Attention is a theme I’ve covered here numerous times in the 3+ years I have been writing at this site. One of the recurring models that we’ve accepted as fact is the notion of Continuous Partial Attention - a term coined by Linda Stone some time ago.

In case you’re not fresh on how it works, here’s a quick definition:

Continuous partial attention describes how many of us use our attention today. It is different from multi-tasking. The two are differentiated by the impulse that motivates them. When we multi-task, we are motivated by a desire to be more productive and more efficient. We’re often doing things that are automatic, that require very little cognitive processing. We give the same priority to much of what we do when we multi-task — we file and copy papers, talk on the phone, eat lunch — we get as many things done at one time as we possibly can in order to make more time for ourselves and in order to be more efficient and more productive.

To pay continuous partial attention is to pay partial attention — CONTINUOUSLY. It is motivated by a desire to be a LIVE node on the network. Another way of saying this is that we want to connect and be connected. We want to effectively scan for opportunity and optimize for the best opportunities, activities, and contacts, in any given moment. To be busy, to be connected, is to be alive, to be recognized, and to matter.

WikiHome - JotSpot Wiki (continuouspartialattention)

The last night or so, I’ve begun reading an interesting book (recommended by a friend), called Breaking Open the Head. It takes a look at contemporary shamanism - yes, outside my normal sphere, no, not completely crazy. Tonight, I came across a small gem that warranted sharing:

We have sacrificed perpetual capabilities for other mental abilities — to concentrate on a computer screen while sitting in a cubicle for many hours at a stretch […] or to shut off multiple levels of awareness as we drive a car in heavy traffic. In other words, we are brought up in a system that teaches us to postpone, defer and elminate most incoming sense data in favor of a future reward. We live in a feedback loop of perpertual postponement. For the most part, we are not even aware of what we have lost.

Source: Daniel Pincheback on Levi-Strauss, Breaking Open the Head

I must admit, this is somewhat fascinating to read.  Certainly, I find merit in Linda’s portrayal of our mindset, but I can’t help but sense the elegence in this second view.  In many ways, these are two sides of the same coin.  Whereas Linda’s approach takes the “glass-half-full” vantage point and deems our new skill as an optimization, Levi-Strauss takes the more pessimistic persuasion and examines that which has been discarded in exchange.

Technology has always sought out efficiencies - it’s what drives innovation, right?  As we barrel forward at an ever-quickening pace, it becomes more and more evident (from teens and their disposable identities (read Impression Management) to adults and their persistent fear of stolen identity and everything in between) that sometimes we need to allow some distance to grow before we can appreciate the place from which we have just departed.

Could Continuous Partial Postponent be a simple way to remind us of the balance between technology and our humanity?

technorati tags:continuous+partial+postponement, digital+identify, danah+boyd, linda+stone

Amidst all the madness that was Thursday night, I did have a very interesting conversation with a friend regarding her own pursuits in life and how her efforts could be enhanced, even multiplied. After listening to her initial description of the problem, it was clear to me just what the dilemma was - too much preaching, not enough teaching.

What, exactly, does that mean? Well, it’s actually a problem quite common to individuals who are extremely passionate about a particular subject matter - say entrepreneurs, activists, and others endowed with their own “cause”. Now don’t get me wrong, passion is a wonderful thing but it needs to be made actionable for it to spread.

Consider this example. I have another friend who is on the verge of making the move to the Bay to get his new company off the ground (much as I did just two months ago). I’ve been working with him for the past few months trying to get him to refine his pitch into something that a business-minded investor or partner might be able to sink their teeth into. In the course of this work, he’s constantly fallen back to some fairly lofty positions that, to be honest, just have little to bear on the conversation at hand. As I mentioned to my friend last night, pitch me the message you want me to leave with, not everything leading up to it.

The difficulty we have, as passionate beings insufferably attached to our own belief systems, is that we simply can’t deny the story leading up to our own conclusions. The problem, of course, is that all stories have their own lives, take unexpected twists and turns, and ultimately, terminate in places most unexpected - and most people don’t have the time for the drama.

