Seth Godin on Getting vs. Taking

I am a big fan of Seth Godin. DS2 isn't intended to be a business journal (by any stretch), but Seth tends to grab onto ideas that apply just as well in 'life' as they do in 'business'. Today in his blog, Seth riffs on the idea of Getting vs. Taking, a concept that I'm sure will resonate with readers of this journal.

From Seth's Blog, read the whole post here:

...A few people, not many, but a few, take. They take the best education they can get, pushing teachers for more, finding things to do, exploring non-defined niches. They take more courses than the minimum, they invent new projects and they show up with questions...

I would add that a few people, not many, take opportunities in their lives. They take the route across town that they are not familiar with. They take the dare to do something that they normally wouldn't do. They take the time to learn the skill (instead of complaining that they don't possess the natural ability). They take charge of life, instead of getting one handed to them.

If you have any interest at all in business (and specifically in marketing) you owe it to yourself to keep an eye on Seth's site. He's not always right, right he's close enough often enough that it's pretty spooky.

A sad farewell to winter

Living in the far south of the US gives one a special appreciation for winter, mainly because we don't have to deal with it. For myself (and the few people in this town who share my feelings on the subject), cold days are a rare treat, occasions for playing hookie (in one form or another), staying outside all day, getting to wear a sweater, and eating chili.

After you've lived here for a long time you get to where you can tell when winter has officially left the scene, not to return until next November (if we're lucky). There is always a particular day when the air changes, when the sun hits you in a slightly different way and you know that winter has departed.

That day is today.

So I thought we'd point to a little video to say farewell to winter. It features two of my favourite things; snow and kiting (although down here in Florida it's usually kitesurfing). This is from the folks at Ozone (posted on YouTube). Enjoy.

DS2 Teaser 1

The first teaser for the videocast portion of Djinn Production's new project.

DS2 is all about the interesting, and sometimes edgy, things that people do for fun in the real world. From urban climbing to unconventional exploration to impromptu travel to the creativity that is inspired by all these things; DS2's aim is to bring you news and information (and some entertainment) that you can use to hack your world.

(click for QT version)

Mobius® Climber

All I'm going to say is, "Why the heck do they get all the really good toys?"

Landscape Structures brings us the Mobius® Climber; a beautifully designed climbing system that - unfortunately - is scaled for folks that are even smaller than I am. It's enough to make you want to run for city council, just so you could try to appropriate enough Parks & Recreation funds to get a couple of these.

Of course, the main concern is the possibility that certain configurations of the Mobius® Climber may allow your dear moppet to climb right into a parallel dimension. We're eagerly awaiting the Klein Bottle Jungle Gym.

Here's a link to a good video of the Mobius® Climber in action: Video Link.

If you live near a facility that has one of these, leave a comment and let us know if it is as much fun as it looks.

[via core77.com's design blog]

Vintage Flask by SIGG

There's just something about a good flask. It's nostalgic. It's iconic. It says that you fondly remember either the 50's or your days as a Boy Scout. It's worth its weight in platinum if it happens to be filled with something potable when you realize you are half a day's ride from the nearest watering hole.

All the better if said flask can boast (and I quote SIGG here) that it is:

...a lightweight, durable, eco-friendly, leak-proof water bottle in a subtly, sophisticated style. Extruded from a single piece of aluminum and coated with a patented secret formula liner, this water bottle will not leach anything harmful into your beverage. It will not give your beverage any plastic taste or overtone...

I don't know about you, but when I'm about to keel over from thirst the very last thing I want is water that tastes like pureed cling wrap.

Seriously, though, we're big fans of good design here at DS2 and this flask from SIGG is .4 L (13.5 ounces) of smooth form and solid function. At $27.99 the SIGG Vintage Flask easily passes our 1 point quality review* (and there's nothing at all wrong with a company that is literally founded on the idea of re-use. View the rest of their line (and dig thier sense of humour) here: SIGG.

*The DS2 1 Point Quality Review: Simply put, do you get what you pay for, does the quality of the product match the cash you threw at it. More on this later.

Survival Kit in a Sardine Can

File this one under "cute, but no cigar". (Although there is a matchbook [not waterproof] so you could light a cigar if you had one, and if the matches didn't get wet.)

Think Geek brings us the Survival Kit in a Sardine Can, a nicely packaged stocking stuffer for people who a) you are reasonably sure will never be within 1,200 metres of needing a survival kit or b) who you want to make sure don't get back to tell their tales. Although the ad copy says this little design classic is filled with 25 survival items, we're switched if we can come up with more than 24 - all of them of dubious usefulness and/or quality (We have a feeling some of the items are pulling triple duty; tough luck if you need to signal a passing plane after you've used the note - or toilet - paper).

Give this one a pass and spend the $12.99 on a usable, basic first aid kit. You can use your extra $2.99 to buy a couple of real cans of sardines. You can use their shiny undersides as a signal mirror...

