tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12374648183036248952024-03-19T22:37:48.818-07:00Bodo's BlogBodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896021986580028451noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237464818303624895.post-36972884784455841702015-01-09T14:35:00.003-08:002015-01-09T14:35:55.179-08:00Intentionally neglecting this blog<br />
I am intentionally neglecting this blog in favor of the super exciting project I have been working on: the <a href="http://www.dev4x.com/" target="_blank">Moonshot Education Project</a>. We are bringing a radical autonomous, self-schooling platform to children that will not get a quality education and those that will never go to school. Come check us out: <br /><br />
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<a href="http://www.dev4x.com/"><span style="font-size: large;">www.dev4x.com</span></a></div>
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<br />Bodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896021986580028451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237464818303624895.post-30611899415698636572014-06-16T12:30:00.000-07:002014-09-17T07:14:27.373-07:00Help Teach a Billion Children<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Usability test and field research: </b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We are looking for learners to help us test and design an educational platform that can provide a 10X improvement in the basic education of the poorest children, impact 1 billion lives within the first 10 years and do it for 100th of the cost of current approaches. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For more information </span><a href="http://www.dev4x.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">visit the website here</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.dev4x.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghDN2mMjlJbep6pGZZUSGFs9NhZR8in48EN6DeYsg8Qh5jnC8DwswkmBDgk96Jz9UpxAwNYCaCZD6Z6xJUbiL_dhQ1FC7RbOUqeR8uZw-SlsoeFW7JMX7iRiw9z_oSIYVo7U0UKFOR_p-Z/s1600/2014-06-16+15_17_05-The+Moonshot+Education+Project+%E2%80%94+Dev4X.png" width="100%" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Background information:</b> Poor rural areas lack adequate educational resources, schools, teachers and infrastructure like the internet and even electricity. This is creating a growing problem for these communities and costs the world billions of dollars each year. To tackle these issues we are developing a mobile-device-based platform and educational aide to become the learner's personalized tutor, able to operate in their challenging environments. For more information <a href="http://www.dev4x.com/" target="_blank">visit the website here</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Help needed:</b> We are conducting field research and usability tests and require input from a broad range of active learners. This research will help us test our assumptions and develop a platform that is designed from the ground up to work the way learners need it to.</span><br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="500" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1I44kVv6gC4ZCqJM-qrelxUnq8EZiyFDbDzPd_mzI1IM/viewform?embedded=true" width="640">Loading...</iframe>
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Bodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896021986580028451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237464818303624895.post-61742304421506420352013-11-13T16:23:00.002-08:002014-09-19T11:29:55.403-07:00We need Moonshot hackers <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A shortened gif of <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/17Tj6MLADupBmw3gxNbqZXcTVpQW6__9RPNgeLmDUc5U/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000">the story board</a></td></tr>
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The Moonshot Education Project </h3>
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We are starting a new project, it's a Moonshot and we want to build a team to make it happen. As a Minimum Viable Product —jargon for quick test— we created a short storyboard of what we want to do.<br />
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It's a grand Moonshot: we want to reinvent education through the use of exponential technologies to be totally free, of the highest quality, available to all, and increasingly more effective and all encompassing. And because we are not the experts in this field we really think we can pull it off!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE8PG7SQogp_LkOfuSYiqWQW6W4WPrXkxQ6P5HTN2jEHXeIE3qq8hiJZsdxzgrmtdcUv72JVqDx0nqY_GzVHz05jGawa0hFuPEgbUPbKqQRZo9F1uY4LZj_E2HgmxEL-3WnqHV7UCvkXte/s1600/D4X+-+ED+Project+(13).png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE8PG7SQogp_LkOfuSYiqWQW6W4WPrXkxQ6P5HTN2jEHXeIE3qq8hiJZsdxzgrmtdcUv72JVqDx0nqY_GzVHz05jGawa0hFuPEgbUPbKqQRZo9F1uY4LZj_E2HgmxEL-3WnqHV7UCvkXte/s1600/D4X+-+ED+Project+(13).png" height="110" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 2em;" width="200" /></a></div>
In this brief storyboard many of the goals are touched on, starting off with defining our initial mission: Create a platform that can teach children how to read and write, without having access to teachers, parental assistance or the internet. If successful, this will become the proof of concept and foundation for our future development.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxYeTvOK4p2LUO94s64cxAp_0uwp6aJUw8EVELuf_48nI7qzt4zTkQ0Wv7JgKJb4SOE32Gu_VyZmsUf0Ud4DznabBBt6bP8m0F32QsBgRQX5guKZ-5r24Pe7hEuXQ5cLHvckbtzg0gDElb/s1600/D4X+-+ED+Project+(23).png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxYeTvOK4p2LUO94s64cxAp_0uwp6aJUw8EVELuf_48nI7qzt4zTkQ0Wv7JgKJb4SOE32Gu_VyZmsUf0Ud4DznabBBt6bP8m0F32QsBgRQX5guKZ-5r24Pe7hEuXQ5cLHvckbtzg0gDElb/s1600/D4X+-+ED+Project+(23).png" height="110" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 2em;" width="200" /></a><br />
We further explain our goals by asking, then answering, various questions and finally finishing off with an overview of what we want to do.<br />
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It is hoped that this will attract the right people to enquirer and join our core team. <br />
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View the storyboard below, or<a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/17Tj6MLADupBmw3gxNbqZXcTVpQW6__9RPNgeLmDUc5U/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000"> click here to open it up in another window</a><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="509" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/17Tj6MLADupBmw3gxNbqZXcTVpQW6__9RPNgeLmDUc5U/embed?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="853"></iframe>
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To ensure we get the right people on our team with the correct motives we intend to launch a not-for-profit for this project, with the goal of offering our software as open source for all to use.<br />
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Who are we looking for</h3>
We are looking for the core team who will co-found this company and over the next 6 months create the framework for further recruitment and development. Currently we have a team of highly entrepreneurial people with children soon to enter school —which is why we are passionately pursuing this project.<br />
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If you are interested in joining please contact me.</h3>
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<br />Bodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896021986580028451noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237464818303624895.post-54858122546000845792013-08-04T07:43:00.001-07:002013-08-04T07:48:53.788-07:00ArduSat is launched to space! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today is an exciting day, I just watched my first satellite launch to space, and by 'my' I mean the one hundredth of the ArduSat satellite that I helped fund through Kickstarter. It's currently on its way to the International Space Station.<br />
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Just a few years ago it was only large corporations and Governments that could do these things, now however its available to almost anyone, and this is only the beginning.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/UIa1c28dFlc" width="640"></iframe>Bodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896021986580028451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237464818303624895.post-78558787053645978032013-07-25T10:40:00.001-07:002014-09-17T08:31:39.502-07:00Social Learning Project<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR7e7tsRimayiVBPQNVeysOhlsDJBX3wyFnAgxt42qlg0PxCRd7N2CfOPU7bsY3_7u6hTDmwUgB4FbTh5b-4k0Lk_ae5GgbbnwedBjvD5bq58Frl2vpoE76Rfd8CtYwYmhWiKSU235a8qg/s1600/2013-07-20+17_02_14-Slides+-+Investor+Intro+Condensed+(Live+Web+Version)+-+Google+Drive.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR7e7tsRimayiVBPQNVeysOhlsDJBX3wyFnAgxt42qlg0PxCRd7N2CfOPU7bsY3_7u6hTDmwUgB4FbTh5b-4k0Lk_ae5GgbbnwedBjvD5bq58Frl2vpoE76Rfd8CtYwYmhWiKSU235a8qg/s1600/2013-07-20+17_02_14-Slides+-+Investor+Intro+Condensed+(Live+Web+Version)+-+Google+Drive.png" height="157" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" width="200" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />If you want to change the world you have to shoot for the moon. This post is about needing to make a difficult choice, that risk-it-all move... I am stepping back from SLP, a company I founded and built into a great business. </span><br />
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For the past 18 months, I have been working on an EdTech startup that has looked to simplify how technology is used within education in an effort to revolutionize its delivery. My aim was to provide educators and administrators the tools and freedom to focus on the valuable work of educating while we look to figure out which systems and technologies work best. Recognizing that education is in a seriously poor state and has not progressed much for the past 150 years, we wanted to be one of those innovating companies that would transform education into where we needed it to be.<br />
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<a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/cTsTNeIx0J5VJ8ZUhlFRPgdWvg2HqWwE0-2703R0Qx1MN6Pzmsn3l-m_g-EC0PxSpUxn6O1KQge6pWtmk87iM5P0TLHhtnaDmK_HeU5kAeylj8CO90eIUSV9Ta8" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/cTsTNeIx0J5VJ8ZUhlFRPgdWvg2HqWwE0-2703R0Qx1MN6Pzmsn3l-m_g-EC0PxSpUxn6O1KQge6pWtmk87iM5P0TLHhtnaDmK_HeU5kAeylj8CO90eIUSV9Ta8" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" width="400" /></a>We have focused on Google technology and combining it with open source educational software. This allowed our users to operate in a familiar environment, with familiar tools, while at the same time providing us with insights into how the future of education should be developed.<br />
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In a very short time, we built a successful company. We started working with some amazing clients and became a respected EdTech business within the industry. We have been awarded some exciting contracts and through our work were recommended to others who in turn recommended us to others again. Soon we could not keep up with the influx of work.<br />
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A few weeks ago, we were recognized by the Stevie Awards who awarded us the bronze award for "Best New Company of the Year 2013," and with this success and some exciting opportunities ahead, I needed to make a choice.<br />
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The company I created to focus on revolutionizing education technology had instead turned into a successful EdTech service business, and even though its projection is extremely positive, it's not headed in the direction that would allow it to affect significant change in the industry. I have some strong motives to get education sorted; I only have a few years left before my children go to school. Before that time comes, I want to have a viable alternative, and I believe I can pull it off<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20.984375px;">—</span>a point I made in a previous post: <a href="http://bodohoenen.blogspot.com/2013/07/3-predictions-for-next-10-years.html">3 Predictions For the Next 10 Years Affecting Education, Language and Legal Services</a>.<br />
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And so with that in mind, I am stepping back from SLP, and will leave it in the capable hands of the team and our partners to continue its work.<br />
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The future of SLP</h3>
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With this new focus on service and support, a strong team, highly experienced partners and amazing clients, SLP has an exciting future ahead. In addition, over the coming months some exciting updates and developments are being released by Moodle/Totara that will significantly extend the features available to our clients and benefit the scalability and usability of the existing platform.</div>
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A short history of the Social Learning Project</h3>
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It all began 18 months ago. With a team of 4 interns, the company started and within a few weeks we had set up everything that was needed for the business. After another month we launched our first product, and in the true spirit of <a href="http://theleanstartup.com/">lean startup</a>, much of it was still in prototype. Our first client came on board shortly after and so the fun began.</div>
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By our sixth month we hired our first employee, Sarah, from our original group of interns, and we grew our intern team to 8. At this point, we won an amazing contract with a world-leading technology company out in Mountain View, beating some tough competition. Shortly after, and once more in the spirit of lean startup, we pivoted our business and turned to focus our efforts on enterprise clients. As a testament to our team's skill, we were able to shift all our technology, marketing, and systems to support our new direction in only a couple of weeks. Shortly after our pivot, we were awarded two more amazing contracts, which then grew significantly as we started rolling them out.</div>
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SLP is now in a really good position, with strong growth projections and partners in place to support its growth.</div>
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A thank you to the team, the investors and our clients</h3>
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Thank you to our clients who have been amazing to work with. Thank you to the team who are bringing it all together. Thank you to the interns that have done it all, from the coffee to the calls, the spreadsheets and the awkward hugs. Thank you to the partners and the advisers for your time and resources, to the long nights and weekend sessions and the sometimes random questions. Thank you to the investors for the opportunities and support, for your time and resources.<br />
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And lastly, thank you to my Wife and Kids, you are my everything.</div>
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What's next for me</h3>
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Over the coming months I'll be working with a variety of companies and teams. I'll be joining a really cool school as their CTO, working with the guys over at Google+ and Course Builder, and building another startup I've founded in preparation to revolutionize education: <a href="http://www.dev4x.com/" target="_blank">The Moonshot Education Project.</a></div>
