Think on Michael Doornbos

Send letters

Wed, 25 Mar 2020 10:34:28 +0000

I stole this from the internet

Opportunities in a crisis

Thu, 12 Mar 2020 09:42:07 +0000

I write an internal company newsletter and I took a wild departure from the content and format this week: I woke up early this morning and the NBA is canceled. Tom Hanks has Coronavirus. Travel restrictions to China and Europe. Our friends at Exabeam are struggling with it. Oh my. Whenever faced with something that you genuinely don’t have control over, the only logical response is to look for opportunities that weren’t there before. I’m NOT talking about exploiting a crisis to make a quick buck. But leading in the industry means leading in ALL situations. All Markets. In high times and in low. What can you do now that was difficult a month ago? We’re all effectively on extended snow days. Travel and in-person contact are limited. The opportunity is time. Two things can happen now that couldn’t before. Deep work and long conversations. Work deeply. You can unplug and work on that thing that takes LONG periods of uninterrupted thought and concentration. You know, more than 20 minutes. Write that article or whitepaper you’ve been thinking about. Decide on who the next market leader will be. Identify trends and write about it. Make videos. Write letters and emails. Learn new skills… Have long conversations. We live in an amazing time where communication is cheap and reliable. So have those long conversations on the phone or video chat you never seem to have the time for. Make your customers your friends. Instead of the quick call asking how you can help them today, you now have time for long, serious work about actual problems to be solved. What can you do there that’s genuine, and has a long term impact? Call that rep that’s been hard to get ahold of and toss around ideas. Call a work colleague and start putting things on a virtual whiteboard. Those projects that you’ve been saying “we’ll get to that next quarter” for too many quarters in a row. Do them now. Call your mother. Or your sister. Or that friend you’ve been meaning to bury the hatchet with. It’s an opportunity, so let’s frame it that way. Use it as a way to be closer. More deliberate. In our work and with each other. Next week I’ll be back to my regular internal newsletter format. I’m always around for you, so text, call, email, smoke signals. Whatever. “Calm is contagious” - Commander Rorke Denver, Navy SEAL So keep calm and wash your hands. Happy Thursday! Michael

A life lesson from Ray Bradbury

Sun, 03 Sep 2017 07:02:12 +0000

“Learning to let go should be learned before learning to get. Life should be touched, not strangled. You’ve got to relax, let it happen at times, and at others move forward with it.”

~ Ray Bradbury

Respect the quiet

Thu, 24 Aug 2017 07:43:06 +0000

Can’t say amen to this enough.

Effective remote CEOs understand how quality work happens: People need quiet, uninterrupted time to get things done. That’s how people get into a state of “flow,” which is crucial to thinking creatively or building something from scratch -Claire Lew

Workaholics aren't heroes

Tue, 23 May 2017 08:05:57 +0000

“Workaholics aren’t heroes. They don’t save the day, they just use it up. The real hero is home because she figured out a faster way” ― Jason Fried, Rework

Taking some time off

Wed, 10 May 2017 08:43:12 +0000

I’m taking some time off from my day job to hit reset. Five years ago I was a leader in Enterprise Security, speaking at conferences like SXSW and GLXP team summits, telling great stories and making a difference. Somehow I’ve settled for working for the weekend. And by time off I mean busting my ass. There will be no hammocks and cocktails involved.

Go first

Thu, 09 Feb 2017 11:23:19 +0000

For years I’ve been saying that I need a tattoo with the phrase

You become what you think about. - Earl Nightingale

This simple phrase has kept me on track in placing the important things in my life on the top of everything else. When you think about negative things you become negative. When you think about positive things you become positive. When I read books about aviation, outdoors and opening frontiers I can’t help but become a better aviator, outdoorsman and seeker of new frontiers. When I watch how-to videos on cooking I become a better cook. When I read articles about exercise and health it causes me to take action, exercise and be more healthy. It’s a simple truth. I like simple truths. Always put the big rocks in first and you’ll have plenty of time for everything else. And if you don’t have time for the little things that don’t matter then is it really a big deal? I stumbled across another one this week which really has me fired up.

