Brigid Rose

Inspirations and Output

[brigidrose]

Fun way to help out science. Show these NYU researchers the doohickey you play with while you work. #fidgetwidgets http://thndr.it/Zg3S48

[fastcompany]

The problem with wearables is that usually people stop wearing them. According to one recent report, one-third of users of activity-tracking wearables, like the Fitbit and the Jawbone, toss their devices aside after just six months.

To overcome this, a small cadre of companies has been furiously working to develop smaller, sleeker, more discreet devices that monitor health and wellness—in the form of temporary tattoos, band-aids, and ingestible pills.

Read More>

[ancientart]

Odrysian Wreath from Golyamata Mogila.

A golden wreath and ring from the burial of an Odrysian Aristocrat at the Golyamata Mogila tumulus, situated between the villages of Zlatinitsa and Malomirovo in the Yambol region. Dated to the mid 4th century BC.

Courtesy & currently located at the National Museum of History in Sofia, Bulgaria. Photo taken by vintagedept.

[brigidrose]

Ancient artistic headgear meets EEG sensing? 

[brigidrose]

Lauren Ipsum Book Review

While the previous two books we read for class, Little Bets by Peter Sims and Program or be Programmed by Douglas Rushkoff required a fair amount of reflection in terms of the subject matter discussed and how it might impact our lives, Lauren Ipsum by Carlos Bueno, was a pleasant return to reading for pure entertainment instead of intellectual pursuits. Indeed, it was a trip through the looking glass if you will, back to a fanciful time of youth when magic things could happen, for example, reading something that did require much elevated thought. But wait, what is that? Is he talking about algorithms? Did he really just say WISYWIG? And here I was, operating under the assumption that reading this book would be pure child’s play, but really it is all about computer science?! I’ve been had!

  Indeed it is true, Bueno intended for this book to be a simplified delivery method for the complex subject matter that is computer science, and while this book does not offer up a wealth of knowledge equivalent to a computer science degree, it explores a few of its key points in a nonthreatening and even enjoyable manner. Computer science discussed in such a way that even a kid could understand? All right, I admit, now I am interested again.

  Though this is a children’s book and I am already an adult with knowledge of the inner workings of computers and computer science, I still really enjoyed this read. Despite my previous joking tone regarding Bueno’s “deception”, if you will, in the fact that this is a children’s book exploring more advanced subject matter, I actually applaud Carlos Bueno for his attempt to make something STEM related seem approachable for children, and little girls in particular.

  Pulling its general theme from the Lewis Carroll classic Alice in Wonderland, Bueno writes of a young girl named Lauren Ipsum (first computer reference noted), who becomes lost in a strange place called Userland and needs to find her way home again. Along her journey home, Lauren meets up with a number of characters, all of which act as introduction to important topics of computer science and throughout her time with each character, they not only help Lauren on her journey, but they do so in a way that boils down each topic to its bare essentials and in writes about it in the most approachable of ways.

  Though I suppose the argument could be made, that since this book does not explicitly outline what computer science is in a real world context, that a lot of the words and terminology it uses could be lost on children. Sure, you say it’s a book about computer science, but what does that mean? I’m a child and contextualizing adult subject matter is hard! All that being said however, I think that, in terms of contextualization, this is where it’s time for the parents to come in. No excuses folks! Bueno has laid out an amazing framework; a reference tool that parents can point to when real world examples of the themes discussed arise.

  Ultimately, though I recognize that the contextualization of computer science in the world outside of Userland may not be the easiest task, I think it is one that needs to at least be attempted. In a time of ubiquitous computing, the understanding of STEM topics is essential for a child’s intellectual growth and I think that this whimsical and creative look into a decidedly scientific and calculated subject matter, acts as the perfect kind of catalyst for conversation. 

[brigidrose]

WOMEN YOU SHOULD KNOW

In looking back at all of the different fledgling companies we have visited throughout the semester, I think that Women You Should Know was not only one of my favorites, but that it also provided our class with the perfect feel good note to end the semester on.

