The book of inspiration

December 19, 2011

Minicraft

Filed under: games — zproxy @ 12:04 pm

See also:

November 29, 2011

Get to user delight

Filed under: life — Tags: , , — zproxy @ 11:25 am
[...] “Very few startups fail for lack of technology. They almost always fail for lack of customers.” (Steve Blank)
  1. Anything that can be postponed should be postponed.
  2. Organize on demand. Fix things once tey break.
  3. Solve problems quickly. Go into details later.
  4. Outsource and pay commission to save time.
  5. Give up control. Focus yourself on product and customers instead.
  6. Make it a hobby reading books to build great products.

See also:

November 15, 2011

Pretotyping

Filed under: life — zproxy @ 3:36 pm
  • Pretotyping: Testing the initial appeal and actual usage of a potential new product by simulating its core experience withthe smallest possible investment of time and money
[...] Fake it before making it!

[...] When someone has an idea for a product, this idea is born in a place I like to call Thoughtland.

  • innovators beat ideas
  • pretotypes beat productypes
  • data beats opinions
  • now beats later
  • doing beats talking
  • simple beats complex
  • commitment beats committees

See also:

November 4, 2011

Guidelines for success

Filed under: life — Tags: , — zproxy @ 11:26 am
[...] Most people don’t do things that are difficult to do – Jason Cohen
‎[...] We have a strategic plan; it’s called doing things – Herb Kelleher
  1. Creativity Implementation can be outsourced. Brilliant design can not.
  2. Honesty – Keep your next marketing message honest
  3. Test and tweak – Create and use a feedback loop to keep improving
  4. Just do it – Convert book smarts to street smarts. If you have been waiting for a sign – this is it!
  5. Do not sell out your dream – Never give up on your dreams. To be happy you need to invest in your own ideas!
  6. Ask for sale. Listen to their needs to solve their problems.

See also:

October 6, 2011

Good Bye, Steve

Filed under: life — Tags: — zproxy @ 9:53 am

[...] You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future

[...] There is no reason not to follow your heart!

[...] The biggest difference between time and space is that you can’t reuse time. — Merrick Furst

See also:

[...] unique and valuable—this is where you make margin, money, and history

September 25, 2011

Success Traits

Filed under: life — Tags: — zproxy @ 2:55 pm

[...] A positive mind finds a way it can be done… a negative mind looks for all the ways it can’t be done.

[...] Repeated success is about being able to take information and create, build, or apply it in new and important ways. Successful people want to learn everything about everything!
  • Love what you do 

    [...] loving what you do is less about what you’re doing and more about how you look at the world.

  • Work really hard
  • Focus on one thing, not everything
  • Keep pushing yourself
  • Come up with good ideas
  • Keep improving yourself in what you do
  • Server others something of value
  • Persist, because there is no over-night success

[...] Successful people create stuff!

[...] When time is gone – it’s gone forever

See also:

[...] don’t waste time, use it!

September 21, 2011

Visioning Process – What do I want to create?

Filed under: life — Tags: , — zproxy @ 12:47 pm

[...] Not all who wander are lost. - J. R. R. Tolkien

  1. Know where you are – what makes you remarkable?’
  2. Design your focused vision of your future you really want
  3. Do it
  4. Keep your vision alive during ongoing environmental changes - “What do I want to create?

Keys to success:

  1. Leverage your existing resources in new ways
  2. Setting your intentions into motion in intangible ways
  3. Your business is your clarity manifest
[...] “Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.” – Senator Robert F. Kennedy

See also:

September 8, 2011

Tips For Your Next Marketing Message

Filed under: marketing — zproxy @ 6:01 pm
  1. Attract attention by being significant – dont bore them
  2. Make use of emotion provoking keywords – make them feel again
  3. Sustain attention by being scan-able – remember, people scan they do not read.
  4. Peer reviewers may spot details you have left out your target audience needs
  5. Expect rapid constructive feedback
  6. Monitor competition, learn from them
  7. Simplify. Attention is a precious resource.
  8. Provoke. Be different.
  9. Make sure your message is being opened and read by giving it a remarkable title
See also:

September 3, 2011

Be Indispensable by building relationships and trust

Filed under: life — zproxy @ 3:33 pm
[...] Relationships are about helping!
[...] Tell me how I can help you!
  1. Attend high quality events - Be invaluable to high quality people at such events
  2. Invest in a community – by investing in communities, you will get access to other players and opportunities
  3. Be a resource bank - become a go-to person for just about any kind of support
  4. Engage thoughtfully - engage with high quality people in a way that they will respond to.
[...] What do you like to do when you are not working?

