the mark of unity

everything will

come together

with chance

and choice

 

balanced

and designed

with integrity 

and hope

 

yes

we can

Filed under: art, community, creativity, design, education, experience, future, life, love, philosophy, poetry, politics, social community networks, sustainability, work

internetoflife – the collective language to simply learn

Anyone who is reading this is a part of the book. internetoflife is one word but it assembled of three other words that we know in English.

The final direction for my thesis after 1.5 years of research is internetoflife.com

I believe in the power of the collective to share wisdom and create links.

I believe in words to reflect identity.

I believe in words of wisdom, quoted by you.

So please visit the site and contribute.

First round of submissions for final presentation at my gradshow are April 12, 2008.

Anyone, anywhere you are, if you are reading this and you are interested in the concept of my network and want to support it into fruition, please click on the submissions page. I would also like to request for volunteer translators to translate the internetoflife questions into other languages, so we can get a universal network of words. Text and colour are universal languages — lets ’simply’ use them to broadcast ‘who we are’.

More information on how I arrived here will be posted soon.

You are also welcome to add me to facebook since I have nothing to hide about who I am.

Filed under: activism, art, community, creativity, design, education, humanity, life, love, music, philosophy, poetry, problem solving, quotes, school, social community networks, sustainability

nature is not a well-designed puzzle

“Have you ever seen a child take apart a favorite toy? Did you then see the little one cry after realizing he could not put all the pieces back together again? Well, here is a secret that never makes the headlines: We have taken apart the universe and have no idea how to put it back together. After spending trillions of research dollars to disassemble nature in the last century, we are just now acknowledging that we have no clue how to continue — except to take it apart further.

Reductionism was the driving force behind much of the twentieth century’s scientific research. To comprehend nature, it tells us, we first must decipher its components. The assumption is that once we understand the parts, it will be easy to grasp the whole. Divide and conquer; the devil is in the details. Therefore, for decades we have been forced to see the world through its constituents. We have been trained to study atoms and superstrings to understand the universe; molecules to comprehend life; individual genes to understand complex human behavior; prophets to see the original of fads and religions.

Now we are close to knowing just about everything there is to know about the pieces. But we are as far as we have ever been from understanding nature as a whole. Indeed, the reassembly turned out to be much harder than scientists anticipated. The reason is simple: Riding reductionism, we run into the hard wall of complexity. We have learned that nature is not a well-designed puzzle with only one way to put it back together. In complex systems the components can fit in so many different ways that it would take billions of years for us to try them all. Yet nature assembles the pieces with a grace and precision honed over millions of years. It does so by exploiting the all-encompassing laws of self-organization, whose roots are still largely a mystery to us.

…Networks are present everywhere. All we need is an eye for them.”

-From Introduction in Linked by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi

Filed under: community, design, nature, problem solving, social community networks, sustainability

Web Innovation: stop looking for it!

I’ve realized how long it takes to allow a really great idea to emerge. The more time you spend thinking about what you’re doing and absorbing yourself only by what you’ve labeled as your idea, the more you confuse yourself.

A really great idea is innovational. You can’t go looking to make innovation– it’s nowhere to be found. You can’t find it if you don’t know what it looks like. Innovation is so simple, that it’s invisible.

This is why I wasn’t sure. I didn’t know what I was doing even though I was a year ahead of everyone on my concept development for thesis in my current fourth year. I wasn’t sure, because I didn’t know why I was doing it and I was curious to find out what I really wanted to do. I wanted to make innovation and I was really keen on it.

That’s not how you do it — no! I realized this because I’ve had enough of it! I’ve had enough of reading about social networking, Web2.0, the next in technology, media, popular culture, online business and fancy tools! Get the hell out of here! All of you! I’m tired of reading about your stupid, lame-ass observations that I thought were going to give me answers! I didn’t waste my time because I got obsessed with you and now I’m letting you go for good, because I realize how little I connect with you! You just don’t get it do you? Does anyone get it? All you can do is write your books and make theories. I was disgusted to walk into Chapters and see stacks of books on the Web! Get the hell out of here! I’m not what you guys are talking about. I don’t want to be that! You’re brainwashing me and making me think I’m doing something else! Why are you so addictive? Why are you people doing this? Stop buzzing! Innovation is something you can’t find if you just talk about the same thing over and over and over! You’re going to wait around to point fingers and go “ooo”, “aaah”, “noooo”, “yeees”, “goooood”, “baaaaad”.

