tingilinde

happy birthday colleen

Happy Birthday Colleen!

your 6.66 ns length should be in Beijing.

colleen is in sierra magazine

My friend Colleen is in the current issue of Sierra Magazine. The physical magazine is only available to members, but the article appears online.A nice photo, but too short to get into what she is doing.

She is developing her project working with kids and engendering a love of health, fun exercise and gardening and has lots of good stuff coming. Being a two meter tall professional athlete, she tends to get the attention of the kids

She asks for ideas and comments at www.6footsix.com. And if you know any kids who might want to team up with her, stay tuned and follow her blog.

happy anniversary sukie

Happy anniversary Sukie!

pesto for jessica's birthday

Today is Jessica's birthday and we are having a similar meal to celebrate since she is in a different part of the country. Part of the meal is pesto on curly pasta. Since Jessica is vegan, here is the recipe Sukie created for the occasion (very good btw!)

Outside the Margins Pesto

8 oz of button mushrooms broken small and cooked well with 2 small minced onions, extra virgin olive oil, a little water and a good bit of golden sherry

About 1/2 to 2/3 of that will go into the pesto and you can use the rest as is or with some extra black pepper and some parsley added, or with fresh peas, or...

For the pesto itself: use the food processor to process fully:

that portion of the cooked mushroom combo
4 chopped cloves of garlic
about 1 and 1/2 cups of shelled pecans
salt and pepper to taste
a generous amount (I had to had more as it was processing.) of a flavorful oil such as Sciabica's Hillside 7 Estate Pressing
I guess about a 1/2 cup to 2/3 of a cup of very flavorful basil leaves
I guess about a cup to a cup and a half of Italian Parsley leaves

And when processed fully that gets you our Outside the Margins Pesto!

steve cisler is gone

Steve's death came as a shock, but not a surprise. He had been fighting cancer for some time.

He was one of the kindest and most interesting people I've known. We first met in the early 90s doing some community networking and I was fascinated by his librarian - almost anthropological - approach to understanding the world.

There was nothing like traveling with him. Rank or station meant nothing and his fierce dedication to those without means was an inspiration to me. On a trip with him in 1996 it struck me that I was traveling with the first librarian of the Internet.

He convinced me that I should tithe time to causes and people I believed in. I have been doing this for years and it is the greatest gift he gave me.

I was his backoffice partner in the unconnected project. He was traveling and observing the unconnected and, to better understand things, kept himself from the Internet. Every few weeks I would get a memory card with his notes and images for posting on the blog. I have arranged that this blog will be hosted indefinitely.

I feel cheated - we should all feel cheated. Far too young.

happy birthday dad!

Happy Birthday Dad!

lemon pie today!

friends and their passions

Recently David wrote eloquently about a friend of his.

I too have have great friends - the best sort of wealth there is.

Colleen happens to be one of them. Here is a short piece I wrote about her approach towards dealing with global warming:

The scientific debate is settled. We humans have a major role in the increase in average global temperature and the consequences of the potential rapid change through the rest of the century are not cheery. We have to do something about it if we care about our children, their children and their grandchildren. The first steps are convincing people there is a problem and that there are things they can do to make a difference.

AVP professional beach volleyball player Colleen Smith is hard at work convincing people that climate change is not something we can ignore . Waiting for technology alone to save the day is too risky. She reasons we need to embrace the idea of change and start making changes where we can. The journey is worthwhile and we may even become better people for it. But there are people who need to understand this and share her passion.

Her strategy is to engage people and get them thinking on their own about what they can do. People have to stay positive or they may give up.

Colleen is a tall, powerful and passionate young woman who gets attention when she is at her beach “office” training or playing. The beach is something that will change as sea level increases and this gave her an idea. She wears tattoos at heights where scientists think sea levels may be in the future. People are naturally curious about these marks and conversations begin: Conversations with these props give people a visual sense of what is at stake.

They see,
they hear,
and they remember.

Young people, particularly youngsters, are fascinated by this strong woman and Colleen explains that they should not see this as a frightening future that is out of their hands. It is not something to fear and retreat from, but rather something where we - where they - can change the outcome. We need to attack it with the energy that she attacks a volleyball.

As she talks to the children, she gives them suggestions of positive steps they can take and encourages them to spread the word to their family and friends. They can help their parents make the right choices when important decisions are made. She tells them there is no magic solution, but rather many smaller actions that can and must be done. There is no silver bullet, but there is silver buckshot.

She has started to blog at www.6footsix.com and you can follow her work with kids, her life as a pro beach volleyball player, and Zula and Daisy-Mae - her pups and co-conspirators in all of this.

