This is an Ignite talk. If you're not familiar with Ignite, the talks are all EXACTLY 5 mins. You get 20 slides that auto advance every 15 seconds. It's a real challenge to not get behind on the slides.

Despite the challenge of giving a compelling talk in this format, I do really enjoy it.  It forces presenters to get the point in 5 minutes and you can get through quite a few really great ideas in a 90 minute session.

Is it just me or were several of those slides way shorter than 15 seconds? Hmm...

I just don't know what my customers are having issues with.  I told them about all of these things they should be concerned about and then they stopped returning my phone calls.

What?  Really?

No one is more important than your existing customers.  They've made an investment in you.  Give back to them 10 fold.  Don't know what they want?  Ask them! I'll bet they'll tell you.

Stop selling what's on your line card, pushing your agenda, trying to get reelected, and inventing things for problems you don't even have.

• If your customers distribute HVAC or cleaning supplies, ask them what their 3 pains are in our depressed economy.  Then help them actually solve them. Don't push them whatever product you're getting a spiff on this month.  Help them change what you would change, and buy what you would buy if you were in their position.  That's not selling, that's sharing expertise.
• If you are a government agency and you need public support (I'm talking to you NASA), ask the people what they want for their kids.  Think 20 years out, not just about jobs next month.  You get support by actually being visionary, not by being a bunch of posers.
• If you sell security software, give them a solution that will actually solve their problem instead of a feature list.  If you are in the middle of the pack in your field and can't figure out why, it's probably because you sell people features, they only sorta work, and then all of your customers bad mouth you behind your back every time they get the chance (that would be what all the snickering is about).
• If you're an inventor, cracking eggs is not a major societal issue.  It's a pretend problem you've invented to basically steal $20 from people.  Coming up with a scam is hard work and takes brains.  Why don't you help people in underdeveloped countries figure out how to have clean water?

Your relationship with your customers is not about what YOU need!

People want their pains to be easier and they want to grow.  Give them both.  You start by asking them what they need.

You're an expert in what you do right?  Act like it.

This post is not about that...

While I was waiting to be seen, a nurse came by to take my vital signs.

My blood pressure was a little high.

Not really high, but a little.  This alarmed me more than the tick bite.

As the Doctor was writing my prescription, I mentioned that my blood pressure was a little high.

"Yes, a little.  You're overweight, so that's probably part of it"

Huh.

I know I'm overweight.  I'm eating better, and swimming almost every day.  In fact, in 2010, I'm down almost 10 pounds.

But it took a doctor telling me something I already knew to REALLY put myself in gear about taking care of myself.

Why did I wait for that?  I'm a smart person.  I can look in the mirror and tell that I've got 30 pounds I don't need at all.  I have a fused spine and that 30 pounds is making my back work harder than it should.

I knew all of that, but it wasn't until a Doctor told me my blood pressure would go down if I lost 30 pounds to resolve to really change my life.

What are you waiting on some expert to tell you?

Some things are worth consulting an expert for.  My Lyme disease wasn't going to go away on it's own.  But the intelligent person in me already knew I'm not taking as good care of myself as I should.

• Does your job suck and keep you from doing what you love?
• Do you know you can make a difference in the world, but you're afraid of failure so you don't even try?
• Has it been weeks since you told your wife how much she means to you?  What about your Dad?
• Are you itching to do something that scares the crap out of you?

Don't wait for an expert to tell you what you already know you need to do.  Consult with them when necessary, but don't use the lack of one as an excuse to do nothing.

Can't can't can't can't.

Rules don't scale.

I bought a Kind bar today because it seemed more healthy than a Snickers.  On the package it says:

• Gluten Free
• Wheat Free
• Diary Free
• Non GMO
• etc

When did we start buying things because of what's NOT in them?

How can we tell our kids to explore, invent, and innovate if they have to operate inside a strict set of rules designed to protect what we have now?  If we spend all of our energy protecting what we have now, isn't there a danger that we'll deny ourselves the future we want?

I'm a CAN kind of person.  I look for what's in things, not what's not in them.  I look for what CAN be done.  My kids are allowed to explore and take risks.

