Disqus - Latest Comments for batkinson

Re: US starlink

Benjamin Atkinson — Fri, 07 Apr 2023 20:46:08 -0000

Out in central Kentucky.

Re: - Cognitive Edge

Benjamin Atkinson — Sun, 25 Jul 2021 14:58:19 -0000

Thanks for sharing your insights Dave. I appreciate the work you're doing.
The ecology metaphor is helping me frame conversations in a very engineering-focused organization. It helps highlight a need for new skills and new thinking ways.
As for premature convergence and titles...I've been pushing for Culture Czar & Head of Festivals.

Re: The leader and moral peril

Benjamin Atkinson — Sat, 15 May 2021 22:53:44 -0000

Amen. Koestler made Kafka look like a wild-eyes optimist.

Koestler: “ Show us not the aim without the way.”

Deming: “An aim without a method is cruel.”

Are these truths for the Clear and Complicated domains?

Thank you for your generous work.

Ben

Re: Substitutes for Alcohol in Cooking - GourmetSleuth

Benjamin Atkinson — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 16:29:32 -0000

Yes. Here's the link: www.drygourmet.com

Free shipping! ;)

Re: Substitutes for Alcohol in Cooking - GourmetSleuth

Benjamin Atkinson — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 15:31:07 -0000

Yes. www.drygourmet.com

Free shipping! ;)

Ben

Re: Substitutes for Alcohol in Cooking - GourmetSleuth

Benjamin Atkinson — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 14:45:22 -0000

I usually add it whenever I would add real wine. It can be reconstituted in water, or I just add the powder directly to the dish, if the dish already has enough liquid. So far, the flavor comes through, even if I add at it in the beginning. My risottos are really enhanced with the white wine powder.

-Ben

Re: Substitutes for Alcohol in Cooking - GourmetSleuth

Benjamin Atkinson — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 14:19:04 -0000

There was powdered alcohol that was recently banned by the FDA. The Dry Gourmet is the opposite...it contains everything in wine except the alcohol. 😉

Re: Substitutes for Alcohol in Cooking - GourmetSleuth

Benjamin Atkinson — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 12:33:07 -0000

Super! You can order here: www.drygourmet.com.

In 2 weeks, I'll find our about a distribution agreement that will make it even easier to get The Dry Gourmet.

Thanks for your interest!

Ben

Re: Substitutes for Alcohol in Cooking - GourmetSleuth

Benjamin Atkinson — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 10:56:41 -0000

After a frustrating search for wine substitutes, I created "wine bouillon" last year. Essentially, I have flash-dried wine into a powder. It has zero alcohol, no salt or preservatives, but all the flavor of wine.

I'm calling it The Dry Gourmet and currently we're only selling it on our website (www.drygourmet.com).

Initial feedback has been super and a lot of home cooks are creating their favorite dishes with all the flavor of wine.

Drop me a line if I can answer any questions about this wine substitute.

Bon appetit!

Ben

Re: 2 Studies of Why Wellness Fails

Benjamin Atkinson — Wed, 04 Nov 2015 13:41:00 -0000

Great insights, Tom!

I'm reminded of the work in proximal-cause epidemiology that shows 75% of the risk of early mortality is comprised of 2 factors: job satisfaction & socioeconomic status (SES).

Employers have more impact on health than they know.

Re: Don’t Feed The Patent Trolls

Benjamin Atkinson — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 06:23:08 -0000

I am an independent inventor and I agree wIth Bob Krause. The "patent troll" narrative is an old government construct. This legislation is exploiting a straw man that will restrict competition to Big Tech.

Re: The PATENT Act

Benjamin Atkinson — Tue, 26 May 2015 08:11:21 -0000

Reprinted from an email sent by Randy Landreneau, Founder - Independent Inventors of America:

On June 4th, the showdown is scheduled which will decide whether or not the majority of American independent inventors could completely lose the ability to defend a patent or ever attract outside investment. If you aren’t aware of the legislation, go here and here.

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent lobbying for this legislation. This is David vs. Godzilla. But if any of you are experiencing any loss of confidence in our ability to stop this tragedy, you need to consider our own history.

Did you know that only one third of American colonists were even for the American Revolution? Only one third! And a full third were against it. At Valley Forge, George Washington's men were in rags and freezing to death because the states were not providing enough support. The men upon whom the future of America depended weren't even provided warm clothing! Mutinies were personally stopped by Washington, who lost battles, but was never beaten. And, by the grace of God, this great nation was born.

