In Africa. There is a story that illustrates the quality of listening that can come through meditation. In a particular east african tribe or village. When a child is born they don't count the birthday of that child from the day the child comes from its mothers body or even the day it is conceived as in certain other cultures, but rather from when that child was first a thought in its mothers mind, that is the real birthday. And as soon as the mother realizes that she would like to have a child with this particular partner, She will go off and sit out in a field under a tree, and listen, and wait until she can hear the song of the child that wants to be born in her heart that will come from the wedding or the coming together with this particular man. And when she hears this song, she sings it to herself, and then returns back to the village and teaches it to her partner so that when they make love together, joined together in love, They sing this song and invite this child to be born. And later as She is pregnant. She sings the song to the child in the womb and teachers it to midwives so that when the child is born. The first song or sound that it hears is those gathered around singing its own unique song. And as the child grows. The people of the village learn the song of this person so that when he falls or she falls and hurts herself. someone picts her up and sings her song to her, or in the rites of passage or rituals of the village the song is sung, the wedding ceremony where both songs are sung until finally even at the end of life, the song of this child now as an old man or women. is sung for the last time, and say their last words...

When I first heard the story in it touched in me a longing to live in a place where we heard one another's songs, where we were so in tune with ourselves and with one another that we could greet each other in that way, to meditate allows us to hear the song within ourself and to be respectful and hear the song of those around us. - Jack Kornfield

Do you know your song? Can you hear the song of others? Take the time to listen.

It takes a beach to raise a child, and when the beach gets together for Thanksgiving LOOKOUT!

Ohana was a new word to me when I moved to San Clemente. From Wikipedia Ohana is defined:

Part of Hawaiian culture, ʻohana means family in an extended sense of the term including blood-related, adoptive or intentional. It emphasizes that family are bound together and members must cooperate and remember one another.

Today Darin and I will join a bunch of our Ohana at San Onofre Beach for the traditional Thanksgiving grub. I find it still so remarkable how we are all so very interconnected and interdependent upon one another. It's proven to me more and more that magic happens when we share and dream together.

Today I am thankful for Ohana. Bringing people into your life is a gift. Reach out. Don't be afraid.

More With Less, a very special Thank You from @RTGit to the @Surfrider Foundation.

YOU GUYS ROCK!

How are you doing More with Less?

"Atheism in the name of God is an abandonment of all religious beliefs . . . giving up the attempt to make sense of the world in terms of any fixed idea or intellectual system. It is becoming again as a child and laying oneself open to reality as it is actually and directly felt, experiencing it without trying to categorize, identify or name it." -Alan Watts

John Stawarz aka WaRZ, aka Video Skyking here at RTGit with a few low passes of San Onofre via FlipHD. Got Arial Shots?

Soundtrack, Message From Art, Live! by The Joe LaBarbera Quintet

Take 10 min to watch the Serendipity Engine talk by Chris Brogan about listening.

From the Web 2.0 Expo in New York

Sabona Means I See You and is anchored in the Zulu culture where reconciliation is a fundamental element for progression as a person and as a society.

A Photosynth is a way of using your digital camera to really grab a space and time.
Yesterday I visited my Friends Drew and Maria Brophy and shot the synth above in about 15 min.

Check out some more cool Photosynths at Photosynth.net

What we define here as the Internet Lexicon is the collection of strange acroymns and terminology which has sprung up on the world wide web. There is a culture on the internet evolving. You don't necessarily have to pepper your Tweets and Comments and Posts with LOL, OMG, ROFLOL. We find that one of the barriers to people feeling comfortable on the web is that they don't understand some of the cultural .... (for lack of a better word) terms and behaviors.

This is where we have a light hearted list. A little cheat sheet that we add to so you can educate yourself on this new space developing right before our eyes and at our fingertips. If you have items you think belong on this list please send them are way.

We watch on like Jane Goodall. Think of yourself as a social anthropologist studying the evolution of how people communicate and form relationships. With that spirit take part and enjoy the engagement.

Acronym Overload
There is also a prolific usage of all kinds of acronyms on the internet. LOL is probably one of the most widely adapted. I see reference to these acroymns more and more in non digital places.

RTG Ready To Go, our very name. You are now RTG!

IT Infomation Technology, the IT department, where you get all things tech answered

IRL in real life

LOL laugh out loud, laughing out loud

RTM Remember The Milk, one of my current favorite productivity products

OMG Oh My God/goodness

Other points
Writing in all caps can be considered rude in some circumstances and analogous to shouting.

