workplace
clock | March 8, 2008Carrboro's Creative Coworking in the works:
Freelance web designer Brian Russell's vision to create a shared workplace for freelancers and other creative types is moving toward a concrete Carrboro reality.
The idea to open what he called a shared office space with a coffee shop atmosphere was first mentioned publicly nearly a year ago. Russell said James Harris, director of economic and community development in Carrboro, encouraged him to make it happen.
The concept lies somewhere between a wireless-equipped coffee shop and the generic, cubicle-clad office. Russell said the need for this type…
clock | February 19, 2008Brian Russell, who is building a coworking space in Carrboro, just alerted me to an excellent new article about this in the San Francisco Chronicle: Shared work spaces a wave of the future. Well worth a read.
clock | February 1, 2008Carrboro Commons interviews Brian Russell about Carrboro Coworking. As a telecommuter, I am quite likely to participate in this. I'll keep you posted....
clock | November 3, 2007Yup, Chris Surridge, Managing Editor of PLoS ONE (and the author of the legendary comment) swung by the Chapel Hill office last night. Since my initial stint was in the San Francisco office, and Chris is working in the Cambridge UK office, this was the first time we met in person. Much fun was had by all. The pictorial story under the fold:
After I picked Chris up from the airport and let him drop his stuff off at myplace, we went to my office in the wonderful La Vita Dolce, where Chris went wild with the camera taking pictures of me sitting at my table pretending to work:
Then we…
clock | September 3, 2007Telecommuting is a great concept, providing flexibility of work-hours, availability when there is a family crisis, etc. But it is difficult to be self-disciplined at home. So many other things vie for attention, including that most excellent invention of all times - the bed.
That is why I spend many hours every day in my 'office' in La Vita Dolce. I love the place - it is quiet most of the time (though I do find myself softly singing along the oldies, including the inevitable "If you're going to San Francisco" and infamous "Only You"), coffee, bagels, cakes and gelato are the best in…
clock | August 27, 2007Brian Russell, the tireless fighter for public wireless in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area, recently wrote two blog posts on the widely read local blog Orange Politics: Chapel Hill WiFi Pilot needs different Hotspots and Where is the WiFi?
This received quite a lot of attention both before and during the Chapel Hill Town Council meeting where public wi-fi was discussed. Some pilot locations may get altered due to Brian's advice. Today, Brian has a front-page article in Chapel Hill News on the topic. He has been building a Google Map of local wireless (on which I made sure to include a good…
clock | August 11, 2007Since I came back from California, I've been trying to get Time Warner to remove one of the firewalls from my cable connection so I can get into the belly of the beast of PLoS. The wifi in the apartment complex is pitiful. I also tried at Town Hall Grill, but the loading of every page was very slow on their wifi.
The absolutely best wifi in the area is at La Vita Dolce. It is superstong and superfast, both inside and outside, and I've been going there every day to do my work. In addition, I just love the place - since new owners took over several months ago, this little cafe has become…
clock | July 6, 2007This post has been written in advance and scheduled for automatic posting. At the time this post shows up, I'll be sleeping my first night in San Francisco. A few hours later, I'll be at PLoS offices and will hopefully have online access soon after so I can post my first impressions.
As most of you probably know, I got a job as an Online Community Coordinator at PLoS ONE. Today is my first day at the job! I got the job in an unusual way as well - by posting about it on my blog (and the managing editor posting a comment "Is this a formal application?"). The rest is, as they say, history…
clock | May 8, 2007I will be offline for a couple of days so I will not be able to post at my usual frantic pace. Instead, I decided to write something that will take you a couple of days to read through: a very long, meandering post, full of personal anecdotes. But there is a common theme throughout and I hope you see where I'm going with it and what conclusions I want you to draw from it.
Pigeons, crows, rats and cockroaches
I was born and grew up in a big, dirty city and I am not going back (my ex-Yugoslav readers have probably already recognized the reference to the good old song Back to the Big, Dirty…
clock | April 20, 2007It has 'Coturnix' written all over it, don't you think? I am even wearing my PLoS t-shirt right now as I am typing this!
But, why is it necessary to move to San Francisco? My wife is terrified of earthquakes and CA is one state she always said she would never move to.
Looking at the job description, everything can be easily done sitting in my pajamas here in Chapel Hill, or on a submarine, or on the Moon. It's all online:
PLoS ONE Online Community Manager
The Public Library of Science (PLoS) is a non-profit advocacy and publishing organization located in the China Basin area of San…