How wonderful that we have met with a paradox. Now we have some hope of making progress. -Niels Bohr

In Bohr's mind, the paradox was an essential part of coming up with solutions to problems.  This point cannot be overstressed.  Paradox is the nursery from which the most brilliant ideas come forth.     When we are confronted with a problem is which increasing "A" decreases "B" and yet we need A and B to both increase, we are forced with having to redefine the problem and find solutions outside the way we've been thinking. 

Einstein once said,

 "You can never solve a problem on the level it was created." 

This goes hand in hand with Bohr's statement.  Where do you see problems that are seemingly insurmountable?  Look beyond the origins of the problem, into the paradoxes present, and then you'll truly start seeing solutions.

But, I'm not going to let the blog run unposted for too long. It will tarnish any good follower spirit on following this blog. Not that theres many. No pun intended. So, I'm going to reveal what I really seek from a woman. Here goes:

1. She who read well. I love to learn things, and it would be nice to be able to share without any restriction. I need a match on this interest as a lot of other similar interests wouldn't matter much if she didn't match this one.
2. She who knows how to listen as much as she could talk. And I hope she talk much too, because I don't really. But I do talk.
3. She who has the ability to contain me. I'm a fire. Not that I have anger management issue, but I have a larger than life expectation issue. Though nowaday, I'm able to see the difference between ideals and practical, I think a person who has somewhat a sound judgement will be a good help.
4. She who loves watching arts. theatres, galleries, exhibitions, musics. Because it gives life.
5. She who respect her parents. because then there's big yes that she'll respect mine too.
6. She who doesn't mind slowness. I know sometimes its hard for me to find the right word, but pushing me for it would only make it worse. I'll respect any disabilities you have, but you have to respect mine too.
7. Last but not least, most importantly nonetheless, she who loves me as I am. And what I'm becoming. Which may not be exactly what she wants but if she fits the first six, then I'm betting that its a close shave.

Quoting Meredith Grey in Grey's Anatomy:

sometimes all we want is a taste,other time we never know when its enough...

taa~

p/s:yes,this is meant for you too. ;-)

Google has announced that in celebration of their 10th anniversary, they will be giving away $10 million to fund an idea(s) that will have a beneficial impact on society.  No, they will not fund your clothing company, no matter how much you think your fashion sense will save lives and they will not help you convince Nike to combine all Jordans into one ultimate super shoe.  Project 10¹⁰⁰ (pronounced "Project 10 to the 100th") is a call for ideas to change the world by helping as many people as possible. “These ideas can be big or small, technology-driven or brilliantly simple, but they need to have impact,” said a Google spokesman. “We know there are countless brilliant ideas that need funding and support to come to fruition.”  That's kinda dope right?  All you have to do now is come up with that one idea that can really help people out.  We've all had those, "They should just create something that ......," moments.  Well instead of "they should", it can be you.  The 100 top ideas will be announced on January 27, 2009, at which point Google will allow the public to vote for the top 20. An advisory board will then choose up to five final ideas for funding and implementation. Google will announce these winners in early Feb.  Five ideas can split the pot, or one idea can take the cake, sweet, delicious, Google cake. Check out www.project10tothe100.com for more information on how to submit.  The idea is simple, so go for it and "May those who help the most, win".

I mean when  a special someone tells you I LOVE YOU for the very first time, you have this feeling of happiness you  feel really special. It is how you show your emotions and tell another person how much they mean to you.

But nowadays seems like  everybody is saying it at every minute of the day. For me those precious words are slowly loosing all meaning. Some use it so often they don't even remember what those words stands for. Some of my friends find it odd that I rarely say I LOVE YOU. I DO love them I just want it to mean something when I say it. Don't count on me to say I LOVE YOU at the end of  every phone call or every time we say goodbye!!

I get it that we want to show our appreciation to people that matter the most... But we can do it without overdoing it!! Hear me out on this.... if after every thing you did or  said, someone replied I love you, wouldn't  you be tired of it? After a while wouldn' t you think it is just a mechanism and the person doesn't mean it?

I may be a romantic or lunatic but words matters, words count!!We should use them carefully!

