Winners never quit and quitters never win, say some motivational speakers, but that’s a poor message for leaders. In real life, the best leaders know there are inevitably times when the wisest move is to step down, step back, or tactically retreat. Look at who’s wrestling with those issues right now. -The most urgent strategic issue for anti-Trump Republicans is whether it’s smarter to fight him with three challengers or one. He has succeeded so far only because his opposition is splintered. On Super Tuesday, for example, his average share of the vote was just 35%; but the 65% who want someone else split their support among four challengers, so Trump finished first. You can’t help noticing that in the four primaries and caucuses on Saturday after one of those challengers, Ben Carson, dropped out, Trump won only two and Ted Cruz won two. Should John Kasich now drop out ASAP, and maybe even Cruz or Marco Rubio, so Trump’s opposition can consolidate its majority? Or, as Mitt Romney argued last week, should the three remaining challengers all do their best so that no one enters the convention with a majority of delegates? For three of the remaining four, deciding when to drop out will be their most important leadership decision of the campaign. -Several retail CEOs have made the painful decision to close stores, clearly the right move when the industry is being turned inside out (and when today’s or yesterday’s company leaders didn’t get ahead of the trends). Walmart’s Doug McMillon will close 269 worldwide; J.C. Penney’s Marvin Ellison, 40; Macy’s Terry Lundgren, 25 to 40; Target’s Brian Cornell, 23. Retailers hate doing this, but smart CEOs know that lowering the company’s breakeven point and living to fight another day is a decision best not delayed. -Should Britain drop out of the European Union? Prime Minister David Cameron and many of Britain’s top CEOs think not; London Mayor Boris Johnson and many other business leaders think it should. Johnson made his case for leaving on the BBC yesterday; Bank of England Governor Mark Carney will presumably argue for staying when he testifies to Parliament tomorrow. The nation will decide in a June 23referendum. To argue for Brexit is to give up on the brilliant future that Conservative PM Edward Heath promised when the U.K. joined the Common Market, as it then was, in 1973. But plenty of leaders, include many Conservatives, now think it’s best. -The outstanding departure of the week will likely be Peyton Manning’s announcement today that he’s retiring from football. The decision seems obvious. At age 39, after 18 seasons, coming off his second Super Bowl win, holding a yard-long list of league records, universally hailed as one of the sport’s all-time greats, he had nothing left to accomplish. But even if the move was obvious, we shouldn’t assume it was easy. For leaders, saying goodbye is never easy, even when it’s the right thing.
We wanted to share all the late breaking developments on our Kickstarter-Backed Projects as we continue to be on the prowl for all who do their part to create the ultimate "Vision of the Possible":
Kickstarter fulfillment is now complete and we're no longer actively monitoring the Kickstarter survey responses. If you didn't get your survey response in, then get it completed ASAP, and we will process it in good time. The final rings that caused a few months delay were some of the engraved rings. There are 12 backers who's rings we can't fulfill yet as we're still waiting on some edge case stock, we have been in touch with you!
Become an investor, for real.
It seems only natural that we are giving our backers an opportunity to invest officially in the company that produces the NFC Ring. Throughout our brief 3 year life we have grown from strength to strength and with our future looking bright we're seeking additional investment to help promote making people's fingers smarter. Investment start at a minimum of $4,000 and you should only consider investing if you can afford to lose the money, as investments in startups can carry significant risk. If you are interested in investing and would like to know more please email investment@mclear.co
Prototype our next generation ring
Our project Code-named "Wizard ring" is looking for bearers to carry a payment ring and test it in different environments. Everyone is welcome to apply. To apply simply get our attention somehow. It can be in real life, online or through telepathy. We have 100 rings and each comes with some funds pre-loaded so you can buy your local caffeine beverage / beer / unicorn horn (but please don't! Unicorns are an endangered species! ).
March ALREADY? Wow. Things are moving fast on multiple fronts as we are speaking at big events, liaising with key partners and working through the vigorous validation process. So here’s the lowdown since the last update.
Please read the Survey Update thoroughly before proceeding with the Survey Form. Here are some other common questions we wanted to address:
If I change my mind on my modules selection, can I change my order?
There will be another Survey released closer to September shipment date, where we will facilitate all adjustments. However, it is important that you fill the current Survey to help us understand your immediate requirements.
