Off Course-On Target

Cool Tools I Use: Digital Pen and Paper

I truly believe that every one of us (yes, that includes YOU!) has cool tools that we use on an everyday basis and stories about how we use these tools and how we came to find and use them.  I'd like to hear about yours.  Meanwhile, here's another one of mine:

This tool is one of those great examples where the very best attributes of the past can be updated with the advantages of today's technology. In this case, it's by combining good old pen and paper with digital technology.

I use Logitech's io2 and have been using it for over 5 years, pretty much nonstop.  It does require that you use special "digital paper" but it comes in a good variety of sizes, pads, sticky notes etc., and they don't cost much more than regular paper and last a long time. The paper itself is very interesting and uses technology licensed from Anoto, one of the first companies to really break through with this type of digital paper, and is licensed by many makers of digital pen and paper. The Anoto-based paper works by having a very fine almost invisible set of little "dots" on each page.  Each of these dots has a unique identifier and so as you write on the paper with the pen, a sensor in the top of the pen keeps track of which dots you are passing over, so it knows exactly what your pen movement and motions have been and stores this digitally.  Then every time you insert the pen in its small pen holder base that hooks to your computer via USB, the software creates a full digital image of everything you've written or drawn on the paper. Think of it as digital carbon paper (if you're old enough to remember!)

Sounds complex, but the beauty is that you just have a very plain looking "regular" note pad and a slightly larger than normal pen that you use exactly as you would any other pen and pad. However, now you get a complete digital copy and backup of every page, which is not only handy, but also enables you to send your pages of notes and diagrams to others.

You also have the option of converting your handwriting to digital text by doing some "training" to recognize your personal style of writing, and this is working better with each release. I don't tend to use this feature too often, since my purpose is to have a visual archive and I'm the only one who needs to read it. Good thing, since I'm often the only one who can!

The Logitech/Anoto paper I use also has a bit of "smarts" to it, so you can use areas on each page set aside to automatically create, for example,  a calendar item or an e-mail.  Or you can take other specific actions based on the notes you take. This is extremely handy, and it can be setup to take these actions automatically every time you put the pen into its cradle and upload the contents to your PC.

This same technology has also been used to create some other fun and interesting devices such as the "Fly" pen from Leapfrog.  This cool tool let's you do things like write a word in one language, and then hear it translated into another language through the speaker inside the pen. You can also literally draw a small calculator on the paper, and then start using it as a fully functional calculator!

Of course, what I'm really waiting for is truly digital paper and paint, where we have surfaces that are digital displays with resolution at the molecular level, but I'll save that for another posting and hopefully it will be a Cool Tool I'm using in the next year or two!  In the meantime, consider trying out the currently available digital pen and paper to help you preserve and share your notes and diagrams.

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Have  "Cool Tools" you use and want to share?  Send me your favorites with the following information:

• Name of the tool and source for getting one. 
• What does it do? 
• How did you come to discover this? 
• How do you use it? 
• Why is it on your top ten "Cool Tools I Use" list?

Is the Sky Really Falling?

I recently read the article "AT&T: Internet to hit full capacity by 2010", which is pretty much summarized by the title and the opening line:

"U.S. telecommunications giant AT&T has claimed that, without investment, the Internet's current network architecture will reach the limits of its capacity by 2010."

You can read more in the article, although they digress into some net neutrality issues.  However, this latest prediction reminds me of similar predictions throughout history that "the end is near", and I'd like to explore them further here.

The "Limits" of Physics

I can recall back in about the late 80's when experts were making similar predictions and warnings that we had reached the upper limit of how fast data could be transferred through phone lines via modems—9600 baud! These same experts claimed that we'd reached the limits of physics and it was just a "fact" that we needed to accept. 

As we can now see (with the benefit of hindsight, of course) that entirely new materials and techniques, such as optical fibre, compression algorithms and other breakthroughs, were developed to get around some of the limits that existed for wire-based data transfer. Wikipedia has a good history of modems, bandwidth, and the inventions along the way.

It's interesting to note that these types of warnings and stories are usually accompanied by quotes from the experts and other "facts", which prove that they are "true" and inevitable.  It reminds me of this quote from a  great scene in the movie Men in Black:

"Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow."

BTW, you can find this quote and just about any other kind of movie-related trivia from the handy Internet Movie Database.

