dusk birds from Blackfriars Bridge
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John Fitzgerald
A tech, voluntary sector, cycling, sailing, Edinburgh-dwelling quaker shares thoughts and occasional photos.
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Quaker Week kicks off
It’s Quaker week tomorrow. Check out this site to find out more!
Posted in Uncategorized
Life with a Sony Reader
Sony Reader image
I’ve had my Sony Reader for about 5 months now, so I thought I’d post about how I’ve found it. I wouldn’t say it has made books obsolete for me, but it comes pretty close- about 90% of my reading is now on the Reader rather than books.
The screen is really something; a real boon when reading long PDF articles for my philosophy course. I’ve also tracked down some shareware, Calibre, which is great for importing and converting various free ebooks, and turning news RSS into a handy ‘magazine’ format.
I would say that the relatively ‘open’ formats supported by the Reader really give it the edge compared to the likes of the Kindle. And, since long battery life is a key feature for extended reading, I think the lack of WiFi is probably no bad thing.
I’m still very underwhelmed by the book-purchasing options (via Waterstones et al). It’s quite a fiddly process- you have to install Adobe Digital Editions on a PC, authorise the Reader there, then install Adobe Digital Editions on a Mac, then buy books, then locate them on the Finder, then drag and drop them into the Reader. Considerably more complicated than getting free books or RSS feeds- have Sony learnt nothing from Amazon/itunes??
Posted in Technology
Induction reading
Posted in information, philosophy
Share
Sitting in the British Library, writing on Philosophy of Mind. Opened up iTunes to help propel my thoughts, and discovered nearly a dozen others have set their music libraries to ‘share’. One wag has called their music collection ‘Library Police’.
Currently listening to ‘La réalité’ by Amadou & Mariam, courtesy of Robin. Thanks!
Posted in Music, philosophy, studious, Technology
Getting to God
Quaker worship (especially unprogrammed worship) is famously minimal. But could we de-clutter even further?
What is the minimum we need to do as a community in order to:
- befriend each other and those around us
- worship together
- share our truths
- find our visions
- and act on them?
Imagine you’re washed up on a desert island. What would you do first to build spiritual community?
I have some experience in this, as I’ve been part of a young Quaker Bible study group for a couple of years now. We asked no questions and made no plans at the beginning, but gradually evolved graceful and helpful practices which enable us to get on with the main thing- deepening our shared spiritual life.
This came to mind recently as I spoke to a friend who is thinking about starting a similar group. I had to keep racking my brains about what made our group ‘special’. What kept coming back is that we made hardly any assumptions about how we needed to do stuff, and preserved a very minimal level of organisation. We just got on with it.
That’s where the title of this post comes from; perhaps there’s a new way of practising faith together, ‘Getting to God’.
Posted in ideas, philosophy
Panopticon
Many journalists claim that “if we’re not careful, we’ll end up in a ‘Big Brother’-type society”. They’re too late. Here are two perspectives on this:
When the council can bug you for fly-tipping, when prisons can record conversations with defence lawyers, when any potentially criminal act can justify electronic intrusion – and when ministers resort to the dictator’s excuse, “The innocent need not fear” – warning bells should sound.
And a lighter, but equally powerful video
The title of this post, ‘panopticon’, refers to a prison designed by Jeremy Bentham, where all inmates can be watched from a single location, and don’t know whether they are being watched or not. The idea is that this will make them behave all the time, for fear that they could be under surveillance.
I think one of the saddest things about the ‘Big Brother state’ is that its main premise is flawed- people who are motivated to break the law aren’t really discouraged by the ‘threat’ of surveillance. So the huge price we’ve paid (selling up a massive chunk of our civil liberties) buys nothing.
Posted in ideas, london, philosophy, Technology
Clean desk = open mind?
Because of radical changes to our office layout in the past few weeks. all of our team have had to clear their desks and consider their filing habits much more than usual.
I’ve actually found the discipline of keeping a clear desk (by which I mean, empty in-tray, nothing else except phone and computer) has really helped my sense of organisation and productivity. I have the feeling that I can choose my own priorities- that I can choose what is important over what is urgent. I also appreciate having the space to spread out whatever it is I’m currently working on!
That said, I can see how keeping things filed and clearing one’s desk could easily become a substitute for ‘real’ work.
Posted in ideas, information, philosophy, work
Inclusive Christmas
A great post from Aidan on how buying Christmas presents with a bit of consideration can make the whole thing more inclusive.
I think Aidan has it just right. Although Fair Trade didn’t feature quite as much for us this year, we did make quite a few presents. It’s a great feeling to know you’re giving something personal and unique (it’s often cheaper too!)
The other thing that Aidan’s post reminded me of is how much power we have as customers. Trying to track down Fair Trade gifts might feel discouraging at first, but before long, it will create pressure on mainstream retailers to change their ways. For example, many mainstream retailers now stock organic cotton, a change they would never have come up with were it not for small pioneering shops taking the lead.
Posted in green, ideas, philosophy, Weblogs
By the time I am 30…
…I will have walked the Cuillin Ridge, and/or the Haute Route
Posted in climbing, outdoors, philosophy, travel
things that might have been otherwise 