senatorhung's pad
ramblings of an information troubleshooter

locating serendipity

1. Where to Begin - Bowling for Soup
2. Where Would I Be ? - Stompin' Tom Connors
3. Where the Hell Are You ? - Jr. Gone Wild



4. Lost Together - Blue Rodeo
5. Lost Star - The Jesus and Mary Chain
6. Lost Highway - Lori Yates



7. Going Nowhere Somehow - White Town
8. Show Me the Way to Get Out of This World ('Cause That's Where Everything Is) - Peggy Lee
9. A Thousand Miles from Nowhere (acoustic) - Dwight Yoakam



10. time's out of place - The Blue Shadows
11. Place That's Insane - The Northern Pikes
12. Henri's Arctic Outfitters - Royal Canadian Air Farce
13. Leave This Place - The Walk



14. Find Another Fool - Quarterflash
15. Don't Look Back in Anger - Oasis
16. Look For Me (I'll Be Around) - Neko Case



17. Find the Out - Slobberbone
18. Where You Found Me - The Men
19. Where I Want to Be - Jimmie Inch



20. Losing Streak - Jack De Keyzer

• link of the day: endangered serendipity:

  Technology undercuts serendipity. 
  It makes it possible to direct our 
  energies all in the name of saving 
  time.  Ironically, though, it seems 
  that we are losing time - the 
  meaningful time we once used to 
  indulge ourselves in the related 
  pleasures of search and discovery. 
  We're efficient, but empty.
  

  now, while i agree with the gist of these comments, that many technologies have the effect of undercutting serendipity, i must say that as a librarian, the cataloguing and classifications systems that we use are all about enhancing serendipity. many 'a-ha' moments of discovery in a library are not random occurrences, but have been pre-figured by the librarian's awareness of user needs in shelving similar materials together or applying appropriate keywords in a library catalogue record.
  
  the biggest advantage that google has is that it has been able to overlay a very simplistic interface over some very complex computer algorithms. the click click answer process has almost become routine, but you can't argue that serendipity can't occur - rather that the user isn't in the frame of mind to be open to the possibility of it, and the system isn't designed to promote it, and in fact, actively discourages it (ads, excepted, of course).
  
  i also disagree with the column's comment that the downloading universe has diminished the exposure of listeners to the breadth of music. my take is more along the lines of this article which argues that P2P downloading has actually enhanced the opportunity to access a wealth of music:

  I believe Napster re-engaged us 
  with music, and reminded us how 
  rewarding the discovery of music 
  can be.  It exposed us to sounds 
  we wouldn't have heard through 
  traditional channels, and 
  challenged us to expand our 
  repertoire of listening material. 
  For audiences, it provided an 
  opportunity to sample music from 
  genres that we previously had no 
  access to.
  
  Your neighbourhood record store 
  stocked only the tiniest sliver 
  of music being made around the 
  world.
  
  Now, access to all this new music, 
  and volumes from the pioneers of 
  blues, rock and jazz, is dizzying. 
  It has led, ultimately, into the 
  creation of more complex, informed 
  content.
  

  the whole social infrastructure that has been built up around the availability of digital music - mix trading, personalized radio stations, myspace, etc., has served to expand musical horizons by leveraging the system of community recommendations to bring attention to music that deserves to be heard more than the clear channel club of corporate radio allows. yes, this is not quite the random serendipity that the columnist rhapsodizes over, but the music has to be AVAILABLE first, before it can be discovered.

constructing proper infrastructures

• link of the day: joel spolsky comments about the importance of infrastructure

  Management's primary responsibility is 
  to create the illusion that a software 
  company can be run by writing code, 
  because that's what programmers do. 
  And while it would be great to have 
  programmers who are also great at sales, 
  graphic design, system administration, 
  and cooking, it's unrealistic.  Like 
  teaching a pig to sing, it wastes your 
  time and it annoys the pig.
  
  Microsoft does such a good job at 
  creating this abstraction that Microsoft 
  alumni have a notoriously hard time 
  starting companies.  They simply can't 
  believe how much went on below decks and 
  they have no idea how to reproduce it.
  
  ...
  
  the very best thing that infrastructure 
  can do is disappear completely.
  

gambling away the holidays

insider knowledge