Objectivist Round-up

Welcome to the May 26, 2011 edition of The Objectivist Round Up.  In this edition we have thirteen wonderful posts by lovers of Ayn Rand and her philosophy of Objectivism.  The fire and passion of these posters remind of this quote from Rand:

"Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swaps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists.. it is real.. it is possible.. it's yours." ~ Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

Without further ado, here are the posts:
Scott Connery presents My Personal Trip to Atheism posted at Rational Public Radio, saying, "This is my story about the long and often painful process that I went through when I decided to become an Atheist. I'm trying to share the "it gets better" message about abandoning faith."

C.W. presents Japan, Disasters Natural and Economic posted at Krazy Economy, saying, "We are seeing a nation that could have been great fall apart. Its failure of knowledge and its dependence on government are leading it to a man made disaster."

Jeff Meek presents The Distraction of Gun Control posted at Rational Public Radio, saying, "I take issue with Scott's "The Objectivist Position on Gun Control". His evaluation totally misses the point and drops the context. Read the two articles, (the original is linked at the bottom), and weigh in on who you think is right."

Rachel Miner presents Norman Rockwell posted at The Playful Spirit, saying, "I share some favorite paintings from the traveling Norman Rockwell exhibit."

Diana Hsieh presents For Sale: Podcast on Finding Good Prospects for Romance and Friendship posted at NoodleFood, saying, "My awesome 90-minute podcast on finding good prospects for romance and friendship is still available for sale, now for $25. Don't miss out on this opportunity to extract the most social value from the upcoming Objectivist conferences!"

Scott Connery presents Oregon Supreme Court Rules Medical Marijuana Users Can Still Carry Guns posted at Rational Public Radio, saying, "Even though this decision is largely symbolic (it's still illegal to use marijuana even for medicinal purposes, and marijuana users are still prohibited from buying guns) I think this ruling is a great step in the right direction."

Gene Palmisano presents Misnomer of the Day posted at The Metaphysical Lunch, saying, "Setting the record straight one misnomer at a time."

Edward Cline presents On Planet Obama posted at The Rule of Reason, saying, "One sometimes wonders what planet President Barack Obama lives on. It must be that mythical doppelganger of Earth that revolves unseen by us on the exact opposite side of the Sun. There, he can address a gathering in the State Department about an incredible vision of an Israel that is peacefully embraced on all sides by a benign Palestinian state whose government and citizens bear no grudge against Israel – an incredible vision of “coexistence” which nonetheless everyone believes is possible. There, in that mythical Palestine, Muslims win most of the Nobel Prizes in science and medicine, and Muslims read accounts of how Muslims discovered America and landed men on the moon."

Benjamin Skipper presents Sympathize with Me: Only You Feel Your Emotions posted at Musing Aloud, saying, "As real as intense emotions feel it's easy to assume other people can sense them too, but such an assumption can lead to destructive behavior. Only you can feel your emotions, and while it's reasonable to desire other people help you with your problems ultimately you have to take the first and most important steps towards resolution."

Julia Campbell presents herbed top sirloin with sautéed radishes posted at the crankin' kitchen!, saying, "For that perfect spring meal, try this grilled herbed top sirloin steak and sautéed radishes and leeks."

Stephen Bourque presents A Dirty Word posted at One Reality, saying, "In case there were any lingering thoughts that the 'Gingrich Revolution' of 1994 signaled anything revolutionary about the man himself, Mr. Gingrich wishes to reassure us that he is fundamentally a compromising milquetoast--which is to say, he is a suitable Republican candidate."

Scott Connery presents Does Solar Power Math Add up to an Alternative Energy Solution? posted at Rational Public Radio, saying, "Obama is pledging 737 million dollars to aid the construction of a new solar plant. Has anyone looked at the math behind this? Can this plant produce enough energy per acre or per dollar to be a real solution? Does anyone in D.C. even care about the facts of reality?"

Earl Parson presents Feeling Like My Old Self Again posted at Creatures of Prometheus, saying, "Personal musings on returning to normalcy after a prolonged period of struggle and depression. I think this is one of my finest bits of writing in quite a while."