Digging out after vacation is wrong

Tue, 03 Jan 2017 08:46:57 +0000

“I just got back from vacation, I need a little time to dig out of the hole I’m in now” <-- I really hate this phrase. Is it really vacation if your return to work means twice as much work for the same amount of time you were gone? A sound strategy would include proper delegation and trust in your fellow employees. Then lean on your mindfulness practice when you feel like everyone is pouncing on you the first morning. Be well rested and mentally prepared to just make some lists. Just write things down. That’s your job the first morning. Then resisting the temptation to work twice the hours to “catch up”. Most of this work in the product development or sysadmin worlds is just a need for feedback and a request for your expertise. It’s a sign that your unique gifts are valuable. But remember when everyone is trowing stuff over the fence at you to put a note on it with your feedback and toss it right back.

75 Years ago today

Wed, 07 Dec 2016 09:07:44 +0000

I know it’s not the correct time zone, but as 8 AM rolls around on December 7th, it’s hard not to reflect on the sacrifices of an entire generation of men and women who fought so hard for the cause of freedom. Very few of them are still with us, but to those here and gone I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

So about Star Wars...

Tue, 26 Jul 2016 14:54:34 +0000

I’m jumping off of the Star Wars bandwagon.

I don’t want to see 28 other story lines in this universe. I don’t want Han Solo’s back story movies. I don’t need explanations of how the force works, or why the Rogue squadron was so important.

I do understand that I may have to turn in my geek card but that’s a consequence I’m willing to bear.

I’m in the camp that there are 3 Star Wars movies. Two really really great ones, and one that lost it’s way trying to sell toys. They have not been edited from the theatrical versions.

A case of the mondays

Mon, 18 Jul 2016 11:12:04 +0000

“I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something”

— Steve Jobs

Feeling this one today.

Ideas are mostly worthless on their own

Sun, 17 Apr 2016 23:42:09 +0000

“Ideas are pretty useless in and of themselves. Everyone has ideas! I have to repress a cringe whenever someone says to an author, “I have a great idea for a book—say, maybe you could write it!” as though writing the book were a formality, and what was really needed was someone to come in and supervise with great Ideas. ”

— David W Brown

Confession Time

Fri, 01 Apr 2016 15:19:44 +0000

One of my biggest personal problems is sitting back when it gets easy. I’ve never ever ever experienced anything good because of this personal habit. Just a reminder to myself as we start a new month to never be content.

There’s more to do than can EVER be done and I can’t think of anything MORE exciting than that.

“Nobody got anywhere in the world by simply being content.”

— Louis L’Amour US novelist of westerns (1908 – 1988)

Being yourself

Sun, 27 Mar 2016 18:12:04 +0000

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”

— Ralph Waldo Emmerson

Don't be comfortable

Sun, 20 Mar 2016 18:09:24 +0000

“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. The went out and happened to things ”

— Leonardo Da Vinci

“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. The went out and happened to things” -Leonardo Da Vinci

Launch yourself on every wave

Mon, 07 Mar 2016 13:33:01 +0000

“You must live in the present. Launch yourself on every wave. Find your eternity in each moment.”

— Henry David Thoreau

How to spot successful people

Fri, 04 Mar 2016 14:27:54 +0000

“The thing I remember best about successful people I’ve met all through the years is their obvious delight in what they’re doing…and it seems to have very little to do with worldly success. They just love what they’re doing and they love it in front of others.”

— Fred Rogers

A dying art

Thu, 25 Feb 2016 21:48:52 +0000

As I sit here and write several thank you notes it occurs to me that a handwritten note in cursive on good stationary is a dying art.

I gave my grade school teachers such a hard time about learning cursive and now I cherish the skill I don’t practice nearly enough.

So Mrs. Howard, Mrs. White, Mrs. Van Dillen, Mrs. Boyer, and Mr Best, thank you for riding me so hard about this.

A hard left turn for me

Mon, 22 Feb 2016 14:13:52 +0000

I think a lot about direction lately. My trip to Daytona to meet with other EAA leaders has really solidified what I’m looking for.

This sums it up perfectly in so many ways:

[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_AztwklyIc&w=854&h=480]

Hey, once upon a younger year
When all our shadows disappeared
The animals inside came out to play
Hey, when face to face with all our fears
Learned our lessons through the tears
Made memories we knew would never fade

What bothers me the most

Sun, 14 Feb 2016 21:42:30 +0000

When people believe strongly in something they really know nothing about.

I hate the use of the word drone

Fri, 20 Nov 2015 14:14:15 +0000

Because this

[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“2973.0”] Image by Michael Doornbos[/caption]

Is not the same as this

[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“3000.0”] MQ-1 Predator unmanned aircraft" by U.S. Air Force photo/Lt Col Leslie Pratt - Licensed under Public Domain via Commons[/caption]

A new moleskin

Mon, 31 Aug 2015 18:30:51 +0000

[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“2500.0”] I LOVE blank pages[/caption]

My note taking is usually done old school with a modern twist. I use a medium sized moleskin to take notes and then scan the pages into Evernote.

