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Saturday, April 30, 2016

No pain, great gain

The idea that change makes pain, isn't a wrong one necessarily, but I like to think that best innovations--as innovation means change--can be smoothly part of a person's life in a way that lessens pain or struggle.

Which is a philosophy I like.

But I can also point to what may already be concrete examples for some of you, if you read my functional definition for entertainment? You may be in world's of wonder as you look at things that entertain you, with a functional perspective.

So you can more easily grab hold to more of it!!! More entertainment, better entertainment. With precision as YOU want it!  And waste less time with things that just don't quite work.

Like now this sentence will make sense as note that best trailer for a movie gives you the mood for the movie, so you know what to expect and thus are entertained, if the movie delivers that mood! Which is why movie trailers are SO important, and can give you so much in just a few minutes. Ooh. Ah. I'm so impressed with that one.

If you got intrigued by the notion of me getting my own phrase with "short timeline reachable goals" with an important tweak from I think more general usage of phrase "short term", you may be rocking out STRG's and being amazed at how much more you get done. STRG. That could also kind of look like short for STRONG.

I do imagine vast numbers of people all over the world, doing their STRG's and vast waves of accomplishment sweeping the...um, but I digress.

My point is, some of you may have had some HUGE changes in your life, with innovations that work, as they work for you. Where that should have been painless. Well it was for me. Course how do I know for others? And um, ok stopping there with the buzzwords and that special way of talking people do when they want you so impressed and AMAZED with the claims of awesome.

Not that I don't believe what I wrote! But for me, of course is so much feel-good.

What works for others? Well that's YOUR experience. What I can do is guess.

However, philosophy is given! I don't believe in that no pain, no gain nonsense. It turns too many people I think away from things they want to do.

Just maybe in a more innovative way.

Ok. This post is DEFINITELY still marketing and promotion so will be so labeled. Eventually I'll get used to such things so will not make these little asides which are, um, kind of talking to myself really. It is a new way for me, not too painful. Moving from what I saw as research and development, to spreading the word.

Cool.


James Harris

Friday, April 29, 2016

Goal is innovating to easier

Put up lots of posts which to me are theory or working at problem solving where maybe it's time to talk simply about the point! Which of course is innovating life to easier.

Like I gave advice on how to keep your social media account small, which is just, don't be entertaining. But what's entertaining? Simply enough it's giving people the mood they want. Like they want funny? If you got that you can RULE on your social media account if people are coming for funny. Easy.

And can figure out a "mood" for any social media, like for news? I like to feel informed. Not complicated.

Which means when I go to a social media account if not new to me, I have a vague idea of what mood should have when I view it, and accounts that deliver? Are in the MILLIONS. Accounts that don't but are trying to reach those heights? Are not. Often I see a muddled mess, where you don't know what you're going to feel if you check on these accounts! Except probably frustrated. And who wants that?

Which is a critique could apply to my own, but I'm not here to entertain. But yeah, will admit, now am pondering how to present what I think is useful, in a more entertaining way.

I can try. And with SO many social media accounts do need strategies to cover them all best I can.

My emphasis is on "short timeline reachable goals" where yeah, I OWN that search, as in dominate, because I invented that phrase with just a little tweak. Inventing things is a way to do that. My simpler approach helps you easily focus on getting things done. Every day. Like me!

Simply effective is more fun.

Like I just talked to you about how to grow your social media account ANYWHERE, and what will hold you back. While also explained how to do best time management, if you do that search on MY phrase.

Just a taste of what's actually going on with some of the posts on this blog. It's got lots of posts that give the explanation for the underlying theory. But the actual methods? SO easy to just give.

Shifting gears a bit with this post, so it's more definitely marketing and promotion in my opinion, so labeled. Grunt work is done. Now time to focus more on presentation and the point of it all.

And am going to stop this post here. Because I don't want to overwhelm you.


