Hasta La Ideas

Everybody loves Bucky, but what did his visionary work really produce? At tonight’s Curiosity Club author and archivist Trevor Blake will open that question and likely leave us with more.  His talk, “Buckminster Fuller At 120”  starts at 6pm PT at the Hand-Eye Supply shop, and streams on the Curiosity Club homepage!

July 12, 2015 would have been R. Buckminster Fuller’s 120th birthday. The man who tried to live fifty years in the future died nearly forty years ago. What did Fuller do during his life, what did he predict about the future, and what are the prospects for humanity? This presentation includes the chance to see many rare Fuller artifacts and publications.

Trevor Blake is the author of “The Buckminster Fuller Bibliography” and “The Lost Inventions of Buckminster Fuller.” He owns the largest private collection of printed material by and about Fuller in the world, a multi-ton resource open to the public by appointment. Mr. Blake’s research was used in the reconstruction of Fuller’s Dymaxion Car, and he is a member of the Buckminster Fuller Institute. 

Ah, summer. Those three balmy months when school is out and many people are spending their vacation time. It’s great to get away and relax, and potentially tricky to work with collaborators. Instead of playing phone tag — or worse, email tag — consider some of these fantastic online tools that let everyone you wish to participate in a meeting list their schedule availability.

Doodle

A long-time favorite of mine, Doodle lets you pick several potential dates for your meeting or event and invite others to check off what works for them. Once everyone has participated, it’s easy to see what’s going to work and what isn’t. Doodle is free to use, though a paid option is available, which includes a custom domain, custom design options and more. But for quick-and-dirty scheduling, the free version works perfectly.

ScheduleOnce

ScheduleOnce is another option with a very nice feature: Google integration. Once connected to Google Calendar or Gmail, ScheduleOnce will populate those tools with the scheduling information added by your participants. That means one less step in the process of getting your meeting arranged. I like that.

Schedule Thing

I like the robotic name of this app: Schedule Thing! It’s not science fiction, it’s a scheduling application that makes use of what it calls “resources.” A resource can be just about anything, like a meeting space or a person. List when a given resource is available, and then participants click on the option that works for them. After the initial setup, Schedule Thing can save you a lot of time.

When is Good

I love When is Good because it’s super simple and completely free. When you create an event, you highlight or “paint over” the dates and times that work for you, as they appear on a grid. Save the unique URL to share with the rest of your group, as well as the unique results code. After everyone has participated, return to When is Good, enter your results code, and view compatible times in an easy-to-read grid. Like I said, it’s free and very easy to use.

Services like these aren’t unique to work situations, either. Perhaps you’re looking to schedule a fishing trip, a day in the city, or an afternoon at the lake with friends or family. Accommodate everyone’s busy summer schedule by letting them answer your request for info when they can. It’s convenient and easy.

Post written by David Caolo

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