  In an effort to portray only my authentic self here on the Internet, a la Douglass Rushkoff and Program or be Programmed (thou shalt tell the truth and be thy self), I have to admit that a lot of the companies we visited left me with a bad taste in my mouth. It’s not that I don’t admire their work ethic, or that I thought all of the companies business models or products were bound for failure, it’s just that I don’t know if I could personally ascribe so much importance to one of my own ideas that I would feel comfortable risking it all. Now, whether that speaks more to my general lack of self-confidence or my general feeling that the market is already saturated with innoventions, I’m not really sure. Either way, I always left wondering if the tireless pursuit of fame and fortune through start up left these people feeling fulfilled at the end of the day.

  I say all of this because, in my mind, Women You Should Know offered up the missing puzzle piece, the answer to all my questions. Yes, you can be a start up company with nothing but a socially conscious interest and go home at night none the richer monetarily yet infinitely wealthy in personal happiness. Jennifer Jones and Cynthia Horning spend their time researching and writing about inspirational women in an attempt to inspire others and to create a network for anyone looking to make a difference in the world. A fantastic cause, yet when asked about their business model and cash flow, they admit with smiles on their faces that, so far, WYSK isn’t making them much money at all, yet they seem to be just fine with this.

  Though there were other companies with socially conscious business interests that we visited, such as Goodnik, there was something about their willingness to do this just for the sake of doing something good for the world that really warmed my heart. Especially since I personally identify with the idea of a labor of love in terms of non-profits I have tried to get off the ground in the past.

  Considering all of this, I guess my question going forward, is where can we find the balance? While I personally think that doing something strictly for acquisition of money will eventually leave you pocket wealthy and soul poor, I don’t, however, think that just because you want to do something good for the world means you need to be doing it for free. In the future, I hope to find out more about the success of non-profit media organizations, and how they have managed to find financial solvency while contributing something idea and not product driven to the world at large. 

[brigidrose]

Branch, Potluck, TenLegs, and Crazy Ideas!

  Though this may not have been the desired outcome of visiting with Cemre Gungor at his start up company(s) Branch.com/Potluck, my ultimate takeaway was something that Cemre said in terms of life inside academia verses life outside of it.

  “I made my final thesis at Poly be an interactive sculpture, because, you know, when the hell am I ever going to be able to find the time to do something like that again”-Cemre

  While understand this sentiment of having real world needs in terms of paying for your life and of course, student loans, it also makes me sad that so many creative people have such a defeatist attitude regarding the monetization of their artistic work and non commercial creative output.

  While I thought Cemre’s companies were interesting and the fact that he was funded by twitter was cool and stuff, ultimately I found myself transfixed on this idea- if we can find a way to convince people to fall in love with so many new businesses and products that are produced by start up companies, then can’t we figure out a way to create a start up for making people fall in love with non commercial creative work?!

  I know that this idea circles back around to our meeting with Amit Gupta and his company TenLegs, and it’s true that their network of artists portfolios seems like it has already been really helpful for artists trying to find work. That being said however, Tenlegs is still ultimately about commercializing artistic output instead of appreciating the art for arts sake. Or at least that was my take away.

  Sure it’s great that you are helping these artists make money, everyone needs money, but what if there was a way to, instead of just helping an artist hawk their wares, actually bolster the presence and importance of art as cultural institution in the eyes of the everyday consumer? Like for example, introducing an avid Campbell’s soup lover to the work of Andy Warhol. You could even use a platform much like the one potluck has created in terms of quick content delivery in order to achieve something like this. Who knows, maybe this is a totally whacky idea, but then again, isn’t that how a lot of start ups get started?

[brigidrose]

Douglass Rushkoff- Program or be Programmed Book Review

Never has a book been so aptly named as Douglass Rushkoff’s book of critical media theory, Program or be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age. Though the title holds the word “commands”, a puny reference to computer programming, I often find myself unintentionally replacing the word with “commandments”, as I have come to think of this book as though it were a new media pocket bible; a small reference I can keep handy and view in times of media morality crisis.

