John Ackley

Just heard an interview this morning in which the interviewee described "you should" as coming from the Tower (presumed unimpeachable - a lecture), "you could" as coming from the Front Door (a little more approachable - a workshop), and "I would" or "I am doing" as coming from the Field (we're all in this together - a conversation).

"Should" implies that there is no more thinking required, just do it this way. "Could" implies there are other options, and therefore more thinking is required to evaluate this and the other options in your personal context.

Like cheryl ann, "should" is a "sleep" word for me, I always perk up a little more when I hear it.

Mike,

I was trawling around here a year ago looking for PC design software, bookmarked it,
and decided to poke the ghosts after returning from PV1. Thanks for responding.

That sounds like a nice chunk of work.
I especially like your effort to maintain the original source of information - a detail many overlook.
You are also right about needing to operate without internet - local storage is very important.

Everything from Permaculture Voices (One) is still percolating around in my noggin.
I was really blown away by Elaine Ingham (soil life), Allan Savory (systems thinking),
Craig Sponholz (waterway restoration and hydrology), Joel Salatin (alternate business models),
and Jack Spirko (PC *is* a business model). But all the other speakers were awesome, too.
Paul Wheaton was absolutely on fire - I thought he was going to spontaneously combust on stage - must be that rocket stove in his overalls.

My background is systems engineering and software dev.
I want to tackle the initial land survey, mapping and design part, since that is the part I personally need most right now.
I especially am interested in novel mechanisms for entering/capturing map/contour info in the field.
Not happy with existing solutions which (even though some are free) are a high barrier to entry for tablet/phone users
and offer very little, if any, integration to down stream design and analysis processes.
I want my data to talk to my other data without having to always be resident in my frontal lobe.

I will need plant placement and coverage, too. Your selection and ongoing data collection sounds good.
Would be happy to use yours if available as a library/plug-in/something.
I want to move quickly, but also want to have modular architecture to permit optional/third-party plug-ins
so we can more easily collaborate and allow mixed open-source/commercial code (kind of like Eclipse).

I ran into half-dozen or so other software developers at PV1.
Several seemed hot to do something real soon and might be interested in broader collaboration.

Thanks and best regards,
John

Hey folks,
Any progress on the work described here?
I have some ideas after attending Permaculture Voices and would like to guild where possible.
Best,
John Ackley

I'm flying in/out LAX. Looks like arriving at noon Wednesday and departing at 1100 Monday.
Will probably rent a car, so can give rides if your flights are near mine in time and space.
Best,
John