Always Be Selling
There is no right time to start selling.
- If you have a great idea, you should be talking about it, you should be selling it.
- If you have an alpha level product, you should be finding beta testers, you should be selling it.
- If you have a beta level product, you should know what the final product will look like, you should be selling it.
- If the product is done, you should be selling it.
- If you meet someone, you should tell them what you are doing, you should be selling it.
- If you are in a bar, and are trying to meet girls, you should be selling it (in this case, yourself).
- When you run down the street for some milk, dress nice, you never know if you will bump into someone, you should be selling.
The most successful CEO’s are the one who are always selling their ideas and their companies. The most successful sports stars are always selling their sport, their team and their sponsor’s products. The most successful sales people are always selling their products. The most successful people picking up in bars are always selling. Those vacuous celebrities in the papers and on TV are always selling something.
Does money even exist anymore?
Dave Caolo, writing in Does money even exist anymore?:
More and more it seems like money is a myth.
I assume he does not live in the USA or Japan. Back in Australia in the 1990’s I certainly would have answered no, everything was BPay and a card swipe. In Japan in the early naughts, the answer was yes, they still hold on to cash as a primary form of exchange because its polite, but now do most smaller transactions via SUICA.
Bandwidth caps never necessary
The carriers blame a small proportion of their users with hogging all the available bandwidth on their networks and thus explain why their networks are so slow. They then use this excuse to cap and throttle their users, us, and to charge us more per month.
I call bullshit.
There is plenty of backbone bandwidth available, its cheap and its getting cheaper, and carriers buy it in bulk. There is just no rational profit in it.
My Favorite Mac Apps of 2011
I’ve compiled a list of my favorite Mac apps for 2011. Just wanted to mention the ones that make my life that much easier. I am intentionlly excluding all built-in applications or anything from Apple, such as iWork, iLife and Aperture which are mainstays.
Some you may know, some you may not.
Misconceptions About iOS Multitasking
There is a meme going aroung that you need to terminate applications on your iOS device to prevent the device from slowing down, running out of memory or chewing up battery.
Rubbish.
In iOS, if it aint on the screen or playing music, it aint running and it aint using memory or battery.
Fraser Spiers has the technical details if you want them here.
The coming war on general computation
Excellent talk by Cory Doctorow on The coming war on general computation, transcript here, talking about the war between copyright holders and reality, and why it needs to be fought:
So when I get into a car – a computer I put my body into – with my hearing aid – a computer I put inside my body – I want to know that these technologies are not designed to keep secrets from me, and to prevent me from terminating processes on them that work against my interests.
The definition of open
The tweet that was, then was not, then was again, saved for claim chowder:
For most of 2011, while this tweet was not, the git repo of Android was 2 versions behind.
Get it brilliant
I wrote a post in September 2011 in the Noverse Blog called Get It Brilliant on the what you really need to achieve to create amazing software products. They are:
- Get it Designed
- Get it Architected
- Get it Working
- Get it Right
- Get it Fast
- Get it Intuitive
- Get it Out
Looking back, it sure was not one of my finest writing efforts, but the concepts are important.
Since that article was written, I have worked on two products that you will see early next year. Both are properly designed and architected. Both are working, right, fast and intuitive. All that’s left is to do is ship.
The difference between drivers and passengers
Douglas Rushkoff, Author of Program or Be Programmed, in an interview on ReadWriteWeb
A lot of us our too willing to accept roles as consumers in society. I understand the economic reasons for that, but I don’t think it leads to a fulfilling life or a sustainable community. The best way out of this is to deconstruct what you’re consuming, or better yet to become a creator yourself.
I create software. I write a blog. I’m good at one of these things. And I am always the driver.
Creating games in genres you hate
Ben Kuchera, writing in Ars Technical in SpellTower on iOS shows power of creating games in genres you hate resonates with me because I do dislike word games, yet I really enjoy SpellTower.
“It’s not just about knowing words, it’s about knowing when and where to use words,” Gage explained. “The difficulty also gives the game a weight that I don’t think games like Bookworm have. Because it has constant micro goals—such as don’t let this column touch the top, bring down this column so I can make words later, or clear out some blank tile—players’ moves always have importance to them.”