Month: December 2008

New Year's Meme: Three Threes

I’m going to try my hand at creating a New Year’s Meme & see if it catches on. Here it is:

The Three Threes

First, write down:
1) Three things that have changed since the beginning of the year
2) Three things that didn’t change
3) Three things you want to change next year

Next, tag either three, six, or nine people.

To start the ball rolling (or dropping as the case may be) here’s mine:

Three things that have changed since the beginning of the year:
1) New job! I can’t possibly overstate how much of my life this has changed (and for the better).
2) Finally got a smartphone. I still wish my Blackberry had a better web browser but otherwise it rocks.
3) New haircut. This one is not as life changing but it’s been way too long since I had a decent stylist.

Three things that didn’t change:
1) Still living in San Mateo. I’d like to move back to SF at some point.
2) Still renting. But at least I am not underwater on a mortgage.
3) Still not exercising regularly. Working 12-hour days makes finding the time hard, but even so, it’s a failing of will more than anything.

Three things you want to change next year:
1) Stop listening to my fears.
2) Take a photography class. I love photography but don’t know jack about doing it right.
3) Do the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. I was going to sign up last year and didn’t. This time I’m going for it.

Feel free to jump in if you’re so inclined. I’m also tagging a range of folks:
Jennifer Leggio
Michelle Oshen Feldman
Warren Sukernek
Mike Rohde
Michael Ashby
Craig Froehle
Seamus
Laura
and BTC

Only 17 Years Ago

It boggles the mind a little when you think about how young the Web truly is and how much the world has changed due to one innovation:

Almost precisely 17 years ago, a young British researcher from Cern, the European organisation for nuclear research, gave a presentation in Texas on a technology that was to change society dramatically. That same month, the Cern newsletter announced it to the world: it was called the World Wide Web.

It’s hard to imagine life today without it.

Click through to read the rest of the article, which is an interesting look at the “open web” versus command and control structures. Here’s a sample:

The web succeeded too quickly to be controlled. It conquered skepticism by existing. But imagine that we had had a chance squarely to consider its likely benefits and dangers. In place of what we have today I think we would have invented a tamer, more controlled web and a different underlying network on which it operates. We would restrict openness of access, decrease anonymity and limit the number of actions that a network participant could perform.

The benefits would be undeniable: it would cut down on spam, viruses and illicit peer-to-peer file sharing. But at the same time, it would undercut the iconoclastic technological, cultural and political potential that the web offers, the ability of a new technology, a new service to build on open networks and open protocols, without needing approval from regulators or entrenched market players, or even the owners of the web pages to which you link.

Friday Random 10: Blowing Off The Dust Edition

Blogging has been scarce around here lately. I’ve been busy, but it’s not just that — I’ve lost the habit of remembering to blog. I do have a shiny new iPod Nano that I’ve just loaded with a batch of music, so in honor of that, I might as well dig out an old meme: the Friday Random 10.

Superman — Five for Fighting
Time of Your Song — Matisyahu
Silent Legacy — Melissa Etheridge
Following — The Bangles
In Your Eyes (Live) — Peter Gabriel
Born To Run — Bruce Springsteen
Find A Way To My Heart — Phil Collins
Starry Eyed Surprise — Paul Oakenfold
Tikvah — Subliminal & the Shadow
No Woman No Cry (Live) — Bob Marley & The Wailers

The rules are simple: Randomize your iTunes and write down the first 10 songs in the playlist. Feel free to add your own 10 in the comments. 🙂