Adamant Musings

The National Parks: America's Best Idea on PBS

2009-11-03T17:51:00.000-08:00

The Gates' Foundation on Education and Preventing Disease

2009-08-20T18:48:00.000-07:00

I recently watched Bill Gates' TED Talk on some of the work the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is investing in. The first part of the talk focuses on attrition of disease and value of human life while the latter focuses on effective teaching models and our public schools. Here's a counter argument to the work of the Gates Foundation. What do you think of education reform in America?

Also, a random thought: Communication is the lifeblood of success.

The Bush Spending Legacy

2009-08-06T14:35:00.001-07:00

They say statistics always lie, but this is just outrageous if you're unaware.

Graphs and relationships of the Bush Presidency's spending.

Your 'purple folder'

2009-07-31T18:40:00.000-07:00

Every morning, Barack Obama receives a purple folder inside his daily briefing with ten letters that specifically help him to better understand what Americans are thinking about. Here are some thoughts on things I like to consume on a daily basis:

Nonprofit technology news from TechSoup
The Wall Street Journal World articles
Electronic Frontier Foundation's Newsletter

While your job or life mission may be a little different, what would be in your 'purple folder'?

Compelling business arguments for going Open Source

2009-06-22T09:56:00.000-07:00

Adaptavist recently announced that they're licensing their Confluence plugins for free, and moving to an Open Source model. In short, here's why:

We've been listening to the feedback from our customers and also our own staff:

Smaller customers don't want the expense of commercial plugins on top of Confluence
Larger customers don't want to waste time dealing with software licenses
Transactional customers hate our sales process
Non-transactional cstomers want us to focus more on their needs
Customers who don't want support don't want to subsidise those who do
Software licensing inevitably forces vendors to start adding increasingly useless random features to products to drive license sales (think "Microsoft Office"...) - we really want to avoid such insanity

Internet Week 2009

2009-06-02T06:45:00.000-07:00

We're entering day two of NYC's Internet Week, and I'm stumbling on my start. Last night a friend and I tried to attend Ignite NYC but were turned away by staff as the venue was full. Today I'll be attending NYTech's Startup showcase and hopefully learning about exciting new businesses.

Updated 6/26:

I'd like to share with you some of the startups I met at the Internet Week showcase:

DonorsChoose.org, a nonprofit microfunding site for teacher's clasroom asks

Bug Labs, a modular programmable computer aimed at the education sector

WellcomeMat, a YouTube meets Yelp!

Notches, dynamic product reviews built around your community or site

Tripology, a site where travel agents vie for your business. You describe the ideal vacation and they'll coordinate/book it for you.

Senatorial impressions

2009-05-28T21:13:00.001-07:00

Recently I sent an email to my representatives in Congress regarding the status of 'enemy combatants' held at Guantanamo Bay as part of Amnesty International's effort to support an independent tribunal for those who advocated illegal torture methods. Here are my two Senator's responses (first Gillibrand, followed by Schumer):

Dear Mr. Lamb:

Thank you for taking the time to write to me about alleged abuses by the Bush Administration. I share the concern raised by many that the former Administration may have acted contrary to the Rule of Law and the Geneva Conventions with regard to the treatment of detainees in United States custody. I believe torture to be abhorrent, ineffective, and immoral. Its use as a tactic of interrogation has no place under the Constitution of the United States.

I have been troubled by documents that I have seen from the Bush Administration that argue for the use of certain interrogation techniques, such as water boarding. It is important that the American people receive answers about the full scope of procedures sanctioned by the Bush Administration, and to that end, I support an independent, bipartisan investigation. This process must not be driven by politics, but rather as a fully bipartisan way to better understand and hold accountable those who were entrusted with the duty of upholding our Constitution and following treaties to which we are a party. The Intelligence Committee of the United States Senate has already initiated an investigation, and I will work with my colleagues in Congress to find all appropriate way to move forward.

There is no duty more sacred to me as a United States Senator than upholding the Constitution and protecting the human rights of all individuals. I believe that we can keep America safe from terrorism while still respecting basic human rights, and I am heartened by the strides that the Obama Administration has made to make our government more transparent and accountable on this issue.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact me on this issue, and please do not hesitate to write to me in the future with any other issues or concerns that you may have. For more information on this and other issues being discussed in the United States Senate, please visit my website http://gillibrand.senate.gov and sign up for my e-newsletter.

Sincerely yours,

Kirsten Gillibrand
United States Senator

And now, Schumer's:

Thank you for your e-mail. Each and every piece of correspondence I receive is important because it allows me to better understand the New Yorkers I serve in the United States Senate.

