How to Innovate - a Simple List of Techniques.

>Innovation starts with trying to "know your customers" better than they know themselves.

Do spend time reflecting on your customers and the problems they face and the issues they deal with.

Steve Jobs helped create the iPod knowing that people would love to carry ALL of their music around, not just an hour of it.

>Explore far and wide and discuss ideas with colleagues.

Don't assume your assumptions are correct. Ask yourself if you have identified the right problem.

If not, reframe the problem.

Have you discussed your tactics with an unfamiliar ear? Are you assuming your tactics are correct? (by the way, perhaps discussing your tactics with your teenage son/daughter/nephew/niece will give you a fresh perspective on how it can be applicable to the "next generation").

>Foster Cross-pollination

While you are discussing your tactics with "unfamiliar ears", make sure they are from various disciplines and age groups within and outside the organization.

>Visit Unfamiliar Territory, and capture different approaches

Gutenberg invented the printing press after visiting a Winery. Your ideas become fertile when considering on how to solve them using completely unconventional methods. If you are planning a program which involves doctors, have you surveyed the receptionists? If you are planning a program that involves the internet, have you considered mobile devices (the fastest growing segment of “information seekers”?)

>Be Persistent

Keep asking "why" when thinking out whether an idea is good or bad. Each decision on the viability (or not) of an idea should be backed up with rock-solid justification.

>Take Risks, Plan to Make Mistakes (but learn how to make mistakes cheaply)


Build prototypes often, test them out on people, gather feedback, and make incremental changes. Rather than treating the mistakes as failures, think of them as experiments. “Experiment is the expected failure to deliberately learn something.” 
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.“ –Thomas A. Edison

>Get inside the head of the end user

Ten years back in a previous life, when I was searching for a new location to open a franchise business, I was asked to visit a grocery store to check the length of the diaper aisle and to assess the amount of fresh shrimp in the seafood freeze. Why? It was a direct indicator of the number of toddlers and the general affluence of the neighborhood - a factor critical for my franchise.

>Observe different people at different places at different times.

Starbucks was started when a few (founders) noticed that a cafe in Italy was busy around-the-clock selling premium expresso for an extremely inflated price (the coffee was high quality, of course!)

>Know the full set of your problems and have a master list, and appreciate the cranky user.

Keep a retrospective view of what mistakes were made in the past - these mistakes should be on your list of concerns for your product. Also keep a list of problems from the perspective of a "cranky user". It is the "cranky user" who will teach you most about how to keep your output the highest quality.

>Practice seeing more than what's overtly in front of your eyes.

Search for that which is unspoken and unheard, but important. Some of the greatest inventions of our time are a result of science capturing the invisible - cellular and microwave technology, electromagnetism and solar power and wi-fi. This principle of looking for the invisible applies also to human behavior (body language), Web Traffic analytics (web page “stickiness”), etc.

>Follow Technology Trends


Technology is a very influential aspect of all our business nowadays. If you are planning a website, it's very important to know that we might want to replace Flash with HTML5 on our websites. See my previous blog on the subject.

>Remove Self-limiting inhibitions

Human nature dictates that many times we dismiss something because we "cannot". Ironically, this habit of self-limiting inhibitions increases with age. Strip it away, and you will achieve more by allowing for more possibility.

If you ask a middle aged man what kind of home they would like to own, they might say "a modest one - but swimming pool might not be possible."

If you ask a child what kind of home they would like to own, they would say "one with two swimming pools - one for me and one for my friends".

The latter is ALWAYS better when brainstorming innovations. Budget will dictate reality

>Solve the Opposite Problem


If you are looking for the best strategy for a Sample Voucher, try to determine how to make the worst sample voucher card in history. The worst sample voucher would be impossible to obtain, impossible to use, and have zero support if there were questions. Then apply the opposite - make it the easiest to obtain, very easy to use, and have excellent support if questions arose.

>Plan for roadblocks.


