Mar 27, 2010

Ignorance is bliss

Eye-Fi just release the first ever ‘Endless’ memory stick. Yes finally a memory stick that never fills up. You can put any amount of videos and pictures on it and you’ll never see the ‘Not enough memory!’ message.


At this point the computer savvy knows there’s a catch somewhere. But let’s plunge back into the average clueless-computer-user brain.

Wow! my last memory card purchase ever. Let’s go to the web site. Mmmm, there are two capacity choices, I wonder why? I’ll take the cheaper 4GB over the 8GB. It won’t make a difference since it is infinite memory anyway.

Welcome to reality! Infinite memory doesn’t exist. It’s advertised, it’s sold and some people even buy it but it doesn’t exist. This mem-stick is only Endless because it deletes the oldest files if it needs space for the new ones. If you have anybody in your family that doesn't know computer much, you know how long it takes just to make them understand how to manage there files. 'Keep them in order.', 'Put them all under the same base-folder, so you know where your stuff is.'. And still they find ways to lose files or overwrite them.

Then after some time, the newbies understand there computer enough not to lose there files. They're almost ready to understand the virtues of backups.

Enters Eye-Fi Endless memory card!

“Where are all our pictures from Hawaii?”
“They're gone dad.”

Mar 24, 2010

The small things

I'm optimistic by nature. I can motivate a team of hopeless people by finding the tiniest bit of good in a bad situation. I then proceed into warping reality around that tiny thing until it becomes the only central step. So, for a short time, it turns into the most important part of the work and it creates a new viewpoint (in this case a good one) on the project.

I don't consider this a lie since, like everybody knows, if a lie is a means to an end it becomes a good lie (I like to say that everybody knows that. It makes it alright.). On top of that, since we want to 'do onto others as you would have them do to you' I'm totally okay because I do this to myself all the time.
Yes I do it, I lie to myself every time I attack a big problem and I reach a dead-end. We hear often 'work that big problem by picking at it'. 'Picking' doesn't sound very sexy and interesting all the time. Sometimes you want 'hacking' and 'slashing' because it feels good to move fast and have big results.


Big results. It such a trap since the size or importance of a result is relative. Something which is significant for somebody is noting for an other person. So perspective and mindset is not only important to understand the problem but also to believe in it. You next little task may be the small stone that start the landslide. It doesn't take much to gain momentum in a project and the next task might be the trigger.

Sorry but I don't have a choice, many of my projects are long term monsters barely moving sometimes. You have to appreciate the small things.

Mar 22, 2010

What is impossible?

A task is impossible only in the relative point of view of the person describing it as impossible.

Most of the time people come to the conclusion that a task is impossible with this bad induction: "X number of people try to do this and failed. This task must then be impossible."


To me, complex problems are like mountains: Most people attack them head first in a straight line using known and proven methods. Personally, I prefer walking around it and see it from the other angles. Nature as a tendency of creating natural steps here and there. There's nothing worst than reaching the top only to find the ski lift that was on the other face.