Because of DVRs, I don't watch commercials very much. That is probably why I missed this commercial when it came out at the end of 2011. It's The Muppets (who just had a new movie out) + one of my Forever playlist songs in a Google+ commercial, Queen & David Bowie's Under Pressure. It's pretty awesome, especially poor little Beaker. Enjoy!
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I like Spam...my Dad is from Hawaii, it's in our salty blood to like it. BUT, I have had enough of the comment SPAM on my blog. I get hundreds a day just killing me when I have to clean them up. Mr. O has tried to add a CAPTCHA, but it's not working. So until I have a better option, comments have been disabled.
So hopefully when I return to actual blogging, we'll have a better solution so you can all send me lots and lots of REAL comments. I'm tired of getting fake Prada or LV ads. ;)
If you REALLY want to contact me, email me (haha - you know you're dying to talk to me). There's a link on the main page with an envelope.
What I Learned from Steve Jobs
By, Guy Kawasaki
1. Experts are clueless
Experts--journalists, analysts, consultants, bankers, and gurus can't "do" so they "advise." They can tell you what is wrong with your product, but they cannot make a great one. They can tell you how to sell something, but they cannot sell it themselves. They can tell you how to create great teams, but they only manage a secretary. For example, the experts told us that the two biggest shortcomings of Macintosh in the mid 1980s were the lack of a daisy-wheel printer driver and Lotus 1-2-3; another advice gem from the experts was to buy Compaq. Hear what experts say, but don't always listen to them.
Experts--journalists, analysts, consultants, bankers, and gurus can't "do" so they "advise." They can tell you what is wrong with your product, but they cannot make a great one. They can tell you how to sell something, but they cannot sell it themselves. They can tell you how to create great teams, but they only manage a secretary. For example, the experts told us that the two biggest shortcomings of Macintosh in the mid 1980s were the lack of a daisy-wheel printer driver and Lotus 1-2-3; another advice gem from the experts was to buy Compaq. Hear what experts say, but don't always listen to them.
2. Customers cannot tell you what they need
"Apple market research" is an oxymoron. The Apple focus group was the right hemisphere of Steve's brain talking to the left one. If you ask customers what they want, they will tell you, "Better, faster, and cheaper"--that is, better sameness, not revolutionary change. They can describe their desires only in terms of what they are already using--around the time of the introduction of Macintosh, all that people said they wanted was a better, faster, and cheaper MS-DOS machine. The richest vein for tech startups is creating the product that you want to use--that's what Steve and Woz did.
"Apple market research" is an oxymoron. The Apple focus group was the right hemisphere of Steve's brain talking to the left one. If you ask customers what they want, they will tell you, "Better, faster, and cheaper"--that is, better sameness, not revolutionary change. They can describe their desires only in terms of what they are already using--around the time of the introduction of Macintosh, all that people said they wanted was a better, faster, and cheaper MS-DOS machine. The richest vein for tech startups is creating the product that you want to use--that's what Steve and Woz did.
3. Jump to the next curve
Big wins happen when you go beyond better sameness. The best daisy-wheel printer companies were introducing new fonts in more sizes. Apple introduced the next curve: laser printing. Think of ice harvesters, ice factories, and refrigerator companies. Ice 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0. Are you still harvesting ice during the winter from a frozen pond?
Big wins happen when you go beyond better sameness. The best daisy-wheel printer companies were introducing new fonts in more sizes. Apple introduced the next curve: laser printing. Think of ice harvesters, ice factories, and refrigerator companies. Ice 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0. Are you still harvesting ice during the winter from a frozen pond?
4. The biggest challenges beget best work
I lived in fear that Steve would tell me that I, or my work, was crap. In public. This fear was a big challenge. Competing with IBM and then Microsoft was a big challenge. Changing the world was a big challenge. I, and Apple employees before me and after me, did our best work because we had to do our best work to meet the big challenges.
Steve drove people nuts with his design demands--some shades of black weren't black enough. Mere mortals think that black is black, and that a trash can is a trash can. Steve was a perfectionist, and he was right: some people care about design and many people at least sense it. Maybe not everyone, but the important ones.
