life-related work

so i have work.

<startled glances. gasps of surprise.>

no, really. real work.

<raucous cheers.>

anyway.

what this post is about, tho, is mapping. namely, the social mapping movement that is bringing real-life back to cyberspace. you remember real-life. all that stuff outside? well it is being mapped.

and what does that mean?

empowerment through accessibility. for starters. people in devastated new orleans are mapping which groceries are open, and have food. new england farmers are mapping farm to table markets (real marketing, the ultimate enterprise).

and if you already have enough food, you can map other things, like constituents, if you happen to have any, or post offices, if you happen to be losing them, such as they are in the uk.

(btw, we don’t lose our post offices here in the us, because our post offices team up with large media corporations to make media about people who used to write letters.)

let’s see, where was i? oh yeah, working.

<more raucous cheers. openings of bubbly. pourings of espresso shots into warm guinness pints and shavings of chocolate.>

no, really.

this is a work-related posting. about life-related work.

because i have been using the platial maps for numerous things, most recently the bigTree project (mapping champion trees). and i felt had to ramble a moment about the inherent paramifications of these life maps, these maps of life.

what will happen? this is what i wonder, and what i hope to glean a glimpse of with this diatribe. what will happen when i can find a local farm, and know that certain foods are being harvested?

small scale - i can have a map of farm customers (such a strange word to use for a farm - we are so much more integrated than the word customer can emote). resources will be saved by more efficient farm to table. many much millions of resources, if we consider what is spent now on traveling food to large chain grocery stores.

back to small scale - i am intimately connected with my local farmers, and local community. now all i need is a local iPhone competitor and i’m all set.

<averted gazes and quick, furtive swigs of guinness espresso.>

ok, again, back to small scale. what happens when i map big trees? people can see if any notable trees are nearby, and add the ones they know of. overall consciousness of tree canopy, integrated ecosystems, and sense of time is enhanced. perhaps more trees are allowed to get big. perhaps fewer people opt for the post-industrial monoculture lawn(desert), and let a few more areas grow wild. diversity rebounds, stress decreases. climate may return to balance.

ok, back to small scale.

always back to small scale.

but the inkling of the thought i had in mind when i began this posting had to do with people. non-connected individuals now able to see each other. provide services. raise awareness of projects. we really are not alone. there is no them. just us.

i am on a map, therefore i am on a map. and what will happen when that map can do what it can do?

unknown.

it is a fine time to be alive.