Chumdinger

This is just plain sad. People are willing to help and there are those still refusing to accept it:

“I am both saddened and frustrated to know that we have been in a position to help ease the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people and help mitigate further loss of life, but have been unable to do so because of the unrelenting position of the Burma military junta,” Admiral Timothy Keating, commander of US Pacific Command, said in a statement.

US ships to leave cyclone-hit Myanmar after junta snub

If you haven’t read Part One, lets recap.

Back in the day, people lived closer and had community with each other. In Los Angeles and many other places, we’re so spread out, that we generally don’t. With the some of these popular web applications going mobile, how do we use them to help build real authentic community?

Maybe it’s best explained by an example. Last week, a few of us decided to go see the new Indiana Jones movie. I posted the time and place on Twitter & Facebook just 2 hours before and invited anyone in proximity of the theater to join us.

“Do people even read these updates?” I thought, “Would anyone change their schedule to join us?”

To our surprise, we were joined by a friend who was in the neighborhood. She was headed to the library and took a detour to hang out with us before the movie. And another friend met up with us late. I got a text in the dark theater “I’m here, hold up your phone”

Other friends have done spontaneous lunches and get togethers too. But imagine the possibilities. Lets say you’re getting your oil changed. You have half an hour of waiting so you twitter it and brightkite your location… or if you’re layover at DFW just got delayed for 3 more hours… or if you have time between meeting and looking to fill time. Making connections are easier with just a text message to Twitter.

So Twitter works for organizing events. But it also works for staying connected. Know what’s been going on between emails, between phone calls, between meeting up in person. So when you do meet up in person, imagine not having to spend the first half hour catching up on what’s been going on but on conversations that move into more substantial topics… ideas, relationships, God.

But how about creating community to those we don’t know?

Jared K. & I set up a Twitter feed last week at the Foundry and displayed it on the jumbotron in front of 200 people. It automatically refreshed and included an invitation for all to join in. And people started to use it. Mostly to say hi and to see if the technology worked. But there is huge potential here for people to interact, for conversations to be started, for new friends to be made.

Imagine this set up at a busy coffee shop. Instead of people with their heads focused on their laptops, you could get some interactions going. Brightkite gives you the option of notifying you if other Brightkite users (even strangers) are at the same place you are. And if a conversation start because of it, then you’ve just made the world a smaller place. People actually talking to people.

Isn’t that what dog owners do? They have more liberty to talk to other dogs owners because they already have that in common. But many of us can’t own dogs, or aren’t willing to clean up after them. Many of us want to interact with others and not be isolated beings, we were made that way. And now these mobile technologies are helping us, but it’s not without it’s hurdles.

There’s a slight technical hurdle to overcome. Some people refuse to even use text messages saying “if you really want to talk to me, you’ll call me”. But we can’t call 20 friends to catch up everyday, can we? Even at 10 minutes each conversation, that’s 3 hours.

And there probably needs to be a balance of giving out too much information vs. being a hermit. It’s probably a different amount for each person and I’m still trying to find that balance.

“Community takes a lot of effort.” my friend James says.

We all want to stay in touch, but we want to do it with as little effort as possible. With our handful of core friends, it’s easy. But with good friends that we don’t see all the time, it’s a little tougher.

Twitter, Facebook, Brightkite, and other mobile technologies makes this effort easier, with tool to get people talking, interacting, and involved with each others’ lives. Not just virtually, but away from our computers in the real world.

Have you heard about TED? Not the failed discount United Airlines discount carrier. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, & Design. It’s an annual conference of the best and brightest on ideas that will change the world — “inspired talks by the worlds greatest thinkers and doers”

Now you can watch these talks on their website or download them for free from iTunes. There are many talk, on many topics, and by many people that we probably know.

One of the talks struck me as I watch with friends in San Diego. It’s by Mark Bittman, New York Times food writer, and he talks about what’s wrong with what we eat.

It’s a bit long at 20 minutes, but it’s worth watching. I’ll probably think a little differently next time I sit down for a tenderloin.

Watch the Video Here

I was reading the other day that idling you car in traffic burns about half a gallon of gas every 30 minutes and burns a few people’s patience as well. And while I’m lucky to have everything in walking distance when at home (i.e. grocery, restaurants, coffee houses, etc.) and at work, I still have to drive between the two places.

On some evenings, I drive directly from work to Bel Air (20.5 miles), right in the middle of peak Los Angeles rush hour. I used to take the freeways (see blue route below) from El Segundo. Pretty straight forward. 105 east to 405 north, exit Mulholland and I’m there. Problem is, that during rush hour, this takes about 1 hour 20 minutes.

Most people think that freeways are the fastest ways to get to a destination. They may the most direct, but when everyone is on them, it’s not the fastest.

So I talked to a few folks and honed in on a new plan, mainly using surface streets (see red route). The result on yesterday’s commute? Just shy of 50 minutes… a half hour savings.

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I did a map to help visualize:

Blue Route : 1 hour 20 minutes
Start in El Segundo (bottom of map) Main Street north to 105 E to 405 N to Mulholland

Red Route : 50 minutes
Start in El Segundo Grand Ave west to Vista del Mar to Culver, Left on Centinella, Right on Ocean Park, Left on Barrington, Cut over on side streets to Santa Monica, 405 N onramp which is the same as the Wilshire offramp, Exited 405 at Wilshire, Turned north onto Sepulveda, Back on 405 just past Sunset to Mulholland.

