michael eaton

As of February 1, 2013, this Kickstarter project has 8 days to go and is still in need of backing!

Basically, The RECON ONE is a bag designed to carry a tablet, charger and accessories. It has a removable “caddy / organizer” that can be used when flying. The caddy / organizer attaches to the seat pocket, allowing you to quickly and easily get to your “stuff” without having to dig around in the pocket itself. Helm, the project creator, is also creating a couple other items including a travel bag (toiletry kit) and a TSA-compliant bag for all the crap you’d normally shove in a Ziploc bag.

Anyway, I think it’s a cool idea and would love to see the project get funded.

On Tuesday, January 8, I’ll be delivering a full-day precompiler session on “Going Independent”. The session will start at 8:30am in the Ironwood room.

This year, I will be joined by friend, fellow developer and part-time attorney Jeffrey Strauss.

The purpose of the session is:
- Share lessons learned
- Provide you with the tools and resources necessary to either:
– Support what you’re currently doing as an indie
– Make the leap to life as an indie

The agenda for the day is:

- Discuss lessons learned over the course of the last 11 or so years I’ve been an independent consultant.
- Discuss ‘Starting and Running a Business’. This will include the different business types, business plans, logistics, marketing and more.
- Discuss Clients. This will include how to find them, how to work with them and how to keep them.
- Discuss Rates. This will include all sorts of information about setting rates, T&M vs. fixed bid and more.

The session tends to be very open and fluid. Come with questions and Jeff and I will do our best to answer them.

I hope to see you there!

Here’s my Goodreads.com 2012 Reading Challenge page

I read 26 books in 2012, compared to 31 in 2011. In all honesty, I did read a couple more books that aren’t included in this list.

In looking at the list, you’ll notice “Little House in the Big Woods”. I read that to my son, along with “Farmer Boy” and “Little House on the Prairie”. For whatever reason, I never added the other two books to my list, so they’re not counted. I love that my son, 9, still loves to be read to. I mean c’mon, who DOESN’T like to be read to? We actually started “Little House on Plum Creek” a few weeks ago, but with all the holiday activity and Christmas Break, we slacked off a bit. We’ll pick it back up soon.

From the list, there are definitely some highlights. I’ve also included _some_ of the highlights I made while reading (if I read the book on my Kindle):

• Life, by Keith Richards: It’s amazing Keith is still with us. REALLY, REALLY good book. I could hear him when I read it. Awesome.
  

  if you don’t make bold moves, you don’t get fucking anywhere. You’ve got to push the limits.

  But if you want to get to the top, you’ve got to start at the bottom, same with anything.

• I Am Legend: If you’ve ever seen the Wil Smith movie of the same name, you MUST read the book. The movie bears almost NO resemblance to the book!
• Awol on the Appalachian Trail: This was a bit of a grind to get through, but it came at a good time in my life. It’s about a 40-year old software developer who got tired of his life and decided to thru-hike all 2100 miles of the AT.
  

  Assumption, even about your own state of mind, without immediacy of action is guesswork.

  Our vision becomes so narrow that risk is trying a new brand of cereal, and adventure is watching a new sitcom. Over time I have elevated my opinion of nonconformity nearly to the level of an obligation. We should have a bias toward doing activities that we don’t normally do to keep loose the moorings of society.

  Activities that even momentarily cause discomfort, that don’t provide immediate positive feedback, are subtracted from the realm of experience. We are outraged when we are constrained by others, but willfully, unwittingly put limits on ourselves.

  We all perceive that the other guy has it easier than we do; we all assume that others know our inner doubts.

• Heroes and Monsters: One of the daily Kindle deals I picked up. I had NO idea what I was getting into with this book, but WOW, what a great book. I’m still not sure exactly how to describe it. Strange, comforting…<
  

  understanding something isn’t a prerequisite to feeling it. We don’t have to understand things in order to be affected by them.

  The most fascinating people in the world are the people who are most fascinated by the world, and those same people are the ones who change the world. No one who’s ever influenced this planet has ever done so without being remarkably curious.

• The Caine Mutiny: This has always been one of my favorite movies, so I finally decided to read the book. It. Was. Awesome! After reading the book, I think the movie was perfectly cast. When I finished, I almost immediately re-started.
• Lucky, by Michael J. Fox: Wow. Great book. Very inspiring.
  

  No matter how great the acceptance, adulation, and accumulation of wealth, gnawing at you always is the deep-seated belief that you’re a fake, a phony. Even if you can bullshit your way through whatever job you’re working on now, you’d better prepare for the likelihood that you’re never going to get another one.

• Utah Beach: They’re called The Greatest Generation for a reason. A long, in-depth chronicle of the battle for one beach on D-Day. I’m looking forward to reading the sister book, “Omaha Beach” this year.
• Ernie’s Ark: This was one of those random books I picked up as a Kindle Deal of the Day. I had NO expectations, but wow, it was really good.
• Mustaine: I love heavy metal. I love (auto)biographies of rock stars. Unfortunately, I’ve never been a big Megadeth OR Dave Mustaine fan. In the last year, I’ve started listening to (and liking) the music, so I figured I’d give the book a try. Parts of this book were tough to get through because he can be a whiny bitch (one of the reasons I’ve never liked him). Thankfully, the last couple chapters saved it for me. I have a little more respect for Mustaine now.
  

  simply put, a shitty upbringing does not relieve you of the burden of accountability. Life goes on. Deal with it.

  It’s pretty simple for me, really. I want to be able to carry a gun; listen to whatever music I like; eat, drink, and be merry; and not hurt anyone else (the exception, obviously, being self-defense). It’s the abbreviated Sermon on the Mount: treat other people the way you want to be treated.

• In the Heat of the Night: Again, I’ve always loved the movie with Sydney Poitier and Rod Steiger. The book was really, really good. One of the things that stood out above and beyond the movie was the racism that occurred. It’s hard to believe that 50 years ago, many places were still segregated. CRAZY!

There were also some books that I didn’t like as much:

• MockingJay: I read The Hunger Games books. Book 1 was good. I loved book 2, but OMG, book 3 was horribad.
• Camera Boy: First, let me say that I have a ton of respect for our military. This was one of those books that came up as a Kindle Deal of the Day, so I snagged it. While there were some good parts, the bad parts outweighed them by a long shot. Blah.

I’ve already started toward my 2013 target and I have a stack of books on my nightstand that should help get me there.

It’s hard to believe this is going to be our 4th year, but the date is fast approaching.

When: April 21, 2012
Where: Kalamazoo Valley Community College, Room 128 of Anna Whitten Hall, downtown Kalamazoo
Why: Because you don’t spend nearly enough time improving your soft skills. Oh, and because there
will be some awesome talks by some really great speakers!
More information: http://kalamazoox.org/

By the way, if you *are* interested in coming to the conference, please let us know!