One of the first things done in America was the creation of the unique American Patent System. The rights of inventors were actually written directly into the Constitution; the Bill of Rights was added later. In fact, the word "right" only appears in the Constitution with respect to the rights of inventors and authors.

While the rest of the world had patent systems that only allowed the participation of the rich and the powerful, America’s patent system gave incentive for anyone of any walk of life to create something new and valuable, own it, and profit from it. And it was this unique American Patent System that enabled America to become the source of so much more innovation and economic growth than the rest of the world.

Now, a handful of corporations are dangerously close to destroying these rights so they can reduce their patent infringement liabilities. This is outrageous! Even more outrageous is the fact that the politicians we elected are listening to hired gun lobbyists every day, but not a single inventor will be allowed into a single hearing regarding Senate's PATENT Act before an effort to pass this bill out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 4th. The most recent hearing was made up of “those who love the bill and those who really love the bill,” according to Senator Durbin.

As recently as a few weeks ago, universities and drug companies were our allies in the fight. Now they have been shamefully carved-out – they are not subject to the worst provisions in The PATENT Act. This is how some politicians reduce opposition to bad bills.

You and I, my friends, are targeted for destruction. The politicians for the bills won’t say this, and I don’t know which among them even realize this. Hundreds of millions of dollars in lobbying and public relations Kool Aid has had its effect. But I assure you that the corporations behind the bills know exactly what they are doing – their crosshairs are deliberately centered on the heart of America.

Every one of us needs to be in this fight:

I'm going back to DC on June 1st to work with our allies and turn more Senators our direction. I need more letters from inventors that describe how they have been harmed by the current state of our Patent System (patents infringed willfully, patents invalidated by post grant opposition procedures or abstract theory, attorneys unwilling to take cases, etc.).

We must get our message out far and wide. Thank you Michele Nash-Hoff for your article in Industry Week ! We need to get this article and the papers here and here out to anyone that this information will matter to. Get these articles to conservative or liberal media or groups. For liberals, this legislation allows corporations to crush the little guy. For conservatives, this bill goes against the Constitution, property rights, and small business capitalization. Call it “the worst and most damaging legislation in American history" (which it is).

Continue calling and emailing your Representatives and Senators (find them here). They are in their local offices this week – call them there. The fatal House bill is The Innovation Act, H.R.9. They are trying to jam it through their Judiciary also. The fatal Senate bill is The PATENT Act, S.1137 (for information, see House Bill and Senate Bill). These bills are fatal, but the Senate’s Strong Patents Act, S.632, is good for us (it makes the Post Grant Opposition Procedures operate more like Federal Court Procedures, eliminates fee diversion, and reins in abusive demand letters). Tell them you are against The Innovation Act and The PATENT Act, but for the Strong Patents Act, S.632.

This will be my 8th trip to DC this year. Paul Morinville and I went to 200 offices in the House, and this helped cause the Innovation Act to stall (“experts” expected it to fly through). We are kind of like the troops at Valley Forge – we really need some support and you can help at the US Inventor “Donate” button.

The only way we can head this thing off is to make as much noise as possible right now. Do not let your rights be taken without a fight.

Sincerely,

Randy Landreneau, Founder

Independent Inventors of America

Re: The PATENT Act

Benjamin Atkinson — Tue, 12 May 2015 12:05:58 -0000

The Wright Brothers were the original patent trolls and this narrative was a construct of the US government (http://blog.oup.com/2014/12....

I'm concerned for the individual inventors who will be required to demonstrate they have the financial means to pay the legal bills (1M+ ?) before they may sue for infringement.

Re: How a Blogger Can Build a Web App in Four Weeks

Benjamin Atkinson — Wed, 26 Nov 2014 12:06:28 -0000

Option #1. I like the progress bar for an update at a glance.

Re: Netflix neutrality

Benjamin Atkinson — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 10:46:02 -0000

Dave-

Is the conversation changed if Comcast switches to metered internet service, versus all-you-can-eat?

I'm thinking of physical goods I purchase from Amazon. The producer of my beard balm doesn't pay the shipping. I do (even with Amazon Prime).

Should I not be paying for the freight on my streaming movies?

I agree that both Netflix and Comcast are punking us to make the other look bad and save a few pennies per subscriber. Comcast doesn't want to be the one to switch to metered internet service and Netflix doesn't want to subsidize Comcast's product.

