Perfect Circles

Over the years, I have taught my kids the story of the Italian painter, Giotto. He may not be the most famous of the many talented Middle Age painters, but my kids were fascinated by the story of "the perfect circle". At one point the Pope asked Giotto to draw something to prove his skills as an artist, and Giotto proceeded to draw a circle so perfect that everyone thought he had used a compass.

My kids were naturally skeptical of their father's claims about perfect circles, until last week when my daughter found the following video on YouTube:

I was likewise fascinated, and it turns out that there may be even more background to this story.

Regardless, every now and then I catch myself trying to draw a perfect circle. Let's just say that I don't think Giotto has to worry about my outperforming him!

Surf's Up! Drones for Filmmaking

As much as "drones" have been getting so much bad press lately (for military/spy reasons), we have to remember that there is usually a positive side to all technology innovation. Take the video below as an example.

Surfing is an amazing sport. Athletic. Dangerous. And stunningly beautiful. To truly capture the essence of it on film requires multiple angles. From the water surface. From the surfer's perspective. From underwater. And, yes, from the air.

Historically, this last angle has been difficult to capture, in large part because it required expensive (and loud!) helicopters and cameras.

Now, through the miracle of modern technology, a filmmaker can use a remote-controlled "drone" and a relatively inexpensive GoPro camera to capture footage that was previously extremely difficult to acquire.

Enjoy!

Founder Institute presentation

On January 8, 2014,I gave a 30-minute presentation to a group of local Atlanta tech entrepreneurs. This was part of the Founder Institute accelerator program, which is the largest of its kind in the world.

The topic was "Vision and Ideas", so I spoke primarily about aligning a new venture's vision with at least one of the entrepreneur's personal passions. I also worked through a simple tool for conducting a high-level analysis of new business ideas.

The camera work and audio are not perfect, but ... enjoy!

And the slides ...

The Venus Project

A few months ago, a friend of mine introduced me to the work of renowned futurist, Jacque Fresco. Over the years, he has developed a number of amazing theories about how to structure our global human society in ways that are much better -- on so many levels -- that our current systems.

To showcase his work, he started creating a microcosm community in Venus, Florida. The culmination of his life's work has taken the shape of The Venus Project, which I hope to visit later this year.

Since Jacque is about to turn 98, I want to get there soon. In the meantime, here are some images of the amazing buildings and communities he has designed: