What's Next

Two graduate degrees under my belt, and I'm back out in the real world. I enjoy learning, but maybe just not within the confines of academia...


I've been fortunate enough to piece my dream job together, and have started working on a new venture here in Cambridge. Sure, I'm far from home, but I would choose to do this over anything. I want to do something meaningful.

Sometimes it bothers me to hear other people talk about starting a company. More than half the time, it's just talk and fantasy of a life they think is cool/easy. Luck always plays a factor, but I can be sure to say opportunity arises with those who are committed. I think it's often the difference maker, we don't fall into dream jobs and we don't start companies by accident.

Pac-Man Battle Royale

Design with Intent

The design with intent toolkit is nearly everything one wants to know about designing for behavior. Dan Lockton, the author of the toolkit, created it as part of his 'Design for Sustainable Behaviour' doctorate. The toolkit consist of 101 simple cards, each illustrating a particular ‘gambit‘ for influencing people’s interactions with products, services, environments, and each other. Dan simply describes it as:

The intention is that the cards are useful at the idea generation stage of the design process, helping designers, clients and – perhaps most importantly – potential users themselves explore behaviour change concepts from a number of disciplines, and think about how they might relate to the problem at hand.

Download Design with Intent

Breakbot - Baby I'm Yours

Ratatat - LP4

I idolize this guy.

Silence

Freshman year of college at Johns Hopkins, Gary and I were complete jackasses.


I don't remember the exact count, but I remember we hid 40 something ice cream bars in our super baggy pants leaving the dining area one night. And somehow, between the two us we ate them all in the next 2-3 days.

There was also a week where we lived inside our room and did nothing but play Shenmue on the Dreamcast. We made it a point to finish the game without fully realizing/caring Ryo Hazuki's journey was 50+ hours long. We literally spent the week playing as soon as we got up and until it was time to go back to bed.

Gary and I also had two other suitemates, Jason and Jeff. I'm pretty sure they hated us for blasting music every other night. I think Gary spent more time getting to know them, but I can't be for sure. Maybe Jeff, but Jason wasn't exactly the most popular dude in the suite. He was pretty straight edge, Christian and everything, but he was definitely more mature than Gary and I.

Janelle Monae - The Archandroid

I'm a fan of Janelle.

ENVISION : Step into the sensory box

Why the Celtics are Winning

The Celtics are not winning in the playoffs this post-season because of talent. They've come to beat LeBron (and most probably Dwight Howard) because of team. The Celtics have been winning as an organization like all championship teams have done in the past.

All great organizations train their people. It's about making everyone better and not just the star players. Making everyone better begins with process. Rondo is an all-star in large part being surrounded by incredible work ethic and excellence brought by Garnett, Piece, and Allen over the years. Same for Perkins and Davis, with good training and coaching, the extra value-add from each player is tremendous.

Similarly, at the Lakers organization, most to all players under Phil Jackson's coaching have significantly improved themselves in comparison to the rest of the league. This has been a recurring theme for many ex-Lakers: Horry, Fisher, Fox, George.

How to get ahead of your competition: your organization itself.

The Black Keys - I Got Mine

Kanye's Pad

Someday somehow...

a Marketing Run

I've been working on my marketing skills lately. With strong recommendations from Amazon, I started off on two Robert Cialdini books:


The word "persuasion" in the book titles make them sound more self-help than anything. But maybe the author was trying to make a point here?

I enjoy consumer behavior marketing. It's evil.

Fed chief tells Graduates

"We all know that getting a better-paying job is one of the main reasons to go to college. ... But if you are ever tempted to go into a field or take a job only because the pay is high and for no other reason, be careful!" Ben Bernanke said in his commencement address.

"Having a larger income is exciting at first, but as you get used to your new standard of living and as you associate with other people in your new income bracket, the thrill quickly wears off," he said.

Studies found that just six months after winning a large lottery prize — even in the million of dollars — people reported being not much happier than they were before winning, Bernanke said.

Other findings: Happy people tend to spend time with friends and family. Happy people tend to do what they love for a living or a hobby. Happy people tend to feel in control of their lives.

- USA Today

Another Chapter

One more month of school left.

Time will get crazy again with another venture. It's looking like I'll be in Boston for the foreseeable future.

I am as prepared as I can be.

Two Door Cinema Club - Tourist History

The Acceleration of Information Technology and Paradigm Shift

According to Ray Kurzweil, all industries employed by information technology will continue to grow exponentially.



This is some serious stuff. If we simply looking back at the evolution of computers, internet, and other applications over the past few decades, you can see that technology has progressed more quickly over the past few years than it did 2-3 decades ago.

Supposedly biotech is going to be the next big thing. Too bad I'm not interested.

Babies

Lean Development

Make something that just works

Third Eye Blind

is possibly my favorite band.

Maybe it's because I've been listening to 3eb since I was a kid twelve something years ago, but I'd like to think its more than that. I think it's their sound I've gotten to love -it's so San Francisco.

I saw a 3eb show at Providence last week and they weren't quite what they use to be (new band members). I'll settle for a record I can listen to over and over again.

Social Games

are part ingenious part scam.

Social games and virtual goods are designed to click and whirrrr consumer behavior out of us. My appreciation for them is awe because they are designed right down to its core essence -pushing our behavioral buttons. Those are some lean digital bits being pushed back and forth to make a business out of.

Maybe I'll take back what I said about social games being a scam. Games do provide some value.

Focus

Every so often I find myself a victim of not being focused enough.

I do, however, think I am better at it than some of my peers. I've come to notice lately a few friends having trouble with career focus. One year is this, next year is that. It's like playing in the sand. I say go lead a path you want to live.

Having a long-term perspective of focus is so important.

El Ten Eleven

Dammit I missed them last week at the Middle East.