Mansur and I have always joked that titles for web developers/ masters / designers / editors / presidents are completely non descriptive and a real hassle to explain the details of to friends and family – mainly because “the web” is such a broad topic. My requirements for my next job are that I simply be titled correctly.
What is a Web Editor?
Today was a day. Not a bad day. Not a good day. It will be one of those days I forget, like last Monday. That was only a week and a half ago and I really couldn’t tell you much about it. Today will be one of those days (as opposed to one of those days). A day that is part of a string of days that is doomed to be forgotten. I feel sad for the death of today, that is, Wednesday June 29th, 2011.
Nearly a year ago, June 29th sat patiently on an unopened 2011 calendar, when new calendars generally go on sale. June 29th had the potential to be a day I would remember. A time in the spotlight. It could have been a good day: a day I got a raise, or made a new friend or moved to a new area. Even bad days get remembered; like the day I got my first layoff notice (June 3rd, 2009); or the day my father , mom and I got into a major fight over video games (September 9th, 2001).
No, today is doomed to be filed away in my memory as “routine” and will become part of a composite that consists of all the other days I went to my current job, had lunch, did some work, went home, and watched some TV; a general, but imperfect picture. As much as I love my brain, it can be pretty damned lazy at times.
So I mourn for the loss of today. Life isn’t meant to be just a chronological listing of major events. The space between your best friends wedding and your grandmother’s funeral is time worth remembering, but our consciousness is constantly at odds with this notion. It’s not June 29th’s fault life didn’t hurl a meteor into my driveway, or that I didn’t plan a Caligula style orgy with all of my closest friends.
There’s always next year though, June 29th. I can plan something more extravagant, or you can get to work on the second coming of Jesus.However, I think we should just keep it low key though. It can be our quiet little nothingness.
A short little montage created from video I’ve collected on my cellphone and D90 over the past couple of years. Nothing special, but a fun waste of time to a good tune.
I was searching for an email in my Gmail account today, when I stumbled upon some old chats I had with a friend back in January 2007. It was actually a pretty big moment in mobile history; because it was when Apple released the first iPhone.
Cingular? iPods? What are those?
A pretty cool throwback. I actually was pretty skeptical of the iPhone when it was released (no keyboard, and yeah, 600 dollars fully subsidized), but at least I don’t have any of that on record. However, I scrolled down and found this gem:
"pffft Apple's stock only went up 4% that day!"
Today. Apples stock (AAPL) closed at $322.81 .
I get asked all the time (being the resident technophile) about which phones and/or providers to get. Since phones change so much, it’s hard even for me to stay on the edge. I did some research to find the best phones (based heavily on my own CES trip in January).. Also shows my thoughts on the different OS/platforms. Enjoy.
Click to Enlarge
One of my friends had an HTC phone and it reminded me of this:
Sometime in mid 2010 (that year sort of blurs together for me now), I was living in San Francisco and happened across a Facebook post for an HTC party. Being the geeky technophile I am, the idea of a party for and about cell phones sounded pretty awesome.
I got to touch this phone before lots of other people
And it was. There was food, 4 free drink coupons, working models of HTC phones, Rock Band/Guitar Hero, and a hands on demo for the HTC Aria. I got to mingle with other mobilephiles, met a few android app developers and chatted a bit with an Engadget mobile blogger. You know how some people go to Hollywood for movies? The tech culture was one of my reasons for moving to the bay area.
The biggest take away I got though was an interesting group of men I encountered.
At first glance they were a little out of place. Four older gentlemen whose attire was nice, but still a bit out of “Miami Vice” (think Scarface but fatter and older.) I had noticed them early on – as they had been some of the first people in line, but it wasn’t until later that I struck up a conversation with one of them.
It wasn’t exactly a gripping conversation – but long story short, he told me about how he and his league of extraordinary gentlemen had been crashing parties since the mid 90s. As I talked and watched them more and more, I realized just how committed these guys were to their craft.
They were shameless in their execution; sniping every food tray and coordinating with each other like a Navy SEAL team. Seriously, hand-signals, push to talk cell phones – these guys were not amateurs. I was actually having a pretty pleasant conversation with the squad leader (who ran some travel agency out of his garage), except for the fact that every time a food tray wandered into his peripheral vision he’d run across the room to the tray, come back with his hands full of bagel bites, and resume talking right where he left off like nothing happened.
Not only that, they had other members at other events in San Francisco who were reporting on weather there were better places to loot food (I heard “Shoe Convention” over one of the cell phones). After word got out about the drinks and food at the HTC party, two more freeloaders arrived (I assumed by repelling down a helicopter) and began to partake in the rape. To add insult to injury, two of them managed to win Aria cell phones from the drawing. The leader informed me this was a common occurrence, and they would redistribute / sell the phones.
He wouldn’t let me into their club (your damned right I asked), but now every time I go to an event in the city, I’m on the look out for this elite squad. I think it’s the closest I’ve ever come to meeting the Justice League.