Over the years I’ve collected quite a few of them. Sometimes they last a few months before filling up. Sometimes they take longer.

My current notebook was started in mid 2013 and is only halfway used. It is a very low number of notes for me and this lack of note taking is also reflected in a real creative low in my professional life. No podcasting. Not presenting very much. Not really working on anything interesting at all (professionally, I did get a pilot’s license this year)

July 4th

Sat, 04 Jul 2015 11:48:44 +0000

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Always buy good tools

Thu, 30 Apr 2015 19:38:04 +0000

A few minutes ago an old Navy buddy of mine sent me this picture with a message that just said “memories”.

He remembers something I’d sorta like to forget. This is a picture of my first car. I’m sure it’s not the same one, but the color and everything are the same.

One of the many lessons my father and grandfather taught me was to always invest in good tools. A crappy drill will fail you in the middle of a project and a bad screwdriver can strip the head off of a screw of a critical part in a flash.

Heroism

Fri, 24 Apr 2015 15:27:58 +0000

True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.
- Arthur Ashe

Theme for Friday and all through this weekend for me

Fri, 07 Nov 2014 13:58:22 +0000

If most of us are ashamed of shabby clothes and shoddy furniture, let us be more ashamed of shabby ideas and shoddy philosophies - Albert Einstein

Don't forget who works for who

Fri, 17 Oct 2014 19:31:02 +0000

The DMV is a government agency, and we live in a democratic republic. All power resides in “the people”, who elect representatives to serve them in government. If you’re a citizen, you’re part owner of the DMV and your representatives control it, you should be able to walk in and get what you need.

- Peter Thiel in Zero to One

This is a terrific illustration for why I HATE when I hear people aren’t going to vote. Or don’t care about politics. Remember that the government works for you. It’s not the other way around. In a weird and twisted way that police officer pulling you over is your employee. So is the judge, the IRS agent, the President…

A Career of Projects

Thu, 10 Jul 2014 12:25:52 +0000

“Somehow, I always thought of my career as a series of projects, not jobs. Projects… things to be invented, funded and shipped. Sometimes they take on a life of their own and last, other times, they flare and fade. But projects, one after the other, mark my career. Lucky for me, the world cooperated and our entire culture shifted from one based on long-term affilitations (you know, ‘jobs’) to projects.”

If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself

Fri, 23 May 2014 17:59:42 +0000

Live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
Trouble no one about his religion.
Respect others in their views and demand that they respect yours.
Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.
Seek to make your life long and of service to your people.
Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.
Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend,
or even a stranger, if in a lonely place.
Show respect to all people, but grovel to none.
When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light,
for your life, for your strength.
Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living.
If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.
Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools
and robs the spirit of its vision.
When your time comes to die,
be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death,
so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time
to live their lives over again in a different way.
Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home.

The worst player in the band

Sun, 02 Mar 2014 00:47:00 +0000

A few years ago I wrote about how important it is to always be the worst player in the band. By surrounding yourself with people who are better than you it’s almost hard to help getting better just by being around them.

Are you doing that? I’m questioning whether I am.

Time to find a band to be the worst in.

That's a violation of my privacy

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 00:07:46 +0000

via Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.

Freedom

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 09:14:48 +0000

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free. Ronald Reagan

Saying "I hate politics" is wrong

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 11:01:44 +0000

America isn’t easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, ‘cause it’s gonna put up a fight. It’s gonna say “You want free speech? Let’s see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who’s standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. - Fictional character Andrew Shepard from “The American President”

Simple advice to you young people

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 16:03:12 +0000

I try not to be the guy who says

Kids these days…

I just wanted to pass on some simple advice…

You WILL want pictures of yourself doing things when you’re young. I know it’s a pain that Mom wants to pose you, or when you’re with your friends it’s embarrassing to ask them to take a picture of you.

I would give A LOT OF MONEY to have more pictures of the experiences and friends I had in the years between 13 and 25 years old. For some reason I thought I was much too cool for that.

My favorite quote of the day. Also, NBC sucks.

