Coolest Find of the Week

Cello Wars

An amazing first Big Ten Championship game.

When you find something…..

I’ve written no less than 25 partial posts that are sitting as drafts in my dashboard, which I mean to publish someday, since they seem very relevant to the time period right now. But I found this video and it just spoke to my heart. Whether it’s because I love France, Ingenuity, Innovation and “Off the Beaten Path” ideas or otherwise I don’t know.

Enjoy.

Maybe it will inspire me to finish the rest of my oh – so important posts…

My clickpath to this post…

1. Steve Jobs steps down
2. Twitter feeds from Apple Employees about Steve’s departure.
3. kenchangKen Chang  ‘ Just watched Tim Cook’s 2010 Auburn University Commencement Speech… and then I saw this… bit.ly/p2us3J (Will Ferrell, Harvard, 2003)
4. Conan O’Brien’s  2011 Dartmouth Commencement Address

[21:31]“…No specific job or career goal defines me. And it should not define you.”

[20:52]“..It is our failure to become our perceived ideal, that ultimately defines us and makes us unique. It’s not easy, but if you accept your misfortune and handle it right. Your perceived failure can become a catalyst for profound reinvention.”

[21:52]  “In 2000 I told graduates to not be afraid to fail. And I still believe that. But today I tell you that weather you fear it or not disappointment will come. The beauty is that through disappointment you can gain clarity and with clarity comes conviction and true originality.”

[23:20] “Work Hard. Be Kind and amazing things will happen.”

In Awe of Quiet Leadership.

Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood won four Emmy awards, and Rogers received one for lifetime achievement.

During the 1997 Daytime Emmys, the Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Rogers. The following is an excerpt from Esquire‘s coverage of the gala, written by Tom Junod:

Mister Rogers went onstage to accept the award — and there, in front of all the soap opera stars and talk show sinceratrons, in front of all the jutting man-tanned jaws and jutting saltwater bosoms, he made his small bow and said into the microphone, “All of us have special ones who have loved us into being. Would you just take, along with me, ten seconds to think of the people who have helped you become who you are. Ten seconds of silence.”And then he lifted his wrist, looked at the audience, looked at his watch, and said, “I’ll watch the time.” There was, at first, a small whoop from the crowd, a giddy, strangled hiccup of laughter, as people realized that he wasn’t kidding, that Mister Rogers was not some convenient eunuch, but rather a man, an authority figure who actually expected them to do what he asked. And so they did. One second, two seconds, seven seconds — and now the jaws clenched, and the bosoms heaved, and the mascara ran, and the tears fell upon the beglittered gathering like rain leaking down a crystal chandelier. And Mister Rogers finally looked up from his watch and said softly “May God be with you,” to all his vanquished children.^[13][21]https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Fred_Rogers#Personal_life

Big Changes

Recently I spent a lot of time soul searching what I wanted to with the next few years of my life and career.  I had an opportunity to join GE Healthcare in developing the next generation solutions for the Healthcare world. This was a big change for me since I had spent an accumulative 10 years in Social Media. You can imagine what the differences might be. I was wary of the frustrations I might encounter having been is a very cowboy-esque world in social media. But that the end of the day I wanted to make sure my skills were used for good rather than evil. Since joining this effort I’ve been nothing but excited and impressed with the focus and process of how we are going about designing and building successful products, where success is measured in lives saved.

My primary focus is working on a product trying to alleviate HAIs, (Healthcare Acquired Infections.) Basically an infection you acquire while being treated for something else in a hospital or clinic.

HAIs will kill more Americans this year than prostate and breast cancer combined. In addition, resulting treatment costs will inflate the nation’s healthcare spend by a largely avoidable $35 billion each year—an average of $1,100 per patient admission. (GEReports) WHO KNEW?

This infographic made it to my desk today which sums up the need very well.

If I’m looking to make a meaningful impact I  think I made a good decision.

Quote of the day: “… People who put cars in their garage have no imagination.”

“We haven’t had a car in our garage for 20 years. It’s half boat and bicycle storage and half blacksmith shop. My wife says people who put cars in their garage have no imagination.

I make all sorts of stuff. Candlesticks, wall hooks, fireplace screens.”

Darren Bush – Flatwater Paddling Evangelist

See the full article here:

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/article_a442abff-445d-5573-b409-fecbe700b114.html

Never say never.

Have you ever done something and then looked backwards and thought… what the what?  I never thought I would do something like that.  For the last 25 years I’ve made  a conscious effort to keep an open mind to all possibilities. That one effort has taken me to places I never could have dreamed of, meet extraordinary people, and has also put me in places I never wanted to be.  Yet there is grace and beauty in understanding the details of a situation that you think you understood from the outside. It’s that one effort that continually puts me on the road less traveled.

