Okay, so Thursday I put together the technical aspects of a proposal at work that could bring in, I dunno, millions of dollars. So that's neat.
After work I flew to San Francisco and took the most amazingly expensive taxi ride to Palo Alto. Went to bed, slept, woke up every two hours or so until it was time to get up and go be smart for a day.
THAT was interesting! A couple wired guys, a couple O'Reilly (Make) guys. Some makers of different levels. A total of a dozen folks about, and we got paid for brainstorming! Well, -will- get paid.
I went in with very definite ideas about "the future of making" (our topic) and I pounded that drum a fair amount during the show. I definitely was _not_ playing the role of wallflower. More like "annoying guy who won't shut up", but hey, they wanted my ideas. They got 'em. Can I help it I have connections, ideas, and experience with damn near everything?
What it _did_ do was reinforce in my own mind what is changing right now, even as we sit reading the 'net. It's not human nature. It's not, on a ten-year horizon, the tools we are using (tools run on a 20 year horizon typically). What it is, is the nature of the connections between people, and how we are communicating.
The social networks, yeah, I hate 'em for the most part and am not interested (but yet, here I am in LJ and my own journal, writing and reading; I'm mostly annoyed at the proliferation of profiles and logins, sick of 'em).
But things like Make, Instructables, Wikipedia -- it's easier and easier to find information. And the social stuff, well, it's easier and easier to stay "in touch". We are a distributed world; we fractured the atomic family with the industrial revolution and that is not going to reverse short of global catastrophe. And it took a hundred years (A HUNDRED YEARS!) to find the new tools to re-create community.
Not perfect yet, but we see light.
Anyway, my vision for the LoTV's "Connect the Dots" tool is pegging my internal future-meter. This _will_ happen, it _has_ to happen; if I'm part of _making_ it happen, it will be good. If I'm not? Who knows? It could be better, or it could be worse! But dang, the next layer of the 'net needs to happen.
The 'net guys KNOW this too. They have been working on the semantic layer for the web for over 10 years now! Yeah, really. But, sadly, they are doing it entirely wrong, totally shooting at the wrong target.
It's almost embarrassing, really.
Anyway, spent Friday there talking future stuff. By the way, just in case you wanted to know, Ikea embodies many of the characteristics of the future. Who knew? Not me!
So, flew out of San Fran (went to the wrong airport, talking to Bunny of Chumby Labs, nice guy; then found the RIGHT damn airport) then ended up in Las Vegas. Weird place. Made my connection, then SAT in the damn connection for an hour and a half with this totally gonzo flight attendant guy. But it was okay. Napped fitfully, but the tiny airplane seats make my joints hurt.
Landed in Austin again at 5am, drove home, slept for I dunno, two hours, got up, made coffee, did welding class, and then did some exploratory shopping for my Make article project. Mark F. was all, "when can you be done?" He always seems so worried. It may be a New York thing, or a Mark F. thing, or maybe just working for media gives a person ulcers. I'd believe that.
Anyway, did the exploratory shopping (is there ANYTHING plumbing products CAN'T DO?) and then finished the work on my fire pillar thingy. EVEN FIRED IT UP! Oooooo fire.
Not as tall a flame as I want, but it is quite variable in its character and it does in fact color gracefully. I'm pretty happy, 75% happy at least. Not bad.
Tomorrow, Make project, Derek and Tesla; invoicing expenses to IFTF; maybe even tidy house some! Rack my ciders to bottles. Ummm... and probably something else.
Wish me luck.