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Bodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896021986580028451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237464818303624895.post-64031254882105344352013-07-21T10:19:00.002-07:002013-07-22T08:51:50.337-07:003 predictions for the next 10 years affecting Education, Language and Legal services.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW1YvJIRUo0mxcPsY5SATCsmQCEZOi7TJx_yjgVy3LbhA39Ye7YmSBICS3UOvByT1dX8AM6Dl8lQ1CyyEqQNV5gAEyPxhIXZli9vRFokich93ViUakVJ9wzKpmyqjD_KrcQCfo_xdLZV2O/s1600/2013-07-20+17_18_54-Shyam+Sankar_+The+rise+of+human-computer+cooperation+-+YouTube.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW1YvJIRUo0mxcPsY5SATCsmQCEZOi7TJx_yjgVy3LbhA39Ye7YmSBICS3UOvByT1dX8AM6Dl8lQ1CyyEqQNV5gAEyPxhIXZli9vRFokich93ViUakVJ9wzKpmyqjD_KrcQCfo_xdLZV2O/s1600/2013-07-20+17_18_54-Shyam+Sankar_+The+rise+of+human-computer+cooperation+-+YouTube.png" height="221" style="margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image credit: <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/shyam_sankar_the_rise_of_human_computer_cooperation.html">Shyam Sankar: TED Talk</a></td></tr>
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I have a topic I want to discuss about the advancement in technology and what I believe we can expect in the coming decade. To make it interesting and to get some differing opinions, I'm going to write it down in the form of 3 predictions relating to 3 differing industries I have worked in, namely Education Technology, Legal and Language services.<br />
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Before I start with the predictions, let me lay some groundwork:<br />
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<h3>
Linear Conditioning</h3>
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Over thousands of years we have been conditioned to think linearly, and historically this has been for good reason. For example, when we were hunting animals we could anticipate where they would be based on where they were going. We were able to use linear thinking to navigate the seas knowing that if we were to go in a particular direction at a particular speed, we would get to our destination at a given time. Today we apply this thinking to almost everything we do, it's a step-by-step approach that is automatic and almost natural.<br />
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But what would happen if some things change on an exponential curve? We are just not programmed to think that way right? If you imagine a scenario where you could walk in exponential steps, the 30 steps you previously needed to make it to the fridge would now be the equivalent of a billion steps, and would have taken you around the world a few times. The closest thing to thinking exponentially that we are somewhat accustomed to is compound interest, but even this—looking at the massive rise in debt—is a good example of how poorly we understand and can plan for exponential changes. <br />
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Technology has progressed humanity more so in the last 200 years than in all of history combined. And it's what's going to cause the progress made in the next 10 years to again overshadow everything that came before it. Dr. <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/102564912330648182355" target="_blank">Peter H. Diamandis</a>, the founder of the Singularity University, makes this point perfectly in this video from the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41ZHmPle7Ek" target="_blank">Zeitgeist Americas 2012</a> conference where he talks about the human minds conditioning to the 'local and linear' and then goes on, to discuss the current advancement of technologies like medicine, genetics, renewable energy and many others.<br />
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<h3>
Exponential Technology</h3>
Most of those reading this blog are well aware of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore's_law">Moore's law</a><i>.</i> We have witnessed over the last 50 years that it has held true. <span style="background-color: white;">Computing power has doubled approximately every 18 months and halved in cost at the same rate even though some serious obstacles have been in its path like wars, recessions and depressions. T</span><span style="background-color: white;">here are also some limitations to how far silicon can go to propel Moore's law on this trajectory. However, human ingenuity and creativity has and will continue to prevail to keep us moving forward. T</span>he recent news of <a href="http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/06/d-wave-quantum-computer-usc/">Google's quantum computer</a> and the advancement in organic and molecular computation are a few technologies that can pick up when the advancement of silicon-based chips starts tapering off in about 15 years.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image credit: <a href="http://www.time.com/time/interactive/0,31813,2048601,00.html">Time.com</a></td></tr>
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To put this progression in context, an average smart phone today has far more computing power than all of NASA had with their supercomputers when launching people to the moon. Also the cost of that computing power has diminished from being in the tens to hundreds of millions to being just a few hundred dollars.<br />
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To put it in another way, Dr. Peter H. Diamandis argued: “In 2010, an average computer that all of us have at home … was calculating at 10 to the 11th cycles per second, a 100 billion calculations per second,” he said. “In 2023, just a decade from now, the average thousand-dollar computer … can now calculate 10 to the 16th cycles per second, which is just a number unless you talk to a neurophysiologist who will tell you that’s the rate that the brain does pattern recognition. That’s the rate at which your visual and auditory cortex understands what you hear and what you see.”<br />
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What few realize is that many other technologies are now following that same exponential progression. In fact some technologies like medicine and genetics are progressing at up to 4x the speed of Moore's law. What's common among them is their use of cloud computation, big data, machine learning and pure human genius and creativity that combine to invent the future.</div>
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<h2>
Prediction 1: Translation and Interpreting Technology</h2>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image credit: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GdSC1Z1Kzs">Google</a></td></tr>
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In 5 years time, machine translation working in conjunction with artificial intelligence (AI) trained in natural language, will be up to 98% accurate, translating and interpreting better than most linguists are able to today. Through the use of <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/using-large-scale-brain-simulations-for.html">deep learning techniques</a> currently being developed by Google, IBM and others, masses of content is being learnt by these AI to understand natural language and the nuances that accompany it. A great example of how well AI is now able to understand natural language is the recent Jeopardy tournament where the grand champion Ken Jennings, who had won this general knowledge game show 74 times in a row, was beat in 2011 by a super computer named Watson. <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/104168397847615760896" target="_blank">Ray Kurzweil</a> (author, inventor, futurist, and described as a “restless genius” by The Wall Street Journal) is leading Google's work on this, and recently had this to say during an <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YABUffpQY9w">interview</a> with <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/113643748516313647563" target="_blank">Singularity Hub</a>: “The project we plan to do is focused on natural language understanding,” said Kurzweil. “We want to give computers the ability to understand the language that they're reading.”<br />
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This advancement in computation, plugged into the vast language data sets, will exponentially increase the quality of machine translation and interpreting that has until now only achieved about 75% accuracy. <br />
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In 10 years time, even though the need for these services will increase exponentially as the next 5 billion people become connected to the internet, it will only be in exceptional circumstances that humans will be used to facilitate it. For these exceptional circumstances the best linguists in the industry will use this technology to augment their own skill, for example, by having it suggest terms, pronunciation, alternative vocabularies and deep insight into the topic being translated/interpreted, all in real time and with an almost frictionless user experience. These linguists will be highly sought after, especially those who create a reputable online presence.<br />
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In addition, at this stage, the exponential growth of mobile computing will provide anyone with at least an entry-level smart phone or internet-accessible device—which will be about 5 billion of us—the ability to have our conversations interpreted or text translated in real time, for free. <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/104233435224873922474" target="_blank">Eric Schmidt</a>, the executive chairman of Google, makes these points really well in his talk at the <a href="http://youtu.be/4DKLSO8wYzk?t=9m45s">Mobile World Congress 2012</a> where he discusses the progression of mobile computing, the addition of the next 5 billion people on the web, and the expansion of low-cost networking around the world. What is particularly interesting is the Q&A session at the end, where he addresses the effects of this technology, which I discuss at the end of this post.<br />
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“We’re at the beginning of a 10-year period where we’re going to transition from computers that can’t understand language to a point where computers can understand quite a bit about language.” said <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/101140083559247908056" target="_blank">Tom Mitchell</a>, chairman of the machine learning department at Carnegie Mellon University in a recent <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/05/science/05legal.html?_r=3&">article</a> in The New York Times. And I want to add to that saying that this will be an overall positive outcome as cultures and peoples from all nations will soon be able to better communicate, they will have the ability to transcend the language, political and geographic borders and become highly connected, informed and better understood.<br />
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<b>Side notes:<br /> </b>There are some parameters to the prediction: In the first 5 years the technology will be limited to operating between common language pairs, and for conversational everyday translation and interpreting as opposed to specialist work on legal, medical or highly creative content. In the latter part of this 10-year prediction the deep learning of the nuances of natural language will reach a stage where even the most complex of legal and creative content can be understood. </blockquote>
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<h2>
Prediction 2: Legal Services</h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Q1rUlfZR3rmeLKNYOu4klLeNj7ybvssEOYSF4KRD51WB_CCWBwgpCATzr_jR8KSRL9NYrJROFRWscGefbrRQPrm2si5ov2dGCqA_OiJdtuTPpUzQzlBhurRJLNW3QtloeBaudhbF-VsJ/s1600/Legal.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Q1rUlfZR3rmeLKNYOu4klLeNj7ybvssEOYSF4KRD51WB_CCWBwgpCATzr_jR8KSRL9NYrJROFRWscGefbrRQPrm2si5ov2dGCqA_OiJdtuTPpUzQzlBhurRJLNW3QtloeBaudhbF-VsJ/s1600/Legal.png" height="208" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image Credit: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GdSC1Z1Kzs">Google</a></td></tr>
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Within the next 5 years a trained operator<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 20.98958396911621px;">—</span>not necessarily one with a legal background<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 20.98958396911621px;">—</span>will be able to prepare cases, legal documents, contracts and offer certain advice equivalent to that of the most skilled lawyers today. The process of researching cases, precedents, laws and legal documents which currently takes researchers days, weeks and sometimes months to do will be able to be done in seconds for a fraction of the cost. In fact much of this technology is already here today and waiting for machine and deep learning to catch up and process the data. A good example of what is to come can be found by looking at companies like <a href="http://www.blackstonediscovery.com/">BlackStone Discovery</a> of Palo Alto, Calif., who are starting to make a significant impact on this industry. In a recent <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/05/science/05legal.html?_r=3&">article</a>, the New York Times writes about how <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/105856813917366165592" target="_blank">BlackStone Discovery</a> used machine learning to help analyze 1.5 million documents in a fraction of the time for a fraction of the cost. These same techniques will be used throughout the legal services over the coming years.<br />
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5 years later, you won't need an operator to help you. Anyone with a device connected to the internet will be available to utilize these services, for free. At this stage the service will also be interoperable between almost any language and legal jurisdiction<span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">, </span></span>allowing for example a foreign company to effortlessly create legal strategies in new markets without the need to employ foreign attorneys, translators or auxiliary services.<br />
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We will have an AI legal assistant that works with our insurance providers that will be able to analyze almost anything we come in contact with for its potential risks and legal impact. Imagine browsing the internet and landing on a new website; your legal AI will analyze the terms and conditions and flag up any items you should be aware of before you even log in or leave the landing page. Your AI will also keep tabs on all your online services making sure that the constant changes to their terms and features are in line with your preferred privacy and risk profile. Your AI could for example immediately lock down your privacy settings if Facebook or others change their features. As you can imagine this will have a significant impact on consumer internet services, forcing them to consider their changes even more carefully, as they potentially run the risk of losing vast portions of their users within moments of making such changes.<br />
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Imagine also finding yourself in trouble while traveling abroad and receiving legal paperwork in a foreign language. You would be able to take photos of those documents and have them analyzed in real time. Your AI could then suggest and prepare a legal strategy, contact the embassy and perform other tasks appropriate for the situation.<br />
