The event was a big success! We estimate attendance at 550 people. There was just enough cake: there were two pieces left when I left. Overall, people seemed happy with the mix of cake. Carrot seemed to appeal to older folks and those of us who don't have much of a sweet tooth. Chocolate was popular with the little kids. White cakes were a happy medium for everybody. All of the cakes looked very appealing, very fresh and moist.
We have only heard the positive comments so far. We'll probably see any negative ones once the electronic surveys come back.
All in all, an event of this scale really did need all the volunteers we got. We had an assembly line of sorts cutting and serving cake, maybe 10 people in all. I am also glad we spent a few extra bucks to get the disposable table covers (paper tablecloths) as those made cleanup a breeze. It is nearly impossible to cut and serve 13 cakes without making a mess.
If we had to do this again (hopefully not for at least a year or two), I'd arrange the tables differently. There was only one entrance to the reception area and that's where people lined up. Therefore there could only be one unidirectional line. We should setup one table for water instead of two. The second water table becomes a cut cake table. The other two tables should be reserved for actual cake cutting. Volunteers should put a fork with each little plate of cake. We should also make sure to have equal numbers of plates and cake servings, although napkins work well in a pinch.
Coding the cake decorations worked very well. It was a snap to get a good mix of different cake types and correctly identify the fillings without having to sample any.
The carrot and white cakes were tasty. White with chocolate filling and cream cheese icing works well. I heard the chocolate cake was also good, but didnt' get a chance to sample it.
Now all we have to do is find a different venue for the next event. Whenever that is.
Friday, July 23, 2004
Sunday, July 18, 2004
I purchased a dress this weekend. The good thing about it is it's long enough that I can wear sandals with it, so I don't need to purchase shoes. The bad thing about it is it requires that I figure out how to use sunless tanner, since there's no way the farmers tan is disappearing before K's wedding. This dress would look nice with a nicely shaped straw hat, but the odds of finding one are very slim and decreasing with every store I visit. I hope K appreciates all this effort.
I have also thought about whether this Thursday's event (the one requiring cake and water for 600 people) will be a success. Our original intent was to foster cross-company networking among 100 or so people. Now that the attendee list has ballooned to 600, we've abandoned all hope of having an ice-breaker and have split the evening up into two rotating sessions just so we can actually give everybody a chance to listen to the keynote. Which will be given twice. There will be 300 people touring the visitors center at a time, which makes me wonder how much everyone will actually get out of it.
This reminds me. I still need to go get the cake knives, garbage bags, and paper towels I was supposed to get last weekend. Let's hope I remember to purchase these items before Thursday.
I have also thought about whether this Thursday's event (the one requiring cake and water for 600 people) will be a success. Our original intent was to foster cross-company networking among 100 or so people. Now that the attendee list has ballooned to 600, we've abandoned all hope of having an ice-breaker and have split the evening up into two rotating sessions just so we can actually give everybody a chance to listen to the keynote. Which will be given twice. There will be 300 people touring the visitors center at a time, which makes me wonder how much everyone will actually get out of it.
This reminds me. I still need to go get the cake knives, garbage bags, and paper towels I was supposed to get last weekend. Let's hope I remember to purchase these items before Thursday.
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Are you red or blue?
Well, I am apparently in the middle, neither red nor blue (or else extremely ignorant), which may explain why I don't like any of this year's presidential candidates.
Well, I am apparently in the middle, neither red nor blue (or else extremely ignorant), which may explain why I don't like any of this year's presidential candidates.
Monday, July 12, 2004
Oh drat, I came up with some lovely things to riff about yesterday evening and today. But now I am drawing a blank and I don't remember them at all. Today was truly a Monday. In addition to forgetting a perfectly good post, while eating an apricot today, I managed to dribble juice on a clean pair of pants. How many juicy apricots have you had?
Yesterday I visited the farmers market, a very nice experience. This year it seems apricots are out in full force. Last year, I remember complaining about how I couldn't find fresh apricots anymore. This year, I guess I'll complain about not finding either Rainier or Royal Anne cherries in good condition at a decent price.