I don't say this often, but giving a bit to her will make a real difference. This is going to be a terrific season for her and all of us can share in her passion. She is also making a real difference educating exciting kids. She gets them interested in kid things that make a difference and make them appreciate themselves and the outdoors - gardening, biking/walking/running rather than having their parents cart them around. And even a bit of easy conservation smarts. There is a link on her site that is marked paypal, but you can use a regular credit card. If you want to send a check and a letter, send her email and she'll give you an address.

A great friend of mine and two fine causes in one. I'm sure I will write more as the Summer unfolds, but this is a very critical time for her and I stand behind her a thousand percent.

happy birthday bjarne

Happy Birthday Bjarne!

celebration is called for today, but a parrot is probably not appropriate

happy birthday sukie!

Happy Birthday!

To the best wife a person could have.

happy birthday steve!

and german chocolate cake sounds like just the ticket

happy birthday mom!

October 4^th is an amazing day in history and a fine day for a birthday...

many more to you!

happy birthday corinne!

Happy Birthday to my sister Corinne .. horsewoman and artist extraordinaire

happy anniversary sukie!

Happy Anniversary Sukie!

happy birthday jessica!

Happy Birthday Jessica!

happy birthday dad!

Happy Birthday Dad!

douglas adams

sigh -- he would have been 55 today

a few quotes:

This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

••

In those days spirits were brave, the stakes were high, men were real men, women were real women and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri.

••

The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't.

••

There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, [The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy] suggests, and try it.
The first part is easy. All it requires is simply the ability to throw yourself forward with all your weight, and the willingness not to mind that it's going to hurt.

That is, it's going to hurt if you fail to miss the ground. Most people fail to miss the ground, and if they are really trying properly, the likelihood is that they will fail to miss it fairly hard.

Clearly, it is the second part, the missing, which presents the difficulties.

One problem is that you have to miss the ground accidentally. It's no good deliberately intending to miss the ground because you won't. You have to have your attention suddenly distracted by something else when you're halfway there, so that you are no longer thinking about falling, or about the ground, or about how much it's going to hurt if you fail to miss it.

It is notoriously difficult to prize your attention away from these three things during the split second you have at your disposal. Hence most people's failure, and their eventual disillusionment with this exhilarating and spectacular sport.

If, however, you are lucky enough to have your attention momentarily distracted at the crucial moment by, say, a gorgeous pair of legs (tentacles, pseudopodia, according to phyllum and/or personal inclination) or a bomb going off in your vicinty, or by suddenly spotting an extremely rare species of beetle crawling along a nearby twig, then in your astonishment you will miss the ground completely and remain bobbing just a few inches above it in what might seem to be a slightly foolish manner.

This is a moment for superb and delicate concentration. Bob and float, float and bob. Ignore all consideration of your own weight simply let yourself waft higher. Do not listen to what anybody says to you at this point because they are unlikely to say anything helpful. They are most likely to say something along the lines of "Good God, you can't possibly be flying!" It is vitally important not to believe them or they will suddenly be right.

Waft higher and higher. Try a few swoops, gentle ones at first, then drift above the treetops breathing regularly.

DO NOT WAVE AT ANYBODY.

When you have done this a few times you will find the moment of distraction rapidly easier and easier to achieve.

You will then learn all sorts of things about how to control your flight, your speed, your maneuverability, and the trick usually lies in not thinking too hard about whatever you want to do, but just allowing it to happen as if it were going to anyway.

You will also learn about how to land properly, which is something you will almost certainly screw up, and screw up badly, on your first attempt.

There are private clubs you can join which help you achieve the all-important moment of distraction. They hire people with surprising bodies or opinions to leap out from behind bushes and exhibit and/or explain them at the critical moments. Few genuine hitchhikers will be able to afford to join these clubs, but some may be able to get temporary employment at them.

march 4th, march forth

a day that sound like a command...

Happy Birthday to Jim .. and Antonio Vivaldi

a little story

happy birthday norm!

Happy Birthday Norm!

and hundreds more duckings!

happy birthday bjarne!

I'm having some fine hot chocolate in your honor this morning ... only the best.

Happy Birthday!

sukie's birthday

The big celebration is Sukie's Birthday!

Happy Birthday Sukie!

bjarne in technology review

A nice interview with Bjarne in Technology Review

recommended

happy holidays!

happy holidays from tingilinde!

The card is a bit old - this is the 11^th anniversary (although the midi file and hosting has changed over the years)

happy birthday steve

Happy Birthday Steve!

