Is it the truth?

The Invocation schedule got shifted around and so they asked me to do another one sooner than normal.  This is a subject I've been thinking about for a while; seemed like it would be a good time to develop the idea.  Our guest speaker on the the day I'll deliver the invocation is Karen Crotchfelt, President & Publisher, Star Media.  A newspaper attempts to deliver the truth every day - or should.

Rotary Invocation

September 10, 2013

Is it the Truth?  When we were children we were taught to always tell the truth.  The truth must have been simpler then.  As if the choice between telling the truth and telling a lie was a task suited to the naiveté of a child.  The bible doesn’t assume the reader is much more sophisticated and it simply commands us not to lie.  The truth is apparently far more difficult to tell.

The truth is subject to interpretation.  That much is obvious.  How can so many news outlets tell the truth but tell different stories?  So the truth is actually a product of facts and perspective.  What happens when even the facts are in doubt?  The truth becomes a very flexible thing indeed.

Rotary relationships depend on the truth.  And we ask ourselves at every meeting will the things we think, say and do be guided by it.  The success of our club depends on it.  And our hundred year legacy would only be possible because of it.

But now our nation is challenged to know the truth about so many issues.  The War in Syria, Equality of Opportunity, Privacy of Personal Information, Climate Science, Economic Policy.  The sides in these debates hold the truth as their keystone asset.  But how can that be?  How can we know the truth?  Knowing the truth must be much harder than we were led to believe.  Maybe we were lied to about the truth?

Will the truth set you free?  Maybe.  Will the truth lead to world peace?  Probably not.  There are just too many versions of it.  The most we can hope for is that men and women of good will can move beyond the belief that only their truth matters and constantly ask the question: Is it the truth? even of their own beliefs.  That is why the question bears repeating.

Great resources for this invocation: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-second-noble-truth/201205/the-truth-will-not-set-you-free

http://www.ted.com/talks/kathryn_schulz_on_being_wrong.html

Another Rotary Invocation - May 2013

I just turned 60 last week.  By any measure, a milestone.  Several friends and relatives didn’t make it this far.  My 40th high school reunion included time for memorials, my brother died at 55.  May is the month of Memorial Day.  The thought of passing out of this life has become more personal lately.

Many people I know, and me included, live their lives in Drive.  At 100 miles per hour we boast.  May is also the month for racing.  Presumably we’re all heading somewhere better than where we are.  Moving away from here (which is somehow not good enough) and going there, which is full of promise.  The expressions: ”He’s going places,” “He’ll go far,” and “She’ll get somewhere someday” have an almost magical attractive sound to them.  Like here is nowhere you’d want to be.

So just for today, just for this Rotary Club meeting, I’d like you to find another gear to be in: Park.  Sit a spell. Cool your jets.  Smell the roses.  These too are old sayings with equally valid advice, that from my more mature perspective, sound just as magical to me now.  I actually remember Parking as a teenager quite fondly.

It is far safer to enjoy the scenery when you are in Park.  It is far easier to talk and listen and think when you aren’t running.   You can’t put more gas in the car unless you stop every once in a while.

My hope for you today and every day is that for all the time you spend in Drive you reserve some time for Park.   Or, as the lyrics from Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘59th Street Bridge Song’ advise:

Slow down, you move too fast.
You got to make the morning last.
Just kicking down the cobble stones.
Looking for fun and feelin' groovy.

Message to Dan Coats, Sen (R) Indiana

Dear Sen Coats,

I learned today that you may filibuster legislation that regards imposing new restrictions on the sale of guns.  I am in favor of reasonable limits on the sale of guns; for example criminal background checks, waiting periods, demonstration of proficiency, mental aptitude, etc.

Please allow a vote on this legislation to proceed to the floor of the Senate.  I believe our nation deserves a vote on this critical issue.

Also: the pull-down list under 'Subject' didn't include Gun Control.  I selected 'Health Care' as a last resort because in my view when people die it is a Health Care issue.

People are fat in this country because of the abundance of cheap food at more outlets, at more times of day, that satisfies every appetite with maximum convenience.  I believe deaths due to guns may be explained the same way.  Make guns more available and more people die - make guns less available and fewer will die.

Thank you,

Kim Brand

Startup advice delivered by Pillow Logistics

One of the great things about being involved with the Business Ownership Initiative and Julie Grice, our executive director, is the great contacts I make.  Wednesday night I sat down with George Pillow, founder of Pillow Logistics.  An Indianapolis business success story.

After a couple+ beers I don't trust my memory to recall everything he said, but here is the gist of it - like getting an MBA in a bar (which happened to be The Columbia Club!)

Accounting.  You must understand numbers.  On your feet in front of a customer and with your accountant, bankers, employees and alone when you are thinking about what to do next.

Networking.  You must constantly make connections and seek relationships that can spread your message.

Marketing/Communications/Sales.  You must learned how to speak with everyone from the board room to the shipping dock.  The first impression you make is what you say and how you say it so don't blow it.

Friendship.  You must adopt a curiosity about people and friendliness that deepens the relationships you share.  While I was sitting with George he made a point of greeting every person in the room by name.  Dale Carnegie said: "There is nothing so sweet as the sound of a person's name to them."  In a competitive world of noise and distraction you need more friends to amplify your results.

George acknowledged the help of many mentors.  Among them Mickey Maurer, Cambridge Capital Partners and Jean Wojtowicz in particular.  He also the critical importance of the small business loan provided by Lynx Capital to get him started.

Finally, despite his success, George remains humble.  He said there is always something to learn, thanks to be paid to someone who helped and gratitude acknowledged for the community which makes personal success possible.  Most of all George told me, he credits his mother for the guidance and counsel that got him through the hardest times.

We all start small - and if we grow up tall it's most likely due to the care and nurturing of our first friend: our Mother.  George said that his Mother was his best friend.