I pledged / am entitled to extra modules outside the standard package of 4 modules. How do I select them?
We have a record of all backers who have additional module credits and will ask you to log your request over the next few months. Please keep a look out for our monthly updates and we'll make the announcement (regular updates are posted every first Thursday of each month).
Why could I only vote for 3 'future' modules?
Our definite plan is to rollout modules in phases and knowing everyone’s top 3 modules would allow our team to assess which functionality is most important to you, our backers. Based on this information we will start planning the next Phase release.
Live Q&A - starting this Saturday (5th of March!)
Here at BLOCKS we felt that a live Questions & Answers session with our founders and engineers was long overdue! For those of you that haven’t been involved before, this is your chance to ask those itching questions and maybe even squeeze a few secrets from our team! Moreover, we realized that it would be great to give each session a theme! Here is our proposed schedule:
Week 1: Production timeline Get an overview of every single step that our engineering team has to make to deliver BLOCKS to your door. Date: Sat 5th March
Week 2. Design secrets Hear our thinking behind the smallest details of the modular design and how it all comes together Date: Sat 19th March
Week 3. Digital interface and apps Get introduced to our user interface & experience philosophy and BLOCKS apps on release Date: Sat 2 April
Week 4. Watchfaces Vote on the most customizable and innovative ideas for telling the time on your future smartwatch Date: Sat 16 April
Week 5. Advanced sensors Behind the scenes on BLOCKS efforts in bringing the best technology to your wrist with our industry partners Date: Sat 30 April
Week 6. BLOCKS SDK and MDK Learn the basics for BLOCKS apps and module development Date: Sat 14 May
If you wish to attend - please sign up here -http://goo.gl/forms/75glJmxbcb We will send you a reminder for each session and/or notify if there have been any changes to the dates.
New modules in the pipeline
In the Survey we also introduced two new modules that may be possible to manufacture ahead of schedule so we wanted to see if this affected your module choice.
Programmable Button
The module can be assigned to anything, whether it be a function on your watch, phone, or other connected devices. One touch, and you are good to go! To start, we are designing our API to be usable with services like IFTTT, which is an existing platform for controlling your smart devices and their apps. With the right setup, you could:
Take a photo on your phone (high quality selfies!)
Turn on smart lights and devices in your home
Send out a SOS signal in emergencies
Turn on apps with a touch of a button
Flash Light Module
A white LED Light that you can turn on and off. We are looking into adding strength control where you can dim the light or vice versa. It will have a small opening and will sit on top of the shell. After test results we will add beam angle, dispersion and range metrics for those who require more information.
Phase 1 modules are our top priority but we couldn’t resist notifying our backers of any new choices that could be available.
Have you visited our online forum?
During the month of February we have finally opened public access to a previously private BLOCKS online forum - http://chooseblocks.com/community/
There is so much discussion happening there that we implore you to get involved. Going forward we will be using the feedback we receive from our BLOCKS community to influence the BLOCKS journey. So do not be shy and have your say! For example we are already compiling a list of potential partnerships based on this thread. Yes, we are listening!
Software Update
With things kicking off in the apps department, we wanted to show you the direction we will be taking with BLOCKS user interface and experience being finalized. However, please note that our engineers, being perfectionists, have not yet allowed to disclose all of the incredible work that we have seen here internally. Their words were - ‘just give us one month’ - so we must wait at least until then to tell you how excited we are! Here are just a few sneaky screenshots that we took from the design document (after much fighting):
With a highly sensitive touch panel and a specially designed bezel, BLOCKS is perfectly suitable for circular movements for interface navigation. Above is one of the provisional proposals put forward by our team.
Here you can see one of the three proposals for UX interactions for entering/exiting apps.
We are thinking of novel ways for making simple, yet highly functional and customizable watchfaces. These are some of the rules we may introduce to developers when designing app icons.
If you would like to learn more about BLOCKS user interface design, sign up to Week 3 live Q&A on Saturday the 2nd of April(see Q&A link above).
Mobile World Congress
21-25 February. Barcelona, Spain.
Mobile World Congress is the world’s largest exhibition for mobile industry, which attracts consumer electronics and telecom companies alike to showcase their latest technology. Over the last two years it has also been the hot seat for showcasing the latest smartwatches and smartbands. The best part yet, this year we have seen the rise of MODULARITY as LG has hit the mainstream with its new modular smartphone - LG G5. The trend is definitely catching on and BLOCKS is still ahead of the curve.
