00

"The lesson which life repeats and constantly enforces is 'look under foot.' You are always nearer the divine and the true sources of your power than you think. The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are. Do not despise your own place and hour. Every place is under the stars, every place is the center of the world."

John Burroughs

True Confessions

2003-09-06T00:31:00.000-04:00

I'm in a bad mood. So, when this happens I don't feel like talking. Or writing...about technology, deep thoughts, amusing trivia, or anything else.

For some unknown reason, I always feel the need to be relentlessly upbeat when I write in this blog. But it's too much pressure, especially when I'm not feeling even remotely "perky" or "chipper." Actually, "taciturn" is a pretty good description of my current mental state. Thus my silence.....which I just stepped out of .....temporarily.

Good words, even if you don't -- just at this moment -- feel particularly silly:

2003-08-29T18:08:00.000-04:00

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.

e.e. cummings

Vocabulary Builder

2003-08-04T00:13:00.000-04:00

I'm feeling dialectical tonight...possibly even labile....

Much to my amazement -and possible chagrin, since I'm no Freudian- I'm thinking admiringly about Freud having made the comment, "One day in retrospect the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful." And I'm trying to remember that a thing of beauty is a joy forever.

Why follow the money?

2003-07-21T08:30:00.000-04:00

When we sit inside an organization, it is very difficult to diagnose our problems accurately. In my experience, most companies contact a consultant with a fairly specific service request (e.g., team-building, market analysis, strategy development, technology audit, etc.)--one that is based on a faulty diagnosis. For the consultant to take this at face value is usually a mistake. Few among us, no matter how smart or skilled, are able to be objective about our own lives. Why should we expect a CEO, director, division head, etc. to be any different? In other words and more succinctly: "A fool is his own lawyer."

The question then becomes, what is the problem and what lies at its source? Following the money is a superb diagnostic tool, because money is in some ways the most tangible manifestation of relationships--within the organization and with the outside world. It is not the only tool, of course, but it has an incredibly useful way of clarifying the reality that underlies the verbiage. It's like a road map, but one with special powers. Once you have used it to track a problem to its source you find, lo and behold, that you have in your hands an essential lever for positive change....which is a fine thing indeed.

Song for tonight

2003-07-19T20:26:00.000-04:00

Nora Jones, Come Away With Me

A meandering tale wanders back to the topic at hand

2003-07-19T11:04:00.000-04:00

What a meandering tale this is turning out to be. But at least I'm amusing myself, and I'm chipping away at that encrusted fork.

The main point of "Follow the Money" is that we (humans) invented money, that it is an expression of who we are, and that the nature of economic relationships between people or groups of people tell us an awful lot about the nature of their relationship more broadly. Moreover, it suggests that when organizational relationships are dysfunctional, there is often a corollary dysfunction in the financial relationships and that to 'fix' one, you have to 'fix' the other.

For instance, I once consulted to an organization where the "presenting problem" was weak revenue in a particular division. The CEO believed that they simply needed some market research so they could better position themselves in a tight market.

In fact, after many months of interviews, market scans, financial analyses, etc., we concluded that the CEO's diagnosis was incorrect: the market was huge, underserved, and anything but tight. The requirements of the most attractive market segments were clear, and meeting them was entirely feasible - if - the various divisions could collaborate to deliver what they wanted.

As it turns out, the primary obstacle to success lay within the company. The divisions were so busy bickering with one another, thwarting each other's efforts, and generally working at cross-purposes that the market barely made it on to their mental radar screens.

Seeking to understand the source of the problem, we learned that the conflict was neither personal nor a matter of corporate culture. Rather, it had to do with financial and structural differences in the relationship between the executive office and the various divisions. Some divisions operated as little mini-companies: they had almost complete control over their own finances, and could keep most of the money they brought in to reinvest in the business and to incent performance. Others were expected to bring in profits, but were not allowed to keep them. In other words, they were expected to produce, but had little or no control over the means of production. The autonomous divisions tended to bully the non-autonomous ones, while the latter group invested its energy finding work-arounds that provided more control (another word for this is subterfuge). Oh, by the way, the division we were hired to help was the most extreme among the "low autonomy" group.

Obviously, this is not a recipe for collaboration. No amount of team-building would have been enough to change the built-in imbalances and conflicting incentives between the different divisions. I shudder to think of the grueling months, weeks, and years of retreats, "sharing" sessions, and the like that could have resulted from the belief that the lack of collaboration was personality- or communication- driven.....Or of the endless data presentations that would have been endured by all if we had stuck with the original "market research" diagnosis.

