Joshua Klein

Last updated

Joshua Klein (born 1974 in Seattle, Washington) [1] is a technologist who uses systems thinking to create alternative methods of succeeding in divergent fields. He is most widely known for his project designed to train crows to fetch lost change, but has also used this method to write three books (a science fiction novel [2] and two business books), participate in several startups, work for the US Intelligence Community, and speak at conferences such as Davos [3] and TED. [4]

Contents

Currently, Klein works advising senior executives on technology strategy and is acting CEO of www.indigometrics.com, a culture measurement and management analytics company.

Television

Klein's first television series, The Link , premiered on The National Geographic Channel on Friday May 25, 2012. The show is about the history of human innovation, tracing the connections between the world's greatest inventions in art, science, medicine, finance and more, from ancient times up to the present day. Each episode spans a dozen or so technologies, and traces how each one was dependent on the capabilities provided by the one before it. It is a modern version of James Burke's documentary television series, Connections .

After that, Klein hosted a short series call Smart China, [5] [6] debuting on Discovery Channel Saturday September 3, 2016. The show is about world changing innovations created across China and their implications for improving the environment, cities, travel, and more.

Klein also co-produced the series Game Vision, [7] [8] for Discovery Channel, which debuted on Saturday September 16, 2017. The series is focused on how games have evolved throughout history and are likely to evolve into the future, with an emphasis on sociocultural impact, technology, and the ways that games bleed over into our everyday lives. Game Vision is the first game-related documentary on Discovery since its establishment in 1985. [9]

Books

Klein's first book, a cyberpunk novel called Roo'd ( ISBN   1434844005), was released in 2007 under a Creative Commons Share-alike license. It was made available on the iPhone in one of the first ebook readers [10] for that platform, and later made available via Amazon.com.

In 2010 Hacking Work ( ISBN   159184357X) was released; a business book focusing on how employees could break rules ("Hack") to empower themselves and their company. The book was featured in several business journals such as the Harvard Business Review [11] and resulted in a number of related guest posts on notable blogs such as Fast Company [12] and BoingBoing.net. [13]

Klein's You Are the Product: How to Survive-and Thrive-in the Era of Reputation Economics ( ISBN   1137279966) was published in 2015. The book describes how we've moved from finance to reputation through the rise of social software and emerging technologies, and was featured in numerous business journals such as Fortune [14] and Inc, [15] as well as blogs such as the Huffington Post [16] and The Wall Street Journal's MarketWatch. [17] The book was also featured on radio outlets such as NPR [18] and KUOW. [19]

Crows

In 2008 Klein displayed his thesis project at New York University's ITP [20] program. This thesis posited that synanthropic species (those that have adapted to living near or in human habitats) could be trained to contribute something useful through interaction with new systems as opposed to acting as parasites in a human environment. The demonstration of this was a device [21] which dispensed peanuts and coins in a series of steps designed to teach the crows to drop coins into a slot in exchange for a peanut. Klein later spoke about this project at the TED conference and referenced the concept of synanthropy in his Make Magazine article [22] on training your cat to use the toilet.

The authenticity of his thesis and claims made during a December 2008 interview with a New York Times [23] reporter (and, by implication, his TED talk) were called into question by the publication of a correction by the paper April 2009. [24] The correction stated the experiments never succeeded in teaching the crows to drop the coins into the slot. Klein issued a response to this correction on his website, in which he claims The Times damaged the overall project. [25]

Hacking

Klein's speeches and articles frequently center on hacking as a theme, in which he reappropriates the term from its common misconception (as executing malicious computer attacks) to instead emphasize the unorthodox reworking of existing systems (systems thinking) for mutual benefit. This theme is elaborated on in his speeches to explain how he was able to achieve exploits such as publishing a book by giving it away for free, training crows to fetch coins, and reworking the employee/employer relationship.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cory Doctorow</span> Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author

Cory Efram Doctorow is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who served as co-editor of the blog Boing Boing. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of the Creative Commons organization, using some of their licences for his books. Some common themes of his work include digital rights management, file sharing, and post-scarcity economics.

