Category: filosofy &c
-
don’t ‘think different’. just think
My properly English mum would have disapproved of Steve Jobs’ famous slogan purely and simply for its grammatical incorrectness, for the same reason she tut-tutted whenever she saw a highway sign that said ‘GO SLOW’. The correct form was go slowly. Think differently. It requires the adverb, don’t you see? I do, Mum, I do;…
-
serendipity in the virtual world
A few weeks ago I attended a conference in Vancouver on virtual reality. The show was mostly aimed at consumers but did include a ‘trade day’ at which industry folk would speak, share and connect. One of the keynotes was a trainer from NASA who explained how that agency invented and/or improvised many VR type…
-
should i go or should i stay
A couple of years ago I was attending reception during a client’s sales convention and a few of their customers dropped by to socialise. One of them was a bit late, he explained, because he’d just come from escorting his pre-teen daughter to an Ariana Grande concert. Yeah, you probably already know where this is…
-
conduct unbecoming
There is a lot of chatter in the domestic media right now about a certain cabinet minister who appears to have exaggerated his role in a certain military operation in Afghanistan. Yes, he was there and yes, he played an important role, but his characterisation of himself as ‘the architect’ – that is, the top…
-
the time may have come to give up hope and just have fun
A little over a year ago, I crossed the physically and emotionally daunting threshold into my ‘60s’. It is an interesting time. More than any other decade marker (so far, at least) this one seems to encourage real reflection and assessment of one’s life. 60 may be the new 40, but 70 is indisputably a…
-
address to the american marketing association
Feb 2, 2017 Philadelphia PA Friends, We live in exciting times. For we are on the cusp of a new and golden age for our industry. I make this pronouncement will full acknowledgement that ours is a trade overly fond of hyperbole and spectacle, ever too keen to announce a glittering new chapter in the…
-
drag me away
We all have songs that instantly connect us to a time and place. The funny thing is, we can’t choose them; circumstances do. One of the most potent for me is Gino Vanelli’s Wild Horses. Every time its thrumming, insistent intro comes on the radio (yes, I still listen to the radio) I’m taken back…
-
an argument in favor of artificial intelligence
What a week. I’m writing this on Canada Day – July 1 – 2016. One week ago, the world awoke to discover that the British people had voted conclusively to leave the EU. The decision triggered convulsions of all kinds – social, economic, political – in Britain and abroad, and will continue to do so…
-
#tellthemnow – my version
A recent survey of boomer-age people asked what they most regretted as they approached old age. A significant majority cited ‘unresolved issues with parents, who were now deceased’. I totally get that. As, it seems, do many of my peers. As we collectively shuffle along this mortal coil, many of my cohort are hustling to…
-
me speak geek
I am not by nature a technical person. So I was very surprised when I was offered a job with what was then possibly Vancouver’s most high profile tech company, one which provided high end post production and visual effects services to producers of film and television commercials. What were they thinking? This: as the…