Link: Trading Places
An interesting piece on the movement, particularly of the affluent and the young, back into city centers and downtowns, including couples raising young children.
Interesting part to me:
The young newcomers who have rejuvenated 14th and U [D.C.] believe that this recovering slum is the sort of place where they want to spend time and, increasingly, where they want to live. This is the generation that grew up watching "Seinfeld," "Friends," and "Sex and the City," mostly from the comfort of suburban sofas. We have gone from a sitcom world defined by "Leave It to Beaver" and "Father Knows Best" to one that offers a whole range of urban experiences and enticements. I do not claim that a handful of TV shows has somehow produced a new urbanist generation, but it is striking how pervasive the pro-city sensibility is within this generation, particularly among its elite. In recent years, teaching undergraduates at the University of Richmond, the majority of them from affluent suburban backgrounds, I made a point of asking where they would prefer to live in 15 years--in a suburb or in a neighborhood close to the center of the city. Few ever voted for suburban life.
The author won't claim it, but I will: Positive images of city life on TV, particularly the exact three mentioned, played a big role in me moving to New York. When I announced my new job and home, many around me expressed concern about my safety. Indeed, my brother lives in the suburbs, and my dad lives on a farm. (Well, a former farm.) Only in New York could Astoria be referred to as a "suburb".
I'm reminded of Hans Rosling's wonderful Ted Talk where he demonstrates how most of our thoughts about developing nations are wrapped up in assumptions formed in the 60's and earlier. Using charts and animations, Rosling vividly demonstrates just how outmoded our prejudices have become.
So, too, the city. Most Pennsylvanians I talked to prior to moving envisioned a New York riddled with crime and danger, particularly at night. In other words, the New York of the 70's. (I recently read that in 1979, subways derailed or collided once every 15 days. Ponder.) Clearly, those I knew had formed their image of New York at that time, and had received no reason to change perspective. Not that I blame them; Until I saw for myself, I shared some of that flawed world view.
What I have found is something quite different.
As the Article notes, there are people everywhere, at all times, engaging in social and commercial activities, and this fosters a sense of safety. I now understand why John Cusack plays a tape of traffic in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: It's comforting.
But as I was saying, sitting in my remote childhood home, watching Seinfeld, Friends, and Sex in the City, I began to wonder if perhaps the city might be the place for me. I heard cities were dangerous, but they also looked like fun.
A few visits and a job offer later, I have found New York even more interesting, more enthralling, and safer than I had hoped. I'm still new here, and I may grow weary, but I certainly do not feel imperiled, and I'm never bored. Positive TV imagery opened me to explore the possibility.
So: Thanks, TV!
Link: Gin, Television and Social Surplus
Clay Shirky: Gin, Television and Social Surplus
Clay Shirky recently gave a talk at my workplace, and it was typically awesome.
In this piece, Shirky coins a phrase that encapsulates our new reality:
I was having dinner with a group of friends about a month ago, and one of them was talking about sitting with his four-year-old daughter watching a DVD. And in the middle of the movie, apropos nothing, she jumps up off the couch and runs around behind the screen. That seems like a cute moment. Maybe she's going back there to see if Dora is really back there or whatever. But that wasn't what she was doing. She started rooting around in the cables. And her dad said, "What you doing?" And she stuck her head out from behind the screen and said, "Looking for the mouse."
And later:
It's also become my motto, when people ask me what we're doing--and when I say "we" I mean the larger society trying to figure out how to deploy this cognitive surplus, but I also mean we, especially, the people in this room, the people who are working hammer and tongs at figuring out the next good idea. From now on, that's what I'm going to tell them: We're looking for the mouse.
Link: Visual Thinking
Douglas Copland: Visual Thinking:
Author Douglas Coupland discusses how his mind works.
No, he didn’t see, because one is either a visual thinker or one is not. He was not. I’m beginning to think that being a visual thinker is like being right-handed or red-haired; it was all decided the moment the sperm hit the egg.
Coupland makes a connection between Mac-use and visual thinking. I certainly fall into this category. Interesting to consider what drives what.
What I've Been Up To
It's been quiet on the old blog, so I thought I would mention what it is that's been keeping me not blogging.
The answer is a small contribution to a new product, Times People. The premise is simple: Join the service, and share New York Times articles. A simple click on the "Recommend" button is all there is to it. Those who follow you will see your recommendation, and you will see the recommendations of those you follow.
Here's my pitch. Please note that the thoughts and opinions expressed in this blog are my own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the New York Times Company.</disclaimer>
You can read all about what Times People is and does, and how it works on the welcome page.
