Andrew's (in Palo Alto, CA) Mini Cooper S

A friends tweaked Mini Cooper. a hot box indeed!

eyes

The EYES have it!

Ma and Pa

Here's a better picture of Ma and pa. Taken a week or two ago. Two of my favorite people!

Penny Lane- gone!

Penny Lane. Dead and gone. One of Boulders most unique coffee houses.. Around for decades. Home of poets and musicians. Hang out for the weird of Boulder.

There are a few communities in the country that attract 'interesting' people. Boulder is one of those towns. These folks tend to be creative and non traditional thinkers. Sometimes they look like your next door neighbor, sometimes they look like their homeless (and sometimes, they are) but they ARE interesting and unique people.

Penny Lane was one of the places that people like this in Boulder congregated. Go there for a cup of coffee and you were bound to run into an old friend, or a local university prof, an author of a book you'd just read or a musican in a band you might have seen at one of the local venues during the past weekend. It was a meeting place and a small community all onto itself.

And it's gone. The landlord didn't like the 'element' (people) that the place attracted. And that reflects back to what's happening to Boulder (and to many 'weird' places in the US): Gentrification. The rich. Average income of a Boulderite is $150K a year. Average age: 29.

Think about that.

Lot's of youth, lots of healthy people (Boulder has the lowest BMI/body fat index, per capita, in the USA), lots of money.

Oddly, that combination tends to push out the different, the unique and the slightly mad. What, you're not a marathon running, rich beautiful person?? Well then, get the hell out of town.

I've seen some bumper stickers around town lately that say "Keep Boulder Weird". Amen, but good luck. It's hard to fight the economics.

My Next Car? mmmm...aybe

Hmmmm... Funky micro van.. The Toyota xB. I wonder if I should trade in my gas hog Landcruiser for one of these fun rides. Let's see, Landcruiser: 12MPG, xB: 30MPG...yea...

People as interchangable knowledge components-NOT

I'm sitting here thinking about the power of Google (and related search engines) and it occurs to me that, if you're smart, and you know how to use the tools, you are AS smart as the smartest and most knowledgeable expert on the planet about almost any narrow subject you can imagine.

The global access to information that's exploded via the internet and tools like Google have made it possible. So, what's that mean to people? Well, what it does off the cuff is negate the need for consultants. Who needs em? ANY person within a company or institution that has any brains and can use the tools can be as knowledgeable on the data of a subject within hours as someone with a PhD in computer science or nanotechnology. It's the EDITORSHIP of that information that has value. If you've got context and knowledge in your mind that others don't have, knowledge that allows you to create connections between what appear to be disparate bits of unrelated data, you've created information.

Now, wrap your own experience in an industry, it's players, it's politics and it's marketplace all together, you've taken that information, and you've transformed it into knowledge. If you're able to effectively communicate it to others (or yourself) in a way that's understandable and actionable, well, you've just taken the leap to wisdom. Data->Information->Knowledge->Wisdom. Funny, I started this post out thinking that Google made everyone as effective as a high powered consultant or company executive and that people, even knowledge workers, where really just becoming cogs in a bigger mechanism.

As I write, I change my mind. The fear we American's have of outsourcing our 'information workers' to India or China is really not a threat. You can't take the big picture and shove it down the minds of programmers in Bangladesh. That set of knowledge is too broad and too tied to relationships and politics to transfer. And that set of knowledge, propertly combined into one or a few minds, is where the creative juice to make things happen, happens. So, fear not o smart folk of the world. You are not going to be outsourced anytime soon. You ARE going to have to use more of your mind and your skills, particularly the skill of communication. SGC

A compressed Neighborhood

Major high density building in Boulder ..must be the wave of the future.

Discreet Earthquake

Just outside of my garage door. You would think: wow.. That's one very isolated earthquake event if you hadn't heard the jackhammers.

Shaun at Chili's. He wouldn't eat, but he'll drink a beer. We were meeting with one of the guys that's interested in being a developer for ClickCaster (known as RadioActive Milo by some of us, and as Tony by the world at large). Shaun's our security guy, IT and admin as well as taking a leading role in the development of the ClickCaster podcasting client and tools. Good stuff.

