The SA Free Culture Tour is incoming.. bringing with it the world-changing brilliance of Jimmy Wales and Lawrence Lessig (little confession: I leapt around the office like a demented fool when I heard: hunters of genius evidently have different stars in their celebrity constellation.. this doesn’t make EVERYONE’S heart pound faster but for us online mainliners, it’s huge!) There are talks at the various universities and at the Internet Society of SA ..and then there’s a PARTY!!
Heather Ford & the iCommons crew with the crowdsourced creativity & logistics of the community’s event meisters, artists, musicians and more are slinging together a classic South African Bringn’Braai on the 20th of April 2007 at the Armchair Theatre in Obz right here in the little mothercity.
PS. If you’re a musician PLEASE consider contributing some beats to the Free Music Project - it’ll get into the ears of little ones around the world all wrapped up with the One Laptop per Child project
PPS. the braai aspect of this event is the burning of some of the Commons’ music feast with the Freedom Toasters supplied. The spirit of sharing back from the (Grateful) Dead still rocking it hard
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xEzGIuY7kw]
Easy to smirk at this, but I had many moments of disturbing recognition (my fave part is the MC Escher bit.. Weird Al is utter nutter genius without a doubt). I know we’ve all seen it 10^3 of times already, but I had to: in celebration of all things geeky to get in the mood for tonight’s geekmeet.
… I think I’m in trouble. GeekDinner tonight and I am suffering the effects of overclocking my processor - bioware not keeping up. It’s ridiculously easy to go into a temporal warp in front of a screen and unless you have a spouse who keeps you in check (LOL for Stii!! Belinda told me about YOU bru)
.. you too could become a sleepcamel.
I learnt the term a few years ago from an ex-Micro(not-so)softie from the heavyduty coding coalface. It’s not well, I think I have a problem. I’m currently on a sleepless stretch of 63.5 hours, and starting to get a little deranged & experiencing major data.loss. The fact that geekdinner is tonight, and I’m speaking (supposedly lucidly) is a concern.
Not sure that I’m going to be a safe driver. Don’t want to be the poster child of stern warnings that humans are NOT MACHINES. No matter how well you think you can override the default settings. I’m not feeling too well at all. ooops 8-/
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What does it take for Scoble to stop blogging for a week?
The rate of change has accelerated to the point where we’ve come to a critical inflection point. Philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer spoke of three stages of truth:
- it is ridiculed
- it is violently opposed
- it is seen as self-evident.
Blogging and social media has been teetering at the tipping point of the ridicule phase. Everyone has laughed/cringed at the absurdity of “blog” ..I spotted a tweet (twitter post) come through from Twitter founder Evan Williams reinforcing the idea :
as an academic the crux of formidable social and economic disruption can’t be seen to have such a ridiculous name! Bloody hell, best to head back to the safety of weblog. Earlier today in the Financial Times: “YouTube was funny until it was worth $1.65bn to someone”
Continue reading ‘It’s been coming.. time to play indoors again’
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.. my Monday SARocks! musings in honour of where my web AND real.world surfing adventures began.. back in Web 1.0. Huge respect to Dr Spike of Wavescape for helping me get my toes in the water..
This surfing web site seriously ranks among the world’s finest surf portals: so if you do blended reality surfing.. online and offline/offshore don’t miss Wavescape for your dose of stoke.
<< this little wicked one was my 2nd board. Tragically I gave it horns, but turns out I’m a pathetic waverider.. thank goodness there’s always online surfing :-P
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Geekdinner 2.0 (I know I know, it’s so difficult to resist) is reloaded & ready to go >> I’m not organising this one, it’s in the logistically-gifted hands of Joe Botha of Frogfoot this time. And it’s looking pretty swanky, all kitted out at Barbarella’s in the heart of sophisticado style in Constantia.
