LOGICal eMOTIONs

Thank You Nine Inch Nails

// March 11th, 2008 // No Comments » // Brain Dump, Logical Emotions

I’ve had a post lurking (yes, lurking) in draft mode for about a month now. It’s been sitting there simply because it is a diatribe about how the music industry really has not really helped in innovation but has been more of a tool for imposing legislation and squeezing every last dollar out of us. Ok, it’s really a tirade which I have yet to be able to clean up simply because every time I re-visit it I get all riled up and write more harsh things.

While I write this post, thinking about the other one, I’m pretty sure I can feel my blood pressure rising. Yet I’m immediately calmed simply because I have music playing in the background. What music you say? Glad you asked.

I am currently listening to the first 9 tracks of the latest Nine Inch Nails 36 track, 2 disc set called Ghosts I-IV. The calming part is that this album has been released under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license.

This music arrived unexpectedly as the result of an experiment. The rules were as follows: 10 weeks, no clear agenda, no overthinking, everything driven by impulse. Whatever happens during that time gets released as… something.

..

The end result is a wildly varied body of music that we’re able to present to the world in ways the confines of a major record label would never have allowed – from a 100% DRM-free, high-quality download, to the most luxurious physical package we’ve ever created.

So the music is ‘experimental’, yet the reality is that 5 years ago or so it would have been pressed to CD and shipped out to stores to decide its fate. Instead, we can now actually go directly to the site, and download the music without restriction. Want to use it? Great, just make sure you follow the CC license and you’re good to go. But wait, want to download all 36 tracks? Great, pay just $5. Want more than digital – want various physical editions? Great, you can order them off the site too.

Not only is there a free component, but if you actually want a limited edition in the physical you can get that too (sadly the first 2500 ‘ultra-deluxe limited editions’ are already gone). Sure there have been many bands who have released free downloads and have sold physical albums – but that’s not the point.

NiN has actually said that we can share their music, we can’t use it for commercial purposes, and if we share it, we just need to attribute it back to them – otherwise, go nuts. Oh, and if you’re a collector and would like some great stuff, we have physical versions available too that are pretty sweet – but don’t worry download folks, we’re going to include some web graphics, wallpapers, and a PDF with all the artwork for the album too in your download.

The fact that there is such extremes in the presentation, speaks volumes that I hope other bands will pick up on. I am hoping that the change is upon us where bands realize that they can actually provide music for free, they can still sell their albums (better make it worth buying though!), and when all is said and done, the people have talked you up globally, and have become in love with your music. The fact is that $5 for 36 tracks isn’t all that much (and I’ll likely pay it), yet come to Toronto and I’ll pay whatever price you set to actually see you live. Heck, spend a week and have sold out shows every single night.

The simple statement “we’re able to present to the world in ways the confines of a major record label would never have allowed” sums it all up nicely, doesn’t it?

Popularity: 17% [?]

Online Image vs. Offline Reality

// February 21st, 2008 // 2 Comments » // Brain Dump, Logical Emotions

I was at a breakfast meeting yesterday morning with some friends to do some planning, talking, and understanding about a project we’ve decided to kick off. One of the phrases that typically comes up during our meetings is simply, “Well, we look good on paper!” which got me thinking…

For this particular group, yes, thanks to outside sources, friends of the group, our website, etc.. we have built a reputation which is quite respected within the industry and are frequently sought out for our expertise. The challenge from our point of view is that after ~5 years of existence, we have yet to actually accomplish our number one goal and entire reason for originally coming together… The reality is that people come to us for our process, our values, our knowledge, and our passion and not because a long list of successes. Well, they do, but it’s a different success than what we see.. Anyways, we always make fun of the fact that from where we sit we always look good on paper, yet have accomplished nothing in direct relation to our desired outcome.

I got thinking about this ‘looking good on paper’ bit and got to wondering about the online image we cast to others. Every day I get Twitter updates from people I’m following about someone or other going to a meeting, or working on a big presentation, or about to be interviewed, etc. etc.. All this is great and I really have no reason to question it, yet I wonder if you can the ball rolling towards success through lies, online…

What if you were to routinely post tweets (twitter messages) about fictitious meetings, presentations, projects, or whatever? What if they were vague enough that it would take some serious digging by someone to uncover the actual truth, yet the effort would be so great that no one would even bother, well, unless they had a serious vendetta against you or something..

Services such as Twitter allow us to provide the information we wish others to use to build the image they have of us. If you provide information relating to the great success you are having, rather than the seriously shitty life you are actually having, you are somewhat in control of how others perceive you. They don’t actually know any different because there simply isn’t enough information online to contradict what you’re telling them.