The words: I LOVE YOU,  are loosing all meaning, I wonder if we can find another one to replace it...

Any ideas???

As I mentioned in an earlier post, NaNoWriMo is quickly approaching. For those of you that don't already know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, and consists of writing a 50,000+ word novel in an insane 30 days. It's an incredible amount of fun. If you've never tried it before, I suggest you give it a shot this year. You can sign up or learn more here.

Anyway, sometimes it can be difficult to get into the writing mindset and really let the creative juices flow, especially if your time is otherwise occupied by more stressful activities such as working, taking care of kids, or other day to day tasks. I've noticed that many things can help me relax and get in the right frame of mind so that ideas come to me more readily, and you might find some of them helpful, as well. Anyway, here they are--51 Ways to Jumpstart Your Creativity:

1. People watch.
2. Read a book.
3. Blog.
4. Take a nature walk.
5. Snuggle with your sweetie.
6. Try a new recipe.
7. Learn about a new place you'd like to visit.
8. Window shop.
9. Finger paint.
10. Rearrange your writing space.
11. Knock out chores on your to-do list.
12. Tell your kids a ghost story.
13. Call a friend for a chat.
14. Meditate.
15. Listen to music.
16. Take a new route home from work.
17. Start a journal.
18. Take an afternoon nap.
19. Make an ice cream sundae.
20. Exercise.
21. Turn off the t.v.
22. Talk to your cats.
23. Cuddle with your dog.
24. Light aromatic candles.
25. Play twenty questions with yourself.
26. Pretend you're a historical figure and take a personality quiz.
27. Interview yourself for an imaginary newspaper.
28. Start a dream diary.
29. Drink good tea.
30. Go on a photo safari in your back yard.
31. Read poetry.
32. Go to a museum or art gallery.
33. Adopt a houseplant.
34. Pick a random picture and write 100 words about it.
35. Join a '100 Theme' challenge.
36. Find a writer's group.
37. Take your notebook or laptop to your favorite restuarant/coffee house.
38. Explore your local Main Street.
39. Research your family tree.
40. Write flash fiction.
41. Send your favorite celebrity fan mail.
42. Take a bubble bath.
43. Get a massage.
44. Buy a good pen.
45. Designate a 'writing uniform' and wear it.
46. Keep an idea book.
47. Pick a theme song.
48. Research another culture.
49. Keep fresh fruits and veggies in your fridge.
50. Get plenty of rest.
51. Just write.

there’s this constant loop of feedback and revision happening with code - imagine something going around and around in a positively improving cycle - and when it’s ripe and ready, someone with privs can pluck it from that cycle and make it a commit (as opposed to a linear “go forward… get stuck here… if it doesn’t work discard it out of the waterfall completely” system).

She also links to a video of a Google Tech Talk by Guido van Rossum (of Python fame) about Google's code review process, along with a tool he wrote to make it easier. (The open-source version can be found here.)  There, he enumerates several benefits of code review:

1. You can catch bugs before they make it into revision control
2. Senior developers can impart knowledge to n00bs
3. Senior developers can verify that said n00bs can be trusted with commit privileges (this is a big one in the open-source world)
4. Team members can familiarize themselves with each other's strengths and weaknesses
5. In general, you get the benefits of pair programming without the scheduling constraints.

A while back we installed a trial version of Atlassian's Crucible code review tool at OpenGeo to use for GeoServer development.  I personally ended up using it for only two reviews: a (vast) speed improvement on the code that builds regionated hierarchies in GeoServer, and to review a patch submitted by Wayne Fang of Refractions Research.  Maybe this means that constant code review is not well suited to use by smallish groups (I interact with about 4 developers who actually work on GeoServer on a regular basis, and most of the time we work pretty independently on separate parts of the project.  We are geographically dispersed, so often Important Stuff happens while I am asleep.)  Anyway, I'd say that of the benefits Guido mentioned, only the first couple really came into play.  Interestingly enough, the KML regionating work ended up being a more-or-less complete rewrite, including a new algorithm, so familiarity with the code wasn't that important in the end.  Much of the discussion around the patch from Wayne was related to style and design concerns (does that class name really signify what it's actually doing?) rather than behavior, so may have actually been better served by the mailing list.

