Cryptic Goals

This is for me. It isn't meant to be understood. ;)

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Programming is nothing like playing with legos.

If I'm going to use an analogy of building with legos to describe the process of programming, I'd rather describe it like this.

Programming is like building your own machine that makes the legos. Then telling all your friends and family, co-workers, etc that you built a new lego. Afterwards, most of them will simply ignore you and your shiny new legos and walk right by them and head to the train set sitting on the table, or the puzzles, or blocks. A few of them will pick one up and look at it closly, and say, "this isn't a lego at all".  And maybe, just maybe, one guy you've never met will pick it up, take a look at it, see your vision or their own, pick up more legos and build something with it.

Getting Real + A random group of web developers = ?

I'm excited. And when I get excited, I tend to talk a lot... and fast.

There is a group stirring in Buffalo, NY that is business focused, interesting, and potentially life changing. That is, if part of your life involves running a business of any size. Here is to hoping for time well spent on topics that matter. And I hope it goes beyond just a mere book club into interesting debates and perspectives. We'll see.

Celebrating Steve Jobs at RPCI.

Steve Jobs day for employees at Roswell Park Cancer Institute

Committing to Ideas.

This is my pledge to make a difference. To take a stand. To do rather then just think & dream. My time is an expensive commodity that isn't renewable and so easily wasted. I'm going to make every moment count. I propose to intentionally take breaks in a coordinated effort only to renew my personal effectiveness. Create more and consume less. Get organized, stay organized. Stay on task. Embrace others and their ideas and experiences; and share my own.

Dealing with different opinions and the resulting arguments.

Dealing with the technical nature of something often leads to different opinions on the way it should be handled. This can lead to discussions and constructive arguments. Which is the goal when two or more developers are discussing a topic. However, at the end of the argument/discussion, a decision has to be made to move forward. If a decision is not reached do to interpersonal conflicts, something is amiss and needs to be worked on between the two parties involved. I have found that when in these situations (although rare) it is best to try to be empathetic with the other party and honestly try to see the different view point. Then contrast and compare and form an opinion. And in a sense measure if that final opinion is worth the effort to discuss further. By simply trying to see the argument in light of the other's perspective, I can come to an amicable conclusion.

Dealing with people is the tough part, but I believe the most important part. Forgiveness and grace play their role here. Dealing with a difficult person, although rare, makes forgiveness and grace necessary even if not reciprocated.

Music: Zoe Keating. Cello + IA

I really enjoy the way she describes her music in the video and compares it to information architecture. I'm incredibly impressed with her style and composition. Looking forward to seeing her performance in the future.

www.zoekeating.com

Google + Dart = wait and see.

I'm looking forward to learning more about Google's upcoming Dart programming language. However, I totally get the gist that it will be yet another web programming language to learn. I'll reserve my judgement until I am able to further understand the problem it is looking to solve regarding its goal to leap frog JavaScript instead of pushing Harmony. I've read the leaked letter, but I still want to get my hands dirty with Dart before making a judgement call. I wish I could attend the Gotocon keynote, but I'll have to settle for Twitter feeds and live blogs. Only a matter of hours now till we get a look.

Marketing Mix - Back to Basics.

I recently ran across a Wikipedia article regarding the Marketing Mix which I remember learning about in one of my business classes in college. The Marketing Mix is a term which was coined way before my time and can be summed up as the Four 'P's and the Four 'C's:

Four 'P's:

• Product
• Price
• Promotion
• Place

Four 'C's

• Consumer
• Cost
• Communication
• Convenience

The difference between the two above categories being that the 'C's are for niche marketing and the 'P's are for mass marketing.

I think startups looking to jump the gap from early adopters to mass markets make the mistake of overlooking the differences between these two. From my limited observation, it appears most startups fail to implement new marketing strategies aimed at mass markets and continue to target individuals. Or to put it another way, mass markets looking at B2B startup offers are looking to manage a pain point for others/managers/bosses, while B2C startups are looking to pinpoint a specific need or pain which a consumer is looking to solve. I wonder if B2Cs and B2Bs recognize the differences. I think it comes down to understanding your audience

My five step plan for prioritizing, organizing, and executing. #getthingsdone

In an effort to set my own priorities straight and get things done. I decided to evaluate and automate everything I can for my life both online and offline. In retrospect, this has been something I've been gearing up for some time now. For instance on my whiteboard at home, I have a list of small little projects to complete which are a balance of physical projects around the house, startup ideas, and for-fun projects

I quickly realized that to execute my overall plan and accomplish something to be proud of, I would require a concerted effort on my part to get organized and stay organized.

Phase 1: Write out everything I want to accomplish. Anything and everything even remotely worth while.

Phase 2: Set goals and prioritize the master list by items which require a date of completion, then those which would potentially make money, then lastly the for-fun projects.

Phase 3: Create a master plan which includes a sprinkle of pet projects mixed in for good measure.

Phase 4: Before staring an item on the list, write out a hypothesis and simple metrics which need to be achieve to consider it a success.

Phase 5: Execute the plan in order, and ruthlessly abandon a project if it no longer proves viable.

Repeat as necessary. Since I can assuredly say that my master list is incomplete and will morph over time, I need to give myself a little grace as I proceed. Failure is inevitable, but my goal is to get over it quickly.