Quinn Lewis

It has been a few weeks now, but the head gasket blew on my old car.  It still ran, just overheated quickly.  However, after sitting in my garage for a few weeks it also stopped running.  The mechanic I'd been seeing offered to buy it but he never showed up, so I turned to the internet/craigslist.

I took four pictures and posted about two sentences on craigslist.  I mentioned the miles and that it was NOT running.  I came back after getting a drink and already had about 15 new emails in my inbox.  After about an hour and a half I had to delete the post because I had about 80 emails (some were duplicates) by this point.

The person I sold it to was one of the first people to respond and actually offered a higher price than what I was asking.  The person used multiple email addresses (with the same phone number) and included the offer in the subject.  This was surprisingly effective.  My eyes were drawn to the higher offer, which actually increased a few more times.  Having the (increasing) offers in the subject made the email show up as unique in my inbox.  Also, since multiple email accounts were used, these showed up as unique.  All this worked because it got my attention.  

I ended up selling my (non-running) car for three times the asking price in about five hours from the initial post.  The power of the internet!

The liftgate on the rear of our car lost its "spring" and quickly collapsed whenever it was opened.  Besides being dangerous, it was inconvenient.  Try holding up a heavy door above you with your hand and/or head while trying to put stuff in your trunk with the other hand.  Imagine having to break your hold quick enough to dodge the claw of a door forcefully coming down.

I thought I remember getting a recall letter from the manufacturer about this but when I searched online I could only find a reference to the power liftgate version (Recall ID # 71934).  I went to a local dealership and found out that replacement gas struts cost $208.08 each (68905-AE011).  My thought was that if these were such high quality, then why did they stop working within five years, so I better try my luck somewhere else.  

The person at AutoZone said he could get replacement parts but would have to order and didn't seem sure he could get the right ones.  I asked Advance Auto Parts but they didn't have a substitute part.  However, the guy referred me to the local xlparts.com, where I was able to get two Monroe MaxLift gas charged lift supports (901533) for $29.94 each.  (It is possible to get online for a few dollars cheaper.)  

Taking out the old gas struts and replacing with the new ones took less than 10 minutes.  I just needed a flathead screwdriver and something/someone to help me prop open the door.  Plus, I ended up spending about 10 times less than I would have spent at the dealership.

While on the plane the other day, I decided to pick up a SkyMall magazine.  I think I was predisposed by the book I just read to a few products relating to emergency preparedness.  Let me say that I don't own these and the reality of me buying them is small.

• SodaStream - home soda maker
• RainPerfect - rain barrel pump (using solar)
• Escape 150 Adventure Kit - solar powered generator

However, it made me think I need to crunch the numbers to see if (or when) these things pay for themselves.

I received The Survivor's Club a few months ago as a gift.  My main take-away is that you have to choose to survive.  It is action-based.  Here are some of the quotes I took: 

• Incredulity Response - "...people simply don't believe what they're seeing." "So they go about their business, engaging in what's known as the normalcy bias." (36)
• "You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end--which you can never afford to lose--with discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be." (42)
• The process of "splitting" helps those in stress to break down a problem and not get overwhelmed.  It also prevents analysis paralysis and to "experience 'perceptual narrowing' or so-called tunnel vision." (48)
• Immobility.. "this response has less to do with fear and confusion and more to do with 'the novelty of the situation and the lack of leadership.'  People simply don't know how to respond when something unexpected happens.  It doesn't match their experience or expectations.  So they do nothing.  They wait for instructions."  (63)
• "...'From the point of view of survival, it is better to respond to potentially dangerous events as if they were in fact the real thing than to fail to respond.  The cost of treating a stick as a snake is less, in the long run, than the cost of treating a snake as a stick.'  In other words, it's better to overract to a piece of wood than to underract to a venomous pit viper with retractable fangs." (217)
• Need to "switch from passive fear to active coping." (218)

 
According to the test at the end, my survivor type is Fighter and my survivor tools are tenacity, faith, and resilience.

My wife wanted a craft hutch for maintaining her scrapbook supplies, sewing equipment, and other miscellaneous items. I was happy to apply some artisanry and expand my meager set of tools.  About half of my total costs were in one-time equipment costs.   

I took an old desk that a friend found online for $50 and attempted to preserve the same design with the hutch. 

Here is a picture before.  I sanded the desk down and popped off the laminate top.  In retrospect, I should have kept the top.  It would have been easier and less expensive then trying to recover.  
 

 
 

I spent a most of my preliminary design on the outside structure.  When I finished the core structure I realized there were still lots of details to cover. 

The end result is pretty solid, in terms of both structure and design. 

With Segway's, electric bikes, and Can-Am Spyders, state law enforcement and government are having to deal with how to classify "new" vehicles.

I recently spoke with the owner of a new Spyder, who said he was pulled over twice by law enforcement so they could check out the "bike."  One of the officials said it was so he'd know where all the compartments were located in case he had to search one in the future.

