Tag Archive for 'politics'

This Week’s Worth of Inspiration

I’m back from my vacation — sort of. For two weeks on the road, I’ve had plenty of time to ponder and take photographs. In fact, I took over 3000 photographs and now I’m sorting them out so I won’t talk about my adventure on the road yet.

In the meanwhile, I thought I’d post a few things that have really inspired me this week as I struggle to catch up with the two weeks worth of work and decision making that I have on my desk and the top of my mind respectively.

Know Your Math … or not

My dad used to tell me that no matter what you do, where you go, and how you live; you will need math. It was decided then that he would teach me algebra while I was in grade one while all my peers were out playing outdoors. I sucked at math. I still suck at math. But only closer examination, I am primarily bad at arithmetic. Algebra and word problems are no problem! Thank you calculator! Nevertheless as I got further into coding, I gained a greater appreciation for mathematics and the beauty of the mathematical equation and formula. Actually I probably prefer them over chemical formulas. This talk by Robert Lang was stunning and as a fan of origami myself (I enjoy folding action origami frogs), Lang’s illustration of the intimate connection between mathematics, design and origami is brilliant.

Living life in a Carnival

I’ve been to a few carnivals — typically big city ones. I’ve never been to small town carnivals and I’ve never thought about joining the carnival and working the circuit but Globe and Mail’s feature, The Long Summer by Charla Jones, on life in the Carnival, a fading way of life, brought me that much closer to it. It wasn’t the typical article in the newspaper — it was much more than that and for that, I have to applaud Jones and the G&M.

Actions vs. Politics

If it’s one thing that reminds me of working in government, it is the lack of action. There’s nothing bad about it because that is the nature of government, civil service, and hammering out a policy that works for as many stakeholders as possible. But you need patience and a heck of a lot of it. Other times you have to tip toe around sensitive issues — even in businesses. George Ayittey reminds me of how bureaucracy and the reluctance to leap into action — sometimes even corruption, can create disillusion and discontent.

I am reminded of what a number of my friends and colleagues strive for: Get the job done and get it done right.

Connect the Pics

Lastly I had just had to share this because I love photography. David Griffin talks about how photography connects us to our world and how photos can help resolve or identify issues. I particularly liked how he pointed out that amateur photography is now playing a greater role.

Lastly this week, I am inspired by Blog Action Day — coming October 15th when bloggers all around the world are encouraged to examine the issue of poverty from their own perspective. What better way is there for individuals to attempt to tackle a problem that affects so many people, than to begin with looking at the world around themselves and each other.

A Ruined RuinedIphone.com?

Now I’m not against companies diving into social media and I’m not necessarily against businesses taking part in advocating for change, but when I got back from my camping trip this weekend to discover that some sort of video marketing arm of a web development company called OilChange.com had “acquired” RuinedIphone.com, an online petition for Rogers Communications to listen to the demands of Canadian customers — I was a little stunned.

How is it that an online petition that is founded on bringing together the voices of Canadians, be “acquired” by a business?

I realize that this may have been a good opportunity for the folks at OilChange.com to bring awareness to their services and many people may not care or mind, but I think it is somewhat in poor taste for a company to suddenly drop in and obtain the rights to the website with no transparency and very little explanation on how they are accountable to the people who have signed and may be signing the online petition.

I signed the petition only because I support the cause, not for additional purposes.  The fact that the website has supposedly exchanged hands (I don’t really know what has happened…) causes me to lose faith in what I felt could have been a powerful statement on RuinedIphone.com.

I’m sure not everyone feels the same way I do so I’d be interested in hearing how others feel about this step.

A typical bus has two rear doors thus allowing for two lines. However you arrive at a platform with people waiting in only one rear line. Would you start the second line?

View Results

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Update (July 7th 2008): The folks at RuinedIphone.com and OilChange.com have posted a FAQ and news updates on why and how they are taking over.  Kudos and thanks for this update.  We all appreciate it!

Their Master Plan

Funny. Friends, loved ones, family, and colleagues have consistently discussed our own so-called master plans.  Whether it may be for life, for our own companies, for the businesses we work for, or for the causes we fight for — I often wonder how everyone else fits into the master plan.  Similarly, parents, families, businesses, managers, and leaders have plans for us that we are not necessarily aware of. For Google, their plan involved us — people from around the world.  We don’t really know what their master plan is but watching this video about Google’s Master Plan reminded me of the film The Man Who Fell to Earth.

So despite the fact that we use Google and the many products or services they offer, the lack of transparency and accountability clouds the trust that people have for the company. Do we choose to endorse their master plan somewhat blindly or do we question the means with which they do things? When we create our own master plan that involves the people around us — do we expect them to jump on board unquestionably? Would we do the same for others?

The answer is likely not simple one, but the essence of that answer is: if you want me to become apart of your so-called master plan, then you will have to inform me of what that plan is.

Participation is not required.

Drawing Direction from We the Robots

I thought I’d share this little strip from an excellent comic — We the Robots — that I ran across during my occasional visit to the Animation Show website.  I’ve been eager to check out Animation Show 3 (still in progress…)!

Art is a funny thing and from art we draw expression, inspiration, emotion, and ideas.  Has there ever been such a thing as art that was wrong or right?

Similarly do we all have a right or wrong way to learn?  I think we’re still stuck in a hole when it comes to education.  Still stuck on grades.  Still stuck on how things we think should be done rather than how things can be done.  The common argument that grades are the only effective method of measuring success is overused and out of date.

The amount of information and knowledge out there continues to increase at an insanely exponential rate yet we insist that children follow a rigid method of learning that is based off of the major section of a bell curve whom receive the excellent marks.  The smaller sections outside of majority manage to keep up somewhat but are they able to utilize their potential?  We are not helping generation after generation of kids by defining them through IQ, EQ or whatever measurement we like to apply on to a person.  You may refer to my belief as too holistic but I think in order to really determine the potential of a person, don’t we have to really get to know them?

Chris Harding the creator of We the Robots had posted this on a recent blog post that I wanted to share.  I’d recommend reading the introduction to We the Robots for more fun!

By Chris Harding




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