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The second gift I got from Dunkirk Systems for Christmas was a computer from the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program. This comes from what was originally the US$100 laptop program. Now, they are $200, and through the end of last year you could have bought 2 for $400, one for yourself and one for a needy child. This article talks about how the OLPC computers have helped a village in Peru. For someone like myself who has had a computer since junior high school and made a career out of them, I bought into this program completely.

The notebook itself (sorry, I don’t like the term laptop) is interesting. It is white with green trim and looks like it was made by Fisher-Price. Its most prominent feature is a carrying handle – why hasn’t someone thought of this before? It is designed to be rugged. When you flip up the antenna on each side then the top, it is open for use. The top swivels like a tablet PC but the screen is not touch-sensitive. Right away by the size of the screen and keyboard you see it is for a child, especially with the spill-proof keyboard. Other hardware features include a camera, speaker and microphone. You can read more of its features on its Web site.

So what have I done with it? Not too much so far. I was able to get the MAC address of the WiFi card with help from the OLPC Wiki and set it into my wireless router and I was quickly on the Internet. I ran the gauntlet of several of my Web sites with the pre-installed version of Firefox and all looked generally good, though I could not get the Flash plug-in to start and sound did not come from the browser. I also tried some of the various applications pre-installed, from drawing to video, but only once.

When you connect to WiFi you look for it in the “neighborhood” and see dots representing each hotspot. If another OLPC is within range, you see a stick-figure icon that is the logo for the program. This is how children can link to each other and is part of the power – and fun - of this program.

So far I have yet to see anyone within range when I have used it, which doesn’t surprise me. Does anyone out there reading this have one? It would be interesting to get a group of people together with their OLPCs to connect and learn!

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A recent article on cigars was published in UR Chicago, a great lifestyle magazine in Chicago by an even greater journalist, Daniel B. Honigman. Following the statewide smoking ban in Illinois, Daniel introduces cigars to some - reaffirming them to others - and how smoking a stogie adds to an experience, rather than just getting a quick drag on a cigarette in the cold outside of a bar. He interviewed me for the article, and my quote is at the end of the article. You can download a PDF of the January 10-30, 2008 edition and read the full article.

I enjoy an occasional cigar, and it usually compliments an event or get-together with friends. There’s nothing like a cigar during a Patriots game tailgate party!

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Ah, Groundhog’s Day! That one day of the year where we discard all of the weather technology and forecasters and look to whether a furry animal sees its shadow to predict how the weather will be for the next few months. If the groundhog sees its shadow, then there is 6 more weeks of winter where if it does not, then spring arrives earlier.

Believe it or not, there are many groundhogs. The most famous is Punxsutawney Phil, hailing from its eponymous town in Pennsylvania. Phil saw his shadow, meaning we (defined as those in the US and Canada that actually put the event on their calendars) will have a longer winter.

However I tend to look for advice from the marmot northwest of Phil, Dunkirk Dave, hailing from the western New York town that inspired the name of my business. Dave did not see his shadow, meaning the warmer weather will come sooner. I don’t look to the city of my birth as an alternate, as I have always followed Dave’s predictions over Phil. As of this post, his prediction is not listed on Dunkirk Dave's own Web site, but it was reported by the Dunkirk Observer.

If we could only look to animals for predictions of business success…

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Starting out another year of reading I chose a book I have owned not too long, given to me by my friend Eric when it came out a few months ago. Never Give Up is the autobiography of New England Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi. Written with Boston Globe sportswriter Michael Holley, it tells the story of his life, focusing mostly on the stroke he suffered in 2005, weeks after the team won its third Super Bowl.

Bruschi’s story made national news, both the stroke itself and his return later that year to the team. This story tells his side, "the inside" I would all the “real” side of what he encountered within the year of his stroke. The background of his life story lays the foundation for his path through this episode of his life.

My greatest takeaway from Never Give Up is you will never truly know what is going on in “the inside.” I call “the inside” the private interactions of one or more people, including business partners or a couple married or in a committed relationship. Whatever you or I may see or experience from someone, it is on “the outside.” This is not saying what see of people on “the outside” is not genuine. It may well be, but it may not be as well. What happens on “the inside” is just for those there. We can all probably think of a case where we didn’t consider there was an “inside” or everything was or was not ok. Friends going through a divorce and my own move from Boston to Chicago come to mind as negative and positive “inside” events respectively. In the case of Bruschi dealing with his stroke and recovery, this book gives high-level insight with details of people and experiences.

Another takeaway is we must keep in mind we may never know the true “inside” when we react on the “outside.” Have you ever wondered why we didn’t get some business or haven’t heard from someone? I know myself I tend to think the worst – it may not be that I am not good enough, rather it could be the project was cancelled or the client wasn’t in a hurry to tell anyone.

In the book, Bruschi talks of how various people reacted to his stroke. Some wrote letters, some sent food. And some changed their tune, especially when Bruschi came back to football, though most of this came from the naysayers who didn’t have “the inside” information.

My last takeaway – don’t listen to sports talk! Talk about an entire industry centered on not knowing the whole story! Though I do reserve the right to rescind this takeaway if sports talk personalities and their listeners follow my first two takeaways.

Never Give Up is not just a book on sports, but is a story of a stroke survivor who happens to play football. I recommend you read this book, especially for those who themselves or a friend or loved one goes through trying times with an illness or medical condition, or may do so, which means this book is really for anyone.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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Book Take-Aways • Diversions • (4) Comments • Permalink