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 11:28:31 +0000

From Twitter:

Jenn Gustetic @ jenngustetic

NBC has a six hour delay for an event 3,000 miles away, @NASA has a 15 minute delay for an event 150,000,000 miles away. #olympics #MSL

A conversation with Ray Bradbury

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 16:47:20 +0000

Things that you see when you’re 3 and 6 and 10 and 12 wind up in your fiction in your 30s…

Where would be the fun in making something you KNEW would work?

Sun, 03 Jun 2012 09:45:29 +0000

I’ve had this Neil Gaiman speech in my “to watch” list for a couple days and just got around to watching it. This should be something you watch at least once a month.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikAb-NYkseI&w;=420&h;=315]

George continues to infuriate me

Sun, 27 May 2012 17:13:37 +0000

I can’t watch the new and “improved” versions of the original 3 Star Wars movies without wanting to throw something. Why George Lucas? why?

Did you just not get what made these movies great? What were you thinking when you decided to add crappy CGI all over the place?

Arg!

Archived Comments

Mike Fabio (2012-05-27 21:21:00):

I just bought the blu-ray set, and I concur. I really didn’t think I would be so bothered by the updates, but there is something so incredibly jarring about seeing CGI’ed versions of the classic animatronics (or worse: seeing both juxtaposed).

I want to use G+ but

Fri, 25 May 2012 17:18:34 +0000

I can’t. I need to use an external tool like Tweetdeck to keep my life sane and I need to write once and post multiple locations. Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook make this easy, so my stuff gets posted there. Google+ makes this almost impossible so they don’t get my posts. So stupid Google. I’m TRYING to love G+ and you’re in my way.

John Cleese on Creativity

Thu, 24 May 2012 09:55:09 +0000

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijtQP9nwrQA&w;=420&h;=315]

Immense respect in an ordinary place

Tue, 01 May 2012 00:42:27 +0000

I’m working from home today. Since on these days I set my own hours, I started really early. By 10am, I needed a break, so I decided to run over to the grocery store to grab some milk. There was an unusually large number of people in line for 10am on a Tuesday and the checkout ladies were struggling to keep up. By the time I was in line, I was 7 people back. A couple people in front of me were pretty frustrated with the length of the line and were being pretty vocal about it.

The problem with Netflix streaming

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:43:32 +0000

I’ve been a Netflix customer for 12 years, and I STILL have the DVD service in addition to the streaming. Streaming is a great idea, but the movies people want to watch still aren’t available. Netflix runs a top 100 list of their most popular titles. On that list today, 5 of the movies are available to watch online.

FIVE

You don’t get to one until number 39

It’s not really the fault of Netflix. The owners of the content want to keep making money from you by getting you to buy DVDs.

It's the little things

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:53:49 +0000

We use a Keurig at the office. I’ve resisted getting one at home because I have a hard time with the massive amount of waste for a single cup of hot beverage. Cameron at our office volunteered to collect, take home, separate the tops from the cups, remove the coffee and put it in her garden, and recycle the tops and cups separately. Just how much of a difference does it make in a 10 person office?

Owning my own content

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 08:29:28 +0000

I was just going through some of my recent pictures on my phone. I had shared a number of them on Facebook via Instagram, but realized that I hadn’t shared them on Flickr. When I went to Flickr to upload them, I was prompted to renew my pro account. I love the idea of “cloud services” for their convienience, but I’m becoming pretty wary of not owning my own content.

To get or to give

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:02:14 +0000

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSLOnR1s74o?hd=1&w;=560&h;=315]

Dinner parties

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:00:01 +0000

I want to change my “what do you do” dinner party answer to “I build spaceships” and actually mean it. I hate that question, but I might not if I had that answer.

Announcement coming soon :-)

We humans had entered the realm of myth and legend

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:17:17 +0000

I’m going to figure out a way so that this becomes what wakes me up in the morning. This is what makes want to be more.

This is what I dream of.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xtly-dpBeA?hd=1]

Archived Comments

Trent Waddington (2011-11-04 04:17:00):

Seems this is too subtle. http://quantumg.net/saganhsf.jpg

Come and see us at SXSW - we were picked as a panel!

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:45:15 +0000

Today SXSW announced the panels chosen to be a part of the 2012 conference. Ours was officially chosen!

Come and see us present “How to win friends and influence space exploration”.

Woo hoo!

Archived Comments

Tim Bailey (2011-11-03 19:40:00):

I’ll be there!!

Bursts of super productivity

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 09:47:45 +0000

I have a clear rhythm to my day and I’ll bet you do to. From 8am to noon on any given day, I can get more done than any 3 afternoons combined.