6. You can't go wrong with big graphics and big fonts
Take a look at Steve's slides. The font is 60 points. There's usually one big screenshot or graphic. Look at other tech speaker's slides--even the ones who have seen Steve in action. The font is 8 points, and there are no graphics. So many people say that Steve was the world's greatest product introduction guy. Don't you wonder why more people don't copy his style?
Take a look at Steve's slides. The font is 60 points. There's usually one big screenshot or graphic. Look at other tech speaker's slides--even the ones who have seen Steve in action. The font is 8 points, and there are no graphics. So many people say that Steve was the world's greatest product introduction guy. Don't you wonder why more people don't copy his style?
7. Changing your mind is a sign of intelligence
When Apple first shipped the iPhone there was no such thing as apps. Apps, Steve decreed, were a bad thing because you never know what they could be doing to your phone. Safari Web apps were the way to go until six months later when Steve decided, or someone convinced him, that apps were the way to go--but of course. Duh! Apple came a long way in a short time from Safari Web apps to "there's an app for that."
When Apple first shipped the iPhone there was no such thing as apps. Apps, Steve decreed, were a bad thing because you never know what they could be doing to your phone. Safari Web apps were the way to go until six months later when Steve decided, or someone convinced him, that apps were the way to go--but of course. Duh! Apple came a long way in a short time from Safari Web apps to "there's an app for that."
8. "Value" is different from "price"
Woe unto you if you decide everything based on price. Even more woe unto you if you compete solely on price. Price is not all that matters--what is important, at least to some people, is value. And value takes into account training, support, and the intrinsic joy of using the best tool that's made. It's pretty safe to say that no one buys Apple products because of their low price.
Woe unto you if you decide everything based on price. Even more woe unto you if you compete solely on price. Price is not all that matters--what is important, at least to some people, is value. And value takes into account training, support, and the intrinsic joy of using the best tool that's made. It's pretty safe to say that no one buys Apple products because of their low price.
9. A players hire A+ players
Actually, Steve believed that A players hire A players--that is people who are as good as they are. I refined this slightly--my theory is that A players hire people even better than themselves. It's clear, though, that B players hire C players so they can feel superior to them, and C players hire D players. If you start hiring B players, expect what Steve called "the bozo explosion" to happen in your organization.
Actually, Steve believed that A players hire A players--that is people who are as good as they are. I refined this slightly--my theory is that A players hire people even better than themselves. It's clear, though, that B players hire C players so they can feel superior to them, and C players hire D players. If you start hiring B players, expect what Steve called "the bozo explosion" to happen in your organization.
10. Real CEOs demo
Steve Jobs could demo a 'Pod, 'Pad, 'Phone, and Mac two to three times a year with millions of people watching, why is it that many CEOs call on their vice president of engineering to do a product demo? Maybe it's to show that there's a team effort in play. Maybe. It's more likely that the CEO doesn't understand what his/her company is making well enough to explain it. How pathetic is that?
Steve Jobs could demo a 'Pod, 'Pad, 'Phone, and Mac two to three times a year with millions of people watching, why is it that many CEOs call on their vice president of engineering to do a product demo? Maybe it's to show that there's a team effort in play. Maybe. It's more likely that the CEO doesn't understand what his/her company is making well enough to explain it. How pathetic is that?
11. Real CEOs ship
For all his perfectionism, Steve could ship. Maybe the product wasn't perfect every time, but it was almost always great enough to go. The lesson is that Steve wasn't tinkering for the sake of tinkering--he had a goal: shipping and achieving worldwide domination of existing markets or creation of new markets. Apple is an engineering-centric company, not a research-centric one. Which would you rather be: Apple or Xerox PARC?
For all his perfectionism, Steve could ship. Maybe the product wasn't perfect every time, but it was almost always great enough to go. The lesson is that Steve wasn't tinkering for the sake of tinkering--he had a goal: shipping and achieving worldwide domination of existing markets or creation of new markets. Apple is an engineering-centric company, not a research-centric one. Which would you rather be: Apple or Xerox PARC?
12. Marketing boils down to providing unique value
Think of a two-by-two matrix. The vertical axis measures how your product differs from the competition. The horizontal axis measures the value of your product. Bottom right: valuable but not unique--you'll have to compete on price. Top left: unique but not valuable--you'll own a market that doesn't exist. Bottom left: not unique and not valuable--you're a bozo. Top right: unique and valuable--this is where you make margin, money, and history. For example, the iPod was unique and valuable because it was the only way to legally, inexpensively, and easily download music from the six biggest record labels.
