dorian moore

On Tools and Professions

Just because I can use a chisel, it does not make me a Carpenter.
Just because I can use a brush, it does not make me a Painter.
Just because I can use a hammer, it does not make me a Builder.`
Just because I can use a pen, it does not make me a Writer.

Just because I can open a door, it does not make me a Locksmith.
Just because I can draw a building, it does not make me an Architect.
Just because I can hold an argument, it does not make me a Politician.
Just because I can repeat a rumour, it does not make me a Journalist.

Just because I can play an instrument, it does not make me a Rockstar.
Just because I can write a story, it does not make me a Bestseller.
Just because I can paint a picture, it does not make me an Artist.
Just because I can look a million dollars, it does not make me a Supermodel.

Just because I can use a spreadsheet, it does not make me an Accountant.
Just because I can use a drawing program, it does not make me a Designer.
Just because I can use a search engine, it does not make me a Specialist.
Just because I can string some words together, it does not make me a Poet.

I went Lib-Dem.

Whilst I know they won't win I think each time I do this they get closer, and that takes us closer to some electoral reform, and some balance in a system currently dominated by the fights between two parties.

At the moment I doubt very much that picking my local MP on what he says will really make much difference, my dealings with my past two local MPs have been ineffectual, and more and more the Whips seem to have control.

If my vote can at least make other people think the next time that LibDem are getting stronger and more popular, and that there is a contest which is not just two parties, then it's worthwhile.

Having three parties who all have a chance of winning would hopefully make the parties consider what they do, rather than just opposing each other. It would hopefully bring some balance, and if the Lib Dems get there way it might encourage some electoral reform that brings power back to the people.

If the parliament is hung, so be it; Our politicians will start to have the power to decide, because the parties won't be able to control it.

I hope.

I dream.

I pray.

Week N+13

New workspace.

Time-lapse of me at work in my previous office.

It's been a long time. Somehow the weeks have run away with me, and 10 weeks later I find myself updating what's supposed to be a week note. Weak notes more like.

In between then and now I've worked on a number of projects, taking some time of for christmas + new year (and being ill) and moved home + home office, and I'm gradually settling into a new working space. Having spent over 7 years building up my last working space it's quite hard to get used to the new space - making the desk right for my working habits and dealing with a smaller desk space.

The new 'office' space allows Angie and I to share a room for working, when she's not elsewhere which keeps our work space out of the rest of our livening space, but also stops me from listening to so much weird music when Angie is here.

Ergonomics have become quite a thing to work towards having been suffering from an increasing amount of RSI and back/neck pain in the last months - a combination of stress, DIY, lifting and moving and too many hours in front of the computer I'm sure. The RSI seems to be better over the last few days (touch wood) so I think the ergonomical adjustments might be working out.

Moving house was supposed to take a week out from work, but it feels more like it took out four, which means a lot of catching up. This week I've had my head down inside Lawson Park Electronic Library, Rhyzom, Spatial Agency as well as a catch up meeting on Rossi and Rossi, some fixing bits on Colchester Inn, Grizedale Arts, and some work on on-line look books for jewellery designer Florian. The Colchester Inn site is being displayed from today at First Site in Colchester, as part of the overall project and development of the next phase, and in similar news an off-line version of DIY Regeneration is current being shown in the Camden Arts Center. First Site is a blast from the past as it's where some very early work I did with Julie Myers, Peeping Tom was exhibited in 1996, and I have fond memories of going to install it.

I've been really enjoying the work this week, playing around with visualising information in different ways for each of the projects, and to get across the wealth of details and create a different experience with each project. Each of Lawson Park Electronic Library (LPEL), Rhyzom and Spatial Agency have a wealth of information in their own way, and I'm looking at ways of representing that and allowing it to grow over time from various sources, be it user contributions, a network updaters, or curated content.

I've also really been enjoing playing with RaphaelJS this week, primarily for Spatial Agency but I can see it getting used in a lot of other places. I had a play with ProcessingJS and it also looks good, but it seemed to be a philosophical step - you were creating processing objects, rather than extending existing code. It also didn't work so well cross browser, whereas Raphael just seemed to integrate better with the current code base and what I was doing. Raphael is quite simple, but also powerful once you get into the SVG parts of it, and it's reasonably responsive so far (though I've yet to start dealign with Internet Explorer Issues).

Hopefully this post will get me over my fear of weeknotes I've been suffering from for the last 4 weeks, and I'll get back into posting them now. I find it useful to reflect, and really useful to come back and look at these as well. A log of where my time drains to, as February turns into March and spring starts.