Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Appiness

Sometimes I throw around the latest tech words assuming others know what I am talking about because I spend so much time with technology and the words are common to me. But the general population may still consider words such as “app” to be mysterious.

Way back in January 2011, the American Dialect Society named “app” the word of the year for 2010. Being named word of year signifies that a term is trendy and growing in its popularity.  But just because the use of a word is growing, we shouldn’t assume that everyone knows it. Being named word of the year implies that the word is newly prominent.

The word app is a noun, and it’s short for “application.”  Application in this case refers to a software application — in other words, an app is a software program. But an app is not just any old software program — it’s a special type of software program.

An app typically refers to software used on a smartphone or mobile device such as the Android, iPhone or iPad, as in “mobile app” or “iphone app.” But the  phrase “Web app” or “online app” is also used in a business setting as an abbreviation for “Web application” or “online application” meaning software that you access and use while online, via a browser, instead of software residing on your computer.

For small-business purposes, we don’t need to get complicated. For most of us, it’s sufficient to think of an app this way:  an app is a software program that you use online or on mobile devices.  

Why should we all care more than we do about apps?”  

Web apps or online apps can be a faster, cheaper, more efficient way of deploying software in your business.  Rather than buying a software license, having to install it on your servers or local computers, keeping up with updates you can simply go online and sign up for an account.    

Mobile apps extend the reach and productivity of your business.  Once you equip your mobile device and/or your employees’ mobile devices with apps, then you and they can perform all sorts of business functions while out of the office traveling, on sales calls, making service calls, etc.  A mobile app usually enables you to do something specific, like accessing your bank account in the case of a banking app, or run payroll with a payroll mobile app.

I’m attending the www.CollisionConf.com in New Orleans this week with my son, and they have a very cool app. It is a tech conference, so this is not a shocker. What IS somewhat of a shocker is that to attend the conference you MUST download the app to your mobile device.  It is mandatory. No appy, no happy.

The world is about to become a very appy place. You must use these apps, or you must shop (go, visit, play) somewhere else. And that is something to think about. 

I use E-Z Pass in my car, and I love it.  It saves me time and money - but it is still my choice. I could still pay cash at bridges and tunnels, but I choose to be automated.  The world of app development is becoming less about choice, and more about what is good for the supplier or the vendor.

Apps are very cool indeed, until they are no longer cool. Paper money is on its way out, but not yet. Debit cards and paying with my smartphone is cool, but I think the “cool” will go away if I am no longer allowed to decide for myself.

"Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" is a well-known phrase in the United States Declaration of Independence. The phrase gives three examples of the "unalienable rights" which the Declaration says has been given to all human beings by their Creator, and for which governments are created to protect.

Happiness (appy-ness) should be pursued, not forced upon us, right? So, if you "choose" to click on www.TomCapone.com you will find me on one of my most favorite apps. Or not, up to you.

You Fool!

“In the valley of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.”

April Fools' Day is celebrated every year on the 1st of April by playing practical jokes and spreading hoaxes. The jokes and their victims are called April fools. People playing April Fool jokes expose their prank by shouting April Fool. Some newspapers, magazines, and other published media report fake stories, which are usually explained the next day or below the news section in small letters. Although popular since the 19th century, the day is not a public holiday in any country.

Last Friday was April Fools' Day. Did you get fooled?  Did anything that you read, observed or were told…… fool you?

If you are reading this, you have access to the Internet. You can Google things. You can check things out on www.Snopes.com.  You can check just about anything on any topic from your computer, your smartphone, your tablet, in a matter of seconds.

A practical joke is a mischievous trick played on someone, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion or discomfort. A person who performs a practical joke is called a "practical joker". Other terms for practical jokes include prank, gag, jape, or shenanigan.

