So I did the unthinkable.
I did something no one admits to: I didn’t even make an attempt to vote in a recent by election in Toronto Center. Actually, I consciously chose to not exercise my democratic right as a citizen to cast a vote for any of the given candidate. Then I admitted to it.
The response was, well, swift. A barrage of Twitter voices rained down public condemnation. Words like “disgusting”, “outrage”, “sad”, “unpatriotic”, etc. flooded in. I was all alone, defending my action to some of the most vocal proponents of voter malaise and of course partisan happy clappers. At the same time I was also receiving email, IM’s, and direct messages from others admitting they’d done the same. I was now a confessional for the quiet majority. And if 23% was indeed voter turnout then this sustained intellectual guilt offensive isn’t working friends.
Let’s be clear about something, I am an engaged citizen, but apathetic. And judging by the honest and direct response(s) I received, others are to.
So let me re-introduce the elephant in the room and ask that we start a new conversation without militant foamers ranting about what my/our patriotic rights are and are not. Because this apathy is infectious and volatile. My action may have gotten up the nose of a few people, but I can now openly engage a very large group of citizens in this dialogue without an agenda. (The spoiled ballot argument is a different conversation).
The worst part of my decision was not in ‘renouncing’ my voice, but the knowledge that my community would (initially) be disappointed: Meegs, Ian ,Mark ,Shawn - the people who have inspired and made citizen engagement exciting for me w/o any partisan colours. And the reason why I cared enough to write this post.
So why did so many of us (the majority) not vote in the Toronto Center by election? (Past results: http://www.elections.on.ca/en-CA/Tools/PastResults.htm) I have no idea. But I do know that the cure to our voter apathy is in citizen/community self-organization and engagement (like my experience with those mentioned previously) — not personal brands, lawn signs or buttons.
As citizens we need to speak to each other and identify our collective priorities and solutions rather than continue be lazy (yes lazy) and have a few (strong) voices influence polices and platforms. It is here that that we will feel our voice again giving our votes purpose. Because if “they” still don’t listen, then new leaders will emerge from the community to run as strong independent alternatives who better reflect the community mandate, rather than continue our great Canadian tradition of flogging solutions, shoe horned into tired political brands.
I’ll see you at GevilCamp ChangeCamp, flask in tow.
I’ve set up a confessional, what do you think? Results will be shared at ChangeCamp http://rypple.com/ryantaylor/vote
As twitter becomes more a of a communications platform for many of us rather than just a curious social network, those precious APi limits will really begin to influence who we do business, support or socialize with in the web.
Example: Business Sales/Support case: User has a ‘challenge’ with product or service. If the APi limit is exceeded/delaying communications on either side the issue can become fragmented, frustrated and lose context. Those conversations are taken “offline” out of the public forum and into email. Real time search is a reality now, and the more customer service organisations perform in the open web the more trusted and respected they become.
As a small business owner I’ve looked for a solution which fit our workflow that anyone could pick up without too great of a learning curve. I’ve played with Tweetdeck, Seesmic, Destroy Twitter (etc) moving on to Hootsuite, Brizzly only to find myself overwhelmed and using the web based Twitter site and Tweetie2 (on my iPhone) almost exclusively. Now using Twitter’s current web interface is admittedly weak on usability. The multi search and list(s) functionality, not to mention features such as Facebook integration of the free apps provide users with exceptional dashboards for managing the social web. But the sites they serve up (wisely) control access through limits. They are also limited to their development resources and in Seesmics case relentless updates, where with Chrome (or FireFox if they can clean up their act) you can mash up the best apps to customize your experience. And with tabs you have unlimited control using native sites not 3rd party solutions.
So how do we get real time results without sacrificing usability or system resources? My suggestion is: Monkeyfly + Google Chrome. [Also works (slower) with Firefox http://monkeyfly.egoing.net/ ].
I would also suggest adding Intersect to maximize your experience. Simply: ”Intersect is a Google Chrome extension that lets you see users who mutually follow you and another user on Twitter”
Hope you find these solutions helpful!
