blog – June 13, 2023
What do you think it takes for an immigrant to become a citizen in a foreign land, with virtually no money and precious few contacts, to go on and create a multi-billion dollar company? For the majority of mere mortals, even in the best of circumstances, this feat is hard to even imagine. Yet, the life of Frank Hasenfratz, founder of the Linamar Corporation, is a wonderful example of how to achieve the near impossible. In this Dream 10X post, we do a quick review of the Rod McQueen and Susan M. Papp book, 'Driven To Succeed', about the life and success of Hungarian-Canadian, Frank Hasenfratz.
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blog – May 15, 2023
After discovering that metal could be shaped according to one's vision and physical effort, blacksmith artist, Ellen Durkan, decided to start making wearable art out of forged metal. Discovering this path less traveled, she decided to trail-blaze her own career path in the field of blacksmith art. Where others more commonly forge items such as knives, swords or cooking utensils, Ellen uses her forging and welding skills to create beautiful, wearable pieces of art. However, as is often the case in traveling the road less traveled, the journey can be challenging at times. Ellen tells us the story of her journey in discovering her authentic self as a blacksmith artist.
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blog – April 10, 2023
One of the hard things I frequently encounter in my own life is the constant realization of so many simple things that I just do not know (yet). For example, after reading this book and researching this blog post a bit, I came to the stark realization of what the term 'Numeronym' means. Most real software engineers are probably already intimately aware of this word's definition. Numeronym's like 'k8s' for kubernetes, or 'i18n' for internationalization, or 'l10n' for localization are frequently used in technology circles. I have seen these spellings for many years without even realizing why they were spelled like the were, or even questioning why they were spelled that way. Embarrassing huh? When I saw the name of Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen's investment firm, 'a16z', I finally dedicated a few minutes to learning the origin of the name. I guess this is one of the reasons I can never stop reading and learning. The Ben Horowitz book, 'The Hard Thing About Hard Things', shares some really big leadership lessons to learn from as well, which we discuss in this blog/video/podcast.
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blog – March 17, 2023
By 2019, the world had essentially been destroyed by World War Terminus. A nuclear holocaust had been unleashed that had pretty much destroyed all life on earth leaving but a few remnants who were strongly encouraged by global powers to emigrate to Mars, receiving a free Android to boot. What a deal! Who would want want to stick around on earth to deal with all the nuclear dust, kibble, electric animals and...sneaky androids? Philip K. Dick's book is a story of faith, hope, a never-ending search for life and grappling with a constantly advancing technology on a post-apocalyptic planet earth.
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blog – February 28, 2023
In this episode, we continue our research into how one might gain superhuman capabilities relative to an objective being pursued, whether it has to do with work, sports, crime fighting, or something else. Last December, we reviewed Dr. Paul Zehr's book, 'Chasing Captain America', for similar reasons. This month, we review Dr. Zehr's book, 'Becoming Batman', to see if it contains any tips or tricks for gaining superhuman capabilities for those of us seemingly chained to the entropy and mediocrity of human life on earth.
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