  1. Connect – Seek to understand
  2. Engage – Seek to know the person
  3. Elaborate – Look for ways to help
  1. Stop thinking about results!
  2. Always think about asking questions to the people you meet
  3. Understand we all are special
Building a relationship is a process of continuous positive experiences over time:
  1. Acquitance – be friendly and above all genuine; it helps if you remember some defining comment 
  2. Connection - both parties realize they are no longer total strangers
  3. Mutuality of Purpose - let each other know how they can help each other;  be a pleasant and polite individual
  4. Relationship - Consistency is the touchstone leading people to feel comfortable around us
  5. Maintenance - nurture, sustain and stay in touch
[...] Everyone makes a living by selling something - Robert Louis Stevenson
[...] What do you need help with?

See also:

August 2, 2011

Unlimited Detail

Filed under: tech, video — Tags: , — zproxy @ 4:05 pm
  1. Fictional items designed by artists
  2. Scanned Real world items

via Geeks3D and also covered by slashdot, rockpapershotgun.

[...] more correctly, get excited about voxelsNotch

See also:

July 28, 2011

Hard to copy, easy to pay

Filed under: tech — Tags: , , , — zproxy @ 7:34 am
  • Hard to copy
    • Authenticity
    • Findability
    • Embodiment
    • Interpretation
    • Attention
  • Easy to pay
    • Immediacy
    • Personalization
    • Understanding how it works
[...] It’s fun to do impossible projects because then you don’t have to worry about what happens if you succeed – Seth
[...] “To get something you never had, you have to do something you’ve never done.”
[...] Things are only impossible until they’re not.
See also:

July 26, 2011

Shining

Filed under: video — Tags: , , — zproxy @ 11:42 am

[...] Some places are like people: some shine and some don’t. – Dick

Some references from a book SHINE I read recently:‎
  1. Hard work can sabotage success by leading you to try to overpower a problem rather than figure it out.
  2. You get better at what you practice, but you get worse at what you neglect.
  3. The only thing that really matters in life are your relationships with other people.
  4. Play: Interact with the issue and learn from your own mistakes
See also:

July 16, 2011

Business model brain food

Filed under: video — Tags: , — zproxy @ 3:53 pm

[...] We need to use tools that help us generate different alternatives and only then we should go for to the right solution. – Alex

See also: Business of Software Blog

July 11, 2011

Public Speaking

Filed under: life — Tags: , , , , — zproxy @ 9:10 am

[...] The audience is sitting there because they want to learn, get inspired or be entertained. – Scott
[...] Its passion that people come to hear. - Doug
[...] What are we each doing in our presentations that is unique, interesting, funny or worthy of going viral? Take risks when you present, and your audience will be more entertained, pay better attention, and you may actually enjoy it! – Robert
  1. Prepare your speech
  2. Show your passion
  3. Tell stories
  4. Get their attention
  5. Start a speech by a powerful statement
  6. Have an enemy  to visualize ‘the problem’ you’re solving.
  7. Finish by highlighting your points and make a call to action
  8. Be distinct and understandable
  9. Put your contact info up twice: at the beginning and at the end.
  1. Use images to clarify ideas
  2. Interact with images to create engagement
  3. Augment memory with persistent & evolving views
Passion – Even if no one else in the world wanted it, would you keep at it, just for yourself. – Beau adkins

See also:

July 3, 2011

Beaware of your internet bubble

Filed under: life — Tags: , , — zproxy @ 11:20 am

[...] There is an epic battle between our future aspirational selves and our more impulsive present selves.

[...] A slip reveals a hidden want, wish, or thought.

[...] The conscious mind is the active thinking part of the mind. The part that has decided to read this article and the part of the mind that is thinking about it.

[...] If you can hold a goal in your mind firmly for days and keep a positive attitude when thinking about it, slowly the thought will take root in the subconscious.

A while ago I mentioned the Biker Mice From Mars which also explores in episode “So Life Like” the evil version of the themselves (aka Evil Twin).

See also:

July 1, 2011

Write a proposal – What’s your sales message?

Filed under: tech — Tags: , , , , — zproxy @ 2:36 pm

cohesive: strong, unyielding

New business will be won only to the extent that the client believes that
the professional is interested, cares, and is trying to help.
—DAVID H. MAISTER1

So you have received a request for proposal? Do you know how to write a proposal? Do you know how to present your sales message?

The project proposal is a tool — not a goal. It should be followed as closely as possible, and deviations should occur only when necessary.

A Request for Proposal (RFP) is a formal statement of requirements and technical specifications that constitute a company’s needs for the evaluation, recommendation and bid proposal of systems, services or products from vendors.

[...] If you have the tools you still need wood to build anything.

‎[...] A hammer does not build a house for a carpenter.