James Harris

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Checking me on my entertainment definition

To me functional definitions can be more useful, and one of them is relevant I think to many where checking me on it, should be easy from your own experience, as maybe for the first time you can deeply understand why you find something entertaining, or not.

Turns out I could put it all in a tweet.


So I'm claiming that entertainment is a way for people to alter mood, without bringing harm to themselves, so if you want thrills? Maybe you watch a certain kind of movie, right? Like one with lots of cars racing around maybe.

Why is that, now maybe obvious to you thing, such a big deal?

Well what if your friend wants to feel sad. So wants a moody relationship movie with a tragic ending. Now you can understand.

Say you pick up a book that is supposedly about space and adventure, but discover it's some metaphysical probe into life on our planet, when you felt like feeling like getting away! Then it did not entertain you as it did not give you the desired mood.

So why did I make sure to emphasize that is unlikely to bring harm in any way?

What other mood altering things are there? I don't have to answer, but yeah, drugs! So entertainment I'm saying is like a drug, but safe.

Innovation that works, as it works for you.

Maybe now you can pursue entertainment with more understanding as you consider what mood it brings to you, when it works! Whether it's that great roller coaster ride, or that pleasant dinner with friends.

Welcome to a functional definition, and the way it can shift how you look at your world.

So what is the alternative type definition? I call them descriptive definitions.

To see an example just go, look up entertainment in a dictionary, and compare with mine.


James Harris

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Thinking more on promotion

Have been looking around at things on the web more curious about how people are trying to make money, where lots seems to do with promoting things. And have talked about promotion here before, where am now pushing the labeling system, as most such posts should have "promotion" as a label at the bottom.

One thing that got to me recently while watching something on YouTube which was thankfully honest where vlogger said was being paid for by a promotional partner was it seemed nonetheless kind of awkward. And thought to myself, what if you could tell a story after about a product instead, where it wasn't so much a product review either, but just a personal story of that product, where it was stated upfront that the product supplier reviewed and approved of the story?

And here will note I have no paid endorsements of any kind and at this time, have chosen total transparency with a commercially focused blog I call Seriously Commercial having endorsement info on a page. That idea being if someone sees something I post or tweet or whatever and wonder if am being paid for it, they can just check that link.

So why this idea then that someone would tell a story after of a product, with it known the endorsement was business partner approved?

To me allows you to encapsulate, with total transparency, lowers trust needed, and frees you up otherwise to just be yourself without strings attached.

For instance, let's say someone wanted me to endorse a product and I did video. I might say, ok, let's see, and video receiving product in the mail. Step through using it, and even chat about my process. Edit some video, send back to company to see if they liked, and then upload. Viewers could choose to watch or not, but otherwise they could be comforted in knowing that my other content was completely free of such things, even if products got mentioned. Then it would just be natural flow.

So then lots would be about trust of that person as well, as to whether being honest or not about opinions. Like what if receive something, decide it is crappy, and just send it back? Viewers would never know. But if instead someone just fudges for the money? I think over time viewers would figure out.

Oh yeah, otherwise might already have a story but guess more complicated there as how to set up the business arrangement then? Sitting here pondering nothing comes to mind, so moving on.

What would my dream list of products be? Will not say. Am just musing here and I think it helps the purity of my process. Have managed to avoid such things for obvious reasons up to now. But am thinking more both about how to use the web to make money, and how best to do so without feeling icky, which for me is very particular to me, as to what does or not.


James Harris

Sunday, April 17, 2016

Thoughts on stability on the web

So much has happened so fast, with the web being this wonderful place of constant change, where now am also appreciating SO much stable on which increasingly I rely. Like here. I take it for granted can come and share my thoughts which requires Blogger to, well, BE here. Thank you Blogger for being here! And all the people who work there or around it. Your efforts are very much appreciated as I remember to not just point out areas where think things need to be better but appreciate how HUGE it is for it to be here!

And that is a remarkable thing I think, to quickly shift to just expecting extraordinary to be the ordinary as then again, now it is.

