Thursday, 29 January, 2009. Tagged with: triangletweetup, twitter, design
I like Red Robot’s problem solving. Not in his typical CRUSH ALL HUMANS sort of way, but in how John Rees solved a problem with Red Robot. In a shop full of ThinkPad users, going away for lunch and then coming back, it’s rather difficult to tell which laptop is yours. I’ve seen the same difficulty with MacBook Pros, too. John solved the problem with the Red Robot/Exploding Dog laptop cover. Looks slick, too. Total win. (Update: GelaSkins is where John says he got the cover.)
John, 5x5 and I were one of a hundred or so people at Edge Office for the first Triangle Tweetup of 2009. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with a large group, but it’s worth getting out to meet folks face-to-face, largely because you learn little tidbits, make connections and generate ideas.
Thursday, 29 January, 2009. Tagged with: business
A little while after watching David Heinemeier Hansson’s Startup School presentation, 5x5 and I knew we wanted to start businesses. Eventually, we came around to both starting a site she’d had ideas about for years. Roughly six months after we seriously dove into technical development, product creation, filing incorporation paperwork, tax paperwork, sacrificing a tofurkey and so on, we flipped switches and launched our website CrazyLikeThat.com last night.
We fulfilled “Phase 2.” We’re bootstrapping a business. Regardless of what the site does from here, we’ve accomplished something we’re pretty proud of. Moreover, it’s the first of several ideas we have. So, raise a glass with us, join us in celebrating and help us grow.
Thank you.
Saturday, 24 January, 2009. Tagged with: business, bootstrap
I know Obama’s inaugural address wasn’t filled with fireworks. I know some coworkers I have a great deal of respect for didn’t hear anything of substance they felt they could buy into.
But there was something in the speech I found particularly appealing as both a software developer and a photographer:
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted, for those that prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor — who have carried us up the long rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
I take that as a charge to move beyond thinking and do. But there’s more than just bootstrapping a business, posting photographs and writing. There’s a community of makers. Other photographers, other software developers. But it’s bigger than that.
My wife, Robin, and I went to see Souvenir: A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins at Durham’s Common Ground Theatre. A wonderful two act, two person play. Set aside the irony of me talking about making with regard to a play for someone who made, uh, interesting music. Instead, consider a local acting company. Actors, production crew. A space for them. They’re making something, in the Triangle. They put on a play for two hours, change into street clothes and go back out into the night and blend in.
When making, it’s easy to fall into the trap of not following through, of putting something off until tomorrow. Creation is exposition and exposure, and it’s as thrilling as it is frightening. But there’s support for your own creation in seeing others create. There’s also a symbiosis of the creators seeing you.
Get out, meet other makers and support their creations. A hack night, a house concert, something. Meet other people who create and remind yourself of the power of your own creative energy. Collaborate. Learn.
Maybe you’re into theatre. If you are, there’s one more performance of Souvenir, and they’d love to have a sell out tonight. Go.
Saturday, 24 January, 2009. Tagged with: misc, business
Chipotle was one of my favorite lunch stops in Sacramento. It was a decent walk from my old office at 21st and Q Streets as part of the sacbee staff. When I moved to North Carolina in 2002, I missed seeing them. Other fast food burrito chains aren’t nearly as good.
I saw Rafe tweet this morning about not knowing that McDonald’s no longer owned Chipotle. I sent on a link I found through the Chipotle Wikipedia entry that talked about the company’s founding, McDonald’s investment then divesture from Chipotle.
It’s a neat story about doing the things you might not see in a business but things that have a big impact.
Did McDonald’s pressure [founder Steve] Ells to expand and cheapen the menu?
“They probably did give me grief,” Ells said. When McDonald’s suggested adding coffee or cookies, Ells said: “We wouldn’t do it better than anyone else. And I don’t want anything to be part of Chipotle that wouldn’t be the very best.”
And this tidbit that I particularly love and support:
“Until you see factory farming, it’s not part of your thinking,” he said. “As soon as I was exposed to that, I knew I didn’t want to be a part of that. And I certainly didn’t want my success to be part of that exploitation.
“And the pork tastes so much better.”
Ells moved to using naturally raised pork exclusively. Yes, the carnitas burrito now costs $1 more, but the company sells twice as many. And every Chipotle that opens now allows another farmer to join the Niman Ranch collective.
It’s amazing how doing good things in your business can help other people do good things. Chipotle’s been in Raleigh for a little while now, and while I’ve been a few times, I need to make a point of supporting them more with my dining dollar.
Thursday, 22 January, 2009. Tagged with: links, technological failure
So, peanut butter’s been in the news, lately:
