A friend, currently in her surgical residency program, describes what “scrubbing in” feels like:
Once you’re scrubbed in, you can’t really do anything else until the procedure is over. If someone calls for you, all you have to say is “I’m scrubbed in”. You can’t touch your pager. You can’t touch anything. And you yourself are literally untouchable.
Is there benefit in “scrubbing in” for the rest of us, in other types of work? What might it look like for designers?
Ambition and naivete always seem to go together; it seems like a good idea to always be a novice at something, but to be aware of it.
Both the Kouign Amann LD and John Morciglio’s M1 are pretty cool looking.
This is the best explanation I’ve seen for why people vote against their own interests, seen often in US elections:
“If people vote against their own interests, it is not because they do not understand what is in their interest or have not yet had it properly explained to them. They do it because they resent having their interests decided for them by politicians who think they know best.”
These fenders are my next set. Super-slim and clean, they also stabilize themselves using felt pads which clean your rims as you ride.
“In what was described as a ‘brief interview,’ the Dalai Lama told The Associated Press that he had never heard of [Tiger] Woods, who last week said he plans to explore anew the Buddhist teachings from his childhood.” – CNN.com.
A fascinating and sometimes frightening look at the way games are invading every aspect of our lives, and where they may be going next. The last 8 minutes are a wild exploration of one possible future.
Apparently viruses and virus-like components make up almost half our DNA. Viruses and humans have coevolved for millenia, and viruses introduce new genetic material to our species, aiding evolution. Harmful viruses have repeatedly killed off those unsuited to them, leaving us, the product of countless epidemics, with their defenses written in our DNA.
“Every day, I struggle with ambition. Every day, I try to understand the meaning of this line: ‘Live your life without ambition. But live as those who are ambitious.’” – Larry Brilliant. I’ve been sending the entire (10-year-old) article to everyone I know lately.
Some very cool recumbents from RaptoBike. Low Racer is really low; Mid racer takes up to 2 700c wheels. Might have to give one a shot.
I’ve never really considered voting systems other than the representative plurality and plurality-at-large system in the US, where a single person represents all, regardless of whether they received a majority of votes, or the relative proportions of votes for other candidates. Also known as “first-past-the-post” or “winner-take-all” voting, this encourages heavy, expensive campaigning, polarized views, and slate voting, and often produces a winner with 51% of the vote (and 49% of voters angered).
Wikipedia has a great explanation of many other voting systems and their effect on election results. Several of these seem like advances to our current system, and many are in use around the world.
I was particularly struck by the fact that most major democracies elect their representatives using a proportional representation system, “aimed at securing a close match between the percentage of votes that groups of candidates (grouped by a certain measure) obtain in elections and the percentage of seats they receive” (Wikipedia). Proportional representation has in the past been used to break up both Democratic and Republican party “machines”, and encourages the formation of smaller parties, who are able to effectively represent smaller groups of people. It also encourages higher voter turnout, since unlike plurality-at-large systems or our Electoral College, votes for second-place winners are still effective (in the 1994 Congressional elections, by comparison, only 21% of votes actually helped elect someone).
I also liked former Stanford housemate Clark Durant’s idea for “turn-taking terms”, which proposes to split a term into smaller pieces and have the candidates compete for how many pieces they will govern, and in which order. This, he argues, “creates the incentives for politicians to build broader supermajority coalitions”, and “coalitions are put in a position where they can hold one another reciprocally accountable”. It seems a bit like a shortened version of what we have at a national level today, with most offices carrying 2- or 4-year terms. Already those are at the low end of what is necessary for enacting change, and shortening them further could either paralyze the system or force more cooperation–what Clark calls “government by the golden rule”.
Our increasingly partisan Congress seems ripe for voting innovation. Perhaps one of these systems could break up both the Democratic and Republican machines, and start doing something new?
Take an abundant, desirable, free resource and dangle it in front of them for hours without sharing, while hiding your reasons behind a mountain of illogical babble.
I’m sitting in the back of a United Airlines plane right now with a couple dozen other passengers. We’re crammed like sardines in a few Economy rows, while in front of us are 10 rows of empty “Economy Plus” seats. Either United drastically overestimated the demand for seat upgrades on this flight or they are deliberately trying to shift their seating toward premium spots.
Either way, it seem like a fantastic opportunity to make your customers happy, with a free upgrade to a nicer seat. Simply let people move around before the gate closes, and the plane would be balanced and happy. Better yet, surprise people at check-in with automatic upgrades. People would certainly appreciate and remember such nice treatment and be more likely to choose your airline in the future. They’d also have had a taste of Economy Plus benefits and know what they’re worth the next time.
Unfortunately, the policies in place prohibit that. I’ve heard reasons from the flight attendant ranging from “it would imbalance the plane” (what kind of bizarre balance do we have now?) to “it wouldn’t be fair to the people who paid for these seats” (would they fail to have them?) and “only gate agents can change seats” (Southwest passengers choose their own seats on every flight), but in the end the the result is that no one on board is authorized to change anyone’s seat, and we took off with an embarrassment of open seats in front of an angry crowd. There’s even only one person in the entire exit row (which the gate attendant denied existing when I tried to check for available seats), and I’m not really sure who would be in charge of opening the other door in case of emergency.