A couple of other random thoughts:

• Code review is a process.  Including more process means more training needed by people coming onto a project, though this can be mitigated by restricting the complicated bits to senior members, or, ideally, an automated system.  I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that adding code review to a project's policy will make it a better project; it should be considered against the weight in developer 'activation energy.'  For something like GeoServer, where development is fairly process-heavy anyway, this is pretty marginal (and I'd be interested in seeing where a more serious trial of code review could get us.)  For something with less dependencies, less API to get acquainted with, a quicker test suite, etc, it might be overly burdensome.
• Guido also mentioned that code review will happen whether you set aside time for it or not since any bugs that make it into the codebase will have to be fixed.  It may be a better strategy to just fix the bugs that are caught in QA, directing developer attention to the most egregious bugs first.  Catching bugs by inspection is not exactly bulletproof.  Of course, if you're relying on code review as a means of maintaining some minimal level of API design quality, going back after the fact is a bit tougher.  But then, you can review API design without going through a line-by-line audit of the code too.
• As I mentioned earlier, I work on a pretty small team.  Patches to GeoServer from developers who don't already have commit privileges are fairly rare.  I might appreciate code review tools more if I had more occasion to assess whether or not a particular change was up to par for the project I'm working on.

http://www.wordcircuits.com/gallery/stained/index.html

It consists of 13 nodes and viewer simply has to slide cursor over the words to have messages popping up. The 13 nodes probably tells viewers about the subject as the title speaks.

This gives me an idea that I can create many texts/symbols and hyperlink them at random, piecing up a larger picture... so what will my "larger picture" be?? This are a new questions Ireally need to think about:

What do I want audience to experience?

Will the maze be filled with images, words, texts, sounds?

How can I effectively bring them through this journey?

Ponder... not much time..

Fuente: Edu Remolins

My campaign is basically about me and my ideas.  I almost don't care who is president as long as thet run on my platform.  All I ask is that they let me live in the White House.

I was impressed and excited about project named "PostSecret" by Frank Warren. The project, actually mix of art and social campaign because people are asked to send a postcard with their secret written there. The postcard should be decorated.

I thought, this project is great because it combines two important things that everyone should have; creativity and honesty. But unfortunately, PostSecret are only available in America, France, German, Spain, and China. Actually, we can send our secret to the American address or other version address, but I think that will takes a long time before our postcard arrive there and there's a chance that our secret are not posted on the PostSecret blog. So, I came up with the idea of our own PostSecret, PostSecret Indonesia. I already e-mailed Frank Warren about this idea, but still no reply until now. Okay, then I canceled my idea of PostSecret Indonesia due to the difficultness to get the "license" from Frank and start to think about my own original project.

After hours, then I finally got the original project. I named it "I'm (Not) Afraid".

I adopted some parts of PostSecret on I'm (Not) Afraid. Here, in my project, people are asked to write their phobia(s). It can be anything; from afraid of dog, afraid of rubberband, to afraid of being lonely or afraid of new relationship. It should be written on decorated postcard just like PostSecret. But beside that, there's also an addition for the project. I'm (Not) Afraid will distribute fun or silly facts about things that people are commonly afraid of; to let they know things that they afraid of it's not that frightening.

In PostSecret, the postcard should be airmailed. I made change on my project about that. I will put I'm (Not) Afraid drop box on public areas such as campus, schools, bookstores, and other places. There, I will also put plain postcard so people who come there but don't know about this project can take the postcard and at their next visit, they can drop the postcard onto the box.

Okay, I guess it will start on January 2009. Don't be afraid, people!

He pensado mucho en esto últimamente. ¿Que necesito para ser una persona feliz? Seguro que la repuesta de cada persona va a ser diferente, pero lo que me preocupa es la repuesta que daríamos no es la más realista.

Si nos preguntamos que nos haría una persona feliz seguro que daríamos una repuesta vana como: “una buena carrera”, diríamos “tener una linda familia”, o tal vez “una buena relación con nuestra pareja”. Por supuesto que no hay nada malo con estas respuestas, pero el asunto es que no son acciones concretas.