  Though it sounds as though I say these things in jest, let me be clear: I have never been more enraptured by a book of critical theory. Not only do I whole heartedly agree with each of the commands outlined in this book, but I also think that Rushkoff’s ability to boil these hard hitting points down to a mere 150 pages shows not only a confidence on his part in terms of the subject matter, but it also shows an awareness of his information overloaded audience. We might care about what you have to say, but if you can’t do it in 140 characters or less, you will have lost our attention.

  Being someone who is looking to build my future career around digital media, as well as just being a tech savvy human being in the age of information, I often found myself reading this book and needing to take pause. Not because the subject matter was too dense or theoretical to understand, but because I related so strongly to the statements he was making that I would need to take a moment and consider all of the past events in my life that were immediately in line with his warnings; thou shalt share and not steal, thou shalt tell the truth and be authentic, all in a digital context of course.

  I think the most universally relatable example out of Rushkoff’s commands is the notion of being always on. We are constantly being pinged by our social media networks, by emails, by texts and phone calls. It can be totally exhausting. What’s more confounding than the sheer volume of information being pinged (tossed, chucked, hurled) at us on a daily basis however, is figuring out the proper way in which to respond.

  Previous to reading Program or be Programmed, my general modus operandi was to try and respond to everything as quickly as I could, each unanswered email gnawing at my subconscious as I went about my ‘IRL’ activities.  Then one day, as I am riding the subway and wondering what notifications I am missing while underground for an hour, I happened to read Rushkoff’s first command “do not be always on”. The basic idea being, do not sacrifice complexity and thoughtfulness in a response “bc they need u 2, k thx”. More importantly, do not sacrifice sanity and autonomy in order to make yourself available to everyone at all times. Computer code is “built to be biased away from continuous time”. (Rushkoff) In other words, computers can be always on without being effected, but we are not computers, nor should we try to be.

  Beyond just his first command of “thou shalt turn off”, this byte-sized book is full of heavy hitting and thought provoking questions designed to make us take pause for a moment while we try to parse our own personal data. Furthermore, this book goes the extra step of not only making us question the way we have been interfacing with digital media, but also suggesting a way in which we might try things differently.

  Some might find this presumptuous, or even sensational, “but David, this isn’t the Matrix and I am doing perfectly well without a single scrap of coding knowledge”, and who knows, maybe they are right. Maybe centuries from now new media theorists will be writing about the society-changing inventions of the day, and referencing Rushkoff along side all of those who thought language and then printed word, marked the end of society. My point however, is this; digital literacy and awareness can’t hurt you, so why not help yourself? You may not become an elite h4ck3r or computer programmer, but you will at least have the tools to get the best of digital media, as well as the knowledge to know when it is trying to get the best of you.

[brigidrose]

Naama Bloom and Hello Flo!

While I unfortunately was out of town for a conference during this class, I have loved Hello Flo, and by proximity Naama Bloom, since her awesome video "Camp Gyno" went viral on the Internet. 

Anyone who can parlay a socially conscious product into a solvent business model is amazing in my book. Also, bonus points for helping young girls feel empowered and confident in their bodies!

[brigidrose]

Eddie isn't a businessman, he's a BUSINESS, MAN.

I unfortunately was sick this day and came in late which means I missed most of the Pijon Box presentation. The day, however, was not a total wash, as I stayed to watch Eddie introduce the class to the amazing world of framer.js and all of it's easily accessible bouncy physics. It it worth noting, I think, that even though UX/UI isn't really my area of interest or expertise, Eddie's presentation had me interested enough that I later (that month) attended a class he was hosting where he taught the basics of how to create awesomely dynamic apps/websites with framer.js and actually got a lot out of it. Man, Eddie is just the coolest isn't he? 

[brigidrose]

Goodnik

In our trip to Alley NYC we met with a number of interesting start up companies. First with Goodnik, the helpers of socially charged entrepreneurs and then with SeekChange, the creators of Dara, the emotional fitness personal assistant, meaning that overall the theme of the day was about finding new and innovative ways to help each other and to help ourselves.

As someone who has done work trying to create non-profits in the past, I was particularly interested in the mission of Goodnik, as well as their Goodnik’s in residence program. Though I am not currently doing any non-profit work, I was happy to be introduced to this potential future resource for helping me form a successful and, who knows, maybe even financially solvent business! Please note, the hint of sarcasm doesn’t denote a lack of belief in their ability, rather it is a knowledge of a lack in my own personality ability to achieve this feet in the past.

Outside of learning about Goodnik and their business, I also felt as though I was introduced to a lot of start up and non-profit business related concepts, something I was also very interested. I mean, not only could terms like b-corp, or benefit corporation, potentially apply to me one day, but it was also refreshing to take a break from hearing start up founders discuss their ideas for their, not necessarily interesting or innovate company as well as their ultimate lack of sleep. Speaking of sleep, the same type of story repeated ad nauseam has a tendency to get kind of boring.

I was not bored however, by hearing about SeekChange and their idea for creating an app for personal empowerment. Though I personally have doubts that receiving a service that is usually person to person through the mitigated format of an application can carry the same kind of success rate, (nothing beats human contact) I was still in love with this idea of using the platform for tracking positive change. I mean, I have a fitness tracking app that helps me count my caloric intake, and I guess that can help lead to positive change in terms of better health, but there is still something about that experience that to me feels reductive. Speaking of crude, let me put that in a more simplified manner: it's not "hey chubby, you have got to get less chubby", it's more like "hey you are a complex, and beautiful creature who is allowed to be human, I think you are doing a great job! Keep up the good work!"... you know, if that makes any sense.

[brigidrose]

Adda Birnir & Skillcrush.com

When I lived in Philadelphia one of the ways I spent most of my time was as an organizer and teacher at The Hacktory which is a non-profit interested in making art and technology related learning more accessible. One of The Hacktory’s more popular workshops was one entitled “Hacking the Gender Gap”, which asked its attendees (both women and men) to share positive and negative experiences involving STEM. This sharing took the form of a post it note timeline that was then dissected and discussed by the entire group.

After co-instructing a number of these workshops I became acutely aware of not only the problems that the gender gap creates, but also the need for an active voice in opposition to this phenomena. This desire for gender equality is ultimately what made me appreciate (fall in love with?) Adda Birnir and her company Skillcrush.com.

Though Skillcrush does not aim to be an online education tool for any one specific gender, the fact that its users are almost all female would suggest that something about this site lends itself to the formation of such a community. I’m not really interested in parsing out the why in this situation. Maybe the design of Skillcrush is more “feminine” than similar sites like Code Academy. Maybe it’s because of the initial user base that was created by the company’s woman positive founder. Whatever the reason might be, the important fact is that women apparently love what Skillcrush has to offer in terms of online tech education, and cant wait till they add to their curriculum. 

In this day in age, companies like Skillcrush which aim to make learning about programming more accessible are extremely important. Our daily lives are directly and hugely impacted by the digital realm and unless we want to be ushered into the digital age blindly, hoping that the ones in charge of this realm have our best interests in mind, we too need to understand these tools. As Douglass Rushkoff says- "program or be programmed". Now, thanks to feminist programmers like Adda, we can also sleep more soundly knowing that there are people making sure that women will have an equal voice in the shaping of our digital lives. 

[brigidrose]

Little Bets Book Review

As someone with entrepreneurial interests I often find myself wondering how to decide what projects are worth my time. Also, how can I know for sure that this time and effort will amount to something? Considering this, I started reading Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries, with a fair amount of interest. Could a book this small really help me to identify break through ideas when and if I had them? Is that really a teachable skill? Unfortunately, after completing this book I felt less inspired to innovated than I did happy to have completed the chore of reading it.

