A Visible City

Blogger now not only allows me to tag my posts (that's label in google talk for some reason), but I can display for all my readers the labels and how often I have used them. For now I have added that widget (see right side of the screen). At first, I thought I would go back to all my old posts and tag them (maybe I still will). Then it seemed daunting. Then I worried about being somewhat consistent in my tagging, so that a reader could clearly see that I write a lot about anthropology, or social media. But then I looked at my posts and realized I actually write about a lot of different things. So if I start labeling, do I end up with just a long list of tags? Or do I then feel a need to constrain what I write about to a defined set of categories? I realize blogs with a theme are powerful...and I think I have some themes running through here...interspersed with random thoughts or items that catch my interest. What to do? Does it matter? Is there meaning in tags (beyond the me...

We had a very interesting teleconference with some folks from Yammer on Friday. It was a great opportunity to learn about best practices and for our security minded folks to ask questions in that arena. There were probably 10 or 12 people on the call, mostly non-colocated, and several were live yammering the call. While I didn't add posts describing the content of the call, I did join into the discussions. It was an interesting experience for me. It was nice to have the side conversations, but I have to admit it was also distracting. Is it any less rude or distracted than emailing in a face to face meeting? I suppose since it was based in teh content of the meeting it may bedifferent...I know others found value in reading the yams later. I should perhaps fess up to trying to do some other work as well, but I know it distracted me and I am trying (not always successfully) to cut down on the mutlitasking to be more focused. My most important reminder to try not to be distracted is Ju...

So I am really not too pleased about switching to Daylight Savings Time today. I barely understand why we make the change anymore anyway, and why we have extended it to 8 months of the year in the United States. Not changing the clocks was one of the rational things about Arizona. I get that the purported reason for the switch is to save on electricity and other power costs. I'm all for that. I also get that a century ago, the usage patterns of electricity did mean that DST led to conservation. However, recent studies show that same conservation effect is not necessarily true today (if it ever was). Maybe I am just griping because I lost an hour today. Maybe I resent that the mornings will be dark again. Or maybe this whole clock thing is just silly.

We went to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City on Saturday. The primary purpose of the visit was dinosaurs--the barosaurus was a big hit, I guess something so big is pretty fascinating to someone very small. We also visited the solar system, and the cosmic pathway was another big hit, though more for running up an down a big spiral than anything else. What I noticed most was along our path between dinos and space...the various halls showing human cultures, which unfortunately haven't changed in years. The dinosaur halls seemed relatively recently updated (I am pretty sure I would have learned a few new things if I hadn't been going through at a 4-year old's pace). And Rose Center for Earth and Space received a lot of attention when it opened, both because it is a wonderful exhibit wing, and because when it opened it did not include Pluto as a planet (several years before the International Astronomical Union declassification). Anyway, to cross the mus...

We went to the kindergarten orientation the other night, and I found myself unsettled afterward. I should start by saying we aren't yet 100% sure we'll go to the neighborhood school; they only offer half day for kindergarten (somewhat problematic for working parents). At any rate, I wasn't unsettled by the school itself. By the end of the evening we felt pretty good about it. Admittedly having them talk about snacks and backbacks before the content of a typical day didn't match my priorities. (OK, I know different parents have different concerns, but mine are really about what is he going to be doing day to day, what is going to be learning). And my uneasiness was not about sending him off to school, since he's been in day care full time for 4 years. And it's not the thought of putting a little guy on the bus alone (well ok, maybe that a little). On some reflection, I realized was unsettled me was all the forms we brought home. Starting school means it is time f...

I got my driver's license today. It was actually the first time I can remember going to the DMV for a renewal. I've had to get new ones when I've moved, but have either moved before a renewal, or lived in a state with fairly loose renewal rules. When I was 25 I moved to Arizona, I handed over my (soon to expire) Texas license, and they handed me back a new one good till I was 60--that was a little scary actually. And that TX one had been renewed by mail a few years before that...In fact my mother was allowed to renew over the internet when she was 65. I guess at least Connecticut confirms I can walk in the door of a DMV office every 6 years. Pretty amazing when you think about it, this little card not only gives me legal permission to drive, gets me on airplanes and once upon a time bought beer (no one's asked for that in a while). And I have another photo ID, for work. This one carries an RFID tag , which codes what doors I can open and tracks my comings and goings (ex...

