http://emergentbydesign.com/2012/04/06/a-rant-when-will-more-women-demonstrate-their-power/
Read it!
Thank you Venessa for being so amazing. 
Archive for the ‘opinion’ Category
Victoria’s Tech Sector Branding
2011 -
02.22
Apparently our tech sector needs a name. I think it’s a great idea.
Victoria ~ The Garden City
Vancouver Island ~ Paradise North?
Are we Island focused or Victoria focused?
What is technology bringing to us?
Talent, community, wealth, information, … , gadgets, research, the future?
Garden’s are a very powerful symbol of growth and sustainability.
A “Garden of Tech” will be built around a few trees which have:
- roots research & development (universities, government funded research)
- a trunk: large well-funded development shops (CGI, Sierra Systems, Quartech, IBM)
- branches: community groups (VDevs, VJUG, VIATec, SocialMediaClub, and many more)
- leaves (geeks, nerds, programmers, technology experts, people who contribute to the whole)
- fruit/seeds (startups)
- if they’re lucky they become seedlings (funded startups) and a new tree is added to the “Garden of Tech”. … Or the wind picks them up and they get planted in California.
What other plants could we use to develop the analogy?
Is Victoria wild enough to swing for “Forrest of Tech”?
Add your thoughts here or at Dan Gunn’s original post!
Quora: a review
2010 -
09.29
Quora is a social Q&A website in Beta. I admire their product, their community, and their technical ingenuity. I envy their team, investment, and to a lesser degree their location. I think their broad, unfocused vision, and immature quality control mechanisms will pigeonhole them and prevent scalability. Of course they might pivot successfully, but there is no indication of that occurring, yet.
What Quora is doing well:
- Questions are the center of all discussion and duplication is prevented as much as possible.
- Real time user discussions create an addictive atmosphere for sharing
- Their network tools work very well
- Community building within the tech sector
peace, war, and freedom
2010 -
05.17
Time for some philosophy, passion, and opinions. I’m sharing my vision of peace, because it is the driving force behind my business. People think peace is priceless, but I think this is a huge failure in valuation. Ever hear of a company that set their valuation at priceless? I bet someone told them to go beg on a street corner. So this is what the peace industry does. They raise awareness, they raise money, but what do they build? Where is the peace product lineup? This is a major hurdle for the peace industry, but I think we can overcome it with some ingenuity and by realizing what a valuable commodity peace already is.
complexity vs usability
2010 -
04.20
I’ve gotten some feedback from a few people I’ve talked with that my solution is too complicated. I take issue with this attitude, mostly because I see the greatest value in taking something that is complicated and making it easier for regular people to get into. I wonder if Steve Jobs ever had this problem? Does anyone think that the iPhone is simple? or is it just simple to use? I’m a bit flabbergasted that most people are looking for fast, easy solutions that will make a quick million. I want to build a masterpiece, something of such quality and resilience that no one can deny it’s value to society, plus make a slow billion. I want people to see that what I’m proposing is complicated, but that it will be addictive, easy to use, and profitable. This is the vision I’m shaping, it isn’t small or quick, it even intimidates me sometimes. My technical background says it’s completely possible, but to make it good will take more than my meager skills.
I understand that without a prototype it’s a hard sell. I am working on minimum viable product designs, which I’m scaling down from my more advanced ideas. The ability to design something complicated that works is what I’m shooting for. I’m not saying I’ll get it right on the first try, but that my focus is to tackle the complexity head on. What’s your take on complication? If it is simple to use does that mean it should be simple to develop too?
Thanks for reading!
Atlas Shrugged
2010 -
04.10
Over the Easter weekend I spent some quality time with a rather large novel: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Originally published in 1957 the author considered this her opus to Objectivism. The book contains lots of great characters, a decent plot line, and tons of philosophy. I want to detail some of the lessons I’ve learned from it. (more…)
the next decade
2010 -
01.03
So I’ve been reading all the predictions, projections, and prognostications of our soon to arrive future. Whether it be the next year or the next decade, I think very few people are aware of what is coming, with a few exceptions like Venessa Miemis. Check out her post about Social Media. I’m going to let the cards tell the story today, hopefully I won’t get in the way of their message too much.
Have we forgotten?
2009 -
11.11
I want peace.
What does that mean to me?
It means: I want less violence; less noise pollution; no wars; less murder; less rape; less domestic abuse; less environmental abuse; etc.
In another light it means I want more joy, more patience, more listening, more discussion, more dancing, more freedom, more respect, more fun, and more dignity for all.
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