Here in Acadia (yes, again) I spotted a man and a woman of about my age peering up at a ten or twelve foot ledge in front of them, around 500 feet off the Ocean Path trail. My first thought? “Oh, no, they’ve jumped down and aren’t able to reach the top.” (There are quite a few spots like that on the rocky Acadia shore.) I watched as the first of the two tried to jump up without success.
I decided to wait a second before heading over to help. The woman grabbed the rock, found a good hold for her foot, and slowly climbed her way to the top of the ledge. Once she reached the top, she brushed her hands together and darted back to her starting point down a gradual slope that I had failed to see. The man followed suit, climbing the rock and then returning to the bottom of the ledge.
I watched the couple for a few minutes and thought about practice. Why do I return to this island after dozens of trips, grasping my camera in my hand even though I know every trail and every rock in some parts of the park?
Photography is my hobby, just as those two enjoy rock climbing. You may know a ledge like the back of your hand, but every time you climb offers you another chance to practice and another chance to take a new route to the top. Yes, I’ve seen Bubble Pond in the past, but I’d never seen a damselfly on a leaf there. That happens every time I’m here.
Every day, every trip, every climb is a new chance to reach where you want to go.
I love tech community events. I’ve attended a handful of BarCamps and related meetups over the past few years, but when my good friend Kelley told me about a June event in Boston, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. It was a GiveCamp: a 48-hour event at which around a hundred designers and developers donated their skill and time to two dozen non-profit organizations from around New England. The organizations walked in on Friday with a project they wanted to complete. The goal was ambitious; in two days’ time, each of the projects should be completed to a point where the non-profit could manage it within the organization.
It turned out to be a completely new and definitely unforgettable experience for me.
Code away
After braving Boston traffic, I arrived at Microsoft’s New England Research and Development (NERD) Center on Friday evening. We met in the largest room on the first floor and briefly introduced each organization and worker. Every worker had been previously assigned to an organization for the weekend, and each team met to discuss the project and develop a plan.
Then the work began. For the next 48 hours, designers and developers worked together alongside representatives from each non-profit organization. Some workers floated between projects to use their talents in as many ways as possible. Considering each worker probably spent fifteen hours of the weekend on projects, I think it’s safe to say that GiveCamp enabled 1,500 hours of work on projects that in many cases wouldn’t have been able to be completed due to limited budgets or resources.
Bed, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and more
Though the focus of the weekend was centered around project development, it was far from the only component of the event. Representatives of the non-profits at the event had a chance to attend workshops about tech-related parts of their business (web security, WordPress usage, and more). The workers (as is to be expected with those who work on the web) balanced their work time with a healthy portion of fun and play (mostly in the form of Rock Band).
The heartiest of the group brought along their sleeping bags and slept on the floors and couches at the beautiful NERD Center. Late nights allowed some amazing views of the Boston skyline as well as some obligatory sounds-like-they’re-drunk tweets.
And there was food. It seemed as though there was a new selection of gourmet options every hour in the common area of the floor: pizza, pasta, French toast, ice cream, cake, granola bars, salad… The workers may have been tired, but they were far from hungry.
The lessons
You may notice that I haven’t talked a lot about the actual coding that we did during the camp. The code was a big part of the weekend, of course, but in my mind it’s not really that important. We gathered on Sunday afternoon to present our work in front of the entire group and see what we had accomplished during our time at NERD. During the presentations it was easy to tell that the code wasn’t what mattered to the organizations; it was what the code allowed them to do. Maybe it helped plan activities for kids. Maybe it helped tag people and objects in photos from developing countries. Maybe it helped recruitment for a youth soccer league. The presentations were emotional for everyone involved with the work done over the weekend.
I made a point to walk around the floor as people were working a number of times throughout the weekend. Here were a hundred workers spending a weekend creating something for an organization which in many cases they’d never known until a few days prior. There was an energy and a sense of passion I’ve been lucky enough to experience a few times in my life. These people were doing something. There was no talk of budgets, no pestering from managers, and no complaining about a lost weekend. A hundred people came together and did good.