The solution? Teach, don’t preach. It sounds quite simple on the surface but it is undeniably one of the more difficult skills to master. Why? Most people are not very good at being concise - it’s hard. I always remember this quote from Mark Twain, “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” Given enough time, I think most people can communicate some semblance of an idea - so long as their emotional blinders don’t prevail. Unfortunately, that also provides enough time, and rope, for them to hang themselves. Worst of all, though, is that most of us are too impatient to wait for the punchline - we’re quite impatient with these sorts of things.

To increase your odds of impression, it’s often a sound practice to learn how to boil down your ideas and remove the emotional angle. I’m not advocating being emotionless, nor am I denying the power of passion - but if you’re having a hard time moving your ideas forward, consider it might be the vehicle you’re using that’s getting in the way.

Naturally, the exact opposite of this argument is true as well. If the facts don’t sell the idea, perhaps you need to do a bit more preaching. I’ll leave that alone for another post.

technorati tags:sales, influence

Since I’ve been out here, I’ve been trying to do my best to get to know the area and meet with a wide range of new people.  So far so good.

One of the most important friends I’ve had out here has been Anthony - a friend of a friend I’ve known for about 4 years now.  He’s a graphic designer, an artist, and a DJ.  Most importantly, though, he’s just a great guy and done his best to get me out and about.

This Saturday, we’re having a special party for him over at Otis.  He’ll be spinning for part of the night for sure so we hope you’ll come out and celebrate with us - starts at 8PM.

Details are posted on upcoming. There will be lots of people outside the tech bubble, to be sure.

While we continued our inebriation tour here in Ontario, CA.. the hackers were rocking out to Beck in Sunnyvale - that just sucks.

I caught a glimpse today of some video on Jeremy Zawodny’s blog that, well, just made my stomach burst. Here’s the video - watch it and you’ll understand the tagline.

I’ve been trying this morning to get GMail to run inside of Flock - but it won’t.  The reported problem is JS-related.  It seems like it’s a browser-detection issue since Firefox is working just fine (I’m only guessing that Flock identifies itself differently).

Was there a GMail update?  Is anyone else having this problem?

Two nights ago, Auren Hoffman pinged me to see if there was anyone I knew who might be interested in working with him. I’ve got a few people I’m telling directly, but I thought I would share this opportunity with all of you as well.

If you don’t know Auren, you should. He’s a very successful entrepreneur that truly gets the value of human relationships. That sounds silly, but I can honestly say I’ve met too many people who pretend to know what that means.

Also if you don’t know, Auren recently started an interesting new system called RapLeaf. The simplest way to describe it, Auren forgive me if I mischaracterize it, is the EBay reputation system for the rest of the world and it’s connected citizens. Things are growing quickly there and he’s looking now to extend the team. I’m posting this here in its entirety:

Rapleaf is looking to hire a non-engineer.

Rapleaf is a ratings system for commerce. We allow buyers and sellers (on sites like craigslist, classifieds, auctions, etc.) to rate each other. Rapleaf is backed by Silicon Valley’s most well-known angels. More at www.rapleaf.com

Our goal: to make it more profitable to be ethical

What will this person do? Everything that is not engineering-oriented including:

• Marketing
• Business development
• Product stuff
• Finance
• Recruiting
• Customer service systems
• And more

This position will be one of two non-engineers at the company (me being the other person). The other four people at the company are engineers. We’re looking for a really smart, motivated, multi-tasking, entrepreneurial, and highly-adaptable person.

This person must:

• Be Pro-active
• Be Ready to work extreme hours and in a chaotic environment
• self-manage and potentially manage others
• Be able to quickly grow as the company grows
• Laugh a lot and generally be very happy
• Have a strong desire to build a more ethical society

Compensation:

We’re looking for the very best person … and we believe that person should be well-compensated:

• High salary and stock
• Opportunity to make commerce more profitable to be ethical
• Opportunity to change the world
• Be a part of a founding team of a game-changing company

Our office is in downtown San Francisco (one block from the Montgomery BART station) - the best location in the world. You will need to be located in San Francisco (or very close to San Francisco) … and we will relocate the right candidate.

