Floblogg

Les copains d’abord

brody — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 06:11:43 +0000

It’s almost as if Georges Brassens had anticipated the social networking craze of today where everybody relies on his friends for recommendations and buying decisions. As if this were something new and never heard before. In the years before the Internet Era, social structures such as refer-a-friend and recommendations of products and services were even more important as the tools for research of common information were much more limited. People had to rely on each other in a much more substantial way than a Facebook connection can offer. People had to rely on friends of friends and there was no way to call a friend to tell him that someone will be in town soon and would they please support your friend in a certain cause. So people resorted to a friend-of-friend network that would guarantee that someone traveling to a town where he know nobody would be well received, supported and helped in his needs. One of the core tenets of the Freemasons was an is the open reception of their Brethren at any affiliated lodge.

Les amitiés – Friendship is a very human quality – I’m not sure if animals make friends – kids have their own thoughts about friends; M., who is 5 and 3/4 clearly differentiates between boys who are friends and boyfriends, friends, best friends and really best friends. All her friends are in real life. She does not have a parallel Facebook life – yet. One of my recollections in my school around 10 is the barber/hairdresser who held a shop inside the school and did an abysmal job in cutting hair but it was cheap – he told me anyone has only one friend in life – I would say not one but very few.

So when people want to be “just” friends – meaning no relationship, no involvement that may break and take down with it the friendship, the question arises if it shouldn’t be the other way around – when you marry, you can get a divorce – but friendship? So when you meet someone who becomes a real friend, then this changes your life. Not only on Facebook but in your soul.You can “friend” (verb) people online – not IRL (in real life) – whatever that is – more about that later. I recently met a friend…. how do I know? We seem to know each other forever.

Les copins d’abord

About the Medium and the Memory II

brody — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 07:05:26 +0000

While thinking about this blog entry, I got completely side-tracked and as Leonard Cohen and Marcel Proust started to get intermingled, I got stuck with MP – especially as I found this audio piece of Albertine disparue.

Revenons à nos moutons: (let’s get back on track) The way in which we attach memories to music shows that the medium is the memory – serves as artificial memory in the way Raymundus Lullus understood it.

More about Leonard Cohen – who disappeared and reappeared years later bringing with him the music from times past. “Excuse me for not dying” he says, never even trying to hide that he sings about memory and memories. “You’ll be hearing from me – long after I’m gone”. He did penetrate to the core of things and he has the answer – and he shares it…

Is it close to Synestesia, when one sensory modality evokes a stable percept in another modality? Like sound – color, Skriabin was famous for having it – or is it the memory of an early evening when the wind starts to pick up and it get’s just a bit too cool to sit outside comfortably with a glass of red wine?

To be continued …

About the Medium and the Memory

brody — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 06:30:13 +0000

Memories come in all shapes and tastes. As small shell-shaped cakes, as music, as a smell in mid-air on a warm summer afternoon. Calling Madeleines “cookies” would be a disservice not only to these unique creations but also to the American public that mostly draws its memories from Oreos, which are not as good as their name ????? may imply, or those oversized, shapeless, and overly sweet affairs called “freshly made chocolate chip cookies” that better bear no memory value (but they do of course) – as they would be disappointed. The large coffe chain with the Mermaid has solved the problem by adding large amounts of sugar and even chocolate coverture to make the Madeleines desirable. Sweeten your memories.

I recently discussed the topic with a friend and this resulted in an evening of Proust – despite the fact that the first volume was nowhere to be found in the whole house. Her house is a perfect place to read Proust – with very strong tea, the kind preferred by old cultures with a tradition, some Madeleines and the promise of home-made Madeleines – soon. The complete text of the Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, par Jean-Yves Tadié is available online and in a new bilingual version with the C. K. Scott Moncrieff translation. There is even an audio version of Albertine disparue: “Le départ et la mort d’Albertine, racontés par une jeune fille qui pourrait avoir son âge. Idéal pour écouter l’été au soleil, dans le jardin, sur la plage, au lit…” listen or download.

PROUST, Marcel – À la recherche du temps perdu : Albertine disparue (Chapitre 1) – lu par Orangeno

Stanford Summit

brody — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:17:04 +0000

As every year for the last 8 (time flies!) – the Summit at Stanford marks the middle of summer in the Silicon Valley. The annual gathering for entrepreneurs and VCs in the halls and on the lawn behind the Frances C. Arrillaga Alumni Center.

The program is both impressive and comprehensive – watch this blog for updates with a special interest on news of global relevance – with many readers in Europe, this is essential.

The first session with Guy Kawasaki concludes with the question: How do manage your board? Don’t surprise your board – Sales fixes everything – Sandbag your numbers.

#SAS10

I love to share – Creative Commons Salon San Francisco

brody — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 02:24:29 +0000

Creative Commons Salon hosts an evening on sharing:

The evening’s presenters are Jack Herrick, founder of the collaborative how-to manual wikiHow; Clément Alteresco and Anne Gomez of innovation/strategic development agency faberNovel, which founded collaborative workspace pariSoma; and Neal Gorenflo, founder of Shareable, a new magazine and online community dedicated to sharing.

Jack, the founder of WikiHow shares the importance of compassionate communication. Being “nice” to each other in communication is as important as giving them the power to change and impact the content of one of the most-read sites on the Web.

Parisoma presents itself as part of the global coworking community with a “very SOMA” feeling, working locally with 20 people in the room or 100,000 people live online on the Web.

And then there is Shareable – the magazine about sharing.

More is here: http://wiki.creativecommons.org/San_Francisco_Salon

Photo? iPhone crashed and I lost most of tonight’s photos – I can share this one.