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Archive for the ‘thoughts.from.the.web’ Category

E8, Edwin Abbott, Garrett Lisi, Maui, Theoretical Physics, Unified Field Theory

26 Mar

So I was going to post this to Facebook directly – and found that it was too long – and then I remembered – wait – I have half a dozen blogs – surely one of them could serve as the platfrom for a post – so Webservations it is >>>

 

When I was much (much) younger and actually understood the Maths I was studying, I read a wonderful little book called Flatland by Edwin Abbott. At one level it was a commentary on social hierarchy and at another an examination of the resistance of humans to recognizing – much less understanding – the concept of multiple dimensions. The book was written in 1884 BTW.

 

Just been watching a wonderful Ted Talk on ‘E8′ (or as it is affectionately known – Garrett Lisi’s Theory of Everything ) two years after it was recorded.

 

In the past 125 years, we seem to have developed a little – and now routinely talk of (that is different to understand) multi-dimensional space. In Garrett’s case (he is focussed on a theoretical model with 8 dimensions, dubbed E8 – that he ‘hopes’ IS the unified field theory we have been searching for around a century now (maybe longer) – I use hope loosley – he seems to be working with something more than hope :)

 

At the end of the talk, Garrett was asked to explain E8 a little further by the host and when he did, I couldn’t help but think of Edwin’s book as he talked of how different aspects of the 8 dimensions spin in and out of focus as the model spins around.

 

OK – this is hard to explain – happy to report that I am truly excited to be listening to Garrett talk first hand – very soon. YOWZA. More on that later.

 

(BTW fellow followers – Garrett is a Maui Resident – we truly have an eclectic, stunning, and extraordinary collection of residents on this island of ours.)

 

 

40 Belief-Shaking Remarks …

13 Nov

Words from Nietzsche – how many do YOU believe stack up ?

1. People who have given us their complete confidence believe that they have a right to ours. The inference is false, a gift confers no rights.

2. He that humbleth himself wishes to be exalted.

3. The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.

4. There are no facts, only interpretations.

5. Morality is but the herd-instinct in the individual.

6. No one talks more passionately about his rights than he who in the depths of his soul doubts whether he has any.

7. Without music, life would be a mistake.

8. Anyone who has declared someone else to be an idiot, a bad apple, is annoyed when it turns out in the end that he isn’t.

9. In large states public education will always be mediocre, for the same reason that in large kitchens the cooking is usually bad.

10. The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends.

11. A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything.

12. We often refuse to accept an idea merely because the way in which it has been expressed is unsympathetic to us.

13. No victor believes in chance.

14. Convictions are more dangerous foes of truth than lies.

15. Talking much about oneself can also be a means to conceal oneself.

16. It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.

17. The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude.

18. The future influences the present just as much as the past.

19. The most common lie is that which one tells himself; lying to others is relatively an exception.

20. I counsel you, my friends: Distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful.

21. Rejoicing in our joy, not suffering over our suffering, is what makes someone a friend.

22. God is a thought who makes crooked all that is straight.

23. Success has always been a great liar.

24. Nothing on earth consumes a man more quickly than the passion of resentment.

25. What do you regard as most humane? To spare someone shame.

26. Whatever is done for love always occurs beyond good and evil.

27. When a hundred men stand together, each of them loses his mind and gets another one.

28. When one has a great deal to put into it a day has a hundred pockets.

29. Whoever despises himself nonetheless respects himself as one who despises.

30. All things are subject to interpretation. Whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth.

31. What is good? All that heightens the feeling of power, the will to power, power itself. What is bad? All that is born of weakness. What is happiness? The feeling that power is growing, that resistance is overcome.

32. Fear is the mother of morality.

33. A politician divides mankind into two classes: tools and enemies.

34. Everyone who has ever built anywhere a new heaven first found the power thereto in his own hell.

35. There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophy.

36. The mother of excess is not joy but joylessness.

37. The Kingdom of Heaven is a condition of the heart — not something that comes upon the earth or after death.

38. What is the mark of liberation? No longer being ashamed in front of oneself.

39. Glance into the world just as though time were gone: and everything crooked will become straight to you.

40. We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once.

Full post here : Raptitude.com

 

 

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs for Design

11 Jun

Maslow is not a name that pops into my every day conversation. But he did yesterday – and when I saw this today – I though HELL – why not – a message from someone to post !!!

I still think his hierarchy of needs maintains its relevancy – what 60 or 70 years later !!

This is Maslow’s original …

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Meanwhile- I really love this one that Smashing Magazine has developed :

Passed on – with thanks to : Smashing Magazine : Maslow’s hierarchy of needs for design

 

“The fact that no one understands you doesn’t mean you’re an artist.”

17 May

Great post from friend, good egg and bastion of SVT – Ladies and Gentlemen – I bring you Mr John Caswell :

Zager & Evans – The Eve of Eruption. – Just Thinking!

And remember – the fact that no one understands you doesn’t mean you’re an artist.

Passed on – with thanks to : John Caswell


Read the rest of this entry »

 
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Posted in article, list, thoughts.from.the.web

 

Photographers : You Need to be a Salesperson First

02 May

I’m so glad I am not the only one tapping out this tune …. Blake Discher’s blog is chock full of some superb nuggets. This but one of them.

