Everything is a Remix Part 4 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.
The final part of Kirby Ferguson’s video series, Everything is a Remix. In this last part he explores the intellectual property, patents, and patent trolls. Simply must see.
Tagged with Ideas …
Idea Testing
How I Test Ideas (Or: Discerning Good From Great) — Shawn Blanc
Shawn Blanc on how he goes through the process of testing an idea.
I suspect many of you can relate to the dilemma of having more ideas than time. Which means that, in addition to endurance, we also need discernment to know what ideas are worth pursuing and what ideas we should let go of.
Kevin Kelly and Steven Johnson on Where Ideas Come From [19]
Kevin Kelly and Steven Johnson on Where Ideas Come From | Wired Magazine
Two of my favorite thinkers on creativity.
Daydreaming Outside the Box
Searching for Value in Ludicrous Ideas
NYT article by Allison Arieff that features wonderful and, indeed, ludicrous concept illustrations by inventor, author, cartoonist, and former urban planner Steven M. Johnson. From the article:
In discussing his often fantastical, sometimes silly, sometimes visionary concepts, he has said, “If I could use two words to describe what it is that I enjoy it is that I love to be sneakily outrageous . . . [It may be that] I have decided an idea has no practical worth and would never be likely to be adopted seriously (like most of my ideas), but I like it anyway.”
After seeing sleep-in cubicles for seniors you’ll know what he means by sneakily outrageous.
Jobs are the New Assets
10 Ideas that are Changing the World Right Now
The #1 idea of the Time’s “10 Ideas that are changing the world right now” is having a job. Apparently, having a job now is a good way to make money. Rhetorical question here, but when did they stop being a good way to make money?
It felt kind of odd reading this. It feels somewhat insulting in a way. Like when trust fund hipsters check out the homeless to get fashion cues. It’s written with the assumption that everyone is an investor or wants to be an investor. Part of the mixed feelings I guess is the idea that just having a job was/is viewed(by 5% or less, I think) as a dead end and that investing was the way to the american dream. Check out the first paragraph of the #1 idea that’s changing the world:
Remember when jobs weren’t worth your small talk? Think back a year or two. Picture yourself at a cocktail party or maybe picking up the kids from soccer. How did the conversation go? You talked about your house. A new deck! You talked about your portfolio. Gotta go small cap. Did you mention how much pleasure you derived from bringing home a steady paycheck? Probably not. “Land was valuable, and capital was valuable, and labor — who cared?” says David Ellison, a Boston-based money manager. “The attitude was, As long as I buy a few homes and invest in a hedge fund, I’m done. I can sit in my chair and watch football games.”
I though that the Times was a populist publication, not an “uppity” mag like the New Yorker. Hell, not even the New Yorker would publish something as pretentious as that. But overall I get the point and the article is worth a read.
Directions, Pauses, and Focus
This an impromptu and a not so much polished post. It’s mostly things I have been giving attention to and where I think the blog is headed. It’s sort of my absentee excuse and a reminder to readers to not forget about TND.
Music. I want to write more about music, but I’ve been trying to figure out how to do it in such a way that’s different and worthwhile.
Movies. Same goes. How can you stand out in a world of enthusiast Amazon.com reviewers.
Books. Ditto
Pessimism. I’ve been feeling a little bit pessimistic about a lot of things in my life, including this so called blog, but I think I’ve done a pretty good job. If you look at my older blog, you can see that I’ve come a long way. This is actually the longest time I’ve been blogging and writing.
Responsibility. I think I should be a bit more responsible with my readers, even if I have only 10.
Rant Blogging. I’m going to be a little bit more careful before lambasting the “social media enthusiasts” with my theories against their utopian views about web cooperation and participation. Even though they’ve been my best posts in terms of reaction and visits, I don’t want to give the idea that it’s my final word. I’m no “thought leader”. I’m an introvert, not an antisocial. Really, I’m a nice guy.
New Categories. I need to add categories like Web. I been throwing them in the Technology category, but they seem a little misleading. I’m not exactly a gadget or software freak and I don’t cover web startups.
Self Hosting. I plan in the future to do the self hosting thing, have an original design, and the whole nine yards, but not yet. I think I should wait a couple of more months.
And thats about it for now. There’s still other stuff in my head, but it’s not yet fully formed.
