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Erec Makes A Fire: A Children’s Book About Entrepreneurism

February 11, 2013 by sshadmand

What is the book about?

Erec Makes a Fire is a story of how a group of kids stumble upon a cave covered in ancient wall writings depicting the story of how a unique young cave boy (Erec) accidentally created his first great invention: fire. The story shows how, even in the most simplest of times, one is able to form a business, sell a product, and create a success. The book is written to subtly embed one of the most fundamental parts of business in a child’s mind: leveraging an opportunity when finding demand in your community and providing a supply for it. Even before cash, computers, technology, LLC formation or business entities, business and entrepreneurs thrived through observation and invention, and they still do so today. This story helps teach youngsters, and remind their parents, that entrepenuerism is all around us and to keep an eye out for one’s own personal “fire” opportunity.

Why did I write the book?

As a person who loves the world of entrepreneurism, I also love telling a story about how anyone can turn a will or idea into a business. I have enjoyed telling that story, and giving tips on how to do it best, for a number of years through various mediums such as interviews in print, in person, and on TV. Now that more and more of my close friends are having kids I want to share that passion and story through a form that their kids can benefit from. I noticed there wasn’t much out there in the world of children’s books that took business concepts and simplified them into stories kids could love, as well as learn from. So, what else was I to do as an entrepreneur but to fill that void. Erec Makes a Fire is the first in a hopeful series of books that builds a foundation of business mindedness in our children.

Beliefs that inspired

Two major beliefs of mine contributed greatly to the creation of this story: First, immersion is a great key to early developmental learning, and secondly, kids are extremely capable of learning and understanding complex concepts early on, especially when it is told through story and analogy.

In regards to immersion, I believe that even if a child does not understand a concept introduced to them directly, being surrounded by that concept will help them become more comfortable with the subject matter as they mature. This makes the principles taught far less foreign to them, and therefore more easily consumed when they grow up, as compared to those learning the same concepts for the first time later in life.

I also believe that children can grasp complex concepts, like supply and demand or finance, far earlier in their lives than is generally taught today. I have always been amazed at how kids pick up core concepts so deeply. Yet, adults at times “protect them” from complicated concepts for worry of it going over their heads. Supply and demand can have complexities within – yes, but the basics are – well – basic and building stories around those concepts can most definitely be consumed by children. Look how well they understand other stories we give them, like ones around “how to share”, a concept that I find many adults still struggling to grasp. I remember sitting with adults during dinners as a kid while they talked to one another about their businesses around me. Over time and many family diners a grew more familiar with many of the things they talked about while still being a child. Although I was unable to articulate my perspectives on the subjects at the time I mades notes to remind myself that one day, when I got older, I would remember this: kids get more than you think.

Sticker Collection Available Through KickStarter

Erec Makes a Fire is a new kind of children’s book that immerses young people in concepts they should be given the chance to understand early in life so that they can have a foundation for understanding it more deeply as they grow up. As such the company under which the book is created is called “Small People. Big Ideas. LLC”

How and When Can I get it?

The first few copies will be made available as gifted items through a fundraising drive on KickStarter. I have my initial proofs and prototypes complete. Based on how much I can raise through KickStarter I am shooting to making it available by the summer of 2013. There will be special gifts given out through KickStarter in addition to the books themselves to make things more interesting, such as: signed copies; custom printed copies; packages including digital, print version and stickers; as well as custom designs where our artist injects a characterization of your child into a character in the book! Books will be made available through softcovers, hardcovers, and ebooks.

About Kick Starter:

KickStarter is a crowd funding platform that allows projects to get funded before they start. It is a great way to start a business or project and works perfectly with the Erec Makes A Fire book as the funds are only released if the book gets enough demand. The simplest way to think of KickStarter is this: think of those PBS drives on TV, the “If you pledge more than $50 you get this free tote bag” type of promotions. For a project like mine my gift will be an early copy of the book and other creative unique offers mentioned above that only funders will be able to receive. You can read more about KickStarter here: http://www.kickstarter.com/help/faq/kickstarter%20basics#Kick

Erg: Erec’s first customer as a Sticker

Why Did you Spell “Erec” with an “e” instead of an “i” ?

The names of the book are witten with some historical significance in mind. Homo Erectus and Homo Ergaster are the scientific names for the two homonids believed to be around during the time period fire was discovered. So, the characters names in the book take each half of each of those names: Erec, and his friend Tus are the first two characters introduced. Followed by his first two customers Erg and Aster.

