where did all the steering wheel locks go?

my first (and only) car

Probably a meaningless ponder but walking through Redfern, where I’ve been living these last 6 weeks, I couldn’t help but notice that I only saw one car featuring a steering wheel lock. As someone who hasn’t owned a car since she wrote off her Citroën AX a month after passing her driving test 8 years ago, I suppose I haven’t had the opportunity to deliberate the investment. But for that short spell of driving my papier-mâché on wheels (named 'Scum' after its registration plate SCM by my boyfriend at the time), whose boot wouldn’t lock and brakes didn't work, I would always ensure that the wheel was locked with a big red birthday present lock. Especially given I had a younger brother with a tendency to get up to mischief and who, after a couple of weeks of mysteriously having to push my seat forwards whenever I entered the car, I discovered was slowly filling my ashtray after sneaking through the boot and making the Citroën the exclusive after party venue on our drive.

Nevertheless I’ve been in many cars and journeys and gone are the days where the driver reaches under the backseat to whip out a long solid weapon to attach to the wheel. Why is this? Who won? Are people content with taking the risk? Has mandatory car insurance spared the car lock polava. What do these businesses do now?

Ahh and so a quick search on Wikipedia explains all:

Modern vehicles are fitted with a steering lock which is an anti-theft device. It is fitted to the steering column usually below the steering wheel. The lock is combined with the ignition switch and engaged and disengaged either by a mechanical ignition key or electronically from the vehicles electronic control unit.

Alas I realise I have become one of those luddites who is behind the automotive industries technological progression, but, after experiencing two blessed weeks without seeing a single vehicle, I can’t say I’m too disappointed. I am delighted to reminisce about Scum though and true to his name was he when he collided with a BMW 7 series. I had one very sore and broken boyfriend in the passenger seat who, bless his heart, after two operations, a few screws and a plate, forgave me and I’ve learned has since been duly compensated and now is the one driving the BMW.

3 years & still not offended anyone.

Blimey. That went by fast. I fell asleep on the train and awoke a few stops further than I expected. It's been three years since the launch of jectaspecta. I feel on such an auspicious day perhaps something digitally celebratory should take place like, for example, writing a blog post...

Firstly, my purpose of blogging is really self-serving. I have an appetite for understanding new things, and as someone who learns through experience, have found that writing these learnings down not only serves my memory but also might be of some (if any) value to others. Of course, I'm sure its mostly not, but people seem to visit anyway lost in a back alley of the interwebs stumbling in to my random mumblings and tangents. And yet while that remains the case, there are some things I have learned about blogging which might be of interest. Doubtful. But may be.

The 'proverbial list' of three things I've learned about blogging:

1. Don't expect the posts you spend the most time on to garner the most attention.
That doesn't mean its not worth investing your time in writing about things you love or are genuinely interested in as I mentioned above.

For example a couple of writings I deliberated on for days are certainly not my big winners according to Mr. Google Analytics, but I enjoyed learning about them:
food for thought
philosophical about the interwebs

Sometimes however you can strike bloggerland gold; I was pleasantly surprised when I learned that "changing the perceptions of giving" had had over 1500 views and this post was actually one that I was keen to share with others.

2. Be yourself.  
Some blog as a way to bring to life a professional persona. Others to keep a virtual diary of their latest escapades. I think one needs to be true to themselves and their interests while being authentic. This is my personal point of view. I don't just write for an audience; I write for myself because I'm actually interested in articulating ideas, stories or random thoughts.

If you have a point of view, don't be afraid to express it whether political (who will occupy wall street?) or even a personal tale (my festival story).

3. Edit, edit and re-edit
I have a terrible habit of editing posts once they're published. I'd like to blame perfectionism but perhaps in one's haste to 'go live' a comma goes amiss or worse still, what should be a pointy sentence becomes an overstatement with too many words to even breathe through. Knowing people have shorter attention spans with content online, keep it direct, use videos and images.

