Streuobstwiese (pl. Streuobstwiesen) is a German word that means a meadow with scattered fruit trees or fruit trees that are planted in a field. These meadow orchards are a traditional landscape in the temperate, maritime climate of continental Western Europe. In the 19th and early 20th centuries were planted as rural community orchards that intended for the cultivation of stone fruit. (via Orchard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
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100 million pairs of eyes will be on Indiana tomorrow. Stay cool, bros.
(Source: nosex, via ruralworkshop)
Puzzlejuice is a remarkable specimen of both game and graphic design. I play just to observe it!
The National Forest Map via NASA.
This crossing guard mistakes me for a high schooler every morning on my walk to work and insists on taking me across the street.
I met a guy named John Crockett. This is his business card.
I’m tempted to say This is the future of business cards. But that’s silly. Business cards already seem anachronistic.
However, this strikes me as the future of self-actualization. I think people more often will understand and describe themselves as sets of granular expertises. Organizations that help people accredit themselves will usher this movement, I think.
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Isaiah’s birthday at the office.
“Some Favourite British Birds’ Eggs” (by mando maniac)
Yancey Strickler posted an item yesterday about the wane of conspicuous consumption among wealthy people in Silicon Valley. But, as it turns out, conspicuousness hasn’t vanished. The post suggests that the Startup is the new conspicuous. Look at What I’ve Done.
The first comment on that thread introduced a term: Conspicuous Production. It struck a chord because I often behave this way. Many people do.
It’s a fascinating prediction for mainstream consumerism, with both valuable and inane consequences. I’m interested in more creativity and self-reliance for all, but the flip side are folks who will buy a Prius instead of a Gas Guzzler in order to do something for the environment without modifying other behavior that is wasteful (aside, last night, a friend clued me into a study that demonstrated that people who shop at organic markets also tend to leave their lights on at home while they’re away more often than average).
Another intriguing ramification is the production of data. Quantifying ourselves with Tweets and Tumbles and Check-ins is already popular, but I wonder how close to Felton we’ll get. I suppose we’re quickly moving to a point where we all commonly share good data. A massive frontier, I believe, is the development of interfaces that allow us to capture, share and read this kind of data. The kind that makes us look productive in a vast sense of the word.
All of these leads me to wonder, “Who will consume all of it?” My first thought is that it’s for ourselves.
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Brief update on the Beaver Brook tumblr theme in progress:
DIY -
Do it yourself.