Sleep Stages

Sleep: Your body's means of rejuvenation - MayoClinic.com: "While sleeping, you move through six phases:

* Awake. It's normal to be awake for short periods during the night. Expect three to 10 brief arousals, though you probably won't remember each one. It's likely part of your body's defense mechanisms to keep you aware of what's going on around you.
* Stage one. During stage one, you sleep lightly and drift in and out of sleep. During this stage you're easily wakened. Your muscles begin to slow down and your eyes move very slowly.
* Stage two. In stage two, your muscles relax. Your brain waves slow down, though occasionally you have bursts of brain activity. You spend about half of your sleep in this stage.
* Stages three and four. Deep sleep sets in. Your brain waves become large and slow. Your breathing becomes rhythmic, and your muscles remain relaxed. At this point your body begins releasing reparative hormones. Stages one through four are referred to as non-rapid eye movement (NREM).
* Rapid eye movement (REM). During REM sleep your muscles stop moving completely. Your breathing and heart rate become rapid and irregular, your blood pressure is more variable, and your eyes move rapidly in bursts of activity. Your brain waves show a pattern similar to wakefulness. Scientists believe this indicates that your brain is using this time to sort and organize your memories. Dreaming takes place during this stage. If you're awakened during REM sleep, you may recall vivid dreams.

Throughout the night, you continuously move from one stage or type of sleep to another in cycles that can last from 70 to 90 minutes each. Early REM periods are very short, however, usually 5 to 10 minutes long. You may experience several longer REM periods as the night progresses."

My sleep study showed hundreds of arousals and very few periods of getting below level 2. Lack of REM sleep causes psychosis and death in mice; I shudder to think how much worse off I could have been. . .

Sleep Deprivation Hinders Thinking, Memory

More info on the problems of sleep deprevation. Now that I am starting to recover, I recognize this as symptoms that I suffered from:

Sleep Deprivation Hinders Thinking, Memory: "If you think you're getting enough sleep on fewer than six hours a night, you're probably experiencing the latest documented effect of sleep deprivation: the inability to realize just how tired you really are.

Even missing out on the recommend eight hours of nightly sleep for two weeks -- a fate regularly experienced by millions of Americans -- can accumulate to a 'sleep debt' equal to total sleep deprivation of two full nights, finds a new study. Average only four hours a night in that time and your brain reacts as though you haven't slept at all for three consecutive nights.

'And the most worrisome part of this is these people don't realize how sleep-deprived they really are,' lead researcher Hans P.A. Van Dongen, PhD, assistant professor of sleep and chronobiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, tells WebMD. 'When people are put through chronic sleep deprivation, there is an initial response where they say, 'OK, this is not optimal but I'll manage.' But after a few days of this, things are much worse than they realize.'"

Warning -- Elective brain surgery coming

Link to Original Article: "A recent experiment showed that single neurons in people's brains react to the faces of specific people. Researchers see the findings as evidence that our brains use fewer cells to decode a given image than previously thought."

Can't you just see it now; people wanting the brain cell that allows them to recognize their ex removed to decrease future pain. . .

Lessons of life from Elders

David Allen: Richard Leider and the big picture stuff: "- Elders, when asked how they would live their life differently if they could do it again, consistently said:

1. They'd be more reflective
2. They'd be more courageous, living more authentically
3. They'd work harder to understand their own personal bottom line (purpose)"

Something positve from the dot.com bubble?

Kathy Sierra has an interesting post:

Creating Passionate Users: Open source passion?: "The whole idea of Getting Things Done is about being able to spend more time in flow, the very thing we believe leads to passionate users. You want to spend more time in flow at work, and you want to help your users spend more time in flow. More flow = happier life, at least according to the leading flow authority, Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi."

and also:

"I don't want to read too much into this, but what the hell--I will anyway. I think it means that after years of being enamored solely with the technology itself, and the various methodologies and approaches to crafting it, the geek world is starting to look at the larger sphere around the use of the technology. In other words, not just the content but the context in which technology is created and used. That means caring about the quality of our lives, as developers, as well as the quality of our user's lives and the role we play in that."

How To Deal With Burnout

How To Deal With Burnout: "Every now and again we all hit a wall. For me it happens fairly regularly and I’m usually able to recover fairly quickly. But it’s not always been like that. I’ve had to train myself to recover from burnout. Unfortunately it’s a largely intuitive process and even recognizing burnout can be tricky."

I too have had more problems with burnout the last couple of years. It is probably related to my sleep apnea induced sleep depravation, but I have hit the wall more often and had a harder time to recover. I will be looking at the tips to help me in the future!

Multitasking is a myth, part 47

Recently, I have been asked to provide sources for my point that the human mind is incapable of multi-tasking and trying to force that is counter-productive. Check out this article from the CIO Magazine archives.

Why More Is Less - Reality Bytes - CIO Magazine Sep 15,2003: "But there's a problem with multitasking. Not only does it take a personal toll on employees, it also doesn't work.

