Roger Ewing's Blog

Snow is a coffin

of flowing Angel hair in

the dead of winter.

Copyright © by Roger Patrick Ewing, all rights reserved.

James Cameron’s Avatar is a blockbuster movie , due largely to the technology of augmented reality.

By Roger Ewing

Imagine this for a moment.  You point your mobile phone camera at a busy city street and instantly you see an overlay image on your phone of information about sales, promotions, events, food, coffee and other interesting stuff.  All in real time.

No need to actually walk down the street and check out the menus, or look in the display windows.  If you don’t like what you see, you simply point the phone camera in the opposite direction and check out the action there.  Tonchidot, a Japanese company created an iPhone application called Sekai Camera that channels augmented reality technology into this exciting application.

Recently Esquire published it’s first augmented reality magazine.  Readers must download software from the internet.  Once enabled, the reader then holds the magazine page that includes the marker up to the webcam on their computer and instantly a video of Robert Downey Jr. springs to life on the computer screen.

There are additional augmented reality pages included inside the magazine that are quite amazing.  You can see a demonstration of the application here. Esquire Magazine Augmented Reality Issue

Research into augmented reality involves the assimilation of computer-generated imagery into live-video streams.  This technology expands the way we view the real world.

The Coca Cola Zero | Avatar promotion is probably the most amazing demonstration of this new technology.  It provides a glimpse into the marketing opportunities available through augmented reality.

James Cameron’s Avatar Toys augmented reality demonstration is another example of the commercialization of this technology.  Action figures are now 3D controllable images.  Press a button, and the figure takes flight; press another, and the guns begin to fire.  Add another figure, and they can interact.  The possibilities are endless.  Check out the video below.

It’s not difficult to envision a brochure or direct mail announcing a home for sale that possesses a marker, like Esquire Magazine, that when held in front of a computer webcam will trigger a virtual tour of the home to begin playing on the screen.  This is the power of augmented reality.

In the virtual world of augmented reality, our understanding of entertainment and marketing has changed forever.

Avatar, The Movie

Copyright © by Roger Patrick Ewing, all rights reserved.

Child Of My Dreams

For my son, Tyler

You are the child of my dreams

whispering to me softly

from the quiet darkness

behind your eyes.

You came into the world shimmering.

Rigged for silent running.

Braced hard against the helm.

Standing tall before the wind.

Physics will determine the course

of life’s many rain drops

crashing in clever cat paw patterns.

Leaving traces of accelerated particles

in your wake.

There is no science

no logical conclusion

no antibiotic for the infections

that wander after you and me.

Feel your sails rush

full bloom into the night?

Those maudlin clouds

no longer cling

to your precious feet.

Brave child of my dreams

take no prisoners in life’s grand game.

Quietly inscribe your enchanted heart

like a simple tattoo

on the shoulder of God.

Copyright © by Roger Patrick Ewing, all rights reserved.

Is it possible to create a computer that can solve problems like humans, using intelligence?

By Roger Ewing

In his book Leviathan, English political philosopher Thomas Hobbes said, science is reason, and “Reason is nothing but Reckoning..”.  Hobbes was describing either a computer and/or the human brain when he wrote those words in 1651.

Thomas Hobbes

Reckoning is computation and isn’t that what brains and computers do?  And isn’t thinking just another term for computing?  Artificial Intelligence has been described as the quality of a machine to have a mind, consciousness and a mental state.  How to make a machine exhibit these qualities is the question on the minds of Google engineers as they steer the starship Google into the next decade.  The magic of the search and the man-machine interface has become the new frontier of computer science.

John Battelle, in  his book The Search, writes of the “Database of Intentions”.  Batelle says search is the force driving the web forward and the ability of machines to understand what people are looking for is critical.

The capability of a computer to intuitively interpret our intentions is the Holy Grail of search.  Search is becoming less about finding something, and more about understanding something.

The Turing Test

Simply stated, the Turing Test is the ability of a machine to demonstrate intelligence.  Alan Turing in his 1950 paper Computing Machinery and Intelligence, contemplates the question “can machines think?”  The test goes like this. A human interrogator engages in a conversation with another human and a machine, each of which tries to appear human. All participants are separated from one another in different locations. If the interrogator cannot reliably tell the machine from the human, the machine is said to have passed the test and is therefore deemed intelligent.

The Loebner Prize

Hugh Loebner of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies sponsors a contest each year in which he offers a cash prize of $100,000 to the first computer that can pass the Turing Test.  Thus far, the Gold (audio and visual) and the Silver (text only) have never been won.

