LegendaryLife.com Blog

We are all a product of a dream, whether realized or otherwise, they are among the most powerful mechanisms in our lives that help guide us, give us new ideas and play around with alternative realities!

Why develop Dreamclue.com?

Well, I originally began on this project a little over a year ago now after realizing that there was a huge amount of knowledge we are all acquiring but forgetting nightly! I wanted to create a system that not only makes sense of our dreams but more importantly, allows us to record them for prosperity. Our dreams are also a visual medium, so the site had to be chalk full of imagery to help guide you through the exploration of the dreamworld. The results? Well, launching with over two thousand dream symbols written by yours truly and a quarter of the entries with photographs also taken by me, I have big expectations for this site!

How does Dreamclue.com work?

Dreams are our own business, so it has to be built anonymously, as such, like myfoodcount.com before it, the system has no clue who you are and it’s drop dead easy interface for adding and learning about the dreamworld only helps to make the exploration that much easier!

Other cool Dreamclue.com features

The site features both text and image based navigation, in addition to interesting statistics not only about your very own dreams but all the dreams on the site as well. You can also read other peoples dreams (they are rendered anonymous by our system) and even comment on any interpretation on the site!

What’s next?

A lot, will let all our visitors know when the time is right
The Bottom Line

Passion is a dangerous thing as it can only bread more passion!

For those who may not know who Randy Pausch is, he’s the university professor who was told he had only 6 months to live, as such, he decided to give one last lecture to his students. If you had only one last lecture to give, what would you speak about? This is great advice from somebody who has lived a very good life and some of these words may help you achieve your goals in the future.

Lecture’s Key Points

Aptly titled, his lecture is about achieving your dreams and allowing others to achieve theirs, here are the key points from his lecture:

• he grew up always being happy in his childhood, always dreaming about what could be, he was a child of the 60’s while people where landing on the moon when he was young
• dream specific dreams, they help to establish focus and make things happen
• get the fundamentals down otherwise the fancy stuff doesn’t work
• when people stop pointing out to you the things you are doing wrong, it means they have given up on you
• critics that carve you up are actually expressing their love for you
• experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted
• learning that is done indirectly is the most valuable type as they tend to stick with you through life and aren’t as easily forgotten
• you don’t have to be the smartest, most talented nor physically gifted person to succeed in life and lead others
• it’s cool to meet your boyhood idol but even better when they come to visit you because you have done something special
• brick walls are there not to keep you out but to provide a challenge to keep others out (how badly do you really want to achieve this goal?)
• it’s easy to sound smart when you study a subject intensely and ask others for advice
• wait long enough and people will surprise you
• it’s important to realize when you are in a pissing match and even more importantly to get out of it as quickly as possible
• there is a good way and a bad way to say “I don’t know”
• giving people a bar to strive for only does them a disservice, tell people they can always do better then they will, DO BETTER. People will always better themselves at a far faster pace then if you give them specific criteria to be met
• if you are going to be a pioneer in anything, you will get arrows in your back and experience many headaches but it will be all worth it when you look back
• find somebody better then you to give a project you hold dear
• self-reflection is the best give you can give anybody
• parents and mentors are vitally important to achieving a successful life
• being humble is a very difficult habit to build and maintain
• respect authority while questioning it
• never loose your childhood wonder, it’s what keeps your mind young and energy boundless
• it’s fun to do the impossible
• loyalty is a two way street
• actions speak louder then words
• never give up on achieving your goals
• you cannot get “there” alone, earnest people are worth more then any salesman could ever hope to be
• apologize when you screw up and focus on other people
• brick walls show us our dedication
• don’t bail out, the best gold is at the bottom of barrels of crap
• when you do the right thing, good things will come out of it
• get a feedback loop and LISTEN to it
• show gratitude
• don’t complain, just work harder
• be good at something that makes you valuable
• be prepared, luck is where preparation meets opportunity
• if you lead your life the right way, karma will make your dreams become reality

If you wish to watch this for yourself, here is the video of the entire lecture thanks to Google.

After the lecture

As some of you may know, this lecture became an international hit in 2007 after it was given. He appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss his situation and the lecture, spent a day with the Pittsburgh Steelers to accomplish his goal to play for the NFL and even better, Disney through it’s subsidiary, purchased the rights to his story for millions of dollars, providing his family with financial security long after he is gone. I think the only way to explain this is the last summary I wrote about his lecture, if you lead your life the right way, karma will make your dreams become reality.