Incidentally, the "every division has its own deal" financial structure was a vestige of a past era, when authoritarian leadership was the model and silo-ism was in the ascendant. So, in a sense the problem we encountered was much bigger than financial arrangements, communication, the market, and/or leadership style. The point is that without following the money and addressing the dysfunction located there (which was not easy), it would not have been possible to move forward in any of these arenas.

In all fairness,

2003-07-19T07:43:00.000-04:00

Non-profits are not likely to be much different. Speaking one's truth at work, when someone else calls the shots, is always risky--no matter where you are or what type of work you do.

Still following the money (but looking for the train of thought....)

2003-07-13T10:54:00.000-04:00

Perhaps I overstate the case. No one really ignores the numbers in a business. In fact lots of business people don't merely attend to them; they anthropomorphize, reify (which means, to regard something abstract as a material thing and in so doing distort its very nature) or even deify them. The numbers become more important than the economic engine of which they are a by-product. Keep in mind that the numbers are as much outcome variables as they are input variables. Yes, you input (invest) money, but that is merely the most easily quantifiable investment. The most important "things" you invest in a business (time, passion, energy, ideas) are much harder to measure.

Those with backgrounds in finance might assert that it's best to "manage by the numbers." This world view could best be described as a form of wishful thinking wherein one assumes it is possible to wield power and control over life's vicissitudes if one is only smart/disciplined enough to figure out and enact the formula. Of course, mad and reckless spending, investing, and saving are ill-advised--who doesn't know that?

But I digress. In the field of organizational development, we have a different problem. In contrast to finance types, many of my pals in the OD field believe it's all about relationships, group process, or other economics-free theoretical models wherein the recommended 'treatments' ultimately devolve to a Baba Ram-Dassian "be here now" experience of life, coupled with National Training Labs (NTL) group process methods and a slew of self-awareness techniques that assume once a person "owns up" to whatever their hangups are, the truth will set them free.....except, for the most part, it doesn't--especially in a corporate setting where it is more likely to get you fired.

Follow the Money, continued.........

2003-07-11T06:34:00.000-04:00

Except there was one small thing: I could not get a job doing this kind of work to save my life. I was 28 but I looked 21, and I had no work experience outside of the mental health profession (nonetheless, some of my early clients prepared me very well for later ones--see note below). However, I could get corporate work doing that which I had done in my many moments of anxiety/boredom: playing with numbers. I was hired as "consumer research manager" in a large bank, and given my generally high level of anxiety/boredom, I was pretty good at it. Within three years I was a division head, managing the whole market research function and calculating away with reckless abandon. I still wanted to do organizational consulting, but in the mean time rather enjoyed crunching numbers.

Fast forward to 1994: I finally do get a job at a firm where the focus is on organizational consulting......And discover, in doing the work, that ignoring the numbers in a business is a bit like trying to help a family have better relationships while ignoring the economic engine upon which they depend. How silly.

The "Follow the Money" approach to organizational consulting

2003-07-11T06:19:00.001-04:00

Prompted by the gentle goading of my friend/colleague Meg, I will attempt to briefly describe what this is all about. I know I've been avoiding the subject, even though it's incredibly interesting to me, because I imagine it will be a challenge to present in a way that makes sense. Yet, in the spirit of my original courageous endeavor to wash one fork, here goes.

When I was in college, all I wanted was to be a therapist. I thought human emotions were completely fascinating and hoped to have some one day myself. I had no interest in organizations or finance or anything of the like--although when anxious I did like to balance my checkbook, then hand-calculate regression equations to estimate what my bank balance might be in a week or a month (no comments on this are solicited or will be considered!). Then, as I neared the end of a lengthy and expensive stint in graduate school, it dawned on me that I would need to support myself and that I preferred to do so in style. Given that newly minted social science Ph.D's do not usually receive lucrative job offers, I decided to go to business school....Sort of. I attended a program at Wharton that was, in effect, a combination finishing school/boot camp for Ph.D's and ABD's in non-business fields who wanted to get jobs in the business world. By this time, I had shifted my fondest hopes and aspirations to doing organizational consulting--in other words, corporate therapy.

A propos de quelque chose ou rien:

2003-07-10T20:18:00.000-04:00

Early warning signs that a career in consulting was in the cards for me:

1. Since I was a small child, I have been genuinely motivated both to achieve conventional success (good grades, good schools, good jobs, etc.) and to express my equally powerful subversive/creative tendencies.

2. I came of age (no, not that kind of coming of age) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 1971, a city under siege. Other than being marginally-to-quite terrified at all times, I had fun water-skiing on the Tonle Sap river, learning to speak French, and squabbling with my equally adolescent brothers. Banality amidst mayhem became quite comfortable for me then, and my view of what constitutes a crisis was forever calibrated downwards.