If you know there will be bumps along the way (resistance, challenges), and you expect them, you will be much more prepared to navigate them and actually enjoy overcoming them. This is the most basic principle of Rollercoasters. Some people are terrified of them after exiting them, and some people are exhilarated by them, but both are visiting the same rollercoaster.

>Find Patterns and Create Combinations


Take tools and current strategies and combine them.

Combining new tools with old business processes or strategies can take you a long way.

>Look for inconveniences


While innovating, the best and lowest-hanging-fruit can be captured by listening for when your customers say "I am annoyed when...."

Watch for possible gaps


Sometimes we are so accustomed to doing things in a certain way that we can no longer see it as inconvenient. In that case, it is up to your imagination to spot opportunities for improvements.

Watch how your competitors work.

Never hesitate to take an idea from a competitor, and try to improve on it.

>and lastly, Inject a little fun.

If you are stuck trying to come up with innovative ideas, take a 5-minute "fun break". When you return, think about what you just did that made it fun, and try to capture that within the idea that you are working on. Doesn’t always work, but at least you'll be refreshed. Keep in mind that your customers ultimately respond more to "fun" tactics than "serious" tactics.

The Importance of Imagination

Imagination is the ability of one’s brain to form a mental image or experience of something that is not perceived as real and is not present to the senses.

Imagination can be used to form a mental image of something that one has experienced in the past… but the more “useful” type of imagination is used to create an image of something that never existed – an object, a process, or art.

We always remember our days watching shows like Sesame Street or one of the other childrens shows, and how they used to emphasize that we should use our imaginations. I’ve always known it to be important, but it never occurred to my WHY it is so important.

Imagination is the foundation of ALL art, ALL technology and innovations, and ALL Unique creation. The word “imagination” evokes an image of a kid playing legos, making some unique shape, or some drawing. But that same cultivated imagination will grow up to assign basic rules to imagination (but not too many rules) to create something astounding.

The rules that adults apply to otherwise infant-like imagination could be rules of symmetry and design, functionality, fiscal viability, “simple usefulness”, lawfulness, social value, etc. Hopefully the rules don’t destroy the imagination. Alas, many times they do.

The one rule that will kill imagination is the rule of convention. It’s always “the conventional” that can quickly render the fruits of an imagination as destined for death. “It’s not how it’s done”. In addition to “conventionalism” the second most lethal rule to imagination is the tendency to underestimate possibility. “It’s not possible”.

If one “imagines” back to prehistoric times when the totality of social knowledge was much, much more limited, it’s easy to agree that it would have been nearly impossible for a caveman to imagine New York City 2010. But somehow humanity got there, through incremental breakthroughs of imagination (invention), and random fortuitous occurrences (discovery), we now
have Moon 1969, New York 2010, and more. (link: http://www.i-dineout.com/pages2003/inventions1.html)

note: Do prozac and viagra really belong on that list ?

One of my favorite stories – there are contradicting accounts – is one of Michael Faraday – a chemist who had a lot to do with our understanding of Electromagnetism – was explaining to his students a new contraption he had assembled to demonstrate electromagnetic rotation. As he was demonstrating this device which purportedly generated “electricity”, a student quipped “Yes- but of what use is this device ?”. To which Faraday replied “Of what use is a newborn baby?”.

NEVER should you allow your imagination be limited by some self-regulating perception of “what can be”.

Fact is stranger than fiction…. because fiction is bound by the limits of believability.

Imagination is important as we discussed - because it is the foundation of ALL art, technology, innovation, and many times "change".

Imagine what life would be without it.

On Counter-Intuition.

As anyone who knows me will attest - I love knowledge and facts.

People who DON'T like me might say that such knowledge is useless and has no value.
Maybe they're correct.
I don't know.

...But what I do know is that some of the BEST and most fun knowledge is that which is counter-intuitive.

Knowledge that goes against the grain of intuition. Knowledge that makes you scratch your head and say "HOW can that be?". THE most classic example of counterintuitive knowledge is "The world is NOT flat", and the concept of Heliocentrism. Poor Gallileo was condemned (though not excommunicated) for this fact - but yet ultimately prevailed hundreds of years later, with formal declaration from the Vatican, on Halloween, 1992.