The Bottom Line

Dreams are as important as breathing (hint hint).

PS: I wish everybody a very happy and prosperous 2008!

More information about:

• Randy Pausch himself at Carnegie Mellon
• Transcript of this lecture
• Alice Programming Project
• Entertainment Technology Center
• Randy Pausch on Wikipedia

I recently streamlined my operations once again, I do this every quarter to make sure I run as tight and efficient a ship as possible – this saves me time and my customers/visitors money which I can invest in other endeavors. I recently retired my VOIP system and replaced it with Skype as a result of my review and changing situation.

Initial Rumblings

As many people, I have heard on and off about Skype – some people I deal with got rid of all their phone systems and switched over the Skype while others still don’t have a fast enough connection to benefit from its service. As for me, I evolved slowly, from land line to VOIP and now… SKYPE! I was looking into satellite phones for a while as I plan on doing lots of international traveling in the near future but for now, I have settled with Skype.

Skype?

Skype is essentially what I describe as a world phone that allows you to make free, unlimited calls to other Skype members using your PC – don’t worry, the software is free and set-up was only a few clicks. The other huge advantage over current MSN voice chat type systems is the clarity is absolutely amazing, even better then I had with my VOIP – you can even call land line phones for a flat rate around the world and set-up a voice mailbox which I plan to get shortly. You can send files just like MSN, chat via video and many other features that blow MSN in the dust. I am trying to switch all my friends to it as we speak
Problems with Skype

The only “issue” I have for Skype is you need a good internet connection – dial-up users are out of luck but most of the people I work with have broadband so this limitation is a small one. What I liked about my VOIP system was that I had unlimited North America calls for a flat rate of 35$/month which was a great savings but with Skype, even buying time to call non-Skype users still comes out cheaper @ 2.1 cents a minute then my previous system and all I need is an internet connection to “log-in”, no need to carry a VOIP box with phone and handset from anywhere in the world. I guess my next “step-up” would be a mobile satellite card for my laptop so I can use Skype anywhere in the world without worrying about internet connection speed.

Where can I get Skype?

www.skype.com – tell them Jon sent you
The Bottom Line

Skype will do to traditional phones what .pdf did to the ancient fax machine – good riddance in my opinion!

Without search engines, the internet would be a very user-unfriendly medium that probably never would have exploded into peoples lives as it has. The internet was developed by the United States Department of Defence to assure that if it control centers where nuked, the D.O.D. still had a means of retaliation since all the centers would be linked up. The fact that it forever changed world economies and politics was simply a fluke never envisioned by its developers.

U.S. Web giants slammed over China
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/internet/02/15/china.us/index.html

The closest I ever got to a cubicle was during business meetings with other companies - I think they are the most depressing and energy zapping system ever devised by the corporate “efficiency” machine. No wonder your boss probably doesn’t work in one
Who, When, What, Why

When the creator of the cubicle, Robert Propst, describes his own invention as “monolithic insanity” - you know somebody is seeking redemption. Cubicles where invented about 30 years ago and are now a 3 billion dollar a year industry - they have since become the new crack of the corporate world.

Alternatives

Are there alternatives from “the cubicle”? Yes, it’s called “open concept”, sure it takes up a bit more room, boosts creativity and costs a little more to set-up but hey - how better to show employee appreciation then to allow them the luxury of an open space around them.

Cubicles in popular culture

Cubicles have been seen throughout our culture for the evil boxes they are - you can even see their evolution in Futurama in which they become the Suicide Box at the corner of every street. What first comes to mind is Dilbert - a comic strip that pokes fun at corporate mono-culture. Hollywood movies that show this contraption also are seen in prominence within Office Space, Tron, Matrix and even the Drew Carey Show among many others.

My personal experiences

I think it was the year 2000, the last time I had a meeting within a cubicle that lasted about an hour - first 10 minutes where “look at all the crap people this person posted on their walls”, followed by 10 minutes of “this private place is actually quite loud” followed by “this place is boring” and it kept going downhill from there. Suffice it to say, I felt liberated when the meeting ended and was finally able to breathe fresh air (outside).

The Bottom Line

Life isn’t meant to be lived within a cubicle - they are no more then a glorified prison cell.