However, Loebner has awarded the bronze medal every year for the computer that demonstrates the “most human” conversation among that year’s entries.  Artificial Linguistic Internet Computer Entity (A.L.I.C.E.) won the bronze award three times (2000, 2001, 2004) and AI Jabberwacky won in 2005 and 2006.

Space Odyssey

Lets cut to the chase.  Can a machine have emotions, self awareness, creativity, benevolence, or hostility?  Can a machine have a soul?  Do we need to be concerned that some day a computer like Hal, from Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, will take control and attempt to extinguish our life force?  No, the answer is much more benign.

Battelle believes search will become intelligent as a result of clever algorithms that leverage the multi-millions of daily transactions, behaviors and links that compose the foundation of the web, The Database of Intentions.

What does the world want?

Google is determined to find out.

Copyright © by Roger Patrick Ewing, all rights reserved.

The most successful business relationship is usually the result of a personal recommendation.

By Roger Ewing

Case in point.   A sales associate in my office, lets call him John, understands the value of referral marketing.  John enters into an agreement with a custom house painter who works on new speculative homes, as well as high-end remodels, in the toniest of neighborhoods.  Pierre is the painter homeowners love to have on their project and then brag to their friends about the talented craftsman working on their home.

John is an enterprising and very successful real estate broker.  He understands the value of referrals and decides to create a mutually beneficial relationship with Pierre the painter.  John will refer Pierre’s custom painting business to his clients who are purchasing or selling homes.  In return, Pierre will refer any potential buyer’s and seller’s to John that he meets on his painting projects.  This symbiotic relationship should result in lots of referral opportunities for both.

John refers several custom painting jobs to Pierre over the course of the next few months.  Pierre is delighted, but John has not yet received any referral leads, even though Pierre claims to have handed out every business card John gave him.  What’s the problem?

It’s not enough for Pierre to simply hand John’s real estate business card to potential clients who happen to inquire about the home he is painting. That action alone does not qualify as a referral.  A successful business referral requires more effort.

I recommended to John that he meet with Pierre the painter and “train” him in the way he should handle his referrals.  Here are four helpful ideas to assist you in creating better referral opportunities.

1.  Ask permission.  Always create an environment where your friends or business partners acknowledge the referral process.  “My business is predominantly the result of personal referrals. Would you be willing to help me by passing on potential buyers and sellers to me?”  Assuming they say yes, you’re next step is to train them on how to refer you properly.

2.  Set the stage. Some individuals will balk at referring a client to you because they worry it may cause problems in their friendship with you.  Confirm that you keep your business and personal relationships well separated.  Assure your referral source that regardless of the quality or outcome of any referrals they give you, the referral will have no negative impact on your personal or business relationship.

3.  Don’t qualify the referral. Your referring source does not need to validate the quality of the referral.  I suggest saying something like this. “Please do not evaluate or attempt to determine the quality of a referral you give me.  Allow me to do that, it’s my job.  Send any lead my way, good, bad, or indifferent.”  People may actually not want to give you a referral because they don’t want to disappoint you.  Do not allow your referring source to do that.

4.  Control the referral process. You must initiate the call to the client, not the other way around.  Instruct your referring source to obtain the clients contact information and tell the client you will be calling.  This is critical.  Taking control of the referral process from the beginning will ensure client contact for you.  Leaving this to chance, by waiting for the client to call you, may result in a lost opportunity.

Lastly, the issue of providing an incentive to the referral source is something to consider.  When a friend or business associate recommends you, they are taking a leap of faith.  Their goal is to do a good deed for the client by giving them the opportunity to work with you.

Personally, I don’t believe in paying cash for a referral that results in a closed transaction weeks later.  I want to reward my referral source to initiate referrals, not to close sales.

Therefore, I recommend you provide some small gift to the person who has referred you.  This should be done as soon as you receive the referral.  That is the behavior you want to reinforce.  A coffee house or a restaurant gift card is all that is required.  If a referring source wants to make a business of providing referrals to you, then they are referring you for the wrong reason and the quality of the referrals will reflect it.

WOM, word of mouth, is a new internet catch word, that describes a very old concept.  People do business with people they know.  The best way to expand your business is to train your friends, past clients and business relationships to refer you.  The result will be many successful business transactions.

Copyright © by Roger Patrick Ewing, all rights reserved.

Empowerment, everyone talks about it, but few know how to get it.

By Roger Ewing

In author Rod Serling’s 1950’s television series, The Twilight Zone, ordinary folks suddenly found themselves in extraordinary, usually supernatural, situations. The stories would typically end with an ironic twist that resulted in the guilty being rightly punished.

