Recently I finished a fictionalization of Nikola Tesla’s life written by Samantha Hunt, and on a seemingly unrelated note, I tried to explain to my business-savvy dad how a business can make money and still contribute source code back to the world at large. I began thinking about the ways Tesla worked within an essentially open source framework. 
(more…)
My cousin, Nate, posted this video on his blog. He wrote about ways for companies to think about their modus operandi. It’s also an enlightening way to think about the direction computer-facilitated communication has been moving for the past few years. Definitely worth watching (and drop.io is useful too, by the way!).
Kahlil Gibran writes about work:
You have been told also that life is darkness, and in your weariness you echo what was said by the weary.
And I say that life is indeed darkness save when there is urge,
And all urge is blind save when there is knowledge,
And all knowledge is vain save when there is work,
And all work is empty save when there is love;
And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God.
And what is it to work with love?
It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth.
It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.
It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy, even as if your beloved were to eat the fruit.
It is to charge all things you fashion with the breath of your own spirit,
And to know that the blessed dead are standing about you and watching.
It’s important to remember to go about working joyfully and with a sense of purpose. Sometimes my work challenges me in frustrating ways. Library patrons can try my patience several times a day, but I still must treat them how I would treat loved ones. Even when people are rude or express romantic interest at work, I have to brush it off and continue to serve. And when I’m building websites, I’m working solo and run into impediments that I have to research to make my way past. I continue to learn more and push on, trying to do right by the world. These reminders are everywhere and I stumbled on this one on a particularly stressful afternoon. The older I grow, the more I notice these serendipitous things happening at strangely appropriate times.