Clifford Paul "Cliff" Stoll is an American astronomer, author and teacher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monochrom</span>

Monochrom is an international art-technology-philosophy group, publishing house and film production company. It was founded in 1993, and defines itself as "an unpeculiar mixture of proto-aesthetic fringe work, pop attitude, subcultural science and political activism". Its main office is located at Museumsquartier/Vienna.

VTech is a Hong Kong-based global supplier of electronic learning products from infancy to preschool and the world's largest manufacturer of cordless phones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Savage</span> American television host and special effects artist

Adam Whitney Savage is an American special effects designer and fabricator, actor, educator, and television personality and producer, best known as the former co-host of the Discovery Channel television series MythBusters and Unchained Reaction. His model work has appeared in major films, including Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and The Matrix Reloaded. He is the host of the TV program Savage Builds, which premiered on the Science Channel on June 14, 2019. He is most active on the platform Adam Savage's Tested which includes a website and a YouTube channel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hackathon</span> Event in which groups of software developers work at an accelerated pace

A hackathon is an event where people engage in rapid and collaborative engineering over a relatively short period of time such as 24 or 48 hours. They are often run using agile software development practices, such as sprint-like design wherein computer programmers and others involved in software development, including graphic designers, interface designers, product managers, project managers, domain experts, and others collaborate intensively on engineering projects, such as software engineering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Hodgman</span> American author, actor, and humorist

John Kellogg Hodgman is an American author, actor, and humorist. In addition to his published written works, such as The Areas of My Expertise, More Information Than You Require, and That Is All, he is known for his personification of a PC in contrast to Justin Long's personification of a Mac in Apple's "Get a Mac" advertising campaign, and for his work as a contributor on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Life hack</span> Trick to make life easier

A life hack is any trick, shortcut, skill, or novelty method that increases productivity and efficiency, in all walks of life. The term was primarily used by computer experts who suffer from information overload or those with a playful curiosity in the ways they can accelerate their workflow in ways other than programming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merlin Mann</span> American blogger (born 1966)

Merlin Dean Mann III is an American writer, blogger, and podcaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Huang (hacker)</span> American researcher and hacker (born 1975)

Andrew "bunnie" Huang is an American researcher and hacker, who holds a Ph.D in electrical engineering from MIT and is the author of the freely available 2003 book Hacking the Xbox: An Introduction to Reverse Engineering. As of 2012 he resides in Singapore. Huang is a member of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity, and a resident advisor and mentor to hardware startups at HAX, an early stage hardware accelerator and venture capital firm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Salkowitz</span>

Robert Louis Salkowitz is an author, educator and consultant whose work focuses on the social and business impact of technology innovation. He is the author/co-author of four books and has written extensively for business publications including Fast Company, Forbes, Entrepreneur and others on topics including generational change in the workplace, the impact of tech entrepreneurship in emerging economies, and the future of media and entertainment.

A hardware restriction is low-level protection enforced by electronic components. The hardware restriction scheme may protect against physical or malware attacks or complement a digital rights management system implemented in software. Some examples of hardware restriction information appliances are video game consoles, smartphones, tablet computers, Macintosh computers and personal computers that implement secure boot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maker culture</span> Community interested in do-it-yourself technical pursuits

The maker culture is a contemporary subculture representing a technology-based extension of DIY culture that intersects with hardware-oriented parts of hacker culture and revels in the creation of new devices as well as tinkering with existing ones. The maker culture in general supports open-source hardware. Typical interests enjoyed by the maker culture include engineering-oriented pursuits such as electronics, robotics, 3-D printing, and the use of computer numeric control tools, as well as more traditional activities such as metalworking, woodworking, and, mainly, its predecessor, traditional arts and crafts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atari 2600 homebrew</span> Video game genre

Atari 2600 homebrew is a term describing hobbyist-developed games for the Atari 2600 video game console. The first such game was written in 1995, and more than 100 have been released since then. The majority of games are unlicensed clones of games for other platforms, and many were written for the technical challenge. There are also ROM hacks and some original games. Several games have received attention outside the hobbyist community. Some have been included in a game anthology by Activision.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boing (Spanish TV channel)</span> Spanish childrens television channel

