The MacLeamy curve
I have begun writing my PhD, which is simultaneously daunting and invigorating. One aspect I am contemplating is how to make an 80,000 word document applicable to a wider audience than the two examiners and as accessible as this blog. No doubt there will be posts on this over the coming year. However central in my contemplation at the moment is the question of why we want flexible representations, why architects need parametric models.
The 18 Mistakes That Kill Startups
October 2006 In the Q & A period after a recent talk, someone asked what made startups fail. After standing there gaping for a few seconds I realized this was kind of a trick question. It's equivalent to asking how to make a startup succeed—if you avoid every cause of failure, you succeed—and that's too big a question to answer on the fly. Afterwards I realized it could be helpful to look at the problem from this direction. If you have a list of all the things you shouldn't do, you can turn that into a recipe for succeeding just by negating.
The Dirty Little Secret Of Overnight Successes
As Chris Dixon pointed out in a recent blog post, Angry Birds, the incredibly popular game, was software maker Rovio’s 52nd attempt. They spent eight years and nearly went bankrupt before finally creating their massive hit. James Dyson failed in 5,126 prototypes before perfecting his revolutionary vacuum cleaner.
What do you need to do before you quit your job to form a startup company
Browse > Home / Incorporation / What do you need to do before you quit your job to form a startup company? There are various things a potential founder of a new startup company needs to do before quitting their job. 1. Review all agreements with your current employer. Most employees may have signed an offer letter and a confidential information and invention assignment agreement, as well as other documents such as a stock option agreement.
Architect-led design–build
Design-build construction methods, where the designer and constructor are the same entity or are on the same team rather than being hired separately by the owner, began to make a resurgence in America at the end of the twentieth century. Most of these design-build projects were and are led by the contractor, who hires an architect to design its building, which the contractor then builds for its client, the owner. More recently, some architects have begun to embrace a lead role in the design-build approach. They contract with the owner both to design and to construct a building, and they procure the construction services either by subcontracting to a general contractor or by contracting directly with the various construction trades. The following definition describes, assesses and compares the architect-led design–build (ALDB) process to other, related architectural project delivery methods. Introduction and context[edit]
BOOM Goes The Dynamite! 500 Startups Explodes With 2 New Periodic Elements, 12 Sensational Startups, and 1 Awesome Accelerator Program
500 Startups announces today they have discovered the newest periodic elements – Upandtotherightium (Ur) and Viralium (Vi). In addition to this amazing new discovery which is awaiting official recognition by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, they are also proud to announce they are in the early stages of developing 12 remarkable new startups in their just-launched 500 Startups Accelerator program at their headquarters in Mountain View. The buzz among the science community is the 500 Startups Accelerator will soon eclipse the CERN Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland, which has long held the title of the world’s largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. Several Russian physicists have raised concerns this new 500 Startups Accelerator could be dangerous and has the potential for creating wormholes with unknown outcomes, possibly even the creation of a black hole. Specs of the 500 Startups Accelerator are detailed below
» Early stage companies don’t need money, they need customers
Note: This is cross posted from WhoYouCallingAJesse.com by Jesse Rodgers, who is a cofounder of TribeHR. He has been a key member of the Waterloo startup community hosting StartupCampWaterloo and other events to bring together and engage local entrepreneurs. Follow him on Twitter @jrodgers or WhoYouCallingAJesse.com. Some rights reserved by wallyg
Will it fly? How to Evaluate a New Product Idea
I've been thinking about a number of new product ideas lately. In doing so, I've been trying to come up with a more structured way of evaluating them. Here's a first attempt at defining that. It's not as clear as I'd like it to be. But perhaps you'll find it useful. Tractability
Rachel Armstrong – Story of a curious explorer building worldship
Rachel Armstrong is a senior TED Fellow and Co-Director of AVATAR (Advanced Virtual and Technological Architectural Research) and, above all, one of the most enthusiastic innovators I’ve ever met. Three years back, I heard her for the first time, and witnessed the phenomenal work linking science fiction and reality in the field of architecture. Today, she is a sustainability innovator who investigates a new approach to building materials called ‘living architecture,’ that suggests it is possible for our buildings to share some of the properties of living systems. In pursuit of knowing her as a person, and sharing her inspirations, ideology and innovations with young innovators across the globe, I got in touch with her recently on email. Let’s take a deep-dive into the life of Rachel Armstrong in her own words: Rachel Armstrong
What If Your Smartphone Could Read Your Mind? Kimera Is Working On It
Today's smartphones are pretty darned smart. Yet we are only scratching the surface of what these devices might do. What if our smartphones were actually intelligent?
How to Start a Startup
March 2005 (This essay is derived from a talk at the Harvard Computer Society.) You need three things to create a successful startup: to start with good people, to make something customers actually want, and to spend as little money as possible. Most startups that fail do it because they fail at one of these. A startup that does all three will probably succeed. And that's kind of exciting, when you think about it, because all three are doable.
Windows Phone Ad Paints Apple and Samsung Fans as Buffoons
Microsoft is attempting to triangulate in the Apple-Samsung war with a new ad that presents itself as above the fray of their petty bickering. The ad takes place during a wedding. As a nerdy guy steps up to photograph the event, an iPhone fan challenges him to remove "your enormous phone." "You mean the enormously awesome Galaxy?" another Samsung fan counters. "Search: 'One trick pony,'" a middle-aged woman replies, speaking to Siri on her iPhone.
The Big Data revolution: How data-driven design is transforming project planning
Sasaki Associates used detailed network visualizations like this traffic flow pattern of the College Hill neighborhood in Providence, R.I., to advise Brown University officials on strengthening the school’s presence in the nearby Jewelry District. This article is part of BD+C's special five-part Technology Report 2014: Top tech tools and trends for AEC professionals. Gregory Janks feels a bit like an impostor at his firm. A self-proclaimed “numbers geek” with a PhD in mathematics and degrees in science and economic science, Janks relies on a much different process for developing and vetting planning and design strategies than the tried-and-true approaches utilized by many of his peers at Sasaki Associates (www.sasaki.com). 4 ways Building Teams benefit from data-driven design 1. Enhance iterative design.