I wrote a CV a while ago that quoted Rousseu and tried to capture the reality that I'm not that smart the way many people think of smart.  I'm not dumb either in the same way.  Like this blog's subtitle describes: People are Polynomials.

So I ran across this great video by Neil deGrasse Tyson that explains how each person is unique, has a mix of talents and should celebrate that.  He says: the world would be a better place if people focused on their talents and not try to fit the mold or fulfill the job descriptions imposed on them by others.

This is also the message of 'The Element," a wonderful book by Sir Ken Robinson that takes up the same subject.  Finding, and being 'in,' your element is the most important mission you have in life.

Another Indianapolis Rotary Club Invocation, delivered 10/16/2012

My son was married about a week ago.  As a matter of some coincidence, they chose to be married at the Speakeasy - a place connected to our speaker's businessincubator.  I hope it works as well for young couples as it does for young businesses.

The occasion of their marriage offered me time to reflect on love.  Of all the emotions it is the most difficult to explain.  The Apostle Paul wrote: "For there are these three things that endure: Faith, Hope and Love, but the greatest of these is Love."

I've set many goals in my life and achieved some success, but the achievement of which I am most proud is being married for 37 years.  A life of love shared with my wife.

Our love has changed through the years - the Greeks were the first to determined there were four types of love.  And I believe you can find all of them on display here today at Rotary:

Affection: We meet every week, sharing greetings, genuinely interested in listening to each other and doing business on the square.  You may not think this is love but of the four kinds it is the most natural and widely experienced.  An affection for nature, a cause, and a curiosity is love.  What soul could thrive apart from that?

Friendship: The old saying: "Make new friends, cherish the old.  One is silver the other gold" isn't an old saying here.  It's a part of our four way test; a pledge we make not to Rotary . . . but to each other.  Friendship is Chicken Soup for your soul. When you greet each other today consider it an opportunity to create a friendship that could last a lifetime.

Romance: Part nature but to this engineer's mind mostly mystery.  Easier to witness than explain; in full view at my son's wedding and - at my wedding and at your wedding.  Romance allows you to fall in love but land on clouds.  Romance is rewarded with caring, acceptance and fulfillment - so why don't we have more of it?

Charity: We gather today under a banner of service above self.  Unselfish love focused on bettering the world - but at the same time - ourselves.  Anne Frank said: “No one has ever become poor by giving.”

So be more in love today...practice all the different kinds: Affection, Friendship, Romance and Charity.  There probably isn't enough love in the world so commit yourself to making more of it today.

From Frank Zappa via Gregg Keesling:

Do what you wanna

Do what you will

Just don’t mess up your neighbor’s thrill

And as you pay the bill

Kindly leave a little tip

And help the next poor sucker on his one way trip

Why [great] newspapers must survive

It struck me today why newspapers must survive and it was a bit surprising.  (Isn't it wonderful when you can be surprised by your own ideas?  As if they came from another person!)

Browsing the pages of the NY Times it occurred to me the exposure to information in a newspaper is nearly random.  I know the Times has a liberal bias.  I know the 'Book Review' section is about books.  So the exposure may not be truly random.  But the discoveries on each page are somewhat unpredictable and the field so wide that I find myself stumbling into new matter every time.  It is almost like a voyage of discovery into uncharted territories.  Like Darwin trolling the inlets of the Galápagos Islands.

Perhaps this simply discloses my sheltered, naive and uninformed existence.  But the Internet has made search so effective and efficient that it is hard to stumble across information unintentionally today.  Every key word your look for is in the results.  But what if other ideas, tangentially related or unrelated, in the general area or far flung, are interesting too?  How do you expose yourself to that?

Whether intentionally or not, newspapers are the way to do that.  Maybe they shouldn't be called newspapers anymore.  News is something the Internet can deliver faster and cheaper.  Maybe they should be called Random Information Delivery Vehicles or Curated Collections of Loosely Aggregated Facts and Opinions.  Those monikers don't exactly flow from the tongue ;)

In any regard, Newspapers should spoil us with surprises and keep us curious about random facts and figures, stories and insights and delicious details that aren't immediately useful for a long time.

Thanks!

As reported on the IN Secretary of State's website, my candidacy for IN House District #53 resulted in 23% of the electorate voting for me!  That's a real bite out of the total votes cast 22778.  

My opponent would have otherwise run unopposed.  He is a good man and does a good job for our district.  BUT: the monogamy of ideas presented in a one party system is unhealthy for Indiana.  Nature loves experiments and diversity.  So should out political system.

I was impressed by the impotence of big budget political campaigns at the national level.  Billions of dollars could have been so much more productively spent.

Stay tuned to these pages for my plans concerning upcoming elections . . . THANKS AGAIN FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

My new favorite author: Steven Strogatz.  He joins a select few who have written books that I want to be buried with. (In case you are curious: Taleb, Kahneman, Mlodinow . . . maybe a few more.) What an amazing title:

The Calculus of Friendship: What a Teacher and a Student Learned about Life while Corresponding about Math

Life is over when the plates stop spinning.  Until then, my advice is to keep as many as you can from breaking!

I'm running again!

I'm happy to announce my candidacy for Indiana House of Representatives.  However, there's a twist!

Indiana redrew the House districts last fall and changed the borders for what had previously been District 53.  I now live in District 88!  But that detail was apparently overlooked by everyone involved in the acceptance and review of my application to run.  Oops!

Curiously, I learned about the change from an astute reporter for the Greenfield Reporter: Maribeth Vaugh.

In an e-mail exchange with one of the Co-Directors of the Indiana Election Commission I learned that if I won my race - now against Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma - the House would need to vote on what to do with me.