One of my most popular posts has lots of pictures of Hunter S. Thompson and two sentences. And lets be honest, people visiting this post aren't interested in what I have to say, hell no, they want some entertaining shots that Google Images has thankfully ranked highly in their search page.

Nevertheless the point remains. Keep it pointy, yes I know I don't do that particularly well but, it seems to work.

And with that I am going to tuck in to a cuppa earl grey for a sense of nostalgia and amuse myself with my rather lame first posts written three years ago whinging to myself about the prospect of turning 24 while looking down the barrel of (gasp!) 25, as I am now, looking down the barrel of 30. A charming quote I wrote, very apt given I am now leaving Sydney:

"I say be inquisitive, relentlessly raise the bar, be charismatic, chat to strangers, pick minds and don't be afraid of change."

Doesn't time move fast?

strength in adversity

I remember being in a brand workshop a few years ago and we were asked to reflect upon ourselves when we were kids at school and come up with a proposition.

There was the quirky "back row geek" and the delightful "ray of sunshine" which made me realise my prop was seemingly self-indulgent; what kept appearing in my mind was "strength in adversity" - which isn't the typical proposition for a reflection on your childhood. Bold and rather self-righteous, one might think, but I can't help feel the statement was true for those years growing up and not because I am either of those things.

I was the girl at school who was often absent either on extended trips to Venezuela - where half my family is from - or because I was sick or had managed to find myself hospitalised again (I had a bizarre spell of various hospital visits; suspected lymphoma, right knee surgery, dislocated right ankle, stitches in my left shin, ripped off toe nail(!), acute glandular fever... etc).  I changed schools a few times because of my family relocating, then separating, then relocating while I refused to attend a girls boarding school for that very reason; it was only for girls.  And yet amongst this instability I not only managed to find a solid group of smart and supportive friends who still feature in my life today via the virtues of Facebook; but I also remarkably achieved the highest grades in my year... even after I was told by more than one of my teachers not to get my hopes up at even passing. Huh-um... Thank you Mrs Joyce and Mrs Findley.

And so now, ten years on, I have a new found appreciation for that young girl because when adversity comes to revisit and prompts changes unplanned, a small part of my "grown up self" still knows that this is the chance to be strong and perhaps even do something surprising (yes the inverted commas are intentional).

These are my last two weeks in Sydney. After an incredible four years it is now time to move on to another chapter; the unknown. Like two weights on a set of scales one feels equally liberated and frightful at the prospect of venturing in to the unknown without a conventional game plan. My objectives are very simple: Family, travel, photography and writing... until money runs out.

My next stop? Japan. I can't think of a better place to be thrown out of my comfort zone and potentially reunite with my lovely Nitro snowboard as I spend my 27th birthday riding solo off-piste with monkeys. Besides India of course. That place sounds pretty intense. Which is where I'll be going after Japan.

I hope to continue sharing my stories, learnings and inspirations. Please feel free to join me on the ride. Seriously. Otherwise you can follow my hopefully-less-sentimental-and-reflective-on-my-adolescence updates here.

Jess.

who will occupy wall street?

With over 700 arrested over the weekend and hardly a peep from the nations mainstream media, the US Occupy Wall Street protest against the nations state of economic affairs and policy has been an interesting one to witness from the other side of the globe.

And of course, without being there how do you know what to believe? How can you make a fair assessment when your perception might be at the mercy of the voice of those who may not have your best interests at heart? Perhaps that's when the power of social media really does come in to play, because these people don't profit by sharing their story, they're giving you insight in to their world in order to empower and protect their community without the bias or perversion of a middle-body's agenda.