For completing the A-Z Blogging Challenge, I was given an award from fellow blogger, Elizabeth Mueller. Here is her "Z" post with the awards for everyone who partook in the challenge.
Here's my award:
Heehee, I love Zebras.
I received a comment yesterday on my blog from Deirdra Eden Coppel saying:Not exactly sure what this is, but it makes me happy. Go check out her site.Love your site and as I browsed your blog I decided to award you the Creative Blog Award.Go to http://astorybookworld.blogspot.com/p/awards.html and pick up your award.
~Deirdra
I think I've decided to actually do this challenge. Not a lot of restrictions, except time. It's only for a month, so I will give it a try. Wish me luck.
Today I talked Mr. O into going to the Indie Craft Experience (ICE) in Atlanta. I heard about it last year, but didn't make it out. This year, because of Twitter and some blogs, I knew more about it, plus wanted to meet people I followed (Twitter, blogs, tumblr, etc). It's a 2-day event where local artists sell their homemade crafts ranging from jewelry, hair accessories, cards, toys, clothes, food, paintings, art, etc. I definitely wanted to go on the first day of the event to ensure early pickings of these one of a kind goods.
The event was held in kind of a sketchy part of town at the Ambient Plus Studios. Parking was tight and the sidewalks displayed activity I don't care to speak of here, but it skeeved me out all the same. >.< There was a truck selling food outside, but it wasn't just hot dogs and hamburgers. This truck sold fancy truck food. I didn't eat any because we had breakfast earlier at Ria's Bluebird Cafe. Coincidentally, the girl who took our money recognized me because she too was having breakfast at the same place when we were there. I recognized her by her cool glasses and headband and she recognized me by my glasses and hair/headband (I guess like minded people are drawn to each other).
Inside we went and we were greeted by a room buzzing with activity. There were booths set up throughout a good sized space. I told Mr. O that I wanted to start at the back and work my way back to the front/exit. It was CROWDED. I guess everyone had the same idea to go early. The crowd was mostly female of all ages, but there were some men there too (shopping and vendors). Everyone was very friendly and it felt good to support local artisans.
Come and check out what I bought -->
Continue reading ICE Atlanta - Nov 20, 2010.
As seen on xkcd - The Map of Online Communities comparison from 2007 and 2010:
2007
2010
(Click to enlarge or go to the site linked above for a bigger view)
2010
(Click to enlarge or go to the site linked above for a bigger view)
Here's a funny fake "Facebook Feed" representing how The Social Network was created. As shown on Slate.com:
A few interesting articles about the "truth" behind The Social Network:
A few interesting articles about the "truth" behind The Social Network:
- The 10 Most Glaring Lies in "The Social Network"
- The Facebook Movie is an Act of Cold-Hearted Revenge
I apologize for the not so "profesh" looking screen shots. I was trying to combine it all as one picture and used a Firefox plugin called Picnik. Does anyone have a better suggestion for how to screen scrape a full web page view including scrolling? Let me know. Thanks
Source: Twitarded
Today while looking at tweets, someone wrote "OMG @Twankhard you've made my morning". Being the nosy person I am, I clicked on the twitter account to see what it was. I found a blog, and I liked it. Check out Twankhard for news about Twilight Fanfic authors/stories they say have "twanked". "Twanking" is doing something in the fandom that kinda makes you a tool.
I love their list for "How Do I Avoid Twanking?":
We're glad you asked.
- Don't be an asshole.
- Be funny.
- Laugh.
- Have fun.
- Don't take yourself so seriously.
- Remember that fanfiction is a hobby, not a career.
- Don't troll.
- If you troll, be really smart about it.
- No, really. Be really really smart about it.
- Don't whine about reviews on Twitter, LJ, Blogger, etc etc etc.
- Don't try to publish your fanfiction.
- Don't try to make any profit off your fanfiction.
- Don't insult your readers.
- Don't be a hypocrite. If you complain about authors bashing other stories, don't let us find you doing the same thing.
- Don't provoke entire known critical communities. It's funny, but come on. You're wanking. Admit it.