I hope that I am not crazy, but I have gone a sold the farm, changed my life completely and committed to doing to two things I never thought I’d ever do in my life.

1. Live in Utah. I could tell a long drawn out story about it, but I think the statement “Live in Utah” is sufficient.

2. Work for a real monster company again. Knowing my personality and my experience I really feel the best place for me to succeed is a company that is mid-major sized. Big enough to matter, small enough to make progress. After a couple of experiences with Monster enterprise level companies, I was sure that road wasn’t for me.  In a sincere effort to discover what I truly wanted I felt I really wanted to help people better their lives in real ways. So I’ve joined the technological effort to save lives by Joining GE Healthcare.

The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost (1874–1963).  Mountain Interval.  1920.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Small thought. Big Idea

The fact that information is freely available and ubiquitous requires us to be creative. The collaborative creation of new ideas is the new currency. It’s the only currency we have.

Pure Joy.

You know you are blessed when little gems like this occur in your day.

Check out the people LinkedIn suggested I might know today:

Hack, Spam or otherwise. This made me laugh!

Sketches of SXSW Archetypes | The View from a Local Company (via On Techies)

Having been to SXSW once after it had “hit the big time.” these descriptions made me crack up. I subscribe to the reflections of Tom Brokaw who stated in his address to the graduating class of 2011 at the University of Iowa. All you learned about life you learned in Junior High. SXSW has become just like HIgh School.

This is a guest post by the folks at Software Advice, They've researched and reviewed hundreds of software products, so you don't have to, you can contact them at http://www.softwareadvice.com, check out their blog as well for great articles. This is a pretty funny post they did and we are posting it here with their permission. Basically, this is a list of the stereotypical characters that flock to SXSW each year – including the dirty hippy, the … Read More

via On Techies

Quick Quote of the Day

“Consistency is more important than greatness, but if you’re consistent over time, you can accomplish great things.”

-Ben Cahoon

(The CFL’s all time leading receiver)

THE 1,000 RECEPTIONS CLUB

1. Jerry Rice (NFL) 1,549

2. Marvin Harrison (NFL) 1,102

3. Cris Carter (NFL) 1,101

4. Tim Brown (NFL) 1,094

5. Terrell Owens (NFL) 1,037*

6. Tony Gonzalez (NFL) 1,026*

7. Issac Bruce (NFL) 1,024

8. Ben Cahoon (CFL) 1,011*

9. Terry Vaughn (CFL) 1,006

* Active player

CAHOON’S CFL CAREER

Year Rec. Yds. Ypc TD

1998 33 471 14.3 3

1999 52 846 16.1 2

2000 71 1,022 14.4 5

2001 56 809 14.4 1

2002 75 1,060 14.2 6

2003 112 1,561 13.9 13

2004 93 1,183 12.7 6

2005 73 1,067 14.6 9

2006 99 1,190 12.0 4

2007 90 1,127 12.5 5

2008 107 1,231 11.5 7

2009 89 1,031 11.6 2

2010 61 618 10.1 1

TOTALS: 1,011 13,216 13.1 64

PLAYOFFS: 90 1,295 14.4 5

Not to be outdone by Woody Allen who was quoted as saying

“90% of success is just showing up!”

A Modern Christmas Story

Lately I’ve been concerned with the absolute blatant eradication of Christ from Christmas Activities in modern life.

The best evidence is the New York City chapter of the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) has chosen to rebrand itself as the “Y” and no longer allow Santa at it’s holiday parties. They’re replaced it with Frosty the Snowman.

From Christ to Santa is a stretch as it is but calling Santa too Christian at an organization founded as a Christian society is ridiculous. I’m starting to feel like the history books are being rewritten.

Which is why I was pleasantly surprised and happy to find this gem that was forwarded to me. A true modern Christmas story. Merry Christmas everyone! And if you don’t celebrate it or recognize that others do, enjoy the time off from work, compliments of those who do.

The wickity, wickity, wickity, rickity, WAC situation exposes whats wrong with College Sports

OK. Forget everything I said on my last post. I think my mistake is that I trust people too much. Apparently there’s more to it than the eye can see. Despite easing travel costs a lot, Hawaii’s departure from the WAC seems to have been the grain of sand that has tipped the teeter-totter of factors to the slow eminent demise of the WAC.

The reality is right now, there are too many schools that want to be in the FBS and not enough real chances to be affiliated with conferences that have stable membership and know how to work together.  I’m going to finally say it. The only solution that feels good in your bones. You know it. You feel it too. the MWC/WAC merger to fit the schools that naturally fit together in geography, academic achievement, size and competition in all sports. Not just football. The idea of the Super Conferences isn’t that bad at this point.