"I love the 90's" is playing on VH1. The television is on in the first place because there is a load of laundry still going. There is something strangely addictive about these series; somehow the cynical remarks, fast pace, and pop culture references make me cringe at how silly these fads were and how seriously people took them at the time. But this formula only works for cultural references you either remember or vaguely remember. The 80's series worked because the comedians remembered the decade and many of the references. So far the 90's is working because again the comedians remember all those fads, but it's not working as well because the 90's isn't far enough removed to be kitschy. The 70's series (or what little I have seen of all of these shows) didn't seem as compelling because I couldn't connect with those fads. This is why a 60's or 50's series might not work as well. Anything earlier probably isn't kitschy enough.
This is pathetic. I should just go to bed, since I kind of promised myself I'd go to work early tomorrow.
Yesterday I visited the farmers market, a very nice experience. This year it seems apricots are out in full force. Last year, I remember complaining about how I couldn't find fresh apricots anymore. This year, I guess I'll complain about not finding either Rainier or Royal Anne cherries in good condition at a decent price.
"I love the 90's" is playing on VH1. The television is on in the first place because there is a load of laundry still going. There is something strangely addictive about these series; somehow the cynical remarks, fast pace, and pop culture references make me cringe at how silly these fads were and how seriously people took them at the time. But this formula only works for cultural references you either remember or vaguely remember. The 80's series worked because the comedians remembered the decade and many of the references. So far the 90's is working because again the comedians remember all those fads, but it's not working as well because the 90's isn't far enough removed to be kitschy. The 70's series (or what little I have seen of all of these shows) didn't seem as compelling because I couldn't connect with those fads. This is why a 60's or 50's series might not work as well. Anything earlier probably isn't kitschy enough.
This is pathetic. I should just go to bed, since I kind of promised myself I'd go to work early tomorrow.
Sunday, July 11, 2004
We ordered the cakes this morning. We tried asking the nice lady at the bakery counter for a phone number so we could call the night before the event to check if the cakes were ready. Her eyes only bugged out slightly when we said we'd just ordered 13 cakes. (The bakery lady's at Safeway bugged out a lot when I mentioned 200 guests. This was back in the old days when we were planning for just over 100 people.) Slight problem with the water: we couldn't find the ones we wanted, so we'll have to settle for the ones that come 35 bottles to a case. Now we'll need 18 cases of water instead of 13. Fortunately, there are now even more volunteers (something like 20 cars).
It would be nice if your car stereo could increase the volume in response to noisier road conditions, such as driving on the highway. Several years ago on an interview trip I rented a car (Chevy Impala) that had this technology, but it didn't work very well. I couldn't tell if the volume would increase if, say, you were stopped at a railroad crossing and a communter train blew by, because that never happened. It correctly increased volume to compensate for noise from highway driving. However, it overcompensated. I'm not sure if the trigger is based on ambient noise or is directly tied to the speedometer.
My opinion is there ought to be a way for the driver to specify the correct volume levels for different driving conditions. Compensating for the freeway doesn't always translate into a constant increase. It depends on the highway conditions, the CD or radio station, and so forth. Ideally, the audio system remembers different settings for different radio stations and CDs. For a new CD or station, it would pick a fixed constant, and the driver can adjust accordingly. It should recognize that you might want, say NPR to be louder than the Top 40 station since in the former, you might actually want to hear what they're saying. The increase should be tied to ambient noise. The system should distinguish persistent traffic noise from, say, a big truck.
Finally, the stereo digitizes volume control. This is fine, but the quanta should be smaller. It always seems to be too loud or too soft.
It would be nice if your car stereo could increase the volume in response to noisier road conditions, such as driving on the highway. Several years ago on an interview trip I rented a car (Chevy Impala) that had this technology, but it didn't work very well. I couldn't tell if the volume would increase if, say, you were stopped at a railroad crossing and a communter train blew by, because that never happened. It correctly increased volume to compensate for noise from highway driving. However, it overcompensated. I'm not sure if the trigger is based on ambient noise or is directly tied to the speedometer.
My opinion is there ought to be a way for the driver to specify the correct volume levels for different driving conditions. Compensating for the freeway doesn't always translate into a constant increase. It depends on the highway conditions, the CD or radio station, and so forth. Ideally, the audio system remembers different settings for different radio stations and CDs. For a new CD or station, it would pick a fixed constant, and the driver can adjust accordingly. It should recognize that you might want, say NPR to be louder than the Top 40 station since in the former, you might actually want to hear what they're saying. The increase should be tied to ambient noise. The system should distinguish persistent traffic noise from, say, a big truck.