Mr. Serling opened each show with a brief prologue that always concluded with this line, “There’s a sign post up ahead, your next stop The Twilight Zone”.  The television show was dependent upon our hunger for drama and capitalized on our need to experience moral balance in an immoral world.  The victim was rescued, the persecutor punished and the rescuer rewarded.  Isn’t this how it is supposed to be?

Vast opportunities become available to us when we no longer accept the role of Victim or Rescuer in our human interactions.  The path to empowerment does not cross anywhere near the drama triangle.

The drama triangle (see my previous 3 part series Avoiding Drama in Business and Personal Life) is where effective communication and mature problem solving goes to die.

There’s a sign post up ahead, your next stop, Empowerment

Where then do we go to obtain this elusive Empowerment?  The answer to that question, of course, lies within each of us.  Once we have freed ouselves from the addictive nature of drama, we can make mature plans, realize our dreams and accomplish the greatest of goals.  Empowerment is a high octane fuel that will work for anyone. It will work for Mother Theresa, Ghandi, even Hitler. Empowerment, it seems, has no conscience.

The power of the three “C”s

Commitment is the promise of accomplishment not yet realized.  Great leadership to ourselves or others involves single-minded devotion to an ideal.  An uncompromising attitude of achievement, no matter what the personal cost.  Gandhi’s threat to starve himself to death if the fighting between Hindus and Muslims did not stop is a prime example of this thinking.

The power of commitment resides in each of us and can be used to accomplish our dreams and goals regardless of how great or small they may be.

Capable individuals, when committed to a course of action, will follow through with effective behavior designed to actualize the goal at hand.  Empowerment is a non-exclusive quality.  To actualize our desires we must be capable of performing the activities necessary to accomplish the goal.  For example, if free climbing a vertical rock face is your goal, you must have the necessary training and the gear to accomplish the fete.  Without it, you might be left hanging.

Cognizance involves taking responsibility for an intellectual decision.  Our decisions must be based upon knowledge, awareness and observation.  If I am having a bad day and I determine the only solution available to me is to jump off the nearest bridge, I am not making an intellectually correct decision.

Sounds simple, what’s the catch?  To be empowered we must possess all of the three “C”s, every last one of them.  Missing only one will deprive us the power we need to succeed.

Commitment, Capability and Cognizance work together to make self actualization a real result.

Without one ingredient, the system will collapse.

Welcome to the land of Empowerment.

Copyright © by Roger Patrick Ewing, all rights reserved.

This Storm Was Written In Darkness

This storm was written in darkness

due to a power failure.

No one seems to know why power surges

or why lights dim and flicker out.

Electricity loses the will to live

in winter time.

Outside the storm moves

like a musician chasing notes

down the mountains with his silver flute.

Stars attempt meteor showers

against cloud cover.

Through my window

the wind bruises tree faces.

Throwing combinations heavyweight style

before the leaves have all fallen.

I believed I was safe

here inside the darkness.

Until I find the firelight

leaping in cadence

to the marching clouds.

Copyright © by Roger Patrick Ewing, all rights reserved.

Melting Snow

Melting snow lies hollow-eyed

and ill tempered.

Staring up at the sun.

How foolish was the snow?

To have wasted its precious life

waiting for winter.

Copyright © by Roger Patrick Ewing, all rights reserved.

Imagine a room full of people, and in that room there is a Victim and a Rescuer.  The two will find one another and hook up.

By Roger Ewing

Aniston and Schwimmer of TV's "Friends"

Drama is not inherently “bad”.  Drama is very entertaining; it’s just not a good means of managing ones life.  Here is a summary of what we have discovered about drama so far.

1.  At any given time, 60% of the adult population is involved in drama.

2.  Drama is both seductive and addictive.

3.  Drama does not get anyone what they want.

4.  The primary drama roles are Victim, Rescuer and Persecutor.

5.  The pivotal role in any drama is the Victim.

6.  Victims believe they have no options.

7.  Victims use specific limiting language that easily identifies them.

8.  Rescuing is all about the Rescuer, not the Victim,

9.  Persecutors empower Victims.

10.  Victims don’t really want to be rescued.

The relationship between each of our drama roles can be described as an inverted triangle, where the Victim takes the primary position of control.

Remember, while the roles in a silent movie are well defined, in real life drama the role of Victim, Rescuer and Persecutor are assigned by the other players in the drama.  Role reversal is a common occurrence and is important for the drama to gain traction.

If Victims don’t really want to be rescued, what do they want?

Victim’s involved in drama only want one thing from a Rescuer, support.  That’s it.  Simple, don’t over complicate the situation.  If you are involved in a drama situation you want to remove yourself from the triangle.

All Victims truly want is support.  Offer support, not solutions.

