BlueCapra

Using Technology To Solve Problems and Create Solutions

Creativity, Classical Music, and TED

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Have you seen TED?

No, TED is not a friend from down the street or a buddy from work, TED (short for Technology, Entertainment, and Design) is a non-profit organization with the focus of “Ideas Worth Spreading”.  It is a truly amazing organization.  Great videos.  Learn more about TED here.

After learning about TED, I occasionally look for interesting TED talks to get information or inspiration from.  Some of the more interesting TED talks I have viewed dealt with directional speakers and growing adult molars in a dish.  I recently wandered upon this talk entitled Benjamin Zander on Music and Passion.  Not terribly interesting title to me except for the presenter, Benjamin Zander.

The Art of Possibility

A few months ago, I happened upon a book, The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life by Rosamund and Benjamin Zander.  To say this book changed my life is a little dramatic, but it did and still does have a profound effect on me.  One specific topic, Give everyone an “A” (explained briefly in a previous post), has greatly changed the way I look at people.  So, after seeing that Mr Zander was giving a TED talks, I was very anxious to watch. [Read more…]

“Great” Expectations

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There are some authors that just resonate with you.  One such author for me is Dan Miller.  I have recently read some past blog entries of his and came across this one, Do you “expect” greatness?.  I feel very connected to that quote as I am raising my children.  We should always expect the best or more from our children and others.  Often times, we fall short.  How would the lives of others or your children be different if you not only expected greatness from them, but helped with their journey to greatness, while not judging.

Along those same lines is a concept from a book I recently read, The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life by Rosamund and Benjamin Zander; Give everyone an “A”.  The idea behind giving everyone an “A” is that you should treat everyone as if they are doing their best, all the time, and that they have already succeeded.  You are not judging them.  You “expect” greatness from them.  It frees people from the pressures they may feel to make you happy and lets them be great in any way, not just how you think.  If there is a problem, you don’t assume that person is the problem (remember, they are doing their best), rather there could be some issue beyond their control or even that you are causing.

Everyone deserves to have greatness expected of them, whether it is the server at your local restaurant, you significant other, angry customer, or anyone.  Are you giving everyone an “A”?  I challenge you, next time you are waiting for you food that is taking a little longer than you think it should or in a slow check-out line, to not be angry or upset in any way at the situation. You should “Give everyone an A” by expecting that they are doing the best they can and offering a kind word and a smile.  Now that is “expecting” greatness from yourself.

Practical Small Business Technology Marketing – Part I – Barcodes

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Technology can have a huge impact on the marketing efforts of small businesses.  Most of the technology is low cost or free but requires time and a little knowledge to take advantage of.  This series of posts will focus on practical examples to apply technology to small business marketing.  In this first post, I will detail some practical ways to implement barcodes into small business marketing, with a focus being on QR barcodes.

QR linking to this post

Smartphones are popular.  Those “magic phones” can do a variety of tasks and most people that have them are rarely out of arm’s reach of the devices.  Most modern smartphones are capable of scanning barcodes through embedded or third-party applications (one such application that I have used is RedLaser).  Through these applications, you can check prices of products online and at local stores as well as get more information on the products themselves.  But not all barcodes are equal; there are many variations to the common (or not so common) barcodes.

The standard barcode that most of us are familiar with is considered a one-dimensional (1D) barcode.  They are printed on practically all products you buy, encoding a limited amount of specific information that businesses use to identify the product.  By utilizing algorithms and encoding methods, more information can be added to the barcode within the same physical space, increasing the density of the information available.  With this extra information, smartphone makers and application designers are able to trigger distinct events, such as links to websites, contact information, and text messages among others.  There are many different ways to encode the data, but one of the most popular is the QR, or Quick Response barcode. [Read more…]

How to read a book (…or at least, how I read a book)

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(Photo by graur codrin)

Reading is important.  It is said that in 5 years, the person you become will be influenced by the people you know and the book you read.  Books allow readers to learn from experts, adventurers, and others that we would most likely never come into contact with.  We learn from the successes, the failures, and the creativity of the writing in such a variety of subjects.  According to Wikipedia, in 2009, there were over 280,000 books published in the United States alone.  With such a huge amount of information in books, if you can’t find something you are interested in reading, you might need to check your pulse.

When you find something you are interested in reading, it is always a good idea to occasionally add in a little variety.  You should have variety in life, whether it is food choices, social interactions, or sources of information.  I personally prefer reading to learn.  Most of the time, that preference takes the form of business books, entrepreneurial books, and a wide variety of other subjects chosen to increase knowledge.  I keep a list of books I am interested in reading.  Normally, that list is over 75 books and more often than not, over 100.  I don’t always pick a book from that list, but I am usually making progress through the ones I really want to read.  Some of my most recent books includes a book on game theory (Rock, Paper, Scissors: Game Theory in Everyday Life), ancient strategy (The Book of Five Rings), and how to interact better with your physicians (How Doctors Think). That should not imply that type of reading is not for pleasure; I enjoy reading immensely and feel that it helps me mentally and emotionally to have that quiet time to myself.  I do read fiction, but not very often, and usually in the form of audiobooks (typically after 2 or 3 non-fiction books I will listen to a fiction audiobook).

Audiobooks give additional reading time to drivers and riders

Audiobooks are a great way to start out or supplement your reading.  There are many times you can listen to audiobooks, but most often, I do so when driving or riding in an automobile. [Read more…]

Are you actually going to eat that?

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Plate of bean burgers“If I cooked something like that, you would have NEVER eaten it” – Truer words have never been spoken by my wife. I don’t consider myself a picky eater, but I have been accused of being one in the past.  I think it had more to do with the look of what I ate; if it looked strange, I would most likely not try it. With as much credit possible to my wife for her “gentle encouragements” (not so gentle at times), I have gotten much better at trying new things.

Vegetables – everyone knows we need to eat them. I have eaten countless meals consisting of meat, bread, and other stuff that is not so good for me. There has to be a better way of eating vegetables. At the local library, I checked out The Sneaky Chef by Missy Chase Lapine in an effort to learn how to add vegetables to normal dishes so you won’t even know they are there (great if you have kids).  The problem with most of the dishes in those type (or many other type) cookbooks is ingredients; you rarely have everything you need for the meal you want.  I like simple and typically cook simple meals.  I have cooked elaborate dishes, but tend to focus on the simple.  Apart from pizza (the perfect food, at least in my opinion), hamburgers are simple.

I like hamburgers.  Not to the point of mania, but I like them.  Just before I read The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman by Tim Ferriss, I was researching making bean-based veggie burgers.   My first attempt turned out pretty good (even my wife ate some) and included black beans, brown rice, onions, and a few other ingredients. This accomplished several things; reduced the amount of beef I ate, reduced cost (total ingredients cost about $2 for 6 burgers), and increased my intake of vegetables and other good stuff.  Then…..The 4-Hour Body Slow Carb diet happened; no bread or grains, so no bun and no rice. Oh well, adapt and overcome. [Read more…]