• Archive and label everything. My inbox is no longer a to-do list of unread messages. In addition, I’ve been using Sparrow which makes this even easier.

• Less is more. Less peripherals allows me to be more mobile, but it doesn’t mean my data isn’t safe. I started using Arq instead of multiple external hard drives. It works automatically and backs up everything to the cloud. Less is simple.

• There’s no reason I shouldn’t be able to pack a backpack, go somewhere, and have everything I need. Less is more; more is burdensome.
• In 2011 I sold the MacBook Pro and picked up a MacBook Air.

• Already feeling way better. More energy, less crankiness.

• Not only is it cheaper, but cooking is a great way to de-stress.

1955-2011

A little over a year ago I developed an iPhone application for RIT. At the time it was just what we needed – an app that could pinpoint buildings on a map, show me customizable events, and allow me to look up people in the directory. It’s proven to be incredibly useful for both myself, my friends, and students.

I’ve been giving it away for free for over a year.

During the fall of 2010 I was approached by a few of RIT’s faculty to join in on a weekly meeting about RIT’s mobile application strategy. Naturally, during the first meeting, we broke the ice and everyone described themselves and why they are there. I mentioned that I built an iPhone application for RIT.

I had knowledge that most of the people in the room did not. I created a mobile application that thousands of students have been using since its launch. I know what works and what doesn’t based on experience.

After many long meetings (could have been handled through email) I discovered that they were going to choose a vendor to build a mobile application.

RIT recognizes me as an entrepreneur, student advocate, and one who gives back to the community frequently. I’ve spoken at events, held events, and spread publicity throughout Rochester and the internet that always points back to RIT. Instinctively I said, “Why don’t you consider me a vendor? My price is unbeatable and what you’re looking for is 80% there. It’s in the market and thousands of students are already using it.”

They pushed me through the formalities. A set of paperwork in order to apply as a vendor which every company had months to complete. When I received the paperwork the deadline was tomorrow, so I did it in one night.

RIT performed a survey asking students what features they would want in a mobile application. The items that ranked 1,2, and 3 existed in the application that I built. I said I’d hire RIT students to make the app better. This would allow us to focus on the app – it would no longer be a side project.

They didn’t choose us.

Inexperience? I don’t think so. Price? Definitely not.

But RIT missed something important. They missed one of the biggest publicity and marketing opportunities of a lifetime.

We didn’t get the job. Not only would the time to market be immediate, but RIT students would be known as the vendor/developer. It would show that RIT practices what it preaches, that it believes in its students. That the ever-increasing $37,000 tuition means something.

When you painfully pay insane amounts to study at a university that claims it is one of the best, shouldn’t they believe in their students?

Practice what you preach.

Update: I would love to meet with any of the administration, faculty or staff at RIT about this. I know many of you are reading thinking that I am negatively portraying RIT. I am not. I want to facilitate change and to provoke thought. This is not the first time something like this has happened. Many people feel the same way.

Quick tip: To see how other people or circles view your profile type their name or the circle’s name into the box and you can browse your own profile as someone else. Pretty neat.

If you’re… …not hearing “no”, you’re not really getting your work out there enough, pushing what’s possible, pushing yourself. -Chase Jarvis

Hearing “no” is a good thing.

I was one of the few who stormed the front and gained a Google+ beta invite (actually, I got one from my good friend Joel). After breaching the invite only front door of Google’s new social networking website, Google+, I noticed a few things strikingly similar but with a twist.

First, Google+’s layout seems to borrow some things from Facebook and some from MySpace. It’s not completely original and it seems to be the new standard for social networks. Picture in the upper left, links underneath and a “stream” in the middle. It’s nothing new, but Google+ is clean. Cleaner than MySpace (no feat here) and cleaner than Facebook (impressive).

It’s very simple. Just like other social networks Google+ allows you to build friendships, share photos, notes, links, and anything you can copy+paste. It integrates with Picasa (don’t take my word, I don’t use the service) and gmail quite well. There are a few features too.

Sparks is the first of the new features. It lets you save a search query for news terms. I added a few (Washington Capitals, Apple, and Social Media). It doesn’t seem to be anything fancy but a general automatic news search tool. However, it’s lack of features is important. The one feature it does have is sharing with friends or circles (discussed below). Sharing a spark (news item) is very easy and intuitive. It’s painlessly simple.

Circles are the second new feature. They are a fancy word for groups, cliques, or stereotypes. They differ from groups because they are designed to be for your own personal use rather than the groups members. Circles act as an entity that you can share things with. I have a few circles: Friends, Family and Nerds. None of them have more than a few people each, but that’s probably because of the closed beta that Google+ is currently in (at the time of writing, invitations have been disabled for everyone).

Security. This is the most powerful and best feature Google+ has to offer. Every time you post a picture, share a link, or update your status you are able to change who is able to see it. It’s really powerful. You can select circles, specific individuals, or the public. If I wanted only my family to see certain pictures or a status update, it’s incredibly easy to do so and same goes for showing the public or individuals.

The main issue Google+ will have is convincing people to switch from Facebook. It’s not that Google+ is a bad service, it’s surprisingly better than I expected. It’s that people don’t like change and convincing people to change is quite a feat.

The credit-card company has made an unspecified investment in Square, a two-year-old service that helps businesses and consumers pay with credit cards on a mobile phone or Apple Inc iPhone, both companies said in a statement.

I’ve been using the Square with my iPhone since it was in beta and I love it.

If my parents said yes to everything, I would have 43 versions of the spiderman action figure, 6 million pogs, and every pokemon card imaginable. Yes means I would have ingested every flavor of ice cream for every meal. Yes would mean there were no boundaries; that’s a bad thing.

Boundaries build great products. They keep you on track. The more you say no, the more you create definition. Definition trickles down in your product, services, attitude, etc. Sure you may want the “everything-machine,” but has no definition and because of that it tried to do too many things — it is barely any good at any one of them.

The more you say yes, the more it gets you into trouble. If you say yes to every feature request, you get a boatload of features of mediocre quality. If you say yes to everything, you lose uniqueness. You lose quality. You lose individuality.

The best software in the world has less features and they have less features because they are good at saying no. No allows you to do less, better. It prevents you from getting lost in a sea of yes’s because each yes is something extra you have to do (that you didn’t plan on). “No” defines your product. In marketing they have a way of saying that less is more; it’s true.

It hurts to hear it and it’s hard to say it but it will save you. It’s sometimes demotivating and it’s not always well received.

The opposite of yes is doing things at a better price. It is preventing burdons. It is is defining. It tells others clearly that you will not. There’s no beating around the bush and you can stay on track. No is hard.

Saying yes is easy. Saying yes avoids confrontation, guilt, and it gets messy. The more you say no the easier it is to make the things you say yes to better. If you’ve seen my post Money follows friendships you understand the power of friendships. You’ll hurt those friendships if you are an asshole so say no like you would to your friends. If you’re saying no there’s a reason and you need to share that, politely.

Save yes for the best and say no often. Wouldn’t you rather have a few great things rather than a lot of crappy ones?

I’ve donated twice already because I strongly believe it is the best way that can help and will bring the most benefit without physically helping.

I strongly encourage you to to donate to the American Red Cross Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami Fund.