Jordan Peterson of the University of Toronto and colleagues at Harvard University in 2003 published the result of an extensive research project on Latent Inhibition. Their pressrelease was titled: "Biological Basis For Creativity Linked To Mental Illness".
I feel much better now!
I won't try to explain the whole project here but what I found interesting about it is that it all sounds so familiar to the entrepreneur in me. Low Latent Inhibition is a defect (or talent) that makes it hard for people (and animals) to ignore details or information that isn't important to their cause. In other words: "to ignore stimuli that experience has shown are irrelevant to its needs".
I'm sure everybody recognises this. You remember your first telephone number but not where you left your keys.
The authors hypothesize that latent inhibition may be positive when combined with high intelligence and good working memory - the capacity to think about many things at once - but negative otherwise.
Peterson states: "If you are open to new information, new ideas, you better be able to intelligently and carefully edit and choose. If you have 50 ideas, only two or three are likely to be good. You have to be able to discriminate or you'll get swamped."
Sounds like what entrepreneurs, innovators and creative people often talk about.
I often notice that I tend to look 'different' at things. I used to think that it was my art academy background that caused this but I'm now thinking that it might not be an acquired talent but a simple case of Low Latent Inhibition.
More information:
Biological Basis For Creativity Linked To Mental Illness
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/10/031001061055.htm
low latent inhibition: one of the biological bases of creativity
http://www.straddle3.net/context/03/en/2003_10_13.html
Low Latent Inhibition Plus High Intelligence Leads To High Creativity?
http://www.futurepundit.com/archives/001684.html|W|P|114761766248367241|W|P|Low Latent Inhibition|W|P|bomega@gmail.com
|W|P|You're not the only one there Eric. End of April was the last claimed release date and it's now coming to the end of May. Hmm...
Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten|W|P|It's not pleasent to miss a deadline like this in public when anybody gets a chance to tell everybody that you are late. It's one thing to be late and having to explain this to one or two partners. But to the thousands of beta sign-ups, hundreds of daily visitors and friends, partners and investors it's a whole different story.Trust me that we are working very hard to get our shit together and launch as soon as possible. The reason why we haven't launched is because the software just isn't good enough. If we would launch now people would say "Why couldn't they wait a bit longer and launch a more stable product?"
You can please all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time but not all of the people all of the time.
But that doesn't mean we don't try...
|W|P|Well, all I can say is, it has some extreme expecations to meet. I really hope it doesn't fall short. Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten|W|P|Hi Edd, the longer we wait, the higher those expectations will rise. I just hope people will like what we have to offer eeven if they haven't been following us for a few months. |W|P|so you're watching prison break too? Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten|W|P|Hi Anonymous, I only watched the 3 minutes where his old psychiatrist explained Low Latent Inhibition to the girl from prison. That got me started. |W|P|hmmm.i advise all Fleck beta-testers to read In Said City in which i try and explain concepts such as the wkwkwk.web, minreality, etc.
http://michaelbeijer.tk/
or just click on my name above...
|W|P|hmmm.i advise all Fleck beta-testers to read In Said City in which i try and explain concepts such as the wkwkwk.web, minreality, etc.
BillyWarhol|W|P|it's forebodingly QUIET on the Fleck Blog* does this mean "something" is coming out of Stealth-mode!! ;))June 1, 2006*
Take yer time guys & get it right!!!!!
;))
hey the first 3 letters of the word verify are kgb*
Fleck = Da Vinci Code*
|W|P|The home page now states that beta testing is about to start: Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten|W|P|Hi guys and girls, yes the reason I haven't blogged this week is because we are very busy to launch the closed beta. And since am half a developer myself I had to do a lot of work too. Anyway, we are almost there...Boris
|W|P|i myself actually have low letent inhibiton, im just glad that i have an high IQ, people with a low IQ with LLI can end up mentally ill. but IQ people are more likly to have breakdowns insted.. |W|P|Well done.Fully intended to bid in clicksy but some low life speculator registered the .net and .org during the auction.
Shame as had thought of doing same myself at the start but refrained on grounds of fairness.