In a February Wall Street Journal column, writer Sue Shellenbarger cited a growing body of research evidence that indicates multitasking actually erodes, rather than enhances, productivity. As people divide their attention between two even seemingly simple tasks—reading their e-mail, for instance, while talking on the phone—comprehension, concentration and short-term memory suffer. Switching from one job to another doesn't work any better. Research indicates that that eats up more time than waiting to finish one job before beginning the next—an inefficiency that increases as the tasks at hand become more complicated. Toggling back and forth between a review of the fine print on a vendor's service-level agreement and a discussion about the amortization of next year's IT investments with your CFO over the phone? Not a terrific time-saving strategy after all. "

Dealing with High stress

Here is an interesting article on dealing with high stress. This falls in the line of articles of what lessions military groups have learned that we in business have forgotten. (see also Malcom Gladwell in The Tipping Point on the optimum size for a company or unit being 150 persons or under).

Leading Forward: An Example from the British Army!: "On the topic of overwork, I was recently talking to a friend about overwork within our organisation. Being interested in history he shared an interesting piece of information, unfortunately he could not remember the source. Apparently, one of the tactics used by the British army during war, is the practice of restricting officers on the 'frontline', under intense stress, to periods of duty no longer than three months. After a three month command, Officers are removed to a less stressful position and replaced. This is done as prolonged exposure to the stresses and strains of the frontline causes Officers to become more defensive, less likely to engage the enemy and less proactive. Resulting in the British army performing better than other countries where their officers were exposed to prolonged stress on the frontline."

BOFH -- an insiders evil joke

BOFH and the Chemistry Lesson | The Register: "'And the addition of an impurity is called doping and the dope we're talking about in this case is managerium, a very very dopey compound'"

BOFH is the Bastard Operator from Hell, and a great read for sysadmin types! He does the things we only wish we could do. . . Check out the archives for many funny stories.

Learning from a Preschooler

Another nice father's day post:

Random Thoughts from a CTO: Learning from a Preschooler: "Learning from a Preschooler

I don't usually post during the weekend, but in honor of Father's day (and the fact that I have the time to do this post since it's 'my' day), I thought I would make an exception. I have a preschooler, and I have found that in many ways he has helped me become a better leader, especially in my communication. Here's some things that I have learned:"

Pricing your wares

Great article from Inc. on pricing. For photographers and other entrepreneurs!

Is It Time to Raise Prices?: "'Entrepreneurs tend to keep prices too low,' says Reed K. Holden, founder of Holden Advisors in Concord, Mass., and the co-author of The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing, a widely used text on the subject. Robert J. Dolan, dean of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and co-author of Power Pricing: How Managing Price Transforms the Bottom Line, agrees. 'You're likely leaving money on the table,' Dolan says."

Simply Audio update

In previous posts (Here and Here), I wrote about a trial of Simply Audiobooks .

Well, I finished the first two books and sent them back. I got email's yesterday that the first book had arrived back and my third book had shipped. CD's were in fine condition and I am hooked! If my driving continues at the current pace, I will be doing 4-5 books a month.

I also had a chance to contact customer service via email. The response was quick and answered my question correctly.

Overall, I rate them 3.5 out of 4; my only issue is I wish the selection was a bit wider. But I strongly recommend them to everyone and they are wroking on the selection!

Father's day

Just spent an hour swimming with my three year old son, Cooper. What a great time. We tested out his new kickboard and my new goggles. (crazy thought, will people who cannot type be directed to this blog for the next couple of months looking for new features at Google?) Anyway, back to the point.

Father's day is always a day of mixed feelings for me. My dad died when I was young. I really am not sure if my memories of him are actual, or just based on the stories I heard growing up. My mom remarried when I was about 11 and I love my step-father and call him "dad". But past Father's days were mixed between joy of "dad's day" and missing my father and thinking what might have been.

This is a tough fathers day; Cooper is the same age I was in 1969. I spent that Father's Day with my father and he was dead due to Lukemia by the end of July. I don't normally talk much about this, and it is unexpected that I am blogging this. But I also have a smile through the tears as my son just streaked through the living room, leaving a trail of water as he tries to escape from his shower after our hour swim.

I am shooting baseball later today. But first, I will grab the shorter lens and take my son to the park and shoot more slide pics. I got a picture frame from Cooper that he made at day-care. Time to get a "hugs" picture of him and I for the desk at work. I feel good that my priorities are in perspective.

Grace and peace.

Thanks Dad!; both of you!

a million monkeys typing

I am sure that many are familiar with this site, but I also know that some family and friends are not. Douglas Johnston does a great job on his weblog to provide useful resources for improving your organization and GTD .

I highly recommend that you download his templates and look at printing some for your planner and/or hipster PDA uses.

New Photos

Had a fun day with the family yesterday. A few pics are up over at the photoblog.

Brain Basic: Understanding Sleep

Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS): "Caffeine and other stimulants cannot overcome the effects of severe sleep deprivation."

