Levi McCallum

Monday, September 01, 2008

Get Your Foot in the Door

Today I learnt a valuable lesson.

For the past few months FutonMedia, my company, has been developing its flagship product. We've been excited about it, thinking through new issues some people have no idea they face and inventing a solution to a quickly developing problem.

But recently, I've been slack. Working for myself isn't really the most motivational thing in the world. And many times I find myself not doing what I am supposed to be doing.

Today, that bit me in the butt.

Someone launched a product pretty similar to ours. Though it's not as polished as it could be, it's still our concept. It doesn't quite have the charm we're trying to accomplish, but the gist is there.

I'm finding I'm becoming more talk and less words. My priorities are out of whack, and I'm loosing valuable time on something that could eventually revolutionize a growing market.

So the lesson I learned? Put your foot in the door before anyone else can. Pretty obvious, and pretty simple, but, for me, applying that basic principle is harder than it sounds.

Sunday, August 31, 2008

How to Place Your Country in a Time Capsule Labeled “2001”

Cap their internet.

Australia does this quite well by selling internet plans with caps of 1GB of bandwidth and no safety slow downs. This may not sound that bad, but think about it quite carefully.

My goal was to stay within a 1GB limit for an entire week. The rules were to only check email, use a browser when needed, and commit code via Git. It only took me 2 and a half days of carefully strategized usages to hit 999MB.

It got worse when I tried to find that thing that we Americans take for granted. Free WIFI. It seemed that every network was locked, every house used ethernet, and every coffee shop's inviting WIFI sign was monopolized by some huge corporation.

For now, I guess the Australian public doesn't quite understand this unparalleled tool called the internet. And for now, they will forever have unsure frustrations.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Do What You Love & Love What You Do

I'm one person who likes doing great things. I've realized I've been doing un-great things for a while now, and I need to adjust my working contracts.

I can't stress enough about the importance of doing something you love. For the past few days, every cell in my body has disagreed with my current situations, and now I'm starting to realize that doing what I hate sucks.

It is now time to do something great.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

My Own Worst Critic

Saturday Night

My, my. I thought I would never be done. I'm going to be honest and say I've worked on this blog on and off for 6 months. Every time I sat down and designed levimccallum.com, it consisted of a new design, new style, and a new face for myself. But it is time I got over myself and actually did something.

Here it is, the site and home of Levi McCallum. I've always wanted to have my own personal home, yet never had the time nor the patience to create something for myself.

Enjoy it, please.