Bioplastics – the quest for Open Source material production

Chris,  Mendel and myself have been involved in a bit of bioplastics experimentation over the past few days, which appears to be generating some interest.

http://www.shapeways.com/blog/archives/371-laser-cutting-bioplastics.html#c2047

We’re doing the research/experimentation for a couple of reasons

1. It’s fun

2. Imagine how cool it would be if you could make plastic products from scratch in your kitchen. This is truly open design, the barriers to entry are minimal.

Now to the meat, what everyone wants to know.

The original recipe we used was http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/08/make_your_own_potato_plas.html but using cornstarch instead of potato starch.

Our recipe then became:

7 parts water
1 part vinegar
1/2 part glycerine
1 1/2 parts starch

With respect to the microwave, the mix was accidental (very unscientific I know), Chris was trying to replicate it on Sunday but without joy. We are going to spend some time this week in a more analytical fashion to establish different material recipes and properties.

From what I can remember the original microwave success came from the following approximate recipe:

1 part water

1 part starch

splash glycerine

bigger splash vinegar

Microwave for too long until you have a gel rather than a liquid. Spread thin and microwave again in 30 second bursts until dry.

The second time around we didn’t cook it for too long, spread the plastic in liquid for and then zapped it periodically in 30 second bursts.

Like I said, not very scientific.

Peel off (nb may still be gooey on underside but this makes it fun for throwing at windows and people – allow to cool first).

We would like to invite you to join us in this experimentation.

Social Technology Rant

A client recently asked me to help them understand “Multichannel Communications” – you can also insert “360 degree campaigns” or various other buzzwords of choice here.

Below is my response. Much of it has been delivered before, but the message doesn’t seem to be filtering through to industry as a whole (perhaps due to social media snake oil vendors), hopefully I have something new to add to the conversation.

Forget about the technology, this is about Humans

At the Palomar 5 summit – www.palomar5.org,  Marc Prensky (coiner of the phrase “Digital Natives” – a phrase I abhor, to be taken up on a future blog no doubt), admitted that he had learnt something important from our camp. Our message was clear:

We don’t want to engage with technology, we want to engage with each other. Technology is just a tool that helps us to do so.

The less technology frankly the better, the best interface is still “face to face”.

The same applies to companies, forget about the technology. Let it go. This is about you and us. We’re not talking enough. You need to start listening and engaging with us as Human Beings not demographics. First off you have to listen.

Listening takes more than ears alone

Information enters our brains through the ears and then passes through a number of filters that distort it (our ego’s, our perception of self and others, what we want to hear, what we are unwilling to hear, our emotional inclinations and our preconceptions). To listen truly, requires an openness of mind, concentration and empathy.

So it is with us, and so it is with organisations. The desire to converse is not new, it’s just that Social Media allow’s people to have the conversation without you, if you are not willing to engage, or if you don’t make it easy for them to engage.

Think of it as a relationship (borrowing from www.showmelove.com), because that’s what it is. You’re other half is telling you “I don’t think this is working, you need to make some changes” you nod, pretend to listen and say, “that’s great dear, did I tell you about how awesome I am”. Sometimes they’ll stick with you because they’re insecure and there’s no one better. But sooner or later someone will start showing them some attention and actually listening and then you’ll be fucked. In the meantime they’re just going to have to off-gas with their friends about what a dick you are, so when they do leave you no-one will touch you.

You are how we see you to be

Sorry guy’s we own your brand now. You can put together whatever instructions you like on how partners can use your logo, and how your staff can talk about your brand and what the “message is”. But we shall judge you by your actions and we shall decide what you are. It’s no good telling everyone your great, if everybody thinks your a twat.

You can try to suppress the conversation, but control will inevitably backfire. Your brand therefore is defined by how you behave, not how you look, or what you say. Actions speak louder than words.

What can you do?

Looking at the above it’s easy to be scared. You had control and you lost it. Your just going to have to accept it, if we’re to move on. Make a commitment to stop broadcasting and start listening. Using conversational tools to broadcast, isn’t going to endear you to us any more than some idiot entering into a bar with a load hailer selling haemerroid cream.

Firstly your going to need to get better at listening, get to know who your speaking to, and what they expect from you.

Next demonstrate that you have actually listened and take appropriate action (note: this is not a cease and desist letter). Accept your flaws, and show that you are making the effort to change. Where it’s an issue of communication (ie. not something you can immediately change), learn to communicate openly and honestly.

It’s a partnership, we’re here to help if you’ll let us in.

Be prepared to re-evaluate how you see us

As you start to understand us you may be surprised, you’ve spent so long selling us who you think we are, that you’ve forgotten who we really are. You reduced us to shallow market demographics for the purposes of understanding physical needs. Our emotional needs were subjugated to this as a result. There are things that unify us. There are common needs, but these needs are intrinsically Human. Start seeing us as such, start treating us as such.

