User:Raporeilly/Joshua Klein

Overview
Joshua Klein 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 two books (a science fiction novel and a business book ), participate in several startups, work for the US Intelligence Community (via the ODNI), and speak at conferences such as Davos and TED.

Crows
In 2008 Klein displayed his thesis project at New York University's ITP 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 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 on training your cat to use the toilet.

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 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 and resulted in a number of related guest posts on noteable blogs such as Fast Company and BoingBoing.net.

Hacking
Klein's speeches and articles frequently center on "hacking" as a theme, in which he reappropriates the term from its common use (meaning 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.

Additional Articles and Interviews

 * When disobeying the boss is a good career move - The Irish Times - Sat, Sep 25, 2010 irishtimes.com, via www.irishtimes.com on 2010 11 03
 * Clever Birds - The Untapped Talent of Crows - Oprah.com jhorton, oprah.com, via www.oprah.com on 2010 11 03
 * Inventor Trains Crows to Find Money : NPR npr.org, via www.npr.org on 2010 11 03
 * BBC News - Why companies watch your every Facebook, YouTube, Twitter move co.uk, via www.bbc.co.uk on 2010 11 03
 * Cool Tech Jobs : Discovery Tech : Discovery Channel discovery.com, 2009 12 31, via dsc.discovery.com on 2010 11 03
 * Technos glad rags not for the geeky seattlepi.com, via www.seattlepi.com on 2010 11 03