Category Archives: authenticity

A quick tale on how to ruin a community in one fell swoop

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Ruining a community is easy. First, build one. Then take all the information it’s generated over many years, and thanks to someone with a shiny new toy, destroy it. Throw it all away. But keep your precious, “Posts.”

In today’s media, blogs more specifically, if you have an authentic audience the thing you should know is your comments MATTER. Throwing them away is the same as telling every single person that has ever commented, that you frankly don’t care for them. Giving them an entirely new way to communicate has just ended years of actual relationships.

I may end up with egg on my face about this, but the whole point is to foster a community. Why would you delete that community’s involvement at the expense of your readership. Now you may refer to the fact that Facebook changes it’s layout 3 times a year and everyone trots out a grandiose list of why they’re leaving Facebook and never end up leaving. Facebook never deletes your history and pictures and figures you’ll stay happy with that. At least my friends list isn’t deleted, neither are my interactions. After years of reading and commenting on Gawker, that data is gone (or at least not able to be easily found).

Gawker Media, you had no rollout, there was no warning (I could’ve at least screen cap’d my COTD you jerks!) Just bang, delete.

I’ll probably roll my sorry butt back to Jalopnik, after all, it’s where my car looney buddies hang out.

But know I’ll kick you in the shins if you’ve got a Kinja shirt on.

Not Invented Here Syndrome,, what’s the cure?

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Mine Mine Mine Mine Mine!!!

This is the whine of many companies, and their innovation strategies. It’s interesting, some companies when approached are more than excited to take a look at new ideas from outside sources (as well as signing simple NDA’s (Non-Disclosure-Agreement) that detail that they won’t share the I.P. independently developed and produced with outside developers own time and money).

It’s surprising that so many places dismiss an outside idea. Especially since many outer opportunities, while not fully able to fit with their company can, at least introduce new ideas, thoughts, and concepts to them. Granted, most that look at outer company’s ideas simply find an intellectual property work-around and knock them off to get in the same product category.

Companies should realize that the level of monetary benefit alone exceeds the simple “cost of signing an NDA” (which, to be sure is the simplicity of writing their name, and faxing or emailing a document back). At that point, they can receive the document, prototype, or presentation, and identify the next action (there you go GTDers).

The real thing that companies need to remember is that if someone truly brings you a good idea,, you will NOT LOSE MONEY ON IT. People are bringing you an idea (protected already by at the very least a provisional patent pending, to prove it is theirs). If someone has brought you a beneficial product design, give it a fair shake. You’re only supporting a small group (those who have brought you their idea), while you’re, likely large company benefits every time from an innovative product. With a new product in a new section of your product portfolio, you can always make more money on a idea that you manufacture in house. While the designer you are licensing to may require money, and a percentage of your profits, the money you will be making will always be more than they are making and can make your efforts more than worth your own time.

I would love some feedback on this, but I feel that I’ve got something here. As an independent developer, this is the only way for myself and others that do this sort of thing to succeed. People like me aren’t looking to “take all your money”. Our overhead is usually a computer, a small shop (think a few hand tools), our cost to live, the cost of patenting, and the time and effort to develop a product that seems to fit your company’s industry. It’s often vastly cheaper than having an independent design house do the work (though I do support them entirely), but more often these are people that are seeking you out, and have a passion to help you and your company. These are people that like what you’re doing and want to be helpful, just give em’ a chance is all I’m saying.

Sign that NDA.

See what they have to say.

At worst, make a friend, you never know when that idea will come up again, and be just what your company needs to get ahead!

Just a little food for thought for the day.

Happy Monday!

Cheating in sports,, Darn it I have to talk

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stop cheating stupidRecently there have been a bunch of idiots cheating in professional sports.

Aside from my simple admonishment you may have noticed to the right,,,

I have a few thoughts about these goings on.

NFL First off, if you ask me about Michael Vick I will sick an Orca on you. That’s not cheating, that’s being a brutal dumbass.

I’m referring to videogate, or whatever you want to call the videotaping excursion made by the patriots. If you don’t know what I’m talking about by now,, well, congratulations for not living in North America, revel in your delicious culture and wonderful home cooked food that we have to go out and spend $100 for two people just to get a halfway decent version of.

The cheating in the NFL was of the most sophisticated, convoluted, and difficult cheat to execute of all. Why do I have any bearing on this conversation? I have previously spent time as a Division I-AA video coordinator (1993 season, Big Sky Conference, I know of which I speak). Anyway, to properly execute this”cheat” you (a coach in the booth with a headset (likely a lower level coach assigned to memorizing completely, the most recent signals executed by the opposing defense, and within the 15 second window of radio operation available during the 25 second play clock) must do the following.