3. My first job after graduating from college was on the all-male locked unit of an inpatient psychiatric hospital. After the initial shock, which was considerable, I found it quite interesting.

4. When I was nineteen years old, I travelled with a friend to Timbuctou, Mali a) because it was in the 'neighborhood;' b) because it seemed worth doing; and c) because everyone said it couldn't be done. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, if not the most sanitary.

5. I wrote my doctoral dissertation in ten days (didn't want to miss a 'client' deadline). Note to all present or future doctoral students: I do not recommend this approach.

................seems pretty consistent.

Stay tuned for the next topic:

2003-06-25T18:10:00.000-04:00

The 'Follow the Money' approach to organizational consulting.

A Promise to Myself

2003-06-14T22:59:00.000-04:00

If I ever again feel tempted by the extravagant claims on the covers of self-help books, I will turn away. To free associate, this genre's salient descriptors seem to include: maudlin, lugubrious, platiudinous, formulaic, artless, drek. I wasted about an hour and a half on a 'self help' book this afternoon, which I now regret. Contrary to the claims of the publisher, it was a complete bummer--encouraging readers to wallow endlessly in their 'pain' so they can be freed from it. The question is: does the 'implosion' theory of 'personal growth' (e.g., if you want to be free of something, go farther into it) hold water? This n=1 study (sample size: me) suggests "no."

By contrast, I spent one particularly bleak Thanksgiving vacation during my junior year in college reading Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston. When I finished, I cried like a baby for two straight days. The book was poignant--beautiful, sad, and uplifting. My tears notwithstanding, I felt wonderful after reading it. Many years later, I can still feel the lesson.

From now on, I think I'll stick with fiction.

Words and Music

2003-06-14T22:01:00.000-04:00

Summertime......we had a tiny taste of it today and hope to have a lot more, soon.

Enough Words!

2003-06-11T06:18:00.000-04:00

......Now, some music:

James Carr: A Man Needs a Woman

Les Nubians: Les Princesses Nubiennes
....especially "Tabou."

Thievery Corporation: Mirror Conspiracy
....especially "Lebanese Blonde."

Van Morrison: Moondance

"Wild Thornberrys" Movie Soundtrack

Reunion Oblivion, Part III: The Denouement

2003-06-10T11:04:00.000-04:00

By the time I picked up my daughter, I was ready to ditch the $100 I had paid for my spouse and I to attend the class dinner. I just wanted to go home, get in bed, and pull the covers over my head. I consoled myself with a large snack and a nap.

Feeling much revived, I headed off with my husband to the class dinner. It was a good move. Held in the lovely new performing arts center, the ambience was low key; I saw people I knew (more or less-as introverted as I was in college, I didn't know very many people well); and the food was outstanding. Also plentiful. This went quite far in resolving my earlier crabbiness.

I saw very, very few people who resembled Dick Cheney. Also, given that Swarthmore was once known as "the little red schoolhouse," I found not one single person who admired, or could even abide, Mr. Cheney and his 'posse.' So in that regard it was a homecoming of sorts, certainly a case of "all's well that ends well."

With that, I must return to my 'day job,' which I cannot afford to forget even though I might like to at this particular moment.

Reunion Oblivion II

2003-06-10T10:49:00.002-04:00

Finally, I saw a few people I recognized and who recognized me. One Fred Wasserman (now a curator in NYC) was kind enough to give me a leftover nectarine and that, combined with a stale pretzel, kept me from fainting dead away. (Geez, this is really melodramatic.)

At some point during the 'entry process,' I remembered that when I had attended the Jonathan R. Lax Conference on Entrepreneurship, my laptop had detected a wireless network that I was unable to access. So, hoping that being an alumnus might give me a teensy weensy bit of pull, I went to the front desk and asked for the network name and password. (Yes--I brought my laptop to my college reunion. No comments on this topic are solicited or will be accepted.)

The front desk didn't seem to know (!) and sent me over to the library. There I discovered, lo and behold, about 5 different wireless networks, including an open one, upon which ran about 50 servers. "This is great," I thought, before realizing that the thrill was in the chase and that having gone on-line, there wasn't anything I particularly wanted to do there. With my daughter playing at a friend's in the town of Swarthmore, I was stuck there until 4:00 pm. So I sat by myself looking out the library window at the rain......just like I did so many times as a student. I tried to take a nap, but the armchair had pointy arms so it was sort of painful.

To top it all off, I was so busy staring out the window in an anomic state that I actually forgot to attend the one event that held any interest for me: a panel discussion entitled "What did you do during the bubble, Mommy/Daddy?"....Because I was so busy putzing around trying to get into a bunch of wireless networks for no particular reason.