I learned a lot about myself over the course of the weekend. Some lessons were personal, but some have changed me in a way that’s visible to anyone I see. I rediscovered how much I love working with passionate, skilled people who want to do all they can to achieve a goal. I learned that I’d rather spend a weekend helping out than taking a trip to Acadia or laying around in bed. And I found once again that people coming together can accomplish great things.
Jim O’Neil concluded the weekend with a presentation about what we’d been able to accomplish. Jim, one of Microsoft’s northeast evangelists, had worked together with Kelley and many others to bring the idea of GiveCamp in Boston to life. On his last slide, he hinted at the possibility of a second New England Give Camp in 2011.
Sign me up now, Jim. I’ll be there.
(or, how I’m steadily losing faith in my state)
First came the vote to defeat gay marriage in Maine last November. Now, with the choice of Paul LePage as Maine’s Republican candidate for governor, it’s clearer why; there’s a vocal part of the state that is quite happy on the far right side of the political spectrum. In my view, both as a Democrat and as a Mainer, that’s bad for the state.
Thoughts on the Democrats
I didn’t vote for a candidate yesterday. In fact, the two issues on which I did vote (yes on questions number 2 and 3) passed by a fair margin. I just didn’t have any real preference for any of the Democratic candidates, and to be honest, it was tough to distinguish between the four of them. A few thoughts about each:
- I liked McGowan’s views on a lot of issues, but he seemed too focused on a select group of areas. I also had a difficult time believing that someone so in favor of renewable energy would have mass appeal with more conservative voters.
- Of the four, I heard the least about Mitchell. Apparently she was able to muster up support from somewhere, but I didn’t really have a solid opinion of her either way.
- I like how Rowe thinks, but he’s just not a very compelling candidate. He’s a Democrat and I agree with him on a lot of things. That’s pretty much it.
- Scarcelli tried to differentiate herself, but those differences turned out to be the reason I didn’t really care for her. Her views on issues like class size and nuclear power didn’t do much to win my approval, though I liked a number of things about her campaign.
The biggest downfall of the Democrats seemed to be that none of them had an extremely solid message. Some of the Republicans, on the other hand, did.
What it means for November
Let me say this first: if Mills won yesterday, there’s a big chance I would’ve voted for him in November. I wouldn’t have minded having Abbott as a governor, either. In my opinion, a moderate candidate would be best for the state right now (though a liberal candidate would work, too).
LePage, on the other hand, is exactly what we don’t need. In my mind he represents old, traditional thinking Maine. We need to attract people to the state right now, and a mindset like that just won’t cut it. (He also scores a weak 1.5 on my checklist; he’s not against renewable energy, as far as I can tell, and he only sent out 20 tweets. I’ll give each of those points a 0.75.)
Normally, I’d be happy about an extreme candidate in the opposing party. But Eliot Cutler is going to make November a three-horse race, and that means that the election could easily go in any of those three directions. I’m eager to see which candidate moderate Republicans choose to support. It’s going to be a battle, and that battle is going to signal a lot about Maine come November 3.
I want Maine to move forward. It’s time to speak up about it.
It’s primary day here in Maine, and voters all around the state are going out to the polls to vote for their favorite candidate. There are lots of predictions and polls being tossed into the mix, but these all rely on old media and actually asking people what they think. Psh. Let’s bring some new media into this race!
Which Maine gubernatorial candidate has generated the most buzz on Twitter today? Here’s a look at how we stand. The yellow area counts unique users on Twitter; the gray counts any additional tweets today from those users. Of note: the three candidates who have engaged with users the most on Twitter generated the largest buzz from unique users today.
The chart above shows tweets from midnight through approximately 6:00 p.m. Eastern time, as reported by the Twitter API. Calculations include mentions of a candidate’s Twitter handle or their full name (including variations where appropriate, for example, “Steve Rowe” and “Steven Rowe”). I headed back to the Google Chart Generator to build this one, too.