  In an attempt to be fair to Peter Sims, the author, I will say that there was a decent amount of interesting information to be found in this book. From powerful stories about the process of innovation, to the psychological research behind what creates an entrepreneurial mindset, this book did not lack in substance. The problem, in my opinion, was best illustrated by the fact that when I was asked to describe the book in one word, the first word that came to mind was repetitive.

  The book starts with the outlining of a few companies/people (Macintosh, Pixar, Chris Rock, etc.) that, in Sims’ opinion, embody the best examples of entrepreneurial spirit. As Sims is introducing his selection of noteworthy entrepreneurs throughout the first couple of chapters of the book, I am intrigued. By the time I am halfway through the book and it is, nearly on every page, harkening back to these exemplary few, I am exhausted. Yes, I know Frank Gehry has a fascinating and successful creative process. Yes, I get it.

  Despite the repetitive nature of Simple Bets, it was not without it’s merits and important takeaways. As I said, the initial stories of different creative processes were compelling. I loved the idea of Chris Rock being unafraid to tell awful jokes to small crowds, or the idea of Frank Gehry prototyping future buildings in cardboard. I think my favorite parts however, were the discussions of different psychological studies. I loved learning about Dr. Carol Dweck and her idea of a fixed mind-set verses a growth mind-set and how this relates to entrepreneurship.

  The human brain is a fascinating and complex thing and, in my opinion, it takes a fascinating and complex personality to make it in the world of entrepreneurship. That being said, had Sims concentrated more trying to explain how the brain of an entrepreneur might work instead of focusing on the stories of how they did their work, I think I would have found the book less shallow and more insightful. Lucky for Sims, a big part of being a good entrepreneur is an appreciation for iteration. So Peter, better luck next time!

[brigidrose]

TenLegs

While I unfortunately missed most of our meeting with TenLegs and Amit Gupta, I was very interested in both my before hand research of the company, as well as what I did manage to hear of their presentation.

While I think this idea of creating a place for artists to post their portfolios, network and hopefully find new jobs isn't a new one, that doesn't mean that it isn't a platform that could be improved upon, and it seems as though this is a goal TenLegs has been achieving. 

Since I didn't get to catch much of this presentation, it is my solemn promise to you, reader (I am pretty sure that is just you Beth) to complete more research into the background of this company as well as to try and work in my findings/thoughts about TenLegs into future write ups.

[brigidrose]

Saikiran & Kipin Hall Reaction Writing

Saikiran Yerram was nothing if not passionate. In introducing his project Kippin Hall to our class, you could tell by the way he spoke and jumped excitedly from functionality to functionality that this was an idea he was sold on. That being said, as a member of the audience, if you will, I could not help but feel like I was viewing a repeat of the previous weeks presentation of Alex Epshteyn’s Bright Class, except maybe just designed a little better.

  To be fair to both parties I will note that I understand there are definitive differences between the two companies. Bright Class aims to integrate more technology into the classroom, live streaming and recording lectures in order to try and make the learning experience more dynamic. Where as Kippin Hall is more of a place for students to digitally congregate and seek help from other students, sans the integration of fancy, expensive and proprietary technologies.

  Bright Class and Kippin Hall are two different business, with two different business models and two different enough product ideas, but at the end of the day, I don’t know as either of them offer any more knowledge about media organizations than the other. Keeping that in mind, I think now might be the appropriate time to state that I also feel as though my interest in start up companies in general is waning.

  Coming into this class I had little to no knowledge of what it took to create and functionally run a start-up. Our first soiree in to start-up land, which was the Dumbo Street Incubator was fascinating to me and I learned a great deal. Now, after hearing from a number of different companies, all with generally the same ethos, I am longing for a shift in subject matter.