Slides of Creative Process

Original Idea Draft	Draft Rewrites
Preliminary Sketches and Character Development	Backdrop Scene Development Sketches
Story Board Final Sketches	Final Sketches Converted to Digital
Final Layout Colored for Publishing

Printed Proofed Books

Sticker (kids) Proofs

Get in to the cheering section and like us at http://www.facebook.com/ErecMakesaFire, and subscribe to email updates as we neat the big release here (http://signup.erecmakesafire.com)!

Category Business, design, Feature Style, featured, learning, products, Stories, Style | Tags: | 3 Comments

There is no better quote to reference then your own, made from the source:Not the facts, just the data

August 23, 2012 by sshadmand

Here is another post in my series of “Not the facts, just the data”. This post came after an argument I had with someone I care about. Make no mistake that this is not a rebutle but just a perspective on data vs. facts, and arguments vs. politics.

The biggest argument I stand being, from my point of view, is this: Do not trust or love politics, love your people, peers, country, and family.

Politicians on either side of the coin will use data for their agenda. If you get wrapped up in it, and start believing what you are *told*, through sound bites and ads, you will be misinformed 100% of the time. More information isn’t tantamount to a depth of information.

This is why I have learned not to trust politics, they bet on people not reading the full story (as wel only have so much time in the day) and try to create anger and conflict to make people mad enough to vote how they want. It feels like THAT is what has gotten worst over the years, not so much what is happening in the world, just the way its agenda is given to us. China does it by cutting off information, the US does it by overloading its people with one sided information.

The good news is that with the advent of the Internet it is now so easy to get the data and documents from the source, and fight back as a citizen saying “don’t use me for your agenda”. No need to go to the library and send letters requesting data that may take days or weeks; it is available now if you are willing to read it.

As my methods to get to the data evolve, I try and follow some procedures to navigate past the political propaganda.

First, If I find a “fact” that I am researching on any news site, I look for the citation for the “fact” so I know where it came from, and then look that fact up from it source to read it myself. If there is not citation, I start over. A citation does not make it data, it just helps you get a path to the source. Secondly, if I find the source I read it, if I cannot find the source I look for the source directly. At this stage in the evolution of my process I have deemed .gov sites and non-profit census bureaus as a final source. In some situation you can never be sure unless you count the numbers yourself, but I have found the most consistency at that level. Yes I know that even the government stats, non profits, and census bureaus can lie but if I can find some consitancy at that level I am pleased.

Lastly, how to spot a fact with skeletons in its closet that should trigger an investigation like the one above before having the debate.

Well, the main thing that triggers a fact check to me are statistics, and references to bill being voted on. Why? Well, over the years I have found that stats have a high potential to be screwed. Or example, what constitutes ”1 year” – Fiscal year or calendar year etc. Another example is is the stats extrapolated from previous data or data that has already happened. Another read flag is the use of tag lines, sound bits and general words like “taxes”, and “everyone”, and “higher” — higher then when and what for whom? Also, the reference to bills, are tough to believe from something like “he voted to….” After living in DC and working on capitol hill with you realize that both sides of the fence will quote the same document at different parts and come up with completely different conclusion. It is impossible for both are either to be entirely right, but both sides would never realize that they both *think* they are 100% right. As my readers and friends know by now, one of my big rules of thumb is: If experts disagree it is time to make your own decisions. A bill is written by many people with many agendas for their state. They are stiuffed, written and re-written over and over to try to get as much as they each want to get in it, and keep out as much as they don’t. They do this hours and hours everyday to come to a final document that is then voted on by all parties. It is very important to remember that time line, for no document has one message, and if it passed their is a big chance that both parties voted yes on it (unless there was a big split with few deciding votes). Point being, much could have gone into a document and so much more history to that document then any sound bite could articulate.

So, one of the bills that was brought as a point of contention was based on a sound bites saying “Obama voted on late term abortion”, and it was said that the bill was made to let mothers have the right to kill a baby after it is born alive. Well, personal, I did not know about that bill first hand, and that I promised to look it up. Speaking from my own perspectives I don’t like the sound of it, but I want the source and document first before my personal conclusions on that vote are spoken.

This is one of the actual bills voted on for Illinois referenced. It only took a few minutes to bring up. It was indeed named “Partial-birth Abortion Ban Act”, so that is a true data point. As it turns out was voted on 44-7 (almost everyone agreed in both parties, that decided to attend). Also there were 5 present votes. What does a present vote mean?