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of objectivist round up using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Home computer systems

I'm loving the new technologies available for home life.  Lately, I've been strategizing on how best to invest in computing technologies for my family.  When our budget allows, I would like to buy a new computer or two to create an awesome technology environment.  I currently see three major roles for computers in our house.  The first is the entertainment hub, for TV, movies, games, and chatting with friends.  The second role is for day-to-day living paying bills and managing finances, looking up recipes, reading the news, email, Facebook, Skype, and general Internet activities.  Lastly, I need a home office for research, writing, statistics, web development, and other business-y things.

For my entertainment hub, the Xbox 360 almost takes care of all my needs.  Now that Microsoft has purchased Skype, they need to integrate that software with the xBox so that I can use my Kinect for video chats from my living room to other Skype users.  How cool would that be?  We also subscribe to Netflix, which xBox supports the instant downloads (as does our blue-ray player, but the player can't handle games).  We may also subscribe to Hulu for more recent TV shows when we kill our cable, which is also supported by xBox.  If only the xBox had a browser, it would be the perfect entertainment system for us.  I've looked at both Apple TV and Google TV.  They both offer some nice features, such as the ability to download apps and Internet browsers and what not, but they cost just a bit more than I want to spend.   For what they cost, I could just buy a small computer and use the TV as an extra large monitor.

In the second role, we already own a laptop and a netbook, which are close, but not quite what we need.  Their tethering to power cords is a bother, especially my laptop which quite literally has about 10 minutes of battery life left.  I desperately need to buy a new battery for it... or simply get a replacement.  And the keyboards make them take more space than I would ideally like.  I've contemplated a tablet PC, either the iPad or one of the Android tablets.  They have great battery life, are smaller and more convenient than a netbook or laptop, and could handle most of our day-to-day needs.  The downside, they do not integrate well with our other computing systems.  Although we could move to cloud storage, there may not be the apps for both the tablet and Window's computers to sync everything the way I want.  I've also considered spending a bit more on a Windows All-in-one touch desktops.  Perhaps we could put this in the kitchen so my wife could look up recipes, check email, watch the news, listen to music or anything else she wants to do while prepping her awesome meals.  She could keep her netbook in the living room so we could have Internet access there.  With our Netflix and Hulu subscriptions, we could still watch many shows while the kids and I are waiting for dinner or eating breakfast.

While I am sure to have sufficient computing resources at work, I would like to create an environment at home so that I can complete all of my work as efficiently as I can at the office.  For that, I would need a desktop computer with sufficient power and a dual monitor setup for maximum productivity.  I'm also really digging video conference calls, so would have a descent web cam and headphones for making any business calls.

Now, all I need is the money.  Ideally, I would like to create a value dense selection of systems to best meet our needs at the lowest price. How are you creating your home computing environment?  I would love to hear your thoughts.

Microsoft and Skype

So the latest news is that Microsoft is buying Skype.  This is probably one of the best acquisition's Microsoft could make at this point in time, in my opinion.  From a personal stand point, I have been using Skype much more over the past year for business meetings.  If Microsoft can thoroughly integrate Skype with Office, Sharepoint, xBox, and even Windows, they'll have a killer virtual meeting application - far cheaper than Microsoft Lync and far more popular than Messenger - and infinity more convenient than some of the other virtual meeting apps out there if it is integrated with Office.  Plus, Microsoft just purchased a 170 million plus subscriber base.  Granted, most of the subscribers are free users, but Microsoft can still leverage that base with their Bing search engine and perhaps gain market share in the search arena.

But there are lingering doubts as to why Microsoft bought a platform that Microsoft's existing products could cover, namely Lync and Messenger. Why not just partner with Skype?  Plus, Skype uses peer-to-peer networking which is notoriously bandwidth expensive, rather than client-server like Lync and Messenger, which take much less bandwidth.  But with increasing usage of broadband, I doubt Skype's bandwidth issues will be much of a problem.  Also, few people know about or use Lync, and while Messenger is a bit more popular, its nowhere near as popular as Skype.  So, it comes down to buying a strong brand name, a strong user base, and descent potential for monetization.

