Connect with your neighbor…
Joel Spolsky has another great piece on Five whys, a highly recommended read for all in technical operations and engineers in general. There is alot to learn from the Toyota example.
In the past my preferred model for technical operations has always been NASA mission control, but I will be looking closely at Toyota Production System for insights that can improve operational preparedness and response.
Lawrence Lessig just lobbed a bombshell on his blog in this entry. To summarize, Dr Lessig has decided to shift his activism and focus from technology, the Internet, & IP to, quite simply, corruption. Dr. Lessig is and has been a towering figure who has contributed an incredible legacy of thought and activism, his lack of full-time involvement will be sorely missed. If you have missed any of his books make it a point to read them. They are just as relevant today as they were when first written. And if you have never had an opportunity to see Dr Lessig give a talk, run over to youtube, you will be absolutely delighted at his ability to captivate an audience.
I am excited to see where Lessig goes next. He is a unique and deep thinker, one that will bring a fresh perspective to the fight against corruption. In his latest blog entry Lessig cites Obama’s book and Gore’s presentations as inspirations for his change of focus. He alludes to a “Republican of Prominence” as providing the final push that resulted in his decision to move away from his “traditional” issues.
I sincerely hope Dr. Lessig well on his new focus, he will need it.
WooHoo! The crazy kids at Spinback just launched (well a few days ago). They are a great bunch of fun folks co-located with us for the moment.
Given the official launch I just had to become a Spinner, so for my first spin I present a wonderful black iPod:
iPod, 30GB, Black
To the Spinback team, awesome site and congrats on the launch. I look forward to independent wealth thanks to my ability to spin…
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The RIAA's Cary Sherman has a Nov 13, 2006 must-read editorial on CNet. In it Sherman calls CEA's President Gary Shapiro statements "extreme", Sherman goes on and describes what he sees as the limits & definition of fair use. Why all the brouhaha? The just recently launched digitalfreedom.org site sponsored by the CEA. If you haven't checked it out I urge you to do so now and while you're there make sure to sign the petition.
My own editorial: The CEA is doing very important work in defending the right of consumers to consume and enjoy media the way THEY want to and not in some manner tightly controlled by the RIAA. Pay close attention to what the new congress does, traditionally the Democratic party is very close to the traditional supporters of the RIAA & the MPAA (lawyers & media companies) and may try to strengthen laws that further restrict consumer's ability to use media that they lawfully own. The best refutation of Sherman's arguments are in Lawrence Lessig's Free Culture. You can find Free Culture online either as a pdf or as MP3's, its a must-read for all 21st century consumers.
Gerard ‘t Hooft is a noble prize winning physicist that has put a guide together and incredible guide HOW to BECOME a GOOD THEORETICAL PHYSICIST. This is what the internet was made for. Go enjoy…
Great overview of ebay design process by Luke Wroblewski at his Functioning Form blog. The web (& good desktop software) is a tough medium to work in. It presents difficult technical and design challenges. A site well executed “disappears” into the background after the initial aha!
This is very similar to the experience of the ipod or the mac. Apple has always been so good at this type of design work. A highly recommended read and bookmark for those future projects.
A mindblowingly good post from Bob Wyman How the read/write web was lost….
Highly recommended reading for all
After months of planning PubSub just announced the launch of structured blogging. This is an incredibly key initiative and Marc Canter and his company Broadband Mechanics have done pioneering work. Kudos to Phil Pearson for plugins well done.
Structured blogging is really gaining traction and we made it to the top of tech.memeorandum.com, in case you missed it, here is a pic. Nice job everyone, now lets get the community building applications and defining the schemas…
This week I am attending the Syndicate Conference. We (the company I work with) will be making some major announcements all around Structured Blogging. I haven’t been this tickled pink about a technology in quite some time.