BrainFuel

Would you ever be able to justify using a 50mbps download speed connection? You would be able to download 24 hours worth of music in about 8 minutes at that speed. That’s amazing. Is it really necessary though? What’s too-fast?

There’s some good discussion and a good post about this topic up at Om Malik’s web site. Most of the comments fall around the topic of upload speed. Saying that the sensation of a fast connection is limited by your upload speed. I agree.

I just met with a new prospective client that had their entire web site designed in Publisher. That program is so hard to use even I was impressed.

I’ve met a whole lot of people in my years running a web design / development business and I’ve come to the conclusion that there are very subtle differences between someone who provides value and someone who does not. I’m talking about the people who do the work (designers and developers) although this principal follows easily to people who manage teams or sell projects.

I’ve had the unfortunate experience to have hired many people who don’t provide value.

“Try not to become a man of success, but rather a man of value.” – Albert Einstein

Value is so subtle that I haven’t been able to put my finger on what it is for months. You see, it’s not obvious what the difference is because these people have all produced stuff and delivered to an extent.

And it isn’t about one time. It’s about patterns. You can’t tell if someone provides value unless you have known that person for at least a half a year. Probably longer. Although you can usually have an inkling either way early on. People can have failures in life and business and still have a long term track record of providing value.

So I’ve been working on characteristics of someone who provides value. Here’s what I have so far. People who provide value…

1. Constantly give you the feeling that you’re getting more than you’re paying for
2. Keep producing over and over and over again
3. Know it’s not about the money
4. Actually worry about the long term quality of their product
5. Get the job done even if they have to go outside of their comfort zone
6. Don’t skip important phases in a process just because someone else was supposed to do them – they do them anyways
7. Have dreams and know how to follow them — they stick to it

Over the years after experiencing what it is like to hire a person who doesn’t provide value I’ve had to teach myself the signs to watch for when hiring people (especially independent contractors).

People don’t change, much. – Chris Tingom

You see, I’ve made the mistake of hiring bad people twice. Even over and over again (see above where I state that these people are difficult to spot). It’s probably that I’m dense, too.

The point that I’m trying to make is that change is good and always try your hardest to provide value.

I saw King Kong on Friday and I absolutely loved it. I’ve heard the critics say this movie was too long. I’ve heard them say that if it had been an hour shorter they would have given it all five stars. Frankly, I don’t care. I paid $9 to see this and Peter Jackson gave me an extra hour of a movie about a giant ape and it was well worth it.

The dinosaur chase scenes put Jurassic Park to shame. Halfway through the movie I commented to my friends that I thought this movie was redefining movies altogether. There are scenes in which dinosaurs are falling off cliffs and dangling from giant vines and King Kong comes in and beats them up as if they were toys.

Well I won’t go into a lengthy review. I’ll just say this one gets 5 stars and I’ll definitely get the extended edition of this just so I can watch the dinosaur chase scene again and again. It will be worth it.

Some interesting notes:

• You might want to check out the review over at The Uber Geeks.
• King Kong IMDb entry.
• Remember that show called Early Edition about a guy who gets tomorrows newspaper today? Well, Kyle Chandler, who played Gary Hobson is in this movie.
• Shades of Grey review.
• 1933 King Kong Movie Stills

It’s FRIDAY!! That means it’s time for a caption contest (and the fact that we never really have a winner is besides the point). I found this photo on a web site that featured dozens of lost photos. Most of them were of this family that owned a liquor store and that is where I found this one. You know how it works: come up with a funny caption for this picture and leave a comment (or two or three). Thanks! Please keep it clean.

Elf (filmed in 2003) is a funny Christmas movie that features Will Ferrell. It’s about a guy who is raised as an elf in the North Pole and because of his size is forced to move to the U.S. where he finds his father. He lives the elf culture treating life as an adventure. He eats everything with sugar on it including spaghetti which he tops with syrup. Lots of syrup in fact.

I give it 4 stars out of 5 just for the wit and comedy and the fact that I’ve watched it perhaps 5 times in the last few years and it is always funny.

It’s filmed in a sort of style where it reminds you of other classics like It’s a Wonderful Life or Miracle on 32nd St. Maybe those films and throw in a little bit of the old animated classics like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. That was apparently intentional as they hope the film will become a classic. I’m sure it is too soon to tell whether that will be the case however it has the sort of humor that could last a lifetime. I think what is lacking in this story compared to, say the previously mentioned movies, is a significant moral to the story. This movie pokes fun at Santa and provides some witty scenes showing how boring our lives and daily routine can become. It shows a family dealing with an unexpected turn in life and make the decision that family is more important than everything else. Or at least, that’s my best take on it.

Since “Buddy” (Will Ferrell) has never experienced city life he blunders through almost everything with a lovable curiosity even causing problems for others and himself and realizing some of the sad moments in life. Overall it’s a genuinely funny movie that is designed to be family friendly.

I took this photo just prior to the Tempe Parade of Lights show. Over 50 boats made a long slow circle around the lake with different decorations, lights, luminaries, sound effects, etc. I was standing on a sunfish sailboat, if you were there.

Pretty flower.