Tinker, Tech’er, Solder, Sine via RAVE Pubs

This post orginally appeared on Gary Kayye's RavePub Site on August 2nd, 2011 

 

Are you useless?  I am and proudly so and I think you could do with being so too.

I’ll let that sink in for a moment before we proceed -- you should strive to be useless and leading by example, encourage your staff to be the same.

 Useless adjective       \'yüs-l?s\

              1.    Not fulfilling or not expected to achieve the intended purpose or desired outcome

In reality useless is usually based on a simple frame of reference, or in the colloquial -- one man’s   
garbage is another man’s treasure. For an install company, tinkering is a useless endeavor, a wasteful process of learning as you go and where results are not always what one expected. Having a staff of useless tinkerers is not just terrible for your business, much worse; it is the best thing that can happen to it.

Do you remember back to when you were six or seven years old and the concept of chemistry or at least the idea that a mad scientist could hold such power with a simple set of beakers and surgical tubing held so much sway? Back then, you mixed shampoo with wood chips, hair gel, milk and orange juice half waiting for the, mostly inert, mixture to start moving of its own volition. These experiments were mostly harmless but if you were like me the ‘failures’ never dulled the excitement of the possibilities -- ‘if I could just find the right ratios!’ <cue cute-evil laugh>. Then again you could have had a mom like mine who occasionally would provide me with bottles marked ‘ingredient X’ - <Vinegar> and ‘Mystery Powder Y’ - <Baking Soda>.  That particular experiment had me wide eyed and standing atop a three-legged stool as the resulting reaction covered the floor of my room. Did I mention that I also became really good with a mop?

I want to see your staff doing more of the above. No, not the mop - the wild-eyed fascination of deconstructivism. Wasteful, you might say. Absolutely devastating to project deadlines and company profits one might argue. Horse Hockey! I say. (With apologies to Sherman T. Potter)

The process of tinkering provides lessons in how stuff works, it is demonstrative and practical, and there is great value in opening a box and figuring out just how they did that. An even greater benefit can come from forceful misapplication-creating wondrous new functions or in letting the genie out.

I am a big fan of something called Circuit Bending which is the process of opening up consumer electronics - mostly kids’ toys - and modifying the circuit boards to create new sounds. The cult community of circuit bending is part heath kit hacker, part pyromaniac musician and part serious electronics debugger. Modifying a toy is not nearly as simple as it might appear -- these units’ electronics are often undocumented; the process of figuring out just where to connect jumpers requires patience and research. It also requires a willingness to fail.

Failure is constructive.

Are you allowing your staff to fail?  

If you still think that I am full of it just take a look at what 3M™ does. 3M has a long standing policy (since the 1920’s!) of allowing employees - regardless of project schedules - to dedicate up to 15 percent of their paid work hours on personal projects. What possible benefits could a policy which wreaks havoc on deadlines and product to market schedules have?  Not much really -- just the development of whole new markets in adhesives, recording mediums and of course the ubiquitous Post-it-Notes ®.

What untapped solution are you missing out of by holding your staff back?  Where would we be without the invention the iPad typewriter?  For me it would be a sad, sad world.

 

 

Sammy's Fish Box, One Families Adventure

 

If you live in the NYC metropolitan area and have cable you have most likely had the ads for the City Island restaurant Sammy’s fishbox  pop up.  The ads have a wedding testimonial quality which feature a customer, wireless mic in hand, describe how great the food and atmosphere is.

 

(the TV ad in question)

For some reason my Six year old - I call him Rooster- is fascinated with the ads, (and the numerous other ads of City Island restaurants shot in a similar manner.  He is always asking if we can go.

A few weekends ago, after a morning at the pool club, my wife innocently asks Rooster and Gonzo -(my Four year old)- if they would like to go out for lunch.  Ro immediately answers, ‘Yes to Sammy’s FishBox, the foods great”.  My wife looked at me, I looked at her and said - ‘why not’?

City Island is actually very close to our house, surprising as neither us had ever been there.

It was clear that whoever, or whatever, owned Sammy’s also owned about Six other restaurants in the area. 

The inside is just as the Ad depicts but huge!

I will note that the Yelp and Foursquare comments describing the wait staff as ‘well versed in ignoring you for long stretches’ is apparently true.  While we waited for someone, anyone, to take our order we shot the following.  

 

(apologies for the orientation flip- I am left handed and still grab the phone as I see it best, evidently my fair Droid phone does not accomdate me)

Truly I do not have much to say about the food except  that, Yes it is all that you would expect given the ads

Yes, we had a hoot.