Instead, I'd like to mention what it's like when you use Times People: You end up reading a lot of interesting articles you probably never would have. For example, because of Times People, I learned that there is a rule at the Met Opera House that there be no solo encores.
The rule has been in place for decades, with few exceptions, and a few weeks ago, an exception was made. The last time this happened was 1994, for Luciano Pavarotti. Imagine the performance worth breaking such a rule.
Not a regular Arts section reader, I likely never would have read this story, but because of Times People, I did.
Clay Shirky came in for a talk today. As he fired off examples of cool projects exemplifying the power of the internet, I considered the intense value of people who cull a topic presenting the best bits. Curators, if you will. Clay Shirky is a really good curator of internet social trends. He's read all the books and articles, and can tell you where to go.
Times People lets you take up the curator mantle for yourself. Or if you'd prefer, you can leech on to some excellent curators. The result for me has been a much richer reading experience in areas I would not have otherwise pursued. Of course, your mileage may vary.
If you do like the service, you might enjoy my contribution, the Times People iPhone viewer at http://timespeople.nytimes.com/iphone. I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to pass along any thoughts or suggestions.
Addendum: About Those Other Services
When I tell people about Times People, the question is invariably raised: What about x site. Digg, Twitter, Facebook, whatever. Why should I use Times People instead of those other sites?
I would offer two answers.
Times People has a complete API. Just about all data available in the system is exposed as RSS and JSON feeds. If you want to integrate our data with external services, much work has been done to let you do so.
If you feel your Times reading needs are met by services like Digg, that's great! Really. The mission of the Times is to inform and entertain our readers. We produce vast quantities of reading, listening, and viewing material. How you arrive is secondary to your being there at all.
If Digg is meeting your New York Times needs, seriously, more power to you. If receiving twitter posts of articles from friends is meeting your needs, awesome.
For myself, I'd rather not clog up my Twitter feed with Times links. I became disenchanted with Digg and vote-based systems long ago. Not everything that is popular is good, and not everything that is good is popular. There is a place for voting systems. There is also a place for the well chosen suggestion from a friend. We have built a service to let you do so, easily.
I would urge you, if you are skeptical, to give it a go anyway. I was skeptical myself when I first encountered the project, and have since come to really value the service.
If you want to follow me, check out my profile page You can also see who I'm following.
And for what it's worth, there will be no one on Times People commenting "First!". Think about it.
Gearing Up with the Daily Grind List
If you manage a to-do list to keep track of your tasks, I'd like to introduce a technique I've been using that you may find useful. Think of it as an alternate take on "parking on a downhill slope."
If you don't know that term, it refers to stopping just shy of completing a task at the end of the day, such that, in the morning, you can effortlessly top it off. Having thus begun with accomplishment, it will be easy to keep rolling. Inertia and such.
My alternate technique is a list I call the "Daily Grind". I use Things to manage my tasks. (Possible neologism: "I'm a Thinger"). One of my favorite features is the ability to go through next actions, and hand-pick the ones to be done today. These then appear in a pre-set list.
A recent build of Things added repeating tasks and projects. So it's possible to create a project full of tasks, and schedule a copy of that project to appear in the Today list automatically.
I made myself a list of stupidly easy tasks, the sort of things I usually do anyway, but sometimes don't. For instance, I sometimes forget to check for new episodes of The Daily Show, and I sometimes forget to update my podcasts. Sometimes I leave my power adapter at work.
I gathered this random assortment into one list, and set it to show up each morning. About half the tasks are start-of-day tasks, and half are end-of-day. All of the tasks can be completed every day.
There are two benefits to this practice. Much like normal downhill-slope planning, the grind offers you an easy win with which to start the day. The geek in me gets a little thrill every time a box is checked, but many of the tasks I work on can take days to reach the check-off point. The daily grind gives me a chance to score a little victory right away, every day.
Even better, taking the ten seconds to mark off those tasks puts you into the to-doing state of mind. Accomplishment becomes the order of the day, and in visiting your to-dos, you can now review the other items.
Secondly, a central tenant David Allen hits on with GTD is the need to put everything in your trusted system, and then trust the system. Everything means every thing. Each time I forget to pack the power adapter, not only is my computer time curtailed, but I also lose a dab of trust in my system.
By concretizing these stupid little tasks, I'm preventing that loss of trust. I can feel increasingly comfortable with my system, which means I can spend the rest of my time on more interesting topics.