It’s important to be aware of your natural cycle to maximize productivity. This is a reason why it’s difficult to schedule a meeting with me in the morning. By doing morning meetings, which are notoriously unproductive events, I’d be stepping on my best opportunity to get things done.

The blinking cursor

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 20:45:25 +0000

Nothing triggers writers block for me like a blank word processor screen and a blinking cursor.

Nothing cures it quite like a notepad and a walk.

My motto for the week

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 10:16:30 +0000

I’m changing the phrase:

“I can’t do this because I don’t have xxx "

“This is what I can do with what I have”

Archived Comments

DNye (2011-08-01 14:29:00):

Yes! I know exactly what you are feeling.

Them is fightn words

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 17:06:23 +0000

About once a week for the last month or so I’ve been in a room full of people from all walks of life and I’ve brought up Wikipedia as an information resource and it’s validity. I would strongly suggest you do the same and then ponder what you witness. The observation of this disruptive site in the eyes of about 100 people has been one of the most facinating things I’ve ever observed.

The value of a hand made thing

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 11:23:34 +0000

I got a package from my Mom today. In it was this knit hat and the following note:

Like her mother and grandmother before her, she’s been knitting things for us. In a world where you can buy a knit hat like this for a dollar, I cannot stress the significance of a hand made item. Think for a second about wearing something that your mother touched every inch of. Stitched every stitch. My Mother MADE the thing that’s keeping my head warm. Because she made it, I have a connection with her through my hat, and there’s absolutely nothing silly about that.

Jason Fried: Why work doesn't happen at work

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 15:03:18 +0000

We don’t have work days, we have work moments.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XD2kNopsUs&hl;=en_US&feature;=player_embedded&version;=3]

Smash the design button

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 20:46:56 +0000

I saw this live at TEDxNASA this year. As I’ve said before, I’ve been to both TEDxNASA events and didn’t love them. This talk however is outstanding. There are so many great concepts in this 18 mins. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE4D7OsIzuk&w=550&h=320]

Archived Comments

Chris Radcliff (2010-11-23 01:21:00):

Outstanding is right.

An update on my book

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 00:55:24 +0000

I’ve been working on a book for about 2 months now with a working title “A New Kind of Hero”. It was originally going to be entirely based on the Google Lunar X PRIZE but has been broadened in scope a little (okay, a lot) to include heroes outside of that particular competition. This was necessary to keep the theme of the book in focus.

Answers to some FAQs that I’m getting:

The most important question you need to ask yourself: why not?

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 11:18:55 +0000

I’m already planning SpaceUp DC 2.0, but in case you missed how rediculous I’m willing to look in the name of Space Exploration:

(Photo credit: Chris Radcliff)

Haley Stephenson did a terrific writeup of her experience at SpaceUp DC here. I have two favorite quotes from it:

An important aspect of the unconference was the opportunity to have fun and enjoy the things that interested us in space in the first place. We fiddled with pipe cleaners (out of which one person constructed the space-time continuum), built spaceships and rovers out of Legos (our “green” ship was powered by Lego conifers), conducted a MoonPie eating contest (beware the banana flavor), and held what is probably the first Tribble war ever (they’re not as soft as they look). If this all seems quite silly, then take a moment to think on what sparked your interest in space and what fuels it now. When did you realize that space is cool?

Why do you fish?

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 21:24:16 +0000

A few weeks ago, someone asked me why I fish in a way that went something like this:

“Why do you like fishing? It’s sooo boring, and what did the fish do to you to deserve that anyway? It’s really stupid.”

I don’t remember not knowing how to fish. I may have learned to fish before I could speak in sentences. I don’t know really, because I could fish before my brain was mature enough to remember before I knew how.

Inspiring kids by thinking big in space

Fri, 07 May 2010 09:31:03 +0000

The audio quality is shockingly bad in this video. This was on Feb 18th, at Ignite-DC. I’d like to do a new spin on this talk soon. 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.

What do you mean you don't know what your customers want?

Mon, 03 May 2010 11:57:23 +0000

I heard a form of this at least 6 times last week:

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 bet they’ll tell you.

Don't wait for an expert to tell you what you already know

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 15:22:26 +0000

I spent much of my day yesterday at the doctor. About a week ago, I pulled a tick off of my leg and now there’s a rash. Yup, Lyme disease. Awesome. Gave me some antibiotics and now they are going to watch me closely. 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.