I had a horrible time staying awake this week in a warm conference room. Guess what I was trying failed.

On a better note, I got my CPAP today. Now to start on the huge "sleep debt" I have accumulated to get myself back to peak performance!

Another view on the benefits of blogging

Random Thoughts from a CTO: The Benefits of Blogging (so far...): "What had started as an experiment, then a hobby, is now an extension of my career. Though I have discussed some aspects of my personal blogging journey before (see A community of bloggers), I haven't really shared the benefits I have received through this activity."

Nice List. This is worth reading!

Support Digital Millennium Copyright Act Reform

Electronic Frontier Foundation:: "The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) has been wreaking havoc on consumers' fair use rights for the past seven years. Now Congress is considering the Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act (DMCRA, HR 1201), a bill that would reform part of the DMCA and formally protect the 'Betamax defense' relied on by so many innovators.

HR 1201 would give citizens the right to circumvent copy-protection measures as long as what they're doing is otherwise legal."

Follow the link to the EFF site to send an email to your congressperson supporting the reform.

NWS Bill -- Use EFF to contact your US Senators.

Electronic Frontier Foundation:: "Because Senator Santorum believes that companies like AccuWeather would make more money if they didn't have to compete with 'free.' That's right - he believes you should pay twice for your weather information in order to line the pockets of the private weather industry, which *already* benefits from repackaging the data that tax-funded agencies like NWS give away. That's not only unfair, it's a bad precedent for our national information resources. Help stop S.786 by sending a letter to your Senators today!"

Follow the link to the EFF site for a chance to email your senators about your opposition to this bill.

EFF: Legal Guide for Bloggers -- Get This!!!!

This is a great reference and resource!

EFF: Legal Guide for Bloggers: "Whether you're a newly minted blogger or a relative old-timer, you've been seeing more and more stories pop up every day about bloggers getting in trouble for what they post.

Like all journalists and publishers, bloggers sometimes publish information that other people don't want published. You might, for example, publish something that someone considers defamatory, republish an AP news story that's under copyright, or write a lengthy piece detailing the alleged crimes of a candidate for public office.

The difference between you and the reporter at your local newspaper is that in many cases, you may not have the benefit of training or resources to help you determine whether what you're doing is legal. And on top of that, sometimes knowing the law doesn't help - in many cases it was written for traditional journalists, and the courts haven't yet decided how it applies to bloggers.

But here's the important part: None of this should stop you from blogging. Freedom of speech is the foundation of a functioning democracy, and Internet bullies shouldn't use the law to stifle legitimate free expression. That's why EFF created this guide, compiling a number of FAQs designed to help you understand your rights and, if necessary, defend your freedom."

Open Source

I never blog on this about technology that the company I work for uses or is considering using. But I will refer to other blogs that I think make alot of sense. Please consider this as one of those referrals.

Random Thoughts from a CTO: Adoption of Open Source: "So, what open source solutions are we using? Here is just some of the list:

* Linux - We are using Red Hat Enterprise for most of our servers, and have started to use Xandros as the desktop for many of our workstations. Our customers are currently using an older version of Red Hat and will be going to a Debian-based distribution in the near future. Migrated from SCO Unix and Windows servers and workstations.
* Java - Not entirely open source, but we are using Java as our primary language for new development. Used commerical language such as Sybase's PowerBuilder.
* Mozilla Firefox - Everybody in our organization is using this as the browser of choice. It's fast, friendly, and flexible! Migrated from Microsoft Internet Explorer.
* Mozilla Thunderbird - We are starting to use this as a pilot to replace Microsoft Outlook as a mail and news reader. Still waiting on more enhancements in providing a better calendar solution before making the full transition.
* Eclipse - We are using this platform for our Java development, and looking to use it for other kinds of development as the IDE of choice. Used to use Borland JBuilder and other text editors for changing code.
* Nvu - We have moved from Microsoft Frontpage to using this as a web editor.
* Bugzilla - We are using this as a bug/issue tracking solution. Migrated from a commerical solution from Rational Software.
* CVS - This tool is used for our version control system. Migrated from SCCS and Microsoft SourceSafe."

Sleep Study II

The technician came in and woke me at 9AM and I awoke feeling well rested; the best I had felt in months!

I arrived at 9pm and was hooked up to the monitor. I had 24 sensors glued or taped to my chest, legs, shoulders, and head. I was then able to go to bed. It was a regular bed rather than a hospital bed and more comfortable than the average hotel bed. I was also told to try to sleep on my back. Boy, did that feel awkward; I was waiting all night for Paige to elbow me and tell me to roll over. The machine did record symptoms; I had a snore pattern along with trouble breathing, lowered oxygen levels, a clenching of the jaw, and finally a kicking of the legs as I would jerk myself awake to restore breathing. This prevented me from getting deep and restful sleep.

