Udell's vision
I want Jon Udell's new job -- well not exactly, but something like it. How can I make more of my time available for my philanthropic ambitions?
The vision Jon is hoping to clarify in the next month is a perfect example of how I think it's supposed to work. Pick some things you want to do for the world and find someone who will pay you to do them. I suspect there's a prerequisite of having demonstrated a level of integrity and competence in order to get someone to finance it. But that's what I'm looking for in my own life.
The interests Jon outlines are very close to my heart: how technology can support education, transparency in government, and clever business-based environmental initiatives. Although it wasn't on his immediate list, I know from following his work over the years that he's also interested in identity and information responsibility, which has my most recent interest.
Jon, while you're aiming to bring some of this excellent geeky tech to non-alpha-geeks, I'd like to add information responsibility. I think it's already there, but I'm just hoping to get it included explicitly. My recent experience with our local school system choosing biometrics to solve long lunch lines has made me acutely aware that there's knowledge in the heads of alpha-geeks that's just not widely understood. I think this intersects with your interests in identity, security, transparency in government, and your recent bits about translucent databases. And it's also gotta be interesting that this presents itself in a public school.