I suspect metered internet is on the way and all-you-can-eat will go the way of NetZero. But, I thought the same about knit ties in the 80's.

Re: Male vunlerability

Benjamin Atkinson — Wed, 05 Nov 2014 09:39:04 -0000

Penetrating observations, Dave.

I think men used to share their vulnerabilities more than they do, today. A pseudo-masculinity has gripped Western culture over the last 100 years. I suppose this false-manliness is why Kerouac became a popular author, cage fighters are considered 'real men' and Harley Davidson is a multi-billion dollar company.

One hallmark of masculinity is initiative or assertiveness. Jung describes this in his masculine archetypes. Psychological and theological counselors highlight 'action' as a key element of manhood. However, I think the drive toward action has been muted as various forces working to dilute masculinity. Many times assertiveness is translated as chauvinism...action as insensitivity.

I think people are comfortable with male vulnerabilities, as long as the man is still able to act. I think many have described this as courage.

I think of a man of uncommon courage who was quite open about his vulnerabilities with his wife. Helmut James Graf von Moltke wrote many letters to his wife during his service to as a international jurist for the Nazis. He was drafted into this service and secretly used his expertise in international law to secure safe passage out of Germany for thousands of persecuted people. The book, 'Letters to Freya' are quite touching and I think they are a great profile of a vulnerable and courageous man.

Thanks for the public dialogue about this issue.

Re: Why do we fear death?

Benjamin Atkinson — Thu, 14 Aug 2014 10:48:50 -0000

There seems no escape from the terror of death. We cannot face the extinction, the oblivion or the idea of judgment after we die. We spend our whole lives building up armor against the day we die. Ernest Becker wrote most extensively about this. I do not believe he subscribed to a particular faith, but he noted that those who do seem to bear death better...an "anchor in eternity", as I think he described it. He also noted that we all construct an anchor or armor. Some more durable than others. (family, career being more durable than hero worship or infatuation with a person or political movement, as examples). Happy anchor/armor-building!

Re: Hangout with an Author: Jeff Goins

Benjamin Atkinson — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 20:16:26 -0000

Question for Jeffy Smurf- Writing with Faith: Do you look for opportunities to insert your faith or do you let it flow out of your writing naturally?

Re: Things You Can Do With A Big Pot of Beans (Or: My Take on the Mediterranean Diet)

Benjamin Atkinson — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 19:06:57 -0000

Beans...beautiful beans! Bean breakfasts are especially beautiful!

Re: Which Of These Logos Do You Like Best? (I Stink At Graphic Design)

Benjamin Atkinson — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 10:10:13 -0000

D guides my eyes up and to the right. That's a positive direction on most business charts.

Re: Chapter One: Sherpaa Tales

Benjamin Atkinson — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 09:23:55 -0000

Jay-
When you've fixed the big healthcare problems, how about taking a stab at banking? ;)

Re: How to Use Your Guilt Story to Propel Your Business

Benjamin Atkinson — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 23:08:31 -0000

John-

Great post! You've touched on a/the fundamental human motive. Existential guilt is nowhere better treated than by Ernest Becker and his books. I highly recommend them.

I find that I'm better able to serve a client when I know their story...and you don't know someone's story until you get to the level of guilt.

Guilt creates anxiety. As Becker points out, humans are anxiety-minimizing animals. If you understand the source of a person's guilt, you can help them avoid anxiety. It's basic sales theory framed existentially.

My own guilt often manifests as a sense of not working hard enough at a task. I find myself drawn toward products/services that help me increase productivity or impact for those I serve.

Guilt motivates my buying decision...and everyone else's...I think.

Thanks for the food for thought!

Re: http://blog.jayparkinsonmd.com/post/24335035010

Benjamin Atkinson — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:43:02 -0000

Jay,

I was in Chicago 3 years before I got my bike. Once on 2 wheels the city transformed. I experienced so much more of Chicago once I was biking to work and play.

Nice wheels!

Re: Sitting and Standing at Work

Benjamin Atkinson — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 14:26:25 -0000

Dr. Alan Hedge is the Director of the Cornell Human Factors and Ergonomics Research Group. He has consulted to chair manufacturers for a long time. He's a true believer in office chairs. ;)

Re: http://hairymidwife.tumblr.com/post/10049065041

Benjamin Atkinson — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 14:06:07 -0000

Thank you all, so much, for your time and encouragement. I am delighted to have found a way to contribute to the good work you all do.

I will make sure to forward a preview copy of the free quarterly magazine.

With respect,

Ben