The "Limits" of Technology

Going much further back, dire warnings in the late 1800's said that we needed to seriously curtail the expanding use of horses, cows, and beasts of burden or else the planet would soon be covered in several feet of manure!  The experts had "done the math" and this was an inevitable and irrefutable prediction. But ooops! We didn't allow for the invention of the internal combustion engine, electrical power, and other energy sources that significantly reduced our reliance on animal-based power. Of course, we also didn't anticipate the whole new series of problems and challenges of global warming that many might argue make the manure problem look like a good one!

I sometimes have the sense that some of the more dire predictions about global warming and other imminent disasters are similarly exaggerated and misdirected. Please do NOT misconstrue my comments here to mean that we have nothing to worry about or to work on. I want to champion quite the opposite reaction!  To be sure, all of us have much to be concerned about. We need to be more diligent and work harder than ever to ensure the sustainability of ourselves and our environment so that we can ensure an ever brighter future for us all. 

The "Limits" of Human Capacity, Foresight, and Imagination

History has shown that we are capable of doing some VERY stupid things and can exhibit great ignorance and lack of foresight.  However, as illustrated by my prior examples, history also shows that we need to take into account our even greater human capacity for invention, discovery, creativity, innovation, and design.

I'm sure that many of you may have similar Chicken Little "the sky is falling" * stories, and I'd be most appreciative if you'd post these to your blogs or send comments here to help all of us learn from these historical examples.

I'm was in Mexico recently and I'm told that the story of Chicken Little (and the saying "the sky is falling") are well known there and translates to El Cielo Se Esta Cayendo. For those not familiar with this reference the previous link will give you the background.

In the end, I have huge faith in our collective powers for invention, creativity,  innovation and designing solutions. What we need to watch out for is the flip side of this where we become smug, arrogant, or cynical based on what we "know for sure" today.  I hope that examples such as this latest prediction about the limits of Internet capacity will only serve to help us balance these forces and inspire and motivate us all to work towards new ways to improve our lives and those of all others. 

Rather than imagine what we'll know for sure tomorrow, imagine if ................ Not only is the sky NOT falling, it is the limit of what is possible.

Cool Tools I Use: Vanishing Point Fountain Pen

I truly believe that every one of us (yes, that includes YOU!) has cool tools that we use on an everyday basis and stories about how we use these tools and how we came to find and use them.  I'd like to hear about yours.  Meanwhile, here's another one of mine:

As digital and geeky as I am, or perhaps because of it, I LOVE writing on good quality paper with a fine fountain pen!  And my favorite fountain pen for many years is the Namiki "Vanishing Point" fountain pen.

Tom King, who helped push me to start up this whole "Cool Tools I Use" theme is also a fellow aficionado of pens and wrote me to say:

"I have a Namiki Vanishing Point pen sitting right here next to me, and I am about to call Parker to get a custom nib for my Duofold Centennial.
How can we not include the pocket-sized Fisher SpacePen (said the instigator of the PENS spec)-- http://www.spacepen.com/Public/Home/index.cfm"

I have tried a lot of fountain pens over the years, but this one is my favorite and the one I carry the most.  Not only is it a very good fountain pen, but it is also one of my favorite examples of what great design is all about. You just need to hold one of these pens to see how well it fits in your hand and how great it feels and writes.  But the true design genius is in how practical it is as well.  Amazing as it sounds (to me anyway) and unlike any other fountain pen that I know if, this one works like a "clickable" ball point pen—you just push in one end and out comes a full fountain pen nib from the other.  Press again and the nib retracts into the body and is FULLY sealed so it never leaks in you pocket or creates any mess. 

This pen is a joy to behold and to use.  Gives me great satisfaction every time I use it.  As one ad puts it, "Think of it as 'Zen and the Art of Pen Making.'"  Indeed!

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Have  "Cool Tools" you use and want to share?  Send me your favorites with the following information:

• Name of the tool and source for getting one. 
• What does it do? 
• How did you come to discover this? 
• How do you use it? 
• Why is it on your top ten "Cool Tools I Use" list?

Google Oceans: Another wish comes true!