After a period of time, the technician came in and fitted me for a CPAP machine. I was then allowed to go back to sleep and was again asked to sleep on my back. The CPAP machine blows air into the airways at a constant pressure. I was started at setting 5. On setting 13, my symptoms were "fixed" and I was able to enter REM sleep while on my side. They went as high as 19, but I was not able to be symptom free and obtain REM on my back. The next step was to raise the head of the bed. Even with that, I was not able to obtain REM sleep.

Despite the weirdness of the CPAP, all the wires I was connected to, and the interruptions, I had the best night of sleep in over a year. I was afraid that I would not be able to sleep with the CPAP, but that is gone. I sleep fine with it on and awake much more refreshed.

I am now waiting for the process of insurance approval for my CPAP. I may also need to wear a special shirt that has three tennis balls in the back to keep me from sleeping on my back. The doctor will also be reviewing the records and deciding if they want to bring me back in for another night of testing.

As always, I will post updates here.

Bugs!

Bugs!

My three year old son is now afraid of bugs. He spent part of the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa and they took him over to his cousins for some swimming. He called his aunt over and said “Jamie, Bugs!” My sister tried to tell him it was just grass, but he would not get in.

Is is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because do not dare that they are difficult.

Seneca

What are my “bugs”? What are the conscious, sub-conscious, or un-conscious things that I let get in the way of doing the things that I love?What are the steps that I can do to free myself up for breakthroughs in my career and photography? Once we start answering these questions, we clear the things that are holding us back from reaching our potential.

Reaching your potential rarely requires things like Microsoft Software. People rarely fail to reach their potential because of lack of tools. In fact, most people reach their potential in spite of a lack of tools and resources. The real blocks are the ones we place on ourselves, or allow others to place. Tools can help you get there, but it is passion and freeing yourself from blockage are the primary driving forces.

I'm off to stomp some bugs!

Sleep Study

Sleep Study

I am having a sleep study tonight to be tested for sleep apnea. I have had trouble waking up in the mornings, and I feel like I have not slept. I have been chronically fatigued and tired for about a year. I also snore and have periods where I stop breathing while asleep. The most common form of apnea (Greek for 'without breath') is obstructive sleep apnea which is caused by a blockage of the airway where the soft tissue in the back of the throat closes during sleep. The sleeping person is briefly aroused to resume breathing, causing interrupted and poor sleep. It can also cause high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, memory problems, weight gain, impotency, and headaches. It also impairs work and driving.

I fall in the category of a stubborn person that has had sleep apnea for years. My wife has noticed that I was stopping breathing, but I did not understand the seriousness and refused to go in. I was never aware of problems and just thought I was not getting enough sleep. I was never waking up far enough to be self-aware of the problem.

I have started working out and lost weight (about 30+ pounds). Anecdotal evidence is the weight loss is making the problem better. But in at least the short term, it is a good bad situation. The extra exercise is making me more tired and the sleep has not improved enough to offset the increased fatigue.

I will keep you updated!


Links: American Sleep Apnea Association (www.sleepapnea.org)
Stanford Medical School (www.stanford.edu/~dement/apnea.html)

How to Learn More!!!

Open Loops: A Secret They Should Have Taught You In School: How to Learn More with No Extra Effort: "The brain learns more at the start of the learning and the end of the learning (the beginning and end of the data set). Your teachers have known this for a long time."

Interesting post -- time to take this account in our training sessions.

David Allen's review of the Levenger Endurance Briefcase

David Allen: The briefcase I'm using most now...: "On one of my earlier trips to Levenger, Steve Leveen asked me to try out their new Endurance case, which I've dutifully done for the last couple of months. Have to say I really like it - actually more than the Tumi of the same size and shape I was previously using. It has fewer pockets than the Tumi, but they're bigger, and I was surprised to find that I actually like the cloth material - somehow easier to throw stuff in (like AC cord, batteries, camera, etc.) and get it out. Also seems to fit better in small spaces on airplanes. It's my rugged on-the-road standard case for laptop traveling now."

Travel

Up this morning at 5am and on the road by 6am. Had rain much of the way and also some construction that made a few parts a bit "interesting". In fact the drive almost ended before it really started as I had to brake and swerve to avoid a deer about 20 miles into the drive.

Then a board meeting. Now, I have reported to the board every month since 1995; I have only missed two meetings. Content and agenda was routine, but these meetings always require high concentration levels which seem to sap my energy more than a heavy workout.

It is also hot, muggy, and cloudy in Minneapolis. When I got done with my meeting, I had a two hour break, but my room was not ready! Again, hotels doing what works for their policy rather than help us with our needs. Finally got checked in and by the time I got my clothes put away and the laptop out to test the high speed internet (free!!!!), it was finally starting to get comfortable. Still have 15 minutes to enjoy it before the next thing on the schedule.

Adios!

The Artist

The artist is the creator of beautiful things.

To reveal art and conceal the artist is the art's aim.

The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things.

The highest, as the lowest, form of criticism is a mode of autobiography.

Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault.

Those who find beautiful things meanings in beautiful things are cultivated. For these there is hope.

They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only Beauty.

