Listening to: Walking On The Moon - The Police

Last week was a wonderful week at Ponoko… a real taste of the creativity we’ve tried to unleash. Our users put the following things on show:

• A robot
• Cufflinks
• Christmas decorations
• A set of shelves
• A lamp shade
• A logic puzzle

I can only imagine that this was what it was like working for an early computing company… that visceral thrill of seeing what people ended up doing with the tool that you gave them.

Listening to: Two More Years - Bloc Party

Listening to: Stronger - Kanye West

I’m in Boston for the next two weeks, mainly to present at the Mass Customization Conference at MIT.

Thought the best way to reflect on my time in San Fran was best of list:

• Best quote - “To prepare for takeoff please place your seats into their upright and most uncomfortable position.”
• Best office - The Squid Labs HQ in the Alameda control tower.
• Best party - The party at Squid Labs HQ… there was something delightfully Gibsonian about it.
• Best gadget - iPod Touch by far.
• Suckiest thing to lose - Credit card. Lugging cash sucks and the emergency card is one rung above useless. Apple Stores don’t accept it… though high end jewelry stores do.
• Most surprising conversation - The breakfast chat I had with Mike the homeless guy. Proof positive that poverty is a huge economic scourge and not an inevitable side effect of wealth generation.
• Best scam - The guy who spent all day on a pay phone asking people for change so he could continue some vital conversation. He must’ve just fed the change into phone and hit the “return” button. Every time I saw him he was being handed cash.
• Best experience - Two weeks of not feeling like a nutter. It’s has been two weeks of hanging out with people who see the world and, importantly, business like I do.
• Most important lesson - Pay it forward. That’s how things work. People are, to a soul, really generous and keen to help out. They know at some point in the future it’s going to help them out.

UPDATE: Rod refers to that great “No Rain” video by Blind Melon to describe the feeling of being in Silicon Valley.

Listening to: Bones - Editors

This is a great engineering video.

Listening to: Lately - Massive Attack

From the big-boys are jostling file:

The senior Air Force commander in the Pacific this week threw cold water on a Chinese military proposal to divide up the Pacific Ocean into U.S. and Chinese spheres of influence.

Gen. Paul V. Hester was asked about China’s recent plan to give the United States control of the eastern Pacific region, while China would control the western Pacific.

Time to start paying a bit of attention me thinks…

src: Sic Semper Tyrannis

Listening to: Can’t Tell Me Nothing - Kanye West

The Zach Galifianakis version of Can’t Tell Me Nothing … awesome.

Listening to: BBC Radio 1

I’ve been watching snippets of the CNN Youtube debate. Well done CNN and Youtube … thanks for delivering something that feels like a real Q&A session. It seems like it is a game changing event.

Listening to: Move On Up - Curtis Mayfield

HBO have posted the whole first episode online … the scene in the New Zealand “Consulate” is hysterically funny (and almost a perfect piss take).

Listening to: Quirks & Quarks - April 28, 2007 - CBC Radio: Quirks & Quarks Complete Show

Our first laser cutter was installed today …

DSC09047.JPG

Originally uploaded by flash5.

Listening to: Money For Nothing - Dire Straits

My brother forwarded this little bit of genius through to me: