I’m going to give it to you straight: one cannot bend time. It doesn’t matter how lucky you are, how many good choices you make, or whether you are luckier than Felix Felicis. Don’t fall for this myth – I fall for it all the time, myself. In this guest-free episode I open the kimono a bit regarding my own struggle with self determination, of getting a work product out there to the real world without trashing my credit in the process. Are the struggles of time and finances universal to any artist or entrepreneur? They sure seem to be in this town.

Mentioned in this episode: A spec for phase 1 of 3 for destroying e-mail as we know it (we know it as the thing we are perpetually behind on, thus offending people we often don’t even know), Seattle’s iffy schools, Seattle’s iffy housing market, Buster Benson’s company Habit Labs, PseudoNano (that novel writing thing I’m helping organize for April).

This episode is brought to you by Six-Sigma-Santa. How does he maintain such consistent quality? How does he get to each chimney in the world in just 24 hours? The answer is: he’s a Six-Sigma Black Belt. See? There’s the belt. You knew all along it was there.

Bending Time

Quoting from notes I took over the past month:

• “If you don’t like the answer, change the question.”
• “What am I going to do about my soul because it’s getting away.”

and

• “It’s up to you to make sure the jerks don’t get in the way.”

These statements overlap, encompass, inform, and even predict the discussion you’ll hear here with Juli Adams. Uncanny, no?

This episode is brought to you by Lego™ Three’s Company. Part of what I hope will be a long series of 70′s sticoms adapted for Lego™.

Past events attended and mentioned on this episode: BrickCon, InfoCamp, GeekGirlCon, Self quantified meetup, Book launch for Jeffrey Eugenides “The Marriage Plot,” Book launch for Scott Berkun “Mindfire.”

Past events sadly not attended but honorable mention for sure: Decibel Festival, Startup Weekend Seattle EDU, 24-hour Comics Day, Seacompression, Hacking Seattle News, City Arts Festival (particularly the Jose Bold performance)

Future events + resources mentioned on this episode include: Event Planning Handbook, TedX Ranier, Mark Maron, Ignite Seattle 16

Now it’s time to listen to the podcast.

Juli Adams

I have the honor of speaking with Rob Greenlee, Business Manager, Podcast Marketplace at Microsoft. Rob is one of the earliest podcasters and has his finger on the pulse of what innovations are happening in the space today. One of his responsibilities is to select which podcasts should be featured on the Marketplace. He has written more about his criteria at 5 tips to a successful podcast.

Now, let’s talk about you. If you identify more on the technology side, you’ll be interested in how any new technology – such as podcasting – takes the leap into prime time. If you identify more on the arts side, you’ll be interested in how people are taking this (still) new medium out for a spin. Podcasts Rob mentions include Scott Sigler’s Podiobooks and the zombie podcast We’re Alive.

This episode of the egrigg9000 podcast is brought to you by DotCom Village. Not all of us feel nostalgic for colonial Williamsburg. Some of us have more recent memories – to a time just a few years ago – and if we could just go back there for an afternoon or a day, we could finally understand on some level what happened. That’s right, we’re talking about the days of DotCom, recreated in all its glory at DotCom Village.

Come, be part of the bubble.

And now, without further ado [1]

Rob Greenlee

[1] This link was broken for a while, but now fixed. Whew!

This episode stands as a cautionary tale of what not to do with your name or your summer vacation. Despite poor planning and lack of visibility in both areas, there are always bright spots. That’s just to show you overplanners out there don’t have the market cornered on serendipity, not by a long shot. Bright spots mentioned: Doe Bay Fest, Ignite Seattle 15 featuring an expert on the lab rat (mouse), Monster Costume, and Earwolf’s “Well That Was Weird.” And if this is your first time hearing the phrase “engineering serendipity” you can read more about it here.

Brought to you by Dang’s Warehouse. Prices so good, you’ll say “Dang!”

The Identity Post – Sockethead

This episode is brought to you by So You Think You Can Floss. The show that brings out the obsessive compulsive in all of us. Tuesdays at 8pm on DDS.

I was talking about the newly hatched egrigg9000 podcast to Chris Pirillo at the Random Hacks of Kindness opening gala. Right away he recommended I invite Justin Hillgrove as a guest. Chris started showing pictures of Justin’s work around to anyone with eyes. What does it take for a technologist (he says geek, that’s fine) to turn in to such a fanboy about art of all things? I’m not sure this passion is something that can be unpacked and simulated. Either art has an immediate and permanent connection with the viewer, or it doesn’t. I do believe that once that connection is established it is very powerful, and if you’re an artist it doesn’t hurt to get out there as much as Justin does and manage your time like you’re a world leader.

In this interview, Justin tells his story of becoming self sufficient with his art. Justin’s work was just seen at Urban Craft Uprising, will be seen next weekend at the Salem Art Fair & Festival, and later at the Bellevue Festival of the Arts.