 

 

Truly Useful Engine

 

Now you're back in line

Going not quite quite as far

But in half the time

 

- Jumping Someone Else's Train, The Cure

 

Perspective can change everything; running straight line the countryside is truly bucolic, but when the train jerks ‘round a turn you find that the rolling hills hide a shanty town.  Which side of the tracks your business is living on can be a fluid line. One month you are in the middle of richly appointed houses with green lawns and blooming gardens, the next morning it is in a freight yard of dinged cars and grimy out buildings.   

 

How could this happen?  Perhaps you rode the line too far without checking; all lines end somewhere and these places look nothing like they do on Sodor.  Anyone who has ‘ridden the rails’ will tell you that the first rules -(after keep away from the bulls)- are to keep an eye on where the train is heading and to be wary of junctions.  

 

Are you still riding the same tracks only because you are unsure of what  throwing the switch yourself will mean? The economy is volatile as all get out and experts predict years more of slow climbs up and lurching dips and stops; it is pretty scary and it is tempting to simply put one’s head down and keep on the current line. 

 

Fear is the initial response of first time riders of the NYC subway system, a peculiar reputation which has persisted.  Contrary to popular belief, the subways are not a caravan of absolute acerbic strangers and look nothing like (well, not since the early 90s) the way they are depicted in the Kurt Russel vehicle ‘Escape From New York’.  If you ride the subway with anything resembling a regular schedule you start to notice familiar faces, a recurring cast.  In many ways these folks come to feel a bit like family, only ten times removed.  Riding on a daily basis begins to become like a micro reality show, one witnesses the rise and fall and rise of peoples lives and situation.  The cycles play out as a change in style, the new loves pressed tight taking the morning train together for the first time or the late night tear smeared mascara. It is a daily one-act play drawn out over the station stops. 

 

Shakespeare à la the third rail.

 

I have recently had the opportunity to ride the subway again after over ten years of commuting with a car over a bridge and through the woods. 

 

I lived and worked in NYC for just under 20 years mostly traveling  the east-side lines of the 4, 5, 6 and for a short stint, the F outta of Park Slope. Even so, as with all things in the city, a week's ride can involve some time on nearly any line.  

 

Muscle memory is a funny thing, while it had been too many years since I last rode, without really thinking about it I made my way to the 42nd street shuttle and across town to catch the Q to Long Island City. What awoke me from the autopilot path I was on was the fact that when I rode the trains (all those years ago), the Q did not exist.  I was lost momentarily and had to check the station map, twice, before I was confident that this was where I got on again.  My body took me there but my brain was still on the old tracks.

 

I found myself looking for a familiar face, a strong desire to bump into an old acquaintance who had been too long living on the Island of Lost Friends. I wanted stability and a known frame of reference. It just felt weird and I had that panic of the unknown and my shoes felt glued to the floor. (I actually let a Q train come and go before finally screwing up my courage). Traveling the first few stops was, admittedly, a bit disquieting - but once we hit 57th and Lex, I found the train’s  rhythm and made its frequency a harmonic of my own. 

 

Sometimes you just gotta throw the switch, move to the new tracks. You never know, you might just find that this is the train you were looking for all along. 

 

Indiana State Fair Collapse -An insiders look at the Tragedy

If you have been following the dramatic reports on the Indiana state fair tragedy you must be asking yourself the same questions I have;  how could this happen and what can we do to make sure it does not happen again?

 

While the official cause has not been released yet, my friend and sometime associate, John Huntington has been analysing the tragedy on his blog - Controlgeek.net.  John is no ordinary blogger, having spent over 20 years as a stage hand, lighting tech, teacher and author his in-industry perspective holds more weight than the taking head newscasters.   

John, in addition to being an electronics geek is also a weather nerd who has studied meteorology and joined severe weather scientists and ‘tornado chasers’ documenting  extreme weather outbreaks all across the Midwest.

John’s post

Indiana State Fair Collapse--State Fair Management Has Blood On Its Hands

is a through examination of the available evidence including numerous audience videos, industry professionals and lots of meteorological radar shots and reports of just how other events in the region responded to the warnings.

In light of the sixth victim dying today I urge you to read the post to get an insiders look at just what may have happened.   

To quote from his opening paragraph:

the fact that the show was not stopped when the fair site came under a severe thunderstorm warning is inexcusable, regardless of what else happened. Keep in mind that a warning means severe weather has been observed or is imminent, and a severe thunderstorm is defined as, ". . .a thunderstorm producing hail that is at least quarter size, 1 inch in diameter or larger, and/or wind gusts to 58 mph or greater, and/or a tornado"  Even if the stage remained standing, would you want to be in an outdoor concert in those conditions?  Why didn't they just hold the show for 1/2 an hour and send people to shelter?  Why the hell were the four follow spot operators (one of whom died) up in the roof trussing when a storm like that was approaching?