I was in a teleconference the other day, where a new web site was being demoed. What was interesting to me was that the vendor kept pointing out elements that were on the page for Search Engine Optimization. I admit to knowing very little about SEO, besides how important it is for driving traffic, especially on a retail site. I think was intrigued me was that these elements were big chunks of text that were visually unappealing...in other words, good for driving traffic, not so good for visual design. I suppose if you have found what you are looking for, appearances don't much affect stickiness (and because of SEO lots of sites are starting to look like this), but where is the balance with good design?

I originally signed up for Twitter (@lxmack) a while ago, but didn't really do anything with it--no tweets, no followers. Then had a couple of friends sign up to follow me...still didn't do anything. A few weeks ago I thought that I should give it more of a try...and I have to admit that I still don't get it. I suppose I could come up with plenty of things to tweet about (the process of buying a new washer, the mystery of the blood in the house) but it seems time consuming and I am not sure who wants to know. My colleague John Braun very kindly encouraged me and gave some great advice, the most intriguing of which was his comment that Twitter can act like a group brain--ask a question and get an immediate answer. On the flip side, I joined Yammer about the same time I tried to get active on Twitter. Best quick explanation of Yammer is that it's like Twitter for inside a company (you have to have a valid email address on your corporate domain), without the 14o charact...

Playing with my iTouch, seeing how the free blogging tools work. Very keen on free. But not keen on the lack of touchtyping, so this one is for quick posts only.

It's been a while, but I am back. For a while wasn't sure I had anything new to say to the world, at least that wasn't based on proprietary research. Recently I have been doing a lot of thinking about innovation (hey it's my job), new media and so-called "social networks" in the work environment. Lots of interesting things happening in all these spaces, and I realized that blogging would be a good way to work out my own thoughts on the subjects, and hopefully get insights from others as well.

My friend and fellow anthropologist Dori Turnstall has just started a blog . She always has interesting things to say, and I think she will be taking it on the road with her as she tours Europe as a Marshall Scholar. Should be an interesting trip!

There is a contest here to find interesting things patients do to increase their adherence to their drug regimens. That is of course the 6 million dollar question that the whole medical profession is asking, and there are even international conferences around it. As an anthropologist, I find the more interesting question is why people are not compliant. My friend Ari Shapiro did an interesting study on this, noting that "Ethnography opens up the issue by entering the private space of pill-taking to understand the beliefs, relationships, and activities that contribute to patient (non-)compliance." The abstract for his paper is available at the EPIC website, but you have to be a member of Anthrosource to get the whole thing. His study, as well as many articles in the popular media, point to the fact that compliance is about much more than remembering to take pills at the right time. Medications can make people feel awful, or look awful, or be unable to participate in importa...

I was interviewed yesterday by a student at University of North Caroline Charlotte , as part of an applied anthropology class she is taking. An interesting assignment, I think, because the students both learn about what applied anthropologists are doing and practice interviewing and interaction skills. She told me the university is growing, and the anthro department is hoping to set up a Master's program, which would be great. One of the questions she asked me was what course did I think was essential, if I were to set up an anthropology program. I couldn't give her one course, but I did give a description of my ideal program. Granted, I went through a strictly academic progam, so I lean that way--I do feel an ideal program should expose students to all four fields, but in such a way that they understand how they are related to each other, and that they understand both how they can be applied in the "real world" (what is the real world?) or they can pursue deeper ...

We had a visit from Senator Christopher Dodd last week. Always interesting to watch a politician at work. My politics are mostly in line with his, so I didn't have major objections to much of what he said (and in fact got my own moment in the press by asking a question). But it was fascinating to watch him talk and answer questions--he gave lengthly answers that managed to weave through multiple issues, so that even though the majority of the time was Q&A (as opposed to speech) he addressed all the major topics he wanted to speak to. And in some cases managed to answer questions without giving a definitive opinion, yet he was fairly outspoken on his stance on many things. An interesting fact I didn't know was that his father, Thomas Dodd, was one of the prosecutors at the Nuremburg Trials .