Earlier this week I called and spoke with the Texas OHV Program Manager. He was a wealth of information. He pointed me to the Statutes on Texas Legislature Online. For ATVs, he guided me to Chapters 502 and 663 of the Transportation Code and Chapter 29 of the Parks and Wildlife Code.  He indicated that there should be more regulation in Texas and alluded to new types of vehicles as well as the need to codify basic requirements into law.

This last week I pulled up alongside a semi while going to work. On the passenger's side, just between the door and the front wheel, I saw a Qualcomm logo. It reminded me of the "Intel Inside" branding approach. I forget the exact wording but it had to do with "wireless" and "technology."

Apparently, this seems to be at least partially "driven" by new federal regulations of truckers. I've made a few posts in the past about IT technology used in transportation (From IT to Transportation and Progressive Transportation Infrastructure) but I've been assuming changes would be driven by market demands, not government regulation.

I don't recall what prompted me but I did a search for "vonage api" and came across a post from one of my previous professors. It references a Vonage Third Party Call Control.

This seemed like a great candidate for an IE Accelerator. I cobbled one together. I kept getting the error: "There was a problem with the Accelerator provider's information." I thought it was an ampersand problem but it was really the base URL in the action attribute (in the execute tag) not matching the homepageUrl tag.

I can now select some text (a phone number) in IE8 and click the accelerator. However, the selected phone number can only be digits (e.g. no dashes). This is pretty unlikely.

Someday, when I get more time, I'll upgrade my accelerator to Google Voice if no one has done it already. This should give me the ability to call from any phone.

I've had a little more free time these last few weeks and thought I'd fix my computers. While trolling the Internet for how to resolve my computer issues (e.g. enable hibernation and upgrade my BIOS) I discovered what seems to be a new trend (at least to me). The vendor support sites do more than provide static help, they actually attempt to fix your problem.

I consider this to be beyond context sensitive help, thus the blog title of "context sensitive support." Typical help seems to assume your software/hardware is running and you want to use the system (or use it better). There may be a troubleshooting guide as an addendum but the focus is on features not bugs. Support websites know you have an immediate problem and you want a quick solution.

Context sensitive support uses the environment to better detect and resolve problems. It enables empowered users to more quickly resolve their own problems (and lessens the need for the friendly support analyst).

I ran across two examples that capture some of the essence of context sensitive support.

In this Microsoft KB (KnowledgeBase) article, there is a "Let me fix it myself" section and a "Fix it for me" section (complete with logo/icon), which will run a script (an automated version of the "fix it myself" option). Additionally, the website gives a different message if you connect with a different operating system version. (For example, if you are using Windows XP, it says, "This article applies to a different version of Windows than the one you are using. Content in this article may not be relevant to you. Visit the Windows XP Solution Center." With Vista, you don't see this at all.) I understand that it is easy for a website to detect the OS version since this information is typically passed in user agent strings but it is easy to see how this might be extended to more specific applications. This is where the environment becomes important. There needs to be good ways (i.e. private, standard, ease to implement) to make this possible.

While on HP's support website for getting software and drives, it asks to "locate your product to get support" but has an option to "Automatically detect it." In this case, it requires you download a tool, accept the privacy statement, and accept the security warnings (again, this is where the environment becomes important).

Perhaps support has already become context sensitive and I'm just now discovering it but I think knowing an application you develop must be able to automatically fix itself forces you to think about designing the application differently.

A few recent events have increased my awareness of technology incubators and their role helping to accelerate the development of companies (and the people and ideas behind them). 

It is interesting how these incubators are non-profit and location-specific.  Why? It seems strange that a non-profit organization would help a (new) for-profit organization succeed any better/differently than a VC.  As for location, it is funny that in this age of tele-everything, these incubators have a physical and local presence.  I know this is likely driven by city, county, and state governments looking to attract money, talent, jobs, and financial consumption to their area.  But is a for-profit required to be in the mix (right now a non-profit government promotes other non-profit incubators to promote for-profit companies)?

Today I read an article about Cleveland, Ohio as being a city for entrepreneurs.  Having lived near Cleveland, I was curious as to what would be the draw.  The article highlighted JumpStart, an incubator.  Maybe it is just a coincidence but the Wikipedia references for business incubator are Ohio-heavy.

Also, I recently participated in screening companies for the upcoming I.T./Web 2.0 Venture Forum, which is hosted by the Rice Alliance.  (I was excited that four out of my five top picks were selected to present their business plans.)  I know the Rice Alliance has ties to the Houston Technology Center (HTC), an incubator.  A few months ago I heard an HTC director comment on their services and successes.  I was impressed.  I had worked with one of the companies they were helping but had no idea this company had been receiving "outside help."  I would think the knowledge of a small start-up receiving additional guidance would increase its attractiveness to clients.

A few months ago I wrote about non-profits that contribute to software ecosystems but the focus was on sustaining for-profits and not creating them.  I'm happy to add another concept to my still developing mental model of technology organizations.