Cheers,
Your world can change with a few words. A few simple sounds, and all of time can stand still for a brief moment. Changing everything. We often measure ourselves against these moments; who will we choose to be, what will we choose to do? Joseph Campbell refers to this as the ‘monomyth’; “A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”
Destiny’s entwined, this journey has three heroes. Two scared parents thrown quickly into a Hell no one should ever experience, unprepared, and asked to choose life or death of their child. And an infant who, for now, floats unaware in relative solitude hearing only murmurs from the outside world. It is for her the greatest challenges await. But it is her who will bestow the greatest gifts on her fellow man.
As the bells ring out in the cold from St. Peters signaling Christmas Day, I’m reminded that our journey is far from over. As we leave the stage and prepare for act two, we pray. The scene is set for you my heroine.
Etsuko, without a word you fundamentally changed the way we see and accept the world. For that I will be eternally grateful. But the world you are entering will need more of that, be great, because the gift your mother and I returned with for the world was you.
Your loving Father.
Boot strapping has become a way of life since starting my company, with every little expense needing justification you need to keep your eyes open for any opportunity to save up for your next pint. The Christmas season represents increased pressure on the pocket book with even transportation costs doubling as Asaka and I roll in tandem.
So how do you save on hard costs such as these? For us it’s simple. You gamble.
An average trip from Toronto to Niagara Falls one way on the Go Train is: $18 Single rider, Via Rail Economy Single $37.80, Car rental *almost impossible this time of season. So next to car pooling your best bet is Casino transit! Yeh, they have their own transit system run by Safeway tours. The cost? $5 each way (used to be free).
Here are their pick-up locations: http://www.safewaytours.net/casinobus.html College & Pape Stations being the most convenient.
So how do you get to take advantage of this deal? Well there is only one catch; you need to obtain a ‘Players Advantage Card’ from Fallsview Casino in person. Which means one trip at full pop, but when there simply visit the Players Advantage desk, show your ID, get the free card. Once registered it never expires. *It’s $25 w/o a card but if you go in and register they reimburse you $20 (Need to verify this)
Et Viola! Guilt free travel at the expense of the Casino. Now imagine if ZipCar was available!
Merry Christmas! Welcome to Niagara Falls!
I’ve never been much of a structured academic, in College I spent 2 semesters in isolation exploring & teaching myself CAD/CAM and basic hydraulic die forming techniques. The application of both the theory and practical provided me with a lousy graduation show, 2 bulging sketch books of failures and mathematical tolerances, a few samples in acrylic and copper, questions, and a burning desire to finish what I started.
I actually used those failed samples in my interview with Central St. Martins for my Masters application. The Dean of applied arts said: “Your concepts, sketch books, and designs are incredible but the finished product doesn’t match your research, are you a theorist?”That sorta hurt, and I wasn’t sure at the time how to reply because she called me out. Deep down I knew exactly what she was saying. Though I was accepted (but couldn’t afford to go) she took me to school right there; I realized that greatness is forged through practice and application the idea is the first step.
I’m lucky to be opening my atelier on August 1st and with it I want to pick up where I left off focusing on design innovation. ‘Formation’ is as much a personal research project as an exploration of design, a quick look at previous posts on this blog (and twitter) should illustrate my personal war with theory w/o the practice.
Formation
The ‘hacker’ movement represents a counter culture that I feel a deep connection with. DIY everything, evolving, mashing, & communicating. I f you listen closely there is a low drone under all the high pitched Twitter meme noise from: Hack Labs , information architects like Matthew Milan , change agents like Mark Kuzniki , Futurists like THMVMNT , Mad Scientists like Ricky & Matt , and more.
That drone is the sound of production, people producing. No other time in history have we had the opportunity to predict and tackle future problems or simply prevent them armed with aesthetics & design. That exiting fact is the ‘Formation’.
Start-up: What does object design look like when it’s very existence is forged from change, interaction, & future application?
# As a small group exercise @ftjco will host a ‘solder camp” a #BYOS(older) event where we explore simple sensors, soldering techniques, application & design.
Essential to any Formation is Volume. In this case it’s a community seduced back from the cutting edge for a few hours of playing Dr. Frankenstein with crude electronics (and beer).
