Randy Pausch

Take a few minutes to watch this video. If you’re not moved by it, or at least a little inspired by it, then maybe you should take a few minutes to re-evaluate who you are. Just sayin’….  Thanks CC for passing this along, and thanks to Miller Jones for passing it along to him.   

Bill Clinton at UBS

For anyone who is interested, former President Bill Clinton will be doing a book signing at the University Book Store on University Way in the Udistrict next Thursday, November 1st. Times and details have yet to be confirmed because it was just announced today, but you can find more info as it becomes available at the UBS blog, The Shelf Life.

Yo…

…I’m done with college y’all. That’s pretty legit. I’m sure TSavory will be out tomorrow celebrating, so come find us…

I’d rather be blogging…

… right now that’s completely true. I’ve got a 10 page joint to write by Tuesday on the most ridic topic around, and I’ve been doing everything I can to avoid it. This silly “report” is the only thing standing between me and my diploma right now and I just can’t get it done. SO, I’d rather be blogging…

Excuse me…

 

I saw this amazing sign today that really got me thinking. It read;

“Excuse me, can you spare some social change?”

I saw it while I was driving, and thought about it all the way home. I wish I could’ve taken a picture– I might go back and hope it’s still there. I think we all need a little (or a lot) of social change. But can we spare it? This sign made me think, maybe it’ll spark some thinking in you, too.

Design for the Other 90%

Read about this exhibit on Coolhunting.com and I think it’s really inspiring. It’s easy for those of us who love design to get caught up in–and get used to — buying items for ridiculous amounts of money. But there is a whole population of people out there that struggle to eat, or to find access to clean water. Vitals of life that many of us in first world countries take for granted. Design for the Other 90% is an exhibit featuring designers that have focused on making products for those under the poverty line or who are recovering from natural disasters. The exhibit is broken up into sections including water, shelter, health & sanitation, education, energy & transportation. It will be on view from May 4-September 23 of this year at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. 2 East 91st Street, New York, NY 10128. If you’re in the area check it out! You can read more about what you’ll find at the exhibit here.

Army Recruiters Get Creative

(Disclaimer: This blogpost is very political in nature. I didn’t necessarily intend it to be, but that’s the way it turned out. I understand that it’s very difficult for some to seperate themselves from their politics, and so I encourage you to read this with caution and/or skip over this post if you feel it might be something that will be personally offensive. I’d hope, however, that you’d feel compelled to read and if you have something to say in response- post a comment. Dialogue, contrary to the belief of some in this country, is actually a healthy thing. This is really nothing more than a personal rant)

On my way out the door the other day I heard a little lead-in on CNN to a story about Army Recruiting. Now, to be honest, I don’t have a very high opinion of the way the military in this country conducts its recruiting to begin with. I know I’ll probably piss some people off by writing about it, but I think the military are schmucks when it comes to looking out for their soldiers. I don’t believe for one second that when the military is recruiting soldiers their actual goal is to help American citizens better themselves- be it through education, vocational training, or by providing a way to give back and serve. This is the message we all receive from their ad campaigns, right? Be an Army of One, or whatever their taglines are. I think it’s a big load of garbage. Perhaps my views are tainted because we’re in wartime, and our situation in Iraq is such a mess. Maybe during peace times the military really is looking for ways to help empoverished, overlooked and neglected young men and women to obtain the American dream- these seem to be the only people they target their campaigns towards. I don’t know, but it’s really hard for me to have respect for a military that subjects young soldiers to horrific conditions in Iraq, sometimes up to 3 consecutive terms, ripping them from their loved ones and providing them little to no support once they return. It’s even more difficult for me to believe that that same military is only looking to improve the lives of the many men and women they are targeting by implimenting a new “ground-breaking” recruitment technique of hanging out in/around paintball fields.

In one of my classes I can remember reading about how the military was souping up Hummers with spinners and tinted windows, and driving them through poor urban neighborhoods bumping hip-hop and rap to attract attention. It’s no secret (at least to most) that the U.S. military targets those from lower socio-economic groups as a way to provide these Americans with a “ticket out of the ghetto” so-to-speak. It seems to me, that military service has become less about SERVICE, and more about what a military life can do for the individual soldier. I think this is dangerous because even though it might be a powerful tool to get people to enlist, it has a very polarizing result. Let’s be honest, in today’s world the military doesn’t have much to offer someone who already has a ticket into college, or is on the fast track to a 6-figure salary. So if the military is all about what the individual can receive who do we see choosing the military path? And who do we see dodging it? This reminds me of the part in Fahrenheit 9/11 where we discover that only one U.S. congressperson has a son or daughter serving in the military. Again, perhaps if I felt the military actually had the best interest of it’s soldiers in mind, I wouldn’t be so pessimistic about how they conduct themselves regarding recruitment.