Pienso que la razón para este tipo de respuesta es que al hacernos esta pregunta, si es que nos la hacemos algún día, es que pensamos que la repuesta esta fuera de nuestro alcance.

Tal vez necesitamos un millón de dólares para ser feliz, y sólo tenemos $50.00 pesos. Tal vez necesitamos un mejor trabajo del que somos capaces de mantener, o una casa más grande que la que podemos permitirnos, o una hermosa esposa o un marido más buen mozo, o hijos menos traviesos. Tal vez lo que necesitamos es, qué se yo, ser más inteligentes, ser más atractivos o atractivas, más popular, más altos, más sanos, más inteligentes, más delgados, más gordos... en resumen ser otras personas.

Lamentablemente esto no es cierto. Hay gente con estas características que NO es feliz. Hay gente inteligente que es infeliz, hay gente linda que no es feliz, hay gente rica que es infeliz. Y viceversa, hay gente bruta que es feliz, hay gente fea que es feliz, hay gente pobre que es feliz. Hay gente feliz e infeliz en ambos lados siempre.

Creo que la clave está en conocerse uno mismo y saber que lo que nos dará la felicidad no es algo externo, sino que nosotros hacemos nuestra propia felicidad. Hacemos nuestra felicidad con determinación y de acuerdo a nuestro propio gusto y carácter y después de perseguir a esas cosas y sólo esas cosas que de verdad son la felicidad para nosotros.

Por ejemplo: quizás alguien necesita ser rico para ser feliz, esa es su forma de ser. O tal vez solo necesita lo suficiente para estar tranquilo o estable. Pero la forma de saber esto es conocernos a nosotros mismos y por ejemplo esta persona no debe pensar si es malo o bueno que quiera tener dinero, más bien pensar por qué el dinero es lo que le daría felicidad.

El truco aquí es ir más allá de cosas vanas y de estereotipos y más bien buscar en nuestras propias vidas. Ahí es donde la felicidad empieza a echar raíces.

Voy a tratar de practicar esto y responderme a mi mismo la pregunta: ¿Qué me haría una persona feliz? Y no dar una la repuesta que daría nadie más, (la sociedad, mis padres, amigos, etc.), ya que es fácil saber las cosas que todo el mundo respondería aunque no se sabe si ellos mismos son realmente felices.

Sr. Cervantes

http://opensourceideas.wordpress.com

So you know what I found instead? This jazzy cartoon:

Are you just so *sold* on World Contraception Day? Well, naturally, I was curious and checked out their web site, YOUR-LIFE.COM (note to self: future Humanae Vitae site will be HIS-LIFE.COM). There was the usual mis-information about natural methods of family planning , although it wasn't as ridiculously incorrect as it usually is, and there weren't any cartoons making fun of it. Overall, though, it was an all-around cool site, anti-fertility, anti-family messages notwithstanding. I really liked the FAMILY/TEACHERS/PRESS bars on the side, giving information to parents on how to talk to their kids about said travesty ("Listen Son, you're beginning to have special feelings, so I want to teach you about something that has divided your mom and I so that you, too, can objectify and poison that special someone.") teachers about how to give workshops ("Hey kids! Here's women's lib's gift to you: poisoned relationships between the sexes, higher STI rates and a massive correlation to the world's highest divorce rate. C'mon!"), and press all sorts of media-related goodies--videos, photos, press releases, etc.

WHAT A GREAT RESOURCE if you don't believe that contraception is the greatest societal cancer to women, children and families, the fallout of which we're just now experiencing!

But seriously, folks. This is great media presence here, particularly for the youth/ young adults and their parents/ mentors. The million dollar question (or mostly likely the ten thousand dollar question) here is: WHY DON'T WE HAVE THIS KIND OF MEDIA PRESENCE FOR HUMANAE VITAE, THEOLOGY OF THE BODY AND NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING!? Now, to give credit where it's due, there is good web presence for Theology of the Body & Chastity (but it could be better) and a few good sites for Natural Family Planning and at least one fair site for Humanae Vitae. (I won't name my personal taste here because there will be a firestorm of comments from such-and-such a group/NFP method/diocese/whomever complaining that I'm being unfair and they've gotten really good feedback from their favorite techie. Good for you, but sometimes, "Hey, it's a great web site compared to all the lame churchy web sites" is not a qualifying statement for the great web site awards. As you know, the artistic bar in the Church is not set too high in most places.

