A figure shambles from the darkness slowly mrching across the parking lot.Slowly other figures can be seen,lurking in the shadows.Milling about,slowly circling the building as if anticipating something.There are dozens now…maybe hundreds,all of them with a dark,hungry stare as if their very eyes could swallow you up.They begin to gather at the entrances,pushing and shoving,a mass of insatiable need craving to feast on what lay just inside.

At that very moment in the building,people huddle together for comfort,warily eyeing the growing army of flesh just outside the locked doors.They know what must be done,they’ve been preparing for it for weeks now…but some of them still almost lose their nerve and make a break for it.To their credit they all stand strong.

Finally,the sun begins to rise above the horizon,throwing it’s harsh glare on the waiting madness.Suddenly a sound freezes the throng in place…the unmistakable sound of the doors being unlocked.The brave people inside can be seen scrambling to their stations,each knowing what is expected of them.

With a sudden rush of sound and heat,it begins.The mass of hungry creatures surge into the building and immediately confusion sets in…they search frantically for what they seek,for what they’ve dreamed about for weeks…for what the thing that will complete their lives and make everything alright.Quickly any reason that might have remained in the fragile minds of the hungry disintegrates as the unquenchable need to consume overwhelms them.They frantically grab at anything and everything,shoving and shouting at each other,as if this will be last time in the history of the human race that they will be able to quench their thirst.

By the afternoon it’s all over.The debris of the massacre litters the lot.The people inside the building try to pick up what’s left of their existence.Desperately trying to erase the horrors of the morning,knowing that they’ll never look at the creatures who invaded their domain,the consumers of all…knowing that they’ll never look at them the same way again…

Some of them,the ones who haven’t been through the terror before,breathe a sigh of relief and thank whatever gods they worship that it’s over…but the older ones…the ones who’ve seen it all before…they know that though it may be over for now…there is always next year…

In the United States we are so very fortunate. Most people can buy whatever they desire. If we go shopping and see something we like, we can buy it.

See it, like it, buy it

However just because we like something, doesn’t mean we need to buy it.

On a recent flight my daughter liked this Skymall item:

Forest Faces: Show everyone which team you’re rooting for with this outdoor ornament sensation.

This new outdoor craze is only $19.99, so it’s easily within my reach.

Should I buy one? Let’s see.

Can I live without it?

Yes. My trees have been bare for years and haven’t been yearning for ornamentation (as far as I know).

Would I use it regularly?

No. The ornament serves no real purpose other than promoting a sports team that doesn’t need further promotion. 

Is it going to improve or simplify my life?

No.

Asking yourself these questions can help you prevent clutter and debt. It’s possible to see something, like it and not buy it.

See it, like it, don’t buy it

The result? More money in your bank and less things in your home. Sounds good to me.

Interested in consuming less, decluttering and organization? Check out Monica Ricci’s blog: “Your Life. Organized.”

Focus on doing interesting things rather than buying interesting things (from Zen Habits).

This universe was not made for you.
You are unallocated in list of
Participators and only consume… and we’ve entirely forgotten about you.
You do nothing.
You deserve an even smaller potion of happiness than the
Everything you neglect,
A unit so close to zero, it can only be limited to
The lowest number you can squeeze out of
your tube.

Most of the doors are shut at your approach, and we’re
Glad to see your nose close, but far
From the other side of plexi.

If they destroy you, and when they will –
Nothing will happen; you’ve allowed the science
And majesty of prediction to take the place of
Sweet, unreasoned faith.

Die, fruitless laborer. Crumble into your dry skin and
Rot.
Snap your femur with the flat plate of head-bone
Before you go,
And limp… limp into the dark underworld you hardly deserve,
But where else can they put you?

With the recent purchase of my iPhone I am never away from the internet. I can even surf whilst on the toilet. It’s the best cr-app there is. I’d purposely held off from getting an internet enabled phone precisely for the reason you’d get one – to be permanently switched on, the world at your fingertips, a flood of data streams and content 24-7. Sometimes it’s nice to have a break from all this technology. Not anymore. Now after staring at a screen all day in my ‘office’ I can retire to the sofa and check Twitter and Facebook via my phone.