I am running to give Indiana voters a choice.  My business experience, leadership experience in several civic organizations, engineering education at Purdue and Libertarian philosophy qualify me to ask for your vote.  In an election year marred by unprecedented political acrimony, a third party candidate will be more than a vote for 'None of the Above.'  Hoosiers are tired of politicians who cling to anachronistic party positions and eschew collaboration.

We live in a time of unprecedented complexity and change.  Politicians that exploit the electorate's fear and confusion and promise a return to yesterday's bromides aren't just out of touch - they are insulting our intelligence.  More importantly: they are wasting our time.

You may not agree with my positions - you may not believe a third party candidate can win.  But think for yourself this Fall.  Consider the title of one of my favorite author's books as it applies to your choice: 'What Got You Here Won't Get You There.'

Feel free to contact me with your questions.

For the curious, I have posted several Press Releases and my Curriculum Vitae here.

Press Release - August 26, 2012
Press Release - August 15, 2012
Press Release - July 20, 2012
Press Release - July 19, 2012
Response to IN Right To Life Questionnaire

As if we needed further evidence that the Internet is making us stupid and anti-social . . . here comes Newsweek blogger Tony Dokoupil to remind us just how far we have fallen from interactive human beings to bots craving bandwidth in his article: Is the Internet Driving Us Mad?

The future of education

I've had the pleasure of meeting other people who are passionate about education.  But there is a persistent planning paradox that envelops the education community.  It is so hard to do anything and reform takes so long.  That is why I think this man is the future of education.  He didn't need a budget, a committee, a degree or pedagogy.  He just started.

Another Rotary Invocation

I always try to deliver a non-religious invocation but which is none-the-less spiritual.  This time I spoke about keeping a gratitude journal.  I first learned about keeping a gratitude journal from a great book I found in the U.K. named: Help! by Oliver Burkeman, the author of The Guardian's "This Column Will Change Your Life" column.

My research dug up lots more about gratitude journals...among then a few gems from a University of Miami professor, an article from Oprah's website and an article from Wikipedia including a quote from a 14th century Dominican priest I used to wrap it up.

Here is the invocation:

I’m not a psychiatrist, but I believe that at the core of many (if not all people) is a nervous, selfish, worried little child who is afraid he or she will lose their stuff or that some other kid will have more stuff or that some act of fate will take their stuff away and they will be left with less stuff or worse: no stuff at all. These fears turn us into greedy, envious, anxious adults with less capacity for hope or love or charity.

So I’ve discovered a happy trick you can play on that child. Record your blessings in a gratitude journal – write them down like in a diary. Charles Dickens wrote: “Every day reflect on your present blessings, of which every man has many, not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” Gratitude is one of the sweet shortcuts to finding peace of mind and happiness inside. Recording five a day keeps depression away.

So my advice it to keep a gratitude journal. Keep foremost in your thoughts that which you are thankful for, grateful for and in love with. Tell the little kid inside you to scram.

A 14th Century Dominican priest once said: “If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, ‘thank you,’ that would be enough.” 

You can Google “Gratitude Journal” for more.

Support Wikipedia

If you support open access to information, support Wikipedia

The Names Game on Inside Indiana Business

Inside Indiana Business featured my Names Game iPhone app in a short segment presented on WFYI in Indianapolis, the public television channel in Indianapolis.

Gerry Dick is a great host of the popular local television program that features interviews with business people from around Indiana.  It was an honor to be on his show!

Here is how Inside Indiana Business described the game:

NEW APP AIMS TO IMPROVE NETWORKING 

Hoosiers Produce iPhone Game 

If you need help remembering names of business connections, and Indianapolis entrepreneur has an app for that. Kim Brand has co-developed Names Game, which incorporates Facebook and turns name and face memorization into an iPhone game. Brand recently discussed the idea to launch the app during and appearance on Inside INdiana Business Television.

I'd like to give credit for the software development for the game to John Holtkamp.  John is a talented programmer and has been a valuable partner throughout the process of launching my first iPhone app.  His experience and insight belie his youth!

Business Ownership Sales & Marketing Links

I am proud to be on the Board of the Business Ownership Initiative.  At this time in a poor economy, entrepreneurship will be one of the principal drivers of prosperity and job creation.  I'm glad to play a small part in the economy (aside from owning three businesses.)


Meanwhile, I present short seminars to BOI clients on Sales and Marketing.  There are millions of resources on the web - the vast majority are free.


I collect the information I present primarily in two places:


My Entrepreneurship Wiki is located here (which is hosted for free by PBWorks - a WONDERFUL resource.)


My Entrepreneurship Bookmarks are located here (which is hosted for free by DELICIOUS.COM - VERY COOL!)


Check them out.  Let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Cosmic matter distribution & talent diversity

The distribution of talents in a person may be compared to the distribution of matter in the universe.  We have gotten much better at visualizing this matter over time – and a person gets better at recognizing what he is good at as he gets older.

This picture sums it up:

We start off with talents that are fuzzy.  Some boys are good at sports.  Some girls may be good at music.  Either sex may have talents commonly associated with the other.  I believe the brain is predisposed to some talents at birth, but that doesn’t preclude learning to be better at anything.

The point is that as we get older we figure out where our talents lie.  We accept that we are naturally good at some things and, while we can develop a weakness into a strength, there are so many areas where we are just naturally better; Why invest the energy to do so?

Recognizing and accepting ourselves as who we are simply acknowledges this prenatal organization of brain stuff.  We ought to consider it a gift.

Schools simply reflect society’s priority to develop general individual utility for the sake of general prosperity.  In an increasingly interconnected and complex society, the role each of us play can be more granular.  Unfortunately it is not economical for schools to produce individualized curricula – so we settle for generic education ill suited to the individual talents of students.

Perhaps in some enlightened future educational system we will enjoy new capabilities being developed in pharmacology: to custom engineer drugs to suit the unique characteristics of human molecular architecture at the DNA level.  Some education leaders are advocating the same for schools.

As the noted education expert Sir Kenneth Robinson has criticized: The principal organizing characteristic which determines the education of our youth should not be their date of manufacture.

Advice

The late Richard Holbrooke used to give the essential piece of advice for a question-driven life: Know something about something. Don’t just present your wonderful self to the world. Constantly amass knowledge and offer it around.

How has the Internet changed the way you think?

Just yesterday, my son asked if he should take Huxley's Brave New World on a flight with him to Los Angeles.  The book is a dark portrayal of a dystopic future.  I guess the questions and my mood made be a bit more sober than usual.

Then, a friend (Bruce Frank) was reading from a compilation of articles published on Edge.org which answered the question: "How has the Internet changed the way you think?"

Here is my response...

The ability to connect 24/7 with media has affected everything.  I'm sure a book could be written, but in a sort of recursive way (like the way Escher painted,) the answer is 'infected' with the Internet.  Like defining a word using the word.

The first thing I did was Google it.

I read an article recently that claimed one of the changes is the way we remember information.  Why do you need to remember anything if you can find the answer on your mobile phone?  I used to pride myself on my memory of clients' phone numbers.  I can honestly say I don't know my mom's phone number: it's in my cell phone along with (I was aghast to learn when I backed it up) 900 other contacts.  HOW CAN THAT BE POSSIBLE?

And why would kids want/need to learn anything?  They all have iPads (or will) and the answer to any question will be delivered by Google.  And if Google can't find it - how important can it be?

What about spelling, grammar or punctuation.  Seriously, when I'm texting you and using Ur, 4, 2, sup? and :) to communicate, who cares about apostrophes, possession, conjugation or tense agreement?

You've all chided me for my multiple e-mail addresses.  I recall creating them.  Each was an escape from the torrent of messages.  It used to be Spam.  Now, the Spam is gone - but the torrent remains!  Good messages from important people I should read, file, respond to or just think about.  It's like getting 50-70 pieces of mail a day!  How can you deal with that?

The Luddite movement responded to the onslaught of automation with violence.  John Henry supposedly died competing with a machine.  And now Chess and Jeopardy are proving that machines are as smart as they are strong.  No less, the Internet?

Of what use are humans?  To keep the lights on?

Otto Wichterle, my new hero

This guy beat the odds, kicked their ass and invented something hundreds of millions of people use - but you don't know him.

I volunteer at Business Ownership Initiative in Indianapolis, an SBA funded Womens Business Development Center. We help mostly women and minorities start businesses.

When I counsel these startups I try to convey what it takes to be successful starting and running a business. Persistence is at the top of the list. (My favorite quote on the subject is from former president Calvin Coolidge.)

I always enjoy using examples from history of scientists or entrepreneurs who exhibited remarkable persistence to become successful. There are many. Today's news media too often makes success seem like it comes out of a microwave.

I came across this story about Otto Wichterle, the inventor of contact lenses. His picture spoke to me: It was like: "I kicked their asses, and I can kick yours too!" I LOVE THAT IN AN ENTREPRENEUR!

But unlike The Donald, this guy had a brain.

Somewhere, Nicola Tesla is smiling

Anyone who knows me knows I admire Nicola Tesla.  The man was an unrewarded genius.  It is too soon to tell if I will be among that cohort, or break out.

But to make a fraction of his impact on the world would be an achievement.  So mode it be.

Business Ownership 'Operations' Section Notes

I presented the CoreFour Business Planning section on Operations offered by the Business Ownership Initiative tonight.  You'll find my links to the materials I presented here.  Hope it helps!

Friends and mobile devices

If you do this when you meet up with friends, they should be looking for another friend.

Cloud services reliable?

I read Reddit all the time.  It depends on Amazon's EBS.  It's down all the time.

If Reddit can't keep it up, what chance do 2nd and 3rd tier providers have?  Better bring an umbrella.

ILTSO releases standards

The International Legal Technical Standards Organization initial draft standards (to which I contributed) has just been published.

I predict that they will be the subject of much debate over the next few months, but the idea for the standard, the brainchild of Jeff Goens, CEO of Dialawg, is a good one and will be refined over the next couple years.  There have already been a few blog posts - Press Release here.

There is an Internet meme that applies to most standards: TL;DR.  At under 50 pages, these standards are a scintilla of other standards that many industries - let alone 'The Law' - have come to be governed by.  But from my experience in the technology service business, any sentence that includes the word 'computer' is likely to be too long for most normal people to read.

Nevertheless, I'm pleased that the ILTSO standards emphasized brevity and clarity and are targeted at the technical acumen of a 'normal' person rather than, say, the audience of the MSDN.

With so much change happening in technology today - from cloud computing to mobile devices - these standards are intended to help law firms keep their clients' data safe and their partners out of trouble.  Worthy goals for any standard.

Personal vs Cyber relationships

A professor speaks about substituting personal relationships for technology...

Four things

My Rotary Club invocation of March 5 simply recounted Robert Fulghum's All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.  So far as I know, this was the first time an invocator presented his or her remarks with an assist from Powerpoint.  The result was that most of the audience followed along outloud - Mitch Miller style!

I mentioned to myself today that if a struggling, but proud, parent wanted to do the best they could for their children, they should lie to them about the cruel realities of life.  Better that they manufacture a fantasy that would create the hope that their life would be better, than sew despair that the future held no relief from the pain they saw in their parents' eyes.

And another thing, parents should at least prepare their students with a respect of diction, grammar and the rewards of speaking as if you care to be understood by people that matter.  Right after appearance, the words that fall from your mouth create an impression that fixes you in the mind of a listener.  A negative impression is hard to overcome.