None of you get it! None of you who talk GET IT! Fuck your Facebook that ruined my life. I looked up to you, and I’m ashamed of it. I don’t trust anything but my gut and my gut won over your hypnotic. My gut is creative and I do not settle for anything less than what corresponds with my beliefs.

Do you want to know why I’m so mad? I’m mad at myself! I’m mad at brainwashing myself for so long with my eager and ambition to do something big. I’m mad at letting what’s out there on the web be an example of what I want to do. Because frankly, I don’t want to do anything that is close to what already exists online. I want to do something for people who can use what I do and appreciate what it can do for them. I want to help people and I have a unique personality and I know it. I’m mad because I sold myself short. I’m mad because I let my addiction to technology freeze me. I’m mad because I’m letting myself be like others when I know I’m capable of a lot more than others.

I’m mad because I’m tired of how people think! I’m tired of all this fluff and I’m tired of IT talk. I’m mad at designers for not being leaders and I’m mad at creative people who sell themselves short and don’t push it far enough! I’m mad what the Web is doing to our human factor — it is DEhumanizing us.

All I care about is nature. I care about true nature and its ability to transform and evolve and change. Fuck what you think matters because evidently, you have no idea what nature means. Therefore, you will always look for innovation and never make it.

If you don’t understand power, you will never have it.

Filed under: creativity, design, life, love, school, social community networks, student life

THESIS: 1.5 years – action time!

I’ve finally got it. After a year and a half of process, I’ve finally reached the process of execution, which will be a long and challenging process — I’m all up for it. It came out of last week’s thesis meeting with my prof Keith Rushton and in particular from Brian’s challenge — a former student of Keith’s working in the industry, who sits in on our meetings. I’m not saying that he revealed anything specifically, but he did make a spark go off. He challenged me to a point where I began to question my presentation for the grad show. I instantly rethought everything for my approach.

Brian said, “Web2.0 is dead in a couple months.” As much as I can argue and articulate what Web2.0 really means and explain O’Reilley’s 7 principles to inform people on the definition of the term, I realized that he had a great point.

My thesis is not about Web2.0, and particularly, I do not want people to have any preconceived thoughts on what my thesis is about. Immediately people will think about the social community networks that already exist on the web before they comprehend the intelligence behind my research and purpose.

I told myself, “You do ‘not’ want to be be compared to anything that is out there, so don’t present yourself that way and don’t set yourself up for that.”

The thesis started off with my vision for the web being used positively to connect people. The more I researched into it, the more I bookmarked social web, and the more I read about Web2.0 tools, theories, essays, opinions and research in technology, the more knowledgeable I became on how to measure success.

For over a year, all I did was research the web and read about the web. I bookmarked dozens of websites, rewrote my statement dozens of times, and exposed my thoughts to dozens of people, vocally repeating my purpose. The idea evolved, the focus changed, the strategies fluctuated, the passion transformed and the true purpose revealed itself to me through ongoing projects, involvements, and reflective experiential research. I am using my thesis to provide a unique and thorough experience through interaction and sharing of knowledge using a model that I create as a framework to facilitate productivity and interconnectivity.

Filed under: design, life, problem solving, school, social community networks, student life, work

No more wasting time; no more Facebook

I’m so confused with myself. Not because I don’t know who I am or what I want to do with my life, but because of the things that I don’t do with the time that I have. 

 

