Zaskoda

Maybe it happened when I watched Rambo as a kid. Maybe it was Damnation Alley. It could have even been good old Mad Max. I’m not really sure, but somewhere along the way, I got very interested in the whole idea of survival. I was even more encouraged when my uncle Bobby gave me a survival knife for Christmas one year. I couldn’t have been more than 7 or 8.

Strangely enough, I didn’t start going on real backpacking trips until recently in life. While I’ve done a bit of camping, I never went so far as to carry everything I would need for several days attached one way or another to my own body. The experience was everything I had hoped it would be.
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Backpacking Idea

A while back, I posted about an appliance that will change our lives. I described the vision as a piece of hardware that would sit at your home entertainment center and do lots of neat stuff. In the comments, I showed a couple of desktop machines that fit the bill from the hardware perspective. (Many of these machines are being called nettops now.) Today, I saw a bit of news that fits for the ‘other half’ of the problem.

Ars is reporting that Boxee is gaining an apps store (has a new API for Plugins!) and is getting it’s own hardware next year.

quick intro to boxee from boxee on Vimeo.

I’m sure Boxee is not the only project of this nature in the works right now. I’m also sure that there’s about to be a whole new marketing opening up in front of our televisions soon. If only I had a rich investor friend. ;)

Uncategorized Appliance, Boxee, Gadget, Idea

The success of some gadgets seem obvious in retrospect. From mp3 players to netbooks, you never know when something is going to expode. Or do you? I think the next potential explosion will live in our livingrooms.

I recently started exploring home theater computer systems such as LinuxMCE and Boxee. I had a vague sense of what I wanted before I started looking. These applications were interesting, but not the experience I was looking for. I wasn’t searching for a TV replacement. I did want to consume media, but that’s not all I wanted to do. It came to me while Nino’s mom was visiting. I fired up the Wii so Nino could show off Raging Rabbids. Meanwhile, I found myself playing with the news and weather applications. I sat there watching the view jump around a map of the earth while related news items were shown at the bottom. That was the trigger that brought it all together in my mind.

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Uncategorized Appliance, Console, Gadget, Idea

Intro

The story behind marijuana and the law is long winded and rather upsetting. For a good overview, I recommend watching Grass. We somehow decided that alcohol and tobacco are ok, but pot is not? At the end of the day, it’s just a plant!

There’s little reason to preach anymore. I have a hard time finding people who think marijuana should be illegal. I’m sure there are DEA agents who would disagree (unemployment?!), but even law enforcement is starting to get behind a legalization movement. Well, some law enforcement. Derek would think otherwise.

My biggest concern is that my tax money is being spent to put people behind bars that I really don’t think should be there. Lives are destroyed because of marijuana laws. And I’m helping to pay for this? I feel dirty!

It seems that rallies and protests don’t really DO much anymore. So what would? I have an idea!

The Idea

The idea is a peaceful protest that sends a message. Only, the message is directed at those in jail, not the government itself.

We could use public records to build a list of people who’ve been put in jail for nothing more than Marijuana based crimes. Growers, dealers, whatever… so long as they didn’t slaughter a bus full of nuns.

Then we take the list and start by sending apology letters on behalf of concerned American citizens. We say, “look, we’re sorry you’re in the slammer and we’re actually paying for you to be there… we’re trying to get the laws changed but until we do, we wanted to at least let you know we’re thinking about it…”

As a step further, maybe folks would want to send gifts – comfort items. Bags of Cheese Puffs?

While the message would be directed towards inmates, I think it would send a bigger message of compassion. It’s a break away from the stereotypical “we’re going to march on Washington and show our anger” approach that obviously didn’t work.

I wouldn’t know where to start to organize something like this, but I would definitely contribute to such an effort. Maybe the folks at NORML could make it happen?

Uncategorized Cannabis, Idea, Jail, Legalization, Marijuana, Pot, Prison, Protest

I recently caught on to a growing trend of co-op housing. In a nutshell, a group of folks will get together and buy a house. They’ll all live in the house and work together to live efficiently. A friend of mine specializes in helping groups work together effectively. It’s good stuff.

On the flip side, there’s a huge trend of folks moving to freelance work. NPR did a piece on it, referring to it as gig work. Some of their guests cited it as a new kind of work culture. My own recent project, Webcraft, was an attempt to move that direction myself.

I found the technical details of running a freelance business to be a hindrance. I didn’t like having to file paperwork declaring the business. I’m currently trying to find a good accountant to help me deal with my taxes. I had to probe around for a long while to find good invoicing and financial tracking tools. I also had to setup my website, email, and other services. The whole time, I was eager to get to work on something.

I believe there’s an excellent opportunity – right now – to start a co-op to support freelancers. Here’s how I see it:

• The co-op is a corporation of some kind. A biz/legal/accountant type person could probably choose the best structure.
• Leadership roles (i.e. CEO) would be filled be “elected” employees. The co-op, at large, would vote to hire/fire leadership staff. The co-op would also vote on pay, benefits, etc.
• The co-op would provide freelancers with key services: health benefits, accounting, legal council, server hosting, etc.
• The co-op members would meet regularly and be active in evolving the overall structure of the company.
• Members could leave/join the co-op at any time.
• Members would perform their normal freelance work with their clients.
• Members would be required to pay some level of fees to the co-op for operation expenses (probably tiered).

The co-op could decide to go so far as to put together community offices or other utilities if the group voted for it. Where most businesses are top down and a CEO makes all of the calls, this company would be flipped upside down. The freelancers themselves would choose the direction of the company.

I’ve been mulling over this idea for the better part of a year. The “employees in charge” notion was actually inspired by a story I heard about such a company existing in a foriegn country. I wish I knew more about it so I could research it. Either way, had I a bit more free time, I’d love to research this whole idea a little further. If this strikes your itnerest, I’d love to chat about it.

EDIT Looks like someone beat me to the punch: http://www.freelancersunion.org/

Uncategorized Business, Co-op, Company, Cooperative, Freelancing, Gig, Idea