2011/12 Moments, December 2011

Toronto, Ontario; Vancouver, BC.

Prince Edward Viaduct at dusk. View west from Danforth, towards towers at Bloor and Yonge. Red sky at sunset suggests sunny day tomorrow. Temperature just above freezing means winter pants, park and cap for cycling. Approaching the shortest day of the year, getting dark (Toronto) 20111202 1636

Vegan Raw Festival. Christmas Cannelloni, with zucchini was wrap, red pepper and arugula for festive colours, cheese of cashews, agave, lemon juice and beetroot. Delicious. Free samples courtesy of Jennifer Italiano and her chef, from Live Food Bar (Toronto) 20111203 1438

Scrap Metal Gallery entry. “1. If this sign is on, the gallery is open. 2. If this sign if off, the gallery is closed but we forgot to turn the sign off. 3. If this sign is off, the gallery is closed. 4. If this sign is off, the gallery is open but we forgot to turn the sign on.” An installation titled “This Sign (For Scrap Metal), 2011, by Micah Lexier. Contemporary art at its finest, in a new private gallery in the back courtyard of 11 Dublin Street, in the Bloor Street West / Lansdowne Avenue neighbourhood (Toronto) 20111210 1505

Alpine Skis On Skytrain. Symbol of west coast living. Have seen riders with skis and snowboards on Skytrain as well as Seabus, because public transportation to North Vancouver slopes from home is so easy. (Vancouver, B.C.) 20111220 1554

daviding December 31st, 2011

Posted In: moments

Tags: Toronto, vancouver

on Coevolving

The Systems Approach and Its Enemies | C. West Churchman | 1979
Since "The Systems Approach and Its Enemies", by C. West Churchman (1979) is out of print, some excerpts may guide researchers whether a trip to the library is worthwhile.
Open Innovation Learning, Book Launch
Video and audio recordings of the launch of my book, Open Innovation Learning, may be a more accessible preliminary way into the content, with the open access publication better as a reference.
Eight infographics on Systems Methods (UToronto iSchool 2018)
The UToronto iSchool graduate student groups created 8 infographics reflecting impressions on the systems methods most relevant to their research in winter 2018.
Negotiating Order with Generative Pattern Language
A workshop at PLoP 2017 framed dialogue as "Creating Order of" and "Negotiating Order with" frames of reference, to encourage collective sensemaking
Exploring the Context of Pattern Languages
Pattern language is not for wicked problems, said Max Jacobson, coauthor with Christopher Alexander of the 1977 A Pattern Language: Towns, Building, Construction. In addition, the conventional definition of an Alexandrian pattern as “a solution to a problem in context” when applied to social change might better use the term “intervention”, rather than “solution”. These […]
Multiparadigm Inquiry Generating Service Systems Thinking
Expanding pattern language to service systems through multiparadigm inquiry sweeps in research by scholars contemporaneous to Christopher Alexander.

on Media Queue

2013/07/27 Beau Lebens “Taking WordPress to the Front End with O2” (web video)
The WordPress O2 plugin with P2-Breathe theme results in a Facebook-like or Twitter-like streaming interface. The idea was first presented in 2013, evolving from the P2 theme in 2009 (originally launched as Prologue in 2008) when hosted on wordpress.com. “Beau…Read more ›
2016/09/10 Tim Ingold, “The Sustainability of Everything” (web video)
Talk at the Centre for Human Ecology, Glasgow, announced at http://www.che.ac.uk/tim-ingold-talks-about-the-sustainability-of-everything-10th-sept-2016/ Video posted at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncLv9Gk7XrI and https://vimeo.com/182572764 This digest was created by editing the text transcript generated by Youtube. View the video yourself for a more authentic reproduction. Lapses, grammatical…Read more ›
2016/09/07 “One World Anthropology | Tim Ingold | AIBR
Plenary presentation by Tim Ingold, at the 2nd @AIBR_ International Conference of Anthropology. The 2nd AIBR International Conference of Anthropology brings together anthropologists from different parts of the world under the theme “Identity: Bridges, Thresholds, and Barriers.” [….] [6:58] So…Read more ›
Service Platforms, Living Labs, The Future of Open Innovation | Henry Chesbrough | Sept. 2016 | Berkeley Exec Ed (web video)
Responses @HenryChesbrough on service platforms, living labs, and the future of open innovation. Since 2003, he has provided a precise definition, as the godfather of open innovation. InFocus Podcast with Dr. Henry Chesbrough. Dr. Chesbrough is the Program Director for…Read more ›
2016/05/11 “Apache Open Tech is fueling tomorrow’s game changing innovations” | Todd Moore | ApacheCon North American 2016 (web video)
History of open source at IBM from 1998 @tmmoore_1 @ApacheCon NA 2016, and current IBM Open Cloud Architecture. Todd Moore, VP of Open Technology at IBM will share a retrospective of IBMs deep roots ASF and then follow with some…Read more ›
2012/03/13 Tim O’Reilly interviewed by Andrew McAfee, “Creating More Value Than You Capture”, SXSW Interactive
Digest of an interview of @timoreilly by @amcafee below, abstract from schedule.sxsw.com/2012/events/event_IAP100142: One of the great failures of any company – for that matter of a capitalist economy – is ecosystem failure. Great companies build great ecosystems, one in which…Read more ›

on Ing Brief

The Systems Approach and its Enemies Helps Us Find the Morality of a Revised Democracy | van Gigch | 2006
In a book series celebrating C. West Churchman, John P. van Gigch digests (and portends to extend) The Systems Approach and its Enemies. On enemies … 4.1 A MATTER OF DEFINITIONS: ADVERSARIES VERSUS ENEMIES I note the similarity/difference between the words ‘enemy’ and ‘adversary.’ Other authors use the word adversary (ies) to denote all the […]
Restoring Legitimacy to the Systems Approach | Clinton J. Andrews | 2000
A public policy professor, Clinton J. Andrews, looks at how The Systems Approach may encounter problems in skepticism from engineering practice. The systems approach is one general way of going about tackling a problem; some others include the experimental, political, moral, religious, and aesthetic approaches [1,p. 5], [2]. The systems approach to a problem tends […]
The Systems Approach: Its Variety of Aspects | Richard Mattessich | 1982
An informed view of the Systems Approach from 1982. (Richard Mattessich was a well-respected professor at UBC when I started in the doctoral program in 1982, but I wouldn’t get to appreciate the Systems Approach as described by C. West Churchman until the ISSS 1998 meeting). In his latest work [The Systems Approach and its […]
A logic model for philanthropic effectiveness | Peter Frumkin | 2006
Program evaluation can be approached from the philanthropic perspective. In searching for ways to give money effectively, donors have many options and confront a wide range of theories about how to achieve impact. It is possible to think about these theories as falling into three main categories: theories of change, theories of leverage, and theories […]
Program Logic Models and Theory of Change | Kellogg Foundation | 2004
From the program evaluation community, with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation … The program logic model is defined as a picture of how your organization does its work – the theory and assumptions underlying the program. A program logic model links outcomes (both short- and long-term) with program activities/processes and the theoretical assumptions/principles of the program. […]
Restoring Manjaro Grub after Ubuntu upgrade
On a multi-boot Linux computer where Ubuntu has already been installed, adding on Manjaro Linux installs its own version of Grub (that I’ll call Arch-Grub) that is different but compatible with that previously installed (that I’ll call Debian-Grub). Updating Ubuntu to a newer version (or installing an older version) restores Debian-Grub, replacing the working Arch-Grub. […]

Distractions, reflections

David Ing, at large … Sometimes, my mind wanders

2011/12 Moments, December 2011