Our newly redesigned prototypes received an amazing reception at the Congress. BLOCKS created a lot of connections with key industry heads and learned a lot while spreading the word. There may well be a few more partner deals coming our way and a handful of invitations to other events with yet more opportunities (although we must stay focussed on delivery for now!)
Truly speaking, there’s nothing more exciting than being on the verge of the new technological shift in the entire industry. Things are looking up for BLOCKS and we’re happy to have you guys with us on this journey! Expect more amazing things to be announced.
Working hard on building your future smartwatch, The BLOCKS Team
Shifteh and Dastan Khalili from Cal-Earth “The California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture” will be presenting Nader Khalili’s work ranging from Architecture to Poetry & Philosophy.
Nader Khalili is best known for his work on building low-cost houses in accordance to the environment. Born in Iran as one of nine children, his quest was to empower the world’s poor and refugees to build homes using the earth under their feet. He was a prominent American leader on the value of ethically based architecture, where the needs of the homeless are considered above all else. GreenProphet online magazine once said, "If Hassan Fathy is the father of sustainable architecture, then Nader Khalili must be his close cousin.". In 2004 Khalili won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture for sandbag shelters built with Superadobe.
You can learn more about Nader Khalili and his work on KCET, "Of Earth and Domes: Hesperia's Cal-Earth Sustainable Architecture" or stop at Farhang's booth at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on Saturday, April 9th 2016 to explore further.
Scott Kelly came back to earth yesterday. We here @ #Outsiders join the world in welcoming him as he returns along with his Russian Colleague after 340 years in space. We were followers of his odyssey throughout the last number of months and look forward to keep tabs on him as his post-odyssey continues onward:
Our planet continues to face challenges. In our home state of California, we have been dealing with a profound drought for 4 years and all indications are that we will be faced with a 5th year of the drought. We have also been quite disturbed by the report we have been reviewing from NASA on the prolonged drought in the Middle East. A day does not pass by as we review reports of Schools Closing and sand storms in Iran for instance.
Part of the way to change is to understand and educate. The team at +The Climate Reality Project Canada have done a very interesting job putting this ebook together and we wanted to share this as the World needs to understand:
Maybe you’re at an office holiday party and your coworkers are enjoying the eggnog a little too much. Before you know it, the questions about our climate begin.
Or maybe you’re at a family dinner and your brother-in-law asks, “But if there’s a snow storm outside, can the climate really be warming?”
No matter the situation, the questions always seem to hit the same points. That’s why we’ve created our latest e-book, The 12 Questions Every Climate Activist Hears and What to Say, where we detail the most common misconceptions and arguments against the reality of man-made climate change – and simple ways to explain why they’re totally wrong.
For our first project of the year, we decided to back a "Culture" project sponsored by the Farhang Foundation here in Southern California. We look forward to updates over the ensuing days and weeks:
Thanks for showing your support. This project is one step closer to being a reality!
Spread the word: Share this project with friends to help it along.
As we have been "back at work", we saw this from our friends at +TED and we couldn't agree more as we felt this talk is exactly in line with what we aim to do here in the "Visions" Channel as we wind down February and look to a very vibrant March throughout #Outsiders:
25:20 minutes · Filmed Feb 2016 · Posted Feb 2016 · TED2016
Last week, Al Gore rocked TED with one of the most electrifying talks on our planet's future you'll ever hear. He asks three questions about climate change: Do we have to change? (Oh, yes we do; stunning stats and some jawdropping footage help make his case.) Second question: Can we change? And here's the surprising part: We've already started. So then, he asks the big question: Will we change? In this challenging, inspiring talk, Gore says yes: "We're going to win this." If you've got climate-change fatigue, feeling helpless and hopeless -- take the time to watch this rousing talk on the state of Earth right now.
It has been admittedly a challenging week here in #Outsiders. However as we are "back in operation", we wanted to begin by featuring this selection from our artist of the week, Kings of Convenience as we wish all a fabulous Friday and a fabulous Week-End (and if you have not gotten a flu shot yet, we urge you all to do so!!!)
For backers only