I mentioned my belief (to Cy Wood of Franklin University of Ohio,) that the future of education is The YouTube Degree.  Venerable institutions of higher education will 'certify' graduates based on standardized tests - most of their degree programs will be too expensive, take too long and become irrelevant to the majority of lifetime learners.

Waiting For Superman

We loved this movie.

I'm left with the depressing feeling that we may not have the courage to let the market work to solve this problem.  If we resort to lotteries to ration good education too many students will be left to the 'Failure Factories' and too much potential will be unfulfilled just when our country needs all the help it can get.

Charter Schools are a great start.  But can't we expect more from Public Schools?  Doesn't everyone want every school to succeed?

ClusterMesh

We've had a lot of fun introducing our 'Half Price' wireless mesh networking product.  EVERYTHING is going to be wireless soon.  And the 802.11x standard is not going away for a while.  So customers: schools in particular but anyone that has a large space to 'light up', really need this.

Turns out there aren't very many economical solutions - that's was the same story behind FileSafe.  So it was second nature to invent something!  Irvington Community Schools loves it at their three campuses and I hope we'll deliver it soon to several more.

We've had a range of reaction to the name: ClusterMesh.  Everyone smiles.  What could be better?

Oh, and we got the Facebook page up: www.Facebook.com/ClusterMesh last week.  Over 30 friends already!

Just make it go away

Windows 7 introduced the concept of Libraries.  Like symbolic links in Unix.  I'd describe them as a layer of abstraction over the hierarchical directory system that most people have learned to deal with since DOS.  It's not terribly hard to shove 'folders' down peoples' throats.  They see filing cabinets filled with folders all the time.  Hard drive = filing cabinet.  Folders = subdirectories.  Simple.

But Microsoft just had to give Windows 7 something more than a pretty face (like the Mac) and better security (like the Mac.)  So it added a file system abstraction that aggregates folders from different places and/or computers into the mix.  When you delete something here it isn't deleted from the source.  When you copy something here there aren't really two copies of it.  More properties control the listing order and the new indexing service can be enabled to search by more metadata.

Trouble is 100% of my customers don't care.  Actually, 100% of the comments on the Microsoft website explaining this little gem of a feature want to know how to make it just go away!

Don't they pilot this stuff?  Or do they just not listen?  We've reached the stage where the Windows operating system has simply morphed into an engineer's feature dreamworld.  One would think they'd focus on the user's productivity.

Google Rex

I'm fascinated by the power of search in general and Google in particular.  Like drive through windows on information - fast, convenient, accurate results to curiosity about anything has made us obese in a digital way.  Sloppy scavengers of data, factoids and random nodes.

Anyway, two recent articles on Google are just too interesting not to mention here:

Today's NYT: The Dirty Little Secrets of Search brought focus on how search results can be manipulated.  Staying with the fast food alalogy, like adding sugar to high fat food to appease the animal brain's hunger for calories.

Then there was A Bully Finds a Pulpit on the Web (also from David Segal and the NYT.) 

Manipulation has always been the simplest form of larceny.  The game is simply faster, more profitable and less obvious today.

On Cloud Computing

From an e-mail to friends...

Cloud computing is a strategy to outsource complexity and risk. Most SMBs can’t stand that their Windows systems constantly need maintenance, updates and repair. A ‘cloud’ service is really just a way to fix the cost and get out of the PC Problem Pool.

Until you get a generation of users that are willing to STOP using Word, Excel & Quickbooks you won’t have cloud services replace local servers. Likewise: Autocad, Photoshop and a myriad other apps that put a strain on even CAT6 infrastructure. Microsoft wants to hurry that along (Office365 – not to be confused with Office360) but Google is already there. Trouble is that very few of my customers know what the cloud is or why they’d want one ;)

If you don’t have a local server (like ours: FileSafeServer.com) you’re going to be sucking data through a straw until everyone gets fiber to their dmarc from their ISP. And our experience is that customers are already pushing back on $100+/mo broadband. They want to BROWSE, BACKUP TO and GET THEIR EMAIL from the web but not much else. A few have tried VPNs to virtual servers and they think it sucks. We get calls all the time from customers that simply need to reboot their routers. We have 100+ FileSafes in the field that check in every three minutes. There’s always a few that stop checking in and it’s almost always because of Internet issues. And sometimes our monitoring page lights up like NORAD because there has been a system wide Internet failure. This ain’t like the old phone system with five nines uptime.

If you want to access files remotely you use LogMeIn or, better yet, RDP – it’s free and fast right back to your desktop.

I agree that SalesForce.com, Sharepoint and some other hosted apps – in particular Hosted Exchange with smartphone integration – are MUST HAVEs for many small businesses, but our customers are much more comfortable knowing their data, docs, pics and all the important stuff they ‘own’ is inside their four walls. Don’t get me started on data privacy concerns, cloud vendor security/availability (DDOS risks,) and lock-in.

And just wait until ISPs start putting tolls on bandwidth! This ‘all you can eat’ free lunch we’ve been eating is going to end someday. That will certainly put some hail in those clouds.

Like many things, the story is more complicated than it first appears – and hybrid solutions are still the right answer.

A Horribly Broken Prescription Delivery System

From a recent e-mail to friends...

I rarely write during the day - I actually stay pretty busy. But I'm 'relaxing' over the holidays (only trying to work 8 hrs/day,) and I needed to focus on my Zolpidem (generic for Ambien) prescription because I'M ALMOST OUT!

So I wanted to order some online now that we are on an HSA and paying cash for them...I thought that it would be no big deal.

Lots to talk about here for the next time we're together. But interesting results from price checking a few local pharmacies: One tech told me she had know way to find out what prescriptions cost. The range was $45 (drugstore.com) to $164 (CVS.) Walmart was $86. The CVS tech asked me, "Do you know how many insurances (sic) there are?" She passed me around for a while and I finally learned that you need to specifically ask for the 'Cash' price - a keyword that takes you into the 'this poor bastard doesn't have insurance' queue - which they know means you'll PAY ANYTHING SINCE THERE IS NO MARKET FOR PRESCRIPTIONS SOLD AT AN ADVERTISED PRICE! (I use the term 'Market' in its technical/economic sense here.)

