Before I Die...
candychang.com
candychang.com
Awesome overall idea, too.
Also: Shame on you HN. This person not only answered the question (in a way that they thought was truthful, oops, they were wrong), but linked to a definition of the word.
Now they're at -9 karma overall (their user). Anybody who downvoted this or the comment below it: you probably shouldn't ever complain about HN turning into reddit.
Of course, it's always up to the person to act but I find it's easier to work toward a goal when my spirits are high and being surrounded by hope has an uplifting effect.
Yes, something like this is easy for people (easier than doing something perhaps). They'll participate because it's there and there's no commitment (you just write things on the wall). But, what of the people who pass by it and, as Dysiode has said, what if it sparks an idea in them?
It may not directly change the world but it sure can plant the seeds that do.
So, I now believe that tiny things like this can mean a lot to someone who's on the edge and can turn them around.
See what everybody posts to it: http://thingist.com/t/global/3207/
* no skills for their new environment * no money * billions of warm-bodied, warm-blooded other humans already there * suffering from lonliness knowing everyone you've ever known is dead
Unless the defrosting process is great and there's going to be gene therapy, and it won't be for maybe the first few hundred/thousand people, you'll be disabled, diseased or still suffering from whatever killed you in the first place.
I'm only half-joking.
"The body of B. Franklin, Printer (Like the Cover of an Old Book, Its Contents torn Out And Stript of its Lettering and Gilding) Lies Here, Food for Worms. But the Work shall not be Lost; For it will (as he Believ'd) Appear once More In a New and More Elegant Edition Revised and Corrected By the Author. " --Benjamin Franklin (self-authored epitaph)
Edit: updated to show his final version.
"For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."
I want to fly a fully-loaded 777. I want to sleep with every member of my favorite all-female band. These things are never going to happen. Does that mean my life is a failure?
This project isn't about whims, it's about dreams.
Of course, the thing about actual human values is that we satisfice instead of optimizing. That's a good thing.
Also the second isn't impossible either. Just somewhat silly and if that was someone's serious life goal, coming from a somewhat strange place I didn't want to get into. It very much seemed like a whim instead of a serious goal. That a whim is not always achievable is not really relevant.
Right at the moment, I would love some sesame noodles. That's a desire. But the desire isn't particularly strong, and I'm not planning to do anything about it. I haven't in effect moved the item over from the 'random craving' box to the 'will expend effort on this' box.
Just based on the little you say, your airplane thing and getting to know that band better, sound more like random desires to me. (Which isn't to say that the desire isn't sometimes very strong.)
(There's a second question you bring up about whether a person's life is a failure if he or she doesn't fulfill aspirations. I don't think judging whole lives makes a lot of sense, myself, but it seems to be a popular sport.)
http://www.challengelistcreator.com
Actually it was started like 3 weeks ago.
It's (very) rough around the edges, but usable.
* django
* python
* jquery + jquery ui
* nginx
* mysql
* http://www.gandi.net as hosting and dns. They are good.
Other than that, looks promising. Some aesthetic changes would do good, but looks nice. Consider OpenID or OAuth, to gain traction from social networks.
It's on the top of my todo list.
Just after some real life stuff.
My gut feeling is that within a few days it would be full of spam and inane comments, because there's absolutely no sense of having a shared responsibility for a physical place in your neighbourhood. It's also unlikely to build the same sense of community from people stopping at the same time and talking to each other.
Before I die, I don't want to contemplate what I want to do before I die. Not to say I'm not achievement-oriented, because I am, I just associate "before I die" type statements with similar "what if?" personalities - although obviously "what if?" is a concrete statement while "before I die" still leaves room for change, which can inspire hope - although it most often won't inspire action.
And before anyone pounces on me: I love New Orleans more than any other city in America, warts and all, which is something that makes this piece even better to me, if it causes action or not.
If anything, it's a good reminder that people you may have never met, people right in your neighborhood have hopes and goals and even a sense of humor. It's easy to forget that in a crowd, and this kind of puts it right in front of people in a shared space, as a shared piece of art.
I think it stands pretty well on that point alone.
Who knows, maybe the Internet could benefit from the occasional Before I Die... entry. It would make for an interesting social experiment to randomly display an entry from a fellow community member (or it could be negative depending on the amount of spam, but an experiment is an experiment!).
I've never seen any hashtag that wasn't shit except those based around events/people/etc. For example #Dodgers during a baseball game, or #Libya.
All other hashtags, the ones based around tweeting on a random idea, result in a load of shit. I don't want to read idiots tweeting "#b4id fukk loadsa hot bitches", thanks.