While I  can neither take credit for nor claim any influence on Google's recent announcement, I'm pleased to say that some of the things I wished for last year in my posting "New Perspectives; Looking Down and Under" are about to come true!  In that posting, I wished that we would soon have similar capabilities as those provided by Google Earth and Google Sky, but these would vary in that they would look down and under to the earth's oceans and seas. Well, the title of this posting pretty much says it all, and you can read about it in the WebWare article "Google Diving into 3D mapping of Oceans".

Google Ocean (the name is tentative), shares similar goals, as well as the potential of increased collaboration, mass contribution, and "networking" that Google Earth and Google Sky present.  See my previous posts "New Perspectives: Looking Up" and "New Perspectives: The Third Wave" for more details and context about how powerful this can be. These views were summed up in the article:

"In addition to the 'wow factor" Google Ocean will no doubt have for amateur oceanographers, marine enthusiasts, and anyone fascinated by the movie 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the project has the potential to promote more collaboration and advance research."

They also reflect my previous comments about how little we know about the 70% of our planet that is covered by the seas:

"'We hope that one of the outcomes of Google Ocean will be an understanding of how much remains to be explored,' said Miller of Scripps. 'We know far more about the surface of Mars from a few weeks of radar surveying in orbit than we know of the bottom of the ocean after two centuries.'"

Unfortunately, Google Oceans is not yet released, and Google is not saying much officially yet.  I'll be watching for the first chance to start using this new capability, and let you know as soon as it happens.  Since I live full time at sea now, this announcement is particularly relevant and practical for me. I already use Google Earth extensively for surface information, such as exploring a port or anchorage I'm about to put into.  In addition to my charts of the area, the photos and the ability to fly over the area before I get there have made a huge difference in terms of safety and in my confidence for sailing to new places, especially at night or  in poor weather with low visibility.  But I suspect that many of you would have similar fascination with the earth's oceans and be just as anxious to learn more. Perhaps some of you will have research or other information to contribute, and we can add yet another way in which mass contribution and the power of networking helps us all get better at getting better.

This announcement about Google Oceans is yet another great example of the power of wishes and how they often do come true (you might want to read about another wish come true in my recent posting "The Future is about Winning!", which highlighted the wish that turned into Pangea Day).

Although we may want to be careful what we wish for, I could not be more serious or sincere about my wish that you'll keep believing in the power of wishing and do some of your own!  I'll continue to share some of mine. I'm also interested in knowing what are some of YOUR wishes for positive change.

Cool Tools I Use: Cabinet Scraper

I truly believe that every one of us (yes, that includes YOU!) has cool tools that we use on an everyday basis and stories about how we use these tools and how we came to find and use them.  I'd like to hear about yours.  Meanwhile, here's another one of mine:

 One of my favorite hobbies is fine woodworking.  Since I was very young, I've found the entire process of designing and creating furniture, as well as wood sculptures and cabinetwork on my sailboat, to be almost Zen-like in the satisfaction it provides. 

 In a former lifetime I was a woodwork teacher and one of the best tools I shared with my students—one I regard as my "secret weapon" in turning out great works in wood—is a simple little rectangle (or sometimes curved shapes of hard steel) called a cabinet scraper.  This tool is used to "scrape" (cut would be more accurate) surfaces of wood, and is often used in place of sandpaper. Cabinet scrapers work their magic by having a very small "burr" along the edge of the scraper blade that cuts the wood very cleanly, producing wonderful shavings as you work with them.  They work MUCH faster than sandpaper and produce an amazing surface that is flat and smooth and takes a finish extremely well.  Cabinet scrapers are particularly useful when you need to smooth wood with unusual  of different types and at different angles.

They are a bit tricky to learn to sharpen, and as with most cutting tools, having a sharp edge is the key to making them work well.  But once you know the technique, it is quite quick and simple to sharpen a cabinet scraper.  There are some specialty tools for sharpening, but I tend to keep it simple and just use a file and a burnisher.  The two images shown here are from this very good overview from the Woodgears, and a simple online search will produce many more.

Unfortunately most people are unaware of this very old tool and perhaps they disregard it, along with many other "lowly hand tools", which is a shame and their loss.  If you do ANY amount of working with wood, even simple jobs, such as preparing wood surfaces for painting or refinishing etc., you really owe it to yourself to try this one.  They are very affordable (less than $10), easy to use, extremely effective, AND they are the ultimate in "green technology", requiring only the power of your hands—no cords or batteries.  Check online for suppliers. Some of the better makes are from North America, including Veritas and Lee Valley tools.  Once you've used a sharp one, you'll never look back.

