Jerry Timms

Google announced yesterday that they intend to invest hundreds of millions of dollars into a project to develop cheaper, sustainable energy to power its server farms. It’s estimated that Google currently runs about 500,000 servers to power its business, which is probably the largest set of connected servers that we know about in the world.

A respected political science professor in college had a theory about power. He’s an environmentalist, and a staunch supporter of sustainable power. But not too sustainable. The argument is relatively difficult to explain, but is essentially focused on the dangers of offering just anyone unlimited (or vast quantities of) electrical power. He felt at the time that humans are not currently able to handle such a responsibility.

Power in his mind is not simply dangerous if it destroys any part of the environment through chemical pollution, but can also make a mess if put to a means that ruin culture or important balances of power and influence. The argument continues to make a lot of sense to me, even if through some fantastic Terminator or Matrix sort of vision.

(Do I really think androids or computer networks can become self aware and take over the world? Yes, but that’s either here nor there. And it’s not really where I’m going with this. It’s just one example of how vast quantities of self-generated electrical power without the need for any constant supply of raw materials could change everything. There are other examples that don’t rely on science fiction.)

I believe that extremely cheap or free power will become an important tipping point in the amount of influence major corporations will have over our lives.

This isn’t such a bad thing. I already believe that Google (along with the rest of the top internet players) has been a major influence in the recent and rapid evolution of our culture; almost all of it in a positive way. If Google had 100 times more influence over our lives, who is to say that it would not continue to be positive?

Google’s corporate motto “Don’t be evil” is in fact a testament to how important they perceive their influence and position within society to be.

I’m not one of those people who fret over the influence of corporations and capitalism over humanity. I believe our capitalist society is currently the best thing going on the planet, and that for now we’re winning the Social Darwinism race. That same professor in college used to ask the question, “what two countries have ever waged war over one another who both had a McDonalds within their borders at the time?” The answer was that none had, and I think there’s something to that…

We still need our governments to set and enforce laws. But I’m postulating here that the biggest influences over our lives and culture will continue to be, and should be, corporations over the next foreseeable period. I think there are several tipping points we should be watching for, and completely sustainable energy will be one of them.

My weekly Sunday ritual for the past several months has been an afternoon trip to Scottsdale Fashion Square mall. Sundays have always been so blah for me, and I think what I like most about my mall trips is to have something predictable and relaxing to look forward to. I like to watch people at the mall, get a little light exercise, and do some casual shopping.

Today was no exception as I set out to the mall with a mission, which was to buy just a few quality basics. One of my main goals lately is to scale back on the quantity of things in my life, and instead focus on owning a few select quality items. So at Nordstrom I bought a brown Hugo Boss polo and white button down, and at Banana Republic I bought a black crew and beige v-neck T-shirts.

Also at Banana, I bought two scented candles, which I just lit before sitting down to write. They were a bit on the expensive side, but I have always loved the intense fragrances that they use in their candles. Just one of these glass jar candles can quickly fill your whole house with its exotic aroma. I bought two “Tea Leaves” scented candles in green glass jars to place on the mahogany shelves I recently added to the structural columns in my living room. The manufacturer must use similar base notes in many of their fragrances, because this one reminded me of another candle I bought a long time ago.

The first candle I ever bought at Banana was called “Night Air.” I enjoyed it so much that I returned to the store to buy the home fragrance spray. It came in a small glass spray bottle, filled with lavender tinted liquid. It’s impossible for me to describe to you what it smelled like, because I have never smelled anything like it.

It was the year 2000 and I was living in an apartment on my own in Tempe. I had been out of college a little over a year, and was working as a business analyst for Intel. Although my corporate job was somewhat stressful I was still enjoying my new income, which was unusually high for a recent college graduate. The dot-com boom was still booming, and things were all very new and exciting. I worked on projects for Intel’s new web hosting division and also dabbled quite a bit in web design. The internet was practically the center of the universe for me. I also wasn’t out yet to my friends or family, so I only met other guys online - AOL to be exact.

I took a chance one evening and met a guy without seeing his picture first. I was glad I did, because he turned out to be gorgeous and intelligent…and I started seeing him fairly often for the next several months. It was sometimes difficult to make sure my friends never came over when he was there, or to make sure I had a proper excuse for not wanting to go out with them when I really wanted to spend the evening with my secret boyfriend. But it all worked, somehow.

I believe it was the stress of balancing this secret life that kept me smoking at the time. And although he knew that I smoked, he didn’t like the smell. So every evening before he came over I would spray the living room with “Night Air” and light a candle. It was also around this time that I developed a compulsive need to shower and brush my teeth before seeing him, or anyone else for that matter. But all my preparations seemed to do the trick, and these evenings continued for what would be some of the most passionate months of my life.

I remember falling asleep with him more than once to awaken to Listerine on my lips, Hugo cologne on his body and Dolce & Gabbana on mine, and “Night Air” on the couch pillow we were sharing…all, it seems, being inextricably linked with our lust.

“Tea Leaves” are not the same as “Night Air.” But as I sit here, drawing in and savoring the new fragrance, I can’t help but to smile at how similar they could be.