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Much of the legal profession will be squeezed out of work by this technology. However, current litigation lawyers, even the mediocre ones, will for the most part not be affected. In fact the increased availability of quality research and information will significantly enhance their ability.<br />
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This breakthrough will come as a result of two forces: The first will be the force of the exponential innovation that is occurring in machine and deep learning, and the computing of the vast data sets of legal documents, cases and precedents. The second force—which will probably only kick in at the end of this 10-year prediction—will be due to the legal institutions and governments' gross inability to keep up with technology and the rapid change of the legal landscape. It will require drastic measures to be taken by new institutions that will leverage this technology to fill in these gaps. <br />
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Despite this disruption, the change and advancement in this field will be of great benefit as it will allow anyone to gain access to world-class legal counsel in any language and for any jurisdiction. The great disparity between the 'justice' afforded to those with the most expensive lawyers and those accepting legal aid can be diminished and in time it could even be eradicated.<br />
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Side notes:<br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Getting the legal services, and in particular the governments to adopt new technologies, processes and establish laws that govern the end product and not the process is critical for the continuation of a stable society, and something that I am interested in taking part in, so if you are a big data start up (<a href="https://plus.google.com/105856813917366165592">+BlackStone Discovery</a> and others) in this field, let's chat. </span></blockquote>
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<h2>
Prediction 3: Educational Technology</h2>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image Credit: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GdSC1Z1Kzs">Google</a></td></tr>
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Within the next 10 years public and higher education as we know it will be transformed by new EdTech companies that are currently developing platforms for this industry. Regulation, politics and the slow movement of these bureaucratic behemoths will force these new companies to stop trying to help them and instead disrupt and undermine them as they will be able to provide a world-class education for a fraction of the cost and with significantly better results.<br />
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<b>Side note: </b>There are notable exceptions to be made here like the <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/coach-res/case-studies/lasd/v/los-altos">Los Altos</a> school district that is working with <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/">Khan Academy</a>, <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/104984516469461796485" target="_blank">+Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)</a> and <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/107511988236393178296" target="_blank">+Harvard University</a> with their <a href="https://www.edx.org/">edX</a> project, which is offering their teachings for free on the internet and investing a huge amount in furthering education, <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/116794495783422850685" target="_blank">+Arizona State University</a> and the work Michael Crow is doing in redefining knowledge enterprises, and many others.</blockquote>
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Current public education institutions—the slowest establishments to take action—will be the hardest hit by this disruption, as a free world-class education will be available to anyone with a web browser. The exponential uptake of internet-capable devices and the rapid decrease in cost and increase in the availability of wireless connectivity—through the likes of <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/103068231639729844333" target="_blank">+Project Loon</a> with their <a href="http://www.google.com/loon/">balloon-powered internet service</a>, amongst others—will encourage communities to create ad hoc classrooms that challenge the status quo. Many of these ad hoc communities will, through a change in approach and the usage of new platforms, attain significantly better educational results for a fraction of the cost. This will be due to the data-driven approach these EdTech companies are using to redefine what education is meant for, how it's delivered and what provides the greatest results. Instead of normalizing the education experience to drive efficiency—as has been done for the last 150 years—these companies will provide the technology that will allow every learner to have a personalized education that suits their skills, ability and learning style. It will at the same time provide the teachers an unprecedented array of tools and data to understand where each learner is and what each learner needs, allowing the efficiency of this new approach to exceed that of the traditional models.<br />
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Most teachers will instead of providing lectures, become coaches that work with the learners on projects and problem-solving activities for the majority of their day, whilst the best teachers produce lessons and content for all to share and utilize. An amazing example of how this will work is being developed by <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/103970106103092409324" target="_blank">+Salman Khan</a> who, backed by the likes of Google and Bill Gates created the <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/109050230672993035916" target="_blank">+Khan Academy</a>. Salman Khan, who in his 'past life' was a hedge fund manager, has an amazing story of how he entered into the educational field and is now the most watched and, as Eric Schmidt would put it, "the most influential educator on the planet". This is validation that the experts, those that often know exactly what will Not Work, may also not be the best suited to make these advancements.<br />
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The work of people like <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/108640673873589796416" target="_blank">+Peter Norvig</a> (Director of Research at Google), the folks at <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/111950594039269281469" target="_blank">+Coursera</a>, edX, <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/118288923725945944373" target="_blank">+Google Online Courses</a>, <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/105747040663578953977" target="_blank">+Udemy</a>, <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/116286004036789369492" target="_blank">+Udacity</a> to name a few, are pioneering what it means to data mine education, looking to figure out what works and what does not on a massive scale. With this research, the advancement of technology, internet accessibility, mobile computing and translation, a hugely positive future will be available for all.<br />
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<b>Side notes: </b>I am heavily involved and passionate about this industry, personally founding two EdTech companies and working with many more that are looking to solve these issues. As I see it, with my two children, one of which is nearly 3, I only have a few years left to get education sorted out, and therefore I am focusing not on trying to help current institutions sort out their mess but instead on what will benefit my kids now. And I am looking for like minded individuals and companies to work with on this. </blockquote>
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<h3>
We are <u>not</u> moving into a world of Humans vs AI (Artificial Intelligence)<br />We are moving into a world of Humans + IA (Intelligence Augmentation)</h3>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image credit: <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/shyam_sankar_the_rise_of_human_computer_cooperation.html">Shyam Sankar: TED Talk</a></td></tr>
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A theme that I hope you picked up on throughout this post is that there are huge positives to these changes and the progress we are stepping into. And unlike Hollywood with their lack of imagination, painting a picture of man vs machine, we are instead moving into a world were we work with technology to help us augment our abilities and liberate us from drudgery, poverty and misery—as <a href="https://plus.google.com/113901041381644461053">+Andrew McAfee</a> put it in his excellent TED talk: <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/andrew_mcafee_are_droids_taking_our_jobs.html">Are Droids Taking Our Jobs</a>.<br />
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I am supremely optimistic that over the coming decade and into the future humanity will be more empowered, more engaged, more tolerant and informed. We will be more capable of solving the problems of our world, and we will be more human for it.<br />
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<b>Reference material: Here are some of the people and talks referred to this post:</b><br />
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<a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/112223438493142853605" target="_blank">+Shyam Sankar</a><br />
with his TED talk on<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltelQ3iKybU">The rise of human-computer <br />cooperation</a></td>
<td><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/ltelQ3iKybU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></td>
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<td><a href="https://plus.google.com/113901041381644461053">+Andrew McAfee</a><br />
and his TED talk on<br />
<a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/andrew_mcafee_are_droids_taking_our_jobs.html">Are droids taking our jobs?</a></td>
<td><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/WMF-Z74C1QE?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></td>
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<a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/102564912330648182355" target="_blank">+Peter H. Diamandis</a><br />
with this video from<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41ZHmPle7Ek" target="_blank">Zeitgeist Americas 2012</a></td>
<td><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/41ZHmPle7Ek?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></td>
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<td>Michael Crow<br />
with his talk:<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iYXPPX24WY">Solve for X: Higher education</a></td>
<td><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/-iYXPPX24WY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></td>
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<td><a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/104233435224873922474" target="_blank">+Eric Schmidt</a><br />
with his talk at the<br />
<a href="http://youtu.be/4DKLSO8wYzk?t=9m45s">Mobile World Congress 2012</a></td>
<td><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/4DKLSO8wYzk?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></td>
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</div>
Bodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896021986580028451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237464818303624895.post-18028044575030554592013-07-20T17:53:00.004-07:002013-07-22T08:52:07.316-07:00I am a Moon Shot Thinker, I am a dreamer <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We all have dreams and passions in life<br />We all want to make a difference </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">What is your X?</span></div>
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Bodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896021986580028451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237464818303624895.post-54715842904541893322013-06-01T23:03:00.000-07:002013-11-19T20:33:39.219-08:00Cluster headaches - I think I figured it out<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHdk256WqENXNg4Ix4p5MJfZBmAY6x-aqOo_s0YBP5D-YSgYCu8Gi1-1XCMKSAqdHAVKQWReNZ1mF1r1n2top_Au3vBbIVveBaMgymMMOX8FoePZXD1DkMX_dQ8y_8DnaYOv829o5VonBM/s1600/2013-10-25+22_48_22-headache+meme+-+Google+Search.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 2em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHdk256WqENXNg4Ix4p5MJfZBmAY6x-aqOo_s0YBP5D-YSgYCu8Gi1-1XCMKSAqdHAVKQWReNZ1mF1r1n2top_Au3vBbIVveBaMgymMMOX8FoePZXD1DkMX_dQ8y_8DnaYOv829o5VonBM/s1600/2013-10-25+22_48_22-headache+meme+-+Google+Search.png" height="240" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 2em;" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This post is only intended for those people who, like me suffer from cluster headaches. </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For about 15 years I have had <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluster_headache#Pain">cluster headaches</a>, however it took many years before I realised what they were. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They started when I was around 18, when for nearly three months I had intense searing headaches each of about two hours in length every few hours. Following that, subsequent clusters of these headaches —about one to two months in duration— occurred regularly every 3 to 6 months. At that time and for the next few years it was continually misdiagnosed as either an infection or as a normal migraine. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This misdiagnosis story is quite common, and for me it was particularly frustrating as during this time and for most of my life since I have been traveling, moving from country to country not staying very long in one spot. This meant that at each doctor visit I had to try explain the history and recall the previous occurrences. To help this process I started tracking this data, I tracked things like the date and time they occurred, where I was and what I was doing shortly before. I tracked what I took to try treat it, and what the doctors said. Up until then I had no idea what it was, and neither did the doctors I visited. Nothing they prescribed could even dull the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluster_headache#Pain">pain</a> or stop the cluster from taking its course.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was traveling Europe when I first heard about cluster headaches. I noticed how someone clenched the side of their head while traveling home on a train and mentioning to their partner that another "cluster" had just started, I noticed that look of dread, frustration, anger and pain. I immediately knew what that was, I grabbed my phone and Googled 'cluster headache' and for the next few days I read all there was to read about it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I took particular interest in the information about treatment and causes, but with great disappointment found nothing concrete. I found some information about how certain foods and substances like nicotine and alcohol triggered the headaches to occur. I also read how these headaches generally lasted until well into someones 50's and how nothing except for the most intense medication could dull the pain. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being a data analyst, I decided to recorded anything I could in the hope that I could mine the data to figure out what the cause was, what my triggers were, and what if anything helped.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I tested.</span></h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbWHQdty1-UaciLTC7EEitQGkRpwnugSKiKaC20BcIV4En9qAU3WMvILqLTDlXdWI1gv-eTMQc4CXNA0E1lKVkWg_8S3wIn4X6Xc7Yye8AHXUZTqdy755MXonF3TBr6aT3S9ZMSuJEmAGp/s1600/2013-10-25+19_51_24-Cluster+headaches.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 2em; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbWHQdty1-UaciLTC7EEitQGkRpwnugSKiKaC20BcIV4En9qAU3WMvILqLTDlXdWI1gv-eTMQc4CXNA0E1lKVkWg_8S3wIn4X6Xc7Yye8AHXUZTqdy755MXonF3TBr6aT3S9ZMSuJEmAGp/s1600/2013-10-25+19_51_24-Cluster+headaches.png" height="185" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 2em;" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An example of one of my cluster headache logs<br /> </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the first few years I tried eliminating many of the usual triggers that people had mentioned like cheese, crisps, sodas, chocolate, coffee, nicotine and alcohol. I tested many more out to see what triggered my headaches and I ended up with a rather large list. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I went further and tracked times, dates, locations, seasons, pollen, pollution and weather conditions, there was some correlation to these and the changes in seasons but nothing concrete. Also the times of my headaches seemed to track a pattern similar to my eating schedule but again nothing statistically significant. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I then read how oxygen therapy helped and how extreme exercise at the start of a headache also helped. Unfortunately because of my constant travels I could never get a Doctor to prescribe oxygen to me so I tested out the exercise option and found it only occasionally worked. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For 15 years I have done these tests, I tracked the data, tried different medication, diets and treatments, and I slowly started getting some results. I started limiting the tigers from my diet, and cut them totally out the moment I felt a cluster starting. This helped decrease the number of headaches within a cluster and also increased the length of the remission periods between them. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My usual process at the start of a cluster was to stock up with painkillers —even though I knew they would not work— and setup an area in the lounge that I could go to at night so not to disturb my wife and kids when the headaches came on. I had formed a manageable routine but nothing could dull those moments of absolute agony. It was during my second last cluster that I, through absolute frustration, tried everything all at once: I stopped all intake of anything that even came close to something that could be a trigger and I included a new exercise approach with heavy breathing I wanted to test out, and it worked. However, it was also the scheduled end of that cluster, so I could not confirm if what I did successfully aborted the headaches or if it was just the natural end of the whole cluster. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The breakthrough</span></h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIE8jWzidhVN6Vo7iSJtu5z0VUDcst3Hs70UlXNRO7HUkO97AQzMFYyBrJynE5q8IklXXNlJk4UK19cf_uo0TyptcZM7EXQvECM0E0wU7zfV1AMH2SdnBAdSFE2fuOrn0TFur_USleQtR4/s1600/2013-10-25+23_27_45-Cluster+headaches.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 2em; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIE8jWzidhVN6Vo7iSJtu5z0VUDcst3Hs70UlXNRO7HUkO97AQzMFYyBrJynE5q8IklXXNlJk4UK19cf_uo0TyptcZM7EXQvECM0E0wU7zfV1AMH2SdnBAdSFE2fuOrn0TFur_USleQtR4/s1600/2013-10-25+23_27_45-Cluster+headaches.png" height="110" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 2em;" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
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Most recent cluster headache log</div>
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showing successful aborts</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The breakthrough came during my last cluster that just ended. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">A few days before the cluster started, I felt the back of my neck and my right temple start to clench and feel heavy. I immediately cut all triggers from my diet and prepared. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">As with all my experiments I let the first of the headaches take it's course so that I could use that as a baseline (I did take pain killers but none of them ever helped so I do not count these as affecting my baseline test). It lasted for 3 hours and was as usual something I would never want to experience again. The next one happened later that day, and this time I ran my exercise test, and it worked, within 15 minutes the headache was aborted, and I felt great! A few hours later, the next one started. however I was in an early meeting and I could not do my exercise experiment so I had to </span><span style="color: #222222;">battle</span><span style="color: #222222;"> through the headache</span><span style="color: #222222;">. Luckily for all my other headaches in this cluster I was able to start my experiment within 10 to 20 minutes of it's start and was able to abort every single one. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What worked:</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><b>Triggers: </b></span><span style="color: #222222;">I have limited my intake of triggers, some permanently, some by moderation but all of them during a cluster. This decreased my cluster occurrences from happening every 3 months to only happening every 9 to 12 months and with a 35% decrease in the number of headaches within a cluster.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the real breakthrough came by combining the above with the exercise I did. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: #222222;"><b>Exercise + Oxygen</b></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><b>:</b> In previous experiments e</span><span style="color: #222222;">xercise on it's own only worked occasionally and only if</span><span style="color: #222222;"> no triggers were consumed. Additionally, oxygen on its own previously helped dull a headache but I did not have any at hand. So my experiment was to naturally get additional oxygen by incorporate heavy breathing while exercising. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The result was almost instantaneous. I start exercising as quick as I can after the start of a headache, I do any exercises that rapidly increases my heart rate —cardiovascular exercise works best. At this stage I make sure I breath heavily through my mouth to get as much oxygen into my system as possible. I maintain this pace for about 10 to 20 minutes until the headache stops. </span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After many years of trial and error t</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">his combination of cutting out triggers from my diet, exercise</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and increasing oxygen intake has been the key for me. I hope that this is not only something that works for me but may help someone else too.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Some notes: </b>The timing was quite consistent; If I waited 20 minutes before starting to exercise I would need to exercise for about 20 minutes before it stopped and If I started within 10 minutes I was able to abort it within 10 minutes. If I waited for longer than 35 minutes when it reached its peek I could not abort it no matter how long I exercised. If I breathed through my nose instead of my mouth I had to exercise for about 30% longer and If I ensured I breathed as heavily as I could through my mouth I could reduce the time I needed to exercise.<br /><br />It is only through the combination of all three of these —cutting out triggers from my diet, exercise and increasing oxygen intake— that I was able to abort 100% of my headaches. through previous attempts If I tried one and not the other, it did not work, and that is why it took so long to find what works. Also if you go cold turkey and cut out all triggers expect it to take a week before it works.<br /><br /><b>Permanently cut triggers:</b></span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Cigarettes and any nicotine products</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Cheap alcohol like: most beers, tequila, vodka and those spirits containing high sugars. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Various processed foods and cheeses</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Moderated triggers (OK to have in moderation while not in a cluster):</b></span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">All other Alcohol —Excessive drinking can trigger not only a headache but a whole cluster.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Spicy foods, especially those containing chilly and curry. Wasabi has no effect</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Salty foods and snacks, popcorn and crisps</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Nuts and chocolate, especially dark chocolate.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Soda drinks like Coke.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Energy drinks, coffee and tea.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Processed and fast food </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>When in a cluster:</b></span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I cut all of the above for the duration of the cluster. If I consume any of the triggers It makes it almost impossible to abort the headache through exercise.</span></li>
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Bodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896021986580028451noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237464818303624895.post-16548719148652321942013-05-29T09:20:00.000-07:002013-07-23T07:26:42.189-07:00The Ultimate Education Technology<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nrnrDtoZeYfbLpVd8Fcb9geG4zjvTMPqhsWJB7IXdzNYDcOFLjQK1d4gR2cHQNfz6OVYEWAStOn9lFcjQec11QxxjGQ8oIrtrCzJtlHWl5WKnVJf2B7x-o8q8XhhuRUOtNuXj1rY67uD/s1600/Educational+Post.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 2em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nrnrDtoZeYfbLpVd8Fcb9geG4zjvTMPqhsWJB7IXdzNYDcOFLjQK1d4gR2cHQNfz6OVYEWAStOn9lFcjQec11QxxjGQ8oIrtrCzJtlHWl5WKnVJf2B7x-o8q8XhhuRUOtNuXj1rY67uD/s1600/Educational+Post.png" height="247" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 2em;" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Imagine planning your next class or curriculum with some new technology your school or university has just gotten hold of? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now imagine that technology is not a bunch of new tablets, gamification of content or interactive text books, but your very own space telescope! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Power of Exponential Technology</span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">With technological advancements coming out of exponential technologies, and investors willing to bear the risk, small teams are now able to do what only governments and large corporations could once do. Just like the personal computer age before it, this profound advancement in cost vs performance is allowing you to get in right from the start, and just like the computer age shaped the last 30 years and provided unimaginable advancements, so to will the opening up of space. And this is just the beginning!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">What could you do with a Space Telescope?</span></h3>
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<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Imagine giving your students and teachers access to the most innovative space observation technology ever built</span> – This technology would have cost US$100M+ to build and launch less than a decade ago; and today, it will be controlled by students around the world to explore the cosmos.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Imagine discovering your own planets and asteroids and making a significant contribution to space science and exploration</span> – Delivers a resource to thousands of institutions and researchers in need of greater access to space to further their work and rate of scientific discovery.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Imagine what you could do with the opportunity to help invent our future</span> – Anyone with an interest in space can play a role in opening up the Solar System for human activity.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is the new future that Planetary Resources are announcing today, and below I want to give you early access to take part in this project</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjETSWjTUDfaWqermxhQz1QCjLxZFs6RePwmANOmhwk6fW_Xo3bjYKEB0Pv8dP-xqTJuqwKffs3UXhQxuQ2j-DV9JdB7Gd_dBtYbjkCIOGLkNnFaDBsv8LGbtuf4-FkhH3TXajmmMB_1UQ-/s1600/977890_10151721686781754_1036237409_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Bodo Hoenen" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjETSWjTUDfaWqermxhQz1QCjLxZFs6RePwmANOmhwk6fW_Xo3bjYKEB0Pv8dP-xqTJuqwKffs3UXhQxuQ2j-DV9JdB7Gd_dBtYbjkCIOGLkNnFaDBsv8LGbtuf4-FkhH3TXajmmMB_1UQ-/s1600/977890_10151721686781754_1036237409_o.jpg" height="223" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 2em;" title="Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Bodo Hoenen" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Bodo Hoenen</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Working</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"> with one of my heroes</span></h3>
One of the great benefits of working on this project is working with one of my heroes and visionary thinkers in the future of technology and humanity, <a href="https://plus.google.com/102564912330648182355">+Peter H. Diamandis</a> , Founder of the <a href="https://plus.google.com/110054947143553293683">+XPRIZE</a> , <a href="https://plus.google.com/106552096217616264439">+Singularity University</a> and co Founder of <a href="https://plus.google.com/104299149917517298353">+Planetary Resources</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">About Planetary Resources:</span></h3>
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Planetary Resources, Inc. was founded in 2009 by Eric Anderson and Dr. Peter H. Diamandis. Their vision is to establish a new paradigm for resource utilization that will bring the Solar System within humanity's economic sphere of influence. The company will conduct low-cost robotic space exploration beginning with the Arkyd Series of space missions that will identify the most commercially viable near-Earth asteroids. These initial missions will assist the company in enabling the retrieval of raw materials from these select asteroids, including water, precious metals and more.<br />
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Planetary Resources is financed by industry-launching visionaries, three of whom include Google's CEO Larry Page & Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt; and Ross Perot, Jr., Chairman of Hillwood and The Perot Group; who are committed to expanding the world's resource base so humanity can continue to grow and prosper for centuries to come. Some of the company's partners and advisors include the Bechtel Corporation; film maker and explorer James Cameron; former Chief of Staff, United States Air Force General T. Michael Moseley (Ret.); and Sara Seager, Ph.D., Professor of Planetary Science and Physics at MIT. <br />