--Oscar Wilde, Preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Tablet PC

I have had a Tablet PC (HP TC-1100) for a little over 15 months. I have been meaning to blog about my experience. Mostly it has been good!, but I have write a quick rant about one thing that is driving me crazy: memory leaks.

A key criteria for my purchase was size. I wanted something that was small enough I would carry it with me and use it in multiple locations. I had a big laptop that was really a desktop because it was too heavy to carry. A key part of this “portability” was hibernation. Plop it into hibernate mode, go to a meeting, and fire it up for use. My five main applications are: Lotus Notes, Firefox, Word, Excel, and One Note. Of course, One Note can never be left open or the system gets really slow. Since I moved to Lotus 6.5.3, my system grounds to a halt in 3-4 days. Firefox will not survive a hibernate with multiple tabs open. Even a reboot takes forever!

Any attempt to research this immediately results in the tap-dance finger pointing where IBM/Lotus says it is windows fault and Microsoft says it is everyone else's fault, including mine for not using Internet Explorer.

Windows XP – Tablet Edition had problems with memory leaks. There are many things great about tablet PC's, but you will have to learn to live with the memory leaks!

UAL – Wonder why they are in bankruptcy?

Airlines are a mess today. United is in bankruptcy; many of the others are losing money at a rate that is beyond most of us being able to comprehend. I realize there are major problems with the economics, but there are also things airlines can do to make things better.

1) Fix their websites! UAL just took about an hour of pressing refresh / retry on a tab in the background to finally pull up my reservation so I could print out my boarding pass. I click on the “print” button and it crashes my browser with all my open tabs. Come on! A well functioning website means that I don't have to tie up a gate agent. I am trying to save you money; and it seems like they are trying to annoy me in response.

2) Tell us the truth. Recently, I spent long hours at O'Hare waiting for the weather to lift to get a flight out. I felt bad for the gate agents because they had long lines of people that wanted to complain. But it as United's fault! If they would have used communication transparency and built trust, the lines would have gone away. Just tell me what you know and what you don't know and be honest! The average traveler is willing to work with the airlines IF they feel the airlines is being honest with them. If it feels like the airline is not telling them stuff, then rumor and frustration builds into long lines of people wanting to complain. Even when the airline does its best, people hate it. And it kills the morale of the associates that have to deal with all the frustrated customers. It is never a good plan to tick-off your customer in a way that they take it out on your employees AND will never be satisfied, even when you do great work to overcome a problem that is not under your control.

3) Shift staff to deal with the reality of the landscape. During the storm I discuss in #2 above, lots of flights were canceled. Stranded passengers were referred to the “customer service” desk. These desks had lines that looked to be about two-hour wait time. At the same time; there were dozens of personal either standing around or answering questions about why no planes were loading. Once they fix the communication problem (see above), they need to take this extra staff and man the customer service desk. No one is happy about getting a flight canceled, but if the airline is at least making an effort to take care of its customers, its customers will give them some slack. Two hours of waiting in line means that the airline deserves the scorn it gets.

4) Again, transparency in communications. Why send me to a customer service desk. Give me a packet that explains when the next flight is, and what my options are. We all know the routine; when you get bumped from a flight; some agents will give you all kinds of vouchers for food, etc.; others will not give you anything or at least the bare minimum. Just set and publish a fair guidelines of what you can and cannot do. Then hand out the information and ask for questions. Here is the hint; it is a lot cheaper to buy my understanding at the original gate by apologizing, given me the reason why, and giving me a clear understanding of what you are going to do and what my options are. After I have waited in line for two hours, my frustration is going to cost you a lot more to make me happy!

5) Do the small things that don't cost much. I recently had a flight from Chicago to Raleigh. I had been in Chicago for a conference with an associate. His flight left about 2 hours before mine, but we caught a cab to the airport together and I just sat around and read. I get to Raleigh and my luggage is not on the carousel. I wait in line for 30 minutes (at 12:45am), only to be told that my luggage came in on the earlier flight and they have it in the back room. UAL knew when I left Chicago that my luggage was already in Raleigh; they knew at the gate when I landed. One employee telling me where my luggage was would have saved me an extra hour at the airport when I really needed sleep! Instead, I got to wait and as I waited, I got mad at UAL . Someone meeting me at the gate telling me where my luggage was would have cost them about $0.50 but would have made my experience one I would have wrote about in a blog post that did not include “stupid” and “United Air Lines” in the same sentence more than 15 times!

How to Act Like a Designer

How to Act Like a Designer: "If you're in any business, you're in the design business. We're all designers now. That's cool, but it's also daunting. How can civilian sales reps and IT geeks incorporate a design sensibility into their work and life? We posed that question to several top designers: How can we be, well, more like them? Here's what they suggested."

I strongly agree with #1 -- I keep multiple journals for different parts of my life and am always writing stuff in them.


I have to think more about the rest. Great photography (and Design) have a unique vision. I am not convinced that looking at someone else's work helps you to create a vision; sometimes it simply causes you to copy their vision!