Finally, the stereo digitizes volume control. This is fine, but the quanta should be smaller. It always seems to be too loud or too soft.
Saturday, July 10, 2004
Great news! Our RSVP list for the event (the one requiring cake and beverages for 600, just to be clear) seems to have a number of nice people who have agreed to help transport food and beverage. We now have 7 volunteer cars plus mine. That means 6 cars can take two flats of water and a cake each, one car takes one flat of water and a cake, and my car takes 6 cakes, which will probably just fit.
While I'd like to think the spirit of volunteerism is running strong, I suspect the proportion is the same. I just got more cars because we had a pool of 500+ to work from.
Today I saw my first brush fire. I realize this is a common occurrence, but is new to someone who lives in a city nowhere near substantial vegetation. It was on 101, in the opposite direction. Well, I admit I didn't see the fire. Just smoke. It smelled like a campfire, then the fire truck came into view. I wonder if it got started by a tossed cigarrette.
While I'd like to think the spirit of volunteerism is running strong, I suspect the proportion is the same. I just got more cars because we had a pool of 500+ to work from.
Today I saw my first brush fire. I realize this is a common occurrence, but is new to someone who lives in a city nowhere near substantial vegetation. It was on 101, in the opposite direction. Well, I admit I didn't see the fire. Just smoke. It smelled like a campfire, then the fire truck came into view. I wonder if it got started by a tossed cigarrette.
Friday, July 09, 2004
There are 3 cakes, 4 fillings, and 4 icings, making for a total of 48 possible cake configurations. More realistically, since carrot cake is difficult to pair up (carrot cake, strawberry filling, and chocolate icing?), there are 1 + 2*4*4 = 33 different combinations. Furthermore, I think chocolate cake with apricot filling sounds weird (the cake would overwhelm the filling), this means 4 less, or 29 total.
Each cake yields 48 small portions, so we will get 13 cakes as we are now expecting 600 people, or very nearly so. And yes, excluding the carrot cakes, each one is different. I have coded the decorations: scored icing for the carrot and chocolate cakes, and writing for the white ones. Carrot will have little carrots in each box, and chocolate with have little roses. White cake shall have colored roses on the fringe and writing in the middle. The color of the roses will indicate the filling: yellow = white cheesecake, orange = apricot mousse, brown/chocolate/dark = chocolate mousse.
Each cake has 2 pounds of filling, so the cake itself should weigh 3-5 pounds. Going on the high side, that's 65 pounds of cake.
We haven't discussed beverages yet. 13 cases of bottled water, each one probably weighing more than each cake.
Most disturbing, we are allocating a significant portion of the budget (just under 1/3 of the food/beverage/plate cost) toward renting a van or SUV so we can transport the 100+ pounds of comestibles.
If/when I get married, there will be fewer than 600 guests. The cake will definitely be neither carrot nor white nor chocolate, which unfortunately doesn't leave too many options. (J doesn't like coconut, and I don't like strawberry in the cake itself. Ube anyone?) Of course, I would also promise dinner to all my guests at a wedding.
Thank goodness we only promised "light refreshments" for this event.
Each cake yields 48 small portions, so we will get 13 cakes as we are now expecting 600 people, or very nearly so. And yes, excluding the carrot cakes, each one is different. I have coded the decorations: scored icing for the carrot and chocolate cakes, and writing for the white ones. Carrot will have little carrots in each box, and chocolate with have little roses. White cake shall have colored roses on the fringe and writing in the middle. The color of the roses will indicate the filling: yellow = white cheesecake, orange = apricot mousse, brown/chocolate/dark = chocolate mousse.
Each cake has 2 pounds of filling, so the cake itself should weigh 3-5 pounds. Going on the high side, that's 65 pounds of cake.
We haven't discussed beverages yet. 13 cases of bottled water, each one probably weighing more than each cake.
Most disturbing, we are allocating a significant portion of the budget (just under 1/3 of the food/beverage/plate cost) toward renting a van or SUV so we can transport the 100+ pounds of comestibles.