He also goes on to say that if the investigation finds any negligence or where corners were cut then “heads should roll”.

A fund started for the follow spot operator -Nathan Byrd- ( a single father of two) who was killed when his truss section collapsed.  You can donate here. http://splnetwork.com/iatse-local-sets-fund-nathan-byrds-orphaned-children

 

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AV Week the AV Nation Podcast

Tim Albright has tapped a vein with the creation of his Podcast "AV Week" part of the AV Nation community.

First episode of AVWeek:

A chat interview between AV insiders and commentators about all things Audio Visual. With Linda Frembes, yours truly and Michael Drainer Episode #0000 Infocomm - Favorite Infocomm products , HDMI HDCP lssues, The Best AV Apps, Audio Manufacturers OCA alliance,The return of the video wall and Kramer only company offering InfoComm classes.

The show can be found here:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/avweek

http://www.albrightav.com/podcasts/

I am proud to be invited to blog as part of Gary Kayye's RavePubs 'Blog Squad'.   I will be posting bi-weekly (on Tuesdays, of course).    

The Posts will be Archived here as well three days after they are posted to Rave.  Just look to the Upper right sidebar for the "My RavePubs Posts" link. 

Support this great nexus of information and commentary on all things Audio Visual by visting, reading and commenting on the posts.  

 

                

Tinker, Tech’er, Solder, Sine via RAVE Pubs

This post orginally appeared on Gary Kayye's RavePub Site on August 2nd, 2011 

 

Are you useless?  I am and proudly so and I think you could do with being so too.

I’ll let that sink in for a moment before we proceed -- you should strive to be useless and leading by example, encourage your staff to be the same.

 Useless adjective       \'yüs-l?s\

              1.    Not fulfilling or not expected to achieve the intended purpose or desired outcome

In reality useless is usually based on a simple frame of reference, or in the colloquial -- one man’s  
garbage is another man’s treasure. For an install company, tinkering is a useless endeavor, a wasteful process of learning as you go and where results are not always what one expected. Having a staff of useless tinkerers is not just terrible for your business, much worse; it is the best thing that can happen to it.

Do you remember back to when you were six or seven years old and the concept of chemistry or at least the idea that a mad scientist could hold such power with a simple set of beakers and surgical tubing held so much sway? Back then, you mixed shampoo with wood chips, hair gel, milk and orange juice half waiting for the, mostly inert, mixture to start moving of its own volition. These experiments were mostly harmless but if you were like me the ‘failures’ never dulled the excitement of the possibilities -- ‘if I could just find the right ratios!’ <cue cute-evil laugh>. Then again you could have had a mom like mine who occasionally would provide me with bottles marked ‘ingredient X’ - <Vinegar> and ‘Mystery Powder Y’ - <Baking Soda>.  That particular experiment had me wide eyed and standing atop a three-legged stool as the resulting reaction covered the floor of my room. Did I mention that I also became really good with a mop?

I want to see your staff doing more of the above. No, not the mop - the wild-eyed fascination of deconstructivism. Wasteful, you might say. Absolutely devastating to project deadlines and company profits one might argue. Horse Hockey! I say. (With apologies to Sherman T. Potter)

The process of tinkering provides lessons in how stuff works, it is demonstrative and practical, and there is great value in opening a box and figuring out just how they did that. An even greater benefit can come from forceful misapplication-creating wondrous new functions or in letting the genie out.

I am a big fan of something called Circuit Bending which is the process of opening up consumer electronics - mostly kids’ toys - and modifying the circuit boards to create new sounds. The cult community of circuit bending is part heath kit hacker, part pyromaniac musician and part serious electronics debugger. Modifying a toy is not nearly as simple as it might appear -- these units’ electronics are often undocumented; the process of figuring out just where to connect jumpers requires patience and research. It also requires a willingness to fail.

Failure is constructive.

Are you allowing your staff to fail?  

If you still think that I am full of it just take a look at what 3M™ does. 3M has a long standing policy (since the 1920’s!) of allowing employees - regardless of project schedules - to dedicate up to 15 percent of their paid work hours on personal projects. What possible benefits could a policy which wreaks havoc on deadlines and product to market schedules have?  Not much really -- just the development of whole new markets in adhesives, recording mediums and of course the ubiquitous Post-it-Notes ®.

What untapped solution are you missing out of by holding your staff back?  Where would we be without the invention the iPad typewriter?  For me it would be a sad, sad world.

 

 

Social Media - Old Skool style

 

 Page One of my interactive community board idea for my employer - Circa 1993-94