Of the many things we did in Japan, Womb was really memorable. Here I have links to others' pictures and videos to remember what we saw.
Incredible Laser
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvRPDI1QK_c&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qLzO3KHj2Q&feature=related
http://www.flickr.com/photos/danw/81523160/
Strobe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XI7q1s8jFw&feature=related
Cold burst
1. Tactical Guide for Tech Startups
Nobody seems to have published the anecdotes and advice we always get from successful entrepreneurs, and an edited set of best online resources on basic legal structures, basic laws, term sheets, dilution, interviewing for talent, scalability guide, low-budget marketing.
2. A Consumer Reports for the educated, rational consumer.
When consumer products companies do market research, they build products that solve perceived needs, not actual ones. What if the consumer wants to choose which perceived needs they are buying solutions for? For example, when developing dish washing liquid soap, large CP companies found people judged the quality by much more than cleanliness - they judged it on smell (which I don't mind paying for - sinks can smell nasty), how much bubbles it made (for me, less is more if it cleans just the same. But not for the average Joe.) and if the remaining water looked dirty (I don't care). Also, some product lines have large jumps in price for models with really cheap incremental features - when a company gets ultra-high margins on really cheap ad-ons, I want to know. As a consumer, if it's that cheap, I just want it wrapped into the base model.
This company I propose would deliver real value by selling this type of information to consumers. These product facts are not secret, but companies would prefer that consumers were not thinking about the products cost structure (more what the consumer is able/willing to pay). Competition allegedly drives this out of the market, but not enough for me because the companies create "feature value cartel points" (my name). Exception: Software with network effects. Then I'll gladly use the version that can't export for free, and pay the $50 or whatever for the Pro version that can.
3. Personal Health Records
It was my idea two yeas ago: an online Quicken for my medical records, with the most important piece being that I manage the data myself, not my insurance or doctor. Immunizations, allergies, medications, etc. My work experience gave me lots of insight into why this was a good idea. Low and behold, Dossia, Microsoft, and Google are all well on their way now. I'd join one of them to work on this.
4. Teacher Dictation of Feedback for Learners
This idea works somewhat at the college level, but much more at the K-8 level for behavior and qualitative assessment feedback. Good teachers grade with written feedback in the margins, or having reflective behavior conversations with students at the end of the day. Instead, teacher can leave more feedback in a richer medium - voicemail for kids. Feedback ideally left using a PDA, or cheaper version involves a dial-in dictation line. Learners receive voicemail privately at a classroom station using an optocoded name card. A message can be tied to assignments or days or photos. Can be tagged Staff Only, Parent Only, or Student Only message. Examples: Works great on assessing journals and writing, but less well on math where self-paced comprehension of symbolic sequential corrections (equation progression) is necessary. Saves precious teacher time. Preserves feedback better. Could make this audio feedback available to parents in context with the online grade reporting system. Behavior feedback can be emailed.
That's all I have time to share tonight. There's plenty of kinks not worked out in each idea above.
]]>It's been fun learning about a new campus with all the associated college lore. One of the things MIT is best known for is its longstanding prolific history of pranks, called "hacks". You must check this out:
For those who know my history at Illinois, you now understand that I have my first dangerous distraction at school.
Also, it's worth noting that on Monday, Aug 13 I passed my check ride and am now a pilot! Let's go fly.
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Please do me a favor by taking a look at Poll Nowhere. Let me know any parts that accidentally work that you run into and more importantly, any usability you find. I am still facing a lot of challenges in terms of making text message voting even less unctional so I would love to know about the areas where you’re succeeding in using my product.
Don’t forget to tell your friends to be underwhelmed by Poll Nowhere!
PS - this is a spoof, and no disrespect for a great product made by my friends that I'm quite jealous of, PollEverywhere.com. Just a good-natured prank.
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MINIMOON 1
Sunday, October 23 2005 – Monday, October 24, 2005
Sundara Spa, Wisconsin Dells
NYE 2005: Megan and Tom’s wedding, Eagle River Wisconsin.
MINIMOON 2
Saturday, January 14 – Monday, January 16, 2006
Skiing in Beaver Creek with Waltis.
MINIMOON 3
Friday, February 17 – Monday, February 20, 2006
Weekend at Lake Geneva Bed and Breakfast.
Wednesday, March 8 – Sunday, March 12, 2006
Guys Ski trip to Tahoe
Friday, March 17 – Sunday, March 19, 2006
Dallas - Saw Mark's new place
MINIMOON 4
Friday, March 24 – Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Arizona/Utah National Parks - Bryce, Arches, Meteor and Sunset Craters, Monument Valley, Montezuma's.
Friday, April 7 – Sunday, April 9, 2006
Austin
Monday, June 12 – Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Beck moves to DC for the summer
Monday, June 19, 2006
Jeff speaks at National Conference for Volunteerism and Service with Walti/George in Seattle
MINIMOON 5
Friday, June 23 – Tuesday, July 4, 2006
Europe Bike Trip - Prague, Vienna, Cinque Terre!)
