The Ashimmy Blog

Cool new technology

My friend Brad Feld is always looking for the next big thing.  That is what VCs do I guess.  Being a techno/gadget boy I like to see what Brad is up to next. It keeps me up on what is happening.  Brad’s Foundry Group today announced a new investment in a new company called Sifteo. 

Sifteo comes out of the MIT media labs and is in the theme of Foundry’s Human Computer Interaction theme. I could try to explain what Sifteo does, but this video does a much better job than I ever could:

Good luck to Sifteo, Brad, Ryan, Seth and Jason. Looks like a really cool new technology!

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Making little men

When I am not flying around the world on StillSecure business. one of my favorite things to do is be involved with sports with my boys.  Not just my sons either. Since my oldest son Landon was 4 (he is now 10) I have been coaching him and my younger son Bradley in baseball, soccer and flag football. One of the things I like most about bringing people into my personal office at our Ft Lauderdale office is my wall full of plaques from each team I have coached. Watching people take in all of the plaques is always a proud moment for me. I truly do love coaching the kids. If I could I would do it full time.  I love watching these children grow over the course of a  short sports season into better players and more important into better people. When I see these kids even after I am not their coach they still come over and say hi and tell me what they are up to in their life. It is a great feeling. It is both a great privilege and a great responsibility teaching these youngsters about sports, sportsmanship and life lessons.

Tonight was one of those lesson times. My younger son Bradley’s flag football team the Mighty Giants (6 and 7 year olds), is really a special team.  From their first practice this team has just been a great mix of special kids who are eager to learn and play. We have spent many hours practicing and in all of our scrimmages and games we have won every encounter handedly, not even giving up any scores. There is nothing like building confidence, false or otherwise when your team blows out the other team every time you play.  This team really took on a swagger and it was fun to watch and see.  Tonight we played the other undefeated team in our league, the Jets.  I knew it was going to be a tough game. The coaches on the Jets besides being on the board of directors of our league, have also won the championship last year. The Jets play a tough brand of flag football and they beat our kids up pretty bad. Almost every boy on the team was crying at one time or another this game, having been hit, called names, kicked, etc.  The refs really missed some obvious calls, but that is no excuse, the other team was tougher than us. We won’t play the Jets again until the playoffs and then hopefully in the league Super Bowl. We have time to train the kids and hopefully have them better prepared.

After the game I gathered the kids together and told them all the right things a coach tells the kids.  Win or lose I was proud of them. We learn more from our losses than our wins and it makes us stronger. That the wheel turns and our turn will come.  Watching their bright little faces, wiping away their tears, telling them that the Sun is going to come up tomorrow and we will move on and get better, I could see their confidence returning. These kids learned a tough lesson today. You can’t win every game. There are people out there who can beat you. What I saw though that really got me excited was that rather than just resigning themselves to losing, they want to know what do we do to make sure we win next time. They are ready to practice and get better to make sure the next time we play that team the outcome is different. They aren’t going to quit and will do what they have to do to succeed.  That is exactly what I expect of these little men and their coach couldn’t be more proud of them!

Knights in White Satin

Are you old enough to remember that song?  I saw the Moody Blues perform it live probably around 1978 or so and it was an old song then.  I was reminded of it today reading a press release from Alert Logic. Here are some of the lyrics from the song:

Nights in white satin, never reaching the end,
Letters I've written, never meaning to send.
Beauty I'd always missed with these eyes before.
Just what the truth is, I can't say anymore.

Cold hearted orb
That rules the night
Removes the colours
From our sight
Red is gray and
Yellow white
But we decide
Which is right
And
Which is an Illusion

The truth and illusion part is what got me thinking. Just as George W. Bush thought he was on a mission from God, I am too. My mission is to call out marketing BS by those companies that put it out there expecting everyone to swallow it. Like the old saying goes you can fool some of the people some of the time,. . .  but this is ridiculous. Alert Logic I am afraid joins the used car salesman list of marketing.

Here is what got me going. They put out a press release titled, “Alert Logic Earns Top Accolades in SC Magazine Review”.  Now I don’t know about you, but when I hear about top accolades in a magazine review I think you received the highest rating maybe?  Maybe you won a best buy or recommended award? Like StillSecure did in the same issue BTW.  But no. Alert Logic received 5 out 5 stars in only one sub-group of the what magazine tested for. Overall the fact is out of 9 companies in their group they were tied for the lowest over all score!! Where I grew up they call that Chutzpah!  Guys you don’t get a good review, lick your wounds and go home. But to have the audacity to call it out as you winning top accolades is some kind of wonderful.  Who do you think you are fooling. 

Now I used to have some friends at Alert Logic but I know they have a new CEO and my guess is a new marketing guy too.  What could be next, a press release about a record breaking quarter with no numbers given? Let this be a lesson to them.  Stop the marketing double speak and don’t think you are fooling anyone.  There just may be someone watching to call you out on it.