If/when I get married, there will be fewer than 600 guests. The cake will definitely be neither carrot nor white nor chocolate, which unfortunately doesn't leave too many options. (J doesn't like coconut, and I don't like strawberry in the cake itself. Ube anyone?) Of course, I would also promise dinner to all my guests at a wedding.
Thank goodness we only promised "light refreshments" for this event.
Thursday, July 08, 2004
My network went down last night, so I was unable to share this tidbit of wisdom.
I have a new rule. If you want me to plan food for your event, I shall require:
* $2 per head if serving beverages only
* $3 per head if serving light snacks only
* $10 per head for lunch
* heaven help you if you are serving dinner
If you are not willing to pony up for delivery, then I shall require that you volunteer your time and your car to help transport the goods. And no one in the party will be allowed to complain about the fact that the food is from Costco.
I am currently trying to provide beverages and light refreshments for 400 people while spending a dollar a head. Food costs more than this, folks. We planned for 100 people, I think, and it has rapidly ballooned. I am so sick and tired of making one loaf of bread feed forty, turning water into wine, and so forth.
I have a new rule. If you want me to plan food for your event, I shall require:
* $2 per head if serving beverages only
* $3 per head if serving light snacks only
* $10 per head for lunch
* heaven help you if you are serving dinner
If you are not willing to pony up for delivery, then I shall require that you volunteer your time and your car to help transport the goods. And no one in the party will be allowed to complain about the fact that the food is from Costco.
I am currently trying to provide beverages and light refreshments for 400 people while spending a dollar a head. Food costs more than this, folks. We planned for 100 people, I think, and it has rapidly ballooned. I am so sick and tired of making one loaf of bread feed forty, turning water into wine, and so forth.
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Thursday, June 24, 2004
Tonight I will describe what happened at work today. But it doesn't really count as discussing work, because it isn't technical and isn't at all related to anything I normally do at work. The purpose was to foster community among employees and make it a friendler place to work.
I am also betting no one close to this community will read my blog, so they won't figure out where I work or what I do. Not that I intend to discuss technical stuff here anyways.
Today, employees were invited to take their kids with them to work. I think this started as a national girls to work day. The national day was held in April timeframe and its intent was to expose girls to a variety of career choices and encourage them to pursue higher studies. However, it's discriminatory to invite girls only. And an April date conflicted with school.
My company puts on a major production. We have keynotes for the kids and workshops and other fun sessions throughout the day. There is a special kid-friendly menu in our cafeteria (it didn't look much better than the normal fare) and the kids round out the day by running amok among our cubicles.
In addition, kids from the community can get volunteer hosts to escort them, so not all the kids were the offspring of my coworkers. Or, rather, employees without children can borrow a kid to escort for the day. Either way.
My group hosted a workshop called the "Lemonade Stand". It's roughly modeled after "The Apprentice" and the computerized lemonade stands I played on the old Apple computers in grade school.
The kids are broken up into small teams. They are given "seed money" with which they must purchase an advertising banner (more colorful banners sell more lemonade) and glasses of lemonade to sell. At the start of each day, they get a weather prediction (based on a die roll) and decide how much lemonade to buy based on this prediction. Another roll of the die determines the accuracy of the prediction, and there is a formula that determines the actual number of glasses sold. This simulation continues for a week. The volunteer leads guide the kids through the banner creation and helps work the math on the whiteboard.
As I told them this morning, there are three goals:
1. Make a profit. They must recoup the money spent on the banner and initial lemonade purchase.
2. Make more money than the other team.
3. Make as much money as possible.
It looked like the kids had fun. There were a few who couldn't stop talking about it afterwards. We could hear them telling their parents all about how much money they made. If I do say so myself, I thought I designed the rules rather well. The session had a mixture of activities that required all sorts of skills: creative (team name selection and banner creation), physical (die rolls), and analytical (computing profit and determining how much lemonade to buy).
The volunteers had fun, too. The sessions were fast-paced, involved lots of teaching and coaching, and the computation was just complicated enough to be challenging for the adults. Well, the math wasn't so complicated, it was having to be accurate in a short amount of time.