The proliferation of can't

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 07:06:14 +0000

You can’t use your internet connection for whatever you want
- You can’t tell those people how you build your rocket. I mean, my God man, what if the Europeans find out how we build rockets. Oh the humanity!
- You can’t share that video with your friends
- You can’t eat that, it’ll make you fat so we’ve made it illegal for you to buy it
- You can’t install that app on your phone, it cuts into our ego. Don’t you know we’re Apple you idiot?
- You can’t have unlimited bandwidth on that cell phone plan, when we said unlimited we meant 5GB
- You can’t explore that planet without a permit
- You can’t play OUTSIDE in the neighborhood, ALONE! You’re 10, you can go outside by yourself when you’re older.
- You can’t collect rainwater without permission (are you freaking kidding me?)
- You can’t build a rocket engine in your garage despite what you saw in that October Sky movie, what are you a damn terrorist or something?

Can’t can’t can’t can’t.

Jumping in with both feet: An Open Source NASA Android app

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 13:50:29 +0000

I’ve long been a lover of Open Source. Both from a philosophical point of view, and a quality of software point of view. When I got serious about Linux in the 1990’s, I spent a lot of time contributing back to the community. As time has gone by, I’ve been giving back less and less. In 2010, I’ve been working almost entirely commercially. Sure I do Evadot for free and give all of my content there away as Creative Commons, but it’s really not enough. I’ve been working on some Android apps for a while and as of today, there are few Space related apps in the Android ethos. I’ve been following the excellent work of people like Rob Schingler at NASA, and been reading the Oreilly book “Open Government”. It seems like a good fit to launch an Open Source Android project around the “new” NASA.

The art of the power nap

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:21:31 +0000

I have a very clear daily rhythm. My best writing, clarity, creativeness, code, whatever happens in the first 5-6 hours after I wake up in the morning. After that, my ability to concentrate drops off significantly. My energy level slows significantly. By the evening, it’s almost like I’m viewing the world as a different person. 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.

Don't cheapen your message

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:57:17 +0000

When you say:

I want to get to xxx followers on twitter
Help people listen to me
Join this site to get more attention/followers/money

You cheapen your message and damage your credibility. If your blog/site/application is worth paying attention to then these things will happen on their own. Instead of begging for it, why don’t you take that energy and apply it to being more interesting?

On saving NASA

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:38:55 +0000

I noticed a new Twitter hashtag this morning for the first time: #SaveNASA I love rallying cries.

I also love the huge list of things that the world benefits from as a result of NASA over the last 50 years.

BUT (come on, you knew there was a BUT in here)

Making lists of things accomplished in the past isn’t enough to get programs funded for the future. They are a by-product of other goals.

The problem with open blogs

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:36:33 +0000

There’s an interesting trend lately. There has been a surge in new wide open groups where the barrier to join is basically that you want to join the group. Then anyone in the group is given access to post whatever they want on the group’s blog. While the trust of individuals is a cool in a Utopian kinda way, two big problems emerge for me:

There is no overarching guidance on the group’s message. In fact just the opposite is the case, the group’s message is often completely buried somewhere
Some people really can’t write and shouldn’t be allowed to be the voice for a large group

In a world where there are billions of voices all shouting at the same time, we need to work on focusing our messages into more succinct ideas that stand out.

"Significant" water on the moon

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:09:05 +0000

Some sites are talking about a press conference being set up on Thursday to talk about what they are calling “Evidence of Water on the Moon - Lots of It”. If you’re not a space geek, let me back up a second since NASA isn’t even on most people’s mind these days and fill you in on what’s going on.

The short short version.

We’ve had this space shuttle since the 1980’s. Technologically amazing, but pretty boring from an exploration standpoint. As a result, the fine folks at NASA have performed amazing feats of technological greatness and the public has met this with a collective “ho hum”.

The surprising science of motivation

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:37:22 +0000

Career analyst Dan Pink examines the puzzle of motivation, starting with a fact that social scientists know but most managers don’t: Traditional rewards aren’t always as effective as we think. Listen for illuminating stories – and maybe, a way forward. http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf

Craig Ferguson "figures it out"

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:51:32 +0000

Thanks to @julie_Thorn for this one: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFQkMAPVoIo&w=425&h=344]

The Launch Pad: Successful NASA Program in Jeopardy!