_If you need another name just ask me and I'll make one up for you._
yes please .... domain name for a simplistic link management service / personal homepage, deliberately aimed at mass market non-techie users rather than the Web2.0 in-crowd. Clicksy would have been nice save for potential confusion with clickz
|W|P|Boris,Al those ideas in your head, now and then some of them surface. Really internet hype territory, a domainname as basis for a businessplan, right?
|W|P|i am a fan! :) |W|P|My Boyfriend bought me a web 2.0 company for Christmas! Aware that a web2.0 idea won't wait, Paul realised it had to be a somewhat early gift.Thank you Boris for auctioning this amazing web2.0 concept.
Fancy helping us launch Clicksy at Barcamp? :)
Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten|W|P|Hi Katie, sure we want to help launching Clicksy.com! I will be cooking 100 hamburgers on friday during BarCamp but after I'm finished with that lets launch your company! BillyWarhol|W|P|i didn't know U designed the Link Cloud*now this gets really interesting!!
;))
Admitting that you have a problem is the first step towards a solution. So last week, I looked in the mirror and admitted to myself that I had to do something. I had a problem. I couldn't deny it any longer and I decided to take action. I walked to the store, found what I needed and went to the cash register. The girl behind the counter looked at what I gave her, then gave me a good look and, a little too loud for my taste, asked me 'For you, or a gift?'. At which point I blushed and answered 'No, it's for a friend'. She nodded, smiled, and clearly didn't believe me.
Yeah, it felt like buying Viagra, or condoms. But I wasn't buying anything like that. I was buying a book: Getting Things Done by David Allen.
Buying a book like that says something about a person. I don't like self-help books and used to think that they are silly and useless. And I didn't understand or respect the people who read all those 'Improve yourself in 6 days' or 'How to feel better about yourself' books. But here I am, with a self-help book that promises to help me get things done.
And boy am I impressed! I need more of these books and I'm not joking! Consider this: until last week I had an average of 200 unread messages in my Inbox and another 500 in a directory titled "Mail I still have to read". I also had too many things to do and too many things to worry about and no time to fix them.
I explained just yesterday that I always made to-do lists and never looked at them again. Why? 'because they contained all kinds of stuff I HAD too DO and I was always to busy with other things'.
Then a little more than a week ago I read the first 25 pages of this book. Something exploded in my head, everything made sense and I changed just a few things in my work methods. And since that day my inbox is clean. No mail at all.
I keep a few lists with things I plan to do today, this week or some day and my head is clear. I suddenly have time to do stuff in between and react to sudden questions or issues without feeling like I'm losing control.
So, while at first I felt embarrassed and ashamed to need such a thing as a self-help book I am now proud, thankful and happy. I'm converted and liberated and ready for everything!
Maybe I'll try some Viagra next!|W|P|114737825544540819|W|P|Buying Viagra and Getting Things Done|W|P|bomega@gmail.com |W|P|Yes, I am reading that book too at the moment, along with the book The NOW Habit. Same thing, I didn't see myself reading those self-help books, but they are right-on. They aren't that popular on Amazon for no reason. Of course it isn't the holy grail, but there is so much wisdom inside it! And The NOW Habit and Getting Things Done combine like a charm, where The NOW Habit is like the inner-game and Getting Things Done is like the outer-game. |W|P|You know, you're the third person to recommend that book to me in the past month. And I'm a HUGE fan of business and professional development, since I used to teach seminars in it myself, so to me, buying Getting Things Done would be the equivalent of buying Alleve when I have a headache.Hmm... wonder if it comes in audiobook? I've got a lot of driving this weekend...
|W|P|Didn't read the book yet, but recognize the problems of todays society and being an exposed entrepreneur. Christian Mayaud has described an efficient high volume email processing solution on his weblog: http://www.sacredcowdung.com/archives/2005/05/the_dream_a_ema.html.