Yep - I'm on track

I've started using ActionComplete for the Web and Android to much success.  ActionComplete complements the Getting Things Done (GTD) productivity methodology.  In this app, I have created tags for all of my major career and personal goals.  I try to tag every project, activity, and idea with at least 1 tag.  This provides me with a means to quickly review my goals to determine what I am currently doing to accomplish them.  Because I had some down time between prepping for class and lunch, I did a quick review to see how well my day-to-day activities match these goals.  Here's where I'm at:

My three career goals:

• Improve productivity - Only 1 project currently, focusing on improving my writing skills, with associated activities.  Because writing has a big impact on my research goal, its a great syntheses project.
• Research - 9 current projects (3 active) and consuming most of my time.  In part, my overemphasis on this area is because I'm playing catch up.  But I'm starting to get where I want to be... which is good.
• Instructional excellence - 3 projects - 1 dealing with my current class, 1 pushing me toward advanced skills, and 1 for class this fall.

Personal goals:

• Home maintenance - There always seems to be something here and will probably stay that way as long as I live in a home. 
• Financial independence - Long-term, I would like to achieve a state of passive income that allows me and my family to enjoy life without major financial limits.  I have a couple projects in the works now (like selling our house) and some larger ideas that I may try to implement in a few years (like writing books or starting businesses).  
• Build relationships - While my relationships are important for me, I don't currently have a project or many activities designed specifically for this.  Generally, I treat this as an ongoing habit, so there is nothing big I want to accomplish at the moment.  But I may want to brainstorm projects and activities that help facilitate relationship building, especially after we move.
• Health - Again, no current projects.  I try to eat well and workout occasionally, but I have no major projects and only occasional activities marked in my to-do list.  I've considered running in a 5k or training until I can break a 6:00 mile, but nothing definitive yet.  I hope to add some emphasis back in this area after we move.
• Personal happiness - Basically, my everything else list.  While all of my other goals bring me personal happiness, this tag is applied for any other project or activity that I enjoy. Our move to NC meets this category quite well.  

What a great way to live consciously!

Research update

While I did not keep the pace of article submission I had originally hoped over the spring, I did make significant progress.  

• I currently have 3 articles under review, with a fourth ready to submit today.
• I have two articles that I am editing and should submit for review before I move in July. 
• A coauthor is editing a seventh article .  The article is ambitious and geared toward perhaps one of the most prestigious journals in management, Academy of Management Review.  So my coauthors and I want to take our time and do it right.  While I am hopeful we can complete it this fall, I am willing to work on it however long it takes to prepare it for submission.
• An eighth research project has data collected.  Hopefully, one of my coauthors will have time to analyze the data this summer as I have too much else on my plate at the moment.
• And I just started brainstorming a ninth project with a new research partner.  Our tentative title is "Do CIOs care about ethics?"  This one would be another ambitious project, aiming for the top journal in our discipline, MIS Quarterly, so our timeline requires at least 2 to 3 years.

The hard part for me will be not pursuing all of the billion other project ideas I have floating around in my head.  Perhaps if I could find more collaborators and research partners, I would take on more projects, but I have been guilty in the past with not completing research projects (like my dissertation, which I finished sufficiently to graduate, but not well enough for submission to a journal) before moving on to new projects.  I will not make that mistake again.  If someone is interested in collaborating, here are some ideas that I would be interested in:

Ethics:

"How does a person's ethical perspective impact his or her response to privacy violations/ approach to online transactions/ group dynamics/ evaluation of IS resources/ etc.?"

"Are businessmen aware of their implicit ethical beliefs?"

"How does a student's implicit ethical perspective impact their participation and success in class?"

Decision making:

"How do individuals parse through large search results in order to make effective decisions?"

"What impact do explicit and implicit beliefs (especially ethical beliefs) have on the identification of alternative solutions to a problem?"

Pedagogical:

"What order of presentation is most effective for meaningful learning of MIS concepts?"

"What understanding of MIS concepts do students have upon entering an Intro to MIS class?"

"How Academic Service Learning introduces a false alternative?"

What should I write about?