Practical jokes differ from confidence tricks or hoaxes in that the victim finds out, or is let in on the joke, rather than being talked into handing over money or other valuables. Practical jokes are generally light hearted and without lasting impact; their purpose is to make the victim feel humbled or foolish, but not victimized or humiliated. However, practical jokes performed with cruelty can constitute bullying, whose intent is to harass or exclude rather than reinforce social bonds through ritual humbling.

In Western culture, April Fools' Day is a day traditionally dedicated to conducting practical jokes.

Something is broken.

When I was growing up we had ONE DAY…….one dedicated day……… April 1st was the one (and only) day to get this all out of our systems. One single day.  April 1st was the day, to get all the jokes, all the pranks, all the foolishness out into the world. You would be on your guard all day long - the 24 hours of April 1st was a day to open doors slowly, a day to be weary of friends bearing gifts, and a day to use caution when taking phone calls from strangers.

Somehow, the Internet in all of its magic and power, has made every day April Fools' day. 

And that seems to be.......well.......the best prank of all.  

Find the Hidden Easter Egg

Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are decorated eggs that are often given to celebrate Easter or springtime. As such, Easter eggs are common during the Easter season. The oldest tradition is to use dyed and painted chicken eggs, but a modern custom is to substitute chocolate eggs, or plastic eggs filled with confectionery such as chocolate. Although eggs, in general, were a traditional symbol of fertility and rebirth, in Christianity, Easter eggs symbolize the empty tomb of Jesus, from which Christians believe Jesus resurrected. In addition, one ancient tradition was the staining of Easter eggs with the colour red "in memory of the blood of Christ, shed as at that time of his crucifixion." This custom of the Easter egg can be traced to early Christians of Mesopotamia, and from there it spread into Russia and Siberia through the Orthodox Churches, and later into through Europe through the Catholic and Protestant Churches.

A Fabergé egg is one of a limited number of jeweled eggs created by Peter Carl Fabergé and his company between 1885 and 1917. The most famous are those made for the Russian Tsars Alexander III and Nicholas II as Easter gifts for their wives and mothers, often called the 'Imperial' Fabergé eggs. The House of Fabergé made about 50 eggs, of which 43 have survived. Two more were planned for Easter 1918, but were not delivered, due to the Russian Revolution.

The first Fabergé egg was crafted for Tsar Alexander III, who had decided to give his wife, the Empress Maria Fedorovna, the gift of an Easter egg in 1885.

How did we go from the simplicity of

To symbols such as:

  

I find it fascinating how the human race can find a way to take one symbol, and convert it into a symbol of something very, very different.

We do this all the time, more than we realize.  We have converted the education system into a hyper competitive, global business. Family farms have been converted into corporate giants driven by insane profits (at the expense of our health). We converted the music, entertainment and sports worlds into billion dollar enterprises. In my own lifetime, we went from “no Super Bowl” to the largest media event in the world. 

Name a famously rich person. Did they cure cancer or do something amazing to eliminate suffering in the world? Or did they star in hit action movie, or can they dunk a basketball better than most?

Give us just a few years, and we can take just about any symbol (no matter how pure, no matter how honorable) and tweak it and twist it until it becomes unrecognizable - and - watch it become the opposite of its original purpose.

Can you find the “Hidden Easter Egg” in this blog?

Happy Easter Everyone!

Work In Progress

Work In Progress YouTube Channel

Jason Fried, founder and CEO of Basecamp (basecamp.com), and Nathan Kontny, CEO of Highrise (highrisehq.com), talk about the challenges of running a business, product design, and whatever else we're going though. Have something you'd like us to talk about? Let us know on Twitter twitter.com/jasonfried & twitter.com/natekontny.

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OK, full disclosure. I am a huge fan of both Jason and Nate, and I run multiple global companies via Highrise, Basecamp and a few 3rd party apps that make their tools even more powerful.

Via their YouTube Channel Work In Progress, they have (with amazing generosity) posted hundreds of hours of “here’s how we do it” explainer videos - all for free.