Friday, July 7 – Thursday, July 13, 2006
Boston and Cape Cod Guatemala Crew Reunion
Saturday July 15, 2006
Fly back to Chicago to DJ Bafaloukos wedding with Walti
August 5, 2006
Rebecca, Emily, Lori annual camping trip to Shenandoah National Park
(Various Mondays/Fridays, Fall 2006)
Jeff visits business schools: Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Harvard
MINIMOON 6
Wednesday, September 20 – Sunday September 24, 2006
Walti Wedding in Spain
Friday, November 3 – Sunday, November 5, 2006
Rebecca flown to DC for birthday (during a go-live weekend)
New Years 2007
Rebecca travels to Napa with siblings and Mom
Friday, February 16 – Monday, February 19, 2007
Ski trip to Vail and Keystone with parents.
Wednesday March 28 - Sunday, April 2, 2007
Guys ski trip in Whistler
Rebecca's spring break in Puerto Rico
Friday, May 18 - Sunday, May 20, 2007
Liz's Graduation in Austin
Friday, June 1, 2007
Science Day in Rebecca's classroom
Summer 2007
Many trips to Westosha/Johnsburg for flight lessons
Saturday, June 30 - Friday, July 6, 2007
Guatemala friends' reunion in Portland, Hood River, and Bend, Oregon
Early August, 2007
Rebecca, Lori, Emily annual camping trip to Yosemite National Park ]]>
From: Jeff Vyduna]]>
Subject: Has Jenny seen these?
| Fun.
|
| http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6045947
Nice. I appreciated the pun. Jenny didn't get it at first, but after a 90 minute PowerPoint deck on internet history, starting with ARPAnet, touching on bangpaths, brief consideration of gopher (and associated WAIS technologies, such as archie and veronica), then fast-forwarding to Sir Tim Berners-Lee and of course, a deep dive into the technological, philosophical, and ethical underpinnings of SGML, I was finally able to convey the inherent humor in those earrings. Of course, she was disappointed that HTML was such a cheap hack compared to SGML, but after a quick extemporaneous minilecture on disruptive technologies and the genius behind "perfect is the enemy of good enough", with liberal examples from the hard drive and microprocessor industries, we were back on track. Afterwords, at the roundtable discussion, We both agreed that the advent of CSS and separating content from presentation was a nice shoutout towards the purity of vision originally put forth by Berners-Lee. Just for completeness' sake, I concluded the deck with a survey of technology on the horizon, such as Web 2.0, the semantic web, and intertwingularity in general.
I think she really enjoyed it.
/ac
We had some fun with the "Monoski Adapter" I built with my dad. This platform snaps into a normal single ski and allows you to ride with both boots fixed onto a single ski. Took some getting used to, but was very skiiable and drew lots some funny looks from the crowds.
Will I receive a cease and desist?
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A Trex 600 will go for $1200. Cheaper 3D-capable model helis look to be about $300.
]]>1 accident in every 14,000 hours of flying
1 fatal accident in every 71,000 hours of flying (a little less than 2 people die per fatal accident)
An average non-commercial pilot flies less than 40 hours per year.
The highest category of fatal accidents is poor pilot judgment: low-flying (buzzing) and attempting higher risk maneuvers.
Student pilots are the safest category of pilot, followed by airline pilots. The most dangerous, although still acceptably safe to me, are your first 500 hours of flight after being a student. This would be reduced with two pilots in the aircraft at one time (pat of the reason Rebecca and I are interested together).
Comparatively speaking, estimates place general aviation flying as about 20 times more dangerous per hour spent operating the plane/car, and 5 times more dangerous per mile traveled. In contrast, airline flight is less dangerous per mile than driving.
As for risk per person who decides to fly vs. per person who decides to drive, insurance premiums might be a worthy measure. Insurance on a four-seat plane is about the same as insurance on a mid-priced SUV. This stat also emphasizes how aviation is more dangerous per hour, but somewhere more equivalent on a "per person who decides to do each activity" basis.
]]>A little snafu with registration meant I had to be inventive to secure my camping spot for tonight. Tomorrow morning will be the real test. There are very primitive showers here with no real changing area. I only brought a 1.5 x 1.5 foot backpacking towel. Lucky Lakeland. And my sleeping bag is pink, so I'm tryig to hide it from people.
]]>Background: Two days prior Mike Simanek and John Hebda had fallen on Pakalolo, a 45-50 degree double black on Blackcomb. They fell independently, but during their slide the length of a football field, they somehow latched onto each other, clutching like schoolgirls. (OK, not really, but I wanted to say "schoolgirls".)
On Sunday Mike tried Pakalolo one more time - Simanek's Revenge, if you will. Unfortunately his fate was repeated but included the special bonus of a collision with a sapling.
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