I sometimes wonder if technology does really increase our quality of life. It’s meant to make things easier and quicker – so we have more free time. Machines do the work for us. I think it’s the other way around. It takes me 2-3 hours a day to wade through my emails. The permanently ‘on’ culture of the last decade means people expect answers to emails quickly – many instantly. It’s a flood of data to the point of it being meaningless. Yes, I am communicating with people from every corner of the globe and I know what’s going on anywhere and anytime – but it takes up all my time!

This ‘permanently on’ culture has pervaded all areas of society and culture. Especially with regards to the media and 24 hour rolling news channels – that’s a lot of hours to fill. So the life cycle of a story is often very short before the next media storm appears on the fast moving horizon, to quickly dissipate after a few hours. It’s the Twitterfication of the media, a rolling news feed – hungry consumers, eager for the next tit byte. This means there is a serious lack of depth to most journalism. But that’s probably a response to the fact that there’s a total lack of depth in the consumer. We just want to hear about celebrities. We wanted it yesterday. Consume. Consume. 

It is evident in my own habits. I no longer have the patience for lengthy book reviews – or reviews of any kind for that matter. It’s not a new thing to say the critic is dead (we are all critics now). But I really don’t have the time to hear how good a writer they are or how much they know about this and that. The whole ‘aren’t I’m clever this newspaper pays me solely to listen to music and distill my wisdom to you mere mortal readers’ notion is irritating. The critic in his ivory tower. Not any more. Can’t you just give it marks out of ten and, if it’s music, link to it so I can hear the album for myself without even having to pay for it?

The other day I was pondering on Linked Open Data Source Dynamics and as a starting point I wanted to learn more about the caching characteristics of LOD data sources. Now, in order to establish a baseline, one should have a look at what HTTP, one of the pillars of Linked Data, offers (see also RFC2616, Caching in HTTP).

So, I hacked a little PHP script that takes 17 sample resources from the LOD cloud (from representative datasets ranging from DBpedia over GeoSpecies to W3C Wordnet). The results of the LOD caching evaluation are somewhat deflating: more than half of the samples do not support cache control and less than 20% support Last-Modified or ETag headers.

I know, I know, this is just a very limited experiment. And yes, very likely there are not yet that many applications out there consuming Linked Data and hence using up the whole bandwidth. However, given that one of the arguments for the scalability on the Web is the built-in HTTP caching mechanism, LOD dataset publisher might want to consider having a closer look into what the server or platform at hand is able to offer concerning caching support.

This week’s Is That Really a Thing?!

The problem with restaurants these days is that they skimp on portions. You pay ten bucks for a sandwich, which turns out to be two pieces of white bread and a slice of bologna. That’s obviously an exaggeration, but you know what I mean.

That’s why I am thrilled to discover that some restaurants are doing something to break the status quo.

You know, I can’t remember the last time I left a restaurant fully satisfied with my meal. I’ve always felt there was something missing… you know, like a 182-lb burger. Yeah, that would really hit the spot!

Enter this bad-mamma-jamma monstrosity (pictured right). Welcome to America, land of the 12.7% population living under the poverty level, juxtaposed alongside excess that has out-gluttoned itself so many times that we have now resorted to making GIGANTIC FOOD as a way to entertain ourselves.

It seems that, once again, we’ve become bored with our already conspicuous consumerism. It’s kind of like Hugh Hefner; think about it. A man has a relationship with a woman, and after awhile, he wants to trade her in for a “newer model.” So he finds a younger woman and feels satisfied; that is, until she ages a few years and he’s bored again. And so the process continues, and it just keeps getting more and more ridiculous because this guy is like 83, dating 20-year-olds.

Seriously? 182-lb burger? The unfortunate outcome of novelties such as this is that somewhere, sometime, some dumbass is going to try to eat the whole thing. He’ll probably die trying, and then his family will sue the restaurant and the whole beef industry. Come on, you know it always happens.

It makes me cringe to think of how many of the homeless people in downtown Tulsa could be fed with 182 pounds of meat, or a 100-foot hot dog, or 57-gallon drum of ice cream.

America is Hugh Hefner, and this burger represents one of the many “newer models” that are sure to emerge in time.

Enough said

There are all sorts of exscuses for not being able to gain weight – not on the right program, not enough sleep, haven’t got the latest supplement, etc. some are legitimate but most of the time, your just not eating enough!

Sometimes it helps to really see just how much you need to eat to get bigger, I don’t care how hard your working out, or what amazing new program your on, fact is if your workout like an animal but eat like a sissy you just don’t have the building blocks required to build that muscle you work so hard for.