I've only used parts of it (NEO PRO is absolutely brilliant!) but have realised tremendous time savings.
cheers,
tim
|W|P|Second try for the complete url:http://www.sacredcowdung.com
/archives/2005/05/
the_dream_a_ema.html
Unknown|W|P|This comment has been removed by a blog administrator. Unknown|W|P|Had it as an audio book a long time ago and a synopsis hanging on the door of the studio. But old habits die hard and I'm back to my old self again. Where did I put those audio files? |W|P|howdy, one of the recommendations from the book is to keep a simple todolist somewhere instead of an extensive project management program.
I found Mori to fulfil just those needs, it's a slim and intuitive notebook program for Macos, freeware, and you can keep al your lists and notes in one place. Great for journaling too.
See http://www.hogbaysoftware.com/product/mori
We try to learn as much as we can and gain insight into as many things as are important for our business. At the office we all love books and share them and exchange tips or highlight pasages.
I decided to start a list of essential books every entrepreneur should read. I'm hoping that other people will add their books to the list and I'll discover a few books I didn't know yet. Here is the list:
http://www.listible.com/list/thC3A9-essential-
reading-list-for-entrepreneurs-and-start-ups
When you add a book it would be nice to point it to the right Amazon page.|W|P|114726168691573737|W|P|Thé Essential Reading List for Entrepreneurs and Start-ups|W|P|bomega@gmail.com |W|P|Hey Boris - great call! My essential book is 'The Beermat Entrepreneur'. It's a fast read with a lot of interesting points. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0273659294/qid=1147413507/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-4222590-2871817?s=books&v=glance&n=283155
Cheers,
Matt
---
Endless Europe
www.endlesseurope.com
Neo (geen Edgar meer)|W|P|hi boris,the link isn't recognized @ listable. a pitty for the people who want t respond to your call ;)
keep up the good work!
@gar
Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten|W|P|Hi Edgar, Listible removed the list. I asked them why but haven't received a reply yet. I guess they didn't like the fact that the books were linking to Amazon with a referal code... |W|P|Hi Boris,Good initiative, pitty that has been cancelled by listable. My two cents:
- loosing my virginity, autobio of Richard Branson.
- the emyth revisited, Michael Gerber. Brilliant book on how to make your startup a machine that can run without you.
- the world is flat, by friedman. read it and recognize global opportunities.
|W|P|Hi Everyone:Essential reading:
The E-myth Revisited (I know someone already said this book, but it really is great. I get all my clients to read it.
At Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product
/0887307280/sr=8-1/qid=1152890903/
ref=pd_bbs_1/102-8598903-8209715?ie=UTF8
John Berringer
Newport Business Branding
Vancouver, BC Canada
john.berr@gmail.com
A quick update on the Web2.0 company Auction which I posted on a few days ago. Betafy is doing quite well. And we were mentioned on ValleyWag, which is cool too. I think traffic to the sites (including Fleck and Fleck Blog) has easily tripled in 2 days.
Betafy.com
$102.00
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=9722883193
Headr.com
$10.00
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=9722882274
Drugle.com
$1.00
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=9722883581
Clicksy.com
$26.00
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=9722883890
Isn't that incredible? Nobody is bidding on Drugle???
I think I received over a hundred email accounts via the form on Betafy.com by the way so that domain is increasing in value every minute!|W|P|114721047438473232|W|P|Auction: only 3 days left!!!|W|P|bomega@gmail.com BillyWarhol|W|P|LOLLLLLLLLLLLL*****Normally Sex Drugles & Rock n Roll sell quite well!!
;))
BillyWarhol|W|P|i know my Flickr photo yesterday of some scantily-clad Fashion models from Northbound Leather had over 1,000 views in less than 10 hours!just gotta figger out how to Monetize that*
;))
It seems that being fast, first and expensive isn't that attractive anymore. It seems that the longer you wait the bigger your audience, the cheaper your developers, bandwidth and storage and the higher your return from advertising.
Suddenly it pays to be patient. It might even be worthwhile to wait a bit. Tomorrow is better than today.
In the current fast moving and innovative internet economy the companies who take their time, learn from mistakes and take advantage of a bigger piece of the pie are rewarded for their patience.