This afternoon I found a great little cafe downtown where I can eat lunch and work via the free wi-fi. I’m still there actually, taking a little break from work. Found during a First Friday walk with friends, it’s tucked away far enough behind some active light rail construction that I doubt many people know it’s here. But I’m not saying where it is!

It’s funny, because there are about 5 of us here working, and it feels as though we’re all sharing a secret…the perfect work cafe. The wireless is free, the sandwiches and coffee are good and served with a smile (by a barista who has been working here a little over a year and not surprised I have not seen this place before), and the tables are all near electrical outlets and perfect for working remotely. Various art and tchotchkes abound to give it a funky urban feel without being annoying, and it doesn’t completely reek of roasted coffee like Coffee Plantation or Starbucks. The coffee smells can be cute at first. But as I have learned, 4-5 hours of working in the confines of the coffee cloud permeates your clothing (and car, house, etc.) to the point of absurdity.

Now that’s all fine and good…I found yet another place to work. But what’s interesting is the light rail construction that is frantically happening literally 3 feet from the windows here. Heavy machinery is digging trenches, workers are pouring and smoothing concrete, half built steel shade structures loom ominously over piles of dirt and rows of barricades.

Now, the barista is standing in front of the register, anticipated arms resting on the counter to each side of him, and he’s staring off into the distance beyond the windows. But, he isn’t looking at the construction…he’s waiting for the day that downtown Phoenix reaches a little more of its full potential. When crowds of pedestrians pour in and out of this cafe on their way to, or back from someplace. When the trains whisk back and forth on their predictable schedule. When things get a little more energetic and exciting.

All of us here know it’s coming, and can take some pride in knowing that being part of this urban creative class will eventually bring its rewards. The knowledge that something will get fantastically better with time, but that the time requirement cannot be completely avoided, is a frustrating but necessary part of life. The eager anticipation is now more tangible than ever…so close.

So speaking of work, my client requested some custom online financial reports several weeks ago. Rich, who works as a database consultant for the same client, worked with him on creating those reports. Our client came up with several types of criteria that he wanted to choose from when viewing those reports online…such as campaign data that had a certain amount of ad spend, or a certain amount of ad impressions, etc. He thought that if he could choose the exact criteria that he wanted to see in the online report, each time he ran a report on this particular reporting website, then he wouldn’t waste time by having to look at data he wasn’t interested in at the time.

He kept calling these sets of custom criteria “rules.” He even wanted to name them rule 1, rule 2, rule 3, etc. I don’t want to get too deep into this story, but understand that Rich and I kept getting confused because in the IT world these aren’t called rules, it would be more accurate to call them queries - or a form of sorting criteria. Once we decided to stop thinking of them as rules, even though our client insisted on forever calling them that, things made a little more sense to us and we could move forward on the project.

I know…blah blah database, blah queries, data blah. Well, for the last few days I’ve been thinking about the difference between rules and sorting criteria. Why? Because I’ve met someone I’m interested in, and it’s always an interesting process I go through after meeting someone new trying to figure out my feelings about them. It’s too early to try to predict how things will go with this new Mr. X, but so far I can at least tell that I like him. I’m a really analytical guy, so I usually try to put my emotions aside and try to determine if my feelings meet some standard set of objective tests. Yeah, I’m crazy.

Now don’t pretend like you don’t have a bunch of crazy ass tests you put your dates through, because I know you do! I have a ton of them. But it’s been awhile since anyone has passed some of the initial ones. Like…

The memorability test
It’s easy to have nice thoughts about your date when they are right in front of your face, or immediately before or after the date. But, do you think about them throughout the rest of the day or week? I have met some really great guys who I thought met all of my expectations and requirements, but I would completely forget about them a few hours or days after the date. Sometimes my friends would even ask me how my date went, and I would really have to think about it for a second because I forgot! If I find myself thinking about the person throughout various times of the day, and especially if I continually think of stories I want to tell him when I see him next, then I know it’s more than just casual interest.

The compliment test
I hate giving complements. Just ask any of my friends, they hardly ever get any from me…and if I do give them out I’m rarely ever able to keep a straight face while doing so, or able to avoid turning them into a sarcastic joke of some sort. And if a guy is hot, it really pains me to give him a compliment. I can just visualize his head getting bigger by the second, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to contribute to that! However if I find myself unable to fight the urge to hand out a compliment, and compliment a date on his looks…well, that’s something.

There are probably dozens more of these that I could write about. There are also the standard tests of intellect, emotional intelligence, culture, style, ambition, ability, health, wealth, etc. I’m not going to give away all my secrets here! But none of these are rules, because to me that would imply a strict exclusion if any of them weren’t met. I prefer sorting criteria because they really just focus my attention on those who hold the best possibility for being a good match.

Of course, this is all just an attempt to try to quantify the intangible qualities of others that draw us to them. What makes someone more memorable than someone else, even when all factors are seemingly equal? I’m not sure yet but it’s nice to find someone who has those elusive attributes, whatever they are.

Ok, now your turn. If you’re reading this, tell me what some of your compatibility tests are!