What's it about? Well, a 9-year-old boy, Caine Monroy, built an elaborate cardboard arcade inside his dad's used auto parts store. And while the arcade is about fun, there's no doubt that it is serious business for Caine. Of course, it is about more than that.
It is inspiring, heart-warming ... and worth a few minutes of your time.
The Internet has changed a lot of things. Who knew storage was going to be one of them?
The whirring hard drives that once occupied entire university labs held but a fraction of the data we carry in our pockets every day — and that’s only 50 years of progress.
Today, as we move further into the cloud, and witness the latest and greatest pocket media devices, we thought it fitting to take a look back at how far we’ve come on our quest to store as much information in as little space as possible.
As you can see, the design is inspired by tropical islands, with huts, a pool ... and to top that ... a volcano guaranteed not to erupt.
Since it's a yacht, it comes packed with VIP rooms, arcades, gym, lounges, spas and even a helipad. What a great place to do business?
The back of the yacht has a retractable beach deck and dock. Why go to the trouble of getting out to sea if you can't wake-board, jet-ski, or swim; right?
If you want to know how much it would cost to fuel-it-up or operate, it's probably not in your price range.
While eating dinner a few nights ago, I heard a 3-year-old scream "iPad, iPad, iPad" until her parents handed one over. Was it just a child's tantrum ... or does it mark another step in our journey to the post-pc age?
To imagine the future of technology, sometimes it helps to look back. Here's a clever way to appreciate how much technology has changed the things we love to do.
And we are now moving beyond even that.
I just spent a week in Asia, and didn't bring a laptop ... relying, instead, on just an iPad and an iPhone 4S.
In 2009, Microsoft released a Productivity Future Vision. Watch how future technology will help people make better use of their time, focus their attention, and strengthen relationships while getting things done at work, home, and on the go.
Here is a 1-year-old who apparantly believes all media are touch-screen-enabled. She does not seem to understand that a magazine was not designed to respond to pinching or prodding.
My kids can't understand how I did school-work without a computer or the Internet. Their kids may not believe that people used to do their reading on paper.
Most people say they want to be healthy. That's the easy part ... it's more challenging to do.
To be fair, life happens ... and it is hard to find sufficient time to exercise. Nonetheless, in this case, procrastination can be a real killer.
Procrastination doesn't just happen with exercise. Many things get put off while waiting for better circumstances, more data, or for it to be the "right" time. Well, it turns out that it's always a good time to take right action.
Here is a great video called "How Bad Do You Want It?" It is inspirational and worth watching. It's not just some exercise video ... there is a great message in there worth hearing about business and life, too.
How Badly Do You Want It?
Have you ever looked in the mirror and thought "how did that happen"? Pictures of me on the beach resembled the image on the right.
Perhaps I should blame genetics. My grandfather was a professional wrestler who tipped the scales well above 300 lbs., and my Dad spent plenty of time north of 300 as well.
A year-and-a-half ago I was Twinkie away from there myself.
At 265 lbs., my doctor told me I had a 10% chance of having a heart attack in the next year. That was my wake-up call.
I'm down to 228; and I am committed to being healthy and vital. That makes all the difference.
You Manage What You Measure.
One of the things I really like about the Fitbit is that it's constantly monitoring and reminding me about the actions I take - or the amount of non-action I tolerate.
Here is a screenshot of my Fitbit home screen. It's graphically pleasing and lets me quickly focus on the number of important fitness and activity metrics.
Notice that there is an activity graph that shows the amount and intensity of my activity in five-minute increments throughout the day. It updates wirelessly, and automatically, without me having to press any buttons.
In addition, here is a graph that shows the days activity broken into intensity levels.
I use a graph like this to figure out whether I'm happy with what I'm doing. At work, I do something similar. I ask the team to think about whether we are 'walking', 'jogging', 'running', or 'sprinting'? More importantly, to achieve what we want, what's the right mix?
It's one thing to tell yourself you're working hard; it's another to compare your levels with benchmarks or standards. Here's another area that Fitbit excels. This graph shows that last week my activity level fell in the 90th percentile.
However, this graph shows that recently my sleep patterns fell in the bottom 2%.
While I am competitive and want to increase the number of steps or the percentage of time I'm in higher levels of activity, the quickest way for me to improve my health is probably to get more sleep.
The point is Fitbit doesn't just focus on activity; it helps you figure out the right activities on which to focus.
There are lots of other things I could tell you (like, it is about the size of money-clip) ... but the most important is to just go get one. It is about $90 at Amazon.
Being Healthy, Fit, and Vital ... that's Priceless.