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:27:01 +0000

This afternoon (June 24, 2009) at 2:30pm Eastern Time, the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the United States Senate’s Appropriations Committee will be marking up the FY 2010 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill. For those of you feeling lost by that sentence, the plain English translation is: this afternoon, a group of Senators will be making edits to the proposal for the amount of money to provide to NASA and other federal agencies for fiscal year 2010. If recent history and the Washington rumor mill are accurate predictors–and they almost certainly are–one of the first things that will happen tomorrow is that these Senators will slash the $20 million NASA requested for Centennial Challenges, the Facilitated Access to the Space Environment for Technology Development and Training (FAST) program, and the Partnership Seed Fund. With near certainty, the budget for these programs will be reduced to zero.

We like to move

Sun, 31 May 2009 21:48:04 +0000

My wife and I are creative people. We’re creatively different (you might say opposite) but often known as people with the ideas. I didn’t say “all the good ideas”, just “ideas”. 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.

Everything's amazing and nobody is happy, Part 2

Tue, 05 May 2009 18:57:32 +0000

Louis CK revisits his famous Conan appearance and reassures us that while all the examples he gives of our cultural impatience are actually him, he also thinks we’re a shitty generation. Not a shit generation, though. Just shitty. If we had jetpacks, we’d think they were the crappiest jetpacks out there. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjNgNDZzH5o&color1;=0x3a3a3a&color2;=0x999999&feature;=player_embedded&fs;=1]

Archived Comments

Jay (2009-05-06 00:05:27):

I like the bit about people waiting for their cell phone to turn on: can you wait one second for it to get back from SPACE?!?

On reading the important stuff, like say the Constitution

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:43:10 +0000

The Oaths of Enlistment and the Oath of Commission in the Armed Forces of the United States both include the line:

I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;

That’s a powerful statement. I’ve repeated those words on enlistment myself. You’ll support it, you’ll defend it. Maybe even at the cost of your own life.

Always be the worst musician in the band

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:19:55 +0000

I just finished Chad Fowler’s book “The Passionate Programmer”. There are a lot of great concepts in this book and I recommend reading it even if you’re not a programmer. There is a concept in this book that he talks about that really stuck with me: Always be the worst player in the band.

Chad has been a jazz saxophonist for years. His concept is a simple truth about your level of talent relative to the people in the room. The idea is that if you’re the least talented, you can’t help but play towards the level of the more talented. Conversely, the more talented people play more like the less talented people. You can’t help in a group setting but to become more like the other people you play with.

Where do I find THAT level of conversation?

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 16:27:30 +0000

There is a movie that you’ve probably not heard of that I can watch over and over again without tiring of it. The Man from Earth, a mostly overlooked independent film from 2007 made on a shoestring budget rivets me to the screen. It takes place entirely inside a tiny house and in it’s yard.

The premise of the story is that the protagonist, John, is a Cro-Magnon cave man, now some 14,000 years old. He never ages, gets seriously sick, or dies. The story weaves in an out of a single afternoon where he reveals this fact to a group of friends as he prepares to leave town before people start to notice he doesn’t age. He’s clearly been close to this group of friends and this afternoon is the first time in his long life where he’s found a group of people he trusts enough to try telling them his crazy truth.

I'm not good enough is not good enough

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:28:28 +0000

I’m hearing this stuff WAY too much lately:

I’m not smart enough for that
I’m not ready for that yet
I want to but this is outside of my area of my expertise
I want to, but I can’t because of my job
When I get this degree/certification then I’ll be ready for that dream (this one is my biggest pet peeve)

These phrases are tiring to me.

If they start coming out of your mouth, just stop.

Why is Evernote asking to be paid bad?

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 10:07:17 +0000

One of my most used programs is Evernote. I use it all day, every day. From my Mac, my Ubuntu boxes, my Blackberry and my iPod touch. I’m a premium user which costs me $45/year. A reasonable price to me. Last night, they updated the Mac client to include a small ad box in the lower left hand corner that serves some ads (and a bunch of really awesome features). It’s a small box and as a premium user I have a preferences option to disable it (which I did). There has been a minor uproar this morning about privacy issues and some people using the words “Evernote is adware”.

I should know better than to leave home without paper and a pencil

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 22:32:23 +0000

I’ve been doing a lot of writing lately. I gave myself a deadline of today to finish an article I’ve been thinking of for a week and spent the whole day having writers block. As soon as I walked out the door to pick up our Chinese takeout for the evening, 100 ideas came swarming into my head. In my Jeep was a pen, but I cleaned it over the weekend and there was not a scrap paper in sight.