German Chocolate Cake is a fine choice, as is listening to Bach all day.

happy birthday magi!

Happy Birthday Magi!

The 13^th is on the appropriate day.

happy birthday mom!

Happy Birthday from Sukie, me and the five ferrets!

happy birthday bob and brian

Two friends born on the same day in Great Falls, Montana. In the old Montana drivers license numbering scheme they had the same license number...

happy birthday both of you!

an anniversary

happy anniversary sukie!

26... and 1 for telemna

happy birthday jessica!

Happy Birthday Jessica!

Celebrate with a vegan cake!

happy birthday nancy!

And a happy birthday to Nancy.

If you could save a piece of your cake for me (Nancy manages *really* great eats)

happy birthday dad!

Happy Birthday Dad!

nothing like a birthday during the most beautiful part of Spring.

happy birthday bjarne!

Happy Birthday Bjarne!

a beagle's birthday

Today marks the birthday of a beagle we had when I was a kid.

Lucky was taken to creating magic around him. Sometimes chaotic magic, but always amazing.

a celebration

Happy Birthday Sukie!!

sukie's great news

About two years ago Sukie developed some problems that made walking difficult - actually close to impossible. I won't go into specifics, but a very bleak picture was painted of likely causes and outcomes.

We did the standard search for medical help and finally ended up with a great surgeon/medical researcher who wanted to try physical therapy on basically a hunch. He and others also eliminated life threatening underlying problems. (it remains unexplained)

Sukie's walking had degenerated to something where ten foot walks in the house with a cane or walker were nearly impossible. She had amazing luck with physical therapy and a set of braces (why do simple braces cost $3000?) and was able to take short walks with her cane (ask me about iCanes sometime).

She stuck with it.

No one thought she would get back enough function to do away with the cane, but she did. A few months ago she largely did away with her braces.

When she started her PT, she told the people she would get to the point where she could walk five miles. They thought very short assisted walks were possible, but anything more was nothing more than hope.

            Today she walked 5.1 miles without a cane or braces.

She asks that those of you who know her treat yourself to a very sinful dinner or dessert in her honor.

I'm so incredibly proud of her!

happy birthday mom!

Happy Birthday!

pip's new venture

Pip is a friend and smartguy who worries deeply about tech investing. At UBS he published a series of documents that focused on change, but with some analysis on what sort of technologies would actually become important. He was one of the voices who was saying hard technology X plus a few years of Moore's Law is an insufficient prediction of success and had a very nice analytical framework for looking at what might potentially win or loose.

Now he has put up his own shingle. I recommend his work as fascinating and insightful and highly recommend chatting with him if you have the chance.

david isenberg, berkman fellow

excellent news!

happy birthday corinne!

Happy Birthday Corinne!

I didn't realize it, but it is also the Dalai Lama's birthday.

things that are difficult

it is so difficult to lose a friend

cherish your friends

happy birthday jessica!

Happy Birthday Jessica

the birthday terminator should be in your area now.

robyn wears her horns well!

And a happy Beltane to all of you!

happy birthday dad!

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

root beer and ice cream are in order and perhaps the kitties can sing "happy birthday"

happy happy news!

Jan and Norm are grandparents!

lynn's blog

After too many years I re-established contact with Lynn. It turns out she has a blog. I recommended it based on knowing some of Lynn's interests as well as her skill with the pen.

Some recent postings are from the recent CHI conference - specifically the note on Jared Spool's contention that usability doesn't scale. I am often struck by the mixture of skills required to do good design. People like Jonathan Ive are critical as are managers who recognize and push good design (Steve Jobs comes to mind, but most executives are examples of the opposite).

There are also products that demand an understanding of the underlying physics. Poor design of telephone handsets, aerodynamics on many cars, almost anything that has a radio, cooling issues, battery issues ... the list goes on and on. While most (all?) of this could be lumped into engineering, I would claim an understanding of it at a different level on the part of the designer is important. The issues must be recognized early on in the design process and the skills must be brought to bear. I've seen some beautiful "out of the box" thinking applied to some products when this approach has been used, but it is generally rare.

Some of us used to talk about the 0^th and 8^th layers needed to make the OSI model useful (not that I believe layers 1->7 are accurate anymore)

crazy growth

Richard Hawkes is a friend who happens to be deeply into the fundamentals of making business work. We've had delightful discussions and if you are involved with a business and are looking to grow it, might do well to look into Crazy Growth (his company).

Many business consultants and coaches turn me off. Crazy Growth has an interesting way of reformulating the problems at hand and offering solution paths that weren't immediately obvious.