If you are trying to break into a particular industry, could you not start posting about client meetings, calls, projects, etc. that didn’t really exist and casually establish yourself as the go to person? You would likely already have information online that at first glance would support your claims… Yes, you do have a coaching business, with actual clients, so all these twitter messages about client meetings and coaching sessions would make sense.. Wow, there are a lot of meetings and sessions – this person appears to be doing quite well and is in demand.. Perhaps I should be talking with this person when I’m looking for a coach…

Does this person have clients? Yes. Does this person have sessions/meetings? Yes. Are 90% of the twitter posts lies because their business is doing poorly and they really only have one client that they’re coaching? Yes. Did you think otherwise? Possibly…

Sure, there is a finite limit to what can be accomplished, and yes, underneath it all it is out and out lies, but what is the breaking point? You can’t, for example, come out and say that you’ve designed all these great websites with there actually being no record of them anywhere. You can’t say you’re doing a presentation at company XYZ because eventually someone from company XYZ will correct the error..  I would suspect that what you could get away with, and the length of time you could get away with it would be much less now, than what you could get away with say a couple years ago. Things like social networking have provided us with a checks and balances type framework to a certain degree, yet it has also provided a platform for providing information which may not be entirely true.

I submit to you that your own level of suspicion of others online image vs. reality is directly related to your own view of the world and others within it already. If you already believe that everyone lies through their teeth then you won’t believe anyone’s online profile, yet if you believe that everyone generally tells the truth then you would likely also believe that someone’s online profile is a fair representation of reality. I believe we all fit somewhere in between and I’m more interested in the ‘interesting factor’ of the online image vs. offline reality than anything else, and I leave you with this to simply ponder, for the sake of pondering:

What do you actually know about some of the people in your online community? Is their offline reality as good as their online image appears to be? Are you sure? 

Photo by zachstern

Popularity: 19% [?]

Humans: Welcome to Anthropocene

// February 19th, 2008 // No Comments » // Brain Dump, Logical Emotions

Science Matters: Kilroy was here

You see – it seems that we’ve entered a new epoch: a period of geological time usually reserved for distinguishing between massive periods of change on the planet. In this case we’ve moved from the era that geologists call the Holocene, which has been this relatively stable period since the last ice age 10-12,000 years ago, to the Anthropocene – a time when human activities have become the dominating force of change on the planet.

Are we lucky that we get to be a part of a time where an epoch changes, or is that simply the saddest state of affairs ever possible?

As Mr. Suzuki points out, “changing epochs is not like changing your socks.”, and he is quite right. The era we currently just left was called the Holocene which has lasted for the past 10-12 THOUSAND years and pretty much started at the end of the last ice age. The influence of human beings on the Earth itself which moves us from the era of Holocene to Anthropocene, has been so huge that we rival ice ages and mass extinctions (ie. dinosaurs!). A change so significant that in say 10,000 years when archaeologists are digging in the dirt, there will be a boundary layer between this one and the last one that was completely caused by US.

Mr. Suzuki sums it up nicely, so I will leave you with this, and I invite you to go read the article. It’s likely the biggest news of our existance.

So, there you have it, the case for the Anthropocene. We’ve done it. We’ve written our name on the wall. We’re the king of the hill, lord of the sandbox. We’re now the most powerful force of change on the planet – so much that we actually get our own epoch. A pretty big responsibility for a naked ape that emerged on the plains of Africa only 150,000 years ago.

So what now, little human? What now?

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Popularity: 15% [?]

VD on a Thursday…

// February 14th, 2008 // 2 Comments » // Logical Emotions

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Image by Joel Esler

Popularity: 7% [?]

Tony Robbins: Focus-Meaning-Do

// January 22nd, 2008 // 2 Comments » // Logical Emotions

I received an email from Tony yesterday (no, mass-mailing – we’re not quite on a personal email level…) with the brilliant subject line of:

It’s your decisions – not your conditions – that determine your destiny.

And when you look at what was going on for me yesterday, ok, you can’t, but let me assure you, the timing is spooky.

Long story short, I got around to actually reading the email today (read subject yesterday) and ended up on the main website for Mr. Robbins. There on the main page was an “exclusive video” from his session at TED! I knew he had been to TED but haven’t gotten around to actually watching the video yet simply because for both our sakes, I’m trying to limit to the amount of time I spend on that site simply because this blog could quickly just be a TED website… You know it, and I know it.

Whether you’re a fan of Tony or not, regardless, I invite you to take the 22min and view – there’s some seriously good stuff there!

The take-away bits:

1. FOCUS – what are you focusing on?
2. MEANING – what’s the meaning you choose to apply?
3. DO – great, what are you going to do about it?

Popularity: 12% [?]