Mark Burgess (born 19 February 1966) is a researcher and writer at Oslo University College in Norway, who is well known for work in computer science in the field of policy-based Configuration Management... Mark Burgess is perhaps best known as the author of the popular configuration management software package C F Engine, but has also made important contributions to the theory of the field of automation and policy based management, including the idea of operator convergence and Promise Theory. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Burgess_(computer_scientist) (more)

Amazon Web Services option getting close to PaaS automation with Chef Configuration Management. (more)

Platform As A Service (more)

Amazon Web Services PaaS wrapper around its services. No extra charge. (more)

One piece of Marketing for a book (different rules for EBook than Printed Book) (more)

a DVCS (more)

Joel Kotkin on the Ephemeral City (Urban Development). The ephemeral city's relationship to surrounding regions and the wider world is somewhat symbiotic. It feeds off the wealth generated elsewhere while providing a stage where the affluent classes can expend their treasure most fashionably. These cities have developed in part because most industrial, commercial, and service functions are now more economically performed other places... Having lost the economic and demographic initiative to the hinterlands, cities have two alternatives. They can work to become more competitive in terms of jobs, attracting skilled workers and Middle Class families, or they can refocus their efforts on providing playpens for the Idle Rich, the restless young, and tourists. All too often the latter strategy is what many municipalities appear to be adopting. A number of cities now regard Tourism, Culture, and Entertainment as "core" assets... In a globalized economy, certain cities--ParIs, San Francisco, perhaps even Ber Lin and Mont Real--have a chance of making this work... According to Wharton real-estate professor Joseph Gyourko, Philadelphia Pa's much ballyhooed "center city" resurgence represents a more substantial success. But the downtown glitz has not halted the continued decline of many neighborhoods, or the ebbing of jobs and exodus of the middle class to the suburbs. New lofts are built just a short ride from neighborhoods where thousands of abandoned buildings stand ready to collapse... But what about the amenity-rich places, the ones capable of appealing to Part-Time urbanites and sojourning young people? They need to ask an even more basic question about what kind of city they want to become. Art galleries, clubs, bars, and boutiques make these places undeniably fun, but they are not the things that convince the Middle Class, families, and most businesses to commit to a city for the long term. Relying on the culturally curious, these cities could be destined to become hollow places, Dis Ney-lands for adults... History shows that even the most culturally rich cities cannot thrive long when deficient in families, a strong middle class, and Upwardly Mobile working people... A great city is more about clean and workable neighborhoods, thriving business districts, and functioning schools than massive cultural buildings or hipster lofts... The great work of cities is best accomplished in small steps, block by block.

someone who does something (sports, arts, etc.) for love/Passion rather than Making A Living (e.g. Professional). (more)

Start-up Costs: ‘Silicon Valley,’ ‘Halt and Catch Fire,’ and How Microserfdom Ate the World (more)

The Upper Class who live off Investment income rather than "working". (more)

Lego Robot-s (more)

Scientists Just Invented the Neural Lace. Called “mesh electronics,” the device is so thin and supple that it can be injected with a needle. (more)

Paul Ford accidentally created a kinda Social Network by giving out shell accounts (Cheap Hosting) at Tilde Club. When I woke up 100 people were asking for accounts.

Sitting at Beta Works lunch-talk by Abigail Baird on "SeriousHappyLearning". Connect to How To Raise Reality Hackers? (more)

Nassim Taleb concept, fleshed out in Black Swan (more)

Josh Kaufman describes our common "StatusMalfunction": the more attractive an option looks in terms of status, the more likely it is to have significant drawbacks or pitfalls (given extreme competition for that status), and the more likely we are to ignore or undervalue those drawbacks and pursue that option anyway, which is a pretty dumb thing to do, and we should stop ourselves from doing that if we can. I call this tendency “status malfunction.” The greater the potential perceived status increase, the higher the risk of serious error or malinvestment. (Status Game, Less Bullshit Living) (more)

Jerry Michalski gave a great talk on Schooling's "Hidden Curriculum". (more)

I had this thought in the Grocery Store yesterday as I was searching the frozen-food aisle for something (a gyros "kit") I don't normally buy, and didn't even know if they stocked. In the end I found 3 alternatives, none of which were next to each other! (more)

see Clicks And Mortar

Brain Fart Of The Day: CPG Physical Shopping App design.