Reunion Oblivion

2003-06-10T10:16:00.000-04:00

In the context of college life, "oblivion" often connotes intoxication, mischief, and mayhem--in short, fun. However, my entry into the 'reunion experience' conformed to the more conventional definition of the word. Per Webster's:

Oblivion: 1. the fact or condition of forgetting or having forgotten; especially : the condition of being oblivious 2. the condition or state of being forgotten or unknown.

Just to set the scene, it was about 57 degrees Fahrenheit and pouring down rain. It was raining so hard that driving there, I could barely see and the windshield of my car kept fogging up. Upon arrival, I learned that the 'luncheon' would take place in the field house (lunch in a gym, just what I always dreamed of!), about a fifteen minute (read: cold, rainy, miserable) walk from the main campus. Also, it had been constructed as a test of one's ability to plan ahead (I flunked). Unless you had ordered your solitary sandwich about a month in advance, you couldn't get anything to eat for any amount of money. Access to the line was strictly policed.

Did I mention that at first I barely recognized anyone, and that no one recognized me? As I--freezing, wet, hungry, and very cranky--looked on, my classmates huddled around two rickety tables (for warmth, no doubt). I thought to myself "This is horrible. What am I doing here? At least as a student I was warm and got to eat lunch."

My College Reunion

2003-06-09T10:47:00.003-04:00

As mentioned, I went to Swarthmore College. Despite the idyllic setting, the place is an intellectual pressure cooker of the first order. Having gotten decent grades in high school despite an almost total lack of effort, I assumed college would be more of the same. I could not have been more wrong. I have never felt as stupid as I did during my freshman year at Swarthmore. It's bad enough being a geek, but being a not-particularly-bright geek is pure humiliation. Such was my lot.

Fortunately I got the hang of the academics early in year three, so the stupidity 'thing' began to fade. However, I continued to be a slightly overweight, maladroit introvert. This did not begin to change until well into graduate school. All of this is a long way of saying I didn't feel too worried going back to my reunion, did not feel compelled to go on a diet, etc. etc. because given my general state at the time, the only way to go was up!

Slightly unnerving, however, was the invitation, which implied that as a group, we were likely to occupy the dumpy/frumpy end of the personal sleekness scale. I immediately took the opportunity to inform my reunion chair that I have never, ever, not even on the worst day of my entire life, looked like Dick Cheney.

PC Forum, Day 3

2003-06-09T10:12:00.000-04:00

The earlier claim about my wonderful memory turns out to have been more wishful thinking than reality. I just re-read my notes, and can make few connections between them and a visceral memory of much of anything. But I need closure. Thus, for your edification, a few snippets:

The social software panel was, to be perfectly honest, less interesting than I had hoped. Some of the panelists were interesting, but some struck me as a bit arrogant. Somehow that seems antithetical to the notion of social software, but then again, people often pursue things that reflect more personal dilemmas, who am I to judge?

Two new companies, Meetup and Socialtext, had created web-based services that seemed simple and smart. I am going to pilot Socialtext on one of my projects, which is about connecting social systems and computing systems to facilitate a more organic (and presumably more effective) approach to IT strategy and systems implementation. I'll let you know how it goes.

One of the products, nTAG, was just plain frightening. Essentially, it is a name tag that is supposed to facilitate conversation by locating similarities between people so they don't have to poke around until they find something to talk about. It just struck me as a product developed for people who are socially inept in the extreme. Simultaneously funny and pathetic. Not that there is anything wrong with social ineptitude........having spent at least a decade that way myself, I am again in no position to judge--only to commiserate.

Apparently nTAG was developed at MIT. During the presentation, I thought to myself: "There are only two places where such a product is needed: MIT and Swarthmore College" (The latter is my undergraduate alma mater, the complete antithesis of the 'party school.')

....and this permits me to drift on to the next topic.

A few quick things

2003-05-25T09:47:00.000-04:00

I had a great day yesterday. The furniture factory was up and running, although if I never have to saw anything ever again it will be too soon. My family made me a wonderful dinner, and they were very nice to me. My husband buys me the most thoughtful gifts--things that are so perfectly calibrated to who I am. It's really neat.

A high note, or at least a funny, synchronistic one: the quote for the day for my birthday on Refdesk was:

"When all else fails, read the directions."

.....and related to that quote, pls. ignore the 5/23 post--it's a defective duplicate. Try as I might, I cannot get it to go away. When and if I ever seek help--either from a person, or *gasp* by reading the directions---it will disappear.

