Monthly Archive for May, 2009

Tuesday Links: May 19th, 2009

Published by Taylor on May 19, 2009 in Monday Links. View Comments

Hey folks–after a few down weeks, I’m getting back to regular blogging.  These items brought to you by the free stream of the new Wilco album, available on the band’s site (highly recommended…though the stream seems to have gotten choppy since i first listened).

  • I’m intrigued by KeyRingThing, a service that allows  you to combine frequent shopper/loyalty program cards (currently in my wallet: Harris Teeter VIC card, CVS ExtraCare card, and Barnes and Noble Member card) into a single credit card-sized page.  My current system is less than ideal: cutting cards down into just the essentials (barcodes) and stuffing the shards of cards in my wallet.  I might try KeyRingThing instead.  Do you carry loyalty cards?  Which do you use regularly?  Would combining them be worth $2.97?  (HT: LifeHacker)
  • Sean at Tactical Philanthropy drew my attention to a new magazine for social enterprise.  It’s called Beyond Profit, and you can flip through the inaugural issue online here.
  • I’m a sucker for anything with a headline like “In Defense of Liberal Arts,” and this post by Lane Wallace (guest blogging in Andrew Sullivan’s absence) is no exception.  I love this thought in particular:

Yes, the U.S. needs technical expertise to keep pace, economically and technologically. But we also need innovators and entrepreneurs creating break-through concepts and businesses. And while knowledge in an area is important, I’d argue that the most important trait a pioneering entrepreneur needs is the confidence to buck convention; to believe he or she is right, despite what all the experts say.

  • I like the instinct behind these ideas for transforming the 1,900+ auto dealerships set to close into greener spaces for business, community, or even nature.  As always, the dream vision for many of these spaces is likely prohibitively expensive; nevertheless, it’s neat to think about how these soon-to-be empty lots could be more than abandoned blights on the edge of a cities and towns.  I’d like to see other creative ideas for how to use the existing (albeit hastily-constructed) structures.
  • Astronauts have performed minor miracles all week repairing the Hubble space telescope for the last time.  Unsurprisingly, some incredible images have emerged:

hubble

Image courtesy of NASA.  On a related note, it makes me really happy to imagine the astronauts floating around their living area watching the new Star Trek movie.

TED Talks: Dave Eggers

Published by Taylor on May 18, 2009 in Books, Education and TED Talks. View Comments

This is part of an ongoing series in which we highlight particularly fascinating talks from some of the world’s most innovative thinkers. These videos are featured courtesy of a Creative Commons license; for more on the TED conference (Technology, Entertainment, and Design), click here.

I’m a huge fan of Dave Eggers’ books.  While some folks thought A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius was a bit indulgent, I loved (nearly) every word.  I enjoyed You Shall Know Our Velocity! even more, and found What Is the What to be heartbreaking and sincere.

What I find most  interesting about Eggers is how his commitment to the written word extends beyond his own works, or the magazine he publishes, to include a heartfelt and effective social enterprise geared toward helping young people find their voices and receive one-on-one tutelage in writing.  His nonprofits (the first of which was 826 Valencia in San Francisco) serve as a fun and unintimidating setting for after school tutoring and creative inspiration.  His deceptiely simple idea–that a network of writers and freelancers with flexible schedules could engage young students in an authentic and helpful way after school hours–is making a huge difference in the lives of kids in cities across the country.  I encourage you to watch the inspiring video below in which Eggers describes his philosophy and the quirky model of 826 Valencia.  It involves pirates and superheroes, but I won’t give any more away:

You can also download this video to iTunes (MP4 file) by clicking here (”Save Link As” on Windows).

Passing On Your Cloud Pt. 2

Published by Taylor on May 11, 2009 in Culture, Data Portability, Legal Issues, Lifestyle, People Send Us Things, Privacy and Security. View Comments

Friend and reader Gagan writes (posting here in an attempt to convince him to guest blog in the future):

Heard an interview on NPR this afternoon with the guy who created Legacy Locker.  Basically, he was trying to secure the on-line identity of his deceased grandmother, but it was essentially impossible.  Which begs the question: what happens to your on-line identity once you die?

So this guy developed a small business where they basically keep all of your on-line information (log-ins, passwords, etc.), and your instructions for how to deal with your on-line identity once you’re gone (give it to a specific person/specific people, destroy it, etc.).  According to the interview, they currently have 1,000 customers, and they’ve only been operating for about a month.  I could see this thing taking off.

More on CNET and TechCrunch.

Jarred pondered many of the issues Legacy Locker aims to resolve in his post Passing On Your Cloud.