Archive for the ‘Miscellaneous’ Category
Time to Eat Alone
Generally, I subscribe to the “never eat alone” philosophy. Meals are a great way to get to know the people you work with better, a great way to spend time with friends…plus for the Type A in me, it’s also an efficient use of time.
Today, however I showed up a week early for a lunch date with a former co-worker. I could have ran back to the office, but I have an appointment after lunch, so that didn’t make any sense.
Now, I’m enjoying the opposite philosophy: eating alone and trying to clear my mind of all thoughts. Simply focusing on the flavors and aroma of the food, and enjoying the calming, restorative nature of a quiet meal in solitude.
Even in the rat race of my life…so much to do, so many people to keep up with…so much pressure to hurry, hurry, hurry, do more faster. Even so, there is a time to eat together, and a time to eat alone.
The World Needs Heroes (or, Why I’m Sad that Joe Pa Was Fired)
I will probably be misunderstood for saying this, but I am sad that Joe Paterno was fired.
Not because I believe he was innocent—none of us who get our information on this topic through the media really know what happened, so we are not in a position to judge.
No, I am sad because I believe the world needs heroes, and the nature of our media is to tear down and destroy heroes.
I’ll grant you: it may be true that there are no heroes, that heroes are a fiction. That there were never any heroes, that the media is just revealing the truth behind the facade.
I understand that everyone is human, everyone is imperfect, everyone gets tummy aches. Yet, I value heroes. Why?
Heroes, fictional as they may be, serve a valuable purpose. Heroes are role models. They give us normal people something to which we should aspire. They illustrate excellence. They provide hope and inspiration.
Striving to be a hero makes life worth living.
P.S. I realize that someone could easily interpret these comments to say that we should overlook the crimes of our heroes. No, stop that thought right there because that’s not what I’m saying.
P.P.S. Ivan Meisel at ESPN conveys my thoughts well:
The idea that Paterno’s legacy, built with the highest of ideals, will be stained by the vilest of scandals should test the faith of all of us…if we cannot believe that JoePa knew to do what is good and right, than in whom, pray tell, can we believe?
It is a sad and stunning end to a 20th-century American success story. An Italian-American kid from Brooklyn grew up to become one of the most influential figures in American sports. He supped with Presidents. He transformed a university. And a career that should be celebrated is sullied instead.
Why didn’t they call it “The Bing Phone”?
Today, I was asking my friend Aaron “to google something” on his Windows phone when I caught myself and said, “No, bing it!”
Then the lightbulb went on: why don’t they call it The Bing Phone?
It rolls off the tongue better than “Windows Phone 7″.
It’s a better brand: Windows means “work”, Bing means “discovery”.
So, it positions the phone as the “information when you want it” phone.
Or, for that matter, call it the “Xphone”. Xbox, Xphone. Integrate the experience and then you’ll get the added benefit of all the youngin’s wanting one. (And, for goodness sake, make the phone sync to the Xbox, not the desktop.)
The Only Constant is Change
In my home office, I have a chair that I’ve had for many years. I really like it, and it’s important for you to know that it’s a bit of an usual chair.
The nature of the chair isn’t the point. The point is that last night I noticed the chair was starting to show wear, so I thought getting a new one. Then I thought, “Hmmm….maybe I should get two our three, so if in the future the company stops making this chair, I’ll have enough of them for the rest of my life.”
After having the Seinfeld “sponge” episode run through my mind, I thought to myself
Scott, that is totally crazy and neurotic. You’re going to have to come to terms with the fact that you might not have this chair forever, and at some point you might need to get used to a new chair.
Then, this morning, in the strange, coincidental way the universe works, as I was walking to the office, I saw this bumper sticker…and that’s the truth.
Taken and edited with Photoshop Express on my iPhone 4.
StartupDay 2011 – Building The Product
The slides from my presentation on product development from Seattle Startup Day 2011.
- Make a Prediction
- Build the simplest thing that could possibly work.
- Ship it!
- Measure the result.
Enjoy!
What Should I Do With This Money?
Cleaning out my home office this morning…came across a cup of coins and bills from travels. Bermuda (2000), Australia (1999), Spain (1998), Israel (1990) and Peru (I’ve never been to Peru!)
I’m wondering what to do with this money? Summed up, I bet it’s not even two bucks. It’s just clutter, but it feels weird to throw it away. And, it doesn’t seem worth the time to figure out where to trade it in.
Thoughts?
Great RFK on Quote on GNP and Community
Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things.
Our gross national product … if we should judge America by that – counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for those who break them. It counts the destruction of our redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and the cost of a nuclear warhead, and armored cars for police who fight riots in our streets. It counts Whitman’s rifle and Speck’s knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children.
Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it tells us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans.
Robert F. Kennedy Address, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, March 18, 1968
Why is traffic so frustrating?
A little Monday evening theory for you to try on for size:
I think the reason traffic is so frustrating is because the car is so empowering. Cars literally harness the force of nature—by converting matter into energy—to propel ourselves forward.
The entire notion is so completely beyond the capabilities of our natural human selves that the idea is nearly inconceivable. Yet, modernity has made accessing and exercising such amazing freedom so easy that we are barely cognizant when we do. When you slip the key in the ignition, and twist your wrist…do you even think about what you are doing?
And, so, when a traffic jam stunts the abilities we have that far exceed our capabilities…well, then it’s doubly frustrating: not only have we lost out magic power, but we are reminded of what it really means to be alive.
DonorsChoose.org Hackathon Interview
In January, I participated in the DonorsChoose.org Social Hackathon. Bing brought together cross-functional group of people to compose a guide for non-profits on how to best use the web to support their causes. The result was a series of short interviews plus an e-book that is freely available to everyone.
Quite honestly, I am humbled to have been included in this project.
Schedule Update
As you, my loyal friends, acquaintences and readers know, I make my best humanly possible effort to write on a schedule: Monday through Thursday every week.
I do this for you, so you a can rely on having something new to read everyday as you take a coffee break, catch up on the day’s events or what have you.
I also do it for me because I find the discipline of a schedule an effective way to help me write consistently.
However, this week I will be taking tomorrow off to spend the day with my family. I’ll be back on Monday, but in the meantime maybe you want to start a blog of your own. If you do, leave a link in the comments.
Until next week…
