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something is up. this morning and tuesday morning i woke up at 3:45 am, on my own, completely awake. each time after going to sleep just after midnight. do i magically only need three and a half hours of sleep now?
last night i took the first in a series of classes on karma and the 12 nidanas. one of my favorite teachers, jesse miller, took us after preliminaries through the inner three circles of a thulka painting on the subject. these circles represent the way in which we keep spinning our wheels. trungpa rinpoche called the circle “compulsive nowness in which the universe recurs”. i saw it as a sort of psychological map of neurosis.
click this thulka painting to zoom in. click this link to hear about the map in summary. Read more »
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ok, i’m feeling like i’m falling behind on my reading and things i’d like to write about and this weekend i’m traveling. that said i’d like to start writing about work too.
for awhile now i’ve considered that. work is huge big part of my life, but i’ve avoided the topic because i wasn’t sure yet if i wanted this journal to be found and read by folks that i work with. just writing about it will make it findable. but i’ve been moving in a more open direction in general here and i’m interested in writing about the technologies that i work on, so here goes. i work at this wizzy silicon valley startup.
as a result of that link, folks at work who monitor what’s being said about our products on the web will now read this entry (Hey Rob! Leave a comment to say hi!)
what do i do? i was originally hired to create a macintosh version of the software that talks to our home office / personal server. but the real need i’ve been filling for the last year has been in usability design - from out of box materials to web site experience - and creating the dynamic side of the web site. a mirra server gives you remote access to files that you’ve backed up, so by signing into our web site using a password you can access your files on the road or in a cafe. i’m responsible for that whole process. similarly, you can use the mirra to share big files with friends, files which are too hefty for email. we do the heavy lifting for you and let you share things with friends encrypted via our site. so far the press has been good, and we’re chugging along, and i’m super happy that i get to continue to design and create some new approaches to worthwhile problems.
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found this story this weekend, alluding to the different approaches to dharma and their coming to america. i found the anecdote in the beginning of joseph goldstein’s latest new book titled One Dharma. I’ll paraphrase it:
Zen Master Seung Sahn had moved from korea to america and was working in a laundry mat in providence, rhode island - teaching to whomever would listen while they cleaned their clothes. one day Kalu Rinpoche came to visit, and in classic dharma combat style Master Sahn held up an orange and asked Rinpoche “What is this?”
Rinpoche just looked at the Zen Master, curiously.
Master Sahn said again, “What is this?”
Kalu Rinpoche then turned to his translator and asked “Don’t they have oranges in Korea?”
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when i spent my teens in the south, it always struck me when we travelled that rest stops would have four bathrooms. but it wasn’t until later that i realized this was a legacy of our “separate but equal” laws that weren’t struck down until the 50’s.
unfortunately, not enough people in this country realize that the gay marriage issue is the same in substance. even civil union laws don’t fly as a remedy. that remedy is an example of the separate but equal doctrine, and history in this country has proven that separate but equal is rarely equal.
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happened upon this unfortunate story about a skydiving accident, but more interestingly also the story of her recovery and self designed therapy. Check out the summarizing flash animation.
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this just in, attributed to Susan Montoya Bryan of AP, New Mexico has started issuing marriage licenses to gay couples today and at least 15 couples have been married. New Mexico State Republican Sen. Steve Komadina was quoted as saying this was poor since the government was planning to make a decision on the matter in a few days. But what government is going to take the leap and go against the majority though immoral opinion?
“I feel badly that action was taken before an answer was obtained,”
Komadina said. “That was very irresponsible and will cause heartache to
people on all sides of the question.”
i wrote a letter to the Senator explaining that any heartache wouldn’t come close to the suffering that the gay minority has endured in unfairness. i asked him when that minority would be protected under the constitution, in the same way that any racial minority is now so protected. i’m sure he’s heard that argument before, hopefully my voice added to that will continue to affect him. his email address is komadina@stevekomadina.com
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There’s definitely concern amongst friends that the marriages in SF might cause backlash, which they may. And that they may hurt the democratic ticket in November, which they may. I’m anxiously waiting to see the momentum they may build or opponents they may provoke. Then for courage I listened again to this great man who once said from inside his jail cell:
“We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct-action campaign that was ‘well timed’ in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease [of segregation, in that case]. For years now I have heard the word “Wait!” It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This “Wait” has almost always meant “Never”. We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that “justice too long delayed is justice denied.”
- Martin Luther King Jr.
Listen to the audio of MLK Jr’s speech from the birmingham jail (thanks kathy). Where else but San Francisco should non-violent demonstrations be held like King’s Birmingham.
Read more »
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this is an amazing video of a man falling asleep at the wheel and he had some form of dashboard video camera. (looks like the link is down because it became too popular)
that makes me really wonder, who has a dashboard video camera and for what purpose? it doesn’t look like he’s driving a commercial vehicle like a cab nor a police car. perhaps it’s one of those small courier companies. i found this news item about companies using cameras aimed at drivers to monitor poor driving habits. presumably for large fleets that’s useful though a pretty invasive use of video technology to manage employees. what if my company were to install cams in all of our offices to monitor how productive we were? i guess if our occupation had a life and death element - like driving a 2000 pound missile - then it’s more warranted?
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this article in the nytimes (no account needed link) has a nice description of the process tivo used to user test and design their remote. before i threw out my tv, i was a pretty zealous tivo fan and the remote really was a positive emotive component for me.
his mantra for rapid and creative prototyping of early, ugly, and often is something i’ll borrow happily.
monkey see, monkey do serves as a personal blog and creative outlet for
something is up. this morning and tuesday morning i woke up at 3:45 am, on my own, completely awake. each time after going to sleep just after midnight. do i magically only need three and a half hours of sleep now?