Here’s the reason Facebook’s plan to allow individual user’s to share everything makes no sense and will ultimately fail. The simple answer is it’s not humanly possible.

When computers and software work well, they augment behaviour which humans are actually capable of in the offline world. That means they walk along side us and help us. A turn signal helps me. I don’t need to manually flick the lever up and down, up and down, etc. Cruise control helps me. Facebook allowing me to have thousands of ‘friends’ that I share my intimate life with doesn’t help me, because it’s not humanly possible for me to have thousands of friends. There’s a limiter and it’s called the human brain. There’s even a fancy term for this:

“Dunbar’s number is a theoretical cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships. These are relationships in which an individual knows who each person is, and how each person relates to every other person.”

What happens when you try to go beyond Dunbar’s number?

“Proponents assert that numbers larger than this generally require more restrictive rules, laws, and enforced norms to maintain a stable, cohesive group. No precise value has been proposed for Dunbar’s number, but a commonly cited approximation is 150.”

The theory is that this is a physical limit imposed by MY BRAIN:

“the limit imposed by neocortical processing capacity is simply on the number of individuals with whom a stable inter-personal relationship can be maintained. On the periphery, the number also includes past colleagues such as high school friends with whom a person would want to reacquaint themselves if they met again”

So if Dunbar’s number is correct then facebook could help me with maintaining “more restrictive rules, laws, and enforced norms” once I go beyond my 150. That’s how facebook’s helping me right? Even if the number’s off by 100%, that’s 300. I don’t even consider myself an active user of facebook and I currently have 285 ‘friends’.

The reality is the opposite, that facebook and others makes it all but impossible for an individual NOT to smash through Dunbar’s number. Look, we’ve all done the equivalent of sticking our employer’s cheese up our nose. This isn’t a question of privacy or whether stupid acts exist in the world, or eliminating stupid acts. Do you honestly want to live in a world where people don’t do stupid stuff? This is about what’s humanly possible. Were it not for a myriad of tools facilitating the breaching of Dunbar’s number, then the close friends of these Domino’s staff would have laughed about the cheese in their nose until one finally said “that’s stupid, stop it, you’re being an ass” and they ‘d have stopped. Done.

I worry about a world where my kids can’t actively make mistakes and do stupid stuff, learn and move on. I was afforded that, and hopefully still am, and my character is likely far more built on the stupid stuff I lived through rather than the safe, acceptable stuff I managed to intersperse it with. If you agree our kids deserve that then you’d best quickly realize we’re all kids in some fashion and we all need this.

The clear answer is facebook isn’t helping with any of this and has no intention of it. In fact it’s quite the opposite, “The most important thing to understand about Facebook is that you are not Facebook’s customer, you are its inventory. You are the product Facebook is selling. Facebook’s real customers are advertisers.”

I’m not 100% sure what real life application this has so I’ll leave that to your imagination. I will say that for some reason I’m asked about this a lot. This technique allows you to tunnel all TCP requests through a remote server using a secure connection. This means all requests, not just HTTP.

So what does this do for you? Well you could buy an SSH account on a server located, say in France. Using that SSH connection you could then browse the web while sitting at home in Canada. As far as everyone knows, you’re in France because all your requests are being tunneled through, ie coming from, your SSH server located in France. Again, why would you do this? I have no idea and the answer doesn’t rhyme with sulu or fandora for those in Canada. As well, I’m sure there are much simpler ways of doing this, this is just how I do it.

What you need for this is some SSH skills and a program called tsocks. Everything I’ll show here works on a debian based OS such as ubuntu, using a bash shell.

First login to your ssh account using the -D option, see “man ssh” for more explanation. This option allows you to specify a port. All connections on your machine to that port will then be forwarded over the SSH connection to the remote machine.

ssh -D 8989 username@ssh_server.com

Next you need to install and configure tsocks, it’s in synaptic for ubuntu people. Once installed, edit /etc/tsocks.conf and remove or comment out all lines except:

server = 127.0.0.1
server_port = 8989

Now close all instances of any application that you wish to use for this. Then open them using the tsocks command which forces the program to tunnel all the applications connections through your SSH connection:

tsocks firefox
tsocks ping yahoo.com

Done. Now any site you browse to with firefox thinks you’re sitting at a cafe in France and yahoo thinks you’re pinging it from Toulouse.

A far more thorough explanation.

We’re set for July 21st for DemoCampGuelph 14. Make sure you get it in your calendar before you start renting cottages. Hit up http://next.demoCampGuelph.com for details and to sign up to attend.

We continue our string of awesome invited speakers with April Dunford joining us this time around. If you’ve never heard April talk you’re in for a treat, actually I suppose you’re good in either case. April has the mind of an engineer injected with serum from the realities of running businesses and launching products. To top it all of, she can also converse with other humans in the shape of a crowd so it will be a fun night I’m sure.