Update and new feature

2003-05-23T22:55:00.005-04:00

The big day: well in truth it was very big, in ways both hoped for and not predicted (and some, yet to be implemented). Kind of a 'sweet and sour' experience. Overall, whether you knew it or not, your wishes made a difference, a very positive difference. Thank you.

Sort of, kind of related to this, I would like to propose a very counter-cultural approach to change (personal and otherwise)--pointilism. Yes, a' la Meurat and etc. Ponder it if you so choose--and then think about the the movie "What about Bob?" (Richard Dreyfus, Bill Murray). Then recall, if you can, the title of Dreyfus (the shrink)'s best-seller......... Perhaps this film was a source of deeper wisdom than I ever imagined. It (pointilism) is kind of digital, too. Think about it.

And on to the *new feature:* a short list of my current fixations.

1. Musically, I am blown away by Angelique Kidjo's new album "Black Ivory Soul," especially the tune "Afrika." It is purely outstanding. I would also like to recommend Citizen Cope. You can stream his entire album from his Web site.It's mesmerizing, soulful, and catchy, too. After listening to it, see if you can refrain from repeating the lyrics over and over and over ("$200,000 in counterfeit fifty dollar bills" being an example of such a lyric.)

2. I am reaching the point of formal addiction to Haagen Dasz Macadamia Nut Brittle Ice Cream. I don't want to be cured--but I do think it would be better for my personal aesthetics if I could cut down to three nights a week of HDMNBIC consumption, from the current (egregious) frequency of seven nights per week.

3. I am very enamored of all my new computer equipment, which has amazing capabilities. I am just kvelling.

Also, tomorrow is my birthday. I love that I was born in May, one of the nicest months of the year (although not currently...) but I never know what to do with myself. It's an awful lot of pressure on a person, since it's just one short day.

Enough for now. Basta!!

Big day today

2003-05-14T06:20:00.000-04:00

I have a big day today. Hope I'm ready; hope I can do it (do what? This, I ask myself). I want to be my best self--every day, actually, but today is especially important. I'm awash in anxiety, excitement, fear, hope, memories, pictures of an imagined future, and lots of facts. Wish me luck!

Placeholders

2003-05-09T23:25:00.000-04:00

1. PC Forum, Day Three (ok it took place 6 weeks ago, but I have a good memory....).
2. My inadvertant launch of an iTunes server at the office today (I didn't even know I'd done it--but I'm still impressed with myself).

PC Forum, day 2.5: Will Wright's speech

2003-05-09T23:09:00.000-04:00

Will Wright is, of course, the creator of 'The Sims'--including Sim City and its many spinoffs. The main things I remember:

1. I thought, to myself while he was speaking "Wow, he's really bright. How refreshing." The reason I thought this is that he seemed to understand that paradigms (as the word is used in Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions) are not right or wrong. That is, they are not binary--each has its virtues and its failings. They represent a range of choices, each with its own implications. They are in some ways interchangeable, like a set of clothes....except that when you 'change your clothes,' so to speak, you change your reality.

2. Speaking of clothes, I really liked the dress I was wearing. It definitely improved my reality, even if the PC Forum photographic team, in a momentary lapse, neglected to take my picture. (Thematic note: refer to 1/13/03 for more on the parallel paradigms of computing and clothing...).

I took a break

2003-05-03T09:54:00.000-04:00

....Not that I intended to. April just got away from me; it was a flash in the pan. And now it's May, just about my favorite month of the year. What's new: actually, my computer is. I have a new Mac G4 titanium Powerbook, the 12" model. It is a very cool item on all fronts: power, speed, beauty, style, etc. I got it last Wednesday and am still getting to know it. In the mean time, I am shuttling back and forth between the G4 and my trusty 'old' G3 Powerbook. Since the old one uses OS 9.2 and the new one uses OSX (10.25), and some of my software doesn't work on the new one, I set up a little wireless network right here in my living room. I am very proud of myself, since I am not a 'computer person' (whatever that is), but I manage to figure out how to do things using my little noggin.

Topics in my writing "to do" list: Sims creator Will Wright's speech at the PC Forum dinner, Day three of the PC Forum, movies, esp. Standing in the Shadows of Motown--to name just a few. Stay tuned!

"I hope you get your life together.....

2003-04-07T08:18:00.000-04:00

.....because it sure isn't now."

These were my mother's parting words after a four-day stay this weekend. She and my father came up for Grandparents' day at our childrens' schools. For me, it was an experience of chauffeuring people hither and yon, while attempting to work and running a slightly scruffy B&B. Any further commentary on my part will just make me feel guilty, so I'm just going to leave it at that. Grrrrr. Clenching of teeth. Internalization of hostile impulses (not healthy).

