Did you ever notice how it took you ten minutes to get back to work after that five minute phone call?  Or how answering that email reminded you of something else you had to do and you didn't get back to that spreadsheet until after lunch?

I've never really bought into multitasking for humans (as opposed to computers) and over the last couple years there has been a flood of research suggesting it's not only a bad idea but that it is basically not possible, a myth of sorts.  The NYtimes has a nice summary of current research and a reminder of why when we think we're actually doing 5 things at once we are actually getting very little done.

For Your Imagination will be hosting the nextMadisonAve discussion presented by nextNY, an organization for the stakeholders of tech and new media in New York City. The nextMadisonAve event focuses on the shape and direction of the digital advertising world. The event is on Wednesday May 9th at 6:30pm and will be in the For Your Imagination digital media production studio.

To RSVP go to http://www.nextny.org/wiki/show/nextMadisonAve and edit the nextNY wiki. We hope to see you there!

Photo from ClintonHillBlog

Live or work in Brooklyn? Come by 55 Lexington Ave. in Clinton Hill tomorrow around 6pm for some BBQ and beers on the roof.

Kelly Taylor has generously donated a keg of Kelso Hop Lager, brewed just around the corner! You can read more about the Greenpoint Beer Works on ClintonHillBlog.

If you’re coming tomorrow, sign up on the wiki if you are so inclined.

I am on my way to the grocery to pick up some meats, veggies, and charcoal. Hopefully it’s as nice tomorrow as it is today.

For everyone at Web2Expo (or if you know anyone there), we would like to invite you to a special session on Wednesday, from 5:00 - 5:50pm in the “Zeta” room of Web2Open, located on the third (3rd) floor of the Moscone West Conference Center.

The event, called Silicon Alley 2.0: State of The City, will be part presentation, part roundtable, and our beloved New York City’ s future as an entrepreneurial hub will be at the center of conversation.

The goal is to bring New Yorkers together, here in Silicon Alley, out of our collective comfort zone, and talk shop. What drives innovation in the Big Apple? What are our challenges? What exciting projects are occurring right under our noses to foster innovation?

This is a time to learn and share about the world’s media, financial, diplomatic, artistic, civic, and, increasingly, technological center.

We’re excited to offer this free and open opportunity for folks to gather on such a relevant and pressing issue, and we look forward to seeing you at our Web2Open session.

nextNY — cafeBricolage
http://cafeBricolage.com

A bit of cultural irrelevance, for posterity's sake:

twittercept (v.): to twitter that someone is about to twitter something embarrassing about you before they have a chance to twitter it. (Ex: "Josh is going to twitter that I asked him, 'Shall we do porn, or something funnier?'") (c) C. McCarthy

twittercize (v.): to criticize the content of another person's twitter through a twitter of one's own. (Ex.: "@Josh: Stop posting under the influence.") (c) J.B. Sacks

twitwned (adj.): pwned via Twitter. (c) J. Lowensohn

Ian and Sarah Forrester are coming to visit New York at the end of the month, so I thought I’d drag him out to meet some of the New York people. I was in the process of organising an event, but co-incidentally the NextNY Social outing is on the same night so I’ve concluded that it is easier to hi-jack that! So we’ll all be turning up at the CopperSmith bar around 7ish on 27th April. If you want to come along, just sign up on the wiki - even if you are not part of NextNY currently.

Image from Tom Morris

“Twitter,” I start my post.

“La-la-la-la,” you close my window.

Like it or not, that’s what the world is talking about. On the nextNY list, it was talked about in great detail, in fact. (I certainly wasn’t able to keep up, and I still haven’t/won’t/find-no-need-to give my own analysis.)

Well, out of all of this hoopla, I’m taking one article to heart more than others: that’s Lev Grossman’s (of TIME) article called The Hyperconnected.

It’s a great, introspective piece on what the Twitter phenomenon exposes about some of our data consuming habits which already existed pre-Twitter. Anyway, it’s worth a read, and your consideration.

2 Tangental Bits:

• Lev is a New York-based technology writer, and has his blog at: http://time-blog.com/nerd_world/
• While I was in good ol’ Cincinnati over the past weekend, my best friend pointed out that I, formerly one of the last people to silence his phone when hanging out with one or a few people, had begun doing the terrible deeds Lev points out: checking the phone’s screen, responding to text messages while trying to carry on a conversation, etc, etc. That’s an unfortunate development, and I’ll try to curb my data addiction when in social situations.