Perhaps Sergey's glasses would help:  So you talk to your neighbours wearing
those things thereby augmenting the reality of actually speaking with them.

 

Do IBUs obey an inverse square law? So an IPA seems less hoppy if it is
being served at a bar farther away?  We need to know! Sergi's glasses must
know.

 

 

From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Eric Wolf
Sent: 9-Apr-12 16:01
To: Steve Coast
Cc: geowanking
Subject: Re: [Geowanking] Real problems

 

> you often see bars which are across the water which are two orders of
magnitude father away than the bar across the street because you have to go
around the water.

So the problem is that your map search is based on a lat/lon index and not a
Manhattan Distance? Have you thought of asking someone you know from the
area? I find personal references to be more reliable than most information
fed to me by a computer.

Lending libraries - the very fact that you have to list 6 startups answers
the question. None of them have found a model which works or has scaled yet.
I'm not going to go log in to all 6 :-)


Maybe the reason that there are 6 startups that haven't scaled is because
the problem isn't technological - it's social. By definition, almost
anything that makes you use your computer more is going to prevent the
social structures that facilitate neighborhood lending. This weekend I built
a rock wall in front of my house. In the process of building that wall and
spending three days in my front yard I also helped one neighbor move a kiln
from her basement to the basement of another neighbor. Yet another neighbor
climbed up on my roof to help me fix some siding that blew off and discussed
the hole in his shingled that he could only see from my roof. And another
neighbor, who I know does landscaping work, lent me a sledge hammer and
chisel so I can break up my rocks. In the process of that transaction, I
offered to help him drop a pear tree into a hole he dug (another neighbor
was there as well). No digital technology was used in any of these
transactions. They were all social by nature.
 

My point was that there are these problems which affect people every day
that we, "the experts" are supposed to be solving. I don't think a format is
going to fix anything. Very happy to see arguments as to where it can help
any of these, or other, practical problems.

 

I don't see how any of these "problems" need to be "fixed" by technology.
Just get out and talk to people.

However, the fact that it's such a PITA to move data between GIS platforms
is a technological problem. Sure, just talking about it doesn't solve the
technological problem but it does help make sure people know that it still
is a problem.

-Eric

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