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Planetary Resources’ engineers who have designed, built and operated spacecraft throughout the Solar System, including all of the recent U.S. Mars landers and rovers, have been developing the most advanced space technology ever and will make it publicly accessible. Now, together with the support from people, including Virgin’s Sir Richard Branson, Bill Nye the Science Guy, futurist Jason Silva, and MIT astrophysicist Dr. Sara Seager you don't need to imagine much longer.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Want to get in?</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Follow this link to the </span><a href="http://lky.me/1GPW" target="_blank">Kick starter</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> page and join the project. </span><a href="http://lky.me/1GPW">http://lky.me/1GPW</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">For more information, please visit <a href="http://www.planetaryresources.com/" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s; color: #009eb8; display: inline; outline: none; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s;">www.planetaryresources.com</a>.</span></div>
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Bodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896021986580028451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237464818303624895.post-38706488189082201212013-05-24T19:25:00.002-07:002013-05-28T08:57:53.805-07:00Help Us Invent The Future<div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; text-align: start;">Planetary Resources will be hosting a major media event next week (May 29th 2013) to announce an amazing project to bring Space exploration and scientific research into the hands of everyday people. <br /><br />I have been sworn to secrecy, </span><span style="font-weight: normal; text-align: start;">but I'll tell you this, </span><span style="font-weight: normal; text-align: start;">Its going to be a game changer for the human race !</span><br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal; text-align: start;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Here is a quick video intro into what </span><a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/104299149917517298353" style="font-weight: normal;" target="_blank">+Planetary Resources</a><span style="font-weight: normal;"> is doing, and below is the press release about the media event next week.</span></span></div>
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Planetary Resources Opening the Space Frontier to All</h2>
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<b>WHAT:</b><b> </b></div>
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Planetary Resources’ team of engineers who have designed, built and operated spacecraft throughout the Solar System, including all of the recent U.S. Mars landers and rovers, are now developing the most advanced space technology ever and will make it publicly accessible.</div>
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A diverse group of supporters, including Virgin’s Sir Richard Branson, actor Seth Green, Star Trek’s Brent Spiner (Data) and Rob Picardo (The Doctor), Bill Nye the Science Guy, futurist Jason Silva, and MIT astrophysicist Dr. Sara Seager, have joined forces with Planetary Resources to make access to space widely available for exploration and research.</div>
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On May 29 at 10:00 a.m. PDT in Seattle, and also streaming live, please join Planetary Resources’ Peter Diamandis, Eric Anderson and Chris Lewicki, as they, along with vlogger Hank Green, announce an unprecedented project that will change the way humanity explores the cosmos.</div>
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<b>Program Highlights:</b></div>
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<li><b>Gives students, teachers and the public access to the most innovative space observation technology ever built</b> – This technology would have cost US$100M+ to build and launch less than a decade ago; and today, it will be controlled by students around the world to explore the cosmos.</li>
<li><b>Offers the opportunity for the public to directly participate in cutting-edge citizen science and discovery</b> – Delivers a resource to thousands of institutions and researchers in need of greater access to space to further their work and rate of scientific discovery.</li>
<li><b>Invites the public to participate in Planetary Resources’ asteroid mining mission</b> – Anyone with an interest in space can play a role in opening up the Solar System for human activity.</li>
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<b>WHEN:</b></div>
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<li>Wed., May 29, 2013</li>
<li>10:00 a.m. PDT</li>
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<b>WHO:</b></div>
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<li>Peter H. Diamandis, M.D., Co-Founder & Co-Chairman, Planetary Resources, Inc.</li>
<li>Eric Anderson, Co-Founder & Co-Chairman, Planetary Resources, Inc.</li>
<li>Chris Lewicki, President & Chief Engineer, Planetary Resources, Inc.</li>
<li>Hank Green, Internet personality, VlogBrothers</li>
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<b>WHERE:</b> </div>
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<li>Great Gallery at The Museum of Flight</li>
<li>9404 East Marginal Way South </li>
<li>Seattle, WA 98108</li>
<li>Event will also be streamed online: <a href="http://www.planetaryresources.com/livestream/">http://www.planetaryresources.com/livestream/</a></li>
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<b>RSVP: </b></div>
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<li>Media are invited to attend in-person or view the live stream. </li>
<li>Live stream details for the press will be provided upon request.</li>
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<b>CONTACT: </b></div>
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<li>Stacey Tearne</li>
<li>stearne@planetaryresources.com</li>
<li>+1 202-256-7917</li>
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<b>ADDITIONAL EVENT:</b></div>
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Later in the day at 3:30 p.m. PDT an additional live streaming event will occur at the Museum of Flight with Brent Spiner, Hank Green, Chris Lewicki and other Planetary Resources members. This event will be in group discussion format talking about the announcements from earlier in the day. We invite the press and the public both in person and via live stream to attend this event, engage and ask questions. The live stream for this event will be accessible from the following URL. <a href="http://www.planetaryresources.com/livestream/">http://www.planetaryresources.com/livestream/</a></div>
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The above URL will allow access to both events during the day, however all media outlets are required to RSVP with Stacey Tearne for a direct access press link for submitting questions during the morning event.</div>
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<b>About Planetary Resources:</b></div>
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Planetary Resources, Inc. was founded in 2009 by Eric Anderson and Dr. Peter H. Diamandis. Their vision is to establish a new paradigm for resource utilization that will bring the Solar System within humanity's economic sphere of influence. The company will conduct low-cost robotic space exploration beginning with the Arkyd Series of space missions that will identify the most commercially viable near-Earth asteroids. These initial missions will assist the company in enabling the retrieval of raw materials from these select asteroids, including water, precious metals and more.</div>
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Planetary Resources is financed by industry-launching visionaries, three of whom include Google's CEO Larry Page & Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt; and Ross Perot, Jr., Chairman of Hillwood and The Perot Group; who are committed to expanding the world's resource base so humanity can continue to grow and prosper for centuries to come. Some of the company's partners and advisors include the Bechtel Corporation; film maker and explorer James Cameron; former Chief of Staff, United States Air Force General T. Michael Moseley (Ret.); and Sara Seager, Ph.D., Professor of Planetary Science and Physics at MIT. For more information, please visit <a href="http://www.planetaryresources.com/">www.planetaryresources.com</a>.</div>
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Bodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896021986580028451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237464818303624895.post-14484813224002263512013-05-14T08:55:00.002-07:002013-05-14T09:34:23.676-07:00Sorry, no budget, Plan B: Hope for the best<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqYRBcMkhFNturi4vKvIM7tXoEbe4XihmgVLXlf0v2-HiqkGel4lKkNTBfzyHdVFb_jdGL5lZ0cPotAA3YgYixGx7CfexuI_EXiCTkB9Fh4e6A1HvNU1LLvriOsB4xCrPiHmYe4ZhphraD/s1600/37815457.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqYRBcMkhFNturi4vKvIM7tXoEbe4XihmgVLXlf0v2-HiqkGel4lKkNTBfzyHdVFb_jdGL5lZ0cPotAA3YgYixGx7CfexuI_EXiCTkB9Fh4e6A1HvNU1LLvriOsB4xCrPiHmYe4ZhphraD/s1600/37815457.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 2em; margin-left: 2em;" width="320" /></a></div>
I recently wrote a <a href="http://bodohoenen.blogspot.com/2013/05/why-clutter-and-legacy-tech.html" target="_blank">blog post</a> about companies who retain their legacy technology that many people disagreed with. I made the argument that in most cases the root cause for keeping legacy tech is deeply personal rather than external like budgetary or the time and effort needed. They argued otherwise but did not sway my opinion.<br />
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I get the Budget and Hassle argument, its very often a real barrier, I have experienced this on many occasion in previous employments I've had. inhouse built or even customized CRM's, learning management systems, Intranets and accounts platforms, are a good examples of systems that can quickly become a huge burden, and I would argue a <a href="http://bodohoenen.blogspot.com/2012/09/how-to-avoid-ball-and-chain.html" target="_blank">ball and chain</a> keeping the decision to change fixed in the 'too much time and money' corner. I have witnessed that with each decision to not change, these companies have further solidified their trajectory down a path that was in many cases decided on a whim by someone not realising the legacy this choice will create. It then remained unchallenged until it became the status quo, then was never on someone's job description to have the responsibility to change. Now they are on a fixed road and have almost no viable longterm alternatives left...<br />
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In the case of companies who rely on their tech to do business, and especially those companies who sell or lease their tech, the rate of innovation in just these last 5 years is pushing slow movers out the market at a rapid rate. And this is true of the big companies like Avaya, SAP, Barns and Nobel and AT&T, but also true of smaller ones, even those that just a few years ago were seen to be cutting edge.<br />
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The budget argument in these situations does not stand up, as failure to act will force them out of the market, and therefore their decision is: '<i><b>should we continue and hope for the best having reasonable evidence that we will not make it</b></i>' or '<i><b>should we do whatever it takes to stay relevant</b></i>'. In these cases I would argue, budget is used as a convenient excuse, but that the real reason they are not changing is a leadership team that lack courage and vision, a middle management team conditioned to not rock the boat and the false security of thinking tomorrow will be like today.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_YdEiUrQyfHy9fmAosgD2ZLzTijLNah5p7ZtaFGkh-gVRx4exYxGiUhh2sxPYLOjEJ6t4Zg3Y_i8lBFL3rGKjRaD0dlbwlM_ySfj5yOYpD2VRIbfdt5TcQeuW6XVGI7W3kXLOBB8lVYkb/s1600/33543892.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_YdEiUrQyfHy9fmAosgD2ZLzTijLNah5p7ZtaFGkh-gVRx4exYxGiUhh2sxPYLOjEJ6t4Zg3Y_i8lBFL3rGKjRaD0dlbwlM_ySfj5yOYpD2VRIbfdt5TcQeuW6XVGI7W3kXLOBB8lVYkb/s1600/33543892.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 2em; margin-left: 2em;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image Credit: <a href="http://memegenerator.net/instance/33543892">memegenerator.net</a></td></tr>
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For the last 30 years, even though technology has been progressing at an exponentially rate, the rate of system updates generally spanned many years and only increased efficiency by marginal amounts. This allowed companies to not need a culture of change, but instead rely on the occasional change management project to take them on a new path. However in the last few years, not only has the rate of innovation continued to grow exponentially, the efficiency these new systems provide are no longer marginal but are revolutionary. An occasional change management project now needs to become a culture. The due diligence that once was only needed on occasion is now needed every time you install an app, visit a site or develop a new client requirement.<br />
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In this setting the old cultures in companies cannot compete for much longer, their cash reserves and long term contracts with clients will slowly come to an end, and without a viable alternative to offer, clients are instead moving to the SFDCs, Googles, and Amazons of the world with their various 3rd party apps and services that are available to do almost anything, far quicker and cheaper than the current big guys in the market.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">What are your thoughts on this? and, how would you propose setting up a company to have the flexible infrastructure and human resource needed to operate successfully these days? </span><br />
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<br />Bodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896021986580028451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237464818303624895.post-13026822452049567692013-05-07T06:58:00.000-07:002013-05-08T13:56:04.012-07:00Pick yourself<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image credit: <a href="http://www.chattingatthesky.com/2013/01/24/one-thing-were-waiting-for-and-why-its-time-to-stop/">www.chattingatthesky.com</a></td></tr>
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I have finally picked up the book by <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/106497949182730964838" target="_blank">+Seth Godin</a> '<a href="https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Seth_Godin_The_Icarus_Deception?id=be-a6NB6ppgC" target="_blank">The Icarus deception</a>' and finished it in a matter of a few train trips too and from the office. A book about risk, courage, and the pursuit of dreams with an unrelenting spirit that never gives up. It's about flying high and not listening to those that would caution you to not get too close to the sun (as with the story of Icarus).<br />
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It's an encouraging book, and as with it's precursor '<a href="https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Seth_Godin_Linchpin?id=dI66B5IY2X0C" target="_blank">Linch pin</a>' Seth gives us 'permission' to pick ourselves. This is the lesson I have taken out of it, and to quote a great line from the book:<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">" Sorry. There’s no authority left.<br />Oprah has left the building"</span></b><br />