As you can imagine, my office receives a great number of messages every day regarding a variety of issues – this is particularly true of e-mails. It makes me proud to know that my constituents take an active role in our government by corresponding with me, and I look forward to responding to your concerns in greater detail. In the meantime, I just wanted to let you know that your e-mail has been received, and to ask for your patience until I send you a more detailed response.

Again, thank you for writing. Please feel free to visit my website http://schumer.senate.gov to follow my work in the Senate and to learn more about the services my office can provide to you.

Warmest regards

That's right, no signature. While I try to mitigate first impression syndrome, this goes to show how important Public Relations can be.

Social responsibility and 'real change'

2009-05-15T06:54:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I went to our local TD Bank branch as I heard about their free change counting machines. My girlfriend and I had been keeping loose change in a one-gallon ziploc bag, and it summed to over $140. Now that's real change!

And speaking of real change, I recently started my new stint at New Leaders for New Schools, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to ensure high academic achievement for every student by attracting and preparing outstanding leaders, and supporting the performance of the urban public schools they lead. I'm finding the work extremely rewarding and we're taking on big challenges - single sign on solutions, complete consumption of Software as a Service (SaaS) and leveraging cloud services like Salesforce. In fact New Leaders won an award for the innovative work they're doing with the Force plantform. And the largest issue - helping Principals lead their schools based on best practices at scale. Check out our Urban Excellence Framework for a peek into driving dramatic achievement results in schools.

Some other great places to find real change: The change.org job board which allows you to find nonprofit careers in your area of interest; DonorsChoose.org which supports micro-funding of Teacher's requests for their classrooms; and WiserEarth - "connecting you to communities of action". Leave your favorites in the comments!

A play reading and the game of chess

2009-02-22T20:42:00.001-08:00

This weekend I had the opportunity to attend my friend's play reading of Psychomachia; performed by (among others) Debra Jo Rupp, Christian Campbell, and Kevin Geer.

I also swung by the lower east side Chess Meet-up in the Chinatown YMCA. The instructor for the intermediate class was excellent! She's a FIDE Master.

A trip to an art show

2008-12-08T18:41:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending Terrel Baptsite's 3rd gallery opening, "!!<!!{DIASPORA}" in Austin, TX at the Pump Project Art Complex. His artwork is excellent mixed-media (spray paint and use of stencils, acrylics, oils, found objects) which displays a great interplay of metaphors. My girlfriend and I also had the opportunity to stop by the State Capitol building and see a good chunk of the downtown area. We also snuck in Workers (a great photo documentary by Sebastião Salgado; international economist who poured over six years' worth of effort into this project) and the Texas Chair Project at Austin's Museum of Art.

I also wanted to mention The Office of the President-elect's Open Government website, specifically the "Your Seat at the Table". This site allows all Americans with internet access the ability to read and comment on official transition meeting documentation with all outside organizations. You can even search for issues relevant to you!

Ashes to ashes,
Dust to dust

Whe'er I err,
I must, I must.

The wonderful world of tea

2008-11-22T20:17:00.000-08:00

Tea, having wonderful creation stories, has been refined over thousands of years. Stephanie and I recently picked up a green rooibos tea at Giftorama, and also Tieguanyin ("Iron of Guan Yin", Bodhisattva of compassion) in San Francisco. Stephanie has also introduced me to ice wine tea as well as Akbar's Ceylong tea.

As fall comes to a close, there's possibly nothing better than mulled apple cider with a little spiced rum and good company. We had a few friends over for a potluck and it was stupendous. We played several games (have you been cubed?) including Apples to Apples. Dishes included deviled eggs, bruchette, quiche, baked quinoa, and more.

The value of information

2008-11-19T18:32:00.000-08:00

Remember that one encyclopedia, dictionary, and quote (plus so much more) site you use? What would you pay to have access to the content? $30 for a year? Please support Wikipedia's goal to reach $6m in funding by donating using PayPal or charging to credit card. It's for a great cause - knowledge! For instance, learn about the Shelomit Seal.

Thoughts on the 2008 general election

2008-11-05T09:50:00.001-08:00

My friend Miriam Lind wrote the following:

Obama is the first candidate who I look at and see myself, and my friends. He is intelligent and ambitious, from humble beginnings, who is determined to defy limits, pursue excellence, and is unafraid and unashamed to want the world. He is the first candidate- sorry, the first PRESIDENT in my lifetime who I look at and, instead of just thinking "wow that politician sure is rich and powerful" I think "wow, if he could do it, I can do it. All my friends can do it." Obama is someone who makes me, on a gut level, want to work harder and to seize the day, because I can, because there is no excuse not to, because otherwise I would be cheating my potential.