I ordered from drugstore.com on 12/9. The flurry of paperwork ended today when I practically had to conference them together to exchange info. My doctor still depends on faxes and phone calls exclusively to do this. There is no system of electronic communication. Zolpidem is a 'controlled substance' and must require doctors and pharmacists to pledge their first born sons or daughters to keep paper documentation authorizing them to write/fill prescriptions - with penalties like dismemberment if they can't provide the paper trail. (So much for the ubiquitously available ED meds!)

It would be MUCH EASIER to get Pot, Cocaine or Heroine. At least I know the service would be driven by market forces! I may try later today and report back ;)

P.S. Drugstore.com turns out to be the BEST place to get this stuff so far. I know exactly what phone numbers to dial and IVR prompts to pass to crack their system now ;) I'll clue you in for free drinks!

The Real Royal Society

A few friends and I meet from time to time to discuss the issues of the day. We careen from subject to subject and pontificate on a variety of topics, making assertions, citing dubious references, pillorying our lunchmates and attacking sacred cows with vim and vigor!

I have named the group the Royal Society and I mean it no disrespect. I long for the polemics and debate of a latter day; courteous, informed and energetic!

But there is a 'real' Royal Society which is celebrating its 350th anniversary - and they deserve congratulations and honor. The home of such great minds as Newton, Laplace, Maxwell, Hawking and Berners-Lee, all FRS - Fellows of the Royal Society, and countless others who have preserved science over centuries when, to paraphrase a popular country music song, science wasn't cool. We owe the Society an immeasurable debt for a life unparalleled in abundance, convenience and longevity.

You can read a brief (32 p) report, Science Sees Further, which their President, Martin Rees, calls "an opportunity for us to look at the key scientific issues of today, and those of tomorrow."

Edit: And then there was this.

This just in

NYU moves to Google Apps for Education. Does that score one for Microsoft 0n-premises solutions?

Couldn't help myself

Redmond Channel Partner is a thin magazine that extols the virtue of Microsoft Products and generally heaps praise on whatever they do. The last issue served up lots of affection for Microsoft's latest strategy to dominate the universe with their Cloud technology.

I think reports of their imminent success are a bit premature. But what do I know?

So I sent the author of the article a short note (using my Google Apps account,) to wit:

Hi Scott,

I read with interest your recent piece in RCP, "Bet on MS Cloudy Forecast." I got a kick out of the quote from the reporter: "What is it?" or words to that effect.

One of my customers recently asked: What is it? That is *not* a closing question.

The problem is that MS has hit a wall dictated by physics in a way. Customers' needs are well met by local apps, Internet for most is a flaky $20 DSL connection, they see the 'bleed' of a subscription service (I know, I sell one,) and open source is right on their tail. I say MS is a short sell opportunity.

What they can't control is the very real fear that viruses, malware and security risks impose. MS is at the root of all this, whether they are to blame or not. Bad PR is bad PR.

We've moved lots of customers to Google Apps. I love hosted Exchange @ $5/user per month. I think Windows servers are stupid complex and I'll be the first to admit my reluctance to sell them is that I'm not smart enough to work on them. My small business customers (less than 20 users, 5+ million,) are stupider than I am! They think I'm smart!

MS can't deny gravity. This cloud initiative is chasing Google. Apps are a commodity and search is all that matters.

Loved the article,

Kim Brand

www.ComputerExpertsIndy.com

www.FileSafeServer.com

www.KimBrand.com

Indianapolis

What does this mean?

I was just minding my own business when Tom Lapp, Co-Inventor of FileEngine, forwarded me a story from EWeek.com that includes this 'strategy' comment by a Microsoft executive:

“We are going to lead with the cloud,” Microsoft COO Kevin Turner said during a speech at the company’s Financial Analyst Meeting July 29. “Leading with the cloud actually helps better position Microsoft to sell more on-premises products than we ever have before. … Very strategically, it signals a very clear commitment to our customers and our partners.”

How could a C level exec attempt to convince intelligent finance managers that delivering cloud based solutions will accelerate sales of on-premises solutions?? Maybe Google should sell on-premises solutions to promote sales of Google Apps?

I had never heard of the term 'on-premises' solutions before. Was that Windows Server 200x? Almost sounds cooler when you call it an on-premises solution. (See my older blog entry here on how Windows server is like a puppy trying to find a place to pee.)

Harry Potter's Mom Gives Harvard Commencement

What a great resource for my DeadBeatsBall.com website! 

Early in the presentation I read...

On this wonderful day when we are gathered together to celebrate your academic success, I have decided to talk to you about the benefits of failure. And as you stand on the threshold of what is sometimes called ‘real life’, I want to extol the crucial importance of imagination.

And it just kept getting better and better.

Sales 101

This week Jeff Bowe and I spoke at the Business Ownership Initiative. The SRO crowd (15) were all starting businesses or trying to develop the one they had. I love that crowd!

We ended up in Chicago this weekend to care for a daughter with a strained ankle. Ouch! So during the unexpected 'down time' I'm trying to do some 'sales development' by reading thoughtful sales articles. (You might find my collection of same here and here useful.

Anyway, the stuff I'm reading this morning is here...and from Sharon Drew Morgen. All good.

I spent some time this morning trying to understand the 'demotivators' that impact sales. Have you ever studied demotivators in a sales class? Looking at the sales encounters we've had over the years it's like a blinding flash of the obvious. The 'Features & Benefits' weren't enough to overcome the demotivators. I've been wasting all my time attacking one (price) and leaving all the rest unresolved.

