kalifa dong photo|diary

i had stumbled upon Open Source Think Tank this afternoon and left with some new inspirations as well as revisited ones.

a couple posts from OS, contributing to my new founded motivations:

cognitive surplus

http://osthinktank.com/2010/07/cognitive-surplus/#more-345

“The reality is that we now spend the majority of our time online as opposed to passively consuming media; therefore, behaving more publicly, collaboratively and generously.  As consumers we now look to create and share, inherent within are two critical elements…our own motivation and the tools available to us.

This is the idea; however, social media despite being integral in this architecture of participation, is often only used as a mechanism to passively absorb content.  We see that only a percentage of users are busy co-creating and contributing while the majority is still passively engaging.  We need to utilize these tools and move beyond this reality.  These architectures of participation available encourage the kind of sharing that truly does enrich society; therefore, we should begin to experiment with them…creating/sharing ideas that incite social change and harness the collaborative power of users.”

do your own thing

http://osthinktank.com/2010/04/do-your-own-thing/#more-252

“Open Source is about shipping our ideas, understanding and believing that “doing” is an accomplishment and changes us for the better.  We understand that if we want to grow and change, both ourselves, our work and the world we live in, we must focus on creating, and we cannot be afraid of criticism.

I have recently spoken to a number of my graduate school colleagues about this idea.  We talk of next steps and on how we will add value to our workplace and the world. Yet, there is constantly a lingering fear of failure, and the natural reaction is to remain amongst the status quo.

Fear seems to have surrounded us and encapsulates a good portion of our lives.  The risk of embarrassment, that people may laugh at us, that our work will not be adequate, devours some people.  This leads us to ask…is it worth it?  The excuses are long and unfounded…so instead of creating, we simply try.

Trying gets us close.  It makes us feel like we are working towards something, that progress is occurring.  In reality though, we are not putting ourselves in a position to be criticized.  We are simply moving towards mediocrity.  We should be fearful of mediocrity.  Trying allows us to avoid failure. Doing puts us in a position to change things and that is what should matter.

Today, we have at our disposal what we need to begin to create.  We must be passionately curious, driven by the unknown. We must begin to do extraordinary things because it would be absurd not to.  Never before has their been so many resonating sources of inspiration at our fingertips that have the ability to ignite our imaginations.  If it is authentic, it has validity.

Open Source is our initiative against mediocrity.”

mediocrity is not an option!