Author: Carl Setzer

Gaza is erupting into conflict, and my Twitter feed rolls along, snippets hitting every second. I have connections on both sides. One twitter friend in particular is making a point to retweet both sides of this conflict. That morphed into an idea.

This idea: a project capturing the myriad sides to a conflict, whether violent, political or cultural. First notion was to actively research, tweeting to the hashtag
#AllSides____ (adding the issue in the blank. i.e.: #AllSidesGaza. Spend, say, an hour of focused time just tweeting every article, RTing personal perspective, all into this one stream. My goal? Capturing as many perspectives on that issue as possible in one place. Collating/curating perspectives personal and analytical.

I feel a simple hashtag feed, though, isn’t enough. Yet I’m unsure what to add. Build some kind of analytic tool? Infographics? Probably would be something to consider after to curation is complete.

Or maybe not. If done right, this would become continuous, organic. Then an analytic tool that continuously analyzed and restructured the report would be fascinating. I think grabbing snapshots at specific moments would be grand.

So, any thoughts? I’d love to hear your ideas.

Pulling into work, my iPhone’s AP app (here’s CNN’s bit on this) pinged me with the news that Syria had agreed to a four day truce starting Friday. Though magnanimous and all, my first thought was “why tomorrow?” I never understood why ceasefires aren’t implemented immediately, regardless of whether we’re talking about today’s story in Syria or WWI’s armistice. I understand that it takes time to communicate out to the lines. But why didn’t the negotiators, or the government at a higher level, have a plan before they walked into the conference room. Perhaps its the finer details that need ironing out before communications can be launched. Perhaps the 1 day timeline is actually aggressive. However, it’s hard to imagine anything more simple than a radio communication of “stop shooting”. Mainly, I expect the Syrian forces are more organized and able to disseminate and act on this info quickly. The resistance, however, I expect to be more disconnected and chaotic. Perhaps that the limiting factor. Anyway, I’m really thinking of the WWI armistice as the ultimate example, where the ceasefire was held back for days so that we’d reach a poetic date. Of course, soldiers were still thrown over the wall to their deaths in the meantime. Some see glorious poetry, I see horrific waste. Perhaps these leaders forget that they aren’t discussing pieces on a board, or numbers on a sheet; rather, lives. Lives of civilians caught in the middle, families, and, of course, soldiers. That dementia disrespects those troops on the line, for those lives lost. For me, that’s unconscionable.

A self-observation: I have several hundred contacts in my addressbook. Synced automatically with the cloud, my laptop, and OTA with my iPhone, I just haven’t thought about them. I can search for who I want. Or, even better, when I’m typing an email, boom, it pops up. Done!

However, I’m certain I have duplicate info, and, worse for a data-driven geek like myself, bad data . I know I have expired email accounts, old phone numbers, and worthless addresses. A quick skim shows people I haven’t talked to in years, as well as people I don’t know. (I’ve long had the habit of making sure key project contacts were in there “just in case”. Some never needed calling, and, thus, their relevance to me has faded form memory.)

Cheap storage and good search tools have made this something of a non-issue. But I like my data clean and accurate. Plus, this does provide opportunities for confusion. I have a few folks I infrequently email, and have with multiple email addresses. I’m sure only one is accurate or active. So when I email I send it to all, then clean out based and bounce-backs. Not efficient, but effective.

I’ve thought about tools like Plaxo, but have found many folks won’t respond. Facebook solves many of these problems. Most of my friendly contacts are on FB, so I don’t need a contact at all.

So, I’ve identified a problem, but not a solution. Or even if its worth the time to repair. But it nags at me.

One thing I’ve learned from my migraines: limits. I can’t do it all. My system stops me too often, and too completely. I’m completely ineffectual once a migraine sets in. Intense pain, light sensitivity, and an inability to focus collude to stop me cold. Sleep is the only way forward. Though my meds work amazingly well, they aren’t perfect.

The scattered foci of my life can’t flourish anymore. One main drive, with my other interests secondary. That’s all I really can muster anymore.

Though part of me is saddened by this realization, mainly I feel relief. I don’t need to save the world. Just do as much good in my place. Go in piece, I guess.

Well, folks, I had one of those moments that I like to claim a minor life victory. One of those times when things just seem to layer against you; just one thing after another. Claim those moments, own them and hold them as banners of triumph when you’re feeling vanquished. Anyway, this one, simple it may be, involves my glasses. My dear, sweet son decided it would be gloriously amusing to color my left lens…with a Sharpie. After a bit of research, which turned up all kinds of horrifying suggestions (rubbing alcohol, hairspray, WD40…on my glasses???), I finally turned to my creativity. A dab of dishwashing liquid, rubbed gently upon the lens, the left to soak during the day. When I removed the glasses from the water…viola! No ink at all! So, I’m quite pleased with myself. So, no, no, NO to the other solutions; they will damage your lenses. Gentleness, along with the universal solvent and time, saved the day. Cheers!