Integral Practice

Bloggers and Making Money

ebuddha — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 13:23:26 -0700

On a completely different tack - How Top Bloggers Earn Money. The 100 or so blogs that actually make some cash, rather than the 100,000,000 that languish in obscurity!

Steve Jobs In A Box

ebuddha — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 10:10:10 -0700

Great article on

Google as the Ultimate Integral Practice assistant

ebuddha — Wed, 23 May 2007 18:09:18 -0700

Great little article, and interview with Eric Schmidt.

“The goal is to enable Google users to be able to ask the question such as ‘What shall I do tomorrow?’ and ‘What job shall I take?’ ”

This meshes of course, with Integral Practice. Once Google - or I-Google, the individualized version for me - has enough information about me - I can use google's handy little search box to ask:

a. What type of exercise is right for my body? (google will already have my DNA, height, weight, and medical history).
b. What diet is right for me? (same as above)
c. What job should I have? (google will already have, and be able to produce an analysis on, both my interests and my skills. In fact, I can hardly wait for "google portfolio"!)
d. What spiritual path is right for me? (Google will have again, my interests, a fairly detailed psychological profile, with my various psychological types, whether I'm more of a mind or body person.
e. Who should I marry? (Google will have a much cooler and complicated algorhythm to match me up with others whose profiles will be compatible. It will blow match.com out of the water! And then of course, will manage the introductions, through Google Twitter or Google Jabber.)
f. What volunteering should I do? (Again, based on where I am, my psychological profile, and where I live, my social networks, this will be easy to calculate).

Face it - we won't need to have Conversations with God - we can just have -

Conversations with Google.

Talkin' To the Steering Wheel

ebuddha — Mon, 14 May 2007 16:21:54 -0700

Great little opinion article at San Francisco Chronicle.

Useful to remember, when things "just work", how much time, effort, actually goes into them. The march of progress!

Automation as Part of Integral Practice

ebuddha — Thu, 03 May 2007 15:18:29 -0700

Article worth reading, by Graham English.

And through automation, I’ve been able to cut 15 to 20 minute tasks down to 60 seconds. It’s safe to say that I’ve caught the automation bug. I find myself noticing the tasks I do everyday and asking myself how can I automate this or at least reduce the steps to completion.

Another benefit to automation is creating a frictionless environment in which to be productive. For example, I’ve always wanted to keep a journal. But the way I chunked the process of keeping a journal was a major de-motivator for me. If I was going to keep a journal, I had to look at the time it would require and figure out what I was going to give up. 15 minutes to an hour a day is a serious commitment. What did I do? I scripted a journal with built in reminders. Now I don’t have to think about it. My journal just runs in the background.

Okay, I'm making Graham my personal integral productivity counselor. GTD plus integral. You think he will fly out to the U.S. for $60 integral coaching sessions?

GTD Automator

ebuddha — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 14:21:45 -0700

From Graham. I need to try something like this.

Are the Jetsons tech of my youth beginning to become a reality?

ebuddha — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 16:02:01 -0700

Maybe - at least soon!

Here is a guy with a jetpack, flying around.

And here is a startup looking to build the flying car.

It's long been a pet peeve of mine - "all these technological optimists everywhere, and I STILL can't fly around with a jetpack/flying car!".

Well, maybe the Jetsons are getting closer. I'll tell you what, if we get there, then I expect my talking Astro about a decade or two later.

Blogging Has Peaked

ebuddha — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 10:14:32 -0700

This is stating the obvious, but numbers now bear it out - blogging has peaked.

Now some have even gone to ask, "Is blogging dead?".

But that certainly is not the case - still a lot of great information from blogs, especially topical analyses.

But with the explosion of podcasting, social networking, twitter, etc - certainly the landscape has shifted.

Nice! Zaadz riffs on MySpace

ebuddha — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 09:28:16 -0700

Shades of Apple/PC, but the Zaadz guy is even cooler.

Definitely a funny ad.

Scaling the Universe

ebuddha — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 11:56:14 -0700

An amazing view of the Universe here - scales of distance.

Props to Webware.

Go Ahead - Look Up and Wave at Maps!

ebuddha — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 13:07:04 -0800

Saw this article on Google Maps - love the camel, myself:

Apparently, you can get much better video, if you play with the settings of Google Maps.

I can hardly wait - one day, I'll be down on a bench in Union Square. There's a free hotspot there, so I'll have my computer notebook. Google will have giga-tera-googlebyte servers, that will constantly be updating their satellite feeds, on a minute by minute basis.

So, I'll tune into that particular location node - right longitude and latitude - and then simply watch myself, (I'll be looking at my computer) on the Google Earth Video Cam, which will show me looking at my computer.

Maybe I'll follow myself around - as I'll have a GPS device installed, that constistently communicates my notebooks location to the Google Server, which then relays it to the Google Earth Video Cam.

Then I'll rip the video of my day, and zap it to my friends - who probably won't watch it, as they are too busy video documenting THEIR days.

Google Big Brother, here we come!!