Something for "the wife" and I to discuss tonight over supper!

Personal Mantras

Merlin Mann has an interesting post:

43 Folders: Personal Mantras: Got one?: "My mantra—if you can call it that—is “Smaller, smaller.” It’s a principle more practical than spiritual, I suppose. I say it to myself several times a day to try and always remember that small things are easier to do than big things, and that most big things are really just a pile of small things if you break them up right. In real-world terms, “Smaller, smaller” means:

* sub-projects
* small-sized teams
* modest, achievable goals
* granular tasks, TODOs, and, yes, “next actions”
* fast deadlines
* frequent, but very short, check-in meetings
* understanding how one piece leads to the next
* making it hard to fail

There’s been very few times that “Smaller, smaller” has done me wrong. No matter how ambitious a project, idea, or problem is, there’s usually a way to break into very small pieces."

Looking forward to some travel-time to think about this and figure out what my mantra should be.

Good Info for writing a business plan

Drakeview : Business plan planning: "The business planning process is also a time that many models and processes are evaluated and abandoned. The writing of a business plan is an opportunity to resolve inconsistencies, research shortcomings and validate assumptions. The plan should reveal and resolve these elements to the satisfaction of the founder as well as any audience that sees the finished plan. It is during the writing of a plan that the founder is able to appreciate the other elements of the business. Many times the founder will be expert in the technology or market. Writing the plan helps the founder explore and understand the interactions that are required not for a successful technology or product launch, but all of the elements required for the business to succeed.

Writing is a valuable exercise in that it usually stimulates more critical assessment of the subject. It provides a means to more clearly express your ideas than conversation. And it provides a template for further refinement. Conversations, casual or otherwise, are excellent for assessing merit of an idea or reaction of a potential client or customer. Written proposals require more from both the author and the audience. The writer must devote significant time to develop and articulate the plan and the audience requires more effort and time to read and reflect on the document. To get the most effective feedback, the plan needs to be approachable, succinct and interesting."

Now I need to find some time!

Swiss lab works with IBM to uncover power of brain

Swiss lab works with IBM to uncover power of brain - Computerworld: "On July 1, Swiss researchers and IBM plan to start up a detailed supercomputer model of part of a rat's brain that could eventually lead to better understanding of brain circuitry in humans.

The researchers will map out the neocortical column, the basic building block of the neocortex, which is responsible for higher information-processing functions in mammals. The rat model could lead to new understanding of the causes of psychiatric problems in human brains, and a later stage of the project could help the search for cures, researchers say."

Worth Watching!

Long Lost Twin?

I started reading Don Giannatti's Blog and I had this sense of deja vu:

"Number of Books I own.
Nearly 1000. We have boxes in storage and shelves over shelves of books. I love books. My kids have nearly 500 kid / young adult books. I have a real aversion to throwing away books."

Ditto. We seem to have similiar interests (photography, advertising), and even similiar reading lists. The main difference is Don posts more to his blog and his posts are probably more interesting.

Please check him out and his flicker pictures.

GTD and Simply Audiobooks

Simply Audiobooks  delivered a copy of David Allen's GTD . I have a 5pm flight to Chicago today, so I am using my lunch to transfer a copy of the CD's to my Dell Jukebox so I can listen to it on the flight.

I am pleased with the speed Simply AudioBooks used to get the items to me, and I am looking forward to a flight!

Organization last week

Last week had me feeling like I was going in a million directions. I think that without GTD my head would have exploded!

On top of all the work items includeing the changing travel schedule, Paige was out of town for two days and I am working on a new workout schedule. The one truly bright point schedule wise was that I did not let the exercise slip and I even found time for three 90minute workouts.

What did slip was blogging. Or at least posting to my blog. I was writing blogs offline, but I did not have time to track down the links and post my writings. So, I just dumped the last week's worth of posts to the blog. Enjoy!

Chicago, Chicago, that fabulous town!

I am off to Chicago for the third time in 60 days next week. I co-worker had a family emergency, so I am filling in at a conference. Next week is really “on the road again,” as I am in Chicago Monday evening until Wednesday evening and Minneapolis Friday and Saturday.

I guess I should look at the good and bad news. I know some people that travel 21+ days a month; at least I don't have that schedule. On the other hand, last time I was in Chicago at O'Hare, my 7:50pm return flight started boarding at 12:45am. Raised all heck with my schedule for the next day.

My mind is buzzing today with ideas on how to maintain my exercise plan while traveling. The conference has a tight schedule! On Monday, I leave straight from the office and arrive at the hotel around 9:30 still needing a meal. On Tuesday, I start at 7am and run constantly until about 10pm. Wednesday is more of the same; 7am to 5pm and then off to the airport for a flight home. On my current work out schedule; Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are supposed to be high mileage bike days. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday are also scheduled for yoga.

So, I have the weekend to figure out what I am going to do. . .

Rates and Fees

I have been doing the number crunching for my business plan and I am a bit uncomfortable. I have competing worries: am I doing myself a disservice by setting my prices too low and/or am I pricing myself out of the market.

