Flyover Country

I could blame it on having a whole bunch of other things going on, but the fact remains that I update this blog about as frequently as I wash my truck. So, I thought I’d see what I had to say on a sunny late winter day, and post one of my infrequent updates.

The 3D technology company I work for offline has several irons in the fire. Some new, some that seem to have been in the works forever. I’m not sure which are covered by NDAs, so I have to refrain from talking specifics about any of them, but two are nationally (maybe internationally) recognizable, and one is more regional in nature. Another involves a government project that may draw us together with a major training and development company.

In general, the market for 3D is hot just now, and what we can do is a step beyond what the public is rapidly growing used to seeing. It’s still very much of matter of our being ahead of the curve as far as presentation methods go, however, but that can change quickly with the right advances in display technology. We’re hoping to attend the 3D Gaming Summit in LA in April, although funding is not looking good for that at the moment. We’re hoping one of our projects falls into place soon, which would bring in the cash necessary to cover the 3D Gaming Summit and the 3D Entertainment Summit later this year.

On a closer-to-home note, the ridiculous snow we’ve had has managed to remove the gutters from both sides of my house, and may yet remove them from the garage as well. I’m not sure how ice damming occurs on an unattached unheated garage, but it did, and the gutters are probably going to pay the price. Well, along with my insurance company and my own checkbook…

So, projects I can’t talk about and gutter destruction. Do I write a great blog entry or what?

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Fred Thompson explains this whole economic crisis thing to us out here in flyover country…

“Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others, cannot keep it from themselves.” – James M. Barrie

I mentioned my ’service thing’ a couple days ago and said I’d post about it later. I guess it’s later…

I’ve been in the foodservice business for over 30 years now. I’m sure many of my high school and college classmates see me as an underachiever, because they see me working in a hot kitchen, serving a pretty basic menu of food, still in my hometown. Many of them hold high-level jobs in industry, government and academia. I’m glad for them. I hope they’re happy. I am, and I think it’s because I hold service as not only a valid career choice, but if done correctly, a noble one. That’s my goal. To do it correctly.

“We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results.” – Herman Melville

Service, to me, is about extending a helping hand. And in some way, you always get compensated for your service. Not always with money or stuff. Or with public recognition or acclaim. Or any of the myriad other rewards that drive people to do things for others. Sometimes, the compensation is internal – you know you’ve done a good thing and that made it worthwhile. For me, the drive is almost always internal. Sure, money and stuff is nice. (Public recognition and acclaim… meh.) But knowing that I’ve helped someone – that’s a payoff.

If Herman was right and we really are connected by invisible threads, helping someone radiates out from us and hopefully resonates, so that person helps another, and another, and before you know it, the whole world has been touched by the pyramid scheme of service. I’m sure there’s a spiritual lesson in there. Karma. Good Deeds. Whatever. But it seems simpler to me.

Doing good makes me feel good about myself. Easy to do, get rewarded almost right away, can be repeated as often as desired. What’s not to like?

I’ve got a friend who came up with a way to capture and display 3D images all the way around a sphere. Not just a relatively narrow ’sweet spot’ like all the 3D out there is today, but 3D wherever you look. It’s called Omnidirectional 3D, and it’s only available from Micoy Corporation. (In the interests of transparency, I own some stock in the company.) It is mind-blowing.

Omni-3D can be tough to fully comprehend, much less embrace, but once you’ve seen how the content you’re watching can be outside the projection surface of the dome, on the projection surface, and within the dome, the potential for its use sparks the imagination. The number of possible applications of Omni-3D is huge – from pure entertainment to architectural walk-throughs to therapy for the mobility-impaired to first person shooter games to, well, let your creativity run wild.

The first open-to-the-public (as in people who aren’t investors, potential investors, or potential content producers) demo of Micoy Omni-3D will be at the International Planetarium Society Show in Chicago this weekend. The technology can utilize a full dome theater, and the future of planetariums may be in showing non-traditional content.

If you’re in the Chicago area this Saturday or Sunday, and would like to see what this is all about, please use the contact email address on the Micoy.com website to request a demo. You won’t be disappointed.