I’m a Sci-Fi Character
Some times I forget how unusual my life is. My friend and business partner, The Shad0w, creator of BitTornado, and I were recently talking about copyrights, the RIAA, abuses of the legal system and methods for fixing the problem. Mind you I have only seen Shad0w face to face once when we happened to be traveling through the same city at the same time. Anyways we were talking about a way for small down trodden people to do a little legal judo to stop the abusive lawsuits of the RIAA. The solution I came up with was an automated system of filing legal proceedings to tie up the RIAA and cause them to loose a bunch of money attacking unemployed people, grandmothers and 12 year old girls. We could make the whole thing free to access by anyone that needed it and create the legal equivalent of a distributed denial of service attack. Yes, that is the type of stuff we idly chat about.
Anyways, Shad0w said that the idea wasn’t new and that science fiction author Charles Stross invented the concept in his book Accelerando. You can buy the book on Amazon.com or just download a copy because it is published under a Creative Commons license. Shad0w Instant Messaged me a link, I download a copy and start listening to it using a text to speech program then tap the keystrokes to switch to a different computer to continue writing software for one of my clients, again who is in another state and for whom I do all my work remotely.
As I bounce between online chats, software I’m writing on one computer and 25 different browser windows and checking the movie I downloaded because it was out of print and none of the rental places had a copy when I realized this book could have been written about me. This book is suppose to be science fiction and the character is suppose to be fanciful yet I am doing much of what the character in the book is doing. Wow, I didn’t realize my life could be the basis for a science fiction novel. But maybe the “truth is stranger than fiction” adage is true.
I live in a house that I basically got for free by using my credit cards to buy it in a repossession auction and renting out the other two apartments of the triplex. I exist in a virtual world having several Instant Messenger accounts, blogs, websites and a cell phone. My physical mail goes to one of 3 addresses and is forwarded to where I happen to be at the time. I create at least one new business model or invention everyday and file them away because I don’t have time to pursue them. I hang out with models, movie stars and talk with technology luminaries such as Eric S. Raymond and Bruce Schnerier on a daily basis. A lot of this happens because I structured my life so that I didn’t have to be in one particular place at a particular time. If someone invited me to do something I would say yes and do it.
What I have done is escape the limits of time and space. That is very sci-fi.
I don’t exactly recommend my life style for everyone. There are lots of advantages and disadvantages, but that is the nature of beta software. Pick and choose elements that work for you. The big concept to grasp is there are lots of other ways of doing things. Even what you might believe is out of the realm of possibility could be normal for someone else, and for you if you choose.
Action Items:
- Download a podcast of an NPR program and while listening to the show Google for topics mentioned and read about details not covered.
- Try pausing the audio while reading, or rewinding if you miss something, and try just keeping up.
- Make a list of things you have done or could do that benefit the world as a whole and you can’t easily sell.
I'm a Sci-Fi Character
Some times I forget how unusual my life is. My friend and business partner, The Shad0w, creator of BitTornado, and I were recently talking about copyrights, the RIAA, abuses of the legal system and methods for fixing the problem. Mind you I have only seen Shad0w face to face once when we happened to be traveling through the same city at the same time. Anyways we were talking about a way for small down trodden people to do a little legal judo to stop the abusive lawsuits of the RIAA. The solution I came up with was an automated system of filing legal proceedings to tie up the RIAA and cause them to loose a bunch of money attacking unemployed people, grandmothers and 12 year old girls. We could make the whole thing free to access by anyone that needed it and create the legal equivalent of a distributed denial of service attack. Yes, that is the type of stuff we idly chat about.
Anyways, Shad0w said that the idea wasn’t new and that science fiction author Charles Stross invented the concept in his book Accelerando. You can buy the book on Amazon.com or just download a copy because it is published under a Creative Commons license. Shad0w Instant Messaged me a link, I download a copy and start listening to it using a text to speech program then tap the keystrokes to switch to a different computer to continue writing software for one of my clients, again who is in another state and for whom I do all my work remotely.