The “present” vote is in effect a “no” vote, but it is a “no” vote that sends a message. The “present” vote is used by lawmakers in situations where they agree with a bill in
spirit, however the current version of the bill is not good enough to vote “yes;”

The bill, in my first hand summary, would be this: A bill for late term abortion *if* it will kill the mother to have the baby, but still says it is illegal otherwise. But please, do not take my word for it! Read it here:

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/legisnet90/sbgroups/sb/900SB0230LV.html

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/legisnet90/status/900SB0230.html

So it is important for me to see just how complex a bill can be, in addition to how complex it is to create, finalize,vote on and pass, on it.

Another topic was immigration. Stats are the hardest data to really find concrete numbers. There isn’t a list of people that are counted ever. It is def not as easy to get to the bottom of as a document being references. Old census bureus that have been around and referenced over time by both parties is, to me, a better place to start than from a news site, network, or politician.

So here is census data from the Pew Foundation on immigration stats, highest in 2007, and leveled off down by a million the following years.

http://www.pewhispanic.org/2011/02/01/unauthorized-immigrant-population-brnational-and-state-trends-2010/

It is important to note that data usually doesn’t come with a “should”, “good”, “bad”, or “won’t” list of words around it. Why did it go up? That is as complex as why did it go down? And as you will see that once why is added to statistics rarely does a group of experts agree. There are so many variables, and that is where debates and politics I suppose have a place. But I would implore you all out there to start the debate after the data is presented, and be sure not to find yourself repeating an ad or politicians claim that a statistic is “up” or “down” until you read it for yourself from the source.

I think my new strategy will be to make sure that before I argue on big issues like this, especially in DC where the ads and politics are so ripe with contention, I will just say show me the document we are arguing over before getting involved. If we do, maybe the citizens of this country can take back their right to be informed, and to make decisions without political agenda being the force that drives them.

Category Feature Style, learning, Philosophy, Style | Tags: charts,data,facts,graphs,politics | No Comments
Apple stores put their money where their mouth is

February 18, 2012 by sshadmand

Ahhh the checkout line.

I know what I want, I found what I want in your store, AND I want to pay for it. So what do you do? You make me wait in line to give you my money! Man, that system is so archaic. Talk of “self checkout” has been around for a while, but I have seen very few instances of it in practice. Aside from the self checkout in the grocery store, that is still just a line in the end, checking out while picking up items in the store is not a part of our daily lives – yet.

So with all the rumors of our devices one day helping us checkout in our favorite stores, Apple finally made the decision to take the first step and offer self checkout on your iOS device at all Apple stores. Just download the newest version of the Apple Store App and buy til’ your hearts content, or your bank account runs dry, whichever comes first.

I have yet to use it myself, but am anxious to see how the company that is known for defining best practices around new concepts will implement their self checkout. I am also curious to see how they handle a jam packed store, with hundreds of very valuable items, mostly ranging in the $+1K range.

Category Feature Style, products, Style, Technology | Tags: apple,checkout,feature,ios,iphone,store | 3 Comments
What startup babies did Yahoo, Google and Facebook give birth to?

November 17, 2011 by sshadmand

Here is an info-graphic my friend turned me onto (click the image to get the full view.)

It shows the exodus from some of the biggest tech companies (facebook, yahoo, google…) that supplied the man power, and brain power, to feul various startups such as: Zoosk, Hunch, Tapjoy, Color, Foursquare, Quara and more.

Want more?

Here is an article outlining the biggest winners and losers involved:

http://blog.topprospect.com/2011/06/the-biggest-talent-losers-and-winners/

Category Business, Feature Style, Style | Tags: | No Comments
The Quintessential Optical Illusions

November 14, 2011 by sshadmand

Check out this Quara post (http://goo.gl/YjQYI) for some new and old optical illusions. What caught my eye was the optical illiso on the left I haven’t seen before. Can you tell the difference between the male and female pictured? Well you shouldn’t, they are the exact same image. The illusion here takes advantage of how our perception of gender is based on hues and tones as much as the facial features themselves.

Category Feature Style, Style | Tags: | No Comments
Pictures that are literally worth over a million words

October 28, 2011 by sshadmand
Check out this cool little tool: Google N-Grams

It shows a graphical representation of the frequency words used in books over a rangeof years. It is based on on all the books google has scanned into their database to date.

This TED talk is what turned me on to the project.