And Reggie wrote some prose:

America is why Rosa sat
Martin marched
and why Barack ran
so our children will fly.

Also, an open letter to President-elect Barrack Obama by Alice Walker that I am quite fond of. And another, albiet more critical, open letter. In passing I heard someone say "a deep awakening has occurred", and I agree. The American people are once again proud of their nation and have hope in themselves to direct the fate of the world. I caution us not to simply rest our faith in a newly elected government, but to be a proactive, informed, participating vox populi.

Understand that we are facing a mass extinction on the planet, not to mention war in multiple countries costing us $341 million dollars a day, and a crumbling economy. It is time we solved problems through dialog, not force; to engage and work with other nations as we came together yesterday, November 4th, to change history; and possibly above all - ensure we are careful stewards of our only home we've ever known.

A promise has been restored, and it is our responsibility to keep it.

Functional fractals

2008-10-30T10:04:00.000-07:00

Last night I caught a spectacular special on NOVA/PBS - Hunting the Hidden Dimension (support public television and buy the DVD here!) - about Mandelbrot sets and the application of fractal math to communications, medicine, rainforest preservation, and more. One topic that blew my mind was detection of early cancerous cell formation using fractals – scientists can accurately predict cancerous growth in tiny blood vessels if they start to branch in irregular (non-fractal) patterns. However, current imaging technology is nowhere near being cost-effective to scan a human’s body with precision to identify such tiny patterns. The solution? Using predictive fractal math, you can look at the larger branches of the human cardiovascular system and identify potential tumorous growth.

Also, did you know that cellphone antennae use fractal patterns to not only boost signal reception, but also receive a broader spectrum of wavelengths?

A quick renku

2008-10-13T20:39:00.000-07:00

Methodically...
Oops! I have lost everything
Life always changing

Appropriate for the times? Also, some interesting history about Renkus.

The Invitation by Brian Parks

2008-09-21T08:52:00.000-07:00

I saw an excellent play this weekend with a few friends, The Invitation by Brian Parks. It's a dark "revenge comedy" that compels the audience through a dinner party of pedantic discourse - almost to the point of anti-intellectualism - all the way pitting consumerism and heartless capitalism against idealism, anarchy, and free will. At least that I was I took away from it. It is currently playing at the Ohio Theater, part of the SOHO Think Tank.

Open congress: learn about legislation affecting you

2008-06-24T22:10:00.001-07:00

Before I started my new position in New York, I went home for two weeks again to see my family and meet with my good friends John and Martin, who are working with me on a Science Fiction startup called "Scifi Market". I can't wait to announce the beta site once we launch! While I was home I mentioned an idea I would have loved to put together: targeted congressional information with social networking built in. It looks like a great organization has beat me to the punch with OpenCongress.org. Now, some of the news content can be politically biased - but the concept is there, nonetheless.

A quick review of the 2008 World Science Festival

2008-06-02T10:33:00.000-07:00

This past Thursday, May 28th through June 1st, the first World Science Festival occurred in New York City and I was lucky enough to attend a few of the events and speaker sessions. The festival is the brainchild of Brian Greene (author of The Fabric of the Cosmos which I am currently reading) and Tracy Day, Emmy award-wining Journalist. The intent of the festival is to educate and inspire the general public of the implications of current scientific understanding. I want to specifically touch on my favorite talk, Science of Disney Imagineering. Geared towards children, this talk was an entertaining and inspirational glimpse into some of the technology and inventions of Disney's "Imagineers" (yes, that's a concatenation of Imagine and the end of Engineers) which has been used in telling stories and unlocking our imagination. Their inspirational work reminded me of Randy Pausch's Last Lecture (warning: tear-jerking video linked) and his dream of becoming an Imagineer.

Super-computer in a desktop case? You bet!

2008-05-31T19:33:00.000-07:00

I just read this interesting article about the University of Anterwep's 4,000 EUR supercomputer that leverages four NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2 graphics cards as the main processors for computation. Pretty slick!

What the web is missing

2008-05-25T21:24:00.000-07:00

I revel in software that allows users to rapidly create their own worlds, story lines, characters, action-based events, and so on. When I was younger, I would use programs like HyperStudio (think PowerPoint with an easy-to-learn, high-level programming language) and Comic Book Creator (a much older version!) to create interactive stories and games. Today's web/internet technologies have the capability to provide similar environments for students, but I feel many lack low entry barriers to their use. Flash comes pretty close, but the price point is often a problem. Second Life is a great offering and hopefully one that takes off. What we need is a pervasive, easy-to-use editor that allows rapid replication of user-created content (and having pre-made content is a huge plus!), scriptable actions, and a low price point. Imagine being able to easily build interactive presentations, comics, worlds, and so on! If you're aware of some software that I'm not, please leave a comment!