I have done the right steps:

A. Compiled detailed list of all costs so I know my annual cost of business.

B. Calculated how many jobs I realistically expect to get each year.

Divided A by B to get my daily rate.

So, I am going to spend a few hours tonight re-crunching the numbers to make sure everything is included and balances correctly. Then I am going to need to find someone I trust to review my numbers and make sure that I am doing things right. I am not in photography to either grow super-rich or go broke. So I want to make sure my rate is fair and avoids both.

That said, I still worry about it and stress! :)

Rights Grab!

Rights Grab!

Photographers are always complaining about the double whammy of teams, leagues, and publications trying to grab rights with the number of photographers who are willing to give away their rights because they wrongly think it will help to get them into the business.

Photography is not the only industry with this problem. Joseph Jaffe is boycotting Hilton Hotels. No, it is not over pictures of some the heirs. It is over Hilton's rights grab. Hilton is undergoing a $45 million creative/media review. They are trying to require that all agencies participating sign away ownership of pitch materials (“all tangible expressions”) for any of the IP developed. This means that an agency could bid on the job, lose, and still see its ideas in future Hilton advertisements with no compensation.

Jaffe does not mince words and although I agree with his sentiments, I'll refer you to his site for language that describes this. What Hilton is doing is every bit as despicable as those fake photography contests that require you to give up your rights to every picture entered.

I too would like to compliment BBDO and Goodby for refusing to participate. While it is too much to hope that everyone will turn Hilton down, one can hope that the only ones that are dumb enough to participate have work that is so bad that it ruins the Hilton brand and costs them 5x as much to repair the mistakes than it would have cost to do the right thing in the first place.

Wanna buy a camera?

Wanna buy a camera?

Family, friends, and even people at my insurance agents office are always asking me: “What camera should I buy.” This post may be even a greater service to all who asked me the question and read this because I point you to the answer of the question: “Where should I not buy a camera from?”

Don Wiss has undertaken a project to post pictures of all the digital camera dealers in Brooklyn. As you look at the pictures, ask yourself: “Would I want this company to have my credit card number or want to make a large purchase through them?” Don't be taken in by large advertisements in Photo Magazines or websites. Go with a trusted dealer.

Shameless plug – I do most of my purchasing through B&H. I have done thousands of dollars of business with them and never had a problem that was not immediately taken care of. 99%+ of shipments were on time with no problems.

I also recommend Adorama and Calumet.

PS – Check out Don's other Albums; he has some nice pictures posted!

Da Nile is not just a river in Egypt

We all now know who “Deep Throat” is. (Well, most of us do. . . “Puffy Dubay” of the PA & Dubay show on Minneapolis' KFAN radio claims that he saw the movie and “She looks nothing like a 91 year old man. . . “ Hint Puffy: wrong movie!) Anyway, this rant is not about the revealing of one of the biggest secrets of our time. It is about the reaction to the revelation.

(Note: I did not have time to trace all the transcripts, so I won't have actual quotes, I will have paraphrases that I believe are consistent with the original comments; this is sufficient for this rant!)

Charles Colson and Pat Buchanan were on the Today Show on 6/1. Background: Colson went to prison after being convicted of a crime with regards to Watergate; Buchanan was never indicted, except by his own words since the mid 1960's. Anyway, the two basically called Mark Felt a traitor. Their point was based on a “sacred trust” that allowed the president to talk to the FBI without fear that it be leaked. Buchanan said that leaking is always wrong and Felt should have resigned and taken it to a grand jury and the press.

Then I turn on Rush on the radio while running a few errands. A caller (not Rush!) brought up that G Gordon Liddy had recently been on a radio show saying that one of the targets of the break-in was a list of hookers that the Democrats used for “party building” (my joke, not the callers!). The caller was frustrated because everyone was ignoring the fact that they had “legitimate reasons” to break in.

Give me a break! This is denial at its worst. This is putting politics ahead of doing the right thing. Colson and Buchanan ignore the fact that the communication between the president and the FBI involved covering up a crime and did not deserve any form of privilege. Recall the Nuremberg trials and Calley at My Lai. Military personnel and political leaders have a moral obligation to not follow illegal orders, or they share responsibility in the crime.

It is also contradictory. Liddy didn't go to press or the grand jury with regards to the hooker list; they broke the law by breaking and entering! This does not rise to the level of a “legitimate reason” for their actions. Watergate was a “two-bit burglary” that now has “two-bit rationalizations” defending it.

Of course, it is SOP. We saw the same from Democrats during Whitewater and the Clinton impeachment. We have also seen the same from the Republicans during some of the recent scandals. There is a rush to attack the messenger and deny everything before we even know what the truth is. When you put party before democracy, the country loses.

On 6/2, Woodward and Bernstein was on the Today Show. Bob Woodward had the best line: “It feels like they are refighting Watergate all over again. But the record of the crimes is clear.”

