Diversionary Tactics
It’s Sunday! Sure, you’ve got the weekend thing down, you know how to turn off the computer and relax a bit. If you’re local to Vancouver, you’re taking in the sweet sunshine we haven’t seen in these parts for quite some time.
But what happens this week when you’re back to work and longing for some way to wiggle out of productivity? Here are two finds that should help you exercise your procrastination skills just a little bit longer.
Om Your Dashboard
By way of Tara Hunt’s Twitter posts, I found an online Buddha Machine simulator that can be turned into a widget for users of Mac OS-X’s Dashboard. A Buddha Machine, like the web clippings process that turns it into a Dashboard widget, is better demonstrated than explained, so I put the following screencast together to do just that.
See The Moment
Have you heard about this Obama fellow? There’s quite a lot of buzz around him this week in the US. The moment the President-Elect becomes President will be emotional for millions of people, and Microsoft is working with CNN and those who will be there to document that moment through their astoundingly cool Photosynth project.
The instructions to participate in The Moment are simple for anyone with a bit of digital savvy:
1. Take one photo of the moment when Obama takes the oath. If you have a digital camera with a zoom lens, take three photos (wide-angle, mid-zoom, full-zoom)
2. E-mail each photo as soon as possible to moc.nncnull@tnemomeht (one photo per message, 10MB size limit). Don’t forget to include your name in the message if you’d like to appear in the list of the contributors. Please only send in photos you took yourself.
3. Go to cnn.com/themoment to see all of the photos.
This project shows how the web can dramatically lower barriers to participation. In olden tymes, what might we have seen? A contest for the ‘best’ non-professional photo of the moment of inauguration? Photosynth makes everyone’s contribution count without separating participants into zero-sum winner and loser roles. The project truly makes the inauguration a moment for, by and of the people involved. In the world of social software, it’s platinum-grade cool.
I know: Microsoft, cool? I’m scared, too, but it’s the real deal, and there’s even an iPhone/iPod Touch app to go with it (iTunes link).
With your ears soothed by meditative tones and your eyes enchanted with what could be one of the most human photographic moments of the year, you should be well-defended against outbursts of productivity.