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So... it's ok that we pick ourselves, we cannot wait for Oprah, our manager, the CEO, the art gallery, the blogger, or anyone else to pick us, We need to pick ourselves. It is not arrogant or presuming, infact it's the only reasonable way left to make a life and pursue your dreams.<br />
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<h4>
Want to read these books? here they are:</h4>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Seth_Godin_Linchpin?id=dI66B5IY2X0C" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT8SynPaQyolxBXcSjQW6rn2IL4RZvCFSv6Kkn075fIIO6Bz8bMOU_faarIf1teBalual6TXA8Lzbm6QFXBLe-Dw07XCEKEmnXmzqLSWpcr8gdv1ymvKSZFtjlpzrJJueJ0JSURKScZbQO/s1600/linchpin-cover.jpg" height="320" width="211" /></a> <a href="https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Seth_Godin_The_Icarus_Deception?id=be-a6NB6ppgC" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJAAOq2rcvqSQuG7mc2aGcY_qMaPXT3PL1OscZI582fda7ybNy53QjEsFHqrKwOWKy_G0PX6E5qDbIZ_ungfKFy7DlSK6-u3iyglFIdHNmXRcFVh3QM6vE3Rf4kt7cCnaYGR-RoRzE6CKW/s1600/icarus-deception.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
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Bodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896021986580028451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237464818303624895.post-49795177369293356692013-05-03T12:36:00.000-07:002013-05-08T06:15:18.340-07:00Why the clutter and legacy tech?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaa_ZP9Aw_ogdpMdTySAqX8dPFQCOJ93dWBJKI1vgdmiu7Mzki-lMgGnj25ds1K5e3HW7_l6nR1bTirKCI2x1IQBMOpajzwc7yIQr7U23jwuXLsV_k-Xh2aNW76ytqtZ-1lgwPgXN-l0gh/s1600/Slides+-+SLP+Investor+Introduction+-+Google+Drive+-+Google+Chrome_2013-05-03_14-11-46.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaa_ZP9Aw_ogdpMdTySAqX8dPFQCOJ93dWBJKI1vgdmiu7Mzki-lMgGnj25ds1K5e3HW7_l6nR1bTirKCI2x1IQBMOpajzwc7yIQr7U23jwuXLsV_k-Xh2aNW76ytqtZ-1lgwPgXN-l0gh/s1600/Slides+-+SLP+Investor+Introduction+-+Google+Drive+-+Google+Chrome_2013-05-03_14-11-46.png" height="144" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A small selection of applications <br />
I used to have to work with on a daily basis. Look familiar?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
I was just forced to use a website to complete a quick HR task and it's encouraged me to write a quick blog post about Clutter, Single purpose applications and bad UX design<br />
<br />
Why do so many companies retain their legacy technology? Why do they keep building on their outdated legacy framework? And why the bad user experience design?<br />
<br />
I cannot be the only one who is frustrated with the number of outdated software applications, websites and tools I need to interact with on a daily basis?<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqqFYWtOl_mj8qVJ2QutNegmfSofSM8zOd3F-pCfWIisl06j1y7ZdS2FICN8-9Wqtauk884JV6sohzfvg4T8kKuNyuNKTxzHjbW0PLWnT5SB6INijRZs6WKC-2tR7Jv4MoDNFCjE7gYhSp/s1600/iTrent.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqqFYWtOl_mj8qVJ2QutNegmfSofSM8zOd3F-pCfWIisl06j1y7ZdS2FICN8-9Wqtauk884JV6sohzfvg4T8kKuNyuNKTxzHjbW0PLWnT5SB6INijRZs6WKC-2tR7Jv4MoDNFCjE7gYhSp/s1600/iTrent.png" height="188" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A 'What Not To Do' of UX design<br />
I don't even know where to begin here</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3>
<br />There are good reasons to keep them... right?</h3>
<ol>
<li>Don't fix what ain't broke.</li>
<li>Don't disturb the status quo.</li>
<li>Don't risk change. </li>
<li>Change management is not safe, and not fun!</li>
<li>I don't want to stick my head out and become a target.</li>
<li>It's not on my job description to make this type of <span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">recommendation</span>.</li>
</ol>
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<br />
<br />
<h3>
Well this type of thinking just wont cut it in my company. </h3>
We follow a separate mindset:<br />
<ol>
<li>If its not going to be relevant in 3 years its not relevant now.</li>
<li>If it must be installed, its not worth installing. </li>
<li>If it hasn't broken yet, you not doing it right.</li>
<li>If it's become normal it's time to change.</li>
<li>If you cannot handle change, move to Italy.</li>
<li>If you have a job description, you not doing your job.</li>
</ol>
<div>
In contrast my companies goal is to make a user's interaction with their systems and our application seamless, intuitive and almost invisible. In fact we hope you never hear about us, you never notice we are even there!</div>
<div>
<br />
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1tdT7Ov6kSvCryCOgTlVanR_jld9Zg9NL0hDAu4klqx1xyhdYQSQmrTrPOapO5uzCUZx-CgWcifzgOHJpnlcUP9O_5Wvh3DqeJeYX0AHx4Zk1koxE-bG_CZF45JL3WSuofGMcZsqeipUx/s1600/Slides+-+SLP+Investor+Introduction+-+Google+Drive+-+Google+Chrome_2013-05-03_14-50-24.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1tdT7Ov6kSvCryCOgTlVanR_jld9Zg9NL0hDAu4klqx1xyhdYQSQmrTrPOapO5uzCUZx-CgWcifzgOHJpnlcUP9O_5Wvh3DqeJeYX0AHx4Zk1koxE-bG_CZF45JL3WSuofGMcZsqeipUx/s1600/Slides+-+SLP+Investor+Introduction+-+Google+Drive+-+Google+Chrome_2013-05-03_14-50-24.png" height="281" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;">We are becoming invisible by integrating the Google platform with our learning environment, to create an intuitive seamless experience</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Bodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896021986580028451noreply@blogger.com1Social Learning Project, 20 Broad Street, New York, NY 10005, USA40.7065947 -74.011408715.051523199999998 -115.4957837 66.3616662 -32.527033700000004tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237464818303624895.post-32212498797383478902013-04-24T06:08:00.002-07:002013-05-04T06:07:45.049-07:00Connection is everything<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.walkofftheearth.com/home" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsrRx3rRlO5HslZADKiahyphenhyphen3nPBu0u18zoPsbKmwjjMO9qcAHaLVOW37SNJqbDa5RKS2CMAsVt4xx2JhQvdZUBfeuzYc81Vx69yOEvG3XVW1ijFhlqJ2WPQ9s8TmuL278IpxFGWPKNNjycv/s1600/Walk+Off+The+Earth+Photos++The+Official+Walk+Off+The+Earth+Site+-+Google+Chrome_2013-04-24_08-51-36.png" height="138" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image: <a href="http://www.walkofftheearth.com/home">www.walkofftheearth.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I love it when people create a real connection with their audience, an uncluttered no<i> Bul#$@t</i> connection. It does not matter what business you are in, its the connection you make with your clients that matters, not the price of your coffee.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.walkofftheearth.com/home" target="_blank">Walk off the Earth</a> is a really great example of this, a band thats not only creating a connection with their audience outside of their music, but they get us involved in the experience of creating the music itself.<br />
<br />
I'm sure I'm not the only one who would agree that having a connection to a product, service, or experience we are purchasing is important these days .<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/1bt-FHaFVH8?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/SOUwxaAmoAk?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<br />Bodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896021986580028451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237464818303624895.post-44155206036612028232013-03-26T09:34:00.001-07:002013-03-26T09:34:35.449-07:00FAIL<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgIrqx686udhB8YE1k3cKLdIQd_q1UUpw4BuVs-nCiSoY983XplZhIhvotllQpTJ-QxhcbtvRN8ydio3cWg6e8Zl89pY88ob5yeufAFkh7AFJtoeDSXONNkErHtqJbb0gDZClUdv4MZOo/s1600/Panda+slide+fail+funny+animals+picture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgIrqx686udhB8YE1k3cKLdIQd_q1UUpw4BuVs-nCiSoY983XplZhIhvotllQpTJ-QxhcbtvRN8ydio3cWg6e8Zl89pY88ob5yeufAFkh7AFJtoeDSXONNkErHtqJbb0gDZClUdv4MZOo/s1600/Panda+slide+fail+funny+animals+picture.jpg" height="154" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.8127724728547037" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A few days ago I did a talk at NYU, it was to a group of entrepreneurs who are starting their career. I decided to talk mostly about my failures not only because I have far more of them than I do successes but because I feel being real and showing others that failure is what it takes.</span></b></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.8127724728547037" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Its appropriate then that the talk itself started off really poorly, mixing my words, missing some slides, and im pretty sure that once or twice I even stared blankly at them while I tried to get back on track. However at the end I brought it back </span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is almost always a relatively good reason for failure, my reason for the poor start to my talk was sleep deprivation. but I try never to use these reasons as excuses. because once you allow yourself to blame something you give yourself an out from learning a lesson. </span></b>Bodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896021986580028451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237464818303624895.post-22825518853205528692013-01-18T09:31:00.003-08:002013-01-18T09:31:39.942-08:00Google Communities - Quick review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkrRi_EmXBvlRi3p_QuT18bhBLzoQMH2V9JPSmo0ye2Gh6BBl6dLSHXfe4ihbJVK3MI_KWRh_av5aDV0ylDI2fbs1TzdvgkjoaMgKX5Rb30gT9feL7hgHbMg-BQDzULUBaZ5bDzOclLYlm/s1600/Google++Communities+A+place+for+whatever+you're+into+-+YouTube+-+Google+Chrome_2013-01-18_12-29-49.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkrRi_EmXBvlRi3p_QuT18bhBLzoQMH2V9JPSmo0ye2Gh6BBl6dLSHXfe4ihbJVK3MI_KWRh_av5aDV0ylDI2fbs1TzdvgkjoaMgKX5Rb30gT9feL7hgHbMg-BQDzULUBaZ5bDzOclLYlm/s1600/Google++Communities+A+place+for+whatever+you're+into+-+YouTube+-+Google+Chrome_2013-01-18_12-29-49.png" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
<b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Google Communities - Quick review</b><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Google Communities have been around for a few months now, and I have many more positive than negative experiences.</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" /><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Let's start off with the negatives</b><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Within a few days after Communities launched, my inbox was filled with invites to random groups I have no interest in. Most of them were obvious attempts to lure me into their group so that they can spam me. Thankfully, the influx of new community invites has quietened down but I'm still left with all these spam-based communities I need to sort through when I search for some to join. For that reason, I prefer private communities. Having said that, there are great open communities out there, but you will need to do some searching for now until they can rise to the top through 'natural selection'. These same issues present themselves on other 'group based' platforms like LinkedIn groups, Twitter and Facebook... and like these, Google Communities have the usual features like blocking and moderating to clean up the group. My advice is don't just join a community by their name, look at what's been posted, user interaction, and how they moderate spam.</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" /><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">The Positives</b><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">When you find a good community you find a group of people passionate about the topic you are interested in. The community is engaging, helpful, and often quirky in just the right way (That may just be a Google+ thing).</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Communities solve the issue of topic-based circles. When I started out on Google+ I created topic-based circles and sorted people accordingly, quickly realizing that people wouldn't stick to what I boxed them into. My tech circle sometimes spoke about politics, cats or Carly Rae Jepsen. Sure, I could add them into multiple circles but the management was far to onerous. Now I create cohort, location and relationship-based circles instead, and use communities to find topic-based content. </span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">It solves the 'circle everyone' problem. Previously if I wanted to interact and stay up to speed with what someone was doing, I would need to add them to a circle. Pretty soon I was adding thousands of people (similar to Facebook and Twitter) in the hope that they would turn out to be interesting. My intent was to clean out my circles of the people I don't really connect with later on. Communities allows me to connect and engage with people I don't have in my circles, allowing me to establish a genuine connection before circling them.</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Want to learn more about communities? Here's their page:</span><a class="ot-anchor" href="http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/communities/" rel="nofollow" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #3366cc; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/communities/</a><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" /><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Or view the video below: </span><a class="ot-hashtag" href="https://plus.google.com/s/%23communities" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #3366cc; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">#communities</a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><a class="ot-hashtag" href="https://plus.google.com/s/%23review" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #3366cc; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">#review</a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.363636016845703px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/lpUDWCSRQIU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
Bodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896021986580028451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237464818303624895.post-84891075874820747012013-01-10T13:16:00.000-08:002013-01-11T08:28:28.357-08:00WHY does your business do what it does?<br />
I would like to credit the reason I’m writing this blog to <a href="http://www.ted.com/speakers/simon_sinek.html">Simon Sinek</a> whose <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5Tw0PGcyN0">TED talk</a> I watched last night.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="232" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/QgnahOrLVFR9Hch17tsDEOU0VTgM_eT1pglnbCIl_zNQOxr6hNW5_a_qaw19c9LIyn5sfvhbY3qPV2df_QlT7E4Riic4-yp8CQHuRi0Mgd_UCfw_rVnS" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image credit to <a href="http://www.startwithwhy.com/About.aspx" target="_blank">startwithwhy.com</a></td></tr>
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Answering the Question ‘Why’ .. </h2>
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The answer to ‘why’ we do what we do has the potential to create an emotional connection. It can inspire and create a vision that employees and customers can relate to and make their own. <br />
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It’s only after answering and communicating the ‘why’ that people can truly appreciate the ‘how’ and ‘what’ we are doing, and that is what this post is all about. <br />
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the WHY</h3>