Despite my strong feelings against censoring television (I believe this is a responsibility of parents; not TV stations or content providers) I do believe that TV can influence people, especially kids. As an only child enrolled in year-round school, I spent my intersession mornings watching TV shows such as “The People’s Court”, “The Price is Right”, and “Star Trek: The Next Generation”. While “The People’s Court” influenced my interest in law and “The Price is Right” influenced my interest in winning tons of shit, it was Star Trek that I think gave me the most variety of skills and ideas that I think I use everyday.
1) Under-promise, Over-deliver
If I were Geordi LaForge, I’d have quit Starfleet for Reading Rainbow within the first season. This guy was in charge of fixing everything from the warp core to the toilets, and despite giving realistic estimates, he was always forced to do what should take days in the space of 5 dramatic minutes.
PIcard "Hey Geordi I know you're busy but can you stop the ship from blowing up? 3 days you say? How about in 20 seconds? K thanks!"
I think Geordi had figured out rather early in his career that a Captain’s sense of time does not actually exist in normal space-time, and thus, adjusted his estimates accordingly. Not only that, he always had a penchant for getting that warp core to go just a little faster, make those shields a little stronger, and even played with Data’s head on his spare time. AND he was blind (though his visor came in handy for seeing plot elements the rest of the crew couldn’t)
I think this is something most people figure out pretty early on in their careers; or at least whenever they are given discretion to make their own timelines.Too bad Geordi fell victim to what every IT worker deals with, too technically essential for their own good and always passed up for promotion.
2) Nobody likes a know it all
Data represented a feat of human technology – a fully sentient artificial life form that did not actually want to destroy humanity. Data was faster, stronger, smarter and all around the most capable crew member that ever existed. Despite this, in order to fit in he had to try and be an idiot with feelings like the rest of his crewmates. He could provide precise estimates down to the nanosecond, but was constantly cut off mid-sentance when he did this. He was ridiculed for never using contractions; and despite his ability to recreate the styles of every great artist, he was constantly told he was just copying. Data could have been creating cures for diseases; finding ways to go past warp 10; or at the very least preventing his Holodeck programs from going apeshit. Instead, he chose to spend his career hanging around a bunch of smuggy jerks from the bay area who were constantly trying teach him a lesson, rather than the other way around.
No shit Sherlock
It is true though, whenever you have some great ability, you will always attract critics, so modesty and some thick yellow skin comes in handy. If Data had feelings though, I’m pretty sure he’d have been taking hyposprays of prozac and recording suicide notes in his log. Jerks.
3) Empathy is a Superpower
There were a few episodes where some of the crew would play poker together. While I could argue that Data probably won a few games, I’m pretty sure Deanna Troi hustled the beard right off of Riker most nights. She wasn’t just telepathic, she was empathic; she could feel emotions even before other people could. The most common emotion she must have felt was probably everyone being uncomfortable around her; but then maybe that’s why she stopped wearing that miniskirt and boot combo in the first season.
I sense a fart coming
The one problem with her being an expert on reading people is that it gave everyone else on the ship an excuse to be as dense as a quantum singularity. Her job was to be the ship’s counselor; you know, listen to the crew bitching about how lonely space is and hand out pamphlets. Instead, she was constantly on the bridge telling Picard that “yes the Ferengi are lying assholes” and “yes you just insulted that Klingon’s honor”
It really doesn’t take a superpower to exercise the ability to listen and empathize with people, just patience and an open mind. Often just understanding another point of view is enough to compromise on a given situation; even if you don’t agree with it.
4) Go to happy hour
Having a bar on a starship wasn’t just a way to get Whoopi Goldberg in the ship, it was a way to show that the crew weren’t just a bunch of workaholic math nerds in lycra uniforms. While the crew of the Enterprise preferred synthahol over shots of Patron, Ten-Forward provided the proper setting to show that even in the most ideal workplace, everyone needs a beer and a place to bitch after work (or in Worf’s case, prune juice). Here Geordi illustrated the pickup lines of the 24th century, Data learned that getting drunk is the true meaning of being human, and Troi brought credibility to the idea of a chocogasm. More ominous was what happened to crew members that didn’t go to happy hour at Ten-Foward: away missions to dangerous planets the next day.
Nothing like civilized discourse between coworkers at the local watering hole
Socialization in the workplace is just as important as the work itself. Granted, unlike your friends, you generally don’t get to pick your coworkers, but that doesn’t mean they are mutually exclusive. Despite all the technological and societal advances TNG flaunts (warp drive, tricorders, talking computers, world peace etc) The most optimistic concept of the entire show was the fact that not only did everyone enjoy their work, but they also enjoyed everyone they worked with. The harmony between all the crew members was the true science fiction, and I don’t think I’m being cynical by saying that (everyone has a bad day, everyone gets moody and not all personalities match up). That being said, it’s an ideal I do keep in mind.
Conclusion
Have anything you learned from TV? Send me a communiqué.