What does the future hold?

In the future we are equal. In order to be a part of it you will need to develop better ears, and a more beautiful mind.

By ears I mean technologies that allow you to listen better. To know which spaces we are talking in, so you can come to us. There are numerous challenges with information overload, it may be better for you to provide us with a better mouthpiece. NB. it would be better for you often if our conversations were private, and you kept us happy. Also be aware that some of us are also twats, where this is the case you should just take a step back, as long as you have made a reasoned case people will see it. The last word doesn’t win the argument.

Technologies that allow us to express our needs better, will lead to you understanding us better. It may even lead to completely different directions for your organisation.

A more beautiful mind is more challenging, it is not technological but systemic. To change your mind, you have to change your behavior. Recognising you have to change is the beginning.

Every advert is an opportunity to begin an engagement with us, so is your product if your clever enough about it. Everything you do is a moment of contact, another form of communication, consider what you are saying and how we might respond.

Your going to need to start caring about us. We’re more than objects, our needs are more than physical. When you start to recognise that and start to meet our emotional needs, then you’ll begin to earn our love and trust.

The world is your toolbox

Finally just to quell your thirst for technological knowledge. All you need to know is this – the world is your toolbox, you can build whatever you want.

You don’t need to know the trends, because even greater things are hidden from view.

It is no longer neccessary (or indeed possible), to keep abreast of every emerging technology trend and capability. But generally you can assume that if you can imagine it, then the technology exists to bring it into reality (or at least make it appear real).

So don’t limit your imagination. Listen to us, establish how you can make our lives better, then act on it. We will love you in return and continue to support you in this two way relationship.

Industries that should definitely not be part of the capitalist system

Capitalism as a whole encourages psychopathic organisational behavior as illustrated very well in “The Business”.

This is not conspiracy only logic.

The economic system dictates behavior, our behavior (due to our understanding of this system) is often driven by money.

Where there is no longer a market, a market needs to be created. There is no interest to remove a market, as it removes your ability to make money. Whether or not this market is socially detrimental is not considered as a factor.

So Military Companies should definitely not be part of this system as it requires them to create the need for war.

Medical companies should not be part of this system as it is not in their interest to find outright cures (worse still is that the imperative for growth requires them to create diseases (mostly psychological warfare in this respect, by defining our human response to a messed up world as a disease).

Lawyers should not be part of the system as they need to create and encourage personal conflict in order to go to court (Which leads to a culture of blame, and absence of responsibility).

The media, surely we should find it bothersome that most of our information about our society is driven by sales, (which leads to sensationalism and promotion of antisocial role models) rather than what we should be informed about, not to mention the compromise and lack of objectivity brought about by advertisers, the political opinions of the editor/investors.

I could go on, but the principle can be applied to a range of fields.  There is very little that has no influence on our collective psyche and behavior. Where money dictates survival and success, and trumps all in our societical mindset, such issues will only continue. We need to re-evaluate all industries that work against our humanity, and make them our tools again, tools that are for us, not to shape us.

Getting Real

That’s a lovely idea, but it’s just not how things are is it? People aren’t like that, life isn’t like that.

Oh dear.

Hold me back.

There are many myths that we need to dispel. Our “reality” is based around myths of how people are and how they behave. Some of these myths are based on experience, others based on the media, others based on our collective beliefs. It’s funny that we question how we came to exist more than we question how we exist. People will readily question the existence of god, but they are not so ready to question the existence of money, or that we could be motivated by anything else.

The physical becomes tangible, even if it is only a physical embodiment of a concept. Another idol to worship.

Every myth that we choose to believe shapes our behavior, because that’s how we believe we’re supposed to behave. We see outcomes, results of how our system has shaped us, and then we base our experience of each other as a result of these outcomes. We are all guilty of confirmation bias. Caught in a web of our own collective design.

Those who challenge reality are those who will change it. Reality is merely a construct of our own making, and we can make it however we choose.

One myth is that people are only motivated by money, that it’s the only way in which we can get people to do the hard jobs, the shit jobs, and the jobs that we may frown upon. That money is required to get a job done.

I’d challenge this. I believe that we’re more than this. If we were paid without the need for work, would anybody do anything? Whilst it’s true that some people would sit on their bums , they would get little respect, little comfort, acceptance or social standing (so very little changes in reality).

The Enablers: Process and Philosophy

The Enablers was one of the many projects explored by Palomar 5. The end goal being communities that would solve their own problems, and reward behaviors that benefitted the community. 