- Don't be a bigot/racist/sexist. We'll flame you so fucking hard...
- Don't forget that respect is gained, not given by default, and you always start out at nil.
- When you get called on your bullshit and you know it, laugh at yourself. Admit your shortcomings.
- Don't be an asshole.
Inspired by This, because we are so unoriginal.
So basically someone reports a "twank", the site investigates and blogs about authors/stories they agree have done something twank-worthy. Current post is about The University of Edward Mason, but I see Just Wait made their site as well.
Glad I found this site today.
Enter - VENTI can't believe I am going to write an entry about manners, but yes, I am. This is a personal blog for me. The things I do or write about were all added because I wanted to add them or they helped me with something. It could be organization (fanfic), it could be emotional, or it could be because I wanted to share something. I did not start this blog to become a business. I'm not here to sell anything or even profit from what I do by gaining "popularity". Ultimately, this is my vanity effort to ensure a place in this world that is me.
Well, I started a fanfiction entry awhile back because I was having a hard time organizing what I was reading and how I felt about these stories. That was great for me to go to one entry to find everything I needed. In that journey I started "collecting" stories so I could add them to my nook instead of needing to have internet connection to read Complete stories. I then was given "The Office" from my friend. I thought I'd be nice and offer this story to people if they asked. No big deal...like I said, I only do things that I want to do and I thought it'd be a nice gesture.
Well, I never knew I'd become this peddler of lost stories and how far reaching my little blog would go for people to find this story. As time went on, I started amassing other "lost" stories that had been pulled. Each time, I updated my blog and offered to provide a PDF copy to people if they asked for it. Again, no biggie. Yes, I receive 5-10 requests a day and if I don't handle them within a short time-frame I end up spending hours ensuring everyone gets what they want. But, still I don't really have a problem with the time right now because I offered to help and I am getting involved with some very nice people.
BUT...you knew a but had to be here somewhere...I do have some peeves that are growing and make me want to tear my hair out or shut down the entry for good.
Continue reading *Vent* - I sound like my Mother.
Picture from Hyperbole and a Half. See BLOG 2 for more admiration of the blog.
For this blog entry, the life I want is "Beyonce" (not "her" but her as a metaphor).
I may be trying to emulate it, but failing miserably because I haven't taken the
time to actually become "Beyonce". However, I am willing and able to be a
better "Beyonce" than Beyonce. I know it's possible.
For this blog entry, the life I want is "Beyonce" (not "her" but her as a metaphor).
I may be trying to emulate it, but failing miserably because I haven't taken the
time to actually become "Beyonce". However, I am willing and able to be a
better "Beyonce" than Beyonce. I know it's possible.
So in the past few weeks I have started to take an interest in the internet again. And no, I don't mean, "wow, the internet is a series of tubes and oh look, the guy who said it is now dead because I read it online at a big corporation's website." I mean, that I've been trying to branch out of from my comfortable social networking and see what people are writing about or posting. I also don't mean my piddly blog or someone's tumblr where they're just copy/pasting someone else's pictures and call it a blog. I don't even really mean a fan site blog run by normal fans.
Disclaimer - There are a lot of awesomesauce blogs out that do what
I've mentioned, but for sake of this blog entry, we are ignoring them
because I want to talk about a different kind of internet site
I've mentioned, but for sake of this blog entry, we are ignoring them
because I want to talk about a different kind of internet site
The interwebz that I want to get to know again is the place where creativity is born. I want to find the places where people have found ways to make a living doing EXACTLY what they want in a creative manner. Call it motivation or inspiration to me, but I look up to ANYONE who has found the courage to leave the mundane and do their passion.
Maybe I am having a "mid-life" crisis (I did just recently celebrate another birthday; one which placed me into the next box on "check your age range" on surveys). Or maybe it's an awakening. I have a choice to make in a few years and it comes down to "what do I want to do with my life?" I know it's not what I am currently doing; however, do you ever feel like you don't have the talent or gumption to do what you truly love for fear that you're not going to be successful doing it? I have that fear all the time. I hope that by seeing examples of other people being successful doing what they love, I will find the courage to do that as well.
Come see some blogs I like -->
Continue reading There actually is good stuff on the interwebz! Who knew?.
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