So, hurry, get back to work!|W|P|114716749572228283|W|P|Opportunity Increase by Postponing Action|W|P|bomega@gmail.com |W|P|is this why you are lagging so much in getting started????
I wish I came up with that title and post but I didn't. It is from Paul Graham and you can read it here: http://www.paulgraham.com/startuplessons.html
One thing I loved in the article is this paragraph. I think it is something every entrepreneurs can recognise:
If an ordinary employee were asked to do the things a startup founder has to, he'd be very indignant. Imagine if you were hired at some big company, and in addition to writing software ten times faster than you'd ever had to before, they expected you to answer support calls, administer the servers, design the web site, cold-call customers, find the company office space, and go out and get everyone lunch. And to do all this not in the calm, womb-like atmosphere of a big company, but against a backdrop of constant disasters.|W|P|114716477153976137|W|P|The Hardest Lessons for Startups to learn|W|P|bomega@gmail.com
Flickr.com was a Flash gaming site that had a nifty feature: exchanging photo's.
eBay started out as demo for Auction Software. That was the original businessplan.
The people selling shovels where the real winners of the gold rush.
I'm talking about hidden economies.
Focus is great when you are a start-up. But you might just be stubborn and not know the difference.
Let's assume you start a bar for hippies, but every night your bar is filled with hard rock fans. Do you have a problem or an opportunity? Ebay clearly saw the opportunity, Flickr did too.
I sometimes wonder what the hidden economy of Fleck will be, and if there is one. Maybe you should take another good look at your job, business or project too?
Is there a hidden economy you don't know about yet?|W|P|114711917844266220|W|P|Hidden Economies|W|P|bomega@gmail.com wkwkwk|W|P|like a hidden economy one can navigate the throughways of ones life by means of so-called oblique strategies;it seems to me there is a very real connection between said o.strategies & the hidden economies you mention
in said city
Have you ever noticed that beautiful young girls often have quite unattractive girls as best friends? I noticed.
I think the reason those girls become best friends is because they both benefit:
The beautiful girl looks better... by contrast
The ugly girl looks better... by association
They are both better off. It is a symbiotic (both species benefit) relationship that benefits both parties.
But we also know that relationships between girls are never forever. Within days, weeks or months the relationship becomes a victim of parasitism (one species benefits, the other is harmed) when the beautiful girl tries to boost her ego by complaining to her other friends that the ugly girl is stalking her. Kids can be cruel. And so can VCs and Entrepreneurs...
I watched two girls playing together today. One was strikingly beautiful. The other girl, well, just not that beautiful. It made me think of the relationship between a start-up entrepreneur and a seasoned venture capitalist. An entrepreneur want to be best friends to the VC. He admires him for the money he manages and the people he knows. He is the ugly girl trying to look better by association. He knows that he is young, unproven and without much power. It's a frustrating and humiliating time.
But it it's not all roses and sunshine for the VC either.
When the ugly girl is alone she checks herself in the mirror and knows "one day, I'll be just as funny, beautiful and popular". And when that day indeed comes, the ugly girl suddenly gets her revenge. She is tougher, cooler and smarter than the beautiful girl and forgets all about her. Even about the symbiotic relationship they once had. And so does the Entrepreneur.
Once the entrepreneur is famous, recognized and praised he forgets who helped him there in the first place.
I heard a VC complain recently that entrepreneurs are just like sick people. When they visit a doctor and get well, it was because they were strong and healthy. But if they die, it was the doctors fault. Nobody ever thanks the doctor, or the VC, for their well being.
So, a Venture Capitalist should be loyal, even when the ugly girl/entrepreneur asks for too much attention. He should respect his little ugly girl because one day she will bigger, better and better looking than he.
And the Entrepreneur/ugly girl shouldn't forget the symbiotic relations ship that started their friendship.
And while we are on the subject: think about your other relationships too. Are you the ugly or the beautiful girl in your partnership/relationship or friendship?