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I really dislike busywork. I believe it's a huge drain on human resources and creativity, and the reason for much of the waste in today's society. Busywork is the stuff you do at work in between the tasks that really makes a difference in your life and those around you. The stuff that drains our energy, that sucks up our inspiration. It’s the regulatory-busy-stuff that we all do: responding to pointless emails, sorting paperwork, developing ‘ball and chain’ products <i>(more about that on my other post - <a href="http://bodohoenen.blogspot.com/2012/09/how-to-avoid-ball-and-chain.html" target="_blank">How to avoid a ball and chain</a>),</i> attending meetings about meetings you should have met about, restocking the printer, and writing reports nobody will read. It’s the stuff that fills most of our time in our jobs and leaves little time for inspirational work or as <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/106497949182730964838" target="_blank">+Seth Godin</a> would call it, ART. <i>(Seth is a hugely successful and inspirational entrepreneur, learn more about him <a href="http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/">here</a>)</i><br />
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Most of us find ourselves in a job that allows little time to dream, to learn, to grow, and even less time to create inspirational solutions that we and our business can truly profit from. And it was the same for me. I found more of my time being spent on the busywork and less on the tasks that make a difference.<br />
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And that is the ‘why’ of my business. We recognize there is an immense amount of time being spent on busywork, and too little time on inspirational, life-changing work. Over the past few years, our team has found ways to give ourselves more and more time for inspirational work and now we are building a company that allows others to do the same.. <br />
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the How</h3>
It is easier than ever to do business these days, especially over the past decade as the internet and Software/Platform/Infrastructure as a Service have transformed the way we work. But in most businesses the busywork still engulfs people's potential. Our core answer to the question ‘how’ is to offer tools that help minimize busyness, a learning platform that encourages personal development, and a development attitude does not consider <a href="http://bodohoenen.blogspot.com/2012/09/how-to-avoid-ball-and-chain.html" target="_blank">reinventing the wheel</a>.<br />
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We are doing something different. Where most of the our market is busy producing more average products at cheaper prices to gain smaller and smaller market share, we are focused instead on a long term vision, design, usability and the integration of cool tools.<br />
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By not reinventing the wheel, minimizing our busywork, and focusing on the ideas that inspires us, we the have motivation to get up in the morning and the passion to work hard to get things done. <br />
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the What</h3>
No longer can people rely on a degree and a fixed job description to get through life. It’s a dynamic, changing world where new opportunities to learn and grow present themselves every day. We constantly need to learn new things on the fly. We can no longer follow a 20-point plan or the old map.<br />
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Wouldn't it be cool to have tools and platforms to help you through those opportunities? A platform for learning, a place where you can go to when the busywork gets you down?. A place where you are free to be amazing, to connect with colleagues and dream about new ideas to take you and your business forward?<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/azWKzgryE4pHK_pMFZ7RvuZSwGUBpq2t6miRL9UHPjb9sUPsXSNIcr7uKeyZThbLZq2aP63gaJqx9Z6ZsO-2W2DH0JOAHNwtXDozLjsa5t5UhAvSXoqd" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="184" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/azWKzgryE4pHK_pMFZ7RvuZSwGUBpq2t6miRL9UHPjb9sUPsXSNIcr7uKeyZThbLZq2aP63gaJqx9Z6ZsO-2W2DH0JOAHNwtXDozLjsa5t5UhAvSXoqd" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sociallearningproject.com/products/enterprise/slp-for-business-features/121-slp-bus-features.html" target="_blank">Social Learning Project</a></td></tr>
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Imagine this place connected with what you are already doing, the tools you are already using and giving you the ability to seamlessly flip between the two.<br />
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Imagine having the ability to take your learning with you as you move from company to company and have it recognized as part of your experience.<br />
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Imagine being able to track not only your own learning but the learning of your team, so that you can see the the path and the possibilities.<br />
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Imagine having not only your own company's learning content but also the best content available on the web ready to be leveraged as you and your team work to solve the next big problem.<br />
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In closing, my 'Why' is to build a business that has a small part to play in the revolution that is occurring now as we come to an inflection point in human history. The greatest minds of our time are leveraging new technology to provide the solutions that will allow the best of humanity to be released from its busywork and carry us forward.<br />
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A Quick Look at Google Hangouts:</h3>
<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/d8-Du_hRFWA/0.jpg" height="266" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-left: 50px;" width="320"><param name="movie" value="https://www.youtube.com/v/d8-Du_hRFWA&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/v/d8-Du_hRFWA&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>Here is a quick intro to Google Hangouts and an almost perfect snapshot of what busywork can be eliminated with this useful tool.<br />
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Don't waste time on busywork; get it done quickly so that you can move onto the inspirational stuff. <br />
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Bodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896021986580028451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237464818303624895.post-82363676319004667822012-09-27T06:23:00.000-07:002014-09-05T10:22:28.756-07:00Who really needs hardware these days?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdeWwNWBqXZhDT72eXCIlroXdSsTHYyImF0l9GW1YxbdS5cbMPV0MYQcWIr8Bwx3f-OcjlPCadU_IIBuYjl4NKA82DfrZBPWTIuqjyafcvDVR5gn4pEIK90vY1_RJrOe2VoMlRTgtSyD7M/s1600/_2012-09-27_08-36-56.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdeWwNWBqXZhDT72eXCIlroXdSsTHYyImF0l9GW1YxbdS5cbMPV0MYQcWIr8Bwx3f-OcjlPCadU_IIBuYjl4NKA82DfrZBPWTIuqjyafcvDVR5gn4pEIK90vY1_RJrOe2VoMlRTgtSyD7M/s320/_2012-09-27_08-36-56.png" height="178" width="320" /></a></div>
I have done an interview style video blog about the <a href="http://www.sociallearningproject.com/" target="_blank">Social Learning Project</a> today, for a few reasons. The first is, I wanted to share what we are doing as a company, but secondly, I wanted to try out the YouTube video editing features on the way home last night and see if I could compile, splice, edit and complete it using nothing more than a mobile web browser, and I did.<br />
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First off, a quick intro into what Social Learning Project is all about:</h3>
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Our core philosophy is not to spend time reinventing the wheel. We utilize the most useful and accessible tools as the foundation of our platform so that we can focus on innovation and allow others to do the same. We don't want to duplicate effort in building functionality that already exists, we would rather make that functionality accessible. With this in mind we built our foundation on Google technology and combined it with an eLearning Tool Moodle which is a Learning Management System (LMS)<br />
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We are adding our own unique integrations and networking features and combining it all in a seamless user experience. We are offering additional services such as implementation and training with a core focus on keeping our solution rooted in Google technology. By not re-inventing, and simply combining the best technology we know that our foundational solution is stable and scalable. This allows us to push ahead with real innovation using minimal effort and retaining the confidence to know that it works.<br />
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YouTube Video Editor</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9njOcdoWmIUs4xhtnu3lKoZ4BEhzQjl3t6JbecdH6tG2cdVNu0QirMofCEqEaOKoN2U_bWZ2mFk1HmjhQ2gtU7tyFKTKF0nbuOhNDDL-rbOsJ_kX0BPpkHnBJg-8JjKSQ5KMZs5veIT31/s1600/Video+Editor+-+YouTube+-+Google+Chrome_2012-09-27_08-43-15.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9njOcdoWmIUs4xhtnu3lKoZ4BEhzQjl3t6JbecdH6tG2cdVNu0QirMofCEqEaOKoN2U_bWZ2mFk1HmjhQ2gtU7tyFKTKF0nbuOhNDDL-rbOsJ_kX0BPpkHnBJg-8JjKSQ5KMZs5veIT31/s320/Video+Editor+-+YouTube+-+Google+Chrome_2012-09-27_08-43-15.png" height="185" width="320" /></a></div>
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YouTube as with many Google tools is being constantly updated and enhanced, and one of those enhancements that has gone relatively unnoticed to many is the inbuilt <a href="http://www.youtube.com/editor" target="_blank">video editing functionality</a> that can be used to splice, edit, and enhance both the video and audio content of your clips. </div>
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I decided to test it out last night on my train trip home, with nothing more than a mobile web browser. And I'm quite impressed. It allowed me to easily upload clips, tag and publish them as I have been used to with YouTube, but I also needed to edit those clips, add some text, transitions, and splice them together. This process was effortless</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWVF-HIQ7veL3wS3VI34-a7s6SBLt5ya5y9O_1OzCy93icmf0E1Ztbo-RUjsYU4iSMk2TF4Q0rhT0zw0HjeSTpIdBPhPobKXAHxmBAFiewXITc3OYLxZgZPDu5zfXbX-01X-m_4Lyxix20/s1600/YouTube+-+Broadcast+Yourself.+-+Google+Chrome_2012-09-27_09-03-55.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWVF-HIQ7veL3wS3VI34-a7s6SBLt5ya5y9O_1OzCy93icmf0E1Ztbo-RUjsYU4iSMk2TF4Q0rhT0zw0HjeSTpIdBPhPobKXAHxmBAFiewXITc3OYLxZgZPDu5zfXbX-01X-m_4Lyxix20/s320/YouTube+-+Broadcast+Yourself.+-+Google+Chrome_2012-09-27_09-03-55.png" height="207" width="320" /></a></div>
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In the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/editor" target="_blank">video editor</a> you can simply drag those clips you want onto your video project page and start editing them, stitching, clipping, enhancing as you go. There are a number of Creative Commons videos and music tracks to add and then there are the transitions and text elements that can be incorporated. The experience was easy and intuitive.<br />
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Something I did not add to the video but did mess around with was the video enhancements and effects. You can choose from various filters and effects to make the video suit your style.</div>
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Bodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896021986580028451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237464818303624895.post-79560537016105309892012-09-13T09:57:00.004-07:002012-09-14T05:30:07.193-07:00How to Avoid a Ball and Chain<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<img alt="Ball and chain" height="180" src="http://www.sociallearningproject.com/images/content_img/article_img/bnc.jpg" style="border: 0px; float: left; margin: 20px 20px 20px 0px;" width="200" /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">“Don't waste creativity and resources”</span></h3>
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The tech startup scene is filled with passionate, energetic and enthusiastic teams doing the impossible to make their ideas the next big thing. But I'm sure most teams are wasting their time building complex solutions, a ball and chain that they will need to drag with them as they try to innovate.<br />
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I occasionally mentor startups at an<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.sociallearningproject.com/company/news/75-social-learning-project-s-founder-mentors-men-with-criminal-histories-in-entrepreneurship-program.html" style="color: #dd5500; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">incubator</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I'm involved with and attend many tech events. At these meetings I'm often presented with great sales pitches and amazing slide decks, yet I usually have one thing to say in return: "I can already do what you are building by using product X or Y. What makes your product different?" Their usual response is: "Our product comes with this (blank)..." Sometimes they don't even get that far and are stumped to find that someone has beaten them to the punch, but that is for another blog post. This post is all about those (blanks) that cool functionality, that one thing that stands out from the crowd and provides the real value to the business concept, and the key to these businesses' success.</div>
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I'm almost always excited about that (blank) that is being built, but I'm left thinking that they should have just built that one thing, that cool bit of tech and bolted it onto a platform that I'm already using. That way they would have been finished in a tenth of the time for a tenth of the cost and be free to work on the next big thing.<br />
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To add some context, I was recently pitched a concept of a new email and communications client designed for video bloggers and journalists that incorporates the users' social streams, IM and webcasts. When I told them that I can already do all that with a free Google account, they pitched their killer feature: the ability to broadcast your video blog with overlays that can include other video and image content in real time, making it possible to create a newscast-type vlog on the fly. That piece of functionality is quite innovative and I can see many applications for it, but the other 95% of the platform's only real value was to create the delivery mechanism for their killer feature. This excess development creates a huge overhead, like a ball and chain that the company will need to continually update just to keep their feature accessible to potential customers.<br />
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<tr><td style="padding: 1px;"><img alt="Dont reinvent the wheel" height="200" src="http://www.sociallearningproject.com/images/content_img/article_img/BBDontReinventthewheel.jpg" style="border: 0px; margin: 20px;" width="171" /></td></tr>
<tr><td style="padding: 1px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666;">Don't reinvent the wheel<br /></span></td></tr>
