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ex machina

Well - I finally finished The Cluetrain Manifesto. My turnaround wasn't that bad, although cryptonomicon is not faring as well. Hi. Ho. At least I'm getting better in my old age - Godel, Escher, Bach was in the queue for something like 10 years.

Anyway, I wanted to like The Cluetrain Manifesto. I really did. Overall, I'd recommend it, with some reservations - the most glaring being its western-centric view of the world. I'm sure the author's realize it, but half the world hasn't even used a phone yet. I'm also not a big fan of the tone of the book with its big spurts of 'cheeseball radical'. That said, I don't disagree with its core theses and its sense of optimism:

Imagine a world where everyone was constantly learning, a world where what you wondered was more interesting that what you knew, and curiosity counted for more than certain knowledge. Imagine a world where what you gave away was more valuable than what you held back, where joy was not a dirty word, and where play was not forbidden after your eleventh birthday. Imagine a world in which the business of business was to imagine worlds people might actually want to live in someday." [p.183]

It's hard to argue with a grand vision like that, although my cynical side would certainly like to give it a run for the money.

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2/23/2000 09:50:00 PM 0 comments

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[ rhetoric ]

“"it is hard to be brave," said piglet, sniffing slightly, "when you're only a Very Small Animal." rabbit, who had begun to write very busily, looked up and said: "it is because you are a very small animal that you will be Useful in the adventure before us."”

the complete tales & poems of winnie the pooh

[ about ]

this site chronicles the continuing adventures of my son, odin, who was unexpectedly born on the fourth of july at 25 weeks gestation, weighing 1 pound 7 ounces.

he's quite a fighter and you can always send him a postcard to the most current address listed here if you're inspired by his adventures. see the postcard project/google maps mashup to see a map of the postcards.

if you're new, you can browse the archives to catch up. and don't forget to watch a few movies that i made while we were in the neonatal intensive care unit. or if you want the abridged version and you can find a copy, you can read about his adventures in the november 2005 issue of parents magazine.

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