I learned several things:
1. If the team is large enough, it helps to designate one kid to do whiteboard duty.
2. It helps to write out the formula in a "fill in the blanks" format on the whiteboard.
3. The kids have more fun if they take turns rolling the die. Also if each gets their own marking pen when drawing the banner.
4. One really good extension to the algorithm is to allow the sale of hot chocolate on nasty weather days. There would be a second formula for the hot chocolate sold, which would be almost the inverse of the lemonade formula. The profit margins might be slimmer on the hot chocolate. And all the weights would be adjusted to make it more difficult to make a profit.
5. The weights could be made more complicated by rolling a pair of dice instead of a die.
6. The banner options could be expanded to include more colors, or even the option of not buying a banner at all. Nobody bothered to add colors during the simulation, so that option can be eliminated.
7. Maybe there should be a fixed rent/insurance/utilities fee charged every day. This makes it tougher to decide whether to buy lemonade to sell or just sit the day out.
8. The options can be slimmed down to make the algorithm easier for a younger audience.
All in all, this was a fun experience. But we'll have to come up with something different for next year.
I am also betting no one close to this community will read my blog, so they won't figure out where I work or what I do. Not that I intend to discuss technical stuff here anyways.
Today, employees were invited to take their kids with them to work. I think this started as a national girls to work day. The national day was held in April timeframe and its intent was to expose girls to a variety of career choices and encourage them to pursue higher studies. However, it's discriminatory to invite girls only. And an April date conflicted with school.
My company puts on a major production. We have keynotes for the kids and workshops and other fun sessions throughout the day. There is a special kid-friendly menu in our cafeteria (it didn't look much better than the normal fare) and the kids round out the day by running amok among our cubicles.
In addition, kids from the community can get volunteer hosts to escort them, so not all the kids were the offspring of my coworkers. Or, rather, employees without children can borrow a kid to escort for the day. Either way.
My group hosted a workshop called the "Lemonade Stand". It's roughly modeled after "The Apprentice" and the computerized lemonade stands I played on the old Apple computers in grade school.
The kids are broken up into small teams. They are given "seed money" with which they must purchase an advertising banner (more colorful banners sell more lemonade) and glasses of lemonade to sell. At the start of each day, they get a weather prediction (based on a die roll) and decide how much lemonade to buy based on this prediction. Another roll of the die determines the accuracy of the prediction, and there is a formula that determines the actual number of glasses sold. This simulation continues for a week. The volunteer leads guide the kids through the banner creation and helps work the math on the whiteboard.
As I told them this morning, there are three goals:
1. Make a profit. They must recoup the money spent on the banner and initial lemonade purchase.
2. Make more money than the other team.
3. Make as much money as possible.
It looked like the kids had fun. There were a few who couldn't stop talking about it afterwards. We could hear them telling their parents all about how much money they made. If I do say so myself, I thought I designed the rules rather well. The session had a mixture of activities that required all sorts of skills: creative (team name selection and banner creation), physical (die rolls), and analytical (computing profit and determining how much lemonade to buy).
The volunteers had fun, too. The sessions were fast-paced, involved lots of teaching and coaching, and the computation was just complicated enough to be challenging for the adults. Well, the math wasn't so complicated, it was having to be accurate in a short amount of time.
I learned several things:
1. If the team is large enough, it helps to designate one kid to do whiteboard duty.
2. It helps to write out the formula in a "fill in the blanks" format on the whiteboard.
3. The kids have more fun if they take turns rolling the die. Also if each gets their own marking pen when drawing the banner.
4. One really good extension to the algorithm is to allow the sale of hot chocolate on nasty weather days. There would be a second formula for the hot chocolate sold, which would be almost the inverse of the lemonade formula. The profit margins might be slimmer on the hot chocolate. And all the weights would be adjusted to make it more difficult to make a profit.
5. The weights could be made more complicated by rolling a pair of dice instead of a die.
6. The banner options could be expanded to include more colors, or even the option of not buying a banner at all. Nobody bothered to add colors during the simulation, so that option can be eliminated.
7. Maybe there should be a fixed rent/insurance/utilities fee charged every day. This makes it tougher to decide whether to buy lemonade to sell or just sit the day out.
8. The options can be slimmed down to make the algorithm easier for a younger audience.
All in all, this was a fun experience. But we'll have to come up with something different for next year.