A little perspective

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 09:33:56 +0000

Here’s a quote I overheard this week about the economy in the US: “You have to close your laptop because you can’t stand to look at your retirement fund any more.”

Let’s think about this for a second. This one sentence is very indicative of many of the situations I hear people in. This sentence indicates a few things:

1. You have power in your house (ie, it’s warm) 2. You have internet connectivity 3. You have a portable supercomputer ON YOUR LAP that is connected to a global network of computers that allows unlimited communication with almost anyone in the world 4. We assume that if you have the 3 above, you have some sort of food.

The Crisis of Credit Visualized

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 11:32:47 +0000

Yes, you do have 10 mins today to watch this and you need to. It’s okay, Facebook still will be there when you get finished watching. http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3261363&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1
The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Archived Comments

Jewels (2009-02-27 18:02:42):

Not bad. Although he doesn’t go into much detail about some things, like banks being forced by the govt in the 90’s to take mortgages from the “risky” home-wanters… and I can see that he wanted to keep this simple. Good vid.

Netflix To Offer 'Streaming Only" Plans

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 11:04:20 +0000

Netflix Inc Chief Financial Officer Barry McCarthy said on Wednesday it plans to offer its online streaming service on a stand-alone basis. “We’re likely to do that in the foreseeable future,” McCarthy said at the Jefferies 5th annual Internet and Media conference in New York.

via Netflix To Offer ‘Streaming Only" Plans .

Archived Comments

COD (2009-02-26 17:37:16):

I’ll care when I can stream movies from Netflix.com on my Linux box.

American Knowledge Workers are in Trouble

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:14:18 +0000

I need some research done for a project at Imapenguin.com. We’re developing a database of popular Open Source software and instead of starting with a blank database, I wanted to research the top 150 or so projects to kick the database off. This requires at least a working knowledge of the technology space and good research skills. Something the average college graduate can handle just fine.

I asked around my network, no one is really interested in helping out. Mostly because I don’t really have much of a budget for this. I considered doing it myself, but before I started, I decided to post a request for research help on elance.com. I figured this would take me 15-20 hours to do myself (so maybe $1500 of my billable time taken up), so looking for a specialist to bid on it certainly couldn’t hurt. It’s free to request proposals so what the heck.

What's normal to you is probably not normal to me

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:02:44 +0000

I’ve been thinking about what constitutes normal to me lately. Mostly because I don’t like normal, or more accurately, static. Not static like in fuzzy sounding(although I’m not fond of that either), but static as in non moving. I’m happiest when things in my life are moving in a direction. The faster the better. I don’t ever wait for the right moment, mostly because there never is one(much to the detriment of my chess game) and frankly I worry that I might wake up at 50 and say “Oh crap, I just spent 50 years waiting and in process didn’t do anything at all”.

I'd like to do something like Omni Magazine

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:03:42 +0000

I was looking through some old stuff I’ve collected over the years and found some old copies of Omni Magazine. 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.

So you think we should tax the rich to pay for all of this huh?

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:08:26 +0000

Your thinking is strange to me. Let’s explore this from another angle:

So you’re a straight A student in High School. You’ve worked hard to get these grades. You didn’t cheat, and although some do, most good students don’t. Maybe you’re smarter than the other students not getting good grades. Maybe you work harder. Maybe it’s a little of both.

Your friend Terry is a good person, but doesn’t do her homework.

The LHC is supa dupa fly

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:15:59 +0000

I’m about to drop some particle physics in the club… [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtM&hl;=en&fs;=1]

Google Lunar X-Prize Moon 2.0 - Japanese Version

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:53:51 +0000

I like that they call the first moon missions Moon 1.0. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZwMxHDfeO8&hl;=en&fs;=1]

Are you a fisherman or not?

Tue, 27 May 2008 19:17:14 +0000

Do you fish or do you go to the store and buy fishing stuff?
- Are you doing something to help the needy or are you watching Extreme Makeover Home edition?
- Are you sharing your life and dreams with good friends or are you watching a TV show about some people who do?
- Are you writing that novel or are you reading books about writing novels?
- Are you a political activist or are you just watching the news?
- Are you devoted to your family or are you commuting 20 hours a week?

Your dreams are out there, what are you reading this for? You have work to do. Go on, shoo.

Driving to the office every day?

Mon, 19 May 2008 10:14:16 +0000

This post by Seth Godin is worth 30 seconds of your time, and 30 seconds of your bosses time today.