A stab at the topic of idiot-proofing

2003-03-30T09:08:00.000-05:00

When I was a child, my mother used to refer to the best, most trustworthy, robust appliances as "idiot-proof." This meant that using them was simple and straightforward, and that someone with no mechanical aptitude whatsoever could employ them as intended. "Idiot-proof," in this context, is not an insult--to the appliance or the user.

I started to think about idiot-proofing as I pondered Bob Frankston's request for access to source information, (see my "PC Forum, Day 1" post). The dilemma is, when does idiot-proofing constitute help or support for the user, and when does it constitute obfuscation? For instance, I am a person who doesn't like to read directions. Yet, I often choose to try things that are new and difficult, where I have limited background knowledge. I end up learning more than I had intended, mainly by trial but mostly by error. Ultimately I am better off because by the time I've made a big mess and cleaned it up, I've had to learn how the thing works. However, there are many, many people who either do read the directions or are not the slightest bit interested in doing something over and over until they get it right, or both. They don't care how something works, just that it does and that it's easy. This is entirely legitimate, however alien it is to me personally.

Hmmm. Why can't providers make available both the idiot-proof/user-friendly version for those who want it, and the source information for those who want that? Obviously some companies don't want the end user to have access to source data because they want to protect their intellectual property. This is short-sighted and impedes innovation, but I grasp the logic.

On the other hand, it is my impression that some companies' leaders don't understand their 'product' well enough to know the difference between help and hiding. They have a knack for selling or for managing, but no particular expertise in the domain. How can you develop a viable business model if you lack a fundamental grasp of that which you are selling? This is just plain disturbing, and all too common when the product is highly technical.

[The common practice of weaseling bizarre and ridiculous rights into the user agreements we're required to sign in order to gain access at all is a separate topic, which I'm mentally bookmarking for a later date.]

Comments anyone? (I put that in to trap myself into learning how to do this.....)

Sidebar

2003-03-29T22:25:00.000-05:00

Nota bene: not all reporters covering the current conflict are sycophants........

Blank Stare Redux

2003-03-29T21:50:00.000-05:00

I'm starting to think my earlier screed may have been a tad bit misdirected. Just now, I was sitting here listening to my spouse read aloud from Google Hacks (isn't that romantic?). As he read the preface, which addresses questions of ontologies, precursors to the World Wide Web, search strategies, etc. it suddenly dawned on me that much of the discussion at the PC Forum pertained to secondary or published information, of the type that is found in libraries. What I was talking about, however, was primary or raw data--the kind upon which one can reasonably test hypotheses, perform statistical analyses, etc. So now I sort of understand some of those blank stares. A quote from Adlai Stevenson seems appropriate at this juncture: "Man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them." I'm not eating all of my words, mind you, but perhaps a snack is in order.

Idiot-proofing: Pro's and Cons

2003-03-29T15:21:00.000-05:00

It's Saturday afternoon, it's raining, and I just ate. I'm too drowsy to write anything now.....but this is my topic of the moment.

PC Forum Wiki

2003-03-27T09:56:00.000-05:00

Here's a link to the PC Forum Wiki, a good source of a lot more information about the conference

PC Forum, Day 2 (Monday): A minor screed on using one's noggin

2003-03-27T09:47:00.000-05:00

Somewhere leading in to the 10:50 a.m. panel, I started to think about the value of using one's brain. My musings began with someone's statement that it is possible to develop “classified” information by aggregating and making sense of unclassified information. In other words, if you use your head you can take data sets that seem quite neutral and piece them together with other neutral data sets, only to see a fuller picture emerge. All of a sudden, it becomes information you're not supposed to have. In other words, using your brain is subversive?! Well, of course it's subversive. It always has been. This is one of our greatest sources of power as individuals.

During this particular panel, I noticed that the gentlemen on the stage were speaking from a set of assumptions about data that were (in my opinion) rather ill-informed. For instance, they seemed quite pleased with themselves because they look at "links" in the data (whatever these are, mathematically speaking--correlations? path analyses? what?) and this helps them identify consumer behavior patterns, potential miscreants, etc. This really started to get under my skin.

In a sea of data, how do you know if a "link" is important or meaningful? It is very easy to achieve statistical significance at the p<.05 level if your data set is large enough. But, how do you know what-if anything-it means, and whether or not it is important (back to Gilman Louie)? Suppose you interpret a 'link' incorrectly? Notwithstanding the fact that being wrong is expensive and inconvenient, who will be hurt by your mistake? How do establish or test meaning when it is likely that--at least in matters of race, age, or nationality--there is a good deal of bias involved? There are known ways of doing this, but they are not widely known in this setting. Not that there's anything wrong with that--at least it helps me stave off feelings of personal irrelevance.