Check out this great post from Nate Green and look at what this guys eating every day to build muscle and, more importantly keep what he already has – at 180lbs and 8% bodyfat I think he’s getting the right amount!

Having read Adam Jacobs’ The Pathologies of Big Data and Stefano Mazzocchi’s Data Smoke and Mirrors I found myself asking: what is the motivation for people to publish linked data, and in turn to consume it (sounds funny you think? well, just because the data is available doesn’t necessarily mean it is useful or actually used

Ok, so let’s start with a nice statement from Adam’s ACM article:

Here’s the big truth about big data in traditional databases: it’s easier to get the data in than out.

Yup, I think I agree and I guess the same is true for Linked Data. There are tons of ‘cheap’ ways to publish in RDF (for example, regarding relational databases, we’re currently try to define a standard). However, there is still a need for high quality data and high quality links between the data items in order to allow the data to be used sensibly in applications!

Right, so my hunch is that for data providers there are a couple of reasons to publish their data in an open and easily accessible way, but I guess one main reason may be that due to providing the raw data, one can simply cut costs. Rather than writing a Web application that serves humans and offering an additional Web service/API (such as flickr or delicious did) , one can expose the original data directly via Linked Data and open up the possibility for others to develop cool applications on top of it (see also our recent work in this direction).

On the other hand, data consumers benefit from a single (RESTful) API with a uniform data model (RDF, in case it isn’t that obvious , which in turn enables simplified development of applications and allows the reuse of data (just like the BBC doesn’t have to maintain the artist and song data themselves anymore, but reuses MusicBrainz data).

Let me know – what is your incentive to publish/consume Linked Data?

Adore you, I do

In love with you I am

My heart and soul is yours to keep

For they serve me no purpose

Without your love in them

Cherish you, I forever will

Desiring you, I always have

Without you I may die

May are out there

To devour you, they will try

But my love, I pledge to you

Time, I will wait

For our fruit to be yet ripe

To consume our love, we will

I’ve been laying in bed for an hour and a half. I decided to get up and eat some haagen daz and facebook stalk for a while. I really just can’t stop over thinking every moment I’ve spent with Bobby. This isn’t productive and I need to stop this downward spiral. It’s just consuming me.

A cool friend of mine emailed me a pic of this stencil the other day.  This is the kinda stuff that we are starting to recognize about life strive to one-day change.  You better believe we’re gonna make a shirt about this.

Break the cylce.

This week my family is participating in the Colin Beavan’s No Impact Experiment. Each day we’re focusing on a different aspect of our consumption and today is Trash Day.

Trash Day is an opportunity for us to think about the trash we create and make an effort to reduce our waste. So today I moved our trash can from the kitchen to the garage. Now throwing things away will take extra effort, and with that effort I hope a heightened awareness of what we’re throwing away.

Sound crazy? Maybe, but it’s completely doable. We already compost kitchen scraps; we have a kitchen compost bucket that we dump into our yard waste can (thank you Seattle for making composting easy). So the messy bits don’t go into our trash.

What does go into our trash? I think mostly bits of plastic that can’t be recycled – or bits I don’t think can be recycled. Soon I’ll know exactly what we throw away because in addition to moving the trash can to the garage, I’ll be looking through the trash at week’s end with my kids. I hope to make the experience a fun and interesting family activity (and if not, a funny story for my kids to share).

The goal? By knowing what we throw away, we can make reductions in the amount of trash we create each week.

It’s never too late to be part of the No Impact Experiment. Take a look at the No Impact Experiment how-to manual for ideas on how you can reduce your impact. Any day and every day can be Trash Day.

DAY JOB RANT

Having been in the workplace for a mind-numbingly long time..I notice  a lot of tendencies. Such as, the modern American workpace. Typically, when I leave the office, I find myself working long after I’m home, into the night. I’m not alone; I get emails, projects and ‘action items’ round the clock. Every day feels like a race – when I’m not on the phone I’m checking email, when I’m not doing that I’m texting, faxing, or IMing.I work late to relieve the anxiety of a full Inbox in the morning. I guess.

