The Message in the Cryptex

Different venues, different audiences, but the same query: Six times in as many months, I stood in front of a group asking (perhaps demanding) that I answer the same question. Audiences can be scary — and the question pointed to the heart of the matter.
In each case, I had been invited —and cheerfully agreed — [...]

Shoes for Industry

Who’d of thunk it? A simple shoe — well, actually two — thrown with the right twist could so clearly express an opinion. An opinion so succinct, that the world can do nothing but applaud (and perhaps wish the thrower had had slightly better aim). It was a shoe heard ’round the world.
Shoes have power. [...]

Unintended Consequences

The culprits struck in the dead of night, repeatedly. With each subsequent attack, we doubled-down, increased the bet. There was no choice. Such small acts of vandalism speak volumes. Such attacks are disheartening. I find it hard to fathom that whilst praising freedom, or liberty, or democracy, people would attempt to rob me of mine. [...]

The Epoch of Incredulity

Naming an epoch using the superlative prefix of “post” — as in post-industrial, or post-modern, or the particularly unsatisfying post-millennial — is the one true indicator that we haven’t a clue. When I hear it, I tend to silently grumble the opening lines from A Tale of Two Cities:
It was the best of times, it [...]

Follow the Lady

I learned of the game the hard way. Sometimes it’s called “Follow the Lady” — you probably know it as “Three-card Monte.” It depends on the art of misdirection, distraction and illusion, and just a little sleight of hand. And now it seems, it’s played every night on the evening news. Even “The Daily Show” [...]

My Secret Summer Romance

Her name was Jane. We met, quite unexpectedly, at Zaventem Airport in Brussels. At the Avis counter. It was such a random thing, but when I saw her I knew — no hesitation — whatever the cost, I just knew. Some things are just meant to be. With Jane, it was meant to be. Jane. I [...]

Do Nonprofits Dream of Electric Sheep?

The grass is always greener. We all wish we were something we’re not. I wish I were younger, perhaps better looking and less of a romantic, too. Mail room clerks dream of being CEO’s and CEO’s dream of working in the mail room. “We are such stuff as dreams are made on.”*
I often hear that [...]

Zounds, Sounds

One of the unanticipated side effects of trying to steep myself in Web 2.0 technology — my experiential dive into the world of digital media, of social networking, of Tags, and Blogs, and other fun stuff — is that I accidently rediscovered music. Rest assured, I’m not ready, yet, to turn myself into a Glyph, [...]

Email Heresy – The Sequel

So, with all this talk about logic puzzles, the voice of the people, and the value of various types of communications, I decided to do a little homework. After all, I publicly committed heresy. And, while several people (privately) agreed with me, and others suggested that we get to make our voice heard every election [...]

Email Heresy

This is a copy of a reply I posted on the NTEN-Discuss listserv. The original post was a call to action about Congress implemeting an "anti-spam" feature on constituant email. The plan called for implementing a system that would:
…“require human interaction (by answering a question or retyping displayed letters/numbers) before the email could be submitted [...]