Country Comm & Their Peanut Lighter

If you are in the market for quality gear at extremely competitive prices you'll want to check out the website of County Comm, Government Products Group. They do not carry the near-infinite line of gear and products that some of the mega-sites offer, but the items they focus on are useful, well made, and excellent value for the money. As their site states, they deal in military wrist watches (a topic for future posts, probably many to be honest) and other unusual items. Maybe it's just me, but I find that I have a legitimate NEED for just about every unusual item they carry.

One such is the Stainless Peanut Lighter. I'd tell you all about this fantastic product - its minuscule size, its beveled, flat bottom that allows it stand upright on an even surface, its waterproof capsule and all the rest (including its hard-to-believe price of $10.00) - but I don't have to, because County Comm has a video demonstration of the Peanut Lighter in action:

And this is just one of the demonstrations that they've posted to their YouTube channel: County Comm on YouTube. (Is it just me, or is this a great idea? Why isn't everyone doing this?)

Go ahead and bookmark their site now. I'll be very surprised if you don't need to order something soon.

Why DS2?

I toyed around with DSS for almost the entire development phase of the project, but I just couldn't make it click. I'd mess around with DSS logos and practice saying it on camera (i.e This is Jade Macalla reporting for DSS...), but the graphics all had an unnatural symmetry and saying DSS makes you feel a little too snakey.

I knew from the start that DS2 would be used sometimes in referencing the site and the show, but by the end of putting everything together it was the only way we ever thought of the project. So we went with it.

As for the actual name of the project, Diverse Skill Set, credit for the words themselves, strung together in that particular order, goes directly to Mr. William Gibson; father of cyberpunk and now father of something entirely different (and I still am not quite sure what it is - I can only hope that he writes some more of it). The passage in question is from Spook Country (highly recommended), the chapter titled Special Forces, page 319 of the hardcover edition:

...I do. I do indeed. I've a very diverse and peculiar skill set, and ordinarily no place to use the half of it. Soon enough, I'll be too old for most of it. Truth to tell, I probably already am...

I'd tell you who says it and why, but that'd spoil all the fun.

So, here's to William Gibson. And here's to us, with a wish that we will all find plenty of places to use at least the half of it.

Where am I?

I'm sure we will all agree that there are times (many of them) when we do not want anyone to know where we are. You could be playing hooky. Or shooting an establishing shot of a location that...let's just say the release paperwork isn't quite finalized yet. Or maybe it's one of those times when you really like the idea of no one in the whole world knowing where you are.

But there are times when you not only don't care if anyone knows where you are, you actually want an easy way to let people know where to find you; either in general terms (like which city you're in) or down to the 10 metre grid ref. For these times, MyLoki may provide the service you are looking for.

Developed by Skyhook Wireless, MyLoki makes it easy to set your location on the ground (either manually or through their browser toolbar that triangulates your position whenever you are in the vicinity of a WiFi hotspot) and communicate that info in various well-designed ways to anyone who cares.

I can't say that I'll use it often (since I'm generally more interested in people NOT knowing where I am), but I'm going to give it a test drive at the city level to see how it works. The registration and set-up were a snap and the design of all the components is solid and sharp. As one would hope, there are detailed controls governing how much information you want to make available about yourself.

This is a live sample of the simple badge that displays your location at the city level.


MyLoki is worth a look for anyone who has an interest in locative tech.

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PS. It is a long-standing tradition at Djinn Productions to always feature the Moleskine notebook in the first 'gear' post of any new project. If you don't already know it's the best notebook since chisel was first set to stone then now is the time to get one. Believe me, you'll understand.

It always has to...

...start someplace. And this is just as good a time and place as any. Sometimes the first step is careful and quiet (all on the ball of your foot) and sometimes the first step is out the back of a C-130. This one is definitely closer to the stealthy side of that spectrum.

I'm not going to spend a bunch of time trying to explain what DS2 is all about, this is going to be one of those things that you figure out as we go along. If you are one of those people that absolutely has to have an executive summary then this is about as close as I can get:

I love people who do all sorts of crazy things.

People who create in a studio, but who also climb trees. People who can take beautiful pictures of the abandoned building they just scaled an 8' high Cyclone fence (topped with triple-strand barbed wire, no less) to get to. People who write poetry about the experience of 'hearing' the silence of a reef 30' down on a full-moon night. People who are world-class free runners by day and who play guitar in a goth metal band at night.

These are extreme examples, but I am not talking only about extreme people. I love people who DO things, no matter how mundane. They don't talk about them, they don't wish they were doing them, they don't whine because they can't do them; they - you may read that as YOU - just do them.

So I'm going to talk about you, and the things you do, and the art you create. I'm going to video tape you and record you and profile you on the new show. I'm also going to talk about the gear we all use and some techniques that might come in handy from time to time.

And I'm going to ask you to help by writing, taking pictures, shooting video, and generally inspiring all of us to do new and different stuff.

DS2 is for people who have worked hard to build up a Diverse Skill Set and who go out of their way to find reasons to use.

So, welcome to DS2. Let's see where this goes.