Information Radiators: Could They Help Save The World?

As I was riding my bicycle today (in 17 degrees Celsius weather, despite there being snow on the ground... in October!), I had a thought:

What if the most important metrics around Climate Change were in everybody's face on a daily basis, like gas prices are (just to use one example that I notice most people around me talk about all the time)?

To see what I mean, consider the following hypothetical (and possibly impractical) scenario. Imagine that the current level of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere (one of the many worrisome statistics that get bandied about in most environmental discussions these days) was being measured every day, and today's value showed up wherever you went. You start up a browser... there it is, up in the corner. You turn on your TV... each network displays it, translucently, like they do their logo or call sign. You go out shopping... and it's on the ever present LED displays, along with notices of sales and special discounts. In other words, it becomes as commonly-known to the general public as the price of gas, thanks to the use of an Information Radiator model.

If that were to come true, would people be more likely to not only change their own way of living but also make more of a point to push their elected officials to make systemic changes at the municipal, state/provincial and national levels? I don't know the answer, but it struck me as interesting thought.

Agile On Campus

While I continue to try to find some time to put material here relating to either of my two AgileMan books, I thought I should mention that I've now firmed up two November university lecture dates.

I'll be talking to a first year Computer Science class next week as I try to provide them with a very high level introduction to Agile. Then two weeks later my wife Vicki and I are taking on a third year Project Management CS class for an evening. She's going to cover some of the ways that project management shows up in areas other than software development, and I'm going to present some of the PM challenges that can come along in an Agile environment.

While it doesn't pay a lot (or anything), it's still fun to get out there and sing the praises (and lament the pitfalls) of Agile with a bunch of hungry young minds.

Welcome!

This is a new blog, called The Real-Life Adventures of AgileMan, which I hope to use in promoting and discussing my two AgileMan books. You can see the front cover of the first book along the right side of this blog, and you can click on that image if you'd like to read a preview of it or even order a copy from Lulu (for a mere $27.50 plus shipping).