So in honor of this low point in security marketing here is the Moody Blues, circa 1967 in Knights in White Satin

My all time favorite Nike commercial

OK, not security related and definitely because I am a Steeler fan, but this is hands down the best commercial Nike has ever done.

Baseball, baseball, baseball

It may be the dog days of summer, but it is the height of the baseball season and the trade deadline just passed.  Not without some blockbuster deals going down though.  The biggest one is the a 3 team deal involving the Dodgers, Pirates and the Red Sox.  The BoSox give up the heart and soul of their championship team, future hall of famer, Manny Ramirez. In exchange they get from the Pirates, Jason Bay. A few other players involved, but who cares.  Does this mean the Sox are giving up on this season?  As a Yankee fan I can’t tell you how happy I am not to see Manny so many times a year.  I also think Joe Torre will do a great job of managing Manny out in LA. Good luck to Manny.  Though he killed us for years, I respected his talent.

Speaking of the Yankees, they have made a few moves for the pennant run.  In addition to their own trade with the Pirates to get Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte, they pulled off a great deal yesterday getting Pudge Rodriguez to fill in as catcher for Jorge Posada.  This could be a huge deal for the Yankees.  They gave up Kyle Farnsworth, who while threw well this year, gave up home runs like candy.  I am flying up to NY with my two sons tomorrow and will be at the Stadium tomorrow night to watch the Yanks play the Angels, who also made a big trade for the Braves Mark Teixeira.

Another future hall of famer, Ken Griffey, Jr was also traded to the White Sox today.  Wow! What a day in baseball. I can’t wait to sit in the temple that is Yankee Stadium with my two boys tomorrow. It is like a dream come true, similar to taking them to a Steeler game last year.  With all of the action going on around baseball it is also a great time to do it.

Do you remember when you first rode a two-wheeler?

Do you?  For many of us riding our first two wheeler without training wheels was an important right of passage to being a big boy or girl.  It may not be as significant as our first acceptance letter to college or even a first kiss, but being able to ride that two wheeler is an accomplishment that any little one can be proud of. 

Today I took the afternoon off after a busy week and ahead of a overseas business trip next week.  I went to down to the basketball/tennis court area of our development with our two sons Landon (8) and Bradley (6).  I took Bradley's two wheeler with me, though he refused to get on it after a spill the first time he tried it without training wheels.  After a few minutes of shooting baskets and watching Landon ride his RipStick (if you don't know what that is you are old!), I called Bradley over and put on his helmet.  After some initial reluctance (OK he took a temper tantrum) he got on the bike.  I held on to the bike the first time around and then let go.  Before he had a chance to complain about letting go, he realized he was riding on his own and just took off from there.  When he finally came to a stop the look of accomplishment and joy on his face was truly priceless.  It is one of those moments when being a parent is the best thing on the earth.  I don't think Bradley will ever feel happier or more proud of himself. 

It made me think back to when I first learned to ride and how great I felt about it.  Do you still remember when you learned to ride a two wheeler?  Certainly a small but significant milestone in growing up.  Congratulations to Bradley!

Nintendo - a company that does service right

All too often we bloggers use our blogs to blast this company or that about crappy customer service and bad customer experiences. While most companies unfortunately deserve our wrath, I wanted to for once do a positive story on a company that does it right.  Nintendo is a company that deserves our praise.  Yes my family has spent a small fortune between Nintendo GameCube, GameBoys and DS Lites, not to mention all of the games themselves, but their service is first rate. 

My youngest son Bradley received his first DS Lite for his 5th birthday last October.  Right after the new year, the hinge broke off and the game console was broke.  I called Nintendo and they opened a ticket, sent me a pre-paid UPS mailing label and then sent us a new game console for Bradley in just a week or two.  No costs or hassles or anything.  Then this past weekend, the same exact thing happened again to Bradley's DS.  I dreaded calling them, as I felt for sure that they would not replace this twice.  However, I was very surprised when the real person answering the phone said no problem and opened another ticket and is sending me the pre-paid UPS label and they will either fix or send Bradley a new DS in a few days.  Frankly, I was ready to go out and pony up the $120 bucks on a new one. 

I guess one could say why does the hinge keep breaking. Is it a design fault?  Maybe, but as the father of two video gamers, I am just real glad they are replacing it!  Now, if I can only get them to give me the inside scoop on where to pick up a Wii in time for my oldest sons birthday in August ;-)

Kids and sports

Big weekend for the Shimel family in sports.  We are in the middle of soccer playoffs and today was the first day of flag football.  Our league that the boys have played in the last couple of years was taken over this season by I9Sports.  I9 is a national youth sports organization with local franchises.  Our local franchise is run by some great people, Rob and Mindy Cannova and Bobby and Jackie Spilka.  I am one of the athletic directors of the league, in addition to coaching both of my sons in soccer and baseball. 