Getting good with Google Reader

ebuddha — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 10:27:03 -0800

Very comprehensive article on Google Reader.

Steve Jobs Keynote Speech at MacWorld

ebuddha — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 11:26:19 -0800

Link is here.

Some cool products -

Widescreen Ipod
New Iphone - touchscreen, and you use your fingers.

Worth reading - it really is a re-invention of the "all in one" device. Smaller, thinner, everything done by touchscreen, very wide screen, OS X is the operating system.

Google Reader Guide

ebuddha — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 10:57:58 -0800

Here a good guide for Google Reader.

Consumer Electronics Show

ebuddha — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 12:36:00 -0800

For any gadget geeks out there, two of the best places to get up to the minute CES show news - (for me, this really means gagdet viewing), is at Gizmodo, and CES coverage at Endgadget.

What's Next at WorldChanging - 32 Perspectives Look Ahead

ebuddha — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 12:50:02 -0800

True to it's groundbreaking nature, WorldChanging has published an end-of-the-year "What's Next", for 32 of their contributors. True to form, the articles tend towards the informative, without being overly long.

While there is some repetition - lots of "this will be the year", I definitely got a lot of reading this articles.

This one from Gil Friend:

The key words I'm watching for 2007: generative feedback. Performance feedback that doesn't just track behavior; it drives it.

I think this also tracks with any "spiritual science", and tracks with integral feedback.

Also, from one of the articles, found the site Instructables - collaborative web 2.0 site for How-To. Looks interesting!

The Basics: Your Office On the Web

ebuddha — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 13:14:13 -0800

Great and simple article on how to have your whole office, (in terms of data and apps) on the web, from one starting page interface.

In Love With Google Reader

ebuddha — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 10:58:55 -0800

An update on Google Reader, and blog reading. I find the new setup of Google Reader to be incredibly useful - while at the same time, I haven't abandoned My Yahoo. Still, the ease of reading one line synopsis, tagging the articles, sending out, etc - very nice. I find I can manage a lot more feeds, without getting bogged down.

I'm going to put a permanent link to the Integral Wiki blogger feed, and put it prominently on this site - if anyone sees a site on the Integral Wiki blogger list, that isn't coming through on the feed, make sure to let me know.

E-Learning Patent Challenged

ebuddha — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 09:52:47 -0800

Awhile back I blogged about Blackboard, and how they filed for a pretty obvious patent - e-learning - and were granted it. Then they turned around and sued another e-learning company.

The patent is pretty bogus, so I am glad to see a group challenging it.

Blogger linked with Gmail

ebuddha — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 09:36:09 -0800

Just commented on a Blogger site - I have a "blogger account", that I normally use for commenting - but I notice the "nom de plume" that I use, was changed.

Going to blogger, I find that I am logged in with my gmail account.

I actually preferred having them separate - so I'll have to see how to have both.

Still, interesting to continually see this progression of Google features.

Completely Redesigned Google Reader

ebuddha — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 09:15:22 -0800

I've been using the My Yahoo page as my reader, over the last couple of months - having the ability to quickly scan entries, when you subscribe to as many sites as I do, becomes a necessity - so this morning I checked my Google Reader, to discover that the application has been completely redesigned.

And, from the look of it - very well designed! Both quick check, one line, to scrolling the entire list, to quick ways to tag entries - very very nice.

I might have more feedback later, but fyi!

Quick change of pace - IPod Shuffle, Small Is Beautiful

ebuddha — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 15:11:22 -0800

Just had a co-worker come up to me with their new IPod Shuffle.

Man, is this thing little thing amazing.

Small, light as a pack of matches (and a bit smaller than a pack of matches), clean lines, easy clip - and I don't know if this is feminine to say but - it's cute as all hell!

I have a "larger" IPod, and more expensive - but I'm wishing for this small little thing!

Has anyone bought this? Is it as great to use in the gym as I think it is?

Zaadz Chat? Zaadz Instant Messages (ZIM)?

ebuddha — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 12:03:59 -0800

Man, these guys just keep improving Zaadz. And quickly too.

There really isn't a more intelligent social networking, web 2.0 site out there.

From the wisdom of crowds for books, from the pictures, from the backend mail, from the ideas and thoughts wisdom of crowds implementation, to the blogs and the feeds, to the reviews and recommendations, events, and services -

It really is coming together in a way that I've been imagining "a site having", over the last 2 years.

Kudos, brothers and sisters, kudos!

Google "Who Is? Feature

ebuddha — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 16:11:08 -0700

A cool feature for Google Search. Type in a "who is" question, and, if you are well known enough, a brief description of that person comes back:

Who is Albert Einstein? a German theoretical physicist who is widely regarded as the greatest scientist of the 20th century.

Who is Elvis Presley?   Early in his career he was referred to as The Hillbilly Cat and was soon nicknamed Elvis the Pelvis.

Who is Ken Wilber?     is an American philosopher.