Boise State, Fresno State, Hawaii (Football only), Idaho, Louisiana Tech, Nevada, New Mexico State, San Jose State, Utah State, UNLV , San Diego State, Colorado State, Wyoming

But obviously there’s got to be some sort of bad blood going on in the background cause this would make way to much sense, From a travel cost point of view, similar academic institutions point of view, Olympic sports and the ability to elevate a conference. This plan leaves out Air Force which could easily go Independent and  the new comers Texas State, UTSA and Denver,  hopefully to find homes in the Sun Belt while La Tech makes it to the C-USA. Maybe the MWC/WAC could get UTEP back and make it even more relevant. I actually see the Texas schools as a strong addition to the conference so if you really wanted to make a Super Conference add the trifecta to get the new/old wac Super 16. In any case there is a much more viable solution slapping us right in the face.

What I find ironic about this proposal is that if the WAC was a bit more progressive in their leadership and the MWC not so slimy and selfish in leadership this solution would have been a perfectly viable solution to the departure of the Utah & BYU. But I guess it’s hard to play like a team when you’re always trying to be competitive. Come on folks, straighten up, sink that joke of a network called the Mountain work together, broker a deal with ESPN. You’d have 6 states with interstate schools and rivalries. Now think about the exposure & payout from a bowl perspective if you competed on the same level for the combined 8 bowls and played PAC10, Big 12 & C-USA teams in bowls games rather than each other? Sadly there will probably not be a Rally to Restore Sanity for this cause. Jon Stewart can you help out?

What I find the most tragic, is that prior to this year we had a bunch of schools trying to beat the system by growing conferences to bust the BCS and build a playoff system. Now all we have are a handful of schools joining the system. Almost as if the power of the dark force got deeper as Anakin Skywalker slays the Jedi children and solidify his alliance with the Empire of Evil.

The wickity, wickity, wickity WAC

So it looks like the old WAC (Western Athletic Conference) got around to making itself useful and cobbled itself back together.

The reports: (SBNation, San Marcos Record) I  love how these news article basically reference each other as sources, but don’t really embellish on anything. I wonder if news in the future will be a series of daisy chained links to one source.

Now of course the marquee value of what the WAC once was is LONG GONE, but it’s not all bad. As one who loves the underdog element of the college game, this adds a little more flavor to the mix. Let’s take a look on the bright side of things. The Mountain West poached Nevada, Fresno State , Boise State and tried to steal Utah State (who’s the only institution with a thread of integrity here), in order to promote their conferences’ chances of becoming a BCS automatic qualifying conference. But I’m pretty sure that’s forgone conclusion, since we all know the BCS is about money. In College Football money is about ticket sales and TV money.

Let’s see how the WAC fairs out with their “lesser” conference.

According to reports the WAC will be inviting, Seattle U, Denver U, Texas State and UT-San Antonio into the conference. Sure none of those schools have any marquee value, EXCEPT for the regions in which they are located. Texas State is located in what’s considered the Austin TV Market, #5 in the state. San Antonio #3. Plus the WAC is now well entrenched in the best football recruiting state in the nation……wait for it……. Texas. This duo brings a built-in rivalry and also does nice job of sewing up the geography gap the WAC has long struggled with, giving each other travel partners’ along with Lousiana Tech and NM State. The addition of Denver builds the bridge between the two natural divisions making conference travel seem more like a long trip to grandmas house. Say what you want about LaTech being in the WAC, but every team is indeed west of the Mississippi.

Seattle and Denver do not have football teams but it certainly doesn’t hurt to have TV coverage in either of these two cities. Both of them are much higher in TV ranking than, Reno, Fresno & Boise combined. In fact each of the new schools alone make up bigger TV markets than the departing 3 combined. The incoming schools mean average size is a few thousand larger than the exiting schools. Which doesn’t mean much, except that there are a lot more alumni around to donate funds and buy tickets. Remember how CFB makes money?  Now pay attention to the BCS for a moment. Yep Boise State, Fresno State and Nevada help the quality of play in the Mountain West and possibily get BCS money. But that indeed is a slippery slope. It only takes one bad year for a non-auto qualifying conference to fall off the BCS landscape.

Let’s talk bowl money.

The Western Athletic Conference has three regular bowl tie-ins, with a contingency to fill a spot in a fourth game. Which is the Poinsettia Bowl, given  the Mtn West can’t fill it’s spot. This year looks good, but next? You never know.

• #1 The Humanitarian Bowl will host the WAC champion, unless that team is selected by the Bowl Championship Series. In that case, the bowl will get the first selection among the remaining WAC teams. Payout:$750,000
• #2 The New Mexico Bowl receives the second choice of WAC teams. (Guess who they play? Uh yeah a Mtn West team) Payout:$750,000
• #3 The Hawaiʻi Bowl will host the University of Hawaiʻi team if it has at least seven wins, and is not selected by the BCS (which happened in the 2007 season). In years where Hawaiʻi does not qualify, the bowl will receive the third choice of the remaining eligible WAC teams. Payout:$750,000
• #4 The Poinsettia Bowl will select a top WAC team for 2011 & 2012. Payout:$750,000
• #5 The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl will have the first or selection from the WAC in 2010 & 2013 unless that team is selected by the Bowl Championship Series.Payout:$900,000

The Mountain West Conference has five bowl tie-ins.

• #1 The Maaco Bowl Las Vegas receives the first choice of Mountain West teams, unless that team is selected by the BCS.Payout:$1,000,000
• #2 The Poinsettia Bowl receives the second choice of Mountain West teams. Payout:$750,000
• #3 The Independence Bowl receives the third pick.Payout:$1,100,000
• #4 The Armed Forces Bowl has the fourth pick. Payout:750,000
• #5 The New Mexico Bowl has the fifth pick.Payout:$750,000

Granted there are a few more feathers in the Mtn West’s cap, but not many! In years when neither conference qualifies for a BCS game, it’s pretty much a wash. Hawaii is almost always guaranteed a bowl game as long as they win 6 games.

A few snags to think about, Hawaii could be seen headed for the independent route soon since their geography gives them the ability and need to do that. Utah State may also be on the jump overboard watch since they were  the first school invited to play the role of Judas in the Mtn West raid. But even if Hawaii bails, you’ve got the likes of a powerful Montana team that’s gearing up to make an immediate impact when invited. Not to mention a plethora of FCS schools in the area with similar profiles of the newly invited, EWU, Portland State, Sac State, NAU, UNT that could really fill in the holes. Lastly you’ve got a big time coach like Larry Coker helping UTSA fill that beast of a stadium called the Alamo Dome.

All in all if the WAC is having to make lemonade out of lemons, it’s poised to power up again. Just maybe the WAC is destined to play the role of innovator and pioneer to keep the rest of the conferences just a little bit scared of whose dreamin’ of  taking the next step up. Just ask Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, Oregon State, Cal , and Cincinnati how it feels to get beat by a “lesser” conference teams in big games. They’ve all been beat by current WAC teams who were in Div 1AA not long ago.

News Flash…..This just in TCU, is listed as the top team for a possible invite by the Big East in their plans to expand. The cards are always movin’. Just ante up and keep playin’ Check out this scenario.

Tinkering for fun innovation

I’m completely blown away by the “Green” suggestions of how to live more sustainably. The funny thing is people have been doing this all along. But they used to be that weird guy down the street in your neighborhood who you thought was going to be the unabomber or the next mug shot in the “metro” section of your local newspaper.

Now, they’re getting thousands of “hits” as they’re propelled to be innovator for mankind.  I would bet though if you ask any of these folks who made these things they would have said. Oh I just did it for fun.

Tribute to the Tinkerers’ of the World. You’re getting your reward for just your being you.

http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/technology/human-powered/pedal-power/

Hand Crank Blender

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/03/lehmans_handcra.php

Amish getting the last laugh.

http://www.humboldt.edu/~ccat/pedalpower/josephSP2004/index.html

Nerdapalooza: I want to go!

http://makerfaire.com/

Jimmy V’s 1993 ESPY Award Speech

• Laugh
• Think
• Be Emotional

Everyday and you will have an amazing life.

Culture of Technicians

While his comments were about the food production industry in the U.S. I’m amazed at how relevant these comments are to many things today.

“I’ve always been surprised at how successful we have been at hitting the bullseye at the wrong target…”

“We’ve become a culture of technicians. We’re all into the how of it. And nobody’s asking …but why?”

” A culture that just views a pig as a pile of protoplasmic inanimate structure to be manipulated by whatver creative design the human can foist on that critter will probably view individuals within it’s community and other cultures within it’s community of nations with the same type of disdain and disrespect and controlling type mentality.”

Owner Polyvore Farms, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia
-Food Inc.

Video Reposts of the Week. Kill Your TV!

I love finding the things people do instead of watching TV.

The Best Preparation for the rest of the world is Junior High.

Tom Brokaw receives an honorary degree from the University of Iowa where he spent one year of college. Then speaks to the graduating class of 2010.

I recommend watching the whole thing, but if you only have limited time skip to these marks

6:04: “Failure can be an option.”

7:51  “Best preparation for the real world.”

14:18 ” Our responsibility”

15:00 “Tools, not oracles.”