Mike DiBenedetto dot com

Weird, I know

There are some things you do and you tell everyone about them. When funny youtube videos come up in conversation, I tell people about mikedibenedetto.posterous.com where I post the funny vids I find. And there are some things you do that are better kept private. And then there are other things that start out as private but eventually deserve a little coming out party. This post is one of those parties.

Beware of visiting my apartment. You might end up on DiBekedeko.com!

For the past six months or so, I have kept a strange photo blog on tumblr consisting entirely of photos with the mirror effect taken on my macbook pro‘s iSight camera. The site is called DiBekedeko and can be found at www.dibekedeko.com. The name comes from a short-lived nickname my long time friend (22 year friendship in a 28 year life = impressive) Max Porter gave me. As if the photos that you take with Photobooth’s mirror effect aren’t creepy enough, I’ve been experimenting with taking series of photos with the effect to tell mini, pointless visual stories. Occasionally, when a friend visits, we’ll do an impromptu session. Granted, such a minimal concept can get repetitive, but there is something really satisfying, and I think interesting, in taking an idea to such an absurd length.

Set all colors to black

To fully maximize the creepy factor of the photoblog, I messed with Tumblr’s settings to make all of the text and background black. And I altered the HTML of the theme to eliminate the search box.  Now, all you see are these weird photos and black. If you hit “Select All” (Control + A on a PC and Cmd + A on a Mac), you can see some text and links. [I'm working on eliminating all of the text entirely and the Tumblr links at the top right. I'll update the post when that is complete.] But overall, I think the effect is pretty cool.

Keeping this photoblog has been a fun little past time because early on, I set it up so my computer would automatically upload all new photos taken with Photobooth to Flickr. I used a cool little tool called FlickrBooth.  And then I set up the Tumblog to import the RSS feed of my Flickr account. Now I just take 15 photos at a time with Photobooth and I have a new creepy little visual story.

I am in the process of making a life-changing decision.  As a result, I have been extremely interested in models, tools and tricks that can be used to help you come to a satisfying conclusion.  Two of these methods have piqued my interest in the past month – one is the product of a web startup and one is decidedly low-tech.

High Tech Decision Making: Hunch

Hunch is a decision-making web app

Hunch is a web application, founded by Caterina Fake of Flickr fame, that helps users make decisions.  When a user logs in, they pick a question that they are struggling with and then answer a series of ten multiple questions that probe their opinions on issues relevant to the decision.  Hunch then draws upon its knowledge of you and its knowledge of users with similiar feelings and gives you a suggestion. The decision questions that Hunch can help you with are all submitted and the relevant side questions are workshopped by Hunch users.  Only the most helpful decision questions are promoted by the Hunch to the community at large.

My thoughts: Hunch does a good job of presenting you with relevant things to consider when you’re making a decision.  For example, when I was looking for an answer to the question “Should I get an MBA?”, Hunch asked me the following question:

Hunch asks very relevant questions to help you figure out what you want.

Drawbacks to Hunch mostly center around its immaturity as a community.  For example, there is a limited number of questions.  The results aren’t always so helpful.  (Hunch said there was a 34% chance I should skip B school and get a certification even though there is no professional certification that would help me achieve my professional goals.)   Addtionally, Hunch will always have a hard time when its users don’t have clear cut answers to its side questions.  Many people are conflicted about the factors that lead to a decision and a web tool will never be able to probe the depths of complex emotions.  However, the service is getting better and will continually give you new things to think about as you struggle with a hard decision.

Low Tech Decision Making: Index Cards

My good friend David was recently deciding between graduate school in Texas, where he was from, and San Diego, where he had never been.  He was torn because studying in his home state was attractive and safe but California was nevertheless tempting.

After much agonizing over the decision, he turned to his fiance Oona for help.  She got out two index cards and wrote out the names of the schools down on the cards.  Oona then mixed the cards up and held them in front of David so that he couldn’t see what school each card represented.  At that point she said:

“There’s obviously no clear cut choice for what the best answer is.  So we’re going to have to leave it up to chance.  Pick one of these cards and we’re going to go wherever it says.”

Feeling the pressure mount, David picked one and waited for Oona to show it to him.  But she didn’t.  She said: “What do you want this card to say?”  They talked about it for a while but David still wasn’t able to answer the question.

Oona then flipped card, revealing that it said San Diego, and immediately asked, “Did you just feel a rush in your blood or a sinking feeling in your stomach?”  David had felt a rush of excitement.    They are now moving to California in August.

I love this technique because it brings the decision out of the conscious realm.  It can be very hard to decide with your gut when you have an active intellect that is constantly weighing options and consequences.  However, this technique obviously requires a bit of suspension of disbelief.  Would Oona really insist upon living in Texas if the cards dictated that decision of David’s sinking stomach?  Obviously not.  But in that immediate moment, David believed it enough to experience a visceral reaction upon hearing that they were going to San Diego.