Other examples of counter-intuitive facts are:

- The Monty Hall Problem

- The earth is Closer to the sun in January than it is in June.

- English is not the official language of the USA

- Michael J. Fox's middle name is Andrew

- The positions of letters on a regular (QWERTY) keyboard are designed to slow you down.

- If you have a room of 23 people, there is a 50% chance that 2 of them have the same birthday.

- Matter increases in density as it gets colder. Why does ice float?

- Some aggressive animals will leave you alone if you "play dead".

- John Hanson was the first President of the United States. In fact there were six other Presidents of the United States before George Washington. Technicalities remain, but this is a fact.

- There were 4 musketeers in "The Three Musketeers" and Zero Monkeys in "12 Monkeys"

- Sound can travel 4.3 times faster in Water than it does in Air.

- Alaska has the United States' Northernmost, Westernmost, and Easternmost points.

- To go from Los Angeles, California to Reno, Nevada , you have to travel WESTward.

... and then finally (in my opinion) the GRAND-DADDY counter-intuitive fact of them all - THE REASON I wrote this blog entry.. and the one that can change all of our lives....

Reduction in Taxes Increases Government Revenues, and creates a healthier economy.

Hope you're listening, White House. Please burn some calories and validate that last one. It's important.

A Quote from Me.

The young search for the definition of "life".
The wiser are concerned with the "meaning" of life.

-jay patel

Little Morsels of PM Goodness

I wanted to make a list of some things which are often overlooked but very valuable components of project management. I don't prefer the word "nuggets"... so I'll call them "morsels".

Don't overlook these, especially in larger projects:

- Stakeholder Analysis - Know who you're going to be working with, their interests and potentially the reason why they might not like you -- then figure out a way to make them your allies.

- Project Charter - Know what you have to accomplish, what you are delegating, and who has what authority to do what. At a minimum, without a project charter each new participant after kickoff will be "lost in the sauce".

- You have to have purpose and you have to be excited. Without these, your project may be executed successfully, but you will not make meaningful contribution nor will you gain a real sense of achievement. Those are the two things that will make "it all" worthwhile.

- A coach-like manner and enthusiasm - Coaches can pat you on the back, and they can yell at you - but either way you know they love you, and you will go the extra mile for them. As a project manager, don't you want to have people like that on your project ?

- A way of measuring tactical success. You need to plan early on the success metrics of the project. They can be driven by reports from MS Project (hard metrics), a collection of change requests organized by type (derived metrics), an analysis of feedback from the team at certain intervals (soft metrics), and even financial reports on your project burn (hard metrics as well).

- A change Management process - A change in the direction, scope, budget, or resourcing of a project which is sizeable (you decide the threshold) is necessary to (a) make sizeable changes less arbitrary and (b) track the events in an organized manner so they can be minimized where possible. A change management process helps you learn from your mistakes, and helps prevent them to a degree right from the beginning by reducing project chaos.

- A sponsor who will "go to bat" for you. You may have to work to earn this, but it's best to ensure as much support as possible by pledging all your energy prior to the project start.

- Strong Key Learnings Process - Learn from your mistakes and please - don't make them again.

- A Document Repository - Please don't store your documents on your laptop - you know the one you leave unlocked at your desk when you go out to lunch. Could be a career-ender ! And make sure your document repository allows you to do some kind of version controlling.

Killer Robots and Killer Microbes

Two great movies - "War of the Worlds" and "I, Robot" - born of even greater books by yet even greater writers (H.G. Wells and Isaac Asimov) pondered on the destruction of human life - but from different angles.

Asimov pondered the possibility of Robots created that decide that they don't need humans and attempt to destroy humans. Asimov proposed that each Robot created should be created with three inherent "laws" from which they could not deviate:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2. A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

He starts the book "I, Robot" with the three basic laws, then goes ahead and smashes to pieces these rules with interesting fiction on how the rules can be broken, or simply would not suffice their intended protection. The book leaves us with a refreshed respect for humanity, and even for robots. The basic "aftertaste" still remains - robots can one day decide to destroy us, and may succeed.