Anyone can apply - zero to 25+ years of experience.

Please apply to:
jobs@rapleaf.com

(before applying, please be sure to sign up for Rapleaf and check out the product).

p.s. we are also looking for great software engineers.

I think there’s some really insightful knowledge nestled in there about startup life.

Sometimes, it seems that life moves so fast that your past gets ahead of your future - so far ahead, indeed, that you can’t see it anymore despite how much it shaped what you are barrelling towards.

Today happens to be one of those days. It happens to be the day that my dad passed away, some 7 years ago now. I don’t really know how it slipped my mind. I would like to blame it on the hectic travel and my lack of proper rest. I’d love to blame it on my busy schedule with work and catching up. I’d like to blame it on something, but I can’t.

I forgot. Where is my head. I don’t know much of that these days. I definitely feel like the world is slipping out of my hands in many different directions - grabbing at sand it might be said. All I know is there’s more on my mind than business - though that’s got its share of issues and is burning more cycles than others.

I was reminded by my mom - she didn’t go today either. She is generally scared to go to the cemetery on her own. She didn’t know I got home yesterday - maybe I didn’t either. Dunno.

I’m disappointed with myself is what it boils down to. Where’s the other end of that rainbow when you need it?

Just a quick ping to anyone attending Mesh. I haven’t checked out rooms or anything (or bought my ticket for that matter) but I figured let’s see if anyone’s looking for a roommate for a couple of nights.

I’m getting in on Sunday. If you are, mail me: greg AT socialroots DOT com.

It was bound to happen, I know. I didn’t expect it and it definitely couldn’t have happened at a worst time, but it’s what I have.

Yesterday, I jetted to the airport early to try and make an earlier flight home - I’m increasingly tired of the red-eye but it’s practical in lots of ways. In this instance, I was avoiding landing at 5am so I went early to get on the 3:20pm flight - landing at 11:45pm.

I was on standby but there was no issue getting on the flight thanks to a very friendly guy at the counter.

I waited at Carousel 1, then 3, then 1 looking for my bag. I had two bags with me. The first contained all my clothes, toiletries, shoes, etc. The second was loaded up with audio gear from the Beercasting days. Guess which one I need? Guess which one is missing?

Yup. I’m heading out at 9AM tomorrow for Toronto to provide some podcasting for a show. Naturally, all my audio equipment has evolved and is stored nicely in my apartment (the stuff I had is older, slightly broken, and inferior). When I didn’t see my other bag, I secretly wished that I could have it instead of the one I now possessed. No luck.

The helpful lady at the Lost Baggage Desk gave me a $30 voucher and told me that it is most likely on the next flight and will be there in the morning. Sounds fishy if you ask me. How did one bag come through and not the other? Exactly.

If they find it, they’ll send it to me today. If they don’t, well, let’s not go there.

I’m happy to be the first to announce to the world that my best bud’s new photo blog, cornershots.com has launched.

Jimmie’s been working on that site for so long it’s hard to remember the first time he mentioned planning a re-write. I’m happy to say that the new site really was a collaboration of many talents and I’m happy to have played a part.

Naturally, there has been Jimmie’s vision driving it all. Some 2 years ago or more I initally bought the domain as a place for hosting photos of street corners. I never used the name, just thought it was fun. I don’t recall how we managed transferring the effort over, but it happened and Jimmie’s done so much more than I could have with it.

My trusty designer and art director Daniel Arsenault stylized Jimmie’s ideas (as well as a previous pass) and worked on the logo with him.

I helped out when I could with some AJAX, CSS, and Wordpress-hacking support.

But utlimately it’s all Jimmie’s handy work. My best to him and his future projects. Finally, I feel the photos have a backdrop deserving of their beauty.