We came across this excellent article on LifeDev and wanted to share:

The common stereotype for programmers is this: nerdy, pocket-protector wielding, and very, very boring. One doesn’t typically link a programmer as a creative individual. However, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Working with code is one of the most creative jobs one can have. Programmers have to balance two very different worlds: a world of structure and a world of imagination. They create abstract concepts using very structured programming languages (like PHP or Java). It’s not an easy task. Programming is actually a great exercise in creativity. Here are a couple reasons why:

• Programming gives ultimate control. Creating something from nothing is possibly the best example of creativity. The ultimate control over software or web site that a programmer has is perfect for taking the application to any direction that they wish.
• Many ways to do one thing. Programmers have to essentially build a framework for the web site. They’re laying the foundation for something that, up until that point, is just an idea. The programmer uses a wide palate of tools and methods to find

Programmers are a great example of thinking outside the box because programmers can actually create the box. Here are 14 ways to Learn From Creative Programmers.

1. Learn a new language
2. Start from the ground up
3. Question everything
4. Do it for fun
5. Never stop testing ideas
6. Find a passion
7. Master your tools
8. Start making abstract associations
9. Think of structure as a tool, not a limitation
10. Don’t rule anything out until you try it.
11. Always look for a simpler and more elegant solution.
12. Don’t be afraid to build off the code of others.
13. Don’t be afraid to collaborate.
14. From the very basic, create the beautiful.

Source: LiveDev

At Digitalvaliance, we’re all for inspirational quotes and stories. We figure if we can help inspire one more individual or family to get out there and start their own business, then we will strive to help you to do so!

I was drinking my regular cop of mocha (white mocha, grande from Starbucks with whipped cream) and I noticed they had a “The Way I See It” Section on the cup that featured a quote by Keith Olbermann. I liked itand figured many people today, due to the recession need all the inspiration they can get and figured I may as well share it so here goes:

“The world bursts at the seams with people ready to tell you you’re not good enough. on occassion, some may be correct. But do not do their work for them. Seek any job; ask anyone out; pursue any goal. Don’t take it personally when they say “no” - they may not be smart enough to say “yes.” - Keith Olbermann

Starbucks - The Way i see it #17

Be Inspired!

- Your Creative Commanders

An interesting article my Father and some friends forwarded to me:

http://finance.yahoo.com/college-education/article/105175/The-Billionaire-Universities

According to the article, the university with the highest number of Billionaire alumni* is Harvard, followed by Stanford, UPenn, Yale and Columbia.

If you have attended any of these institutions or have children/family members at them, the odds are your in favor, so be sure to pursue that Big Idea of yours or encourage your family members to.

Even if you  didn’t attend any  of these institutions, that doesn’t mean that you aren’t capable of becoming a Billionaire. Dream big and follow your dreams and passions and you never know where life will take you. It’s not just about the wealth. You might become a billionaire in the eyes of those that look up to you or the lives that you will be able to touch.

* Not All Alumni graduated.

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to attend Startup School 2008 at Stanford. It was a conference featuring some of the top Silicon Vally entrepreneurs including Jeff Bezos and Marc Andreesen. The website describes it as “Startup school is an annual free conference for hackers interested in startups.”Although I wasn’t able to stay for the entire conference, as I had to meet a client for a design project, I made sure I attended the talks given by Jack Sheridan (WSGR), David Heinemeier Hansson (Creator of Rails), Marc Andreessen (Creator of Netscape and Ning Founder), Jeff Bezos (Founder of Yahoo) and Greg McAdoo (Sequoia Capital).

Why did I only want to listen to those guys speak? Well firstly I have great respect for the Ruby on Rails Framework. After messing around with PHP and mySQL for a few years, with occasional scripting in PERL, it was very refreshing to use Ruby on Rails to develop my first real web application for my senior software project entitled myFlee, an online market place for college students. I have since decided to pretty much develop all my web applications in Ruby on Rails unless a client specifically wants me to use something else, in which case, I may reject to take on the project. Don’t get me wrong, I would be willing to write components of a web application in another language (I even still integrate some PHP & Perl scripts in some of my web apps), but to build an entire application from the ground up using something other than RoR, would be something I have no desire of doing. For my day job, I develop in J2EE and getting the simplest things done, takes forever and since Digitalvaliance is currently a part-time venture, I need to maximize my productivity.

Secondly, I thought the other guys would have some additional insight into the “startup game”, as they are all seasoned vets with experience relating to the legal, financial and technical issues . Jeff Bezos talked about Amazon’s exciting new webservices (AWS). I unfortunately wasn’t able to be at Michael Arrington’s talk (Techcrunch) but I made sure to watch the video, as he took had some really good things to say.

DHH gave one of the coolest talks I’ve been to in a while. Outlining his talk would have to be another entry on it’s own, but luckily Omnision recorded the presentation so you can just watch it there. He didn’t talk about Ruby on Rails, but instead talked about the current business model of most startups and why 37Signals, the company he is a partner off, has been profitable from day one. DHH made fun of the current mindset of most Web 2.0 companies, being that they first strive to get as many eyeballs to their site as possible and then think about how to monetize. DHH contends that there is nothing wrong with charging users,particularly niche users, a small price to use a service that would make their lives a lot simpler. DHH dubbed this group of niche users, as the Fortune 5,000,000. DHH reminded us that not everyone will get a billion dollar valuation (referring to facebook) for their companies/product and that these days, it seems as though people are looking down on “million dollar companies”.

I very much agree with what DHH had to say. I am a personal user of Highrise, 37Signals’s Simple CRM tool which makes my life as a daytime software engineer and night time entrepreneur a lot simpler. This is a tool I first tried out using the free plan but got hooked immediately and upgraded to their Simple plan. Once Digitalvaliance picks up a little more, I envision further upgrading my plan. It is not a complex or complete CRM tool by any standards (compared to SugarCRM or Salesforce), but at this point, I don’t need such complex tools which is why Highrise is perfect for me (and the remainder of the Fortune 4,999,999)

At Digitalvaliance, our goal has always been to target the Fortune 5,000,000 and it was refreshing to hear that DHH shared our insight.