The future of work is remote. Global collaboration via “the cloud” and the IoT (Internet of Things) is a way of life. Lifelong education is now expected. We live in the world of TED.com Ed.Ted.com and of course the amazing Khanacademy.org.

Remember this big news from last year?

Mountain View, Calif. – April 9, 2015 – LinkedIn (NYSE:LNKD), the world’s largest professional network on the Internet with more than 300 million members worldwide, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire lynda.com, a leading online learning company teaching business, technology and creative skills to help people achieve their professional goals. Based in Carpinteria, CA, lynda.com was co-founded in 1995 by Lynda Weinman and Bruce Heavin. The transaction is valued at approximately $1.5 billion, subject to adjustment, in a combination of approximately 52 percent cash and approximately 48 percent stock.

Lynda.com (Our mission)

To help you learn the skills you need to achieve your full potential.

About us

Lynda.com is a leading online learning company that helps anyone learn business, software, technology and creative skills to achieve personal and professional goals. Through individual, corporate, academic and government subscriptions, members have access to the lynda.com video library of engaging, top-quality courses taught by recognized industry experts.

At the NYDLA.org we say: From Distance Learning to Digital Learning to Digital Living to the IoT (Internet of Things) to “The Cloud” - no matter what labels we use, the NYDLA.org aims to be the premier remote work, distance/digital learning and collaboration association in the United States and beyond. Whether it is via satellite, video conferencing, online, offline or other means of distribution, NYDLA will provide the latest information about technology development, collaboration, design and application in our at anytime, anywhere global collaboration world. Join the NYDLA.org as we help each other to live, learn, work and play in the clouds!

Well played, Jason and Nate. Well played.

Work In Progress

May the diabetes be with you!

I don’t browse. Send me to the grocery store for milk, eggs, bread, and I’m in and out in minutes. I’m a man on a mission!

Last night on the way home from the movies, we stopped at the local grocery store around eight minutes before closing.  NO PROBLEM! Speed shopping is my super power!

Taking a shortcut down the cereal aisle, there it was. The Box. A box of candy on the shelf where you are supposed to find cereal. I stopped, frozen. The clock was still ticking - the store closes at 10pm. But I could not move.

Why are they selling candy in the cereal aisle? No, wait. They are selling toys? They are selling toys AND candy - in the cereal aisle. What the hell is going on here?

Star Wars toys - in a box of candy - in a cereal box. I must investigate!  I’m buying this box and taking it home with me - for science!

Hershey’s Cocoa & Reese’s Peanut Butter Sweet and Crunchy Corn Puffs!

An EXCLUSIVE Droid Viewer is inside the box!  And, in case you are looking for a new hobby, there are SIX to collect, including BB-8! 

OMG! I love, LoVe, LOVE BB-8!

Wow. Marketing GENIUS. From the side of the box: “WE BELIEVE IN THE GOODNESS OF WHOLE GRAIN CEREAL. Cereal is packed with nutrients and contains complete grains, which can help fuel your morning ~ General Mills.

Now, if you are grocery shopping, and you have your child in the cart and you drive down the cereal aisle, you are nuts. If you go anywhere NEAR the cereal aisle, you are activating the launch sequence of screaming child tantrum DEFCON 5. There should be warning signs like on a ski slope: this is a BLACK DIAMOND aisle. FOR ADULTS ONLY!

Who is the marketing genius behind this strategy? And, if you buy ONE box, you need to buy five more boxes, right? If you are not going to complete the collection of six droid viewers, the FORCE will NOT be with you!

Now here is my final question: if you go down the cereal aisle as an adult shopper WITHOUT a screaming child in your care, and you STILL walk out of the store with this (Candy - Toy - Healthy, Nutritionally Focused Cereal) purchase, you are:

• A STAR WARS action figure collector
• Someone who wants diabetes (for you or your child)
• You need material for your Sunday blog

Marketing. It’s good for ya.