The first time I was formally introduced to the concept was in relation to my martial arts training. During a seminar, I believe we were told “in order to learn, you need to be willing to make mistakes”. At the time, I probably thought I knew what that meant, but what I’m finding is that only recently is it really starting to fall into place. In recent training, I have been deconstructing techniques that I thought I knew, and approaching them with a fresh perspective.

I also connect this with another pursuit of mine, my training as a private pilot. When I was preparing for my checkride my instructor told me, “No matter what happens, you’ll come out of this checkride with a license. It will either be a white pilot’s license, or a pink license to learn.” I think from that point on, I looked at tests very different. A test is no longer the end point, but rather the beginning of the next phase of learning.

Now the question is, is there a difference between the “beginner’s mind” and an “open mind”. I think so, but feel free to comment with your thoughts. The distinction I draw is that a beginner’s mind is applied to free the mind of any preconceived notions in order to learn, whereas an open mind is one which has a wealth of knowledge and experience to draw from, but is open to all options in order to act.

As I was riding the train to work, I popped a quick status update on Facebook:

Felt good to explain to Benjamin why today is a holiday, and who Dr. Martin Luther King is. Hopefully we take another small step to fully achieving his dream with each generation.

Nothing earth-shattering. But after I posted it, I noticed my choice of verb. Even though Dr. King died in 1968, my mind considered him still in the present. I used is, the present tense of the verb “to be”. And that seemed to make sense to me. You can point to a time before a person lives, when they are living, and after they have lived. When someone has died is a specific event, a certain point in time. But the verb “to be” is different, in a sense it speaks to the spirit of a person. Even after they have died, they still exist in memories, photos, letters, descendants, even Facebook posts.

The same thing happened to me recently after my sister passed away a couple months ago, shortly before Thanksgiving. At a gathering with my wife’s family, someone asked me if I had any brothers or sisters. Instinctively, my first thought was, “Yes, an older sister and a younger brother.” I paused just a second, because I wasn’t sure that was still an accurate answer. But my next thought was, “Yes, I have an older sister and a younger brother.” Even though my sister has died she was, is, and always will be my older sister.

It brings just a touch of comfort. That instead of thinking of death as an extinguishing event, to continue to think of a person in the present, in terms of who they are and a continuing impact that they can have on life.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Arthur C. Clarke, “Profiles of The Future”, 1961 (Clarke’s third law)
English physicist & science fiction author (1917 – )

There’s an AT&T commercial I’ve been seeing lately which features snapshots of people using their smartphones (the Blackberry Torch in these cases) in different situations. “It says you like soft rock.”, “It says so-and-so bought the same dress.”, “It says it’s the second switch on the left.” And amazingly the lights go on thanks to what their Blackberry Torch “said”. Just like magic, right? I don’t think so…

Yes, technology is great. And it’s getting more amazing all the time. The power packed into mobile devices is accelerating the pace of our business and personal lives. But magic? Let’s go back to our AT&T commercial. “It says it’s the second switch on the left.” No, it didn’t. Some human put that information somewhere for you to find with your smartphone. The device is the vehicle for information, but the intelligence behind that information still came from a human somewhere along the line.

Writing computer programs is no different. I’ve been a software engineer for about 15 years, and in that time I’ve written some pretty decent applications. But they aren’t magic (well, there have been a couple really cool ones). I look at the software I write as tools to help people do what they need better, faster, more completely.

So, with all due respect to Mr. Clarke, instead of thinking of technology as magic that will read your mind to give you the answers magically, how about envisioning the world’s best Swiss Army knife? What amazing things can you do with the tools created for you?

Humorous sidenote posted to Twitter by Scott Hanselman: “All mankind’s achievements combine so that my 4 year old can carry a $600 pocket supercomputer that can make fart noises.”

The idea of a “mobile divide” interests me, and has for a while. Are there particular parts of the US where smartphones and mobile devices are more or less prevalent, and why? What about specific industries,  are there ones that have driven the adoption of mobile devices more, and those industries have hotspots around the country? I remember seeing a graphic that mapped iPad purchases a the time of the launch. Not surprisingly, huge volumes in the Boston-NY area and huge volumes in the Silicon Valley area. These are tech-heavy hubs.

Here’s another factor; lifestyle. One of the reasons my brother cited for not needing a smartphone is because he commutes by car to work, and so he doesn’t get that extra time in his day to work through emails. One basic aspect of his lifestyle, driving to work versus commuting by mass transit, makes an impact on his need or utility for something other than a basic phone. (Slightly related note: Don’t text and drive, I’m glad they are making it illegal in MA).