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Have  "Cool Tools" you use and want to share?  Send me your favorites with the following information:

• Name of the tool and source for getting one. 
• What does it do? 
• How did you come to discover this? 
• How do you use it? 
• Why is it on your top ten "Cool Tools I Use" list?

Human History is additive NOT subtractive!

When something big, new, and innovative comes along, most of the affected domain's “experts” and pundits typically decry the loss of the "good old ways" and lament how they are going to surely be eliminated by the new.  A common response, but they are WRONG!

However, when we look at the historical record, we rarely see the elimination of old practices and experiences. Instead, while the old is most often dramatically changed in terms of its role and its percentage of use, the new game in town usually augments the original purpose and value proposition of the old.

Let’s use radio as an example. When radio first came along, the experts and pundits predicted it would eliminate newspapers. When TV came along, they claimed TV was going to eliminate radio.  After all, who would want a talking box when we could have talking pictures?  But look at where we are in 2008!  In fact, no new media in history has ever eliminated the older media type that preceded it! 

Radio is not only a viable media, but one that is going through a resurgence and increase in effectiveness, reach and use.  The way we use radio, and the role it plays in our lives, HAS changed dramatically of course. For example, when was the last time you remember sitting down with your family to listen to an evening radio show. Yet, in the early days of radio, this happened all the time!

However, radio has not diminished at all in its value and use—it's just changed in how, when, and where we use it.  With the advent of satellite radio, HD radio, Web-based radio, podcasts, etc., we are in fact seeing radio go through its own exponential change and growth.  So the “death” of radio, as with most “old things” was greatly exaggerated, to say the least.

We've witnessed the same trend countless times with other technologies, such as predictions that airplanes were going to eliminate automobiles and trains, how online or eLearning was going to eliminate teachers and classrooms, how eBusiness was going to eliminate stores and shopping...and the list goes on. I'm sure you can name other (and better) examples of this same trend.  I'd like to hear about them.

Living in a World of Exponential Change

Not only has the new not eliminated the old, but it has caused exponential change and growth. This is another example of why I believe we are Living in a World of Exponential Change.  In my previous post "The Future is about Winning NOT Losing!", I used the example of the changes and future of film and video as an example and how recent phenomena, such as YouTube, Flickr and Pangea Day, bear witness to exponential change.

Not only is there exponential growth in the volume of video-based content, but even more importantly is the explosion of growth taking place on the production side—people creating and publishing video content in greater volume and diversity. This increase on the production side is being met by equal or even greater growth on the consumer side with the increased number and diversity of those who are watching, interacting, being inspired ,and moved to taking action by film and videos. Taken together we are truly talking about exponential growth! 

But growth, in and of itself, is not enough. I’m big on ensuring that we maintain a focus on the value proposition and underlying purpose of the things we do (see my postings and podcasts on Perfecting the Irrelevant and Flapping for more details on my views about how we confuse value proposition with activities for example).  How do each of these examples fulfill (or not!) the value propositions of improving the ways we as humans can communicate, express ourselves, see other points of view, and provide outlets for our creativity and innovation?  From where I sit, we now have more and more ways to deliver on these value propositions and we ARE delivering! What do you think?

Cool Tools I Use: Leatherman "Wave"

I truly believe that every one of us (yes, that includes YOU!) has cool tools that we use on an every day basis and stories about how we use these tools and how we came to find and use them.  I'd like to hear about yours.  Meanwhile, here's another one of mine:

I used a Swiss Army knife for many, many years but have since replaced it with an even more robust multi-functional tool from Leatherman.  I use their "Leatherman Wave" model, but they also have a large variety of others to choose from.

Being all stainless steel has been especially welcome, since I spend a lot of my time at sea or around salt water. But these tools are also extremely well-designed and it is definitely in that category of "what did I do without this?".  Many models are available in different sizes and tool combinations, so you will likely find a one that is particularly suitable for your needs. 

As with many of my Cool Tools, this one makes the list not only because it is so practical and useful daily, but also because of the great design involved.  Every time I use this tool I appreciate how all the functions and tools are combined together into such a small unit, as well as its heft, its fit in my hands, how it folds up into a small space, and the real leather belt holder.

Except when I need to travel by air, I carry this handy tool on my belt, so it is always ready and available for use (which for me is at least 10 times a day!).