The other book - War of the Worlds - has the primary theme of an alien invader destroying humanity, but also a secondary theme of destruction by microbes (the fate of the aliens, thankfully). Aliens are destroyed by the simple influenza virus because they dont have the resistance we (neanderthal-like) humans have adapted over millenia. This "death by microbe" I propose is a fate that not only for the fictitious aliens, but one that does still lurk around the corner for us humans - moreso again through the recent work of "artificial life" or "synthetic cells" or whatever you want to call it.

In recent news, a tenacious scientist named Craig Ventner has been lauded (and criticized) for creating "synthetic life".

His supporters have called him "ambitious", "genius", and have even credited him with potentially "saving the environment" with his algae-based research. His detractors have called him a "monster", "dangerous", and probably most painful to him among all monikers "insignificant and unoriginal". I believe what he has done can either save the planet or destroy humanity - sound familiar ?

Bottom line: looks like we have something else to worry about - Ventners first "artificial cell" is actually borrowed from a microbe/virus that can be harmful to goats, but his institute states that they've "removed numerous markers" which makes it harmless to goats even "if it were accidentally released" into the environment.

I bet goats don't want to find out for sure.

But why be cynical - let science move forward and hope that those with access to technology like Mr Ventner's are pursuing greater good, and not goat-killing vengeance.

At least Mr. Ventner is having some fun with easter eggs.

So what do we worry about now ? Nuclear Weapons ? Robots taking over ? The "Ventnerenza" virus ?

And to put the icing on the "what's important in life" cake, Lady Gaga is on Larry King this week. "Life" goes on. For now.

The Mortality of Ideas

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about "ideas".

As you probably do, I have a lot of them - and I try to come up with new ones.

I remember hearing a quote once - something about the notion of "the father of an idea always loves it like a child - it can "do" no wrong".

I suppose that is true - because when you have an idea, you immediately are biased towards it and have an instant emotional attachment to it. Its difficult not to be emotionally invested in it, since you think you created it (assuming it's original) and want it to thrive. Usually.

Concomitantly, I've developed the sense that an idea actually is an "entity".

It has a birth - it's conceived, after all !

It has a lifespan

It can be nurtured, respected.

It can grow, be adopted, be "divorced from".

One can "marry" ideas with other ideas.

One can either like, love, hate, detest, or reject ideas.

And ideas can die.

Actually, it's the death of ideas that I find interesting, because in the "ecosystem" of ideas, people are generally extremely willing and very ready to "kill" an idea before its even given a chance. Actually, the murder of new ideas may somehow be quantified as being AS destructive to humankind as some of the most destructive diseases in history. I will do that in a future blog.

IMAGINE if some of the great IDEAS in history were dismissively murdered by the peers of the "conceiver" (mom or dad) of those ideas. Imagine if the great (idea) moms or dads of history didn't nurture their "children" fully - Madame Curie, Nicola Tesla, Tim Berners-Lee, Philo Farnsworth, Robert Noyce, or Sir Frank Whittle and Lee Deforest would not have made the difference they did.

We would be in "a world of hurt" IF those people didn't have the courage to gently blow the embers of their ideas into bonfires, and nurtured their "children" into something wonderful.

I intentionally included in my list of luminaries some names you might not have heard - to prove a point.

As is the case 50% of the time throughout history, sometimes the "children" end up being a greater part of our history than the parents.

Which is why we really should listen very carefully when someone says "I have an idea". You may be thoughtlessly preparing to kill an idea before allowing it to even breathe for a moment. You may not want that burden.

...more on the Mortality of Ideas... stay tuned.

The Importance of a PMO at a Growing Agency

PMOs have traditionally been the domain of Aerospace, Large Manufacturing, and Construction. Now that organizations of all pursuits are seeing their value, I thought I'd share a little regarding my experience as it relates to Creative Agencies and the benefits PMOs provide them.