I remember clearly at 12 years of age thinking about my future career, I told myself that I would not be happy with a job sitting in front of the computer all day. I was trying to envision myself as a graphic designer back then, and it bugged me quite a bit because firstly, I was in love with being athletic and active, and secondly I wanted to have a job that I was passionate about. I continued with my path to become a designer for the sake of having a secure job, came to OCAD and will be graduating this April. What has changed is my vision of graphic design through the training and practice of becoming a professional graphic designer.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I love design. I am passionate about creation but I’ve come to realize that time is such a valuable thing that can be spent productively to benefit health, attitude, spirit, mind, body and soul. All these years I have just used design. I’ve used it like a tool to give me direction. So it has. I’m a designer because I practiced performing through graphic software and have used the assigned projects to explore the programs and technical language, and improve the quality of my work through critiques from teachers, classmates and clients. It’s an interest and skill that I’ve improved over the years and have made it a huge part of my life. I just do it because I like practicing it and I’ve  witnessed the results of my creations, which make me thirsty for more. If I figure out how to do something, I get excited, and I continue doing it. Since exposure to technology, softwares and Internet, I’ve gotten stuck in a tech-world through which I’ve consumed a great deal of my precious time.Since the extremely well developed and branded Facebook entered my life over a year ago, my addiction to technology has gone the worst path it could have possibly gone for me — and that is in-productivity and time wasting. I was trying to keep away from technology as much as I could, because my true nature is to put energy into physical activities. I was always a doer and I never wasted time. My time was always consumed by some activity that felt productive. (Well, TV hooked me back then, but it wasn’t as severe as my laptop is now.)

 

Over the past year, I’ve realized that I’ve become addicted to an obvious waste of time.  What has Facebook done for me that has made me more productive in life? Hmm. All it has really done is broadcasted me to my friends and people I barely know but label as “friends” on Facebook. I’ve become addicted to it, just like the other millions of people in the world. Sure, it has made things easier on some level, but I don’t remember what the problem was before. I never had trouble communicating with my friends and people I knew. I called them on the phone, talked to them at school, chatted on MSN or sent emails. I really don’t know why anything beyond that is necessary. What is so hard about exchanging emails? It just seems to me that it’s become a big popularity contest.

 

What is its true purpose? To find lovers? To find strangers? To look at people in versions you’ve never seen them? To have a stronger sense of individuality? To deliver your message with clicking “Send”? To join (terribly designed) groups and waste more time and get you nowhere? To post events that 50 claim to be attending and less than 1/2 show up? To invite people and have them disappoint you because they rejected it? To see what you looked like last night at the club, and for everyone else on your friends list to look at what you looked like last night in the club? To keep staring at all the pictures tagged of you, just because Facebook technology makes it so easy to view all of them in chronological order? To remember not to wear the same clothes again? To get people to comment on your new haircut? To do what? Which one is fulfilling a real need and not an obsession? Why is it so necessary in life? Why are we obsessed with having less realness and more textness? Why am I not playing the piano from time to time like I did from 8 to 16? Why am I not learning how to play other instruments? Why am I not going to the basketball court for pick-up games? Why am I sitting at home and not going for a walk? Why am I not talking more on the phone with people I care about? Why am I not reading all the books I have on my shelves? Why do I not go to bed earlier? Why do I not know how to cook like my parents? Why do I not care about fitness anymore? Why do I get so stressed? Why do I lock myself up and feel like I have to do that in order to be productive? Why do I not join any clubs and teams? Why do I love art but don’t paint? Why do I take my laptop everywhere? Why am I addicted to this damn thing? Why do I like to log onto Facebook and clearly waste time?

 

I hate it; I abhor it! I’m disappointed in myself and I believe I have so much more to do with my time than let allow a social networking website encourage me to waste it! I don’t want people to see what I looked like the last time I went out. I don’t want to prove anything to anyone. I don’t like my entire life to be revealed to people who don’t care to send me email or call me on the phone to meet up. The ones who care will communicate, whether through Facebook or through other means. I choose to let go of Facebook for my own health and well-being in the future. Anything I have done through Facebook up to this point, I will use another approach to do it. I know how I act towards technology and communication, and I’m going to fight the challenge and continue to grow. Oh, and I really don’t want to agree to any corporate sponsors having access to any of my content — it’s pretty damn valuable; they can just go look me up and scavenge information the harder way.

 

This might not be the best choice for others, but as someone who has her own website, her own blog, Flickr account, del.icio.us account and an e-mail software for organizing emails, I think I will be absolutely fine if I spend more time updating those accounts while eliminating Facebook. I’m going to commit myself to this goal for 2008 and I will not let technology run my life. I am an artist, an expressionist, a maker and a communicator. From now on I will continue to be productive in my work and continue to practice other activities that I enjoy and have always wanted to experience. To a 2008 without Facebook!

Filed under: life, social community networks