His life's work was focused on the accessibility and dissemination of knowledge.
This isn't what I normally post, but it's a summary of some morning reflections since Monday is the anniversary of @aaronsw's death.
He had a big impact on the world (and me). He's someone you should know.
Here's a tribute.
His life's work was focused on the accessibility and dissemination of knowledge.
Here's the preamble to his "Guerilla Open Access Manifesto".
He was the definition of mission, even if it meant flying in the grey areas of hactivism.
Through a library loophole he downloaded 2.7 million documents and released them to the world.
PACER still charges to my knowledge, but @binarybits continued the mission with a browser extension that gives free access through the @FreeLawProject
He was a central organizer in stopping the SOPA legislation, which....
He sat on @Wikimedia's board of trustees, helped create @SecureDrop for whistle blowers, and VictoryKit for organizing social change campaigns.
He sparked many missions of openness and many other actors were a part of the movement, although as Sci Hub found recently, the movement has many skirmishes.
Snark courtesy of @conaw:
https://t.co/O3WzoZ5tAh
Love to see big tech living their values. https://t.co/NdyKzZMYlh
— Conor White-Sullivan \U000100cf\U0001f1fa\U0001f1f8 (@Conaw) January 8, 2021
That event - he wrote a program that pulled research papers from JSTOR in accordance with their terms of service using his laptop and MIT's open internet and open campus.
JSTOR asked for prosecution to be dropped, but US Attorney Carmen Ortiz kept going, even though...
Lack of evidence sure didn't stop her from threatening the harshest penalties for a plea though.
"Somehow, we need to get beyond the 'I’m right so I’m right to nuke you' ethics that dominates our time.
That begins with one word: Shame.
One word, and endless tears."
The only explanation I have is that this person, while certainly not perfect, was the one person I've met (or at least idealized) who is the...
In an era where truth has jumped from that which frees us then to a four letter word then to an amorphous concept, we need more of the pursuit of truth, not less.
We keep forgetting...
Our world is too big and our problems too large for truth to be binary and our knowledge to be closed.
...anyways....
We should try to be more like the best of him, especially when we appear to be standing on the heads of many pins, a whisper from falling into chaos.
Have a great weekend and here's a poem from @timberners_lee
https://t.co/uO5wvbCIbt
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- helmet
- eye mask
- heat-proof gloves
- water bottle
- cling wrap
- saline
- traffic cones
- pots and pans
Demonstrators find creative methods to battle police tear gas
https://t.co/kPeUTu9iFh
AFP graphic charting Hong Kong's main socio-economic indicators and opinion polls on press freedom and government performance
@AFPgraphics
AFP graphic showing the main equipment used by hardcore pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong to battle police tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets
@AFPgraphics
Frontline first aid.
Nurses, doctors, medical students and ordinary citizens with first aid training have clamoured to join a small volunteer corps helping treat people involved in the Hong Kong protests
@AFP's Yan Zhao reports: https://t.co/uDfYkMeZJf
📸 Anthony Wallace
Pro-democracy activists kick off three days of rallies at Hong Kong airport.
Protesters hope to win international support from arriving passengers. The last demonstration at the airport on July 26 passed off peacefully without causing flight disruptions
https://t.co/jmVqtEd4M2
- respirator (dubbed "pig snouts" in Cantonese)
- helmet
- eye mask
- heat-proof gloves
- water bottle
- cling wrap
- saline
- traffic cones
- pots and pans
Demonstrators find creative methods to battle police tear gas
https://t.co/kPeUTu9iFh
AFP graphic charting Hong Kong's main socio-economic indicators and opinion polls on press freedom and government performance
@AFPgraphics
AFP graphic showing the main equipment used by hardcore pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong to battle police tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets
@AFPgraphics
Frontline first aid.
Nurses, doctors, medical students and ordinary citizens with first aid training have clamoured to join a small volunteer corps helping treat people involved in the Hong Kong protests
@AFP's Yan Zhao reports: https://t.co/uDfYkMeZJf
📸 Anthony Wallace
Pro-democracy activists kick off three days of rallies at Hong Kong airport.
Protesters hope to win international support from arriving passengers. The last demonstration at the airport on July 26 passed off peacefully without causing flight disruptions
https://t.co/jmVqtEd4M2
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1/ Some initial thoughts on personal moats:
Like company moats, your personal moat should be a competitive advantage that is not only durable—it should also compound over time.
Characteristics of a personal moat below:
2/ Like a company moat, you want to build career capital while you sleep.