The top reasons PMO's are important to a growing Creative Agency are:

- Reduction of Overall Risk - A Centralized Repository for all projects and their status is critical to reduce confusion on activity within an agency. Without a solid understanding of the planned activities of all departments, Agencies are setting themselves up for the potential for "inconclusive wisdom" on the status of their business. This is one of the major reasons that a PMO should cross functional areas of a business. The distinction of a "Facilities PMO" vs an "On-Air PMO" or "Infrastructure PMO" or "Digital PMO" is ineffective. A PMO for any company less than, say, 1000 Colleagues, should be responsible for supporting and project managing ALL planned activities. In my experience, even lareger organizations have often attempted to consolidate or integrate disparate PMOs to achieve even greater benefits, after realizing that the "PMO per functional group" approach often doesn't work very well. Organizationally, this may be a political landmine at first, but given the right leadership it brings fantastic results to all involved in a relatively short period of time.

- Resource Allocation improvement - On a project-by-project basis, a PM knows the risks to her/his resources. When rolled up into a portfolio, unforeseen risks become much more apparent at a much earlier stage, making resource-based decisions much more effective.

- Project budgeting - Coordination of resources, including external vendors is much more efficient, professional, and reliable when entirety of all efforts is known. This is a no-brainer.

- Project Timeliness - A consistent way to manage priorities and conflicts through a consolidated Project Management methodology is very clearly a huge benefit. Without a strong PMO, many PMs are left to manage their own negotiation with other PMs on a project-by-project basis. Often this project-by-project negotiation is to the detriment of the organization.

- Improved Quality - Quality methodologies are much better managed at a portfolio level because at the portfolio level an organization can clearly dictate what level of QA might be required based on the awareness of all ongoing efforts. If it is known that QA resources have additional bandwidth during a given period, additional focus can be given, and projects may be reprioritized to take advantage of additional bandwidth during certain timeframes.

- Key Learnings - The purpose of a "post-mortem" or Key Learnings process at the end of each project is to capture the activities or results that were beneficial or need improvement on a given project. Only through a proper PMO can an organization truly leverage the learnings across all projects (and apply them to all future projects) to dramatically improve future delivery.

- Better Business Analysis - During the business analysis and planning stage, a PMO is a fantastic resource for a PM to gain insight into what critical issues should be managed better, and what previously unchartered territory would require more attention. The "repository of learning" that a PMO provides is without a doubt a major benefit for Agencies to consider.

- Perceived Value - Speaking from personal experience, along with all the other factors for selecting an Agency when awarding business, the quality of the PM process and the interest in the Project Management practice in ensuring quality is always a top factor. Without a solid, working, and frankly very buttoned up PM methodology, agencies are likely to burn out under the weight of the chaos of new business. Solid and accurate project management artifacts are the "proof" that an Agency is taking the business they've been awarded very seriously. Remember - the Project Manager on the client side has a major influence on who gets awarded more business.

- Fortification of the Agency Brand - If a client can rely on an agency to have the same (or similar) methodologies on all projects, even though the assignments themselves may be different, the client has a greater degree of confidence with the Agency, and is likely to be more focused on the strategy or other decisions which can strengthen the relationship.

Naturally, many organizations consider a PMO function as "administrative overhead", however given the proper resources, administration is by far a small portion of the entire contribution of those involved in the PMO function. The PMO leadership should also be one of the busiest and most capable PMs on the team !

Verification Vs Validation

When working on a project in the Requirements Analysis Phase of Business Analysis, two of the steps defined are "Verification" of the requirements and "Validation" of the requirements.

What is the difference?

VERIFICATION is a process that falls within the purview of Qality Control. It is a process that is used to evaluate whether the defined solution (product, service, or system) is compliant with specifications, conditions, regulations imposed at the start of a development phase. This is an internal process.

VALIDATION is a process that falls within Quality Control also, and is the process of providing the evidence that the deliverable accomplishes its intended requirements. This involves acceptance of fitness for a purpose with END USERS and other Stakeholders. Validation should be performed after verficiation, which is internal, and can involve some sign-off.