Here is a quality response to a drama Victim who is desperately seeking a Rescuer.  “I am here to help you in any way I can, tell me how to do that?”  Remember, Victims don’t view themselves as having options.  Therefore, Victims are incapable of making decisions.

By forcing a Victim to make a decision you are actively interfering with the drama process.

Victims will fight to stay engaged in the drama.  Regardless of how much the Victim may beg you, do not offer solutions.  Victims will make decisions if forced to do so and this is the only way you can achieve an effective solution to a dramatic situation.

Drama is an inherently immature response to life problems.  One of the best ways to view real life drama is to watch the behavior of young teenagers around the age of 13 or 14 years.  Their social interactions involve a lot of drama, “she said”, “he said”, “they said” is a typical conversation.  They live in drama nearly 100% of the time.  It’s almost as if the onset of puberty activates some sort of drama gene.

Mature adults, on the other hand, are interested in discovering how they can create and achieve goals, realize their dreams, and effectively manage their business and personal relationships.  This is mature thinking and is the basis for achieving self actualization.

It should come as no surprise that drama can be described by a very simple formula.

By Roger Ewing

Hollywood has known this formula for years.  One of the easiest means of observing drama is to see an old silent movie.

Here is a classic example of the roles involved in drama in the days of the silent movie.  The cast of characters includes our hero, a Canadian Mounty by the name of Dudley.  There is always a pretty girl who is desperately trying to save Grandma’s farm from foreclosure.  And of course, an evil villain named Snidely who wants to cheat Grandma out of the family farm.

The story follows the drama formula.  After a lot of dramatic activity, Snidely captures the pretty girl and ties her to the railroad tracks.  Dudley arrives at the last possible moment and defeats Snidely, saving Grandma’s farm and winning the pretty girl.  All is well in the end.

The silent movie is clearly an over simplification of real life drama.  However, it serves our purposes when analyzing the dysfunctional relationships we sometimes find ourselves in.  Here is a summary of the roles we encountered in our silent movie.

The Victim

Without a victim there can be no drama.

Therefore, victims are the most pivotal role in any drama.  It’s easy to spot Victims; they tend to use very specific language to describe their condition.  They often use limiting words, such as “always”, “forever”, “never”, “can’t”, “won’t”, “should”, “shouldn’t” and “couldn’t” among others.

Victims typically do not describe their situation as a problem, but rather refer to themselves as being in “trouble”.  Having a problem, implies there may be a solution.  Being in trouble, on the other hand, is a condition with no apparent solution.  Which leads us to our most important Victim quality and explains why Victims are rarely capable of making mature decisions.

Victims believe they have no options.

The Rescuer

The role of Rescuer is the most sought after role in drama.  This is because rescuers are individuals who get their feelings of positive self-esteem by attempting to rescue Victims. While this may seem very altruistic, the fact is it is a selfish role built on the Rescuer’s personal feelings of low self-esteem.  Rescuers feel great when they are doing what they do best,  rescuing.

Rescuing is all about the Rescuer, not the Victim.

The Persecutor

Very few people actively strive to be villains.  The Rescuer and the Victim usually assign this role to another party in the drama.  In fact, the Persecutor is a liquid role that flows freely among the drama players.

All of the roles in drama change and morph as each participant applies drama labels to each of the other players.  At any given time the Rescuer may feel like the Victim, the Victim may feel they are the Rescuer, and the Persecutor will take one position or the other.

All of this confusion creates an environment where positive accomplishments are not easily achieved.  Once we understand that Victims don’t really want to be rescued and that they need a Persecutor to validate their drama, the irony becomes clear.

The Persecutor empowers the Victim in drama.

Why does drama behavior continue when it clearly produces no desired results for the players? The answer lies in the fact that Victims and Rescuers are quite good at what they do.  Career Victims are very accomplished at their role. They really do want a Rescuer to attempt to rescue them and Rescuers really need a Victim to practice their rescuing skills on.  They are co-dependent upon one another and each gets satisfaction from the rescuing activity.  This explains why people stay in dysfunctional and damaging relationships.

The mystery is this.  How do we obtain positive results in our lives if others, who insist on living in drama, surround us and create an environment where little productivity occurs?  The answer is.

Don’t Attempt To Emotionally Rescue A Victim

An ancillary question might be, if I try really hard to rescue a Victim, won’t I realize a positive result?  One would like to think so.  However, the result of being a powerful Rescuer is the real possibility the Victim will turn on you and slap you with the Persecutor label.  Ever heard these words before?  “All I was trying to do was help and looked what they did to me.”

In Part 3 of this series, I will describe the best technique for interacting with others engaged in drama.  There is a creative way to defuse the drama triangle and actually bring about positive, mature, results in our business and personal relationships.