Back to the question: Why does our media suck--especially for such vital evangelization efforts as marriage and sexuality--and what can we do about it? Do you know of an off-the-hook web site, brochure or media campaign? Let me know!

I've been battling with weight loss now for months. Nine of them, to be exact.  The first three months went very well, and I was excited about it. Thirty pounds down, and I was well on my way to my goal weight.  I was starting to exercise, and I really felt good about myself.

Then, all of a sudden, it stopped. I kept doing what I knew I was supposed to do, and yet the weight just wouldn't budge. And I know all about "plateaus." I've hit this brick wall before. But for some reason, this time, I just couldn't work past the roadblock.  I was stuck, and I was getting discouraged fast.

So I've spent the last 6 months, fudging and repenting, fudging and repenting. And getting nowhere, but down on myself. I want this to work! Why does it have to be so hard? Why can't I just keep doing what I've been doing, and the weight continue to come down?

Well, my sons and I went on a three-day vacation last week, to the beach. It was a fantastic time, and I really didn't want to come back. I love the beach, and this was a very quiet, secluded spot, really good for thinking and writing and just relaxing.

While we were there, we decided to go see a lighthouse nearby. I simply love lighthouses, and I just didn't want to miss the opportunity to see this one. Even if we couldn't actually go up in the lighthouse, I still wanted to drive by.

Well, lo and behold, we could actually climb the steps inside to the top! So we paid the small fee, and started the climb. It took a while to get to the lookout on top where the light is, but it was definitely worth it. The view was amazing! And thinking about it now makes me wish I was still there...

While we were at the top, a woman appeared from the stairwell, and began to circle the walkway where we were standing. After a few minutes, I heard her ask the attendant, "How many laps is that?" To which he replied, "three, I think!" Then, the woman continued walking, around and around the lighthouse. I was intrigued, so I stopped her on her next lap. "How many times do you go around this thing?" "Ten times," was her reply.

Ten times??? I thought to myself, wondering what on earth for. And then I took more careful notice of the woman. She was obviously my age, or very close to it; her face gave evidence of that. However, it was clear to see that she was more like a Size 6 than the size that I am (which is a piece of information that I won't divulge). Turning back around to look out over the ocean once more before we began descending the many spiral staircases, I contemplated what was really going on here.

On our way down to the level below us, we ran into this woman again. I noticed that she was heading back up to the top. So I chuckled and said, "Going up again?" To which she replied, “Yep!" Even more intrigued, I continued down with my sons, taking a quick glance upward as I saw her bound up the flight of stairs.

After just a few minutes, here she came again! This time, though, she was on her way back down, and there were a few folks coming up, so she had to stop. Realizing this would be the only opportunity that I would have, I ventured forth with a question. "Okay, I have to ask," I said as I smiled at her. "Just how often do you do this routine?" The woman smiled and said, "Three times a week, actually." I know my expression was what made her smile, when I replied, "Wow! That's impressive!" Then she continued on down to the next level below us, once the other people were out of the way.

Still again, we encountered this woman, on another level, due to more people getting in her way. Seizing yet another opportunity, I asked, "So do you go up and down only once, with ten laps around the top?" Even though the other people were now out of her way, the woman graciously took time to answer my question completely this time. "Oh, no. I go up and down this thing ten times, with ten laps on top." My expression revealed my shock and surprise, to be sure. "Ten times??? That's incredible!!" Then she said, "Yeah, but today I'm feeling it a little bit, so I'll probably only do eight times, and I'm on my sixth, so I need to get going." And then she jogged away, down the stairs.

I was stunned. Here was a woman in her 40's, to be sure, jogging up and down steps like she was training for the Olympics. And doing it in a lighthouse on spiral staircases, no less! I was amazed. So totally amazed. And then I heard a small voice inside of me:

"You could do that, too, you know."