In Summary,

VERIFICATION >> Are you building it right >> Specifications are being correctly implemented by the team.
VALIDATION >> "Are you Building the Right Thing" - refers back to the users needs which is why we need Stakeholder involvement.

Business Analysis - Requirements Analysis (RA)

Requirements Analysis is generally the knee-jerk step that an inexperienced or untrained Business Analyst jumps to first. It's the tactical core of Business Analysis (along with Solution Assessment) that is very easy to skip to.

Requirements Analysis is the pillar that defines how BAs prioritize and elaborate the requriements to enable a project team to deploy a given solution that meets the needs of the sponsors.

The steps involve:

1. Prioritization of the Requirements
2. Organize the Requirements in a hierarchy that fits
3. Specify the requirements and model the requirements
4. Determine the assumptions and the constraints of the project
5. Verify the requirements with the relevant team members
6. Validate the requirements

When people read the list above, a common question is "what is the difference between VERIFICATION and VALIDATION". ?

Stay tuned...

Business Analysis - Enterprise Analysis (EA)

After RM&C and BAP&M (see posts below), Enterprise Analysis is the next stage of Business Analysis.

Essentially, a Business Analyst needs to define a business need, and refine, clarify and validate the definition of that need and define the solution scope that can be realistically deployed by the business owners. THAT is what EA is all about.

The steps are:
- Define Business Need coherently, clearly, and concisely as possible
- Assess Capability Gaps
- Determine the Approach to the Solution
- Define the Scope of the Solution
- Define the Business Case

This is a very important step in the Business Analysis Process because this is the one step that will truly let you as a BA know how valid the need is and how realistic the solution can be given the assumed resources. The BA will work with the PM later to get more detailed on the solution, timing, scope and costs.

Paging Dr. Bones

Ever since Bones used his (extremely cool) medical tricorder to get immediate readings on those that were injured around him (usually the guy in the odd-colored shirt that got beamed down to the planet) we've imagined how cool it would be to know vital signs quickly. "How cool would it be" to wave a device over someone and know if they're breathing, their heart rate, blood sugar level, and other stresses.

Looks like we're getting closer. (link)

or..umm.. Maybe not. (link)

Business Analysis - Planning and Monitor (BAP&M)

In a large scale business analysis effort, the BA not only has to perform the role of elicitation and documentation, but must effectively plan out the Business Analysis activity including a broad range of responsibilities:

Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring, which is a foundational knowledge area of Business Analysis, consists of:

- Planning a Business Analysis Approach that will work for the given project

- Conduct Stakeholder Analysis (internally) to determine which stakeholders will have what level of influence and what their interests, objections may be - this is to plan for a successful endeavor since knowing the people and players involved will ultimately make or break a project.

- Plan business analysis activities - simple things like who to interview, when, how, and how to log the information, etc.

- Plan business analysis communication

- Plan the requirements management process - where are the requirements going to be logged, shared, changed and what is the process?

- Manage business analysis performance.

Business Analysis - Requirements Management and Comm. (RM&C)

The Primary "knowledge areas" of Business Analysis which makes up generally the entirety of the BA profession include (but may not be limited to):

- Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring (BAP&M)

- Requirements Management and Communication (RM&C)

- Elicitation

- Enterprise Analysis (EA)

- Solution Assessment and Validation (SA&V)

- Requirements Analysis (RA)

All of these activities are supported by the knowledge, skill, and experience of the Business Analysis, and each of these categories have a reasonable amount of flexibility as it relates to granularity, depending on the project scope and sensitivities to various industries.

The Basics of Proper Business Analysis

As a PM, you are charged with executing things well. In order to ascertain whether "what" you are executing is "what" the customer really needs, you need to have very good Business Analysis completed. It is your job as a PM to ensure that this has been accomplished.

Business Analysts are charged with the task of bridging "states". There is a problem state, and a solution state, and in order to ensure that we have a strong migration from problem to solution, Business Analysts do the following:

- Elicit (Get information from the customer)

- Analyze (Use analytical means to determine current state, future state, proven ways to achieve end result)

- Communicate (Discuss the analysis with team members, SME's and iteratively improve, refine the Business Requirements to ensure communication is as close to perfect as possible.

