What happens when a corporation designs a stop sign?
This little parody really illustrates how design by committee works.
Archive for May 2010
It’s about time! I have been wanting to watch Hulu on our Plasma TV for a while now.
I have previously posted about using Freecycle when I was moving my husband and I out of our apartment, but now that I am springcleaning, I am finding myself using Freecycle more and more. Freecycle a movement that is multifaceted: I find it useful in getting rid of clutter, saving money, living green, and even advancing a sense of community.
When you go to Freecycle.org, you will see this following description posted on the homepage:
The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,793 groups with 7,208,000 members across the globe. It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them’s good people). Membership is free.
For the most part, Freecyle is set up on Yahoo! Groups, so you will need to have a Yahoo! membership ID in order to participate. There are some communities, like Oakland, CA, that have stopped using Yahoo! Groups and expanded out to using the My Freecycle platform instead. Before 2009, Yahoo! Groups worked well, but since March 2009, I have noticed that Yahoo! Group has been having problem associated with its search functionality that has not been fixed.
Tips for using Freecycle:
1. People like pictures. Even though you cannot post pictures on Yahoo Group, you can include a link of an image. Most of the time, you will be asked for a picture anyway, so I always include a link to what I am giving away.
2. Remember there is a email digest. Some people get email immediately anytime any one posts, but there are also members who receive a digest or access the postings via the web only. It is generally good practice to post a TAKEN notice after you have successfully given away your item(s), but realize that people might be contacting you after the fact. You will likely get inquiries days, maybe even weeks after your initial post.
Related articles by Zemanta
- One Person’s Trash Is Another’s Technology: Recycling or Donating Discarded Electronic Equipment Help Reduce E-Waste Pollution (scientificamerican.com)
- Frustrating Freecycle (billbennett.co.nz)
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May has been very busy conference-wise. There was Word Camp, Web 2.0 Expo, and this week the Lithium Network Conference (LiNC), which I am attending for the first time.
I enjoy attending conferences — I love working in the web sector and going to web-related conferences is fun for me. It gives me a nice break from the day-to-day and gives me a chance to focus on learning new ideas and meeting like-minded people. This year however, has been a bit of a challenge because I am a working mom and a nursing mom. This means that I can’t really go more than 3 hours without pumping. If I don’t, then I feel very uncomfortable, like my breasts will burst (no fun) and then I risk getting sick with mastitis (no fun, plus misery). I refuse to wean my baby though — I am determined to give my baby the 1 year of breastfeeding as recommended by American Academy of Pediatrics; even longer if I can manage it.
Tech conferences are not known to be very nursing mother friendly. When I can, I take my car with me and I take my pump breaks in the parking lot. Carrying around the equipment can be cumbersome, so being able to leave it in the car helps. However, when the event is held in downtown SF, that proposition isn’t always practical or affordable. Other moms (and I once) have pumped in the bathroom. For those who are not pumping moms, the idea of pumping in the bathroom may not be a big deal, but there is a good deal of equipment and container maneuvering here that can be challenging. Plus, the idea of making your baby’s food in the public place for urinating and defecating is not on the top of my happy list.
I was truly impressed by Lithium Network Conference because they went out of their way to make me comfortable. The folks who put the event together were very vested in helping me out with my request. One of the women actually let me use her hotel room as a private pumping room, and then they worked with the hotel to find me a private room of my own where I could put my equipment and have privacy while I tended to my mammalian duties.
Everyone at the company I have met so far are all incredibly helpful and friendly. I am grateful to Lithium for being such awesome customer-centric group of people who treated me so well.
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