instantaneous information

How did you first hear of yesterday’s tragedy in London? Where did you search for more information?

I asked random friends these questions yesterday, techies and non-techies. Given timezone differences, many of my friends woke up to the radio telling them about it. Others heard because they peruse mainstream news sites with their coffee. Over and over again, i heard people express frustration when they tried to search in Google/Yahoo for more information. There was none; it was too new. Even the BBC barely updated.

I remember this feeling from 9/11. Knowing that somewhere on blogs, there was information. Knowing that people took photos. Knowing that names of survivors and victims had to be listed somewhere. And having no place to look. When the tsunami hit, a blogspot blog became a central focus for people trying to get information. But that blog still took a couple of days. Then again, it was a different kind of horror.

What amazed me was how my technical, blogging and tech-comfortable friends converged on three sites: Technorati, Flickr and Wikipedia. (The non-technical stuck to the mainstream news and called folks.) The front page of Wikipedia linked to the article that people collectively used to provide information. On Flickr, many photos were collected into community pools, TV images were photographed, and there were press folks asking permission to use different photos. On Technorati, the front page clearly showed that everyone was searching for information on London. Technorati saw traffic spike to 45% over regular levels.

Historically (::cough::), we turned to the TV for up-to-the-minute news of major events. Yet, today, we are finding that this is not enough. We don’t simply want the packaged reports of terror on auto-repeat. We want to know the functional details and have the ability to track down loved ones, narrow in on particular aspects of the situation, and hear from people on the ground. We want real voices, not TV-ified ones. The web allows people to be present across geographical location, to communicate directly rather than through the media, to actually access each others’ experiences instanteously. Now, if only the search process was simpler…

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making harps for elephants

Last night, i went to the Mad Scientist’s Club at Squid Labs. It was mostly a collection of MIT geeks showing off new things they had built or talking about ideas for things to build.

One idea that i really liked concerned the breaks of bicycles. As you slow down to stop at a stop sign, the bike would store up energy in a rubber band so that when you were allowed to go again, you would zoom off, allowing you to stop without losing too much momentum.

My favorite story of the evening came when Saul and gang were discussing rope that they made for Sound and Rope. Apparently, a man from Thailand approached them. He made CDs of music that elephants made. He wanted them to build him a rope structure that would be a harp for elephants.

Mostly though, i enjoyed the social part. I was surprised to find that i knew folks there from three different facets of my life and it was such fun to be back in MIT creativity zone. It’s been a long time since i built anything.

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ready… aim… fire! (answer to Ross)

In the questions entry, Ross jokingly asked for me to summarize the period in which i was gone. I actually think that everything about humanity can be summed up in the first event that i heard about upon returning.

On July 4th, a NASA projectile successfully intersected with a comet – a “smashing” success. A Russian astrologer became hysterical.

Can’t you just see it? A bunch of NASA boys sitting around stoned off the gourd imagining what they could do for fun. “Dude, i know! Let’s shoot the moon.” “No, dude. That’s too easy. We need to shoot something moving.” “Dude! I know dude! A comet! Let’s shoot a comet!” “Dude!!!”

The result? Probes and projectiles engaged in “deep impact” conveniently placed in the newspaper next to the latest news on “deep throat.” And really, probe or no probe, it’s basically an aiming mission, the million dollar version of the bulls-eye target practice in boys’ bathrooms. As my friend at NASA pointed out, the impact is equivalent to throwing a penny at a 16-wheeler. And can’t you just see the NASA dudes’ faces when a Russian woman started screaming about the deformation of her horoscope? “But can’t you seeeeeee? Nature is defenseless against your masculine ejaculations!”

Some things never change but they do continue to amuse.

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do you have questions for me?

So, I return to work on Tuesday. I haven’t read many blogs in two months but when I last did, I remember there being concerns that all of us were getting boring. Talking to Clay in New York, I think there is some truth to that. We repeat ourselves over and over again. I, for one, have zero desire to be a broken record – I do that enough as is.

So let me ask you – what questions would you be excited to see me address? What is burning in your mind?

I haven’t read a lot lately (well, lots of trash fiction) so feel free to point me to different topics and ask me to respond. I figure this might be a good way to get caught up.

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gentle re-entrance

It’s 4AM and i just took the N to Wonderland after my last night in New York before heading out to a week with my family. I can’t even begin to exclaim the glory of taking a vacation, the preciousness of laughter and late-night conversations. I feel so thankful for my life and genuinely refreshed. Of course, i’m really wary of diving back into the life inside the machine.

There’s no good way to sum up my trip so perhaps a photo will do:

::giggle:: Really, Thailand was about daily Thai massages, my first acupuncture, private yoga, meditation, temples, one evil jellyfish, fasting and a hell of a lot of beach. I stayed at a place called The Sanctuary on Koh Phangan which is utterly glorious for anyone looking to chill out in Thailand at a non-pretentious resort.

New York has also been filled with chilling goodness too, ranging from goofy nights in the Ye Olde Carlton Arms Hotel (“a riot of visual cacophony”) to a day spent with mermaids and Clay’s little boy to getting kicked out of Washington Square Park in “the city that never sleeps” (ha! things do close!). All amongst amazing company, seeing old friends everywhere and finally getting to meet a fellow troublemaker. Oh and pizza and bagels and Belgian frites. I love New York sooo much.

The weird thing is that i don’t really miss my computer life. I don’t miss the OCD hypertension, the time spent zoning out with human contact coming in bubble form locked in my room. Roaming the streets, human synchronicity, adhoc exploration, walking my ass off, doing yoga… it has been so lovely to interact with people constantly that my computer feels so cold and blogging feels so remote. I love being back to intellectual engagement with friends but i do not miss email one bit. I wonder if it’s possible to just give up on email entirely, to just turn it off. Hmmm….

Anyhow, i still felt the need to blog re-entrance even if i’m still not responding to anything sent my way. ::wave::

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bye!

I AM ON VACATION

I will be gone from May 29-July 3. I’m off to Thailand and then in New York with my family (with a conference in there). Email has been shut off. My normal email addresses send a bounce message before proceeding to /dev/null; the ones for mailing lists, blogs, random mail, etc. go straight to /dev/null. I have no intention of blogging and i’m not taking a camera. It’s time for yoga, meditation and beach. I intend to relax to the best of my ability.

Have a great June!!

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