To borrow from the title of the meeting, making "data come alive" should be about far more than managing, sorting, or even conducting significance tests on massive piles of data. Good data and lots of it are necessary but not sufficient conditions. One's ability to develop and test hypotheses, and one's skill at interpreting results, are the primary differentiators between a pile of data ressembling (along numerous dimensions) the Herculean stables, and a thing of functionality and beauty. This complex interweaving of art, science, ethical judgment, commerce, creativity, and more is fundamentally a human endeavor.

I said something to this effect on day two and was greeted with a sea of blank stares and an awkward silence. I don't know that I said it as clearly as I did just now, and I certainly wasn't as succinct. But at least I knew what I meant.............and I felt compelled to say it. Etiquette tip to panels--you need to develop a PC Forum equivalent for "thank you for sharing."

PC Forum, Day 2 (Monday)

2003-03-27T09:13:00.000-05:00

I'm actually posting this on Thursday. The conference ended yesterday and per usual, I had a blast. So much so, in fact, that I didn't have time to blog. I was finding that if I wrote during the proceedings, I missed them because I was paying attention to my writing, not to what was going on before my eyes.

The 8:15 am panel, moderated by Esther, was "Watching the World," with Robert Carter of Fedex, Mark Cattini of Mapinfo, Jeff Jonas of Systems Research and Development, and Gilman Louie of In-Q-Tel. Gilman Louie in particular was very impressive. Speaking about security and identifying 'suspicious' individuals, he noted the many and varied opportunities (and some terrific/horrific examples) for computer-assisted versions of 'racial profiling.' As an Asian-American, he spoke poignantly about his own personal experience as well as that of friends and family. There's nothing like taking a walk in someone else's shoes to sensitize you to their concerns.

PC Forum, Day 1 (Sunday)

2003-03-24T11:08:00.000-05:00

The first interview is titled “Inside Intel,” with Esther Dyson and Paul Ottolini of Intel.

Here's what I thought/wrote:

I feel incredibly sleepy. Melllow, but sleepy. I’m sure there is some importance to this, but I’m not an industry insider, so I don’t know what it is. Lots of discussion of WIFI—something tells me it is viewed as potentially subversive; there are lots of questions about security, as well as one about “whitebox” desktops (what are those?).

Bob Frankston: speaking slowly (for Bob) and clearly, asks a question about individuals' access to data and protocols as compared to corporate access. He seems to be advocating giving individuals access to raw data/other information direct from the source (raw data are the only really useful kind, in my opinion)—asks (to paraphrase) "Are you going to shape it for me; are you going to control what it is/what it looks like? Or, will you give me access to the real thing?” It appears to be a concern similar to that which was widely expressed about Bluetooth.

To the extent that the data have been pre-cooked, they are no longer usable—they have already been manipulated. The problem is not just that the individual has been patronized. The person has also been robbed of his or her power. He or she can no longer ask the kind of questions or develop the kind of solutions the provider didn’t anticipate and/or might find challenging.

You go, Bob!

Arrival in Scottsdale

2003-03-21T14:39:00.000-05:00

We came for the conference, but we came a bit early....3.5 days to be precise. It's such a great place and is clearly worth visiting even without any professional self-improvement initiatives.

My first item of business is to get the family unpacked and organized. I don't know why, but facing this prospect I suddenly feel incredibly drowsy.

I keep thinking I should post deep thoughts about technology, data, data interpretation, finding the meaning in the numbers, blah, blah, blah. That's the focus of the conference, after all. It's what I do, I know a ton about it, and I really enjoy it. Why, then, am I so completely unmotivated to post any pithy, well-informed screeds? It's especially odd since I am a person of many opinions and this is one of those delightful cases where I actually know what I'm talking about.

I guess part of the problem is that such opinions are best expressed in the context of a conversation while this blog, to date, has been largely descriptive. I hope to change that soon.

Incidentally, the backdrop for all of this is our unprovoked attack on Iraq. What a dark day. I'm embarrassed to be associated with it. I'm devastated thinking of all the innocents whose lives will be snuffed out by the USA. I can't help but think that with this attack, we've become what we oppose. I am sad and angry and scared.

The Furniture Factory Re-opens

2003-03-17T08:17:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I spent a good four hours in the garage, stripping a 125-year old Chinese Wardrobe. What a mess! It seems that the original owner may have stained it with something akin to maraschino cherry juice, then mixed egg yolks into the varnish. I kid you not!! Totally vile.