Or at least that is a nice way of noting that I haven't been blogging in a while...And well winter does involve a different mode really. Perhaps I am just thinking about hibernation because I am reading Verlyn Klinkenborg's book Timothy; or, Notes of an Abject Reptile . The book is written from the perspective of the tortoise who lived in Gilbert White's garden in Selbourne, England in the 18th century. One of the many things White himself was fascinated by was the clockwork disappearance and reappearance of Timothy in fall and spring. I am a little biased, having had the opportunity to take a class from Klinkenborg when I was an undergraduate, but I would highly recommend anything he has written to anyone who loves reading excellent writing. While we as humans don't hibernate (though sometimes I wish I could), I am not sure how well suited we are for colder climates where we do need to hide from the elements. Now that the weather is warmer, the only place my son (...

I read an interesting article on trend forecasting today. I've always found this fascinating (and wonder how much anybody checks later to see if the forecasters were right). The only thing that bothered me about this one, and this is not new, is the claim that what they do is like cultural anthropology. This is not a diss on advertising, marketing, trend forecasting, or any of the other fields that claim to be like anthropology--these folks to interesting work. I am just annoyed at the claim itself. Granted, we anthropologists are not always good at advertising ourselves...in that we offer a holistic approach, and theoretical insight based on our training. So anybody who observes people is now an anthropologist. Or is it just that Americans are so used to sound bites that they don't understand the nuanced differences in anything? Sigh.

Anand Chhatpar has put up a request for lists of innovative and inspiring places in the US on the BrainReactions blog . There is an interesting mix of places there, from creative labs to museums to the great outdoors. I added some of my favorite aquaria (I am apparently still on a fish thing) and some cool buildings: Monterey Bay Aquarium New England Aquarium National Aquarium Taliesen West Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge Once I got going on structures, I really thought about innovative and inspiring places around the world. The first that popped into mind (probably because I was thinking about architecture) was Vienna--Art Nouveau, the Secessionist movement , Huntertwasser ...Though now I could start going on about my favorite places around the world... Others?

Very excited to hear this morning about gorillas in the wild being observed using tools for a variety of things. One used a stick to test water depth before stepping in (nice photo here ). That is not just tool use, it is pretty high level thinking, in my opinion. Once again, we are not alone... On a side note, not quite as anthropological, I was also excited to learn this week that a live giant squid has been filmed. Don't think they use tools, but a reminder that quite a bit of science fiction is fact if you look below the waterline is a good thing.

Yikes. Over two weeks since I posted. Yes, yes plenty of excuses...a training course one week followed by my parents in town (baby's 1st birthday, we survived a year!), followed by a week in the UK at the People Inspired Innovation conference (which was great, by the way, and I think the presentations--mine included--will be posted soon so keep checking back). And then what felt like a nasty case of jet lag (only 5 hours?) in fact turned into a nasty virus--better now, thanks. Anyway, during this lag I have thought about my blog...but not posted. Is it an obligation that I am not fulfilling when I don't post regularly? Or is is a comfortable chair to come back to and write when I have the chance, just like sometimes I get to curl up with a good book yet too often can't find the time? Clearly I will not become an uberblogger anytime soon...and yet, I do like my little outlet.

I have been doing some background research on distance collaboration for the EPIC paper I am writing with Dina . A great deal of what I have been reading talks about the importance of trust in collaborative relationships. I suppose in some ways that is maybe a no-brainer, but I hadn't really thought much about it before and now I am thinking about it a great deal. I do trust the people who I work with face to face every day because I know them, I know their work, and I know I can count on them (or in some cases I know where the weaknesses are so I can plan for that). And yes, I have at times worked with people who I don't trust, in that I don't have faith in the quality of their work. So how does trust develop in virtual relationships? Does it take more time? Does it take the same amount of baseline experience? Or do we take bigger leaps of faith? I haven't really worked this out yet, but it is fun to be mulling around on.