A perfect, somewhat disturbing, example of this can be seen below where the New York Times changed the first line of a story about the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations. The change subtly shifted the blame for the mass arrest on the Brooklyn Bridge from the police to the protesters. In the first version of the story, police allowed them onto the bridge and then “cut off and arrested” them. In the second, there was a “showdown” in which demonstrators “marched onto the bridge.” Adding interest, the author of the piece was changed from “Colin Moynihan” to “Al Baker and Colin Moynihan.” Who is Al Baker? He is the guy in charge of the police bureau at the Times.

via Society Page

So once again the internet has been a key enabler for organising the masses and while news portals such as CNN have kept shtum about the reality of what’s going on, people have taken the lead in becoming content producers, citizen journalists, the voices from the ground sharing livestreams, twitter updates, videos and blogs to let the rest of the country and the world know what is really going on and continue to organise further protests (there are over 60 locations around the country right now).

Some of the most upsetting footage has uploaded on to YouTube (for example, this one showing innocent female demonstrators being maced in the face by a police officer).

But there are suspicions that even the diplomacy of Twitter has been compromised (with over 1 billion tweets, how was #occupywallstreet not a trending topic?) and knowing governments are getting in to bed with social networks and mobile phone providers, one might question what side of the fence these conversation platforms are on... But people continue to be the propagators of a message they feel needs to be heard nevertheless and that message is platform agnostic so long as there's the infrastructure in place and people willing and able to listen to it.

via Laurel Papworth

And what are these people so upset about? Is there any wonder? Was it only a matter of time?

More charts on Mother Jones

A huge share of the nation's economic growth over the past 30 years has gone to the top one-hundredth of one percent, who now make an average of $27 million per household. The average income for the bottom 90 percent of the US? $31,244. The economic downturn shook the many and yet benefited significantly the few.

And what will happen? In a representational democracy the government must respond to the wishes of its people. Otherwise it becomes a dictatorship. And that doesn’t sound like the ‘land of the free’ to me.

falling down stairs

I fell down a wooden staircase today. I had an iPhone in one hand and a laptop in the other. I'm pretty amazed that I got away with a few grazes because at one point my mind told me something was broken. The only other time I've seriously fallen down stairs was once when I was 3, my oldest memory (converged with imagination I'm sure) and again when I was 7, got concussion and had a day off school.
Anyway, shortly after, I read this post from Faris about beliefs and the idea that "surfacing the serediptious is as valuable, or more valuable in some senses, then simply creating more content, it could be argued..." as he reruns some of his previous ideas... I'm looking forward to seeing whether any of his views have changed and what they may have been. The beauty of the tangibility of stories on the interweb - so easily resurfaced and reflected upon. And equally dangerous.
Personally, while a tad sore and bruised, I'm pretty relieved that I didn't break my back this morning. Perhaps I'll think twice in future when walking with my appended devices down wooden stairs in a pair of sandals. A pretty painful and quick lesson to learn.

healing your body with your mind

So basically, if you believe in something that gives your life meaning, you have a better life. Why?

the power of algorithms

I recommend watching this. Twice. It's a fascinating observation on the power of algorithms and how these complex computer programs can determine espionage tactics, stock prices, movie scripts and architecture. Most fascinating the algorithms applied to culture such as the success and value of a movie before its even released enabled by an algorithm.

"We're writing things that we can no longer read and we've rendered something illegible and lost the sense of what's actually happening in this world we've made..."



This raises the question; is maths an art? One thing that has always fascinated me is the relationship between maths and art whether historically, culturally or cognitively.

Some of the greatest artists and architects in history certainly found their own algorithms to determine perfection (the Egyptian pyramids a fine example).



Now however these algorithms are increasingly complicated and applied to the intangible world of technological communication.

Facebook-algorithms change the way we organise our social life. Amazon-algorithms influence the way we spend our money. Google's search-algorithm decides, which content we view first (or at all) and Twitter's algorithms change the way we are informed about news. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Algorithms in hospitals change the way people are treated, path-finding algorithms change the way we plan our cities and organise traffic. Scheduling algorithms influence which subjects your child will hear when it can concentrate the best, and which it will hear, when it can concentrate the worst (I'm guessing art ironically).