- Validate - Final walkthrough with the customer after iterative analysis to determine that the solution meets the problem.

Many times, this Business Analysis is done for the purpose of only two things:

- Increasing performance (of a system, group, process, mechanism, activity)

- Decreasing Cost with no adverse effect on overall performance (of system, group, process, mechanism, activity)

Near Field Communications

Looks like there has been some renewed interest lately in "NFC" - Near field communcation - which is a high frequency wireless communication technology which works for distances around 5 inches. It basically can allow an owner of a mobile phone to use the device to perform:

- mobile payments from your phone (we've heard about that for a while now)

- mobile ticketing

- smart poster - ability for an advertiser to give you something because you came close to their poster - interesting application !

- simplified bluetooth pairing - you will be able to "pair" two Bluetooth devices just by clicking "accept" rather than the current contortions.

- electronic money (vending machine application)

- identity documents

- membership cards (Costco !)

- loyalty program retention

- electronic keys.

Benefit of NFC over bluetooth include quicker acknowledgement time, and depending on the implementation, the phone can be completely off to still take advantage of NFC ( in case your battery is dead but you still want to buy the M&Ms out of the vending machine)

Downside to NFC is it is a little more restricted (bandwidth-wise) compared to Bluetooth.

Numerous challenges exist to NFC making its primetime debut, but with better cooperation from specifically the Mobile Providers and sim id<>NFC id integration, we're close to seeing some large players (besides Nokia) hit this feature.

Just add one more benefit to the mobile phone in addition to all the others we already have !

HTML5 Vs Flash - Battle Begins

HTML5 is a new standard for HTML that is newsworthy in many ways. First, it is the result of some (more than in the past) collaboration between heavyweights like Apple, Mozilla, Google and Opera. Microsoft is also leaning positively towards HTML5 as a standard they will employ- interesting because just as HTML5 is deemed as a competitor to Flash, it can also be seen in some ways as a competitor to Silverlight (MS product).

What does HTML5 bring to the table ?

- Obvious one: Support for Video embedded in the browser without the help of things like Flash

- Support for Audio

- Drag-and-Drop enhanced.

- "Web Sockets" which can facilitate pushing updates to a browser.

- Ability for web programs to perform multiple tasks at once.

- "Canvas" for better 2d graphics.

- Ability to store data on a computer for use by another app.

HTML5 still doesn't take advantage of things like GPU hardware acceleration on Windows, but let's give it time.

Essentially The question of HTML5 VERSUS Flash is open for debate at this time, but you have to give HTML5 it's due considering that YouTube is already making major inroads into it's test and conversion of videos to HTML5 standard. If you haven't tried it out and have a valid browser, I suggest you do so.

Flash will be around for a long time to come, but I think it's usefulness will go into the realm of "specialization" - a thin line to walk for Adobe. Gone are the days when it is a "no-brainer" to use Flash. Now web developers really need to understand strategic reasoning behind which method to use to achieve their goals on their sites.

Regardless of WHAT people employ, HTML5 is here and it does stuff that used to be Flash territory. And keep in mind, "HTML6" (or whatever they call it) will be here someday.... as well as the next major version of Flash.

Exciting times, and maybe some sleepless nights for the folks at Adobe.

Hello, World.

There's a surprisingly great amount of pressure when posting your first blog.

Say something wise. Something honest. Something that will change positively the lives of those who read it. I don't have much original, but I do have one (of many) favorite quotes which I'll share, and credit my son for helping me memorize.

Be careful of your thoughts - they become your words.

Be careful of your words - they become you actions.

Be careful of your actions - they become your habits.

Be careful of your habits - they become your character.

Be careful of your character - it becomes your destiny.

As great as this quote is, remember that life is not just about 'caution', but constant adjustment along that 'path'.

... and a ceaseless passion to keep pushing forward.