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Ficlets Blog

Updates on ficlets' news, our favorite stories and upcoming conference appearances.

Inspiration: Invention vs. CraftMay 31 2008

All truth is one. In this light may science and religion labor here together for the steady evolution of mankind from darkness to light; from prejudice to tolerance; from narrowness to broadmindedness. —inscription on the first Hayes Hall Tower Bell.

I’ve heard about the TED conference for the past few years as a few of my acquaintances have gone and twittered about being there or otherwise mentioned in, but I didn’t find out until recently that the conference has started posting all of the talks online for anyone to download. Since I was planning a five hour flight to get here for RailsConf, I decided to download a few. Wow.

The quote above is from one of the craziest (but most effective) talks I’ve ever seen. It’s by a scientist named Clifford Stoll and the title of the talk is 18 Minutes With an Agile Mind. In it, he jumps around the stage, makes odd chirping noises and nails perfectly the role of “mad scientist”. He wanders the map from single-dimensioned objects to measuring the speed of sound to campus riots, and then ends with that quote (sorry to spoil it for you – watch it anyway).

The first time you do something it’s science. The second time it’s engineering. A third time it’s just being a technician. I’m a scientist. Once

News: Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.May 29 2008

I’ve started this post in my head about a million times. I was going to write it last night on the plane. I was going to write it this morning right when I woke up. It’s now mid-afternoon and I’ve written and erased the first part of this post a dozen times.

I’ve been with AOL for thirteen years. I’ve worked on all kinds of web apps, and with hundreds of really talented people. I put in notice yesterday, and sent out the e-mails to the big internal listservs. This is harder to write than any of the dozens of e-mails I’ve written in the last twenty-four hours. I’m leaving AOL… and that means I’ll no longer be involved day-to-day with ficlets.

Ficlets is my baby. It was my idea originally, and I had a great group of friends who helped me realize that idea and turn it into something “real” (it’s not real, really, but you know what I mean). But, that’s not all true. It’s you guys who made ficlets work. You’re the ones who took the initial idea and created a never-ending web of thousands and thousands of stories, some of them all alone, without prequels or sequels. But, some… some have dozens and dozens of threads going off in a untold directions, taking them to crazy places unforeseen by the original author.

Ficlets will live on without me. My last day at AOL isn’t until the 6th. By then, I should be able to introduce the new ficlets “gardener” (blogger, manager of rep

Ficlets for Music?May 21 2008

I found this the other day because I love all things Creative Commons, but it looks like the idea is spreading. Go check out rifflet. Basically, it’s ficlets for music. Musicians (or the rest of us) post sixty seconds of unfinished song and then everyone can come, download them, and mash them up. How cool is that?

And yes, I’ve been absent. I probably will be some more… I hate to do it to you guys, but it seems like you’re managing quite well on your own. We just passed thirty thousand stories on ficlets the other day, and well, that’s amazing!

Inspiration: The Changing of the MasksApril 25 2008

I’m back! Did you miss me? I had pretty decent internet access in China, but… my laptop decided to protest and committed ritual suicide by frying its hard drive. That happened the evening I got there, so I spent most of the meetings taking notes longhand in a notebook and checking mail on my blackberry, which meant no ficlets and very little surfing.

The picture above is from a three hundred year-old traditional Chinese dance called The Changing of the Masks. It’s basically a five minute magic trick, and it was amazing to watch. The dancer is constantly changing masks, and it was really hard to “catch” him doing it. I’m going to see if I can find a video of it online and share it, but it was fun to watch.

So, today, let’s think about the masks we wear and the traditions we practice that make those masks harder and harder to change.

In completely unrelated news, it’s THX 0477 birthday today. Don’t ask me how I know, it’s a trade secret. But, let’s all wish him a happy birthday! Happy birthday, THX!!

Inspiration: Dreaming During the DayApril 16 2008

“Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.”—Edgar Allan Poe

I found this quote this morning and just had to post it. “Dream by day” sounds so much better than “daydream”, doesn’t it?