Do you really want to shock someone in this day of text messaging?
Reach out with a phone call. Marketing San Clemente (949) 336-2495

Reach Out.

Don't be afraid.

Be interested.

Connect...

Love is... Joe Frank

The Surf's Up in California Time to Get on Board!
Getting In Touch With Literacy Conference 
November 12-15, 2009 Orange County, Costa Mesa California

This weekend I am going to Costa Mesa to check out the Getting In Touch With Literacy 2009 conference. The list of keynote speakers is remarkable. Assistive technology has really changed the landscape for the blind and visually impaired.

A professor Sunggye Hong, a Ph.D., Assistant Professor at San Francisco State University is giving a workshop on how "the new digital social interaction methods can create both challenges and opportunities for those with visual impairments." The shift in how people communicate affects us all. Having an opportunity to watch these inventive and inspired educators use technology to connect and teach their students gives me a chance to reflect on how technology is changing how we all communicate and to reevaluate what can be accomplished with our tools.

For more information on this remarkable and unique internation conference please visit their conference web site at gettingintouchwithliteracy.com.

It's Friday the 13th & my Grammy Joe, who was born on Friday the 13th, told me, and I am telling you now, today is a lucky day! Ready to go!

Some people live an entire lifetime and wonder if they ever made a difference in the world. The Marines don't have that problem - President Ronald Reagan

You Are Cordially Invited…
Park Del Mar The Semper Fi Marine Monument
San Clemente Pier Bowl
Memorial Day Remembrance
Monday, May 30th, 2011
1:30 - 2:30 p.m.

Guest Speaker Lt. Col Carlton W. Hasle, CO HMLA-367
San Clemente's Adopted Marine Corps Squadron
Meet the Men from HMLA-367

Music by Pete Jacobs, Wartime Radio Revue Swing Big Band

Seating Limited, large grass area for overflow.

Download Flyer

The Marine Monument of San Clemente

What is Google Wave? Well if you are a customer of Ready To Go information technologies you should be checking your email boxes for your invites! Got Wave? soon you will... Ready to go!

My first antidote to the "I-ness" issue is something called Twitter Gifting.

Look at your list of followers. Who are they? What information or entertainment can you send their way? How can you acknowledge them? Engagement begins with acknowledgement and to make a friendly thoughtful gesture is the best way to open up a conversation.

We Aren't Our Numbers
The Dunbar Number intrigues me and there does seem to be an upper limit to how many people you can hold a meaningful conversation with. However, the numbers game is fruitless, people jockeying for the most amount of followers annoys me, we aren't competing for who has the longest contact list. It's about the discussion. Who are you influencing? What information are you sharing? What conversations are you starting and nurturing?

Let's talk quality. Let's build a resource. Let's connect. My first suggestion is Twitter Gifting.

1. bring something to the conversation

2. show that you care, that you looked at who they are, that you listen

3. wrap it cleverly and with care

a. include their @username
b. make your Tweet a bit short for easy retweeting
c. use is.gd or a link shortener
d. give hint to the content, use descriptive language

4. Words to the wise. Always view the complete item before you forward.

Twitter Gifting is our first in a list of antidotes to the issue of "I-ness."

Now you are Ready To Go and become part of the conversation.

It's not everyday that you see a purple cow walking down the street...

You look fabulous dahrling! But, Do You Got Otaku?

But I'll tell you what hermits realize. If you go off into a far, far forest and get very quiet, you'll come to understand that you're connected with everything. - Alan Watts

Twitter's saved searches open up the Twitter-verse. By searching for your keywords you can connect with the conversations that you are most interested in. Connecting and building via shared interests builds a dynamic community which not only gives you a platform to spread your message but also keeps you informed of new information and new networks to explore.

You are now Ready To Go!

But I don't care what breakfast cereal you are eating at the moment ...

When I hear comments like that I cringe. Not because I don't share the sentiment but because they are missing out on the amazing opportunities available from Twitter. But to get the goodness you must join the conversation.

Here are three simple steps for you to start taking part.

On your Twitter home page in the upper right hand corner right you will find where this magic takes place.


1. Check your @'s
When people send you messages and address you in conversations it is addressed as @yourusername. To make sure you are hearing people be sure to check your @s.



