the brown man

June 7th, 2012

“Wear Without Care..”

Recently, I’ve spent some time with Guido discussing his notion of ‘wear without care..’

For me, it also extends to why there’s an inherent pleasure in sharing images such as these. When not fretted over, quality fabrics - whether linen or denim, wool or leather - through their resilience tell the viewer a story. They chronicle the wearer - where they’ve been, what they did and how they lead their life.

We enjoy these images, because as humans, we enjoy sharing stories.

I like to wear my clothes til’ they die, mending holes and worn-out stitches wherever possible. It is not a mindset that many subscribe to, instead opting to purchase a new sportcoat or pair of jeans the moment they begin showing considerable signs of wear, or when the season’s fluctuations hint that there is a “new” style, a better fashion than what was on offer last year. To me, there are no seasons, just the liveliness of ‘wearing without care’. There’s a sense that the garment belongs to someone, rather than the other way around.

And that’s the way it should always be..

June 5th, 2012

If music evolved as a social glue for the species — as a way to make groups and keep them together — headphones allow music to be enjoyed friendlessly — as a way to savor our privacy, in heightened solitude. In a crowded world, real estate is the ultimate scarce resource, and a headphone is a small invisible fence around our minds — making space, creating separation, helping us listen to ourselves.

http://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/12/05/30/2115211/do-headphones-help-or-hurt-productivity

May 29th, 2012

We are a very pragmatic people - our geography requires that. This is a rich country, but its nature punishes those who fail to respect it and understand it. This makes us not only pragmatic but also humble, practical, cautious. But there’s a downside to that. We don’t like people who overreach and we kick those who fail. Australia’s mindset is built for an old reality. The internet has fundamentally changed our world. Distance is much less of an issue than it was. Technology platforms can scale ideas globally in a millisecond. Our miners and farmers have understood their new world and they are doing things on a truly global scale. Tall poppy syndrome used to be about cutting others down to size, but it ends up making all of us shorter. No one should be embarrassed to have global ambitions any more. The internet’s ease of distribution means that the world should be the default market for any Australian business plan.

http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/business-it/sydney-as-the-southern-hemispheres-silicon-valley-20120528-1zefj.html

May 25th, 2012

Facebook announced earlier this month that mobile users — nearly half of its 901 million users and the fastest growing part of the business — weren’t generating revenue yet. Everyone knew this, but seeing it in black and white was jarring, especially after the company reported that revenues had slipped between the December and March quarters.

http://business.time.com/2012/05/22/7-reasons-facebook-flopped/