Personal API (Personality Interface)

Like me, this post is a work in progress

Building on an ongoing conversation with Gabriel Shalom about Social API’s – a means of creating interfaces with organisations and for groups, and due to my ongoing tendency to self reflection I thought it may be a interesting and worthwhile experiment to create my own personal API to allow people to better engage with me.

Also inspired by Ijon from C-base describing a person as having an interface problem – I find this notion of Human as software interesting, I would like to make my own behavioral code open source, which could also make memetic and behavioral replication easier.

Furthermore it led to another discussion with Chris Doering, about how such a service could be established like a dating site, to encourage collaborations and better facilitate communication and understanding between parties.

Work

Money:
Money is only useful when it’s in my pocket – please pay promptly.
It doesn’t motivate me to work – passion does. We will need to find out what is interesting to me in your project to get the best out of me.
If there are expenses on a job or a job is long, then please pay me in advance – this will allow me to focus on you and the job and not the absence of an important transactional commodity that should be in my pocket.
My day rates vary depending on interestingness of project, and skillsets required. In some instances you will not be able to find somebody else who knows how to do what I do.

Passion and free participation:
I like to try out new things, these I will explore for free or at reduced cost, I can only do this when I can afford to.
If you want me to repeat something I already did, don’t expect it for free.
If there’s profit involved –  be fair, if there’s benefit involved – be fair.
The more open you are with the financial aspects of your projects the more flexible I can be.
Give credit where it’s due.

Working style:
My attitude is that the one doing the work is the one who should decide how it should be done, we can agree on expectations, but concensus kills energy in big groups.
If you don’t like something then build it differently, we should seek to take what we like from each others practice, if we all take this approach then the critique is implicit, positive and action oriented.
Trust is essential.

Ideas:
If you want to pursue one of my ideas, do it, I’m flattered. But please do me the courtesy of accrediting, or referring to me. If you make money – cool, if you feel like giving me some – cooler, but no obligations.
But freeing me from the economic ties that bind, will give me the time to elaborate on my thoughts and ideas further.

Communication:
I’m trying to spend more time in the real world – please keep emails short and to the point.
Where possible be clear on expected outcomes and actions. Where there is much to be discussed call me 0049 1638709908.

I am not my phones bitch – if you call and I don’t answer – it’s because I’m in the middle of something (probably a conversation with somebody else), please don’t take offence send an email and i’ll get back to you.

Press:
What I do (invariably as a part of collective projects) is of interest to many people, however if I spend all my time doing interviews then I have no time to do anything. Please therefore recognise that my time is valuable and compensate accordingly for the content I provide you with. Or consider what the transactional benefit is to me (for example share with me transcripts and recordings).

Please recognise and respect the fact that what I do is co produced by many others – please communicate this and give them their dues. It’s the WE that’s interesting in our stories, please don’t create a myth of one.

Objectives:
I’m motivated by a number of overlapping objectives, a summary of these can be found below. Work I undertake should meet these objectives, or at the very least not work against them.

Social:
To help people better connect with and access the real world
To help people to change everything
To help people manifest awesomeness

Environmental
To create more sustainable systems

Economic
To explore new ways of meeting our need
To create opportunities for creating wealth and security in parallel economic systems

Personal
To build a nice place for myself and others
To be an equal part of a community
To have fun
To travel
To be secure
To love and be loved

Comfort/Hospitality

I like slow food, home grown, home cooked, things prepared with love, attention and a personal quality.
I prefer warmth and something between me and the floor.
A good shower is a must (or at least a place to bathe), bath prefered

Source Code – Behavioral Attributes (including some flaws)

I don’t believe in problems only challenges
I regard everything as a provocation to new inspiration
I see opportunity in everything and seek to share this
If I’m bored, I’ll just leave, or make it interesting
If I don’t like something I’ll change it
I obey my body – when I’m hungry I eat, tired = sleep, etc. If you use social obligations to stop this, I will be a sulky/angry git
Question everything
I someone tells me something isn’t possible, I try to find ways to test assumptions and prove them wrong
I don’t expend energy trying to persuade everyone to my path, it’s it’s right for them they can adopt it
There is no right way to live, only what works for my life. I don’t expect you to think the same, but you may copy me if it works for you.

Why not write your own Chelsea already has