“Even in these stressful economic times, your business will be more successful if you are willing to recognize one fact: you need to be a salesperson first, and a photographer second. Many photographers take great photographs, but far fewer excel at sales. When I speak to audiences about negotiating, I%u2019m always quick to point out that sales skills are what help you to demonstrate to the client why they should hire you instead of your competitor.”

and

“Sell your value, not your product”


Linking back to Blake Discher’s Groozi.com – full story here :You Need to be a Salesperson First

 

The Internet of Things is Here

17 Mar

This makes for a really interesting read. I love it when the internet web thingy and the real world (as we at least perceive it to be) come together. Hopefully meeting part of the network next week. When I found out what he was doing – and where he wanted to go – I couldn’t resist. The stuff is not the same as described here. But its stuff (good stuff – sorry – can’t be more precise) – and there’s money to be made.

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It’s the same story as BandN v Amazon – compete on your terms – not theirs!


Connect the dots. Make the jumps. Find the Blue Ocean. It’s just a small leap of thinking that can create a giant leap of change.

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The Internet of Things – McKinsey Quarterly

… the predictable pathways of information are changing: the physical world itself is becoming a type of information system. In what’s called the Internet of Things, sensors and actuators embedded in physical objects’ from roadways to pacemakers’ are linked through wired and wireless networks, often using the same Internet Protocol (IP) that connects the Internet. These networks churn out huge volumes of data that flow to computers for analysis. When objects can both sense the environment and communicate, they become tools for understanding complexity and responding to it swiftly. What’s revolutionary in all this is that these physical information systems are now beginning to be deployed, and some of them even work largely without human intervention.


Passed on – with thanks to : McKinsey Quarterly

 

Brand Elevation Through Social Media

15 Mar

A good read – and some great commentaries. To me – it hits the same problems that I originally had around the internet – people not getting it quick enough.

Eg – Why did B&N lose to Amazon ? Because they didn’t take it seriously soon enough – and by the time it did resonate – they tried to compete with Amazon in Amazon terms.

Now we have twitter and facebook and …. they are all being treated either too seriously – (( abandoning your own web site for a facebook page ? )) through to hardly understood (( twitter is another channel to broadcast)) … the winners will be those companies that consider everything holistically and engage openly. tough to do for command and control operations – hell – its tough to do for most operations – it means you have to let go a little (lot) … and be real.

Which is the point of this piece ….. don’t just put a veneer in place – mean it.


The Dots Need Connecting | Original Post

Some of these companies are really taking the intent behind social media engagement – to improve their customers’ experience – and bringing it into the operations of their companies. Or, perhaps more accurately, they’re building companies that are equipped to deliver those kinds of customer experiences in the first place, and they’re deploying the social media tools as one way to do that.

The trouble happens when the companies are building something like a Twitter brigade as a surface treatment, or an isolated channel. The folks manning the accounts aren’t really empowered to do or change much operationally, and there are still some significant shortcomings in customer experience via the call center or the website..

It creates a disparate experience, and an inconsistent one that still doesn’t reflect well on the brand. It drives people to use Twitter, sure, but more because they are more certain of a response, and less because of deep affection for Twitter itself.


Passed on – with thanks to : Altitude Branding

 

Ignite

07 Mar

So – yet another example of how far behind the times I am … maybe a kind of Networked Ted ?

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Ignite goes global
—from March 1-5, 2010, 50+ Ignites will take place in cities around the world. Upwards of 10,000 entrepreneurs, technologists, DIYers, creative professionals, and enthusiastic knowledge-seekers will gather in local pubs, theaters, and other convivial venues for an evening that is a unique blend of networking, information, and fun, encapsulated in the Ignite motto: “Enlighten us, but make it quick.”


Passed on – with thanks to ‘my mate mark’ : Ignite

 

12 Smart, Memorable (and Sometimes Funny) Quotes About Technology

28 Feb

My Thanks to ExecTweets for the original post

“Any fool can write code that a computer can understand. Good programmers write code that humans can understand.”–Martin Fowler

“Some people worry that artificial intelligence will make us feel inferior, but then, anybody in his right mind should have an inferiority complex every time he looks at a flower.”–Alan Kay

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”–Alan Kay

“One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.”–Elbert Hubbard

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”–Arthur C. Clarke<

“It’s hardware that makes a machine fast. It’s software that makes a fast machine slow.”–Craig Cruce

“The question of whether computers can think is like the question of whether submarines can swim.”–Edsger W. Dijkstra

“No computer has ever been designed that is ever aware of what it’s doing; but most of the time, we aren’t either.”–Marvin Minsky

“Computers have enabled people to make more mistakes faster than almost any invention in history, with the possible exception of tequila and hand guns”–Mitch Ratcliffe

“For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press 3.”–Alice Kahn

“I have an almost religious zeal.. not for technology per se, but for the Internet which is for me, the nervous system of mother Earth, which I see as a living creature, linking up.”–Dan Millman

“The Internet is just a world passing around notes in a classroom.”–Jon Stewart

 
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Posted in humour, quote, technology, thoughts.from.the.web

 

The Brand Gap

15 Feb

One of my colleagues lent me ‘The Brand Gap’ a couple of weeks ago, A very good – highly recommended read – thankyou David. I had a prod around the ‘interweb thingy’ – and discovered this slideshare presentation – that will provide you the full 411 as a background. But PLEASE – this is not instead of reading the book !!!