The opportunities are endless which is why to understand culture, we should try to understand the algorithmic confines in which they might be influenced.

learning from the masters

One day I hope all my dabbles will converge or at least make a little more sense to me. I doubt I'll have a Bill Gates moment where my calligraphy course will lead to creating differentiation in a market leading product that will subsequently make me billions (but here's to hoping). Anyway, amongst screen writing courses, mountain climbing, documentary making, visiting Shamans, a law degree, resin jewellery course and a black belt Vipassana meditation retreat; I've always maintained and pursued an interest in photography. I think this is mainly due to my being a closet creative without a canvas or perhaps looking for a story to tell... with limited barriers to entry.

Following my second photography course last night I have delved further in to the theory and practice of good photo composition and understanding the symbiotic relationship between aperture, shutter speed and depth of field (the 'Exposure Triangle'). I'll spare the details.

What I love about photography is the planned spontaneity involved and the longevity of a beautiful moment captured. It can tell so many stories and hold meaning in so many different ways. A person who did this very well was Henri Cartier-Bresson. Here is some of his inspiring work (to classical music no less).

make a bad situation less volatile

There are a lot of things to be unhappy about in London right now, amongst a backdrop of media drownings, a struggling economy and police saying to their bellies "you're under a vest" (that was a bad joke wasn't it?) there are people who are losing their jobs, their homes and change is one thing they can be certain of.

One individual in particular is willing to look on the brighter side of a bad situation. @fern_tastic from W+K London lost her job. Rather than hiding in a cupboard and smudging mascara down her face, she decided to share a rap about redundancy to encourage her co-workers to be optimistic too.

How refreshing. Although little did she know that one of the meanies from Campaign Mag would try to rain on her parade (its one thing to pass judgement on a shit campaign and another to do so to an individual who has just lost her job and is trying to keep a smile on her face and those around her).

Their comments that it was "possibly the worst white, middle-class... embarrassingly girly rap"clearly missing the point (a concern in itself) did more to embarrass themselves than Miss Fernie T as she promptly responded inviting the challenge and remaining positively optimistic.

Go Fern! I think we all could learn from Miss Trelfa.

Full disclosure: Fern is one of my favourite people in this world.

evoking an emotional response

Alfred Hitchcock explains how to inject emotional tension into a scene. A great way of explaining how to bring a story to life by bringing your audience on the journey i.e. story-telling is more than providing the knowledge, its about creating emotion...

greenpeace's rebellion

It's fascinating, and well worth taking a look at the breadth of this as a campaign Greenpeace campaign. It much more than just a couple of very nicely done videos: 

The integrated campaign includes a Poster Takeover and street stunt in London City.
Poster takeover + street stunt in Old Street, London.

Users are rewarded for signing up and passing on the campaign on their website . In their VW Report  reveals that while VW claim to be Green and efficient, they have failed to deliver on their promises, even with the technical capabilities to do so and the bulk of the VW fleet continue to be amongst the most polluting in Europe.



"Despite the green image it likes to portray, VW is at the heart of a group of companies lobbying against new laws which we need to cut CO2 emissions, reduce our oil use and protect places like the Arctic from climate change." Greenpeace explain, "Only a rebellion can stop them – a mass of people from all across the globe –demanding that they change. We need you to be part of that rebellion."

Politicians across Europe are currently debating whether to raise our target for CO2 cuts from 20 to 30% (based on 1990 levels) by 2020. It’s such a necessary increase that many people and organisations - from the UK government to Google, from Ikea to Unilever - agree that we should do it.

But not Volkswagen. Along with spending millions on groups lobbying against the 30 per cent target, VW is also opposing new fuel efficiency targets. These would cut CO2 emissions, save drivers money and reduce our dependence on oil... 


Hence, Greenpeace are stepping in with their latest campaign.

who's the ultimate victim of hacking?

Stuxnet: Anatomy of a Computer Virus from Patrick Clair on Vimeo.

Food for thought. As our lives are getting more dependant on ubiquitous technology, it would be remiss to not consider what the dangers these dependencies may create.