So much to do ;(

Another Rotary Invocation

October 5, 2010 - Indianapolis Rotary Club.

I wanted to write on the theme: 'If this life was all there was.' Rather than hoping that when we die you reach your final reward, you realize that you better eat desert now - cause when it's over, it's over!

But I couldn't write that invocation and make it positive. I'll try again later.

So I started banging away on the keyboard Monday night around 9pm while Beth Ann was watching Dancing With The Stars. (Not exactly the most conducive environment to write.) Words didn't flow, sentences appeared and disappeared. It was a real struggle. Writing each line took effort. I felt like I was hewing art from stone. Ultimately, I finished it Tuesday morning after spending another hour. Our lunch starts at Noon.

I wanted to connect the recent discovery of a star system which may include a planet in what is called the Goldilocks zone which may harbor life of some kind to my belief that life on Earth is actually not that special. Interesting, definitely; but not unusual. There is no need for a deity (at least at this stage of the game.)

As you can read below, I believe we are special for entirely different reasons. But these ideas actually emerged on the page as if I was conjuring an 8 Ball. It was like I wrote words, stared at them for a while, assembled them in sentences, deleted a few, moved them around and then stared at them some more. Over a couple hours, a few ideas consolidated on this framework of words that allowed me to connect the parts into a whole.

I got several compliments on it. A few were quite enthusiastic. So I guess this worked. It was athletic in a cerebral way.

Are we special?

Science is nearly ready to answer that question in a way that wasn’t possible a decade ago.

120 trillion miles from here scientists say they have found what appears to be an Earth-like planet that may be just warm enough and wet enough to make the chemistry of life possible.

Our special place in the universe is about to be challenged. We may not be alone.

So much of life’s meaning is connected to a feeling that we are special. From religion to education to management, the means may be different, but the ends are the same: to affirm each person’s uniqueness, each person’s right to be different; to make each person feel special about themselves, their abilities, their relationships, their potential.

So today, we learn we may not have such a special place among the stars. So what?

Being special was never about being alone. To be truly special requires the attention of another human being. A gift given by one person to another; at arms length, with a smile, a sympathetic ear or just a sincere hello. Making another person feel special and cared for is something we do around here . . . in our corner of the Milky Way.

As you sit with each other, greet each other, interact with and work with others throughout the rest of today, and every day, remember that while we are each made from basic elements, combined in interesting but somewhat predictable ways, what makes us special is the way we love each other; the gifts of care and attention we freely give to make another person feel special among all the planets and stars of the cosmos.

When we do that, we can still be special, in the hearts of the ones we love, in the communities we serve, across continents and who knows, across light years. Making someone feel special is your personal gift to the galaxy, and as far as we know, uniquely human.

Another great quote

Reminds me of the 'Sunscreen Song', but contracted for the Twitter generation.

Live with intention.

Walk to the edge.

Listen hard.

Practice wellness.

Play with abandon.

Laugh.

Choose with no regret.

Appreciate your friends.

Continue to learn.

Do what you love.

Live as if this is all there is.

-Mary Anne Radmacher

A Dearth of Curiosity

A brief conversation with an old friend tonight reminded me...

She's working at a new charter school now; nothing but the best. New technology, nutrition plans to combat the let down after lunch, no desks, etc. She was so enthusiastic!

But I've mused before about how absent curiosity seems to be in schools that are otherwise well resourced. No pedagogical excess can overcome a dearth of curiosity. But a driving curiosity can lead to a fascination with learning that trumps suboptimal learning conditions. Indeed, what passes today for an impoverished educational environment would have been a luxury to the peers of Newton, Leibniz and countless others whose discoveries form the foundation of today's science curricula! Lavish the Internet on idiots and you end up with idiots!

What a tragedy! Anyone can now indulge their curiosity to nearly a limitless depth, for free, 24/7, from home, and avail themselves of knowledge formerly reserved for the bourgeois. Perhaps getting an education would be more desirable if it was hard?

Real Poetry

Thanks to my parents I had an excellent education. (I own the meager results.)

I came across a poem by Shelley by accident this morning. It spoke to me about the futility of desire for fame or riches. The author advises us to relax, enjoy the ride; it will all be lost in the end anyway.

An education could be wrapped around this poem. At least I found it. Better late than never.

OZYMANDIAS

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

A further analysis can be found here and here.

Totaled

We've seen more and more cases where perfectly fine PCs get totaled by malware. The analogy to a car being totaled is apt: You slide into a barrier on ice in your 2002 Camaro at 10 MPH. No injuries, airbags don't deploy; the fender's messed up, front suspension too, the engine mounts go a little whacky. Fixable, right? Not!

The insurance guy says your car is worth $5K and the repairs will be $6K. Your car has just been totaled.

Think about the similarity to PCs but apply 'Internet Time' and 'Moore's Law': PCs change far more rapidly than automobiles. I need to remind customers all the time that the $1K PC they are buying today would have been $5K a few years ago - if it was available at all. Add in the cost of labor: probably not accelerating in this economy, but a good technician still bills out at $80-$110/hr.

How much can you afford to invest in that old 'PC Clunker' when it gets into an 'accident' with malware? (BTW: malware isn't the only malady: OS updates, hardware failure and abuse may be more familiar if less less likely threats.)

I assess the damage across several dimensions:

• How old is it?
• Is there important information still on it?
• Is the software installed on it recoverable? (i.e. do you have the rights and/or media, keys, codes, updates, configuration details, etc. available to make a new PC work like the old one.)
• How well did it perform before the crash?

Do you want to spend the cost of a new PC costs fixing up an old one? Not unless there are compelling reasons. For example: your old software won't work on Microsoft's latest OS (which is all you can find,) or the additional time and cost to configure a new PC is intolerable if not impossible. We wear-in PCs like old shoes. Sometimes, you just can't find one that fits as well.

