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

Scott:

 

I've been experimenting with Twitter for the last few weeks as a way to
notify interested persons of new information/updates to the CCAR-GreenLink
site. Ten followers to date.

 

BOB STEWART

Coordinating Committee For Automotive Repair [CCARR]

(913) 498-2227 

 <mailto:stewart at ccar-greenlink.org> stewart at ccar-greenlink.org 

 

From: p2tech-bounces at great-lakes.net [mailto:p2tech-bounces at great-lakes.net]
On Behalf Of Butner, R Scott
Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 1:45 PM
To: p2tech at great-lakes.net
Cc: Paula Del Giudice
Subject: [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/> 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 

 
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