Not just with my current job but with past jobs – lunches were obsolete – you get much more done at your desk. I mostly ate (eat) in my car rushing to or from work or meetings. When people say, “i’m going to lunch” we tend to do a double-take. When I take a lunch; I felt guilty. If I don’t answer my emails after 5 – I felt guilty or anxiety-ridden because I know my inbox will silently reproduce while I’m gone. What’s with the perfection?

After tiring of putting off friends, family, boyfriend, etc., AND being exhausted I decided to start an experiment. Work no more than 50 hours each week. That meant drawing boundaries at work and sticking to them.

The hardest thing was explaining it. “Well, no, I can’t meet for drinks on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Why?  Because I need to go home and do nothing.”  When you have children, getting home at a decent hour is socially acceptable. Getting home to take care of an ill parent or family member is socially acceptable. Getting home to read a book, cook dinner, hang out with your spouse/lover, watch TV or to simply sit in glorious solitude is NOT acceptable.

I fantasize about what people would do if I said that.  “I can’t stay because I like to daydream when the sun sets.”

My time outside work and the office is and should be MINE. Not less valuable than anyone who has children or dependents. What I do in my spare time is valuable, because it is my LIFE. Even if it is sitting and doing absolutely nothing, which is as important to our psyches as community. When you work at a breakneck speed, a decade can go by in a flash and its frightening.

Soapbox please. Our poor, addictive modern American mindset is hell-bent on producing, producing, producing and consuming, consuming, consuming. We work to produce, to earn, to consume. We are either producing or continually improving, making ourselves smarter, better looking, thinner, younger. As a culture we have a problem sitting still and bigger problem still with being alone. We need the hum, the drive, the pace to feel or justify that we ARE.  Accomplishing, Doing, Producing.

I feel that all this running around is a steady diet of frosting. Why are we so afraid of just sitting and staring out the window?  I have to admit, and maybe this is because I am at the breakneck speed all day, I really love doing nothing. It feeds my soul and its like a hobby to be alone with my thoughts. Allow my mind to drift and wander.

I think it would be really cool if suddenly the entire world agreed to take a break. For maybe – a week. Like a giant, massive global Time Out – where we could NOT use the time to get ‘caught up’ but sleep in, take lazy walks, nap, stretch, read a bit, lunch with a friend maybe just sit on our porches and collectively daydream. We’d all call to our bosses en masse and say, “Sorry – can’t come in this week.  Busy at home doing nothing.”

Night butterflies by silent reverie

We thrive on excellence. We suck in the achievements of others. We live vicariously through their sexual conquests. It’s like drinking adrenaline through a straw. It’s like having success on tap. And I do not condone this. But it does make me consider how we measure excellence – and why our culture glorifies it so.

James Bond. Suave. Excellence.

I like James Bond, because he’s suave and smooth and he’s the secret agent that everyone wants to be… or wants to kill. But either way, he has all of the answers. He always knows what to say (Um… is um, not a part of his suave vocabulary). He KNOWS what he’s doing with his life. He doesn’t get emotionally connected – he hooks up with whoever, whenever. And who cares? In the time it takes to pop in another James Bond movie, the screenwriters will have erased and rewritten all of his previous emotional attachments.

It’s also reminiscent of the characters in Ayn Rand books. I admire their excellence, impeccable morals, and untouchable values. I like that they do not apologize for anything, but rather, they have the courage and morals to stand up for what they KNOW that they are good at. They are damn good at what they do and they don’t care about what society dictates is acceptable.

Howard Roark exemplifies architectural excellence in the Fountainhead.

Why did I write an entire post on excellence and its place in our society and culture? To be honest, I had some free time. But more importantly, our ideals play a huge role in what we like. I rent James Bond movies and buy Ayn Rand books to reinforce ideals that have, but I will never become or achieve. The best in my field? Great thing to aspire towards, but I don’t even know what my future holds. I am not as clearly defined or as emotionally unattached as the characters of excellence I idealize. Our culture cultivates excellence so that we can be continually disappointed in ourselves. So that we can look at magazines and know that we will never be as perfectly airbrushed as the model so seductively posed on the cover. So that we will consume and desire more, and think about ourselves and reality less. It’s humanly impossible not to ever feel guilty. It’s impossible to avoid rejection. And who would want to? Now that I think about it, we would be nothing without the highs and lows that help to define us – the daily nuances that the characters of such “excellence” we so long for have never experienced, or probably would not appreciate.

What kind of excellence do you consume? Why?