Spread the word, specifically get out there and talk a friend into submitting a demo!

A quick review. We had squirrels living in our old house for months, I’m guessing 4 or 5 months. Late one summer I tried to evict them only to realize there were babies in there. It was at this point I decided to call in the pros.

Looking back, that decision went against my basic beliefs. In the end it cost me about $300 to get back to where I started, that being having squirrels in my roof I need evict. After having their entrance blocked, the squirrels simply found a new way into the roof and the company I paid only guarantees that the squirrels won’t come back in the hole they “fixed”. Next step was to purchase the same trap the company used online for $30 and do the work myself. In the end I had to block three more exits which would have cost me well over a thousand dollars with the ‘pros’.

So what was the belief I violated? That if something has any value then do it yourself. That doesn’t mean I have to do everything myself but it does mean that I don’t call rodent removal people out of ignorance. No one cares about our home as much as we do and no one cares about your business either. Companies inevitably learn this lesson around outsourcing in general. Be honest with yourself and tread cautiously if you’re outsourcing because you lack knowledge or experience. If it’s an area that’s core to your business in anyway then keep the experiences close to you and don’t ever outsource it. If it’s not a core area then at least do it yourself once or twice before you hand it off. You’ll make better decisions all around by having the experience of having done it.

Speaking from the other side, the good service providers out there will appreciate your understanding for what they do. It allows you both to get working faster and get deeper to the good stuff.

I spent a night recently watching rock climbing videos including this one from 2005. It’s the first female free ascent of the west face (V 5.13b/c A0), leaning tower at Yosemite.

“Yosemite is a place where you have to have had a certain number of experiences and epics before you really understand what you’re getting into”

It reminded me of a previous life spent climbing up rocks and mountains. Within the rock climbing community there is always a lot of talk of epics. It’s ingrained in the culture. “My last climbing trip went well but we had an epic on that last day I need to tell you about someday”.

The picture above is a route named The Cyclops located in Joshua Tree California. I’ve climbed here a few times and the last time I was by myself. When you’re climbing alone, you make friends quickly so you can climb with someone. I immediately met a group of three that welcomed me to climb with them. That first evening they asked if I wanted to tag along and solo up cyclops to watch the sunset. The short story is that one of our group had no business solo’ing any climb harder than a ladder. This particular epic included me downclimbing the route and then a night time rescue to get the ladder climber off the face safely. I’ll only add that I did manage to save the two Heinekens in my pockets.

My point is this, within climbing, epics are explicit. They’re part of the language, they’re earned and there is esteem that grows around them. No one hides from them or pretends that there’s anyway to get around experiencing them in order to get better. In the video above Lynn doesn’t talk about Katie needing to read more books or talk with more experienced climbers. It’s just a fact that she needs more epics under her belt before she’ll be a better climber.

To me, this is what David is speaking about here, and Mike Lee here. Lamenting the lack of talent or the fact that we don’t have people with enough epics under their belts is a start. How do we actively find out a solution to this? How do we grow the leadership skills a startup community needs? Applying funding where there’s a lack of epics does nothing. I agree with David and can speak from experience that working in services companies like BandOfCoders is fundamentally different and will not prepare you for a startup.

If you’re someone who can, how are you facilitating the next generation to have their own epics? If you’re on the other side, are you seeking out epics of your own? I agree, let’s stop talking about failure but I can’t agree that learning from failure is overrated. Every epic I’ve experienced included some form of failure. Seek out your epic experiences and encourage and provide opportunities to those willing to have their own.

By the end of this week I’ll have organized and hosted 13 DemoCampGuelph events. Along the way I’ve seen some incredible demo’s. I’ve learned, I’ve been impressed but I’ve also been embarrassed and outright skeered. People often ask for tips and information related to demo’ing but to be honest I’m not the expert. While I have demo’d at other events such as DemoCampToronto, I’m only the mc. You wouldn’t ask Whoopi Goldberg how to win an Oscar would you? (Let’s pretend she only hosted the oscars and didn’t win two of them as well…)

So, now that I’ve told you not to listen to me, here’s a few quick tips if you’re thinking of demo’ing:

• DemoCamp’s are not pitch events. Don’t pitch or market to the crowd, no one’s here to be sold to.
• Don’t delude yourself. You’ve only got 5 minutes! You can’t demo the entire feature set of your CRM that’s going to save the world so don’t try. Pick an area within your product or a specific feature or workflow that will interest the crowd and demo that alone.
• Focus your message. Just because this is a demo event doesn’t mean you shouldn’t focus on a message we take away from your demo. What’s the sentence you’d like me as a listener to type into twitter when you’re done? Thinking this way helps focus your demo and hopefully have a consistent flow to it.
• Be prepared for technology to fail and keep presenting. If you get 5 minutes to pitch to a key investor, they aren’t going to wait 15 while you work out wifi issues. Have something prepared if the network or projector or mic etc fails. Improvise and keep moving.
• It’s cliche but take your time and have fun. This is a community event of peers who appreciate you putting the time in to show what your passionate about so chill and enjoy the experience. You can stress out on your wedding day.