Will this reflect the outcome of the race in any way or is just another frivolous statistic? We’ll find out tonight!
UPDATE: I rearranged the bars to show a clearer indication of the differences within each party.
Derek Viger made an interesting observation yesterday on his Twitter account:
Today’s most active #megov tweeters seem to be @rosascarcelli and @Abbott4Governor Does this point to something?
Frequency is a good measure of confidence and passion on Twitter. Sure, there’s the argument of quality versus quantity, but in general it seems to be more valuable to keep your followers up-to-date more often than not.
But Twitter isn’t all about broadcasting. For me, the real value of Twitter is the possibility of engagement; a candidate has the ability to easily address questions and criticism from other Twitter users. How would the candidates stack up if engagement was taken into account?
I ran a quick analysis of each major party candidate’s Twitter account. Here’s how it breaks down:
The numbers above aren’t perfect; unfortunately, they don’t include new-style retweets and seem to be missing a few others, too (ah, the wonderful quality of the Twitter API). I defined “engagement” as any tweet that began with @ or that included an @ preceded by a space (to filter out email addresses). It seems to be pretty accurate. (The chart above was made with the Google Chart Generator. Great tool.)
UPDATE: Lyle notes that I didn’t include Eliot Cutler’s tweets in the data. I’d originally only geared the post to primary candidates, but it’s a fair point and I’ve added him to the chart. Derek asked about engagements as a percentage of the total number of tweets, and they’re as follows: Abbott, 7%; Beardsley, 1%; Cutler, 29%; Jacobson: 40%; LePage, 18%; McGowan: 24%; Mills: 22%; Mitchell, 1%; Otten, 4%; Poliquin, 6%; Rowe, 28%; and Scarcelli, 32%. As a whole, 25% of the Democrats’ tweets have been engagements; Republicans have engaged with users in 17% of their tweets.
The Maine gubernatorial primary is coming up next week, and there’s been a lot of debate between the candidates on a host of issues. Here’s what it will take for one to earn my vote. Where possible, I’ve tried to include the candidates’ positions on the issues.
- I won’t vote for you if you don’t support gay marriage.
The Democratic candidates have all supported gay marriage; Peter Mills is the only Republican candidate who does the same. It should be noted, though, that Jacobson has gone on record saying that the establishment of marriage should be kept in churches for both heterosexual and homosexual couples, and that the law should only use civil unions for both. I’d support this, too, although I’d think it’d be a much less popular view among voters.
- I won’t vote for you if you think creationism should be taught alongside science.
Science class should be used to teach scientific principles like evolution. I’m open to the option, as Jacobson has said on multiple occasions, to “teach creationism in philosophy class,” but I believe it’s best left to individual religions to teach. Among the Republicans, Mills, Abbott, and Otten think they should be separate.
- I’m less likely to vote for you if you support nuclear power.
Yes, I know the technology has come a long way. But we’re not there yet. Though I still have reservations about safety, my major concern is disposal; we need a solid plan for technology adoption and waste storage before we pursue new development. Most of the Dems oppose it, but Scarcelli is “open” to the idea. The Republicans all support it at some level.
- I’m much less likely to vote for you if you support offshore drilling.
Forget you’ve even heard the name Deepwater Horizon; offshore drilling is just a stupid idea. Does exposing and collecting a toxic substance in the same region as a rich fishery really make sense to anyone? No. Oil and water don’t mix. I have to hand it to Beardsley, LePage, Otten, and Poliquin for sticking by their support of it through the tragedy, but it’s still a stupid position.
- I’m more likely to vote for you if you support biomass or offshore wind.
McGowan has really been pushing for biomass, and I think that’s something to watch. The Democrats (surprise, surprise) seem to unanimously support renewable energy. The Republicans are a little less enthusiastic about renewables, but some (including Otten) support it.
- I’m much less likely to vote for you if you think there should be an abortion ban in law.
I don’t particularly mind if a candidate personally opposes abortion; I just don’t think it’s the government’s place to regulate it. The Democrats all agree with this, as do Mills and Otten.