Monday, June 21, 2004
And one more thing. I'm in a good mood after working out, despite being horribly embarrassed at how out of shape I am. (Not going as fast on the elliptical trainers, having to move the peg up on the weight machines...) My project at work is still frustrating, and will still be frustrating tomorrow, but it feels all right now.
Now, if only I could get motivated to do this more often, we'd be set.
Now, if only I could get motivated to do this more often, we'd be set.
I believe the electronic speed limit sign previously discussed displays your speed if you are driving over 25 MPH, and the limit if you're not. I think the sensor is about 0.5 blocks before the sign, maybe 20 meters or so from the corner. Its range seems to span a fair distance. Of course future study is required.
About the engineering drama. Let me bounce off episode ideas. First episode: upper management, along with marketing guy, pick a toy idea (DIY tie-dyed teddy bears?) based purely on data. Kids like teddy bears. Kids like colors. Kids like tie-dye and doing it themselves. Misguided product ala "Big". (Remember the toy robot that turned into a building? And the Tom Hanks character saying he didn't get it?) Tension brews: the EE folks have nothing to do and are blocked out of the development cycle at any rate. Some incompetent, lazy designer picks toxic dye and the focus group turns awry.
Sounds more cynical than dramatic, huh?
About the engineering drama. Let me bounce off episode ideas. First episode: upper management, along with marketing guy, pick a toy idea (DIY tie-dyed teddy bears?) based purely on data. Kids like teddy bears. Kids like colors. Kids like tie-dye and doing it themselves. Misguided product ala "Big". (Remember the toy robot that turned into a building? And the Tom Hanks character saying he didn't get it?) Tension brews: the EE folks have nothing to do and are blocked out of the development cycle at any rate. Some incompetent, lazy designer picks toxic dye and the focus group turns awry.
Sounds more cynical than dramatic, huh?
Saturday, June 19, 2004
Recently, on a street near my place of employment, they installed an electric sign that for a while displayed the speed limit along that road. The other morning, I discovered it also tells you the speed at which you are driving. I have not yet figured out the algorithm for this sign, so I do not know if it tells you your speed only at certain times or if you have exceeded the speed limit, as California drivers are wont to do.
This sign is incredibly fun. It will take a lot of willpower not to go and play with it this weekend. To avoid playing with the sign this afternoon, I took a nap.
Now, I feel guilty for taking a nap and I don't know why. I purposely left my calendar empty this weekend to make up for last weekend. I didn't miss any prior commitments. I still intend to clean the bathroom tonight. I'd hate to think it's societal pressure making me feel guilty for taking a nap.
This sign is incredibly fun. It will take a lot of willpower not to go and play with it this weekend. To avoid playing with the sign this afternoon, I took a nap.
Now, I feel guilty for taking a nap and I don't know why. I purposely left my calendar empty this weekend to make up for last weekend. I didn't miss any prior commitments. I still intend to clean the bathroom tonight. I'd hate to think it's societal pressure making me feel guilty for taking a nap.
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
Thursday, June 10, 2004
Diverging off the topic of engineering dramas for a moment...
...but staying on TV.
I love to cook and try new recipes. I love to watch the Food Network, especially "Good Eats", "Iron Chef", and "Unwrapped". My favorite PBS shows are the cooking ones with Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, Martin Yan, and the America's Test Kitchen. For some reason, I also enjoyed "Supersize Me" and "Fast Food Nation".
There is a show on the Food Network called "30 Minute Meals" dedicated to showing us how to cook a good healthy meal in the time it takes to finish one show. It's not hard to cook and eat healthy.
Now hear me out. I think the reason why we (collectively, as a consumer society) love fast food so much is not because it tastes good or we were enticed by the toy.
No, the reason we love fast food and restaurants and junk food so much is we hate to clean. Of course it's easy to cook a healthy meal in little time. It's a pain in the butt to clean all the dishes, pots, and pans afterward, especially if you just spent another hour entertaining your guests/friends/family. Have you tried cleaning the pot in which you've just made caramel? Now try it in a non-stick pot and come back in a week when it's clean.
Therefore, IMHO, food shows should be more realistic. "30 Minute Meals" does a respectable job, since the hostess Rachael Ray actually does a fair amount of chopping, cutting, and cleaning during her 30 minutes.