For the rest of the flights of steps down to the bottom, I thought about that statement, and realized the truth in it. Seeing this woman didn't make me jealous in the least. I wasn't discouraged at all; instead, I was encouraged. Knowing that someone else my age could look that good made me want to try again. I'd been thinking about starting a walking program, and this was what I needed to push me to begin. I didn't need to look at models in a magazine, or compare myself to someone much younger than me. God knew exactly what I needed to see: a mom, who had lived some years, but who was taking control of her existence, and was determined to fight the affects of age, and beat the odds against middle-aged spread.

So I emerged from the lighthouse, with some illumination into my own situation.

Yeah, God. I get it!

Today’s Cookie  Crumb:

 "Only, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this manner let him walk."
1 Corinthians 7:17 NAS

Tras algunos SMS de última hora disculpándose, finalmente nos reunimos 5 personas, aunque una de ellas se tuvo que ir. O sea que estuvimos más que en familia, en Comité Permanente. Pero nos lo pasamos muy bien, y tras la cena estuvimos una hora aproximada echando ideas, discutiéndolas y madurándolas un poco. Finalmente tomamos la decisión de enviar al propio Google nuestras burutazioak en forma idea para el concurso.

Éstas son las líneas que hemos enviado a Google bajo el seudónimo de )afari& affaire( y siguiendo el cuestionario del concurso:

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Nombre de la idea:

Galaxia Pública y Colaborativa de Ideas

Descripción de la idea:

Nuestro punto de partida es triple:

1. La convocatoria de Google va a conseguir un repositorio de ideas útiles muy superior en cantidad y calidad respecto a cualquier otra iniciativa que le ha precedido. Su referencialidad tiene un plus de diferencial enorme y lo convierte en una oportunidad mundial.

2. La conveniencia de que a ese enorme capital de ideas no se le aplique el modelo de la Larga Cola, en virtud del cual un pequeño número de ideas (100) recibiría toda la atención y una enorme cola de ideas quedarían escondidas en la oscuridad del no conocimiento público.

3. Las ideas provocan y generan otras ideas. Las ideas realmente útiles lo hacen de forma exponencial.

Por ello pensamos que sería extremadamente útil para todo el mundo:

1. Que Google hiciera públicas el conjunto de todas las ideas recibidas y sus autores.

2. Que tomando ese repositorio como inicio, se acometiera la realización de una especie de “Ideapedia pública colaborativa” en constante evolución y que permita, mediante software colaborativo, tanto buscar como aportar nuevas ideas (o ideas sobre las ideas) e implementaciones concretas de ellas. Una incubadora abierta de galaxias de ideas, un auténtico criadero de estrellas.

3. Que además de la financiación que Google ha anunciado para 5 de las mejores ideas, se permitiese e incluso se animase a otras entidades a “apadrinar” o “adoptar” cualquiera de esas ideas financiándolas en todo o en parte.

¿Sobre qué problemas o temas trata la idea?

1. Sobre el papel e importancia creciente de las ideas como capital y punto de partida para proyectos de aplicación inmediata en la mejora de las condiciones de vida universales.

2. Sobre el papel emancipador de la información y el conocimiento.

3. Sobre la conveniencia de crear cultura práctica de colaboración.

Si tu idea se hiciese realidad, ¿quién se beneficiaría más y cómo?

Especialmente  la enorme cantidad de personas y comunidades a las que quizás las 100 primeras ideas no les afecten pero podrían verse beneficiadas del conocimiento (y ejecución) de cualquiera de las ideas situadas en la larga cola de las no publicadas.

¿Cuáles son los primeros pasos para poner en marcha esta idea?

Que Google decida hacer público el enorme banco de ideas y sus autores.

Si tu idea fuese la seleccionada y se llevara a la práctica, describe cuál sería el resultado óptimo. ¿Cómo lo medirías?

El mayor o menor éxito estaría en función del número de ideas que, además de las 5 seleccionadas, se conviertan en proyectos reales, en el número de ellas que sean financiadas por terceros , y en el número de nuevas ideas que generase la mera exposición pública, y su reflejo y edición en la ideapedia o galaxia pública de ideas.