In the meantime, since they boarded the flight early and we sat for a while (including a delay while one man tried to pay for an upgrade, requiring assistance from both flight attendants), the entire back of the plane has been buzzing about the ridiculous situation and pestering the flight attendant, who clearly has no power to do anything but is scrambling to placate the mob by reciting all the reasons she can’t. Everyone is participating in a shared cathartic conversation about the ineptitudes of United Airlines. Except for me, as I’m busy writing this screed to post online (I may not be as persuasive as the United breaks guitars guy, but I do what I can). I wouldn’t be surprised if United loses dozens of customers over this single mismanaged flight.
My last United trip (note: my spell correction software just suggested “untenable” instead of “United” when I mistyped; I was tempted to keep it that way) was similarly outrageous. When checking in for the flight we were told for the first time that our seats were not guaranteed and we’d have to stand by the desk, watching a screen to see if we got on. That time I gave in to the extortion and upgraded to Economy Plus (which guaranteed seats), while watching dozens of people get bumped from the flight and delay their vacations, and I vowed to never fly the airline again as long as that behavior continued. United seems to have abandoned that policy, only to replace it with one just as ridiculous when I gave them a second chance.
I don’t mind if an airline–or any company–charges higher prices if that’s backed up by consistent, humane behavior. And I recognize that airlines are feeling pressure on their bottom lines and operate in an extremely regulated, bureaucratic industry. But this pattern of bait-and-switch penny pinching has spoiled United for me, and in the future I’ll pay premiums and inconvenience myself to fly other airlines, avoiding United whenever I can.
What lessons can be found here? First, be real with your policies. Give them wiggle room and empower your people to modify them on the fly. The saddest part of the whole situation to me was watching the poor flight attendant harrangued by the passengers when she had no authority to help. I love a tip from Tim Ferris, who authorizes his assistants to solve any customer’s problem, without consulting him, if it costs less than $100 to fix. Over time, he’s repeatedly raised that limit rather than lowering it.
Second, be transparent in your customer interactions. Don’t mix prices around hoping to squeeze a bit more money out of people. Just state clearly what you offer for what price.
Finally, when you have the chance to do something nice for people, especially when it doesn’t cost you anything, do it! Actively look for ways to be generous to your customers. They’ll remember it and be loyal to you for a long time.
UPDATE: The next flight was “oversold by 40″, which resulted in lots of frayed nerves and strict enforcement of carry-on restrictions, which slowed boarding to a crawl and irritated nearly everyone.
So rule 4 from this trip: Don’t promise what you can’t deliver.
A fascinating view into the cameras and technology used in Avatar. The new technology included a virtual camera that lets you physically shoot a virtual scene, augmented reality that overlays live footage with CGI backgrounds, face-scanning cameras, and a combination 2D/3D camera.
Another innovation was adding imperfections (camera movements, lens flares) to make a “perfect” virtual world more believable.
Really interesting to think about what this technology might do when released to the world in a few years…
Update: i09 has a bunch of great interviews with designers who worked on Avatar: part 1, part 2, part 3
Professional futurist Adam Gordon has a good post up exploring similar issues to my future/mindfulness post the other day, but focused on how the Haiti crisis focuses us on the present, while making us wish we had anticipated this kind of future ahead of time:
In a foresight community we are, I think, rightly vociferous in getting decision makers to see the benefits of taking a long-term view, despite the systemic short-termism of incentive cycles (annual reports, political elections, and – dare I say it – banking bonuses) that most organizations and human systems use as basis of reward. But at times like this, similar to post-Katrina, post-the 2004 tsunami, and previous epic-scale natural and human disasters, we should not bury our heads in the sand of tomorrow. For now it is the present that counts: focusing on what matters to save lives and give food, shelter, and a modicum of respect to those with shattered lives.
But with many similarities.
“I actually would’ve gotten a lot of stuff done Friday if the whole universe hadn’t been against me,” Olson said. “I took my car in to get my tires rotated, but the guy said he couldn’t get to it until the following Tuesday, so I was like, ‘Screw that.’ I also went to Staples to pick up the computer desk I’d had on layaway for the last month, but I forgot to bring my receipt. They wouldn’t give the stupid thing to me, even after arguing with the guy for almost an hour. The whole day was a colossal waste. Except I got a new belt I needed for work.”
Michael Beirut, partner at Pentagram, describes his real design process:
“When I do a design project, I begin by listening carefully to you as you talk about your problem and read whatever background material I can find that relates to the issues you face. If you’re lucky, I have also accidentally acquired some firsthand experience with your situation. Somewhere along the way an idea for the design pops into my head from out of the blue. I can’t really explain that part; it’s like magic. Sometimes it even happens before you have a chance to tell me that much about your problem!”
As much as we like to tell ourselves (and others) about our robust, repeatable, formal design process, great work usually comes down to a little bit of magic.
Proust illuminates the first part of my media diet (creation/consumption balance) better than I did:
“Reading becomes dangerous when instead of waking us to the personal life of the spirit it tends to substitute itself for it.”
“Imagination has brought mankind through the dark ages to its present state of civilization. Imagination led Columbus to discover America. Imagination led Franklin to discover electricity. Imagination has given us the steam engine, the telephone, the talking-machine, and the automobile, for these things had to be dreamed of before they became realities. So I believe that dreams–daydreams, you know, with your eyes wide open and your brain machinery whizzing–are likely to lead to the betterment of the world. The imaginative child will become the imaginative man or woman most apt to invent, and therefore to foster, civilization.” – L. Frank Baum