Easy ways to "go green"

2008-05-24T14:02:00.001-07:00

If you're concerned about environmental sustainability as I am, here are some very accessible things you can do to make your life more "green":

Step one is to replace all your regular bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. They draw less power and output an equivalent amount of lumens.
Use Greenback search (powered by Yahoo, so you get the same results) which donates a 50% of its proceeds to CarbonFund.
Check out Yahoo's Green, TreeHugger, and GreenYour which all have great, easy tips on small (or big!) things you can do.

Why go green? If nothing else, it makes economic sense. The more waste we produce the quicker we will run out of resources. But if that doesn't appeal to you, take the humanist stance as I do: I believe it's every person's responsibility to ensure a quality of life for the next generation of our (and all!) species. We owe it to ourselves and the planet we inhabit to be responsible stewards.

Using online resources to meet your fitness goals

2008-05-22T20:57:00.000-07:00

Fitness and health were not an integral part of my life until about my Junior year in college. Since then, I've treated it like any knowledge domain I study and so I'm always interested in learning more about the two subjects. I want to share with you James Krieger's great 20/20 lifestyles blog, as well as point out a few other resources I use on the web: MensFitness.com has printable exercise routines that include images of how to perform the exercises - although reader beware, sometimes images are incorrect or lifting instructions are missing - just do a search for the exercise type and you'll be able to find it somewhere else on their site. Finally, JoesGoals.com is a free site that allows you to track custom goals ("water the plant", "go to the gym") and either reward/punish yourself for performing these activities. The best part is you can track your performance on activities over time on the site.

Microsoft's play in the low-cost technology revolution

2008-05-09T19:15:00.001-07:00

Interesting article here on Microsoft's effort to develop a low cost mobile phone to rival the efforts of the OLPC in the low-cost device market. Not much press on the "Fone+" which was released from Microsoft Research (specifically the Unlimited Potential Group); looks like an interesting target market and mission.

Job hunting made easy with Google products

2008-05-07T07:20:00.000-07:00

I'm currently looking for a career in the metro New York city area. There's plenty of sites out there that list jobs, but how do you wade through them all? Here are some quick little tricks I've used to simplify the hunt:

Using Google's Alerts, I can receive a digest of information on any keywords that I want. Since I'm in the technology field, having alerts such as "software new york city" keep me up-to-date with industry events and company start-ups.
Next is Google's Notebook. This excellent plugin for Firefox 1.5 and above allows you to annotate sections of websites with your own comments and labels. It's great for organizing information about potential employers.
Then there's Google Reader, where you can consolidate all of your sites' RSS job feeds into a single place. And on top of that, you can label and star particular jobs that you like. Check out the screenshot below.
Finally combining all of these into iGoogle, a customizable portal, allows me a single place to read my alerts (in my Gmail), view my notebook, and read my feeds.

Howard Wu and his thoughts on changing the world, Johnny C. Lee and his great inventions

2008-04-30T08:35:00.000-07:00

I want to introduce two great minds of our time that I've come across. I mean that and I know these two will go on to do great things. The first is Howard C. Wu, whom I've personally met while working in Seattle. Howard is the founder of BEAN, a professional networking organization that focuses on it's philanthropic philosophy of Think Global, Act Local. Howard wrote a great article after returning from Geneva that really touched on some themes I am working with in my life:

"My biggest fear is that our grandchildren will read about our selfish actions, look at me with their puzzled eyes and ask me "Grandpa, how could you and your generation let all these horrible things happen?" I want to, I need to, be able to answer unwaveringly that I did absolutely [everything] I can (sic). I want to know that as I draw my last breath that the world is a better place than when I came into it."

Second is Johnny Lee. Unfortunately I haven't met Johnny yet, but his revolutionary work with the wiimote (among other things) has gained him much notoriety. I highly recommend everyone reading this view his TED Talk which dives into his philosophy beyond the neat hacks and the revolution of low-cost technology applied to new problem spaces.

Also, if you're not familiar with TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) now is the time to get acquainted. TED simply stands for "ideas worth spreading" and originally was an annual conference to achieve just that. It has blossomed into something much greater, and all of their videos are available on YouTube, as videocasts, and more. Learn how to get involved.