Jon Stahl's Journal

Noted in brief – 7/23/2010

Jon Stahl — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:36:58 +0000

On the death of the climate bill
Content Here: Work Breakdown Structure vs. Deadlines
In Online Journalism, Burnout Starts Younger – NYTimes.com
If you want to create the next generation in your industry, don’t burn them out in a year.
Should programmers run for Congress?

Noted in brief – 7/19/2010

Jon Stahl — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 02:12:59 +0000

Utilities Quietly Try to Gut Clean Air Act as Climate Peacocks Squawk
Op-Ed Columnist – Redo That Voodoo – NYTimes.com
"Starve the beast" GOP not crazy after all – How the World Works – Salon.com
Spot-on analysis.
Bobby's berms already washing away
Sigh.
The Barefoot Bandit: I don't get it
Hard to believe that I’m saying this, but I’m with Knute here.
Andreas Jung: Restoring an older state of arbitrary Zope objects
Change coming slowly on climate law
Great big picture summary
"The Environmentalists" and Deepwater Drilling – Jeanette DeMain – Open Salon
Definitive debunking of yet another right wing lie.
The Real Sharron Angle
Nicely done, Senator Reid.
Richard Conlin Interview, Part 1: Deep-Bore Tunnel is “green” solution | Bike Intelligencer
Good interview with Richard Conlin on the tunnel.
Van Jones isn’t looking back in anger
Views: Do enviros need to regroup on climate?
Burrard Bridge bike lanes a success
Build it and the bikers will come. Awesome!

The only thing scarier…

Jon Stahl — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 05:53:13 +0000

… than living in a world that sometimes often feels like a William Gibson novel coming to life is getting an occasional whiff of Charles Stross invading reality. (Does anyone else think this sounds like a very early version of the “live action roleplaying” game SPOOKS from “Halting State”?)

Noted in brief – 7/11/2010

Jon Stahl — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 03:10:19 +0000

What Could Go Wrong With The Tunnel
Getting Noticed
Revitalising a project, not dumping it.
Winning on Climate May Require Reforming the US Senate
gwiretweets: If you came to our knowledge share on Tuesday, thanks! If you couldn’t make it, we missed you. Video: http://bit.ly/d5GjrD
Mystery art pops up along Shilshole
Genetically Altered Salmon Set to Move Closer to Your Table – NYTimes.com
WTF.
Democrats Start to Play Hardball on Climate
New strategy: combine climate a “spill bill” to break the Republicans. Yeah and hell yeah.

Noted in brief – 6/25/2010

Jon Stahl — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 23:03:46 +0000

Do Apps for Democracy and Other Contests Create Sustainable Applications?
No they do not. Contest hype is just hype.
Spotted owl surviving 20 years later
Chefs now offering low-carbon diets
Precision Polling founders cash out in deal with Survey Monkey

Noted in brief – 6/19/2010

Jon Stahl — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 23:17:42 +0000

Noted in brief – 6/13/2010

Jon Stahl — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 03:27:25 +0000

Engagement Pyramid/Achievement Unlocked

Jon Stahl — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 23:31:11 +0000

We were chatting a bit today at Groundwire HQ, and it occurred to me that there is a fair amount of conceptual resonance between our notion of an “Engagement Pyramid” and badge/achievement systems such as those on Stack Overflow, Foursquare or your Playstation 3/Xbox 360.

Just a thought.

Frank Rich on Obama’s TR moment

Jon Stahl — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 01:35:06 +0000

Frank Rich doesn’t usually grab me much as a columnist, but in today’s column about Obama’s political opportunity around the Gulf oil spill, he really hits the nail on the head. Maybe’s he’s finally learning a thing or to from Krugman.

This all adds up to a Teddy Roosevelt pivot-point for Obama, who shares many of that president’s moral and intellectual convictions. But Obama can’t embrace his inner T.R. as long as he’s too in thrall to the supposed wisdom of the nation’s meritocracy, too willing to settle for incremental pragmatism as a goal, and too inhibited by the fine points of Washington policy debates to embrace bold words and bold action. If he is to wield the big stick of reform against BP and the other powerful interests that have ripped us off, he will have to tell the big story with no holds barred.

That doesn’t require a temper tantrum. Nor does it require him to plug the damn hole, which he can’t do anyway. What he does have the power to fix is his presidency. Should he do so, and soon, he’ll still have a real chance to mend a broken country as well.

Being an expert comes with traps

Jon Stahl — Fri, 28 May 2010 04:36:45 +0000

Being an expert comes with traps. The more of an expert you are, the more time you will tend to spend with people who know nothing about your craft. The more senior a creative you become (Art Director, Senior Creative Lead Dude), the more time you will spend in rooms with powerful people who know nothing about creativity. This means the people most interested in you will understand little about your craft, and expect you to work with clients who understand even less. You’d be crazy not to expect to be confused when you are paid the most for your expertise by people who don’t know enough not to squander it.

ht/ Scott Berkun