January 31, 2005
Real capacity development
Well, in light of my search for useful computer tools, I ought to also mention that the best tools are those that connect people. This quote illustrates the combination quite nicely (via bloggingaboutblogs):
Way back in 1996, I read this quote by Scott McNealy -- CEO Sun Microsystems. It's as powerful and meaningful today as it was in 1996. In parenthesis is the word people. I think in terms of people, not computers. So, I inserted . . . people."When computers (people) are networked, their power multiplies geometrically. Not only can people share all that information inside their machines, but they can reach out and instantly tap the power of other machines (people), essentially making the entire network their computer."
Posted by Mary at 02:00 PM | Comments (0)
January 30, 2005
Give me space!
Related to the last post, I'm interested improving how I manage all sorts of data, and I hope to form better habits. I accumulate lots of useful tidbits, but the collection has gotten to the point that I can't just rely on memory to find those bits anymore. Paper files are not my natural habit - I tend to just pile things up. I recently worked through years worth of piles using Kiplinger's Taming the Paper Tiger - it helped me get the piles into files, but the software has a pretty clunky interface. They recently announced an upgrade version is ready - but it costs nearly the same as the initial version (overpriced), so I am not rushing out to see if it is substantially improved.
I'm moving more and more towards eliminating paper files where I can, and this post by Jack Vinson gives me hope that good solutions for organizing and finding electronic information - personal knowledge management (to supplement my brain and my Gmail brain) - are not far off. Jack includes a link to an article with this ultimate goal:
What do we envision in referring to the lifetime personal Web space (LPWS)? Imagine a magnificently equipped (with software, communication, search, and multimedia tools), beehive-configured Web space that possesses sufficient organizational plasticity to accommodate the user’s developmental capacities and needs across a lifetime. The LPWS will thus be organized more like our brains than our file cabinets.
Sounds like just the thing to me...
Posted by Mary at 11:03 PM | Comments (0)
With the new equipment, new tools...
I've been making some progress with moving from Win 98 to XP (finally) and using the iBook more confidently. In addition to the new computer, I've been trying out new tools. Just before the new year I came across an offer for a Gmail account via another blog (thanks Tim), so now I have been trying that out. Through the same blog I discovered Gmail Tips by Jim Barr, which is definitely good guidance for accelerating my understanding of just how different this email tool is. I had already discovered some of the cool features, such as search and labels, but there is a lot more to consider as I try develop better approaches to dealing with information and keeping track of disparate and connected topics. I also found this link on how to use Gmail as a second brain, which I will try out. There are loads of tools available for increased productivity and organization - I don't want to try them all, but I do want to find what works well for me - these suggestions seem like a good start.
Posted by Mary at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)
January 24, 2005
and that which comes to me as fruit...
Mary's post closes with the poem "I will not die an unlived life." As I read the post, I noticed that although the poem ended, my mind kept going--and added the following two lines:
and that which comes to me as fruit
goes as seed.
Posted by Kerry at 01:25 PM | Comments (0)
January 21, 2005
Messages
I had lunch with a local diversity consultant last week, and we talked for quite a while on a number of topics, including books we had enjoyed. For me, one book that had significance last year was Awareness, by Anthony De Mello, a Jesuit priest from India. A theme of the book is to "wake up" - here's a passage that illustrates that notion:
The most difficult thing in the world is to listen, to see. We don't want to see. Do you think a capitalist wants to see what is good in the communist system? Do you think a rich man wants to look at poor people? We don't want to look, because if we do, we may change. We don't want to look. If you look, you lose control of the life that you are so precariously holding together. And so in order to wake up, the one thing you need the most is not energy, or strength, or youthfulness, or even great intelligence. The one thing you need most of all is the readiness to learn something new. The chances that you will wake up are directly in proportion to the amount of truth you can take without running away. How much are you ready to take? How much of everything you've held dear are you ready to have shattered, without running away? How ready are you to think of something unfamiliar?
This is a fairly small book, and could be read quite quickly I suppose, but I read it very slowly. It is one of my most dog-eared books. I spent the year with it, in bite-sized doses, and it provoked a lot of thinking. Judy shared with me that her book of last year was I Will Not Die an Unlived Life - by Dawna Markova. This author explores how people can continue to feel powerless and live habitual lives - or they can make the choice to follow their passion. Judy described reading through this book 3 times, and how it gave her something new each time. We both intend to read each other's book recommendation, and it sounds like there is some commonality in message and inspiration.
Now, I have a habit of leaving myself voicemail on things I don't want to forget - and I usually do so in a very direct manner - no fussing around to leave a message to me from me, So after lunching with Judy I left myself a message that just says "I will not die an unlived life". It is very striking to hear that message to myself on the voicemail, so I haven't erased it. The intention was to remind me to look up the book, but surely it means more. Coincidentally, I got another message over the weekend, this time from a faculty member of my diversity practitioner program. We have a website for the class where we can post messages and share resources. The posting from the weekend was the poem by Markova which begins the story of the book above:
I will not die an unlived life
I will not live in fear
of falling or catching fire
I choose to inhabit my days,
to allow my living to open me,
to make me less afraid,
more accessible
to loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing
a torch, a promise
I choose to risk significance
to live so that which came to me as a seed
goes on to the next as a blossom,
and that which came to me as blossom
goes as fruit.
Posted by Mary at 09:38 AM | Comments (0)
January 10, 2005
Dive into 2005 with new equipment
I took a break from creating entries for this blog for about a month, for several reasons. A primary one was that I needed to upgrade my desktop system. Not long into blogging I found the ecto client that works with both Windows and MacOSX - a very cool tool and as I have both an iBook and a Windows desktop, it would allow me to get used to one piece of software on two platforms. But there was a catch - the old desktop was running Windows 98. I have had to replace components on the desktop in the last couple of years and while I thought I was upgrading as I was replacing, it turns out I was just treading water in place rather than moving along downstream. I was coming across things I would like to do but could not, and ecto was just the final enticement that pushed me into action for upgrading. Once ready to upgrade, I discovered that it was likely ill-advised to try to convert that old system to a more recent version of Windows.
With some expert help over the holiday period (thanks Pop, Barb & Kerry!) I finally found a reasonably-priced out-of-the-box solution - a new system with Windows XP. I got the initial set up done last week (take out of the box and plug in!) but then was busy with some facilitation work, so I did not get it fully loaded with all the settings and software that I would like - just up and running enough to correspond with clients and get deadlines met. I hope to get further into customizing and transferring this week. I am also looking into an overall back-up plan for both Mac & Windows, so would love suggestions from those who mess with both. There are plenty of folks who may wonder why I am working with both, and suffice to say right now - because that is what I have. I want to be bilingual and can't achieve that without working through it.
Posted by Mary at 02:19 PM | Comments (0)