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This got me thinking about how many teams are reinventing a whole new platform just so that they can have a medium through which they provide a new feature. Thirty years ago it was all about the operating system; if you wanted to build a cool piece of software, chances are you would need to build the operating system to go with it. Ten years later, operating systems have evolved and become mature and stable enough for the mass market to safely develop on. Out of that stability burst the software industry as we know it, an industry that could not have efficiently operated before those foundations were set. These guys developed the proprietary software model and over the years a revolution created the Software as a Service (SaaS) industry. But even with SaaS delivering functionality to the end user, chances are you still had to spend a considerable amount of time and effort duplicating functionality that already exists, just to create the delivery mechanism for your cool feature. </div>
At this stage, thankfully, some really innovative teams have created platforms on which to build your cool tech, and just like the teams that built the current line of operating systems before them, these platforms are now mature and stable enough for mass uptake, and have been for a while. In the past ten years <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platform_as_a_service" style="color: #dd5500; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Platforms as a Service (PaaS)</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>have become incredibly sophisticated, but at the same time only taken advantage of by a limited number of developers and the companies and startups they work for. By far the majority are still working on legacy proprietary systems battling to keep them relevant, instead of looking towards the future. However, there is a growing group of developers building on PaaS solutions, building only what is needed and bolting it onto existing delivery mechanisms. These are the App developers, the rock stars of this age, and the people changing the world!<br />
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So why are so many entrepreneurs choosing to develop their startups on old models? My thoughts on this are that three simple questions are not being asked before many of these projects are started.</div>
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<b>1. Why is this solution required?</b></div>
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<b></b>By asking this question a few times to some potential end users, it is often found out that a change in process, a little understanding of what's out there and some creative thinking is all that is needed to "fix" the problem. In certain methodologies this is called the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_Whys" style="color: #dd5500; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">5 Why's</a> or the process of asking "Why?" five times and at each point, getting closer to the real issue and therefore the real problem you need to address.<br />
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As entrepreneurs, this is the process that we all dislike doing. We confidently hope that our assumptions of what the market wants are correct, and sometimes it's easier to just push ahead with our ideas than risk being proven wrong. For <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrapreneurship" style="color: #dd5500; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">intrepreneurs</a> working as the lead in a product development team, it's easy to assume that the stakeholders know what they want. After all, if you deliver something to spec and it is not fit for purpose, it's not your fault. It's easier for people in these situations to just push ahead than do what is prudent.<br />
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You must be honest and critical with yourself, get lots of outside opinions, and don't move ahead if there is any ambiguity over what the real problem is that you are trying to solve. If you are lucky, you can avoid the ball and chain by asking this one question. If you find a real problem to solve, you'll have to ask the second question to figure out if the problem is worth solving in the first place.<br />
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<b>2. Is there an existing solution that can solve the problem?</b></div>
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This is a tough one. It needs the creativity and entrepreneurial drive in you to be controlled by maturity and critical thinking, because the answer is almost always yes: Yes, there is an existing solution out there. It may not be a 100% fit, but a solution that covers even 70% of a problem in many cases is a viable solution. In other cases, doing nothing is more cost-effective than building a solution. <br />
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Returning to the example I provided earlier: Is the whole email, social stream, vlogging platform really worth building if these ingredients already exist and just need some creative thinking to stitch together?<br />
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Or, will the cost of getting the end user working with a 70% solution have a smaller overall cost than a mythical 100% solution?</div>
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These are tough questions to ask yourself, especially the more creative you are. You need to figure out where the real value lies and focus on that and nothing more.<br />
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<b>3. What has been tried before?</b></div>
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What solutions if any have already been tried to fix the problem identified in question one? On many occasions, this is answered by the first and second question, but I keep it separate to highlight its importance. History is always a good window into the future, one that is all too often forgotten about. If a previous solution failed, it is important to know why. Again, don't stop with the first answer you are given and use the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_Whys" style="color: #dd5500; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">5 Why's</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>to get down to the real reasons. </div>
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Consider the trialed solutions... learn what you can from them, as it is far more efficient to learn from the mistakes of others than your own (and it's less painful)!<br />
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<b>In conclusion</b><br />
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I'm hoping that more teams focus on building <i style="color: #4488bb;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">on</span></i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>platforms as opposed to duplicating their efforts by building platforms to build on. There is a lot of wasted effort, duplication and inefficiency in all industries (including the tech industry) and that can easily be changed. Using PaaS, companies are focusing on building what is really needed and they are changing the world in many ways. It's allowing them to efficiently produce real innovation at an exponential pace without increasing their overhead with unnecessary bulk. </div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Some great PaaS options to look at:</span></div>
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<tr><td style="padding: 1px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://developers.google.com/appengine/" style="color: #dd5500; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Google App Engine</a></span></td><td style="padding: 1px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://www.android.com/" style="color: #dd5500; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Android</a></span></td><td style="padding: 1px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://www.salesforce.com/platform/" style="color: #dd5500; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Salesforce</a> </span></td></tr>
<tr><td style="padding: 1px; width: 200px;"> <a href="http://www.android.com/" style="color: #dd5500; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="BBGoogleAppEngine" height="100" src="http://www.sociallearningproject.com/images/content_img/article_img/BBGoogleAppEngine.jpg" style="border: 0px;" width="200" /></a></td><td style="padding: 1px; width: 200px;"> <a href="http://www.android.com/" style="color: #dd5500; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="BBAndroid" height="70" src="http://www.sociallearningproject.com/images/content_img/article_img/BBAndroid.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="62" /></a></td><td style="padding: 1px; width: 200px;"> <a href="http://www.salesforce.com/platform/" style="color: #dd5500; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="BBSalesforce" height="70" src="http://www.sociallearningproject.com/images/content_img/article_img/BBSalesforce.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="90" /></a></td></tr>
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Bodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896021986580028451noreply@blogger.com220 Broad St, Manhattan, NY 10005, USA40.7065947 -74.011408740.694558199999996 -74.0311497 40.7186312 -73.991667700000008tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237464818303624895.post-54391706953017867802012-06-28T20:05:00.000-07:002012-09-14T05:32:49.257-07:003 things I do to keep sane<br />
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<img alt="Bodo Family" height="149" src="http://www.sociallearningproject.com/images/content_img/GeneralImages/Bodo%20Family.jpg" style="border: 0px; float: left; margin: 20px 20px 20px 0px;" width="200" />Do you work to live or live to work? Sometimes I don't know the difference but here are 3 things I do to keep sane:</h2>
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I am super excited about my new startup, but entrepreneurship is an exhilarating and exhausting experience. Every day, I need to manage an unrelenting schedule, with new priorities constantly pushing for my immediate attention. I have an equally exciting family life, a beautiful wife and 18-month old daughter whom I love to spend time and go on adventures with.</div>
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It's this work-life balance that is so important to keep in check. It is so rewarding when you manage to somehow get it right (so if you find a way, let me know!). In the meantime, here are three things I do:</div>
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<strong>1. List three things I must get done today</strong></h3>
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I think in threes: I can't seem to focus adequately on any more than that. Therefore, my first task at the start of each day is to gather my thoughts and figure out what three tasks I really need to get done above all else. I draw up this list of the "top to-dos" during my train commute from Long Island to our Wall Street office through the use of three great tools.</div>
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I review my schedule, emails and social messages on Gmail. Google's advanced <a href="http://support.google.com/mail/bin/topic.py?hl=en&topic=1669049&parent=1668963&ctx=topic" style="color: #dd5500; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">auto-sort feature</a> is a great way to optimize my inbox so that I can focus on what really matters.</div>
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I then review my <a href="http://www.google.com/alerts" style="color: #dd5500; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Alerts</a>, which are key search terms that I need to know about as soon as someone on the web posts anything related to it. For example, I can set an alert to let me know as soon as an article is published that includes my company's name. Google Alerts keep me aware of what our community is saying.</div>
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Lastly, I catch up on the latest news through <a href="http://www.google.com/producer/currents" style="color: #dd5500; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Currents</a>, which collects all the news I'm interested in and displays it in a magazine format which is easy to read, and it works offline too.</div>
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<strong>2. Only do the top 30% of my task list (if I'm lucky)</strong></h3>
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Every day, there are hundreds of new tasks that people say we "must do"; "you must attend conference A," "you must create feature B," "you must be on myface..." The real trick here is understanding the value of each task and strictly prioritizing them according to real metrics, but traditional management principles and structures are inefficient in a fast-paced startup environment where there is a high level of uncertainty.</div>
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The principles and processes described in the <a href="http://theleanstartup.com/" style="color: #dd5500; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Lean Startup</a> methodology are closely aligned to those we employ here at the Social Learning Project. It describes the process of understanding your business, your product and your engine for growth, and creating an environment where lessons can quickly be learned and actions can be taken on real metrics and not gut feelings.<br />
We use <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/eric-ries-on-innovation-accounting/2011/11/30/gIQASLU3CO_video.html" style="color: #dd5500; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">innovation accounting</a> as the backbone of our decision and prioritization processes.</div>
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<strong>3. Keep my family involved</strong></h3>
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As I'm writing this, my 18-month old daughter is watching Wonder Pets "Save the Day" next to me in bed. I'm singing along to the songs and she is loving it.</div>
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I update my wife on work as often as I can, and have my <a href="http://www.google.com/talk/" style="color: #dd5500; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Google Talk</a> open with her throughout the day. Most of the time it's a one-way chat, with my wife sending me updates about what's happening at home. Her involvement in my work life has many benefits, especially when it comes to gaining an outside opinion to problems the company faces. She has an incredible ability to see right through the haze that sometimes confuses me and often advises me on the right course of action.</div>
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Recently, my work required me to travel to Mountain View, California to work with Google for a couple of weeks. As excited as I was for the trip, it meant that I would miss 14 days with my girls. It would be easy enough to video conference with them on <a href="http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/hangouts/" style="color: #dd5500; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Google Hangouts</a> every day, but the better option would be to take them with me. I was able to balance a business trip with a family vacation, and we had a great time!<br />
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<b><span style="color: black; font-size: small; line-height: normal;">My family </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: small; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">joins me at Google</span></b><br />
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</div>Bodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896021986580028451noreply@blogger.com0