In the second chapter in Rand's The Art of Nonfiction, she discusses choosing a subject or theme.  This chapter covers a number of topics, but one had the most impact for me - write about something meaningful to you, but within your context.

What should I write about?  First and foremost, I should be interested in the subject.  It should have meaning to me.  Two of my most popular posts on this blog were written on subjects that were extremely meaningful to me, Writing 5 Year Goals and the History of Information Systems.  Both topics had been on my mind at the time and the content just flowed out of me.  They perfectly fit within my context of knowledge and were high values in my life.  I enjoyed the process thoroughly.

Recently, however, I found myself struggling to complete a research article.  With a little introspection, I realized it was because my motivation for the subject had died.  It was no longer meaningful to me, even though I was capable and willing to finish it.  Luckily, I was able to inspire myself in other ways to finish it, but only after I identified my issues with motivation.  This is a good reason to finish a writing project as quickly as possible, because after time, your natural progression of interests may evolve and move on to other areas.  When this occurs, procrastinators will be left with a number of unfinished projects and possibly a dissatisfaction with the direction of their life.

On an email list I belong too, a number of bloggers noted a similar recurring problem.  They would create a list of great ideas for blog posts, but only follow through on a few of them.  This is not so much a problem with the bloggers, but with the list.  The list did not keep up with changing contexts and interests.  The post idea that sounded great today, may only be moderately interesting tomorrow, and old news by next week.  If a blogger did not finish the post immediately, there was danger that it will never be finished.  I have deleted a number of half finished posts from my queue for that very reason.  There may be different motivation level too, if I were getting paid to write.  But I'm not, so I might as well cut out the uninteresting as quickly as possible and move on to what really inspires me.

The Art of Nonfiction, Chapter 1

I identified three important concepts in chapter 1; 1. Non-fiction writing is a skill, 2. the goal of writing is clarity, and 3. writing problems can be overcome.

Non-fiction writing can be systematically improved through focus and practice.  While there is some debate as to the extent creativity can be learned for fiction writing, non-fiction writing does not depend on creativity.  As such, learning how to improve the skill at which I write enables me to communicate more effectively.  This makes since, as I spent 12 years in school learning how to write more effectively.  I only wish they had made the purpose of writing more explicit.  Writing can also facilitate capturing my thoughts, allowing me to refer to my ideas at a later time.  As my capacity to think improves, so does the necessity for appropriate skills to translate those thoughts unto paper.  As my thoughts become more complex, my writing should reflect that using more complex sentences, more advanced sentence structures, and a larger vocabulary.  When I go back and review my writing from college, I already witness the evolution of my writing skills.  Unfortunately, they have not evolved enough.  Hopefully, the remaining chapters of this book will help with this process.

The second concept from chapter 1 was that the goal of non-fiction writing is clarity.  At one point, Rand states that similar to fiction, where the three most important elements are plot, plot, and plot - in non-fiction, the three most important elements are clarity, clarity, and clarity.  Clarity exists on a continuum.  If I were to write gibberish, obviously no one would understand it.  As I learn to organize my thoughts on paper, the level of clarity should increase.  The optimal goal is to write as clearly as possible for maximum transfer of the communication message.  This does not mean that the recipient will listen to the message, but that is their problem, not mine.  My goal should be to make my message as apparent and complete as possible.  When writing, I should assume I am writing for someone of equal intelligence as myself but without my knowledge of this topic.  Clarity should come from improving my writing skills.

The last take away from chapter 1 is that problems with non-fiction writing can be overcome.  They should not be seen as faults with my self or self-esteem.  As with the two concepts above, I am in firm agreement.  In fact, the idea that writing problems cannot be overcome is rather foreign to me.  One of the reasons I started this project was because I firmly believe that they can be (and should be) overcome.  But apparently, there are other people who struggle with writing and then blame themselves as somehow inadequate for the task and incapable of improving.  Its hard for me to relate to that mantra in my own life, but I should be cognizant that my students could fall victim to that belief.  Now that I reflect, I do know students who claim they are incapable of learning how to program computers.  That idea is categorically false.  It may be harder for some students to learn how to program, but like writing, programming is a skill (a skill very similar to writing itself) and everyone can learn it.