Su medición sería transparente a través del tracking estadístico de las entradas en la ideapedia tanto de nuevas ideas como de proyectos concretos implementados a a partir de ellas.

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A nosotros tanto el formato y la experiencia de la primer )afari & affaire( que hemos hecho nos ha gustado, y además ha conseguido dar un pequeño fruto.

O sea, que repetiremos seguro.

One of the best sessions to me was on Thursday afternoon when Seth Godin spoke. Some of you may know Godin as the author of Purple Cow, Permission Marketing, Free Prize Inside or The Dip. He's a big dog in the world of business, writes the most read business blog in the world, and has nine (that's right, count 'em, nine) bestsellers. I don't think he's a believer either, but what he had to say was great. He obviously knew who his audience was and catered his talk to us. His presentation was fantastic and engaging as well. He also gave a copy of his latest book, Tribes, to everyone in attendance. That's almost 13,000 copies. Remember those nine bestsellers? Yeah. He's not worried about it.

Anyway, I've been reading through the book lately, and I'm really into it. I stumbled across a passage the other night that I liked and wanted to share with you.

If religion comprises rules you follow, faith is demonstrated by the actions you take.

When you lead without compensations, when you sacrifice without guarantees, when you take risks because you believe, then you are demonstrating your faith in the tribe and its mission.

Of course it's difficult. But leaders will tell you that it's worth it.

Thoughts?

1. Billboard-free Portland.  Sao Paolo has done it, so has Iceland.  There are plenty of places where there are no billboards and I'd like to help Portland, Oregon, become the first city in the United States to go billboard-free.  Billboards are distracting and visual noise that have an awful effect on our lives.  Let's get rid of them and make the world and our personal space ours again.

2. Colwood Golf Course, Portland, Oregon - transition from a golf course to a regional park/urban farmer training institute. There is a 143-acre golf course at the north end of Portland near the airport.  There has been a hearing recently where it was decided by the Portland City Council that this land will remain zoned as open space.  The next step in this process will be for Metro to buy this land from the Colwood owners.  More on this issue to follow.

3. Registry, Portland, Oregon: for those with lawns who want them gardened to connect with urban farmers to create CSAs and more opportunities for locally-grown organic food.  I'd like to see a registry for the Portland area (and beyond) for anyone who would like to take their lawn out - for the purpose of creating a vegetable garden - to be able to connect with the growing number of urban farmers who will gladly farm the land for you.  More on this issue to follow.

4. Alldancepdx.com and allyogapdx.com - portals for the Portland area with calendars to show an individual what classes are available each day (and workshops).  A way to link all of the yoga and dance offerings in Portland into one system - also could lead to a punch card system for all studios to and participants to make use of all of the offerings in one town or city.

5. A tracking system for use by local goverments and corporations that would include information on all available and active labor - so that we can figure out how to swap and share jobs rather than have people commuting like crazy.

If you have an interest in any of these ideas or would like help in thinking about an idea you have, please get in touch.

El artículo "Ten easy ways to attract women to your free software project" parte de la realidad que enfrenta la comunidad FLOSS en relación a la escasa participación de mujeres, y propone una serie de estrategias para hacer mas "amigables" hacia las mujeres, los proyectos de software libre. Las sugerencias son propositivas, a diferencia de otras iniciativas precedentes, que se enfocaban en sugerir a las comunidades FLOSS que cosas NO hacer para evitar que las chicas se retiren ...

Listamos algunas debajo, solo a los fines de que la curiosidad los lleve al original (en inglés):

1. Usar foros en lugar de listas de correo
2. Usar conversaciones únicas más que hilos encadenados: “quien” no sólo "que"
3. Tanto como sea posible, usar wikis en lugar de archivos con control de versiones
4. Usar lenguajes de muy alto nivel (Perl, Python, Ruby, etc)
5. Seguir las ideas de "programación extrema" (extreme programming)
6. Reemplazar las órdenes a secas con procesos de afirmación
7. Cuenta con lo que las mujeres pueden hacer mejor
8. Enfatizar el proceso de trabajo comunitario mas que el fabricar productos
9. Crear una "tutoría formal" y procesos de inducción
10. Hacer visibles a las mujeres colaborando en tu proyecto