It was primarily developed in collaboration with @magovsky, after a fantastic brainstorming session with @unfucktheworld, and @spreeraum. I’d like you to explore it on a local scale for yourselves.  

The principle is this:

If you show people how what you are doing benefits them, followed by how they can help, you create the opportunity for people to assist you directly with their own resources.

It moves the mindset to solve the problem beyond money.

Money is merely a way to obtain resource, but it is not the only way.

These principles connect people to the projects they are helping more directly, and to see the impact of their action upon their environment. It also allows for things to be done without money, and for people to contribute what they can.

To set up an Enablers project in your area, simply follow this process. Feel free to modify.

Identify a project/s that you would like to Enable. 

Articulate clearly what the project does.

Clearly state what the benefits are to the community.

State what you need to make the project a success in terms of resources and skills. 

Add a method of contact

Present the above in a clear format, put the information where it is easy to access.

The above is deliberately vague to allow you to try it your way. Apply the following question to everything you do.

Is it easy?

Your perspective in answering this should be from the point of view of the person you want to help you.

If your looking for inspiration on how to take this further then you may wish to start with the following formats.

Posters in prominent public places 1 poster per project, with tear off strips (makes it easier for them to contact you.

Notice board with a sign up point against what you can help with

Public events for larger discussion

A local newsletter where each project takes a page (or an insert into a local newsletter that does the same).

It’s obvious, it’s simple and it can make good stuff happen. So try it, and please let us know how you get on.

Born at Palomar 5

Talk to Me Bubbles update

What started as a laptop experiment, is proving to be a great technology for events. Please use the hashtag #lbubbles to add your own stories to the talk to me bubbles experiences.

Talk to me bubbles have now been successfully tested at several conferences and business events including:

Deutsche Telecoms Innovation Day – Will men in suits where stupid looking bubbles expressing their passions – 8/10 said yes.

Vision Summit – We brought 100, we ran out, people started making their own from post-its and masking tape.

Photo: @unfucktheworld (also shows speed dating on the stairs – another conference hacking project)

Palomar 5 Summit – Well we would wouldn’t we

Photo: Carolin Seeliger

Palomar 5 open day – See below for stories

Photo courtesy of @unfucktheworld

Laptops have been spotted, and people are beginning to be more creative about how to use them. Like this one from the lovely @annalena, Photo: @thewavingcat

V2 Augmented Reality Event – A highlight for me, the technology is being adopted by other events.

Photo: http://v2augmentedreality.ning.com/profile/CarlWilliamKerchmar

For me, I have my own stories.

I’ve heard of people crossing rooms to start conversations with people they would’ve overlooked. I’ve engaged in interesting conversations I wouldn’t have been able to touch upon otherwise. But my favorite experience would have to at the Palomar 5 festival.

After carrying fridges down stairs, MCing the summit, and working far too hard, my back was sore in multiple places. I no longer craved high brow conversation, I just wanted to be silly and to get massages.

So I put “talk to me about giving me a massage on my back”

People didn’t talk they acted.

I got 6 massages and 1 micro massage over the course of the event.

Mostly from other 5vers, but one from a stranger, which led to a conversation about physics (because that’s what her bubble said) that led to a good night

Communicating your needs effectively works. Whether in be inviting conversation or physical contact, just be careful what you ask for.

Next steps are to start trying them in public. Watch this space.

If you want to use the technology for events, hacking your own reality, or otherwise download the template here http://bit.ly/lbubbles

Born of Palomar 5

Mind your language: I am not a “Human Resource”

I’ve heard the phrase Human Resources a lot lately and I have to say it sticks in my throat.

Why?

Because it embodies the attitudes of corporations and all that is wrong with the system in the first place.

To see the human as a resource, is too see us as something to be owned, mined, optimized, used, and given mans behavior – exhausted.

If we are to change our approaches we must change our language as all words have associations. I recall a discussion with @axelletess and @maryannarogers, where after looking in depth at the problems of work they concluded they must change our associations with work and the word itself.

So I don’t go to work, I go to play. Likewise “Human Resources” must die.

So what goes in place of Human Resources, what do we replace this function with? What fills this absent space?

The enabler: A person that allows me to pursue my passions, to grow, to learn and to live. Someone who allows me to maintain my energy for a project, and to remove the obstacles in life and work that could reduce my momentum.

I’d like to extend the question to HR people. How would you feel about the above position? How do you feel about your job at the moment?

Born of Palomar 5

Changing Reality

Ok, so I’ve said what I do here, but what do I want to do? What am I about, what motivates me, what drives me?

Changing Reality motivates me

What the fuck do I mean by this?

Reality is a construct.

It is a story that we tell ourselves for why we are here and what we can achieve.