In order to ask for comments provide a section by section overview to indicate where you are most uncertain.

  • The proposal as a cohesive document
  • The proposal as a persuasive document
[...] Persuasion – A successful intentional effort at influencing another’s mental state through communication in a circumstance in which the reader has some measure of freedom. – Daniel J. Okeefe
Why would we persuade?
  • To narrate
  • To inform
  • To convince
  • To explore
  • To make decisions
  • To define
  • To establish credibility

All proposals share in common the following basic parts:

  1. The metaphor of a body
  2. The idea of narration
  3. The idea of persuasion, we really are arguing for our idea
  4. The idea of audience
The checklist for effective persuasion:
  • Have the aims of persuasion been identified and addressed?
  • Is the central persuasive statement controlled?
  • Have logical fallacies been avoided?
  • Have the audience’s knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes been considered?
  • Has a formal persuasive system been followed?
[...] Anything only has a value depending on what we compare it to – Rory Sutherland
[...] The first rule of Persuasion Design is that every design is persuasive in some ways. There is no neutral way of designing something. – Arjan Haring 2010
Trick:
  • In your sales video, talk about the value you will be providing
  • Send customers to buy
  • Invite them –  “See you on the other side”

June 24, 2011

Everything is a remix

Filed under: life — Tags: , , — zproxy @ 12:10 pm

Today I found a nice series on creativity – Everything Is A Remix - via Scott.

Creativity requires influence

Ideas are made of other ideas

Multiple discovery. Copying is creativity. Ideas are combined

See also:

June 21, 2011

World’s Biggest PAC-MAN

Filed under: jsc — Tags: , , , — zproxy @ 1:52 am

Only a few years ago I had this idea to have a JSC branded PAC MAN multiplayer game.

Today, I found this via RLammle:

For my amusement I found it rather remarkable to be able to log in with facebook connect and use my tablet to ink a new maze for others to play later.

It would be awesome if a future version of JSC would include a C# project template to create something like this.

What if it would be applied to other simple games? What if actual applications could be extended by crowd sourcing?

Above video by Pavel was found thanks to geeksaresexy.com

 

 

June 20, 2011

Marketing management is now tribal leadership

Filed under: life — Tags: , , , — zproxy @ 7:38 am

[...] Software that’s boring will never turn into a movement

  • Who can I reach?
  • Will they talk about it with their peers?
  • Can I earn and maintain permission to continue the conversation

[...] Grinding out code is not on top of the  hierarchy of value. Creating and inventing interesting solutions is on the top of the hierarchy of value.

  • Once they learn about the utility offered will they pay for it

[..] Free is the most powerful marketing tool ever. If it is free then trial is more likely. If tiral leads to someone  becoming connected to a group  they do not want to become disconnected from they will start paying because that value has been proven.

[...] Implementation can be outsourced. Brilliant design can not.

[...] Be the change you wish to see in the world. – Gandhi
  • Be relational!
  • Be a storyteller!
  • Be a little bit crazy!

See also:

June 10, 2011

Milk, Milk, Milk – Not Milk! Ideas that spread, Win!

Filed under: video — Tags: , , , , , — zproxy @ 9:07 pm

remarkable: extraordinary, unusual

Cows are invisible. Nobody sees them.

If the cow was purple, you would notice it for a while.

Core rules – Figure out what people want and give it to them!

  • Design is free if you get to scale
  • The riskiest thing to do now is to be safe
  • Figure out who does care

Is your product remarkable?

See also:

June 9, 2011

Enchantment

Filed under: life — Tags: , — zproxy @ 3:29 am

enchantmentattractionfascinationhappiness

It is the dim haze of mystery that adds enchantment to pursuit. - Antoine Rivarol
Thanks to Angela I learned today about the book “Enchantment ”  which explains when and why enchantment is necessary.
[...] Always return every electronic communication…the same day you receive it
  1. Always be likable
  2. Always be trustworthy
  3. Be Deep, Intelligent, Complete, Empowering and Elegant
  4. Always be answering
  5. Always be linking
  6. Always be monitoring
  7. Always be photographing
  8. Always be commeting
  9. Always be thanking
  10. Always be disclosing
  11. Always be repeating
  12. Always be restraining
  13. Always have consistent fresh content
  14. Always be charming and irresistible
See also:

May 31, 2011

GTA – Google Street View

Filed under: games — Tags: — zproxy @ 10:09 am

Wow. GTA as google street view. I think it’s awesome. Next step would be to use GPS and accelerometer to see the game feed in realtime. By walking on the road one could just look into the game world. It could serve as a portal from the real world to the virtual. Oh, and one more thing. Forget about your android phone. Let’s just use those new 3D glasses :)

See also:

May 28, 2011

Leadership lessons

Filed under: life — Tags: — zproxy @ 12:01 pm

[...] “He says the secret is that you should look at abstract patterns like clouds in the sky or smoke emitted from fire,” Gelb said. “Let your mind go free and you will see in these an infinity of things — divine landscapes that you may then reduce to their complete and proper forms. He’s saying generate first, use the right hemisphere, get way out of the box, then step back and think about how it fits together and how it really applies to your practical situation.” by Michael

May 25, 2011

Hurry up and wait

Filed under: life — Tags: , — zproxy @ 11:28 am

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs

Have you ever dropped someone off just to wait them to return?
… did you atleast have something to read?