Start the clock,, you now have 25 Seconds:

Offensive coordinator/play caller, or head coach decides what play to call and sends it in over the radio to the quarterback

In the same time frame, across the field, the opposing defensive coordinator/playcaller sends in the opposing play using the radio also (it’s the green dot guy who hears it)

(time cost; 10 seconds) (15 seconds left before play clock expires)(5 seconds left of radio transmission time)

The players with the green dots now tell the rest of their team “the plan”

(Time cost 3 seconds) (12 seconds left before play clock expires)(2 seconds left of radio transmission time)

(only 15 seconds are allowed from the start of the 25 second clock for the radios to transmit to their players on the field)

In this span of time, a coach in the booth with binoculars and who has memorized the opposing team’s defensive calls (likely taking the 15 hours at least of this person’s time the previous week (keeping in mind the NFL coach standard week of 80-100 hours minimum)) must be able to recognize the opposing team’s package (laugh here) and transmit that info to the quarterback (in 2 seconds mind you) so that the quarterback is aware of it and can audible (tell his players by doing that “Peyton Manning thing where you step back and yell a totally new play at your teammates in the 10 seconds you have left”).

There, so that’s what Belichick and his buddies were up to. Easy huh, oh, and you should keep in mind there are anywhere from 10 to 30 defensive packages to identify and some teams even have a second guy out there sending in similar (but different signals as a decoy).

What’s more,, teams have been doing this and much more for years!!! Jimmy Johnson on the NFL on Fox show yelled as much this morning.

The level of technological proficiency and effort in Professional and Collegiate football is far higher than most people expect (these are NOT dumb people running the shows here, no matter how much you think they should have done what you were yelling at the tv from home. You had a replay and Al and John in your ear along with the fact that you thought of it as they were coming up to the line. They had finished their call 15-20 seconds before you and likely did it with a level of information and knowledge crunching that would make a grown man cry.

Did Goodell do a good thing by relentlessly punishing the Patriots and Belichick? Yes, it needed to be done to send a message that it will not be tolerated. The punishment of half a million and loss of a 1st round draft pick are a lesson to the rest of the league.

Done.

Let’s move on.

MLB

It’s steroids.

They’re wrong.

They’re cheating, STOP IT.

They’ll kill you, they’ll shrink your balls, they’ll make you sterile, give you roid rage, or maybe just end your life and others around you. (stop with the speed too, coffee is legal, and does the same thing,, then, with the shakes you’ll end up letting go of a ball and nailing some guy you didn’t mean to, way to go winner).

Just work hard (hey those football guys get tested for steroids,, don’t use them (those who do are caught), and are twice your size,, why not just work out as hard as they do? Hmmm,, oh right, you’re lazy baseball players.

Cycling

Blood doping and testosterone are cheating (and boy do they go out of their way to do it).

Why?

Because when you ride for 21 days straight (with a one day break) the BIGGEST issue is endurance and recovery. All professional cyclists can ride a bike fast,, faster than the rest of the planet. The thing that makes them better? Breaking through the pain (or recovering quicker,, it’s all the same thing). That’s why it’s illegal, and that’s why that form of cheating works (when you’re not caught).

It’s also pretty freaking dangerous to mess with your blood and hormones,, unless you’re some sort of deity,, and you ain’t no deity!!

Look up at the sign! (stop cheating stupid)

Formula 1

Nigel Stephney from Ferrari stole over 700 pages of technical information from the team that he worked for (Ferrari),, then he secretly gave them to the head designer for McLaren.

THEN he called the head McLaren designer during races and told them when Ferrari was going to pit! (that’s EXACTLY like telling someone what plays you’re going to run for the whole first half in a football game).

The head McLaren designer had spread the information far enough in their organization that the test driver called the race driver and actually emailed him the settings they had stolen and suggested trying them in their wind tunnel and on their car.

That is a bad cheatin!. People that hold Ferrari accountable for blowing the whistle on him are nuts. That’s someone clearly working against them. The fact that he was an in house sabateour in no way makes it their (Ferrari’s) fault (even if there is a red phone)(Shark7 I’m looking at you).

Oh yeah,, and he put a powder on their fuel tanks that likely would’ve destroyed the fuel bladders, or at least made the cars operate poorly and lose. Some guy to have on your team! (don’t worry, they caught the powder and cleaned it out before the race).

Fine for his actions (the Mclaren head of design), $100,000,000.00 to the McLaren race team. Old Nigel, jobless, and likely run out of the country (plus Ferrari is going after him with all they’ve got).

Yes, that’s a hundred million dollars. Bellichick was fined half a mil and no one will shut up about it,, let’s see,, that’s 200 times as much money,, but who’s counting?

Do you think Formula 1 is a big deal? The rest of the planet sure does (I’ll leave my Max and Bernie dialog for later).

In Conclusion (ish)

Ugh,, let’s stop the cheating,, we like the sports for the sports. We know you’re going to knock yourselves out (ok, well maybe not the baseball guys, but the rest of you) trying to beat the other teams. All we ask is don’t cheat.

We want a REAL sporting event to be amazing, and to know it was all done with brains, brawn guts, and technique.

Then, it’s so much sweeter to have a favorite, and cheer with all our might.

Sports are a delightful distraction to watch, and a real joy to participate in.

When the highest levels of competition disillusion us to their reality, we WILL go elsewhere for our authentic sporting events.

Red Bull Flugtag anyone?

(I’m going to go back to watching the Patriots finish tearing apart the Chargers,,, they’re not going to cheat at this game,, the freaking Commissioner is at the game!)