Computer hacking has been very much on the agenda recently. In simple terms, there are three kinds of hacking taking place. "Hacktivism" is the most prominent: raids by amateur groups such as Lulz (who took down sites belonging to the CIA, the Senate, and the Spanish police) or Anonymous (PayPal, PlayStation, MasterCard, and Visa), either for fun, "for the lulz" - or, increasingly, as an act of political protest. Then there's the criminal kind - professionals hunting for credit card details, or email address directories, with the aim of selling them on for profit. While the PlayStation systems were first hacked by hactivists, a second breach was made by cyber criminals who had more commercial ends. And finally, there's state-sponsored espionage, or even cyber-warfare...

via Patrick Clair

a journey to the mountains

 

Recently I decided to go to Nepal and trek the Himalayas to raise funds and awareness for WWF's Tiger Conservation. Why? It was on the bucket list. Along with seeing polar bears in the wild, running a marathon and writing a children's book, trekking the Himalayas was a wish I have wanted to fulfil for a big part of my life and I was fortunate enough to recently do so.

Myself and best friend (and musician) Stephanie Reynard embarked on this adventure together. We collectively raised over $3000 as we set to embark on a journey to Everest Basecamp (which we funded ourselves of course). Now having returned I can tell you that we actually didn't make it to Basecamp. Not because we weren't fit enough, neither because we were lazy, in fact practically it would've been achievable - albeit challenging no doubt - however our venture was side tracked along the way. The story is a long one but I can give you some highlights and share some videos of the incredible journey we went on nevertheless.

1. Kathmandu. Its crazy. Like many Asian capital's the relentless traffic, people and movement create chaos amongst its streets. That said the place had charm. Arriving there reaffirmed to us that we were a long way from home and offered us some beautiful opportunities to immerse ourselves in the Buddhist temple rituals such as pilgrimages, purchase some souvenirs and get tattoos (shhh don't tell mum).
2. The mountains. Sure that's a given but what is so incredible about the mountains is the scale. One leaves ego at the airport upon arriving at this vast expansive place. There's no way you can feel big in this remote area. Its amazing how flat Sydney feels now. Every corner we turned was met with a "Wow". Nature rules.
3. Mountaineering. Walking is under-rated. I used to think it a tad dull. Witnessing a culture that's primary mode of transport is merely a couple limbs to scale heights and travel distance, brings an appreciation for the innate ability to get by without any need for a vehicle. We trekked up to 7 hours a day at pretty steep climbs and it was pretty damn invigorating.
   For the first time in my life I didn't see a single car for 2 weeks. Imagine!
4. Sustainability. The Sherpa's live a life reliant on the elements. The winters are fierce. Access to water is challenging and energy is all dependant on renewable energy such as solar panels and hydro. Yak dung is dried and re-used to burn fires and human waste is used as manure (urm... that sounds horrid but it's actually very clever). 
5. Buddhist Philosophy. The Buddhist way of life is remnant in the practices of the people of these mountains. The Sherpa's come from the oldest sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Seeing how connected they are with the land and one another is humbling and equally grounding.
   We were fortunate to make really good friends with a kind monk from the Tengboche monastery and learn more about his life, beliefs and the world he is a part of. Sitting in an old monastery, meditating to the sound of monks chanting Sanskrit mantras is one of the most beautiful experiences I've ever had.
6. Children. The Nepalese children are a far cry from those I am so familiar with at home. While of course the cheekiness and playfulness is seen in most children, the respect for elders and their generosity was really surprising. Staying at a family lodge we saw 14 year old Sinam help his mother in the kitchen cooking, making tea and kindly showing us how to eat Nepali style (with our hands no less!). He was so happy and considerate. It was so moving to see a child with few needs and demands demonstrating such kindness.
   We were frequently given sweets by the children on the mountain and sometimes accompanied on the walk with kids working as porters along the trail.
7. Running at altitude. Instead of meeting Everest Basecamp, we chose to exert ourselves in a 9km Trail Run at 4000 metres at a local school's Jubilee. It took us over 3 hours to complete. We were the only foreign contestants. We pushed our bodies, heart rates and lungs to new found limits as we appreciated the challenge of minimal oxygen.  We got handshakes and high fives for the remainder of the trip so I imagine there was a degree of risk with the endeavour. It was a great accomplishment and certainly one I'll not forget.
8. Dancing in the rain with a couple of monks. I don't think I can explain this. It was incredible to party outside, listening to Shakira (Nepal loves Shakira!?), high on altitude and learning to Sherpa dance with a couple of kind monks from the Tengboche temple, Pasang and Mingma. With a grand stupa in the background, the rains of the imminent monsoon season and our big grins keeping our feet moving and hearts warm.
9. Sir Edmund Hillary & all he inspires. Rather than Basecamp we went to Khumjung School and hospital set up by Hillary 50 years ago for their Jubilee. There we met many inspiring people, those who had committed their lives to creating positive change and shared their stories with us, such as the founders of the Dream Flag Project, wife of Mingma Norbu Sherpa (a famous conservationist sponsored by Hillary) Phurba who now runs The Greater Himalayas Foundation in his memory, writer Frances Klatzel who helped to create a museum of Sherpa culture and has written many books on their beautiful culture, Dawa Steven Sherpa who is a WWF Climate Ambassador and many others involved with the Himalayan Trust that Hillary originally founded. The list is long but they all are worthy of a mention as they certainly brought a deeper layer to our experience.