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So what have I learned from this other than it saves time? In the bigger perspective, just because everyone is doing something a certain way, doesn’t mean it’s always the best way. If you’re stuck in a frustrating situation, you don’t have to stay there. And to quote Robert Frost — 

A predicted solar eclipse stops a battle and ends a war. Read the rest of the Wired article.

The heavens darkened. Soldiers of both kings put down their weapons. The battle was over. And so was the war.

With all of our frustrations on Twitter being unreliable lately, Dan Farber posts a good blog on Twitter and the bigger picture:

The obsession with the ups and downs of Twitter among my friends has generated a great deal of bloviation, including my own. On a slow news weekend, Twitter’s performance problems are fodder for a bit of theater and for getting some daily keyboard exercise.

The image below is meant to bring some perspective to the Twittersphere. On one hand, Twitter navel gazing (or any other navel gazing) is a waste of resources in the context of what is going on in the world. On the other hand, Twitter and its brethren are becoming viable communications vehicles for spreading the “word” and images.

For example, I first learned of the recent tragic earthquake in China via Twitter messages from people I follow on the service. To be clear, Twitter is not the Holy Grail of communications services–it’s an extension of instant messaging and technologies such as RSS. Nor are the 140 characters in a Twitter message a substitute for a blog post or news article. But a “tweet” can be a network amplifier, providing a brief snapshot, innervated by followers and the followed, that can be broadcast around the world in near real time.

Twitter and related services are currently noisy, spammy, unwieldy, overrated, and often unreliable. But over time, the core concepts will become an integral part of the Internet’s communications fabric.

Here’s a link to Dan’s blog.

Thanks Matt for sending this over. It starts out with this quote:

I had always felt life first as a story- and if there is a story there is a storyteller.
- G. K. Chesterten

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oavhdsGu4Hg&hl=en&fs=1]

This sign was spotted today on one of the expressways in Thailand. We probably should be reminded of this too. Here’s what it says:

“…the prosperity of the country means the lasting prosperity of the people of the whole country” – Royal Guidance given on July 20, 1967 – “…advocation of sustainable economy”

Check out what these folks in New York are doing to investigate and document the sex trafficking industry in Southeast Asia:

The Blind Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness and improving the quality of life for sex trafficking victims in Southeast Asian by providing access to rehabilitation services, quality education and innovative economic opportunities.

http://www.theblindproject.com

Back in the day, people were in real authentic community with each other… in that, I mean they knew those around them, were involved in each others lives, celebrated in the good time, and helped each other during the bad.

Mainly because people were isolated to smaller areas. Before cars, they walked. Before telephones, they talked to those around them. Before suburbs, they lived in closer proximity. Before computers, televisions, video games… you get the idea.

Now, we’re all busy. In our cars, driving everywhere, stuck in traffic, wearing bluetooth headsets. We’re spread out all over the city living very isolated lives in comparison. Having that same sense of community is pretty difficult.

I think it’s easy to maintain relationships with a handful of close friends and family members. You know, those that really truly know us. Or as Mark Brewer puts it, those that “will pick you up from LAX”.

But what about everyone else? You know, those that may not be your best friends but are more than acquaintances. Or even the strangers around us?

Social networking sites like Facebook have made it a little easier, finding friends old and new, staying connected through photos, emails, and status updates. But who wants to sit in front of their computers all day? Messaging, chatting, emailing, blogging… (not that there’s anything wrong with blogging).

But a proliferation of new technologies promises to change all that.

The iPhone – It’s changing the way we use our phones. Now, we have the internet at our fingertips, the web made mobile.

Facebook – It’s going mobile too. A light version you can take with you on your web enabled phone. Even if you have a regular mobile phone, you can now receive SMS updates when friends post on your wall, send you a message, etc… and you can respond back via SMS messages as well. Ok, let me back up a little. Here’s a little bit about Social Networking in Plain English:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a_KF7TYKVc&hl=en&fs=1]

Twitter – It’s microblogging, but really it’s updating your status or writing whatever you want in 140 characters or less though your mobile phone. Friends can follow what you’re up to, and in turn you can keep up to date on their adventures. Here’s a brief explanation of Twitter in Plain English:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o&hl=en&fs=1]

Brightkite – It’s location based social networking. Like Twitter, Brightkite allows you to microblog your status via mobile phone but with photos too. It allows you to “check-in” at your current location, and geotag your photos with your current location, and without needing GPS.

And with the iPhone soon to be adding automatic geotagging to photos taken on it’s camera, it’ll make it even easier.

But who wants to manage all these different sites. And does anyone expect all of your friends to sign up for each and every one?

This is where the simplicity lies. Brightkite works with Twitter, and Twitter works with Facebook, and Facebook is now mobile so you don’t have to be in front of you computer. So all one has to do is send one update and all the different platforms talk to each other.

And how does all of this techno stuff help to build real authentic community? In which people and involved in the lives of those around them, and interact with each other face to face?

Here’s Part 2