Misc

Information about Joe Born

This is my blog. My email is jborn at neurostechnology dot com and here's my user page on the wiki where I put slightly more organized information about myself. I'm @JoeBorn on the twitter and JoeBorn on facebook if you are really looking for a dose of random thoughts, largely focusing on my daughter these days (probably intensely boring to most folks).

Non Standard Purchasing links

If you are seeing this page, its presumably because I sent you a link, its to make it easy for one off customers to buy some of our products, that for whatever reason are not on the Neuros Store.

Innovation Without a Supply Chain is Just Dreaming

I wrote previously about Innovation following Infrastructure and this is basically the other side of that coin. I recently was introduced to the pedal-a-watt device its a device that turns your bike into a stationary bike with resistance provided by a generator that actually puts power into your home electric lines, offsetting some of what you use. Its a neat little thing and as someone that uses a stationary bike with a very noisy fan, I was excited to get one.

People v. Process

Many years ago, my forth grade teacher gave us an assignment to write a recipe about how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The next day, she took each set of instructions and showed how, without using any judgment, each set of instructions would fail to produce a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. If the recipe said spread peanut butter on one side of the bread and then put the pieces together, she would put the peanut butter on the outside of the bread.

Survey on open source and its influence on communities

Researchers in the field of open source beyond software are currently investigating the special meaning of openness and its importance for communities in this field.

Please take 5-7 minutes to fill out their survey. Your response will help advance their research on the nature of hardware/software open source projects and help improve the quality of open source projects.

Please follow this survey link

We appreciate your help!

A Dear Friend's Father was Murdered Today

In one of the most horrifying and unbelievable developments in my life, a dear friend's father was murdered today.

This story was relayed to me by my friend Laura Bridges, who is a law school student at Northwestern University. For the life of me, I cannot imagine why this is not receiving more international media attention:

In an ambush today that appears to be part of a ongoing calculated attempt to overrun the family's mines, Campbell Bridges, his son and two other co-workers were attacked, by a mob wielding machetes and crossbows.

Copies of Orwell's "1984" Dissapear from Kindles

You don't have to be a geek to be troubled by this one:

From the Defective by Design mailing list:

Have you seen this story? Last week, Amazon deleted purchased copies of
George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm from the ebook readers of hundreds
of users. Yesterday, FSF's Defective by Design campaign responded by
giving the Kindle hundreds of 1-star reviews, but now we need your help.

Can you share our campaign on Identi.ca and Reddit?

No Ordinary Disc Repair

For years, I've been trying to convince members of the DIY/Hacker community to commercialize some of their inventions. Too often this pitch comes off as all about dollars and cents, which is a real shame because the real satisfaction in any success comes not from the commerce, but the impact it has on people.

Thank You

Here's the toast I planned on my 40th birthday, but it varied a bit each time (I posted on youtube too):

I'd like to tell you a little story about my journey to this moment. It's a story that begins on New Years Eve coming into this year. Prior to that, my "emotional journey" to turning 40 was fairly ordinary. A bit of regret, self-pity and a remorse over life's disappointments.

Decoder Shot Glass Intructions

You are probably seeing this message because you got a Neuros Decoder Shot Glass one way or the other. This glass will allow you to decode messages from Neuros including coupon codes, and special offers including beta testing and to participate in research and the like. The Neuros Decoder Shot Glasses are given to a special group of Neuros insiders. Those that purchase first, those that participate in our community, etc. We give these glasses so that we have a special mechanism to communicate messages to those users that are not intended for the general public.

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