Some great tips from DemoCampGuelph12′s Crowie award winner Tony Thompson:

• “First off, some kind of a presentation outline is good. I just use point form notes. Make sure you have some detail you can cut out, or insert on the fly depending on your audience interest.”
• “The eBar is a big room. The audience will not be able to see you as much as they can see your live demo — so your demo must work and look nice. When you want to make a point, you won’t be able to do it with your facial expression alone, you’ll have to do it verbally as well.”
• “Keep any graphics simple and to the point. To anybody more than halfway down the bar, the projection screen will look like a file card, and they won’t be able to make out any fine detail.”

Tony left out his secret sauce, more robots = good.

This is your friendly reminder that #13 is up this Wednesday evening  DemoCampGuelph. Sign up to attend at here.

Rob Hyndman is our invited speaker and as always we have a full slate of demo’s. Please remind people and we’ll see you all Wednesday at The eBar.

I no longer want to personally select who demo’s at our events. As well our current approach of relying on audience applause to select who receives the Crowie is flawed at best. I’m turning both of these responsibilities over to you since it’s your event.

I need three volunteers with these qualifications/requirements:

• Attended at least one, preferably more, DemoCampGuelph events so you know what we’re doing.
• You’re not demo’ing at our next event.
• You’re not a sponsor (I’m not 100% sure this matters but we’ll start here…).
• You will attend next event.
• You aren’t currently contributing to DemoCampGuelph in some other fashion.

What will this commitment entail?

• A meeting with me and this group where we review submissions and select who will demo at upcoming event.
• Watch all demo’s at the event and decide with this group who receives the Crowie.

[UPDATE: Thanks for all the volunteers, we have our board] If you’re interested in contributing to our event by taking this on, please contact me directly. We need three of you please.

I can ask for help when it involves community efforts like demoCampGuelph or our park. Historically I have a barrier, however, when it comes to efforts I make money at and that’s a line I’m not sure should exist.

A great friend of mine owns a restaurant here in Guelph called The Cornerstone. Their wood floors are crap, they won’t serve me meat and their windows are often made of wood instead of glass. Even with all those warts, it’s still the first place I think of for a coffee or a pint.

Why? Well because The Cornerstone is mine, or more importantly it’s ours. From day 1, or technically day -234, Mark has engaged his friends and his community to help design and build his restaurant. Many of my friends spent late nights painting, sanding and doing whatever it took to open the doors 8 years ago. To this day, on the few holidays they’re closed you’ll find Mark and a gaggle of locals fixing up all the things you can’t when you’re open 7 days a week.

There’s some talk in Guelph these days about tech, about business and about whether the two can build a home here. Some hope organizations like Communitech come to town, others feel we need a clubhouse like the accelerator center and others are firing up their own efforts to help. Clearly I don’t know the answer, I do know that any tech-biz success in Guelph is a success for us all. I have no idea what I’ll be doing next year but the truth is I may be working for steal the deal, well.ca or bootcampmedia so it’s only in my best interest to see them succeed.

More success = more jobs = less people commuting = more time with families and friends = more better Guelph.

We all need to start talking and sharing more if we hope to pull this off, and believe me I’m speaking mostly to myself when I say that. I’ve met and know a lot of you and the honest truth is we have the skills to pull this off and doggone it, I like me. We have more personalities and brains in this town than is required to do this. Realizing that this is less about our companies and more about our community will allow us the humility to seek out the help we need, and offer ours to others.

My Offer: If you’re willing to share what you’re up to then let’s talk. It doesn’t have to be technology related. Great ideas often come from someone who doesn’t spend their days in your sandbox. You never know, I may be able to help your landscaping or bread baking business grow this year. It may be as simple as offering ideas and feedback or I may be able to do some real work for you.

My Request: I need your help. My day job is building products at Brainpark and I want it to thrive, grow, provide jobs and ultimately be a success story for our community. If you’re willing to help with that, in anyway, please let me know.

We’re set for April 14th for lucky DemoCampGuelph 13. As always, please point your family and friends to http://next.demoCampGuelph.com for details and signing up to attend.

I’m excited to have Rob Hyndman joining us as our invited speaker. While I don’t normally recommend going to see lawyer’s speak, Rob’s the exception. He always offers a useful perspective on how much, or how little, legal lifting you may need depending on where your project’s at.

As always, talk up our event and let people know what we’re up to.