Image reprinted without permission from: http://www.contemporaryartproject.com/cap/content/collection/artist_beer.htm|W|P|114711823943542246|W|P|The Ugly Girl Equation|W|P|bomega@gmail.com |W|P|hi boris, I agree fully! nice post! |W|P|As an investor and entrepreneur, I appreciate this post. Keep up this great blog.
I know you have been checking out all those Web2.0 companies and were dying to join the race. But maybe you haven't had any good ideas yet or you couldn't find a good name. Well, today is your day!
We have registered 4 beautiful Web2.0 domains, made up a great businessplan for each one and are selling those domains + businessplans to the highest bidder, starting at $1...
Yes that is correct, for $1 YOU can be an entrepreneur and get a shot at making millions within a year too! Here are the names and plans + expected revenue and exit:
Domain: Headr.com
Tagline: B2B Social Networking tool
Businessplan: Companies will be able to start internal social networks. You will finally know how you are connected to the girl in administration! You will make money by offering a small company version for free (max 10 people) and a paying version (10+ people, company logo and colors, management tools, etc) for 1 euro per month per user. You will grow to 6 million users in 12 months and sell the whole thing for 600 million in 13 months. Guaranteed!
Starting price: $1 (estimated worth domain only : $9.300*)
Bid now: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=9722882274
Domain: Betafy.com
Tagline: monetise on the Web2.0 Beta Hype
Businessplan: This one should be bought my Techcrunch or The Museum of Modern Betas but you could do it too! The plan is simple. All those damn Web2.0 with their beta programs are multiplying like rabbits. Any you need to test them all out, right? Betafy makes sure you don't miss a single one. You subscribe once and enter a few details (Operating system, browser type, Blogger, etc) and start-ups can buy a mailing to these people on Betafy.com. They won't get the emailaddresses but can buy a few testers. Within a few months every start-up will want to join you and pay you handsomely for your database of 1 million eager beta testers. You will make more money then you can spend.
Extra: website up and running!
Starting price: $1 (estimated worth domain only : $11.700*)
Bid now: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=9722883193
Domain: Drugle.com
Tagline: Sex, Drugle.com and rock and roll
Businessplan: AJAX interface to search medical databases. Yeah boring, but you could sell quickly (20/30 million) to an old fashioned Drug manufacturer. They will buy you just so you can explain to the board what the hell AJAX is.
Starting price: $1 (estimated worth domain only : $13.500*)
Bid now: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=9722883581
Domain: Clicksy.com
Tagline: Professional Surfing
Businessplan: Clicksy is a new browser build on top of Firefox/Mozzila that is similar to Flock. But instead of optimizing is for Bloggers you optimize it for the Office worker. You integrate Gmail, Writeboard and OpenOffice and offer a cheap online hosting contract with a Web2.0 online back-up company. Should be a hit within 24 months (companies are a bit slower) and sell for 4 billion to Microsoft.
Starting price: $1 (estimated worth domain only : $6.500*)
Bid now: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=9722883890
Now I never want to hear anyone tell me that all the ggood names are gone. If you need another name just ask me and I'll make one up for you.
So start bidding today for your chance to make millions. The auction will last 7 days (until May-13-06 00:46:23 PDT) and one last thing: if you buy one of these domains and become a millionaire, we get 5%...
* = just a lucky guess! No scientific or economic foundation at all.|W|P|114690271326481773|W|P|Headr.com, Betafy.com, Clicksy.com and Drugle.com|W|P|bomega@gmail.com |W|P|hey hey betafy actually is a very interesting idea!with a big database i think there will be no Web 2.0 company that would not work with all these people waiting to test things!
great idea boris!
dont sell it, keep it yours!
BillyWarhol|W|P|i'm partial to Drugle*it should fit nicely with WashroomSeXXXr in my stable of Web2.0
derby Winners!!
;))
|W|P|Betafy sounds fantastic ;)OK, you've got my bid...
|W|P|Is this a joke? If they're such great ideas why aren't you implementing them? Why are they all based on existing sites?Oh, you did implement betafy.com, but that's just an e-mail harvesting site. (What if a spammer buys it?)
Looks like people are actually bidding though...
Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten|W|P|Hi Michael, you post some valid questions and a few people have emailed me with similar questions today.The reason I'm not implementing these ideas is because I believe an idea is only as good as it's implementation.
In other word: if you don't give the idea 100% of your time and energy, it is worhtless. And since I am devoted to Fleck and I don't have time for these ideas and are willing to sell them.
So, go ahead and bid...
|W|P|Betafy sounds like beta news [http://www.betanews.com/rss2] and tech crunch [http://www.techcrunch.com]. Never the less, it'll still be added to my ever growing RSS feeds."if you buy one of these domains and become a millionaire, we get 5%..."
"* = just a lucky guess! No scientific or economic foundation at all."
Interesting...
Fleck is in Alpha...
Past the point of no return...
Yesterday evening about 20 people took a test drive with the Alpha version of Fleck. I haven't been nervous for many things since we started but yesterday I was shaking in my pants as the first tester arrived at the Fleck office.
I welcomed everybody and explained the whole concept in about 15 minutes, urged everybody to keep everything to themselves and then told them where to download the software.
We only finished the Alpha version 30 minutes before the meeting and I fixed a few links in the test website just 2 minutes prior to the first visitor coming in.
As people were starting to test everything the pizza arrived and we opened the first few beers. After about an hour of testing we held a group sessions where Erik asked some general questions and people were able to respond.
We received a lot of feedback, some bugs and a few requests for features. The general feeling is that our solutions seems interesting and usefull and worth a good look. Some people assured us that they would use it several times a day but at least one of the testers told us he didn't see himself using it at all.
Conclusion: we are happy to have unleashed our product to at least a few outsiders and having received the first serious feedback. Now on to a public beta...|W|P|114686547431309746|W|P|Alpha|W|P|bomega@gmail.com |W|P|Good to see that the alpha went good.Looking forward to joining the beta :)
|W|P|gemist sorry, volgens mij had je me op een lijst gezet.. ben benieuwd naar de Beta..
Email is killing me. I get 200/300 messages a day and I just can't keep up. This is how I think my email looks:
60% spam 35% company communication 5% otherI already got rid of all the newsletters I signed up for (You have RSS for that now) and use a spam filter which takes care of 95% of all spam. And now we want to optimize the office communication. First of all we decided to stop CCing each other on everything. If it is important, give me a call of tell me in person. Then we implemented OpenSubject. OpenSubject is nothing more than a bunch of 3 letter codes that you can use in front of your subject line. An example:
'NRN: information about office'means:
'this is information about the office which you might be interested in but you don't have to tell me what you think of it or mail to me tell me you received this message'NRN simply stands for No Reply Needed. Here are the other 3 letter codes we use:
NRN: No Reply Needed RYN: Reply with 'Yes' or 'No' AYQ: Answering Your question ATC: attachment is important 1QM: One Question Message MQM: Multiple Question Message FYA: For your Archive FYI: For your information (NRN) WFR: Waiting for your Reply/Advice/Permission AET: Answer Expected Today/this Week/within a Month RAF: Read and Forward (jokes, quotes, interesting)Now when I look at my mailbox I immediatly see that I have a few RYN message which I know I can answer within 2 minutes or less because all that is needed is a simple YES or NO. And then I quickly read the NRN messages because I know I only have to read them and don't have to answer anything! This simple system makes interoffice communication a lot easier and my email manageable. Feel free to try it too. It's free...|W|P|114665401956985214|W|P|How to manage too much email...|W|P|bomega@gmail.com
christianhauck|W|P|MTC (my 2 cents): it's a list of 10 different TLCs (Three-letter-codes), I think it's too many. What I would do if I were to use them (which I don't): decide to use the system (within your group), after 6 weeks look back and do a statistics of what was REALLY used, and from then on use only the top 3. Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten|W|P|Thanks Christian, we will do that! BillyWarhol|W|P|10M$just scored $10M in VC financing!!
of course Elated Screams & Shouts of Joy! could be heard around the World!!
;))
Oops thass a FLC - 4 letter code*