We estimate that migration of all the stuff from an old PC to a new one can take from two to four hours - that adds hundreds of dollars to the equation. Your mileage may vary, but the pain is real.

What can you do to avoid having your PC totaled? Keeping it well maintained is a good start: update antivirus programs, safe surfing practices, store copies of the software, license keys and summary of significant configuration changes you've made in a separate place. This is like the little book you have in your glove compartment that records when you got oil changes and factory recommended service. It's a good idea for your PC too.

We recommend that important PCs use backup imaging software like Backup Exec System Recovery Desktop Edition and Acronis True Image. Both are available for under $100 and allow you to capture everything on your PC to a USB hard drive. On-line backups are fine for data - and may be OK for DOCs, databases and photos - but getting your programs and the functionality of a finely tuned PC back is just as important, if less emotional. You won't appreciate all that stuff until it's gone!

Confused at a higher level

25 years ago, a friend (Mike St. Pierre) sent me the following. Mike was one of my first customers for the Data Digger software I wrote for his and about 1000 other funeral homes.

I came across a copy of the original fax that has managed to remain on the pile of papers that haunt my efforts to get organized. By memorializing the original here I may finally be rid of the stress of possibly losing it. (Which would occur after a purge inspired by the hopelessness of never being able to dig out of the mess.)

I fully realize that I have not succeeded in answering all of your questions. Indeed, I feel I have not answered any of them completely. The answers I have found only serve to raise a whole new set of questions, which only lead to more problems, some of which we weren't even aware were problems.

To sum it all up: In some ways I feel we are as confused as ever, but I believe we are confused on a higher level, and about more important things.

Despite the humor in this, every time I read it, I nod my head in agreement with is existential truth.

Password frenzy

Today I helped the Latino Coalition setup e-mail, change Windows logins and generally get their employees' accounts organized. OMG!

There were three employees and each required a password for their desktop PC, a POP account, and SMTP account. We needed passwords for their e-mail/web hosting service, (to administer the e-mail accounts,) Yahoo! account (to create and then validate their e-mail accounts for sending mail,) and router. To change former Windows user account passwords required knowing the former user account password to change them. The SMTP service required a separate password and non-standard port number; that's like a password too.

Like most of our customers, the 'boss' wanted to know these website URLs, logins and passwords. She was overwhelmed! Who wouldn't be? When we were finished, she had a spreadsheet with six lines and eight columns - just for three employees!

No wonder many of my customers are frustrated to the point of distraction with computer security. What does is get them? Where is the trade-off? What is the upside?

Each of these people probably have personal e-mail accounts, bank accounts, a dozen other services and websites that require logins and PIN codes.

We are being punished by all these passwords! They buy us precious little security and simply don't work.

Born May 7

May 7, 1840: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Wolfram Alpha is good for this kind of stuff. But I actually noticed it on Pandora.

Where O death is your sting?

I've registered LastCallFunerals.com to develop an idea about what funerals should be. This woman said it better than me . . . and put up a video too. Thanks, Reddit users, for getting it to the front page.

Her son posted the final entry (her eulogy) on her blog on June 10. She was a comedienne and, to my view, a philosopher of life. She was obviously a great mom too.

I hope to get the chance to meet her someday.

I told you so

From the Associated Press: College for all? Experts say not necessarily. I've written about this before (somewhere.) There is a 'newly' discovered disconnect in College determinism: get a college degree = have a better life. Not necessarily so.

• Colleges want cheap money to effectively lower the price of their product; fatten their endowments and broaden their brand
• Governments want to give away college to appear egalitarian; to tap dance around the expanding gap between rich and poor
• Financial institutions want to suck from the tits of market manipulation and fees.
• Parents, pushed by their peers, long for success for their child and don't pay attention to the cost:benefit ratio; a healthy dose of nostalgia may be added - but their college experience came before the 'bubble' (like the real estate bubble) when too much money chased too few real degrees and too few jobs.
• Students want to dodge reality for as long as possible - who can blame them?

We all want to deny that hard work, curiosity, discipline, cleverness and the right parents are enough, (and necessary.)

If there was ever a time that a motivated student could manufacture his own education, network with leaders in the field and create a job that didn't exist ten years ago - today is the day.

And if there was ever a time when the lag between what could be taught from textbooks for thousand of dollars was less relevant than what can be delivered from a laptop for free - today is the day.

[Too much] More of the Same

Microsoft has unleashed another revenue release of their category dominating office suite: Office 2010. With a name like that, you just know there will be office versions in perpetuity. If only skill with a word processor was related to facility with words.

I was struck by the lambasting the multi-gigabyte/multi-hundred-dollar package received from Wired. They summarized thusly:

TIRED More bloated than the Goodyear blimp. Printing is slow and buggy. Useless spam filter even after a decade of development. Occasional system crashes. Still feels like spending hundreds of dollars for the privilege of sending e-mail and typing letters.

If only I could so successfully monetize such a stream of ponderously mediocre technology ;(

Love, browser

Why Steve Ballmer must be buying stock in Pepto-Bismol: Google's Chrome browser.

Dividends or Taxes?

Talking with a friend (Travis Cross, OfficeTone,) about technology adoption by small businesses and I ask:

What happened to the Technology Progress Dividend?

My answer:

It became a Complexity Tax.

No doubt: small businesses spend more money dealing with technology than they earn from adopting new technology. Think: password mahem, upgrades that go wrong, incompatible versions, security threats and training that never seems to be enough to improve productivity or enhancing skills.

Just a thought.

Solving the Candle Problem - Daniel Pink

Love this Daniel Pink presentation on what really motivates people to solve complicated problems. This is especially relevant to entrepreneurs working with knowledge workers in technology start-ups.