Here’s something to remember by: The Wilderness Downtown is a single released by Arcade Fire in 2010
This project is the collaboration between Google Creative Lab, Chris Milk and B-Reel and is fully developed using HTML5 video, audio and canvas and interacts with Google Maps API in order to show the location you enter before the video starts.
Today you can create your own product at the comfort of your home with a very small monetary investment and make a considerable amount of profit from selling your product to a world audience online.
The technological advances with computers and internet connections allowed designers to become internet entrepreneurs, creating and selling designs and products world-wide very easily and developing multiple and sustainable income streams which lead Designers to a new level where each designer can be a business.
Victor Margolin, in it’s text from 2002, argues with the current preparation of the teaching systems where students are taught history, craft and serve manufactures instead of preparing them to be entrepreneurs, acknowledge important areas such as management and marketing, creating and distributing their own products.
Earlier in 2010 I participated at Shift Conf where I had the change to meet the RepRap Project, a desktop 3D Printer that you can build at your own home and print real 3D objects in just one take using your own computer. The following video will show you some of the things you are able to create with a RepRap.
The purpose of the RepRap project is allowing people to manufacture small objects for their own personal use helping them save money or even creating new objects for everyday use. It’s a really amazing project that you can download the assembly instructions from the web and build the 3D printer for less than 300 euros. In 2010 professional 3D printer renting can easily go over 10 000 euros.
The project is still under development from it’s open source community. I personally believe that 3D printers will be available for any person in the next 5 years at a very affordable price.
Victor Margolin understood, back in 2002, that we need to create and sell our own products and not just work for the manufacturers. In 2010 this is now becoming a need rather than a privilege and you need to take action, so what are you waiting for?
One of my challenges this year working on a new agency has been building reputation inside the agency where nobody knows my work. This has been particularly difficult since the agency only started building the online department after my arrival. From my collaboration with my colleagues, that work for the agency for some years now, I noticed that my oppinion is taken into consideration but it’s not the strongest one. I needed to built reputation.
The answer
It has not been an easy task trying to figure out how to build a reputation when work doesn’t flow that often or when my contribute is very small since most projects are in other departments. I have been brainstorming for a while now but I have found the answer when participating, again a very little contribute, on a project brainstorming when my answer resolved the design department issue on the spot and was not difficult to design or create. And so it hit me. Create a sense of efficiency.
A sense of efficciency is the feeling you get when doing a good work. And if you are able to spread that feeling to the people around you hey will not only incentivate that you participate more actively on projects but they’ll also believe that your participation will make a difference. Working efficiently means you are focus and driven to achieving results.
As a final note, during this process I tended to become a little self centered but eventually learned to look at other people”s feedback as a challenge due to their specific needs instead of thinking their point of views was the product of a concept implemented through what they consider correct in the past and eventually this made my job more interesting.
How to build online reputation
I’ll leave you with a video where Ross Dunn talks about reputation enhancement. An interesting talk on how to build reputation online. Even though Ross does not mention efficiency, Ross refers participation and engagement as key factors to building your online reputation. This is the same principle of what I have mentioned before. Share interesting point of views that are usefull or that resolve other poeple’s issues and they will start trusting you.
Firefox Tab Candy seems to be the future of browser surfing. No longer scroll only horizontal tabs, preview over 30 tabs at the same time, no longer be restricted to your computer or browser. Imagine the hability of creating page groups to organize your internet web page surfing, share them with other people.
All this tab candy makes me think, do I need more RAM memory on my computer?
So I was looking around for a TED Talk with a great speech about finding your passion, following your dream and making a living out of it when I find this video of Mike Rowe, the presenter and co-founder of Discovery Channel Dirty Jobs.
For me the key point of this talk comes between minute 11:24 and minute 13:05.
Mike’s advice is not to follow your dreams, not to pursue your passion but instead understand the world around you and do what you need to be thankful and successful at what you do and eventually happy doing it.