Have you ever launched a long running task on your computer?
… did you atleast made yourself a sandwich?

Such are the times you know when it’s time to start looking at other tasks during the wait.

Sometimes you have to wait. It’s how you spend that time that makes the difference.

Craig has put together extensive list of things to work on while waiting.

  1. Plan for the Wait
  2. Always have materials on hand
  3. Tasks suited to the Wait
  4. Review your calendar and Todo list
  5. The power of 10 minutes not watching TV
  6. Return calls
  7. Your computer in your pocket
  8. Reading
  9. Rest – let your mind relax
See also:

May 24, 2011

be irresistible

Filed under: life — Tags: , , — zproxy @ 8:21 am

irresistable: charmingenchantingfascinatinginvinciblelovableoverwhelmingpowerfulseductivestunningtemptingunavoidable.

Don’t give up on a single one of your dreams or goals, if they are true dreams and true goals.

Christopher has prepared a list of how to be irresistable:

  1. Learn from nature – patience, trees
  2. Be still – “not doing” can actually increase our creativity
  3. Be persistent - unconquerable spirit never grows old
  4. Value little moments as much as big ones - celebrate the joy and spontaneity of life
  5. Love balance -  only the strong can be gentle
  6. Be interested in other people - If you can find out what makes someone excited or happy – their eyes will glow and friendship will flow.
  7. Be kind 
“It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.” – Oscar Wilde
Wikihow knows how to be charming:
  1. Improve your posture
  2. Smile with your eyes - if you look at someone and then smile, it instantly charms them.
  3. Remember people’s names -  The more you say a person’s name, the more that person will feel that you like them and the greater the chance they’ll warm up to you.
  4. Be genuinely interested in people
  5. Take into account topics that interest those around you
  6. Praise others - mention something you like about that person
  7. Issue compliments to raise others self esteem - find a creative way to say it and say it immediately
  8. Accept compliments -  enjoin this with “I’m glad you like it” or “It is so kind of you to have noticed.”
  9. Control your tone and voice
  10. Listen
  11. Assume rapport
  12. Use kindness with respect
  13. When you greet someone, make them feel like they are the most important person to you.
[...] Being a leader gives you the charisma - Seth
See also:

May 13, 2011

Building Aggressively Compatible Android Games

Filed under: games — Tags: , — zproxy @ 11:56 am
  1. Check your assumptions!
  2. Follow the rules!
  3. Manage your spec!
See also: Game Mechanics
See also: Android development lecture
See also: Interview with Terry

April 30, 2011

Man Tetris

Filed under: games — zproxy @ 5:55 am

[...] It’s going to be a great expierience to be in a room of full of people who are great in this game! via Eric

See also: WebGL Tetris by Philliph

April 29, 2011

You do have a backup, right?

Filed under: tech — Tags: , — zproxy @ 9:32 am

Note to self: Have external drives sync up on each other bi-weekly.

Today I found out that my 1TB external hard drive has stopped working. Only the bright white LED was still shining. The operating system itself was unable to detect the drive via the USB connection.

You do have a backup, right?

Well, no. It was the backup. I had a collection of documents I wanted to read later. Most of them were related to my Ph.D studies and downloaded from the internet. The source code on the disk was either disposable or synced to a repository like svn or git. And then there was media like movies and images.

Should an external hard drive be considered as a temporary means to transport data?

(more…)

April 16, 2011

Shoot the evil chickens

Filed under: games — Tags: — zproxy @ 10:48 am

See also: Doom: Fall of mars

Team Coordination Game

April 14, 2011

Ace Of Spades

Filed under: tech — Tags: , — zproxy @ 1:22 am

Will this be as cool as Minecraft?

See also: Ken Silverman’s Voxlap engine!

Seems like April is the month for Voxels :)

As I have a spare 1 TB of storage space on my external HDD it seems I should write a bot to back up stuff I link in this blog as they seem to become unavailable only within a few years.

Also do check out XB PointStream Demo by Andor Salga:

See also: Hexplore

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