Have some stability of my own so maybe appreciate what it takes with my own open source project, which luckily is supported by SourceForge, which I also deeply appreciate, and also do realize expect to just be there.

Like am also HUGELY appreciative of the Firefox browser for instance. Its stability and WIDE availability across so many platforms and hardware configurations is now a standout.

And of course have LOTS of examples of things that have come and gone, which can be a sad arena for people who work very hard at things which for whatever reason just don't last.

I could go on and on with more examples of things glad are stable from so many, like yeah of course Google, and Facebook, oh and Twitter which of course is a huge favorite of mine. What would it be like without them?

And yeah one of those things which is major when you're doing something and making something is that longevity, how long will it last? How long can you support it?

More so than many may realize it will depend so much on so many efforts, most of which will probably be invisible to most. Which is the kind of sentence I just love to write, though here, am quite certain it covers things rather well in a short space.


James Harris

Monday, April 11, 2016

Freedom to ponder publicly

One of the things that worried me over a decade ago was I realized eventually would wander off from spending lots of time exercising my mind by figuring out my own math approaches. But if I were hugely successful at that could face social pressure against.

Of course was very naive about how things would go, but am facing such fears more squarely now as I work to maintain my sense of freedom in talking about just about any problem solving direction that interests me.

So why do I think social pressure is against?

Well imagine a rock star who wants to be a poet. Or a scientist who wants to be a rock star. Or how about an accomplished medical doctor who also wants to be a dancer?

If there is any sense of incongruity with those examples, you are sensing within yourself a vague sense many of us have of people needing to stick with what most think they do best. And my favorite example of the first is Jim Morrison, a rock star who died tragically who also had aspirations to be a poet, even published a book of poetry and from what I've seen in documentaries was devastated when was not well received.

And I bring him up because Jim Morrison is one of my historical favorites. I find his life fascinating.

Of course there are plenty of examples out there, which are probably less morbid too. As much as am a fan of Jim Morrison his story is rather depressing because of how his life ended.

If people know of you for one thing, then yes, they can expect you to keep doing it, which is not a surprise. But gist of it is that regardless, you can do other things. And AM lucky in that I didn't get any social pressure to continue with math at all.

Wait a minute, actually got the opposite. My attempts at figuring out my own math garnered me lots of ridicule from, well, math people. So funny. Most people don't care.

However my tendency to range may seem a bit off, or I imagine it does. If it doesn't, good! Am talking out my feelings here. It's so much about me. Facing these things so can handle them.

Hence this post. Will range as my curiosity and willingness to share my musings take me.

Which apparently is across a lot of territory. From money, to politics, and science and lots of things covered in between and beyond.

Here I like to ponder what I think is beyond mundane on all kinds of things.

So rest easy Jim Morrison. An inspiration through your tragedies. Your story can help others to both chase their dreams, and avoid their nightmares.


James Harris

Saturday, April 09, 2016

One big reason some fight innovation

To me one of the weirder assessments for why there was so much controversy in the music industry with the arrival of the web is that the web offered a more efficient distribution mechanism. So people could just directly download songs, while many in the music industry wanted people to buy CD's. And that's it.

Why fight for people to buy CD's versus buy songs and download direct? Well that's where it gets interesting and more complicated, except to say there were people who made more money that way, and not the artists either by the way.

If artists in the music industry had figured that out early, could they have done much? I don't know that they didn't figure it out. But to me some sure sounded like they hated audiences, and thought all fans were thieves who refused to pay for music they could steal.

When today fans continue to buy plenty of music.

Innovation can simplify, and in so doing can remove ways some people make money. Though over time it actually tends to help primaries make money. Like today artists can grab a bigger percentage of the music sales, like even just control distribution of their artistic production themselves. So it was more about other people involved? Like the people who made more money from CD's than from direct downloads?

To me, MOST of the time when I study heated fights over innovation, including with my own, I trace it back to money concerns. Some group of people are looking at a potential drop in money in some kind of way I tend to notice. And that's it. Nothing more.


James Harris