Forming, back to basics:
A challenge for most of the forms I produced was the material limitation of the dies themselves. Because the school limited the materials on the mills to waxes and plastics I had to source a dense resin. I settled on a product called ‘Butter Board’, a decent material to machine single cut no roughing passes needed. It actually held up pretty well in the hydraulic press forming .5mm (annealed) copper sheet without deformation. Thermal forming acrylic produced a result which was predicted: Complete die failure. The heat and pressure lead to cracking and deformation. The Devcon ‘Plastic Steel’ (dies) produced much the same results despite being enclosed in a heavy gauge steel ring. Objects often needed to be ‘organic’ in form, faceting or texture was rarely transfered.
This has lead me to explore both the sustainability of both the formed material and die (uses). Waste is the greatest problem with this form of prototyping/production and should be designed out of the process.
I felt a logical move away from plastics is glass production; an abundant, resusable, alternative material. And with it the classic inspirational design and production techniques of Lalique. The challenge with his methods is the cost of the moulds, we lose the ability to quickly prototype modify and scale. Enter graphite, machinable graphite used in the EDM process to be exact. It’s density make it excellent for texture & detail, it’s thermal properties would handle the heat of molten silica, and it’s strength make it a good candidate for the forming of metals.
Sounds good eh? Not quite. Graphite is MESSY and requires a serious vacuum system to protect the mill from being clogged with particles which are a lubricant in one direction, diamond hard in the other. So my search begins for a resource.
Begin Formation.
Replies welcome to @ryantaylor on Twitter convo tag #formation
What I’m not, is what I am.
My (New) Personal Twitter Guide
I’m not a blogger, I’m not a web designer, I’m not a programmer, I’m not a PR person, I’m not a journalist, I’m not a ‘blogger’, I’m not a consultant, I’m not in marketing, I’m not a community facilitator, I’m not a public speaker, I’m not a connector, I’m not a leader, I’m not a follower, I’m not a project manager, I’m not a product manager, I’m not a manager, & I’m not a theorist.
In light of this revelation here are my new rules for myself using Twitter:
A. Avoid becoming a ‘Scene Tourist’, as a designer I hate them because they’ve never designed anything but they have all the bloody answers because they read Monocle.
So I need to stop forcing ideas and pulling levers where they need/want not be pulled, unless I have some practical knowledge that can be shared.
This could also be called the PDF (personal douchebag filter) as much as you wanna be a part of something hold your breathe, let the pros handle it.
B. Quality of observation: I’m not a writer, never have been. My grammar and spelling are atrocious but I think I have some good ideas rolling around in my head. Unlike @shawnmicallef
who really is the master of the moment in 140 characters, I need to give myself more time to digest things, distill and respond intelligently rather than with my usual pants down thrust away approach. If that means a longer post on my tumblr blog and a reduction in Twitter posts so be it (I’m sure my facebook friends will appreciate it most).
C. Stop caring what others think. Probably my biggest weakness - just throwing it out there because I’ll be more aware of it and care less (reverse psychology on myself). There is lotsa talk of rogue/rockstar business people out there but most play it safe/boring and I run the risk of taking feedback from these people. Actions speak, ideas are dreams. Pretty sure if we listened to the crowd when planning #hohoto it wouldn’t have happened like it did.
D. Personal Brand. Yeh right. Any chance of me rounding out my edges would really betray myself and those who have supported me up till now, personal brands are BS. I pledge to be myself more and censor less.
E. Post less shit, more about things I’m doing and I’m in LOVE with. Social/Ethical/Green Entrepreneurship, Opensource &/+ Luxury Product Design/Manufacture, Experiments, Arts, My company @ftjco , Jewellery/Gemmology, Music, (Charitable) Events & the odd drunk tweet about the #mife.
So Hai again Twitter let’s try this again shall we?
<3 @RyanTaylor
523 Parliament Reno FTJ: ftjco ftj Samples from UrbanProduct.ca DUNE tile custom made for @ftjco
523 Parliament Reno FTJ: ftjco ftj Samples from UrbanProduct.ca DUNE tile custom made for @ftjco
523 Parliament Reno FTJ: ftjco ftj Samples from UrbanProduct.ca DUNE tile custom made for @ftjco
Tay vs. Tay