Justin Hillgrove – Imps and Monsters

Teresa is someone who will have more than her 15 minutes one day. Last month she had a solid 5, one of the few speakers at Ignite Seattle 14 (due to a special presentation in the second set eliminating some speaker slots). This was a very interesting interview. She was very generous with two major personal events (the breaking of an engagement and the loss of a friend). After we geeked out talking about product management (she runs bobsled) and facebook permissions, we wrapped up. Mentioned in this episode, her writing teacher Vernon Klinkenborg. Also mentioned in this episode, she is a songwriter! We will have to follow up on that.

This episode is brought to you by Knockout Airlines. Get a good night’s sleep on your next flight. Medically guaranteed. No sleep no fly.

Teresa Valdez Klein

UPDATE: Link to Teresa’s Ignite Talk “The Art of Subvertising on Facebook“

By popular demand Part 2 of the Michael Laine Space Elevator podcast is up. Sponsored by Mayology – The Science of Mayonnaise (Part of the Action Food Mart family of products). Make sure and follow @mlaine on twitter to follow his own story day-to-day of making this project happen.

Speaking of scientists. During the opening segment I reference recent activity over at KUOW in Seattle. Here is the best link I have to the reason why this action was taken, and here is the rebuttal. I make the claim that the weatherman let go correctly predicted the length and severity of two Seattle snowstorms. My own twitter posts show how I was tracking his reporting on this for my own daily schedule, but I know I was not alone. Most Seattleites are completely dependent on correct predictions like his and are livid when high confidence predictions (such as the ones given for those snowstorms by mainstream media) are wrong. This may not be enough to hand him the mayorship (although it may be close!) but it does grant him special status among the befuddled Seattle citizens still tuning in to mainstream, top down, do what we say media. By supporting this podcast (by listening) you also support a culture of media outlets that don’t operate that way. Maybe that’s what public radio was supposed to be in the first place? And if I have such strong opinions, why can’t I stop listening to KUOW? It’s like a reflex!

Michael Laine Part 2

This episode we have Part 1 of an interview with Michael Laine from LiftPort who has just donated a weekend of his time to Random Hacks of Kindness. In his heart of hearts, he wants his project to work and be profitable. Naturally he has picked the Space Elevator as his life’s work. Because what could be more guaranteed of success, more of a sure thing financially, than space? The Space Elevator has captured the imagination of popular culture, including South Park, Veronica Mars, Aerosmith, Star Trek, and allegedly several trance albums. It’s evident from Michael’s commitment that he simply can’t NOT do this project. With humanity at stake, he’s re-imagining the Space Elevator, using what he has learned so far and taking it to the next proving ground: the moon. You’ll never think of lawn darts the same way again.

In keeping with the spirit of the space race, this episode is brought to you by JFK Peanut Butter and Jackie-O Jam. Part of the Action Food Mart family of products.

Michael Laine Part 1

Do you have a fondness for revolving restaurants, but get bored of looking at the same old view?  As If (the Restaurant) is a simulated revolving restaurant that has an unending supply of potential views for your dining enjoyment. Featured here is Fun with Insects. Will the spider catch the fly? The drama unfolds throughout your meal.

Thanks to our sponsor who is at the same time both generous and fictional, this episode of the egrigg9000 podcast interviews Willowbl00 aka Willow Brugh. Speaker at Ignite and the now defunct Gnomedex, recent panelist on Volunteer Tech Communities, I ask her how she gets her tireless energy and what inspires her to do so much to give back. [1] Look for her at foocamp this year. Sure, getting an invite to foocamp is on my personal bucket list. Sure, I’m jealous she gets to attend. But she works harder than anyone I know (including me) and completely deserves it.

Links to projects mentioned in this episode: Va-Va-Vroom (motorcycle courier service) – that’s her on the right! Schoolfactory which asks the question what do we mean when we say ‘school’ in 2020 including local org Jigsaw, Geeks Without Bounds, GameSave, Random Hacks of Kindness, and the darling of the location based services space, Geoloqi.

Willowbl00

[1]  Update: Gnomedex is happening!

This episode of the egrigg9000 podcast is brought to you by Mute Button of the Gods. Developed by two engineers with auditory processing and sensory issues, this mute button when you press it REALLY MUTES your computer. No exceptions. It’s like the Nuclear Option for mute buttons.

Topics covered in this episode include Star Wars Uncut, the viewing experience drawing heavily on Christopher Alexander’s Pattern Language, Raiders of the Lost Ark: Adaptation, and how the simple task of purchasing a microwave spiralled into consumerist soul assessment the likes of Jonathan Safran Foer and Mike Daisey have seen. Oh, and a spider shows up, I’ll kill it later. The First Timers guide I refer to is at http://barcampseattle.org/first-timers-guide/

Gandalf the Microwave – Seattle Tech Community