But the article that Chris wrote also raised another factor in the equation, which is availability of affordable mobile data plans. Are there places around the US (or outside the US) where access to advanced mobile technology is strictly constrained by economics? For a certain segment of the population, it becomes more of a matter of budgeting. My wife and I choose to spend that extra $30 a month on a data plan for our mobile devices, because we use them so much. As Chris wrote, who needs a map?

So what about you? Which side of the “mobile divide” are you on, and more interestingly, why? What are the factors that influence your use of mobile devices? Something I mentioned, or something I’ve missed?

So how did I shift to the iPhone? And how does it compare for me to the Blackberry which I had gained such dependence?

I’ve had my iPhone 4 for two weeks now, and I will admit the beginning was rocky. Some simple things annoyed the crap out of me.

1. I couldn’t simply look at it and know I’ve received a new message.  Blackberry has a simple indicator light. I can see it across the room. The iPhone, on the other hand, forces me to interact with it to get the same info.
2. The touch interface and the way apps present information should lead the user to the most likely operation. That’s fine if the user thinks like Apple. In the first few days with the iPhone I made a bunch of accidental calls by tapping on contact names.
3. Day after getting my iPhone, I went to New Hampshire for a few days, where AT&T service is pretty poor. My wife still had her Blackberry (she now has an iPhone as well), so comparing AT&T to Sprint service made me even more unhappy.
4. Battery life was really poor to start with, requiring me to charge the phone every night.

Almost sounds like 4 reasons to switch back, right? Not quite. In the span of a week, I’ve turned a corner, and am now quite happy with it.

For one, I’ve made my peace about the indicator light. It leads to crackberry addiction. Think about it, most of the time I’m in front of my laptop, where I also get my email. So I can do without another nagging indicator that yes I received an email.

I’ve gotten used to the interface elements on the iPhone. Not too hard, because I have had an iPod Touch for years and also have an iPad. Adding the phone element to the device was a minor obstacle to overcome. And now I’m tuning into shortcuts and taking advantage of them to make my use of the iPhone more efficient. I’m even getting much quicker with the touch keyboard.

Battery life will always be an issue. Turn on Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Location Services, and you’ll suck the life out of your battery in no time. Coverage will always be an issue, you’re at the mercy of the coverage map. The most important call when I was in NH, from my best friend who’s grandmother was in ICU, did connect. So when it mattered most, I got the call.

So that’s my take on it. It was a tough choice at first, but now it works for me. Have you switched devices recently?  Are you happy with the change?

Spring term, senior year in Aerospace Engineering at Syracuse University was a rough place to be. I was taking 7 classes, including Thermo 2 and Rocket Propulsion (an “elective” with the Dean of Aerospace). I was in the second half of Aerospace Design, which was a year-long course required of Aero students in which each student was required to complete the design of a 150 passenger commercial jet. Most of them ended up looking very much like a Boeing 737. In addition, I was also working 2 different work-study jobs; dining hall supervisor and overnight dorm security. I was also required to take Aerospace Propulsion with Dr. T. Q. Dang.

I remember the first day of class, Dr. Dang diagrammed the internals of the engines on the SR71 Blackbird. The SR71 Blackbird utilizes a ramjet at supersonic speeds, but a more conventional jet turbine engine at subsonic speeds. I was fascinated. This was real stuff, this was where theory left the pavement and took flight. But it was also just the beginning. Propulsion was no joke. But what I remember of the course was Dr. Dang’s ability to make the very complex information accessible, even to a student such as myself with no spare braincells.

I showed up one Thursday morning for class (8:30am), after working a double shift of dorm security the night before. I had probably slept no more than 6 hours since the class on Tuesday morning. I had a cup of coffee, but I fully expected to struggle to stay awake. Quite the opposite! I was riveted by Dr. Dang’s lecture on force triangles within the turbine section of an engine. Everything was making sense, it was “flow”. And it seemed as if he was lecturing just to me.

Again though, the reality of it was, I was taking far too many courses to do well in all of them. By the time finals came around, I was failing the class on the basis of homeworks (though my projects and quizzes were reasonable). The grading was heavily weighted to the final exam. We were told on the first day of class the final exam would have 4 questions, and we were told the answer to one of them. So I walked into the final expecting I had one question locked up. Problem was, Dr. Dang left that question off. I had a reasonable grasp of 3 questions. On the fourth, I was stumped. I ended up starting from Newton’s third law, and deriving the entire solution from the raw fundamentals. But I still needed to pass Aero Propulsion in order to graduate. I went to graduation practice not knowing if I would actually have the grades to walk. Went from graduation practice to Dr. Dang’s office to find my performance on the final exam had pulled my grade up (almost to an A, I think). I might have hugged Dr. Dang, I know he could tell how excited I was. This was the last hurdle in my 4 year quest to call myself an Aerospace Engineer.

