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Set up for pool

These are the two things I always look out for when setting up for pool, the line and the C. The rest falls into place.…

5 Sep 2013

The knowledge funnel

From Roger Martin's The Design of Business. With a little reflection the funnel is pretty trivial. But I do think it’s a useful way to think about things. At what stage is your business? Still tackling a mystery like Xerox Parc, or getting it down to heuristics like Zynga, or refining out an algorithm like McDonalds.…

4 Sep 2013

Sitting at the piano without any music is a great way to get started composing

Want to compose? Just sit down without any music

Having played the piano most of my life I only started composing when I started spontaneously dropping by the music practice rooms at UC Berkeley in the middle of the day. Without any music I was practically forced to start making things up. Every now and then it’s new and nice. You can listen to a few short piano pieces on youtube. I strongly believe in this as advice, but it does presuppose years of copying and playing others’ music as well as the basics of music theory. Replicate, then innovate More sketches about starting and getting started…Having played the piano most of my life I only started composing when I started spontaneously dropping by the music practice rooms at UC Berkeley in the middle of the day. Without any music I was practically forced to start making things up. Every now and then it’s new and nice. You can listen to a few short piano pieces on youtube. I strongly believe in this as advice, but it does presuppose years of copying and playing others’ music as well as the basics of music theory. Replicate, then innovate More sketches about starting and getting started

3 Sep 2013

Stand, don’t sit, in bars, if you’re there with a big group

Next time you arrive at a bar in a big group, resist the urge to go find a seat straight away.…

2 Sep 2013

The Third Place

I know about Third Places thanks to Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam, and Mr Schultz was serious about it when starting Starbucks. Believe the original concept is from Ray Oldenburg.…

1 Sep 2013

Palindromes and Semordnilap

31 Aug 2013

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