Being back is very strange. Two weeks passed like a whirlwind and suddenly I am plunged back in to the life I left with a little more wisdom perhaps. 

There's no doubt we both learned a lot from the experience. Mindfulness. Respect for nature. Appreciation for the fortunate world we are a part of. Along with the practicalities of combatting blisters, altitude sickness and facing challenging climbs. I cannot recommend it enough.

Please feel free to enjoy some of videos of our escapade, I don't think they'll do it justice but they may provide some amusement.

More images here.
Flickr snaps here.
Itinerary & kit-list here.

Jess & Stephs' tips for trekkers



Kathmandu



Dramas at the airport



Insight in to our terrible sense of humour


High altitude running

where do you think most of google's searches come from?

Every day, people come to Google Search to ask questions. Through Google, questions become answers, and answers lead to the next set of questions. These people come from around the world and all walks of life, speaking hundreds of different languages, typing in search queries every single day. Today Google share the Search Globe, a new visual display representing one day of Google searches around the world—visualizing the curiosity of people around the globe.

The Search Globe visualizes searches from one day, and shows the language of the majority of queries in an area in different colors. You’ll see a bright landscape of queries across Europe, and parts of Asia for instance, but unfortunately we see many fewer searches from parts of the world lacking Internet access—and often electricity as well—like Africa.

why would we think social media is revolutionary?

Check out this podcast feature from Clay Shirky's on "Why Would We Think Social Media Is Revolutionary?"

In this podcast, Shirky discusses the most recent examples of effective use of the Internet and social media to effect political change in authoritarian countries from the Green Wave protests during the 2009 Iranian presidential election to Tunisian insurgents' recent ouster of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Learn how revolutionaries and reformers have always used the most effective communication tools to distribute their message to the masses, going as far back as the printing press. For example looking at how the equilibrium state moved to freedom of expression when the printing press evolved and the first Bibles were created and how the printing press acted as a political medium.

Shirky talks about what we can do to help promote worthy causes by paying attention to and volunteering remotely for the regions of the world you care about most. Social media is another distributer of messages and information. It's almost global and has the power to create accountability.



In the same breath it worth watching Wadah Khanfar, the head of Al Jazeera, who shares a profoundly optimistic view of what's happening in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and beyond - at this powerful moment when people realised they could step out of their houses and ask for change and the impact his reporters had on being present and distributing their news story to the rest of the world.