Richard Reeve asked a follow-on question, “What makes for an exceptional teacher?” which I didn’t get a chance to respond to. But to me, Dr. Dang was exceptional.

1. He saw I had the potential
2. He made sure he got through to me
3. He didn’t cut me any breaks
4. He celebrated my triumphs with me
5. He probably never realized the difference he made

That is the rest of the story behind my most memorable class and the exceptional teacher who taught it.

But this morning I came across another interesting angle on this, the citizen meteorologist.  New England Cable News was only able to provide weather readings from a small number of reporting stations due to widespread power outages caused by an ice storm.  These power outages had lasted long enough to wipe out the battery backups on their reporting stations.  However, they were still able to report the approximate location of the freezing line based on viewer observations.  People at home were calling in to fill in the gaps!  And in most cases, they didn’t have any sophisticated weather tools at home, they just had a thermometer outside their kitchen window and could make a visual observation of the weather.

There are other cases of this as well.  People phoning in about traffic conditions.  Massachusetts, sadly, did away with the *1 connection to SmartTraveler. But back in the day, that was an easy way for anyone to give an instant on-the-spot traffic report.  You don’t need traffic cameras every mile if you have an army of citizen observers reporting the conditions they are traveling in. You just need to make it easy for them. [Note, pilots have been doing this for years with PIREPS]

Another good example is gaspricewatch.com, which enables people to report gas prices to a central website.  I drive 2 hours to work (not every day, thank goodness) each way, and it is nice to check along the route and see where the best price is for gas.  I’m even able to make a judgement as to the accuracy based on the last time a reporting was made for a particular gas station.

These are examples of social media.  People coming together online for a common purpose to share their observations.  And the power behind social media is the openness, allowing for an army of citizen journalists (or meteorologists or traffic reporters) to contribute for the common purpose.  More information flowing into the system.

But can you trust all the information you see?  Citizen journalism can lead people wrong.  A fake story about Steve Jobs having a heart attack was picked up by major news sources and widely spread before it was verified.  The false rumor, spreading through reputable channels, had a measurable effect on Apple’s stock price.  The message, caveat lector – let the reader beware.  But the hope is that the communities, each and every community, can police itself and ensure that the community members are distributing the best information around.

And when the sun rises tomorrow, there will be a newly elected President of the United States, who is going to have huge challenges to face. So participating does not end with the election, it is only the beginning. Write your Senator, write your Representative, write your state officials, stay in touch with what is happening at the local, state, and national level as closely as you followed your candidate for President. Know and understand what is happening in government, because at the end of the day it is our government.

That is my soapbox for the evening, back to watching the results.

My first car was a 1977 white Mustang II that I had in high school. An amazing piece of crap, leaked oil like Exxon Valdez. But it had doors that were about 9 inches thick and made of pretty solid metal. Came in handy when I bounced off a cement truck. Fast forward almost 20 (yikes) years. I now drive a Ford Mustang GT, perfect for going for a drive to the coast.

So packed everything up and hopped in the car. The great thing about where I live is that I can get to the ocean in less than 45 minutes. I end up on the patio of a coffee shop in Tiverton RI, right on the water. You know it’s a good coffee shop when the dark roast is called Honduran Hero. It was a good “airing out”…

Now, back to my oars…Red Sox game in an hour!

It was so cool, I thought, I want to go find and see the Joshua Tree. It’s not shown on the album cover (I checked to be sure). Nobody told me there was more than just one…way more…

Fast forward to the late 90′s. I’m a software engineer, and I end up with a consulting job in Los Angeles. I spent 3 weeks out of every month there for about a year and a half. My wife was not thrilled. But, I did get to do a lot of hiking and general wandering about SoCal, up to SF to visit a longtime friend, out to San Bernadino to visit another friend, and made the most of it.

Soon after I started going out there, I felt the absolutely need to drive out to Joshua Tree National Forest. National Forest. That should have been my first clue. There’s tons of Joshua Trees. They’re all over the place. I don’t know where they took the album cover photo, but they must have looked at JTNF and figured, that’s no bloody good, there’s too many Joshua Trees there for an album called “the” Joshua Tree.

JTNF is a really cool place to wander about. Even better than hiking and trekking during the day (Ryan Mountain at 100 degrees F!) is staring at the sky at night and watching satellites fly by.