Clickcaster tag

So, they say to post this code if you want to be in Technorati's list of tags. Here goes:

Clickcaster

Best Podcasting Setup for on the go folk

The best podcasting setup yet. It's an MXL battery powered pro level condenser mic with 1/8th inch plug adapter ($99) and the iRiver MP3 player recorder (model number: IFP-889 1GB-$179). What's cool about this setup is it's extremely portable and gives recording studio level quality for under $300 (retail!). Battery life on the mic is months (9v battery) and on the iRiver it's 40 hours (rated) for a single AA battery.

Self Portrait

A self portrait. Man.. THAT'S what I call a Shnoz, by god.

Le Mar

Mod Mar, our resident body art/mod expert (and ClickCaster visual creative goddess) having a 'creative insight moment'. Or she's knocking that spider out of her ear... can't tell. Mar's the ClickCaster artist and webmistress. She takes the magic Cleo, our interface designer, creates and she adds her own spin to it, making it beautiful on the web. She's an accomplished artist in her own right and she's learning how to cartoon (see the rprn.org site from some of her work at: http://www.rprn.org:8080/entertherabbit.html and http://www.rprn.org:8080/mediamasters.html )

The Rack!!

The ClickCaster server rack in the basement development lab. 3.6 terabytes of burning carbon.

The Recording and Streaming Studio

The RPRN.ORG recording studio and streaming station in the basement development lab. This is where we put out The Boulder Sound stream on the internet (www.thebouldersound.com) and where we create podcast shows. 3 mixers, a Mac Mini and two windows XP boxes hooked into a T1 with some audio compression gear and that old stuff.. CD Players down under the table on the left.

Evil Bob

Evil Bob in ClickCaster's basement development lab. This is Bob's home away from home. He's the master of streaming radio (making it happen and creating some of the most offbeat shows you can imagine, like the Uncle Mammy show, infamous in it's day) and has some experience with that underground radio stuff you hear about from time to time. We've worked on a range of projects over the years and our latest, Clickcaster.com is proving to be fun. He's our prototype guy and in charge of all our systems and systems engineering.

Joe the Man

Best bud Joe. Thanks for dinner man. Next one's on me. I think he's contemplating that 2 lb burger he just ate. Joe's a founder in a local RFID company and a cohart in many 'interesting' activities over the last few years here in Boulder having to do with various radio operations. He's an EE and a master RF (radio frequency) dude extraordinaire. Used to climb mountains for a living. Just your average JOE (ha! Couldn't resist).

What you find in a corporate boardroom in Texas

This is in a conference room at a client of mine in, guess... Yea..texas. Cowboys and texas... Like north korea and nukes.

Jefe!

Our first official ClickCaster (www.clickcaster.com) invester! Note the intelligent line of his jaw. The glint of insight in his eye. That flash of metal under his lip you ask? Some would say a piercing but NO.. it's a microphone strategically placed for adhoc podcast creation! Ahh yes... a deeply intelligent investor indeed.

My Cooped up Cooper

Poor little mini cooper cooped up in the garage.. It ain't right. This little beastie wants to BREATH. Let me out, LET ME OUT!!

My geeky living room

My coffee table in the living room. With the stereo system laptop (just to the right of the TV/monitor on the right side of the screen), that makes 3 PC's in my living room alone. Hmmmm.... wonder why I'm home alone on a friday night... do you? I don't.

My geey living room stereo setup

Playing with pro gear as home stereo. Using a behringer 12 channel mixer with an old small laptop to stream internet stations and podcasts. Everyone uses a laptop to drive their stereo, right?

Motocycle on the bluff

Ahhhh.. A motorcycle ride on a sunny afternoon. This is on a bluff overlooking Boulder, CO. See that set of smokestacks to the right? That's a COAL BURNING powerplant. Whodathought that Boulder, home of ecoaware folks the world over, would get it's power from Coal?

ma & pa

Ma and pa at a pre july 4th dinner. Hold still will ya! Wait.. that's me. This ain't no Nikon. There's a great turkey dinner right there below moms head. Damn it was good too.

BonZAI

a quiet zen moment on my doorway entry table. Ahhh the calm strength of a pigmy tree.

Ahh my photo life

Well, created this to send photos I take with my Treo650 to. A way to document the boring day to day life of yours truly. Ya never know though. Maybe I'll break a great story, or capture an amazing never before seen picutre.

Or not. Maybe you'll just see alot of friends, happenings, meals I eat, whatever, as it happens. I doubt I'll even let on this thing exists, but for now, should be fun.