In terms of recruiting at paintball fields, I find myself terribly torn over the topic. On one hand I feel like it’s really slimey of the military to be so segmented with who they market to- it feels exploitive and unethical. But on the other hand, why should I expect them to do anything different? It feels like everything in this consumer-based world is oriented towards identifying and isolating your target market, and I guess a bunch of people running around playing with semi-automatic weaponry (be it real or paintball) would qualify as a target market for the military. So in this regard, I have to admit it’s pretty smart of them. In an article from kdka.com, Army recruiter Levie Conway said they receive about 50 leads each visit from frequenting paintball fields- each visit! So far, in Illinois alone, they’ve enlisted 13 new soldiers by marketing at paintball fields. Below is a link to a news segment about this new technique. Perhaps the most alarming quote from this interview was from the owner of the CPX paintball facility. He says “I think that they may be looking for somebody who might be interested in taking it to the next level.” The next level?! So once paintballing gets boring, people should aspire to shoot insurgents in Iraq? Is the next step after laser tag, deployment to Afghanistan? I think this is a very dangerous linkage being made between SPORT and war. It’s scary, and it freaks me out.

Here’s the link to the interview clip; http://kdka.com/video/?id=30785@wbbm.dayport.com. You decide. I feel like I should end with some big conclusion, or summation of what I’ve written but really it just feels good to write about something that had sparked my interest in last week’s news. So this really wasn’t much more than a personal rant.

They Rule

Awhile back I took a Concepts of New Media class, and really loved it. Our prof, Philip Howard, was stellar and the content of the class kept me, well, coming to class. Our first assignment was to find a piece of “old, new media” and smash it apart to try to figure out how it works- then using our findings try to come up with a definition for new media. Our final assignment was to make our own mash-up and in the past Howard’s had his classes make maps of wi-fi hotspots around Seattle- which were later used by the City of Seattle. Pretty cool. Anyhow, during class one day Prof Howard pulled up the website “theyrule”. I thought it was so cool, I quickly jotted it down in my moleskine as something I wanted to explore further (something I did often in this class). Well life happened, and I got so busy I completely forgot about it until today. Remembering it was like getting a Christmas present. Theyrule.net is a website that allows you to make visual maps of how companies (specifically board members of these companies) are connected to other companies. It’s absolutely amazing to see how many people sit on multiple boards, proving they really do “rule”. Here’s an example of a map I made. I stuck with the Seattle theme, and started with all the major companies based out of Seattle. One cool part about this website is that icons representing board members get fatter depending on how many other boards they sit on. Classic. It’s pretty fun to play around with, which keeps your mind off of the fact that what you’re seeing/creating is extremely depressing and scary. Rich getting richer, poor getting poorer, with major power consolidation. Here’s a map I found with 7 of the most powerful people around;

Not Your Typical Dorm

Having worked in Residential Life for three years now, I can say without a doubt that the design of a residence hall (although not the first thing you may think of) is completely crucial to promoting a healthy lifestyle/living experience. I found a post about Tietgen Residence Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark on A Daily Dose of Architecture, and was loving it! I’ve definitely never seen a dorm of it’s equal, and probably would’ve loved living/working in the dorms even more had my building looked like this! Even though the models for Residential Life are very different in the U.S. than in the rest of the world, I think it might not be a bad idea to take a cue from our international collegues and start thinking about the effects of breaking the architectural mold. We all know that space and architecture influence behavior and experience, so I’m happy to see that Lundgaard & Tranberg really “get it” and have found a way to design a space that integrates both private and public spaces, while continuing to strengthen them both.

In the Language of Autism

I came across this video awhile back on YouTube.com and found myself captivated by this young woman. My mother is a special education teacher and from a very young age I was exposed (through her classroom) to children with “disabilities.” I have always thought of myself as being more educated than the average person on the issues of people living with disabilities, but I am once again humbled by my ignorance. I quote the word “disability” because this video has changed my perception of communication, and of those in which society views as being hindered in general. As Amanda Baggs shows us through In My Language, and also through her feature on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360/360blog, perhaps they aren’t actually dis-abilities, but rather different abilities. I think you’ll find this lesson in communication and the strength of the human spirit to be an invaluable lesson for us all. It’s time to Think Different. Cheers to one more person teaching us all to think outside the box.

1 in every 150 newborns are born with Autism. It’s the fastest growing developmental disability with 10-17% annual growth. If you’d like to learn more about Autism, visit the Autism Society of America for more information.