As I bounce between online chats, software I’m writing on one computer and 25 different browser windows and checking the movie I downloaded because it was out of print and none of the rental places had a copy when I realized this book could have been written about me. This book is suppose to be science fiction and the character is suppose to be fanciful yet I am doing much of what the character in the book is doing. Wow, I didn’t realize my life could be the basis for a science fiction novel. But maybe the “truth is stranger than fiction” adage is true.
I live in a house that I basically got for free by using my credit cards to buy it in a repossession auction and renting out the other two apartments of the triplex. I exist in a virtual world having several Instant Messenger accounts, blogs, websites and a cell phone. My physical mail goes to one of 3 addresses and is forwarded to where I happen to be at the time. I create at least one new business model or invention everyday and file them away because I don’t have time to pursue them. I hang out with models, movie stars and talk with technology luminaries such as Eric S. Raymond and Bruce Schnerier on a daily basis. A lot of this happens because I structured my life so that I didn’t have to be in one particular place at a particular time. If someone invited me to do something I would say yes and do it.
What I have done is escape the limits of time and space. That is very sci-fi.
I don’t exactly recommend my life style for everyone. There are lots of advantages and disadvantages, but that is the nature of beta software. Pick and choose elements that work for you. The big concept to grasp is there are lots of other ways of doing things. Even what you might believe is out of the realm of possibility could be normal for someone else, and for you if you choose.
Action Items:
- Download a podcast of an NPR program and while listening to the show Google for topics mentioned and read about details not covered.
- Try pausing the audio while reading, or rewinding if you miss something, and try just keeping up.
- Make a list of things you have done or could do that benefit the world as a whole and you can’t easily sell.
$1000 Rechargeable Cordless Razor. How Much Are You Worth?
If I told you I bought a $1000 rechargeable cordless razor you would probably say I was nuts. There was a time when I would have said so as well. And no, I never paid $1000 for a razor. But I did discover just how valuable such small items can be.
When I was a consultant in Silicon Valley during the 1990’s I had 3 contracts at a time. In the morning I would drive into San Francisco from Sunnyvale where I lived. I would work for my financial clients until 5 pm, then I continued my clockwise trip around the bay to Oakland where I had a second contract designing and developing the virtual reality engine used in many video games including Top Gun and Falcon 4.0. I would work there until 10 pm or 11 pm then finish my circle of the bay by driving back home to Sunnyvale. On the weekends I wouldn’t have to drive because I worked out of my house on smaller projects.
As you can imagine I did a whole lot of driving. A little over and hour and half each day. The work plus driving schedule didn’t leave me much time for anything else. Why was I working so much? Because I was 26 years old and making over $250,000 a year. That wasn’t stock options that was cash in my hand.
One day while getting ready in the morning I thought about my hourly rate and what the 10 minutes a day I spent shaving was worth. At my average hourly rate I was spending $12 each morning to shave. WOW. I would never pay someone $12 to shave my face. A little multiplication and I discovered I was wasting $262 every month just on shaving. I immediately went out and bought a rechargeable cordless electric razor. The razor cost $79, an amount that I previously had thought was extravagant. So instead of wasting time in the bathroom I would shave while I was driving and that razor paid for itself in the first week. So now I consider that I paid $79 for a $1000 rechargeable cordless razor.
After that I looked at my whole life and found many ways to put my time to the best use. Now what ever I do I’m calculating “is this something that I would be better off paying to have done?” And the more times I find that is true the more pleased I am at my success. It means my value is increasing. How Much Are You Worth?
Action Items:
- Figure out what your time is worth
- Find repetitive tasks that could be shortened or eliminated
- Determine if its cheaper for someone else to do the task
- Remember time to do things you enjoy, life is just as valuable as work.
Predictive Innovation Training
Predictive Innovation: Core Skills Book
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