The project, the tool and the lecture are all quite entertaining.
Here are some graphs I created playing with the tool. Graphic data, especially that which is based on sentiment represented by our societies authors, gives us amazing clues into how perception and reality intersect.
Category Feature Style, learning, Presentation & Lectures, Style, Technology | Tags: books,charts,data,google | No Comments
Video games may rot your brain, but those gamers may help find the cure for AIDS

September 30, 2011 by sshadmand

Just when parents and wives everywhere finally got thier point across to get their loved ones out from in front of the large screen TV and unplugged from their beloved game console, a twist emerges.

As it turns out even our most powerful computers have problems figuring out the right combinations, patters and sequences necessary to solve large complex problems. AN example of these complex problems that baffle our silicon constructed counter parts is defining the model of many viruses, and you can’t defeat what you do not understand. By leveraging the power of crowd sourcing and the serendipitous realizations that only humans can have (so far,) creating a game to engage gamers to figure out the unique characteristics (folds) of the simian AIDS-causing Mason – Pfizer monkey virus retroviral protease (AKA M-MVP) is having some great success. It’s kind of like Tetris meets chemistry class. Move over xenga, no virtual good in the world will trump the prize of being the person who helped conqore aids!

Even after this gaming experiment ends, the analyzation of the methods and patterms applied to the game by the gamers will be adopted by the computer algorithms, thereby furthering our ability to solve problems at scale.

Check out the video:

Category Feature Style, Style, Technology | Tags: | No Comments
A new take on flight: One wing is all you need.

August 17, 2011 by sshadmand

Check out this video. It’s kind of geeky, well it’s very geeky, but still neat-o. These guys at lockhead took a short break from creating deadly weaponry and re-invented flight.

From divincis screw shaped helicopter, to the right brothers wheeless test flight, flight has been a display of symetrical balance. Most likley due tothe need to ma the air craft as part of the prerequisites. But as unmaned aor craft becomes moreand more of a mission of our miltary, the premises are thrown out the door, and the ability for our engineers and deisgners to get creative beings in the begining of a new era of what we see as flight.

Here, the helicoprter-ish-one-winged-airplane spins in cricles to achive all raged of motions, as well as take of and langing. With this design laucnhng by flingin
the aircraft into the area is also a falry easy manuver.

Category Feature Style, Technology | Tags: cool,flight,inventions | No Comments
Tan Le on TED

August 16, 2010 by sshadmand

Tan Le

Tired of your technology not being able to keep up with your awesome, fast paced brain? — Me too! Check this ground breaking product out that is breaking mind control into the affordably comercial landscape. (Video on Ted)

Category Business, Feature Style, Technology | Tags: | No Comments
Fun sites to waste time

September 6, 2009 by sshadmand

Out of the thousands of junk emails and sites I hear about on a weekly basis, here are some of the ones that actually left an impression on me one way or another. (Not in any particular order)

xkcd

xkcd.com

A site of short shorts. These comic strips are based on, as they put it, ”romance, sarcasm, math, and language”. My friend Anuja turned me onto this lil’ doozy.

DontEvenReply

dontevenreply.com

Isaac turned me onto this one. At first I wasn’t too impressed by the site as I read a few to myself. For some reason I ended up readng a couple good ones out loud to my mom and I couldn’t finish reading a post without laughing. This site may be a bit of an acquired taste. I would describe it as a mix between Ali G and spam mail. The author chooses to describe the site more simply as “E-mails from an asshole.”

SomeEcards

someecards.com

An introduction to this site was made by an ex-girlfriend so I find visiting it to be a bit bitter sweet at times, but it really is a great way to communicate some of the more blunt and edgy sentiments to people you know that you won’t find at Hallmark.

FailBlog

failblog.org

This blog is sort of an institution, lots of followers and plenty of updates and pics. The blog chronicles mankind’s stupidity from everyday pictures of signs that lack proof reading to videos that can only be described as “a fail”.

Awkard

awkwardfamilyphotos.com

Peek into the word of the “others”. Somehow these families took some shots of themselves that in their mind were cute and fun but the rest of us can’t help but recoil as we browse through these awkward purposeful family moments.

PeopleofWalMart

http://peopleofwalmart.com/

The name says it all. Tagged by store location here is an assortment of local yokels visiting their adored Walmart. Dressed to the nine’s these moments caught on camera are priceless, and I mean devoid of all that could be deemed as valuable in anyway.

Category Feature Style, Humor, Style | Tags: | 1 Comment