I’ll be up front & centre at some stage getting geekdiners to wrap their heads around “What Makes Geeks Hot” - em, hot property that is - & what we need to do to support & nurture our talent here in South Africa. I have been contemplating flipping it & sharing my freshest social media wonderland discoveries.. esp. Twitter. I’ll see what’s gonna be most valuable on the night.
If you’re a power user you’ll want to be here to see what’s evolving at the edge and if you’re a developer this is the place to come & show off your projects!
It’s gonna be deep boys & girls: so make sure you get in some cerebral yoga ahead of the sparky synaptic crackle & pop this Thursday Wednesday. Are you a geek, who coincidentally happens to be in Cape Town this Thursday Wednesday, 28 March? - then get thy geekly self to the wiki posthaste >> gijima wena!!
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If you woke up, without responsibilities, anyone/anything else to support (remember this is just hypothetical of course), no heavy mortgages, company to run, job to go to. You had resources and time and the refresh button had just been pressed - you somehow stepped elegantly into another parallel life where you’d made different choices. You are completely free to invest your time & energy where you please:
Would you still choose to do what you’re doing today?
.. just out of curiosity. Hunters of genius are curious by nature..
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2g3m1squogs]
.. just in case you needed convincing :-P to get your ass to one of our dinners
PS. if you’re a new kid on the blog, no matter where you find yourself on the planet, brace yourself, once you fire it up, whether personal or business .. blogs change lives unquestionably (and I believe will shift the global economy in ways unimagined too - watch the fractal pattern throughout history: culture precedes commerce). Get connected to others exploring the edge >> in your neighbourhood
Continue reading ‘.. the cool kids at play’
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..how I did it, I’m not sure (on my pretty but decidedly malnourished site, starved of attention & daily feeds) but the Hunter of Genius made it through to the final of the SA Blog Awards?! 
Standing shoulder to shoulder with the legendary ZAblogging iconTertia, the muscular supercharged Stopforth blog, the clearly well-fed ElectricSpaghetti and Peas on Toast, the one all the girls will be voting for: KykNoord, butt-ugly but potent 2OceansVibe that swept it all up last year again, the wildy popular Muso, TrashMedia that comes preloaded with their own merchandise!.. and then hey.. the low profile geek-girl sitting at the table with all the beautiful people. (thank you voting-angels xx)
Popularity contests don’t exactly get my stoic self quivering with delight - I’m far too stern & serious for such flimsy excuses to wiggle your wares.
Continue reading ‘SA Blog Awards shock! sitting at the table with the cool kids’
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There are two fronts at which I work as a hunter of genius:
1st the individual - to discover, develop and define the vision of the visionary so they can apply their genius in the world.
Too many brilliant ones find themselves frustrated and working at a fraction of their capacity; or worse yet, surrender to being cubicle slaves (even if the handcuffs are platinum). If you’re particularly gifted the rewards can be so much sweeter than could be expected of common existence; but the hero’s journey to get there, to birth your vision into reality, requires irrational optimism, often ferocious detemination, a bloody good sense of humour and a clarity that sees you through cynicism, challenge and the perennial offers to take the easier route (ie. choosing Life Lite).
Going this route alone is what wears most genius-types down. Risk is not as risky when taken with others braving their all, sometimes betting finances, family, looking foolish. Why test the edge when the safe ground has been proven stable?
Some people just don’t have a choice, the compulsion to explore, experiment and dare is deep-infused into their entrepreneurial blood. I believe and have empirical evidence that absolutely supports that genius begets genius. It statistically outclasses genetics or formal education.
Put bright people together and let them play, socialise, debate, create, compete and very soon a culture of exceptional quality grows, and starts to attract more of these high calibre beings effortlessly! Silicon Valley is a case in point.
So you guessed it: the 2nd aspect is being a gatherer of genius.
Creating collectives of the talented, group genius. Developing culture in which fiercely independent and wild beings can connect with others to create & work on daring projects together. Explorers Societies of our age.
Continue reading ‘Hunter/Gatherer of Genius that is..’
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