Eventually it will be worth it. There's part of me that likes stripping away layers and layers of gunk, to the point where all the corners and crevices are clean, the grime is gone, and the grain of the wood begins to show through. Then, something another person thought had little value is revealed as a thing of beauty and utility. I note that this is a theme for me. It's the same trait that drove my choice of profession...........

Onward and Upward: an Arizona Geek-fest

2003-03-11T10:45:00.000-05:00

Next week, I'll be at the PC Forum in Scottsdale, Arizona. This is a very cool technology conference that I've attended for the past 7 years. I always take my family, so it's a vacation and an adventure for the brain rolled into one. The forum is run by Esther Dyson, a leading technology pundit and someone who was into technology before (also during and after) it was cool. Esther really knows how to make an event happen. The meeting is a combination of abstraction, innovation, and gritty reality that is completely unique in my experience. One encounters everything from neat new gadgets, to company "debutantes" seeking funding, to discussions about the relationship between the music industry establishment and file-sharing afficianados, to broad scale consideration of the role of national government in a world not bounded by geographic borders.

Russia in February

2003-03-10T07:43:00.000-05:00

I had gone to Russia in late October 1997, to do a banking consultation. My primary memories from that trip are: darkness, cigarette smoke, and excellent dumplings.

It seemed much different this time. Perhaps it was the wonderful light, bright "Kremlin view" room, overlooking St. Basil's cathedral (for which I paid a whopping $3 extra). Perhaps it was the incredible Georgian food I had one night, or the walk through Red Square at midnight during a light snow. Perhaps it was the fact that it was both warmer and less snowy than Philadelphia was that week, and/or that none of my colleagues smoked. Whatever it was, I had a blast. Now I'm back, and I need to do my homework--develop some proposals that will turn into projects that will allow me to return.

I went to Russia!

2003-03-09T08:31:00.000-05:00

Several weeks ago, I went to Russia on business. What a trip. Unfortunately I couldn't write about it when I was there. The internet connection was fine: I found an ethernet port in my room at the Rossiya. However, my blogs were all messed up and I couldn't post. Also, before I found the ethernet port I wasted a ton of money (almost $200--argh) attempting to connect via international telephone. I know, I know. I should have just let it go, but I couldn't.

In any event, my friend/colleague Pat, with whom I went, kept me so busy I could barely breathe. We met with such interesting and accomplished people. We are working on setting up an exchange program for Russian and American entrepreneurs, with a special emphasis on the collection of market data. Among others, we met with one Mikhael Fridman, chairman of the Alpha Group. What a charming and accomplished man, and only 37 years old.

A breakthrough

2003-03-06T07:14:00.000-05:00

I finally wrote in to "blogger support"--and they fixed my problem! It all works now.

When I was a child, if we got lost in an unfamiliar place, we would drive around and around, because my father was never willing to ask for directions. I have *just a little bit* of that in me. Fortunately, at the end of the day, there is someone who knows their way around and can help. Thank you blogger support!

2003-03-03T09:10:00.000-05:00

Ok, progress. The page no longer is listed as "not found." Now if I can only post.......I've been unable to do that, too. Here goes!

(That was written day before yesterday.) Now I'm trying a work-around. Actually read a pile of directions in the last 24 hours--to no avail. I won't give up, however. I'm post-obsessional. The obsessional phase was merely the entryway (see "The Door" poem I posted on 12/31/02). I'm beyond that now, somewhere into a 'grim determination' phase.

2003-02-05T14:59:00.000-05:00

fiddling with technology; have to write something to get something else to work.......

I wrote that almost a month ago, and yes--I'm still fiddling with technology. I hope that ultimately I learn something. Now I am almost desperate enough to read the directions.

2003-02-03T06:26:00.000-05:00

We celebrated my father's 80th birthday yesterday. Drove to Washington, frantically wrapping his gifts with Christmas wrapping paper (Hey, it's what I could find!) as we flew down I-95.

I got him two books, one on architecture and the other on the oppression of left-handed people (as a leftie, he's always felt strongly about this). Also I made an electronic birthday card he really liked. He seemed touched that we had made the trip.....and he is a man who is not easily touched.

At Friday's parent-teacher conference, the teacher said about my son, "he knows he's a little different." In fact, that could be said of each and every member of my family--both the one I come from and the one my husband and I have created. Yesterday, sitting next to my father, I was grateful for that. There he sat, at 80, looking dapper in blue jeans, sneakers, and a Brooks Brothers sweater. He is a primary source of our collective and slightly twisted sense of humor.

My parents are anything but conventional. As a child, it embarrassed me. Now I see it as a gift. I don't want to be unconventional in the same way as they are (that would be a contradiction in terms). But I sure do appreciate the lesson. Their lives demonstrate the wisdom of living by the dictum, "to thine own self be true."