- I won’t vote for you if you don’t use Twitter.
I know it seems petty, but honestly, if a candidate (or someone on his staff) doesn’t use Twitter, I don’t think they have a good grasp of current technology, and technology is crucially important to Maine’s future. Luckily, all of the major party candidates have Twitter accounts. (Bonus points go to candidates who have a plan to expand broadband access around Maine.)
MPBN’s Your Vote 2010 is a great resource for finding information about the candidates. Try to find a candidate who matches your priorities.
Now that the tourism season has arrived once again, Acadia National Park has started to awaken with visitors from around the world. As a public service to the readers of JustinRussell.com, I thought it would be helpful to provide a guide to the types of people you may see in the park. See how many you can spot!
Rangers
Rangers, though one of the most recognizable classes of people, are sometimes hardest to spot. Dressed in clean, slightly olive gray outfits, these officials patrol the park to make sure everything runs smoothly. They’ll also occasionally station themselves at popular spots on busy weekends to assist other visitors in the park.
Bikers
Bikers, with their easy-to-spot bright tops and black bike shorts, often keep to the Carriage Roads, but they may also be spotted along the Park Loop Road or the state and town roads within the park. Popular entry spots include the Carriage Road crossing at Eagle Lake and the Park Loop Road stop at Bubble Pond.
Hikers
If you see someone in an earth tone or white t-shirt, rolled up cargo pants, and a hat donning a large, full backpack, congratulations! You’ve spotted the Hiker. These folks spread out evenly around the park’s dozens of miles of hiking trails and Carriage Roads. You’ll often see them sipping out of a bottle of Poland Spring water.
Photographers
The most elusive class of Acadia visitor, you may see a Photographer stationed at an odd angle just off a trail or road while holding a digital SLR camera in their hand and wearing some sort of bag or backpack. They may appear to be standing in a spot looking aimlessly around Acadia’s dense forests, but they’re probably just waiting for you to pass so they can get a shot of the “real” Acadia, untouched by humans. This process may take hours.
Daytrippers
You may see the Daytripper wearing casual, everyday clothing while exploring spots not too far from main roads in the park. You’ll often see them climbing out of vehicles with a chickadee or loon license plate or with an Acadia annual pass sticker affixed to the windshield. A Golden or Labrador Retriever may follow.
Tourists
If you visit Thunder Hole, Sand Beach, or the Jordan Pond House, you’ll likely see a large portion of people wearing light shirts, large sunglasses, and garish hats. These are Tourists, and they provide a significant portion of Maine’s revenue. They often congregate around popular spots taking snapshots with small point-and-shoot cameras. They also frequent the hotels, bed-and-breakfasts, restaurants, and shops around Mount Desert Island, sometimes pushing children in strollers (or attempting to control them while running around). The telltale sign of the Tourist: a long-sleeve shirt or sweater in the middle of July or August. Seventy or eighty degrees is cold, after all.
Cruisers
A storm is brewing in downtown Bar Harbor. On a calm Maine morning, you hear a rumble on the water and spot a ship the size of a city in Frenchman Bay moving toward the shore. While it idles, small sentry crafts emerge from its towering decks and send hundreds of loud visitors to flood downtown with bright polka-dot shirts and hats with an absence of style that makes the Tourist’s headwear look like it came straight from Milan or Paris. The Cruiser saunters around the narrow sidewalks of the town at a snail’s pace with little or no awareness of others around him, not venturing any farther in the park than the downtown shops or a scheduled bus excursion to the top of Cadillac Mountain. Bikers, Hikers, Photographers, and Daytrippers go out of their way to avoid this group at all costs and silently cheer when the ship turns around and heads back into the Gulf of Maine.
Keep in mind that this post is written in good humor and that all visitors to Acadia contribute to the economy and help with awareness of the park. It should be noted, though, that as I sit here overlooking Jordan Pond at the one spot in the park where the types above intersect the most, stereotypes are sometimes frighteningly accurate.