And there are the beginning of the metaphysical:

Who is Truth?   is part of philosophical logic, and within philosophy it is of special interest to metaphysics,

Who knows how good this will get, as search engines improve? At some point, combine psychological assessments, with Google Search History (and personal Gmail, and personal GDocuments, and GSpreadsheets), and when you ask "What is my perfect job?" Google might respond!!

Scary.

However, there are still some "bugs" in the ultimate question search engine.

When I ask the ultimate question:

Who am I?

The top result is a mediocre Jackie Chan film...

Zaadz - A Feature request for blogs!

ebuddha — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 11:23:40 -0700

I just had a cool idea, when emailing a friend, (and I mean literally *Just*. I emailed out to him a quick distillation of my thoughts, hit send, and then thought "I have to blog this!"), so I thought I would put it here.

I have a history here of pontificating, ruminating, on Web 2.0, blogging, and spirituality. And there have been all types of implementations.

Many times, I've thought to setup a SCOOP style site - for either Skillful Means posts, or for Integral posts.

However, at this point, Zaadz - which already has a bunch of other features that a SCOOP site wouldn't have - needs to do TWO things - and then there the NEED for a SCOOP style site, is made completely superfluous.

Ability to search blogs by tags (does Zaadz already have this?), and then ability to RATE a blogpost.

Most of my blogposts are mediocre. I accept that.

BUT

Some of my blogposts are excellent!!

I know that is true as well.

If people can RATE a blogpost, and you can lookup a blogpost based on recommendations, ratings, and taggings - well, then why do you need a SCOOP site? You already have the functionality that, say, DailyKos is so useful for, right?

So - how is that coming!?

also posted at Zaadz

Teleportation?

ebuddha — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 10:02:17 -0700

I saw from Integral Options, that scientists are reporting success in quantum teleportation.

That's pretty cool!

At any rate, the Wikipedia has a couple of good articles.

One on quantum teleportation.

One on why it works, quantum entanglement.

From what I understand, in no way is this the normal understanding of teleportation, but have to do with the weirdness of quantum measurement, and exploiting the properties thereof.

Two interacting pairs that have been entangled, if you measure one pair, you immediately know the state of the other pair. From a wikipedia article:

Einstein coined the term "spooky action at a distance" or "SPAD" to describe these situations, which exhibit quantum entanglement. Relativistic quantum field theory requires interactions to propagate at less than the speed of light, so quantum entanglement cannot be used for faster-than-light-speed propagation of matter, energy, or information. However, it must be understood that a change to one entangled particle does indeed affect the other instantaneously, but this is only known after the experiment is performed and notes are compared, therefore there is no way to actually send information faster than the speed of light.

Zbookmarks is active at Zaadz

ebuddha — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 16:40:53 -0700

I see from C4 that:

Zaadz Bookmarks is active.

It's very nice functionality. Tagging is easy, drag and drop. The cloud is implemented. So I've been finding great content.

Plus, we should be able to recreate Kosmic Bloggers, with little effort!

Awesome! zPages and zBooks on Zaadz - wisdom of the crowds at work

ebuddha — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 09:27:22 -0700

I haven't mentioned Zaadz for awhile - but I am really liking the feature zPages and zBooks.

There are two reasons why:

a. The tag implementation. C4 I'm sure has explained this better than I can, but think of it as a graphical representation of what is most popular. But implemented as a tag cloud, you don't only see the "top results", you see a whole "sky" of results, with the popularity being instantly visually recognizable. (And since the tag cloud is a visual medium, immediately you perceive EACH tag in it's popularity.)

This in itself is a Wisdom of the Crowds implementation. as users tag what they like. In addition however, you also get favorites -what people like, and reviews. What is favorite, what is top in currently reading, and the reviews, are all USER-CREATED content. This means there are three levels of wisdom of the crowds here.

Same thing with zPages. You start with a tag cloud, indicating the greater number of events, based on a particular tag. This will indicate a tag you like, or that is frequently used.

In addition, once you click on the tag - say "life coaching" - you then are brought to a listing of people, businesses, that exist in YOUR area.

AND, these businesses are reviewed by users - with a scale, and with personal review.

Of course, the biggest to-do is for people to TAG and RATE people and businesses that you either LOVE or HATE. (And there must be a place for hate, right?)

Funny enough, there is a "Hollis Polk" - psychic, spiritual counselor, life coaching, etc - that has three reviews on Zaadz right now, all positive. Now three isn't a lot - friends could be bum-rushing the system with three - but, the reviews are glowing, and at this point, it is one of the more numerous reviews in San Francisco.

I hope more people begin utilizing this. If you have a great group of 10000 people consistently utilizing, tagging, rating, and reviewing practices, books, people and places, that have improved their own life - well, the cream of the crop rises to the top, without effort.

I wanted something LIKE this - as you can see in this post - that post is from a year and a half ago - but the visual tag cloud implementation, and the different ways that one rates, is better than my initial contemplation!

At any rate, you will see me tagging up a storm over on Zaadz. I'll keep you informed of how it is going.

Cross-posted at Zaadz