Ben Bradley was the Washington Post Editor during this period. The one line he used over and over when the White House would respond to a Post story was to point out it was a “non-denial denial.”

Finally, expect Felt to be slammed constantly over the next few weeks over “making money on this.” Remember that the persons slamming him all wrote books after they got out of prison and have been making money off of this for years on the talk circuit. Felt is about the only person who did the right thing and has not made a cent. Remember that when you hear politicians rush to denial with a rousing chorus of “Old man river (of rationalizations)!”

Fargo Marathon – Lessons from shooting my first marathon

I recently had the chance to photograph the Scheels Fargo Marathon. It was my first marathon ever that I was involved with in any capacity. It is amazing how much work goes into one of these and the race committee did a great job. Here are a few things that I learned.

1) Start – need a stool! I shot the start at eye level and ground level. What I really need to do next year is get the camera between 7' to 10' off the ground. I am looking for a shot of a “sea of faces”. that can only be gotten if the camera is a bit above the top of the heads.

2) Extra shoes and pants – Race day was freezing rain and cold! I planned well with 2-3 shells and 2-3 fleece jackets, but I only brought one pair of pants, sox, and shoes. My shoes were cross trainers. I shot from the top of a 22-story building and there was standing water with ice up there. I was chilled for a couple of hours until my feet finally dried out.

3) Shots of runners finishing began to look the same. Editing became boring. Only a couple of runners had expressions that were interesting. While I did need shots of specific finishers, most of the time spent focusing on who is crossing was wasted. Most of the action happened behind me. I need to look at spending more time in the crowd shooting the reactions of friends, families, and the emotions of the finish.

4) I need an assistant to follow me around and get names and information for captioning. I always miss things while I am writing. Let the assistant get the names and I will make sure that I do not miss any shots. Stuff happens too fast and although the the runners have number bibs, they are not always visible and don't help me to know who the person hugging them is.

I have a permanent notebook on the marathon and I have pages of ideas for next year. I am already looking forward to working with the committee to meet their needs and provide art that communicates the great experience of the Scheels Fargo Marathon to future participants, volunteers, and sponsors.

David Allen Seminar

David Allen is coming to Minneapolis in September! His system (GTD ) has helped me to become more productive and effective in both my day job, my photography business, and my family life. Now, I am working to take it to the next level. I will attend this event; just looking into the details of who is paying for it and who else is going with me!

As usual, look for a review here!

Audio Book

As anyone who knows me knows, I love books. I read all the time. I also have taken to Audio Books for long drives, plane flights, etc. The only problem was cost (which got much larger when I moved from a 1992 Honda with tape player to a 2002 Honda with CD player!)

I realize that this is not new to most, but I finally got it. It started last week when the Levenger web site had a posting recommending Audible. I spent time researching their service, but the key issue was their books would not play on my Dell Jukebox. Dell does not support the rights management tools that Audible encodes their downloaded files with. Perhaps I am the only one without an iPod, but I really like my Dell player!

Today, I saw a posting in LifeHacker today on how to get the most out of audio books. One thing lead to another and I found a site that highly recommended Simply Audiobooks . I decided to take the plunge with a 15 day trial on a $24.95 per month membership. The first two books are shipping now (David Allen's: GTD “Getting Things Done” and “Ready for Anything.”)

Watch here for a review of my experience.

GTD and Colors

I have read quite a few blogs and posting on GTD , but I have seen few that deal with color. I have implemented use of color in my system on an informal basis and I am working to improve and expand its use.

I have three fountain pens in my pocket (green ink, red ink, blue ink). I take notes in green, use the red for to-do's, and the blue for outside thoughts or things to think about.

I also have a small zipper bag with gel pens in 10-12 different colors, and a second bag with the same range of highlighters. I use tape flags in 5-8 colors and post-it notes in multiple colors also.

Tony Buzan in The Mind Map Book reminds us that “Colour is one of the most powerful tools for enhancing memory and creativity.”

GTD is all about writing things down so you can review them and find them. My recommended addition is to remember to use colors to make this easier. Don't use my system for colors; use what works for you. Just do it.

Gmail and SPAM

Like everyone else in the world, I seem to have a virtually unlimited amount of Gmail invites given to me in batches of 50. I have been wondering when Google was going to give up the bata and “go live” with gmail and do away with the invite system. Now, after more thought, I hope they never do it.

Gmail is one source that I don't get spam from! The “create and burn” hotmail and yahoomail accounts have flooded my spam filters over the years. Somehow, I expect that if I invited a spammer to Gmail, my account would probably get pulled or suspended.

When a product is hot, requiring a current or “known” customer to recommend all new members is a way to encourage the community to police itself. Peer pressure and tracking who invited the troublemakers is a good first step.

SportsShooter has done the same thing. New members have to be recommended by a “Senior Member” who will vouch for them. It is a system that both controls who is let into the community and also serves to restrict their actions; no-one wants to mess up and embarrass someone who recommended them!

What could other web communities learn from this?