[p2tech] from the event horizon: a cry for help

Certainly by now, we all know what a black hole is - a celestial object
in which matter, usually a dying star, has collapsed under its own
weight, and (to use the vernacular) begins to suck so hard, that not
even light can escape.

This happens to massive stars which have basically burned themselves
out, and the burden of their mass is no longer counterbalanced by the
radiative pressure of the energy they produce.  

I think the analogy is pretty clear here, folks.   Rather than risk
severe depression from stating the obvious, I'll leave it to the very
intelligent readers of P2TECH to connect the dots.

So in any event, I am standing here (figuratively - actually I am
SITTING here in my cool new ergonomic chair that my employer bought in
hopes of retaining what little productivity I am still able to muster,
for a few more years) on my own event horizon, literally perched on the
edge of obscurity, trying not to be sucked in by the weight of my
rapidly obsolescing knowledge base.  

(yes, obsolescing IS a word!)

But obsolescing or not, every so often I manage to allow a new idea to
escape.  Just like a black hole can "trick" physics, emitting radiation
as it scours the local universe of matter, on rare occasion, through
some sort of social quantum effect, I will absorb all the collective
wisdom of the P2TECH community and attempt to toss out a new idea that's
been forged from all your hard work.

Hey, I never said it was a GREAT analogy....

And so I find myself, committed for better or worse, to helping to teach
a short program on Web 2.0 and the Social Web, at the upcoming Region
9/10 Pollution Prevention Roundtable (October 28-29 in San Diego --
http://www.wrppn.org/ for details).   I am sharing the podium with Rick
Yoder, so I have to have something interesting to say that he HASN'T
already heard of - that's a tall order, trust me.  Rick has great radar
for emerging trends.

So with that as background, and with the knowledge that our presentation
is on the role that computing (and especially the web, and even more
specifically, the social aspects of the web, like Facebook, LinkedIn,
etc) might play in P2/Sustainability/technical assistance - here's the
questions I'm seeking input on:

-	Setting aside technical feasibility, how would you like to be
able to access information to help you do your job better than you can
today? 
-	How can we more effectively use information technology to
promote the "P2 agenda?" 
-	Do you think that social networking will change/has changed/is
changing the way that you think about improving the environment?
-	OR, do you see online culture and trends as being a negative
force - one that impedes the P2 agenda?  

Answers taken offline or online, over a phone call or over a cup of
coffee - your choice.  I'll let them all fall past the event horizon,
into the black hole that is my brain, and we'll see if any virtual
nuggets of wisdom emerge between now and October.

Thanks in advance.......

SB
__________________________________________________ 
Scott Butner 
Senior Research Scientist 
Knowledge Systems Group 
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory 
902 Battelle Boulevard 
P.O. Box 999, MSIN K7-28 
Richland, WA  99352 USA 
Tel:  509-372-4946 
Fax: 509-375-2443 
scott.butner at pnl.gov 
www.pnl.gov 


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.great-lakes.net/lists/p2tech/attachments/20090729/739697a0/attachment.html