I've broken up with CAN'T.

The modern solution is to slam a RedBull and push through it.

This temporary and probably very unhealthy solution pales in comparison to something I've been trying to master over the last few weeks: the power nap.

I'm talking about a 20 minute sleep in the middle of the day.  There are many studies that show that sleep is essential to brain function in mammals and an improvement in reaction time after even a 5 minute nap is significant.  It's rumored that Albert Einstein was a frequent napper.

Our modern RedBull society views sleep as a weakness, but I say nay nay.  When done right, a 20 minute downtime is not only 3 bucks cheaper than a RedBull, but actually works better.  I find that I can work with that same clarity of mind for another 5-6 hours afterward that I enjoy in the morning.

The trick is to do it right.  20 mins, no longer.  Longer naps put you in a deep sleep cycle that can be hard to get out of.  You want to be restored, not groggy.

Using it as a substitute for staying up late every night playing World of Warcraft isn't right either.

It's not lazy, it's smart.  I'll bet you a case of RedBull that your doctor would tell you it's the right thing to do.

The Sharp GP2Y0A02YK0F - Infrared Proximity Sensor Long Range -

Hal 1.0

While testing his motions, I was noticing some pretty erratic behavior, so I decided to collect some data on the sensor values on a fixed object, while Hal was not moving.

This is a graph of about a minute of Hal moving the sensor from 45 to 135 degress in front of him and then taking a reading when the motion of the sensor stops. It's at a wall, at a slight angle so the graph lines aren't on top of each other at about 45 centimeters away.

My results for this sensor are not within the tolerances of being able to program him to to anything really interesting in an environment that isn't really simple.

The good thing is that only once in this data would a "is this way further than that way" check be incorrect.  Then again, he isn't even moving positions here.  The data is pretty erratic over a 1 minute period.

In reality, this is maybe not the correct sensor for this application.  Maybe an ultrasonic would be better.  Hal may have to have eye surgery.

Hal IS supposed to be a very inexpensive robot based solely on Arduino.  I don't expect him to be able to do very complicated things, but I was hoping for a little better readings on a fixed object than what I'm getting.

We like to change.

Your brain is wired to recognize patterns. It's very very good at it. The lazy thing for your brain to do is to recognize patterns it knows. Reinforcing those patterns.  Staying stationary, both mentally and physically is not good for creativity.

When you have new experiences, your brain creates new patterns and reconnects and rewires old ones. This is why you often have "ah ha" moments if you leave your home or office to go for a walk while pondering something. Your brain is seeing new things and it is in the mode to make new connections. If you bring your thought with you on your walk you bring it into this rewiring process.

We like to move. We like to meet new friends. We like to go to new places and try new things. We do it because we love being creative and keeping our minds in that new connections state.

This is often problematic for the relationships with our friends.  Our desire to always be on the move creates a significant barrier to long term friendships.  Lately, we've managed to reconnect with some old friends via the internet that we lost touch with because of our movement.  The Internet is great for that, but it's not quite the same as being reunited in person.

We've been in the same area now since 2002.  This is a very long time for us.  We did move across town in 2006, but it really didn't satisfy that need to move.

We've decided to spend the summer exploring what's next for us.  I'm not certain that a move is in store this year, but I do know that we are both making major changes.  Long term it might mean staying here and just traveling a significant part of the year, or it may mean picking up and moving.

Whatever happens, I do know that this summer will be a great time to explore new things and I'm really looking forward to what we might uncover.

via App turns iPhone into a credit card terminal - Springwise.

If you don't remember or have never seen it, it was a blend of science and science fiction in one magazine.  A place to explore ideas.  I loved it.

Publications like this just don't seem to exist these days.  Flipping through these old issues I'm struck by how optimistic it is.  There are articles like "Immortality: Live forver in a machine". When I go to a newsstand today everything is so cautious.

I'm tired of cautious.

I'd like to collaborate on something like this.  Obviously it would be done online ..  not in print and could include things like video, blogs, user feedback/forums, etc.

Anyone interested in brainstorming on this idea?