UPDATE: Add the promo code gt-sourceinsp20a895d and get 20% off on registration

We’re almost there: the 2nd edition of Shift - Social and Human Ideas for Technology is taking place the next 15th to 17 October.

Having attended the 1st one - and loving it - i’m expecting the same amount of enthusiasm and interesting discussions on how technology is shaping society and our daily lifes.

The event is organized by close friends Bruno and Pedro (at non-profit), with 60 speakers during the 3 days, at Parque das Nacoes FIL (Lisbon). The subjects in discussion include: Education, History, Genetics, Economics, Accessibility, Usability, Mobile Technologies, Open Source, Transportation, Energy, Architecture and Art. Quite a treat, eh?

With confirmed speakers like Andy Budd, August de los Reyes, Julian Bleeker, Leonel Moura, Manuel Lima, Stowe Boyd and Tara Hunt, it shows how Portugal is becoming a great place for tech/digital conferences, after OFFF’s success the past May.

I’ve just registered but hurry up and get one the last available tickets. Shift !

It’s been a while. The holidays were great, with lots of time away from the computer, just checking email and some occasional Twitterring. I even started pondering about the future of this blog, but not in a blogger fatigue kind of way.

One thing lead to another and a redesign was born. The “Fresh Grid” theme is less cluttered, with no rounded corner clichés. The focus is now on the content (expect more in-depth in articles), with lots of white space and serif fonts for enjoyable reading (and printing). The homepage was trimmed to only display the latest post and a featured Site and Video of the Week.

Oh, and of course, if you haven’t noticed my avatars this previous week, there’s also a new logo (above), more appropriate to “A Source Of Inspiration”. Enough of the Web2.0 look.

The new Lifestream page

There’s a lot more focus on social media, with a Twitter sidebar and a new Lifestream page, with a quick overview of what’s inspiring me in several web services. That also means the huge blogroll footer is now history, with featured websites getting a one week homepage promotion. So it’s a great chance to send your websites/campaigns/portfolios and have them showcased.

And while changing this whole thing, there’s also an updates RSS feed at http://feedproxy.google.com/ASourceOfInspiration. The previous one should still work, but with the whole Feedburner transition to Google came just in time to include in the redesign.

No technical hiccups are expected with this redesign, but i’d love to hear your thoughts about the new A Source Of Inspiration.. Hope you like it.

Patrick at Creative review shared his thoughts on how the last decade has affected our professional life, and most of it i deeply relate to, specially on how the Internet has changed the life of people that work in design, and to a broader extent, the whole society (at least in developed countries).

Photo by Eole, under a Creative Commons License

Ten years ago i was leaving university, thinking on how i would get along with Business Management, but having fun with Flash 4 on my spare time, while hanging around in IRC and building personal webpages on HotDog HTML editor. At that time, i didn’t even knew there was a job for a digital marketeer much less in advertising.

A few career changes later and past the dot com bubble, i find myself in a place i wouldn’t have dreamed of 10 years ago. The last 5 years have been a reward for always keeping my faith on the enormous potential of the web. New organizational models, the rise of social media, the fall of traditional media, the birth and rise of Google, it’s been a hell of a ride.

What about you, how was your last decade? How has it changed your career? Do you find yourself at the place you envisioned ?

For all the love birds out there, enjoy “Bridge”, the new short film by one of my first masters of digital creativity, Hillman Curtis.

It’s rewarding to see the path that Hillman has trailed, developing the first Macromedia Flash banners to becoming a film director. Once you find your creative genius, it’s just a matter of time until you start using it on other disciplines, making the invisible visible.

EDIT (11/06/08): Celso is pushing the idea further, and created the Moo Crowdsourcing Flickr Pool. Join in and submit up to 7 selected works.
I also got in touch with the Moo staff, to see if they extend this idea. Thanks everyone. I will be delighted to feature your works on my Moo cards, with a great story to tell.

Are you an gifted illustrator? A sharp eye photographer ? A kick-ass graphic designer ?
Then leave a comment with your URL , send me an email or post to the Flickr Pool.
I’m ordering some Moo Minicards and would love to promote your great work.

This post will be updated with the selected sets and URLs. It’s also a great chance to find out the extraordinary talent of some of my readers and/or their friends. Thanks.

Example: submit to the Flickr group or comment with the address to your Behance portfolio page, as long as your Creative Commons license allows it.

Submissions:

• Pedro Pinheiro
  http://flickr.com/photos/pedromourapinheiro/sets/72157605513326102
• Andre:
  http://andrenussbaumer.110mb.com