  I know that this write up doesn’t really discuss my thoughts on Kippin Hall and Saikiran like it is supposed to, but to be honest I left class after hearing him speak without many new thoughts. Saikiran is clearly brilliant and motivated and is not at all new to the world of start-ups, so I am sure if Kippin Hall does not work for him he will continue to find success and fulfillment with his next project. To speak colloquially, I know that what I just said makes for a seriously lame write up, but I try to be nothing if not honest. That was, for all intents and purposes, my only take away. 

[brigidrose]

Alex Epshteyn Ngaged & Bright Class Reaction Writing

In listening to Alex Epshteyn of Ngaged Software speak to our class, I mostly found myself feeling confused and later disengaged. Now this isn’t to say that I found Epshteyn’s main project, BriteClass to be uninspired. No, this is more so a reaction to Epshteyn’s presentational style.

  Anyone who can say that they went to Columbia to study Cognitive Neuroscience and linguistics, is clearly intelligent.  Unfortunately, what he had in intelligent thought did not, in my opinion, make up for his lack of general enthusiasm and relateability. Alex was all about the business and the numbers and the buzzwords. He clearly understood his product and his business inside and out. It was also clear that this project came about as a means to make more money than he had been in his previous signage business.

  I don’t mean to sound too disparaging when discussing people from the world of start ups that are clearly more concerned with making money off of a product than solving a problem. Money makes the world go round, and if you are intelligent and motivated enough to find a way to make that money while being your own boss, I respect you. That being said however, I have noticed a trend in my reactions over the last couple of weeks while listening to these people speak. That is, I may respect you, but I am not really at all inspired by, or interested in your project or what you have to say. 

I am much more inspired by those companies, such as Caserails (who took huge pay cuts even despite starting new families), that seem to be putting money second, and problem solving first. Maybe the fact that I am younger and maybe am lacking in "real world knowledge" means that I have a slightly skewed vision of what should be important to people. Maybe it's fine to put money first and problems second. Then again, maybe this is why I have, so far, been much more drawn to the idea of working for non profits with a good cause. I think it would be interesting to hear from people who are starting up NPOs as a means of comparing and contrasting. Until then, I suppose I am just left to wonder. 

[brigidrose]

Varick Street Incubator Reaction Writing

To return to my theme from last week, I decided to ask questions of the people at Varick Street Incubator that would help me understand what kind of personality it takes to successfully run a start up.

If I were a gambling woman (which I’m not), I would so far have most of my money stacked on masochistic and maybe slightly egomaniacal. To be fair though, this impression was only based a very small sampling of people, and I am happy to report that our trip to Varick Street did help to renew some of my faith in start up culture.

The first person that we heard from was the manager of the Varick Street operation, Steve Kuyan; a friendly and animated man who was clearly passionate about his job. Focusing on the idea of a fixed mindset verses a growth mindset from “Little Bets” by Peter Sims, I thought I would ask him whether or not he had always been ok with the idea of failure and learning from it or if it was a learned skill for him.

After pausing to consider the question for a moment, he launched into what mostly seemed like a well-practiced response; “In the start up industry fear of failure isn’t an option”. Given that I wanted to understand how to cultivate my own stiff upper-lip in while facing the possibility of wasting vast amounts of time and money, this answer wasn’t really satisfactory.

After Steven was done speaking however, we heard from a number of different start ups (caserails, coursehorse, etc) whose genuine passion and interest in solving a problem made me come to my own conclusions. It seems as though it is easy enough to gamble money and time when you are passionate enough about solving a particular problem.

I feel as though this entrepreneurial altruism, if you will, might have been missing from most of the people we heard from during our visit to the Dumbo Incubator the previous week and the shift away from caring about money to caring about problem solving was what opened my eyes. 

[brigidrose]

Startup and the City: A startup vocabulary lesson

Editor’s note: Julia Plevin recently started a job at a startup that’s still in stealth mode. She’ll be posting occasional columns on VentureBeat about her experiences. I come from a right-brained ...