Boing is a Spanish free-to-air television channel launched in 2010 and owned as a joint venture between Mediaset España and Warner Bros. Discovery through its International unit. When Cartoonito and Cartoon Network were shut down on 30 June 2013, many of their programmes were moved to Boing, alongside new Boomerang programmes. Series on the channel are also available in English via a secondary audio feed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph M. Reagle Jr.</span> American academic and author

Joseph Michael Reagle Jr. is an American academic and author focused on digital technology and culture, including Wikipedia, online comments, geek feminism, and life hacking. He is Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Northeastern University. He was an early member of the World Wide Web Consortium, based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and in 1998 and 2010 he was a fellow at Harvard University's Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maggie Koerth</span> American science journalist

Maggie Koerth, formerly known as Maggie Koerth-Baker, is an American science journalist. She is a senior science editor at FiveThirtyEight and was previously a science editor at Boing Boing and a monthly columnist for The New York Times Magazine. Koerth is the author of the 2012 book Before the Lights Go Out: Conquering the Energy Crisis Before It Conquers Us.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boing (African TV channel)</span> Television channel

Boing is an African television channel operated by Warner Bros. Discovery through its International unit, which launched on May 30, 2015. A localization of the eponymous Italian television service, the channel airs programming primarily from sister channels Cartoon Network and Boomerang, as well as those from other producers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FuboTV</span> American Internet television service

FuboTV Inc. is an American streaming television service serving customers in the United States, Canada, and Spain that focuses primarily on channels that distribute live sports. Depending on country, channels offered by Fubo may potentially include access to EPL, NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS, CPL and international football, plus news, network television series and movies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nir Eyal</span> American writer, educator, and entrepreneur

Nir Eyal is an Israeli-born American author, lecturer and investor known for his bestselling book, Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products.

References

  1. ↑ Klein, Joshua (19 February 2008). Roo'd: About the author (2008). ISBN   9781434844002 . Retrieved 2015-08-08. Joshua Klein was born in Seattle, WA in 1974
  2. ↑ Klein, Joshua (2007). Roo'd. Amazon. ISBN   978-1-4348-4400-2.
  3. ↑ World Economic Forum's Davos Conference
  4. ↑ TED (Technology Education and Design) Conference
  5. ↑ "Discovery File Storage". Box.com. Discovery.
  6. ↑ "Discovery presents new series Smart China with hacker Josh Klein".
  7. ↑ "Discovery File Storage". Box.com. Discovery.
  8. ↑ "Discovery Channel 1st documentary produced with public participation". Los Angeles Post.
  9. ↑ "Did the game change our lives? Discovery Channel Game Vision Reveals Game Mysteries". Sohu.com.
  10. ↑ iphoneebooks, now reissued as BookShelf v1.0
  11. ↑ The HBR List: Breakthrough Ideas for 2010 – Harvard Business Review hbr.org, via hbr.org on 2010-11-03
  12. ↑ Hacking Work: Redesigning a Bad System – Fast Company Archived 2011-01-18 at the Wayback Machine fastcompany.com, via www.fastcompany.com on 2010-11-03
  13. ↑ Hacking Work, a new book by Bill Jensen and Josh Klein – Boing Boing boingboing.net, via boingboing.net on 2010-11-03
  14. ↑ "When Big Data Goes Bad". Fortune.com.
  15. ↑ "Driving Change: 3 Ideas Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know". Inc.com.
  16. ↑ "Reputation Is Everything: Are You Ready for the New Economy?". Huffington Post.
  17. ↑ "Why Internet shoppers will wreck Amazon.com". MarketWatch.com.
  18. ↑ "What's a Social Network Worth?". TheTakeAway.org. NPR.
  19. ↑ "Online Reputation As Currency With Joshua Klein". KUOW.org. KUOW.
  20. ↑ ITP (Interactive Technology Program)
  21. ↑ A vending machine for crows
  22. ↑ makezine.com: The Civilized Cat makezine.com, 2009-10-19, via makezine.com on 2010-11-03
  23. ↑ Trageser, Claire (December 12, 2008). "8th Annual Year in Ideas: Vending Machine for Crows". The New York Times.
  24. ↑ "Corrections: Vending Machine for Crows". The New York Times. April 12, 2009.
  25. ↑ "Correction". Josh.is. April 15, 2009. Retrieved 2014-03-18.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.