As Andrew Chen noted:
3/ You don’t want to build a competitive advantage that is fleeting or that will get commoditized
Things that might get commoditized over time (some longer than
4/ Before the arrival of recorded music, what used to be scarce was the actual music itself — required an in-person artist.
After recorded music, the music itself became abundant and what became scarce was curation, distribution, and self space.
5/ Similarly, in careers, what used to be (more) scarce were things like ideas, money, and exclusive relationships.
In the internet economy, what has become scarce are things like specific knowledge, rare & valuable skills, and great reputations.
Like company moats, your personal moat should be a competitive advantage that is not only durable—it should also compound over time.
Characteristics of a personal moat below:
I'm increasingly interested in the idea of "personal moats" in the context of careers.
— Erik Torenberg (@eriktorenberg) November 22, 2018
Moats should be:
- Hard to learn and hard to do (but perhaps easier for you)
- Skills that are rare and valuable
- Legible
- Compounding over time
- Unique to your own talents & interests https://t.co/bB3k1YcH5b
2/ Like a company moat, you want to build career capital while you sleep.
As Andrew Chen noted:
People talk about \u201cpassive income\u201d a lot but not about \u201cpassive social capital\u201d or \u201cpassive networking\u201d or \u201cpassive knowledge gaining\u201d but that\u2019s what you can architect if you have a thing and it grows over time without intensive constant effort to sustain it
— Andrew Chen (@andrewchen) November 22, 2018
3/ You don’t want to build a competitive advantage that is fleeting or that will get commoditized
Things that might get commoditized over time (some longer than
Things that look like moats but likely aren\u2019t or may fade:
— Erik Torenberg (@eriktorenberg) November 22, 2018
- Proprietary networks
- Being something other than one of the best at any tournament style-game
- Many "awards"
- Twitter followers or general reach without "respect"
- Anything that depends on information asymmetry https://t.co/abjxesVIh9
4/ Before the arrival of recorded music, what used to be scarce was the actual music itself — required an in-person artist.
After recorded music, the music itself became abundant and what became scarce was curation, distribution, and self space.
5/ Similarly, in careers, what used to be (more) scarce were things like ideas, money, and exclusive relationships.
In the internet economy, what has become scarce are things like specific knowledge, rare & valuable skills, and great reputations.
👨💻 Last resume I sent to a startup one year ago, sharing with you to get ideas:
- Forget what you don't have, make your strength bold
- Pick one work experience and explain what you did in detail w/ bullet points
- Write it towards the role you apply
- Give social proof
/thread
"But I got no work experience..."
Make a open source lib, make a small side project for yourself, do freelance work, ask friends to work with them, no friends? Find friends on Github, and Twitter.
Bonus points:
- Show you care about the company: I used the company's brand font and gradient for in the resume for my name and "Thank You" note.
- Don't list 15 things and libraries you worked with, pick the most related ones to the role you're applying.
-🙅♂️"copy cover letter"
"I got no firends, no work"
One practical way is to reach out to conferences and offer to make their website for free. But make sure to do it good. You'll get:
- a project for portfolio
- new friends
- work experience
- learnt new stuff
- new thing for Twitter bio
If you don't even have the skills yet, why not try your chance for @LambdaSchool? No? @freeCodeCamp. Still not? Pick something from here and learn https://t.co/7NPS1zbLTi
You'll feel very overwhelmed, no escape, just acknowledge it and keep pushing.
- Forget what you don't have, make your strength bold
- Pick one work experience and explain what you did in detail w/ bullet points
- Write it towards the role you apply
- Give social proof
/thread
"But I got no work experience..."
Make a open source lib, make a small side project for yourself, do freelance work, ask friends to work with them, no friends? Find friends on Github, and Twitter.
Bonus points:
- Show you care about the company: I used the company's brand font and gradient for in the resume for my name and "Thank You" note.
- Don't list 15 things and libraries you worked with, pick the most related ones to the role you're applying.
-🙅♂️"copy cover letter"
"I got no firends, no work"
One practical way is to reach out to conferences and offer to make their website for free. But make sure to do it good. You'll get:
- a project for portfolio
- new friends
- work experience
- learnt new stuff
- new thing for Twitter bio
If you don't even have the skills yet, why not try your chance for @LambdaSchool? No? @freeCodeCamp. Still not? Pick something from here and learn https://t.co/7NPS1zbLTi
You'll feel very overwhelmed, no escape, just acknowledge it and keep pushing.