This is about my 5th year of coaching and I get a blast out of watching the kids play and improve over the course of the season.  Frankly, one of my biggest thrills is when a child I coached a few years back comes over and says, "Hi Coach, how are you".  I love to catch up with them and see how they have grown.  It kind of makes me feel like a Bear Bryant or Joe Paterno, in my own way ;-)  Anyhow, last week Bradley's (my 5 year old) team lost in the playoffs and they are out of the race for now.  The highlight though was Bradley scoring his first goal in soccer.  He really looked good and then without any fanfare put his head down and ran back to his side of the field.  Landon's (my 7 year old) team won 5-0 in their first playoff game and play tomorrow at 11.  If we win that game, we play at 12:30 for the league championship.  The boys are real excited, so is their coach!

Bradley, started flag football today.  That is the game I played as a kid and did not realize how proud I would be watching my little guy run around playing. Landon is playing football too.  That will last for 2 or 3 months and then on to baseball season.  One great thing about living down in Florida, the kids play sports year round.  Anyway, wish us luck tomorrow, it sure would be nice to win the league title.

Like the Master Card commercial says, cleats for sports, $25.00, balls and other gear, $35.00, watching and coaching your children play - priceless!

Story update:  Well it was quite a day.  Landon's team won the league championship in heart stopping fashion.  We won the semi-final game on a penalty kick in sudden death overtime, 2-1!  Then with just 20 minutes break went into the finals.  We fell behind 1-0 early on, but came back with 2 goals in the second half (the last with just 2 minutes left) to win it all.  Bedlam broke loose as the team and their parents celebrated.  Really was priceless.

Wannado City, where kids do what they Wannado

This weekend we had some friends down from Long Island.  They have two boys the same age as our sons and Sunday we took them to Wannado City.  If you have never heard of Wannado City, it is pretty cool.  It is an indoor role playing theme park for kids.  It is set up as a city and the kids do run the place.  They can be fireman, policemen, doctors, dentists, fashion models, etc.  Many of the occupations and the work areas are sponsored by companies.  For instance Spirit airlines sponsors the flight  simulator, Coca Cola the soda factory, the Miami Herald the newspaper shop.  Best of all, Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey sponsors the circus.  Kids earn money doing jobs and can spend it in the stores and at the rides.  If you have small children and are ever down in the Ft. Lauderdale area, it is a great way to spend a day.  Educational and fun, not crazy expensive (only about 20.00 dollars a child, adults free).

The highlight of the day was my 5 year old son Bradley being the star in the circus show at the end of the day.  We had to drop the kids off and for a half hour they rehearsed the acts, then the parents came in for the show.  Bradley has inherited a lot of the performing genes from Bonnie's family and loves getting up in front of people.  He had everyone laughing!

The boys of Summer

Back in February I wrote about my two sons in little league baseball and coaching both of their teams.  Since that time the season has progressed and the boys for the most part have had a good time.  Coaching two teams, each with a practice plus a game a week, has been tough with my schedule, but we have done the best we can.  My younger son, Bradley, in t-ball has had a blast. That is as long as every ball is hit to him and he is the only batter that gets up.  Of course all of the other 4 year olds on his team are the same way.  My older son Landon and his team the coach pitch Phillies, have had a tough season.  We have not won one game all season long.  This week started the playoffs and we were the 10th seed out of 10 teams.  We were supposed to be cannon fodder for the higher ranked teams. 

I told Bonnie, my wife, when we went to the field today, that I was going to change things up. Instead of rotating all the kids around all of the positions, I was going to play my better players at the skill positions. All season long, the other coaches do this, but I was more interested in every kids getting to try every position.  I called the kids together before the game and gave them my best "win one for the gipper" speech I could.  They were really pumped up. We came out of the gate flying and got off to a 5-0 lead after the first (we only play 1 and 1/2 hours a game).  After the second inning, my kids were still flying and we were up 14-5.  Then the other team came roaring back on a two out rally and tied the game at 14. Time was up and we went into extra innings.  We scored two runs in the top of the inning to take a 16-14 lead, with the other team still to bat.  Two runs are not a lot in this level of ball, but I called my fielders together for a huddle, tried to tell them what we needed to do to win the game and hoped for the best.  The first batter hit a dribbler for a single.  The second batter smashed a ball to second base, but our second baseman made the throw to second and our player covering the bag (one of the few times all year he actually covered the bag), caught the ball for a force out.  Now one out, man on first and the other teams best hitter is up.  He crushes a ball (OK, they are 8 years old, they don't really crush the ball) into centerfield.  No one in this league catches fly balls to the outfield.  Our centerfielder runs after the ball and sticks his glove up backhanded.  The ball hits his glove and somehow rolls around his wrist and as he turns his glove over, the ball falls into his glove for an out.  He is jumping up and down, when I notice the runner on first by now is on third, as he never thought we would catch the ball.  We yell to the outfielder to throw to first base and we pick up a game ending double play!

The kids were crying, their parents were crying and even I was crying in the bedlam that broke loose.  I am sure it is a game these kids will never forget and makes all of the hard Sundays and Thursday practices worthwhile for one real happy, lucky coach!