                                                            




2. Check your DMs



DMs (Direct Messages) are the private chat of Twitter. You may only receive DMs from those you follow. DMs are private messages and are not seen in your time line.





3. Twitter is search. Real live action search of what is going on in the collective consciousness. Set searches to find conversations about your interests to plug into the conversations of your choise. If you are searching for a two word phrase use quotes to find that phrase.


Enter your keyword or keyword phrase, add quotations to search for that combination of words by pressing the image of the looking glass.

Save searches for easy reference and consistent monitoring. They will appear in the right hand column of your page for your convenience. You will be able to monitor and stay track of conversations involving topics of your choice at the push of a button.


Rinse and repeat. You are now Ready To Go.

Join the conversation. See you on the interwebs!

Just the other day I was dreaming on Twitter about how much I wanted a Plug-in CNG Hybrid, that way if I ran outta CNG I could plugin and get to a pump. I could not contain my excitement this morning while looking through my Reader items. I came across a link to a @Surfrider @Toyota CNG hybrid. OMG! I am so going to SanO to photosynth and flip it!

"The current benefits of CNG are amplified by rapidly changing market
conditions and an increase in consumer environmental awareness. As a
transport fuel, natural gas is a clean and safe gasoline alternative.
It can potentially reduce U.S. dependency on foreign oil and reduce
vehicle operating costs. Currently, more than 99 percent of natural
gas used in the U.S. comes from domestic and other American sources.

The CNG system was built by Metal Crafters of Fountain Valley, Calif.
To convert the stock Camry Hybrid to a CNG vehicle, the gasoline fuel
system was replaced with a CNG system in the spare tire well area." via CarPicts

Way bitchen, but it will need racks for my longboards. #ToyotaSurfriderCNGHybreed

These daily board meetings are HELL!!! #NaBloPoMo

Filling the Ready To Go Information Technologies Honda Civic GX for our trip to Blog World & New Media Expo. It's a natural gas car and again the cleanest internal-combustion vehicle in the world according to the EPA. This year we made it to Barstow from the Sand Canyon fill station in Irvine with no problem, AC Blasting, keeping up with the flow. Year two to Blog World powered on compressed natural gas to find that Ford was on site with a booth and a ride with the most beautiful black paint job I have ever seen.

I made sure to stop in and thank them for not taking money in the bail out. I also begged them to make a CNG anything! We would buy it, that and a home fueling station! ( What happened to the Phill website??) Boone you buy it?

Sharing is good, Lisa calls me Ferris, Chris would prolly back her up on that. As long as I can rememeber I have felt the lure of great music and cool tools. I seem to find myself at a place, look around and wonder, WHERE IS EVERYONE? The next thing I think is WOW I GOTTA SHARE THIS!

The internet has speed up the process and now it is a skill set to be a trend spotter and be able to catch the next wave before most of the other surfers have even noted the swell on the horizon. Luck or skill? Perhaps a bit of both, but it sure is a long string of serendipitous events that brought me to buy a CNG auto prior to the being of Gulf War V.2, Natural gas being 62 cents a gallon to fill at the time. Imagine the ribbing I took from friends and colleagues when I bought my that first GX, that "PROPAIN" Car, that "BBQ" mobile. It did not matter that driven through Los Angeles it was actualy cleaning the air or that the fuel was home grown and plentiful.

Years later, I am in my Second GX, and now when I pull into the service station to fill the tires, or wash the windows, not one, not two but sometimes as many as three people want to know where I got it, what I paid for it, where they can get one and why don't they hear more about CNG on the news. I give them the low down on the GX and then let them know when the time comes and Ella is driving and we are living in the Hydrogen age, it will only take a chip change out to move the GX from CNG to Hydrogen.

Enter the Pickens Plan, T-Boone Picken's idea to use wind power and natural gas to wean our nation off our dependence on foreign oil, now rated by our Pentagon to be a national security threat. I would personaly like to welcome T. Boone to the ranks of those taking action, jumping in alternative fuel automobiles and turning the course of this ship of state one tank at a time.

If Not Us Who? If Not Now When? This is just the first step on our way to energy independence a clean safe world for our children and a happier healthy YOU!!!

Ready to go with the National Blog Posting Month #NaBloPoMo

National Blog Posting Month for folks who want to get into the habit of blogging by doing it every day for a month, including weekends!

Get Blogging!