Category: Random

Random · Self-Revelation · Why?

Beware The Ides of March

9 years ago Author By cumeadi

Beware The Ides of March is the original “Winter is coming” of doom and gloom. I knew it was was from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, but I never really understood the Ides part until a quick Google search gave some clarity.

” Months of the Roman Calendar were arranged around three named days – the Kalends, the Nones and the Ides- and these were reference points form which the other unnamed days were calculated

Kalends (1st day of the month)

Nones(the 7th day in March, May, July, and October; the 5th in other months)

Ides (the 15th day in March, May, July, and October; the 13th in the other months)”

Ides =15th of March which makes it even more depressing. Someone tells you the exact time you’re going to be assassinated? That’s rough.

History · Leadership · Random · Self-Revelation

Disrupting History

9 years ago Author By cumeadi

***Writer’s Note: 🙂 I literally was finished with this essay (2500+ words) and decided to delete it. Hopefully this will be a more concise and focused attempt.

For a majority of human history, we relied on oral delivery to bring the events of our past to life. We’d sit around a campfire and listen to stories of our forefathers adventures, unstoppable monsters, and through those stories, we’d understand a little bit more about where we came from and where we were going.

Fast forward to the present. We have so many mediums and the ability to capture history is just a click away. History went from a singular narrative to a multi layered complexity that will require a new set of research skills to truly get the big picture. Imagine your neighborhood historian developing a machine learning algorithm to sort through a bunch of tweets to use as primary documents for an event? How about developing a program that sorts through pictures on Facebook to evaluate sentiment of an event? The future historian aggregates all experiences and perspectives and tries to draw inferences. Some would say very similar to current historians. Yea sure, but the pools of information are digitally structured and maintained. There’s a whole new set of skill required to analyze that amount of information.

For the common historian ( the rest of us), we have to prepare ourselves to understand historical events have multiple narratives and view points. We should look to past events and understand there’s more to the story, they just couldn’t capture it. There’s a little boys perspective on his dad going to die in the 100 years war. There were women who had a lot to say about their husbands and sons being taken on the coast of West Africa. When we digest history, our first question should be, “whose perspective are we missing?” We should understand that history is exactly that… His story.

I hope by having a more integrated and inclusive understanding of what and who history affects, we can make sure as many people’s narratives are captured as possible. Ultimately, we’ll create a better picture of how history affected people involved, and how we can all learn to be better or different in the future.

 

 

 

#MentalNote · Random · Self-Revelation · Why?

2016 New Years Revelations

9 years ago Author By cumeadi

A couple of things to note:

  1. These are very random
  2. They are a mix of inference, prophecy, facts, and hunches.
  3. We’re just trying to have fun out here. I welcome other less serious revelations.

 

Kanye West will own 2016

After the birth of his second child, Kanye is grounded and ready to give the world some fire. He was supposed to have a CD in 2015 but that didn’t work out…. Too busy making clothes I guess. He’s going to get back to the music with a vengeance in 2016 and I’m here for it.  I see a game changing album along with great features from Kanye in 2016. He will also establish the ground game for his 2020 presidential campaign.

The Irrational shall inherit the Earth (Just the US)

I watch politics like my brother watches NBA Basketball. I’m not watching to see who wins but the process by which they beat their opponent. The Presidential elections have been more entertaining than season 3 of The Real Housewives of Atlanta. (I personally think that was the best season but I digress) I thought I had a handle on this election but current events created a new set of variables that have the potential to change the outcome of the primary and general election. The electorate have a dangerous level of fear that I haven’t seen since the early cold war. As a result, you can count on citizens to make irrational decisions on who would be best to deal with their fears. Pre San Bernadino, I thought this would be an easy Democratic victory, but now, Republicans are in their element and I see a Republican pathway to the white house.

3D printing will go Mainstream

Based on Product lifecycle (if you believe in that stuff) 3D printing will move from Early Adopters to the early majority. I see a lot of potential especially as the technology goes down in cost.

If you’re African and interested in Business, learn Mandarin next year

On a serious note…. Zimbabwe adopts the Yuan as legal tender and China commits 600 billion to development around Africa? No matter what the west says, China is in Africa to stay. I got to the Enugu Airport in Nigeria, only to see a new terminal being built by Chinese contractors. China may have been around but next year will be something to watch with so much capital, people and other recourses flowing into Africa.

Reemergence of Boy Bands

I just have a gut feeling on this one, Boy Bands are coming back.

I’ll be adding more as I think of them but that’s all for now…. What are some of your new years revelations/ prophecies?

Random

An Inconvenient Truth

13 years ago Author By cumeadi

While I would love to sit down and write a solid blog post, my schedule is really hectic and I feel the only time I have to write is to and from work. I think I’m going to switch up my strategy and go for more micro blogging and commentary based blog with some lengthy features every now and then.