In addition to Richard's coolness, I love the Crazy Growth logo.

happy birthday norm!

shhhh ... It's Norm's birthday!

In honor here is a bit of Douglas Adams - specifically a piece on how to fly from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, [The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy] suggests, and try it.

The first part is easy. All it requires is simply the ability to throw yourself forward with all your weight, and the willingness not to mind that it's going to hurt.

That is, it's going to hurt if you fail to miss the ground. Most people fail to miss the ground, and if they are really trying properly, the likelihood is that they will fail to miss it fairly hard.

Clearly, it is the second part, the missing, which presents the difficulties.

One problem is that you have to miss the ground accidentally. It's no good deliberately intending to miss the ground because you won't. You have to have your attention suddenly distracted by something else when you're halfway there, so that you are no longer thinking about falling, or about the ground, or about how much it's going to hurt if you fail to miss it.

It is notoriously difficult to prize your attention away from these three things during the split second you have at your disposal. Hence most people's failure, and their eventual disillusionment with this exhilarating and spectacular sport.

If, however, you are lucky enough to have your attention momentarily distracted at the crucial moment by, say, a gorgeous pair of legs (tentacles, pseudopodia, according to phyllum and/or personal inclination) or a bomb going off in your vicinty, or by suddenly spotting an extremely rare species of beetle crawling along a nearby twig, then in your astonishment you will miss the ground completely and remain bobbing just a few inches above it in what might seem to be a slightly foolish manner.

This is a moment for superb and delicate concentration. Bob and float, float and bob. Ignore all consideration of your own weight simply let yourself waft higher. Do not listen to what anybody says to you at this point because they are unlikely to say anything helpful. They are most likely to say something along the lines of "Good God, you can't possibly be flying!" It is vitally important not to believe them or they will suddenly be right.

Waft higher and higher. Try a few swoops, gentle ones at first, then drift above the treetops breathing regularly.

DO NOT WAVE AT ANYBODY.

When you have done this a few times you will find the moment of distraction rapidly easier and easier to achieve.

You will then learn all sorts of things about how to control your flight, your speed, your maneuverability, and the trick usually lies in not thinking too hard about whatever you want to do, but just allowing it to happen as if it were going to anyway.

You will also learn about how to land properly, which is something you will almost certainly screw up, and screw up badly, on your first attempt.

There are private clubs you can join which help you achieve the all-important moment of distraction. They hire people with surprising bodies or opinions to leap out from behind bushes and exhibit and/or explain them at the critical moments. Few genuine hitchhikers will be able to afford to join these clubs, but some may be able to get temporary employment at them.

a sunny day in montana

montanafun
Originally uploaded by esc.

My mother set a photo of my father as he finished reasoning with the snow on a warm (slightly below zero F) start to the new year in Montana.

The East Slope in Montana may not receive huge amounts of snow, but it can get impressively cold - -40 F (or C) is not uncommon with the record being something below -72F.

happy birthday bjarne!

Happy Birthday Bjarne!

We shall have some fine chocolate in honor of the day the next time we are together.

happy birthday sukie!

Happy Birthday Sukie!

protector of ferrets

magi the homewrecker

homewrecker
Originally uploaded by esc.

Not the standard post, but when your niece is using a sledge it seems reasonable to note the occasion.

By the way - Magi's photo was posted to my Flickr account and linked to my blog - a neat way to conserve blog storage space. A Flickr account is a great gift for someone who takes digital photos. It incorporates many of the current photosharing techniques and seems to work well. That said, Flicker and its competitors miss out on how people share photos... (mutter, grumble...)

happy birthday magi!

happy birthday to my niece Magi!

a birthday note

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

a note from the unconnected steve cisler

A packet just arrived from Steve Cisler and I have placed it on unconnected

recommended reading!

He will be sending packets at irregular intervals, so put unconnected in your news aggregator.

(for the interested ... we are exchanging smart media cards via physical mail)

trekking through the unconnected world with steve

Steve Cisler is a few days away from pulling his connection to the Net for a few months. His journey promises to be fascinating. You can follow his progress here. Updates will be infrequent, so put the unconnected link in your favorite news aggregator.

highly recommended!

happy birthday jeff!

Happy 50th Jeff

so sad - a little ferret gets her wings

Chiclet Crandall

december 16, 2002 - july 13, 2003

such a neat little creature. so young and so sad

A few months ago I made a short movie of Chiclet and her brother Hilbert trying to deal with the morning. The file is ferretbig.mov at this location. Hilbert has the white toes.

She had an incredible will to live. We also want to thank Joe Martins, her vet, for his great work and sensitivity.