Less Data, More Creativity

Check this site out. A lot of blue collar jobs have been lost to robots, especially in factories and manufacturing.  More jobs are at risk as robots begin to become more mobile and intelligent. But we rarely talk about the huge risk for Artificial Intelligence (AI) to take over the vast majority of white collar…

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Why Crap Is Good

Crap is good. Well, sorta.  Mostly. Hear me out. I am huge supporter of free market capitalism. It works mostly. To paraphrase Dwight Eisenhower, it is the “worst” form of economics, except for all the rest.  Unfortunately, many larger corporations and mature industries that have formed oligopolies like to cherry pick the aspects of capitalism that work…

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Why I Believe: Potential over Fear

There is any interesting dichotomy at play in the technology world.  As someone is who is cold-stone engineer by day, but a struggling product design artist by night, I am keenly aware that people both embrace (at the notion of) innovation yet fear change.  We like to dream of a better tomorrow, rather than live it….

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Why Science Matters In Politics

Vaccines.  Evolution.  Global climate change. The World is round.  Things that should not be in question in the 21st century, A certain U.S. governor and 2016 presidential hopeful responded to whether or not he accepted biological evolution as scientific fact.  To which he promptly responded “I’m going to punt on that one, as well, that’s a…

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Comparing Form/Function to Program/Algorithm

In product design, striking a balance between form and function is constant struggle.   I ascribe to the philosophy that when faced with a design decision, it is better to given precedence to function over the form.  I say that not just because it’s better for something to work well vice looking good, but rather…

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Sometimes Innovation Comes Down To Timing

There is great anticipation that the forthcoming Apple Pay will finally herald the death of magnetic stripe credit cards in favor of a more secure smartphone based technology.  But before we praise Apple for singular genius, let’s realize there are a few fundamental truth about technology and it’s adoption by the masses.  A lesson that…

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Don’t Let Process Smother Your Innovation

We have something of a cognitive dissonance happening in the business world. I am running into quite a few organizations that seem to be talking out both sides of their mouth in that they want to be both innovative but also process oriented. Many want to be innovative and outpace our competitors. However they also…

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Creative Personalities: Tool-igans and Product Jocks

In my nearly 20 years of engineering, I have found there are two types of creative people you must have in your groups if you want to be innovative while making awesome things. I call them “the Tool-igans” and the “Product Jocks.” Both are passionate about technology and both love to build, but there are…

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Sleeping Dragon: How STEAM Will Help America Rise Again

The United States of America is a country unlike any other our planet has ever seen.  It is even in her darkest hours a source of hope and light for the entire world.  It’s hard to explain precisely why that is.  I say that because we are more now than ever a melting pot of…

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Data Scientist Ethics

These days just about anybody with a computer can gin up an infographic to showcase whatever dataset they so chose to lead unsuspecting readers to predetermined conclusions the creator so chooses.  That is a corrupting influence that can lead to very poor decisions and very poor outcomes.  To prevent this, a set of professional ethics…

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