Everything is just a story, a story that we tell ourselves, that we tell each other, or others tell about us. These stories make up our image of who we are (both externally and internally) and define what we can achieve, what we believe we can do, and what others believe we can do.

The stories we tell about the world, about society and the world are even more powerful. These collective memes and perceptions define our culture, our limitation and our capabilities. Modern myths restrict us, limit us and constrain our behavior, they shape us and our future.

Presently the media amplifies the stories that we tell ourselves, it affects our collective psyche, it affects our path. But so do the other systems that we accept without question, the stories of “how things are done” of “how we behave”. When we change the stories of what we can do, we change our behavior, and our action according to these beliefs.

I’ve just spent 6 weeks in a Bubble outside of this reality, with different stories for it’s beginning. Stories that said we have the power to change everything (ourselves, our space, our ways of working, our ways of interacting, and the world). I’ve seen the effects of these stories on me and those around me. I feel free. I intend to remain free.

So to free society we need to Change Reality. Creating more spaces where reality can be altered, both temporarily and permanently. Creating technologies and systems that change our behaviors and our interactions.

This is not a task that I do alone, although others may define their motivations differently. I want others to share my freedom, and the freedom experienced by the other P5 participants. So we can all chose our own direction.

The world changes when we ourselves are free to change it.

This freedom is within reach of us all.

ahumanright.org

It starts with a bold premise. All change does. Bold, unreasonable, uncompromising.

Information is a human right

I can vouch for that, i’ve been without a laptop for 4 weeks, and I feel intellectually and conversationally crippled. Like someone took away a large part of my mind, my ears and my mouth. But i’ve been able to get access here and there, to access the information I need, and more importantly connect with others who can help me.

But what of those who have no internet, their voice drowned out by those with the power to amplify. Those who we don’t hear because the media (alternative or otherwise) can’t see them. Those who can’t access the information that will allow them to change their own world.

ahumanright.org proposes to change this. It’s ambitious. Audacious, and will not stop. Why? Because it’s born of passion and it is an idea of resonance. What it now requires is that people support it, get behind it and make it happen.

Problems are merely challenges, billions of dollars a small price to pay for something good. Details are being resolved, and will be resolved. What is required is the collective will of the many, and we can make a difference.

So go to the website (all 75 people who read my blog), add your contact details and a name an idea that will change the world ahumanright.org. Oh and promote the fuck out of it.

Thanks

I’m proud to know these people. Born at ww.palomar5.org

What do I do?

A common enough question, but one I struggle to answer. When asked recently for a job title or description I flipantly wrote “google me”. Strangely I now have no title.

I believe that I’m not alone in this loose definition of self, in terms of work. I aspire to fluidity and therefore would rather not define myself, either in work or otherwise. Fluidity and no definition means that I can adopt role and function as and where necessary. To define oneself is to limit growth and change. So what do I do?

I identify where I can be of most value and act accordingly. I see what needs to be done and do it, or find someone else to do it.

What I do vs what I can do is an important distinction, I can do a lot, I could still do more, but if I needed to learn how to do it, I’m confident I could.

More recently I have found myself adopting the following roles:

Clarifier – I listen to long conversations and dialogues and then relay exactly what everybody is trying to say. I distill information into a pure and understandable form and translate between parties. I take the time to understand the geeks, geniuses and those so intelligent that others struggle to understand them.

Enabler – I identify what needs to happen for someone to achieve what they are setting out to do and either take action or assign action and make sure it happens. I unblock obstacles to flow to help get stuff done and maintain energy and passion.

Moderator – Ensuring that everybody gets to make their point (or someone else gets to make it for them)

Connector – Linking ideas, thoughts, people and projects

Designer for Humans – I work with whatever technology is best suited to solve a particular challenge. I do it from a Human perspective – ie. our social as well as physical selves, humans are far more than ergonomic factors. Separate blog post to follow.

Muse – A challenging role, people have to adopt ideas they feel passionately about, and they have to take ownership of it. You can’t give people ideas, they have to take them, want them, desire them, if they are not in love with it then it not succeed. They may love it for different reasons.

Social hacker – I hack social situations, change physical spaces, change behaviors, create permission to behave differently

Catalyst – I like to boost people, accelerate their advancement and those of their ideas, the faster people become self reliant and confident, the quicker you are not needed which leads me to the final role.

Redundancy designer – I aim to make my self unnecessary, I aim to reduce work, not increase it, so we can all spend more time playing. I can do the same for you.

So what’s my job title? Water? Fire? Earth? Air? Human?

Today I’m Jay, and tomorrow i’ll be Jay, but Jay will never be the same.

These roles are merely behaviors I adopt when necessary, behaviors are transferable, if you want to adopt some let me know.

Thanks to @villum for prompting this brain dump.