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Have  "Cool Tools" you use and want to share?  Send me your favorites with the following information:

• Name of the tool and source for getting one. 
• What does it do? 
• How did you come to discover this? 
• How do you use it? 
• Why is it on your top ten "Cool Tools I Use" list?

The Future is about Winning!

Recently, I participated in a meeting with colleagues at Autodesk Inc. on the Future of Events (FOE), where we tackled how to make events, such as conferences, Autodesk University, user groups such as AUGI, communities, etc., more green and sustainable.

Autodesk Commitment to the Environment

While this post is not directly about the topic of sustainability and the environment, I’m delighted with the seriousness and depth with which we are treating these issues at Autodesk. Corporately, we have a strong Environmental Commitment and Environmental Policy. But more important to me is how this initiative is being distributed throughout the entire company. We are being encouraged to make it our responsibility both as employees and citizens.

This recent FOE meeting focused on finding ways to realize these commitments, policies, and goals through Autodesk events. The meeting was but one example of how we are committed to improving the environmental performance of both our own business operations and educating ourselves and partners to do the same.  In addition, we are committed to helping our customers improve the environmental performance of their designs through the software and technology we develop. I quite like that this has a win-win quality to it. These priorities and commitments are equally as important to the long-term success of making the world a better and healthier place as they are to our success as a company.

Winning vs. Losing

One thing that prompted me to write this posting were comments in the FOE meeting about how much some of us feel we have lost when it comes to event-based experiences. For example, people reminisced about how great going to a movie theater used to be—with all the smells, sounds and other very visceral characteristics. One participant added how it was also a family outing, and even though one memory included getting gum stuck in her hair, it was still remembered as a totally wonderful experience.

Many in the room lamented what they saw as the decline and loss of the "good old" movie-going experience. They felt that today more people seem to sit alone in front of their TV or computer screens to watch movies, films and video. I think this view is just the glass half full vs glass half empty way of looking at things.  I don't doubt that there are statistics to support that more  individual viewing is going on and that movie theatre attendance is down.  But let's be sure to look at the whole picture here (sorry, I couldn't resist). 

Best I can tell, the total picture shows that we have more people watching (and making) more movies, pictures, and films than ever before in history.  Being a glass-half-full type of person, I do not view the change of movie-watching habits as a loss (we can still have large group movie-going experiences for the most part), but as a great opportunity to have more choices and results from experiences with film, movies, and video (to pick but a few examples). What's more, the results of this increase in movie and video production and consumption is quite profound and powerful as a timely example demonstrated very well. 

Being a big believer in synchronicity, I was not surprised that on the same day as the FOE meeting, the New York Times printed “Bringing the World Together via Film” , an article about Pangea Day,  an event which "endeavors to bring the world together and promote understanding and tolerance through film." According to the article, the power of film is substantially increased when we extend this from the domain of experts only and include “the rest of us” who might be so inclined to create some original film and video. Far from losing the “good old” movie theatre experience,  we are gaining more experiences and more options to augment and increase the effect of film and video.  Sounds more like winning than losing to me, and to badly paraphrase the Bill Withers song "Use Me": If it feels this good to lose, then keep on losing me until you lose me up!

Learning from Past Patterns?

Why is it that whenever something new and innovative comes along, people perceive that it means the elimination of whatever went before? Not only are in-person events not going away, we are increasingly adding new types of experiences (see my previous posting Fast, Fresh, and Furious: “Pecha Kucha”...the New Karaoke? for one such example). We're human and as someone so accurately observed "we still like to smell each other" (by the way, if anyone knows the attribution for this please let me know).

I therefore want to encourage all of us to look at things like events very differently and set different expectations. Most of our old and familiar ways and experiences such as theater-based film, events, conferences, meetings, etc. are NOT going to be eliminated by the new any more than radio was eliminated by TV (see my posting Books—the NEW old medium for similar reactions about new technologies).

Rather, we have more opportunities to augment these historical models with new ones.  Look at the profound power of TED prize-winner Jehame Noujaim's simple wish to bring the world together via film.  One person, one wish can make all the difference.  What's yours?

So what new opportunities can you think of to pursue human expression, communication, dialogue, interaction, sharing, discovery and learning? Could there be any more worthwhile pursuit and benefit?  I think not.