The food show I'd design would last maybe an hour, and in this hour, my host (not me, goodness no, I only have 10 fingers to sacrifice on camera) would do all food prep, cooking, and cleaning. The camera would cut out while people ate the food, then cut back in for the cleaning.
On a vaguely related note, my ex-roommate N and I came up with another food show concept: "grad student cookery". The food prep and dish cleaning are all in there, with an added twist: nearly everything is prepared in the microwave. Occasionally we would use the stove to boil something. Hah, let's see Emeril make something of that.
...but staying on TV.
I love to cook and try new recipes. I love to watch the Food Network, especially "Good Eats", "Iron Chef", and "Unwrapped". My favorite PBS shows are the cooking ones with Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, Martin Yan, and the America's Test Kitchen. For some reason, I also enjoyed "Supersize Me" and "Fast Food Nation".
There is a show on the Food Network called "30 Minute Meals" dedicated to showing us how to cook a good healthy meal in the time it takes to finish one show. It's not hard to cook and eat healthy.
Now hear me out. I think the reason why we (collectively, as a consumer society) love fast food so much is not because it tastes good or we were enticed by the toy.
No, the reason we love fast food and restaurants and junk food so much is we hate to clean. Of course it's easy to cook a healthy meal in little time. It's a pain in the butt to clean all the dishes, pots, and pans afterward, especially if you just spent another hour entertaining your guests/friends/family. Have you tried cleaning the pot in which you've just made caramel? Now try it in a non-stick pot and come back in a week when it's clean.
Therefore, IMHO, food shows should be more realistic. "30 Minute Meals" does a respectable job, since the hostess Rachael Ray actually does a fair amount of chopping, cutting, and cleaning during her 30 minutes.
The food show I'd design would last maybe an hour, and in this hour, my host (not me, goodness no, I only have 10 fingers to sacrifice on camera) would do all food prep, cooking, and cleaning. The camera would cut out while people ate the food, then cut back in for the cleaning.
On a vaguely related note, my ex-roommate N and I came up with another food show concept: "grad student cookery". The food prep and dish cleaning are all in there, with an added twist: nearly everything is prepared in the microwave. Occasionally we would use the stove to boil something. Hah, let's see Emeril make something of that.
Tuesday, June 08, 2004
Taking the cell phone example, the trouble I see with such a format is the storyline drifts towards the people using the cell phone (product) and not the engineers, when the intent was to focus on the engineers in the first place.
Another problem is any decently built product has more than a few main players. You might have whole teams designing each component or taking over a certain design step, like the board layout. Most shows I've seen focus on a handful of people. It would be impossible to get everybody in, and it would be boring just to focus on the team deciding the color of the case. ("Red! Green! No, it should be blue!")
It would be more realistic to have 5 managers as the main characters. Notice I didn't say it would be exciting. But let's run with it a moment.
5 managers, each of whom has 2-4 direct reports. The reporting structure is fairly flat; I'm sure the CEO is lurking around here somewhere. This leaves a cozy company of about 20 people.
One team does sales and marketing, one does case design and human interaction, one does the software, and one does the circuitry, leaving one team open. How about reducing the number of teams by two and replacing them with individuals: a sales/marketing person, an HR person, a clerk, and an accountant. I don't think such a small company would have its own lawyer.
It would be more interesting to have each episode be self-contained, with a new product every episode. Needless to say, our employees are exhausted. Clearly this is a private company.
Oh, I know, they would manufacture toys. Those annoying electronic computerized toys that make a lot of noise. Those should be sufficiently different to make each episode interesting. A heart monitor or cell phone requires more than 20 people.
Another problem is any decently built product has more than a few main players. You might have whole teams designing each component or taking over a certain design step, like the board layout. Most shows I've seen focus on a handful of people. It would be impossible to get everybody in, and it would be boring just to focus on the team deciding the color of the case. ("Red! Green! No, it should be blue!")
It would be more realistic to have 5 managers as the main characters. Notice I didn't say it would be exciting. But let's run with it a moment.
5 managers, each of whom has 2-4 direct reports. The reporting structure is fairly flat; I'm sure the CEO is lurking around here somewhere. This leaves a cozy company of about 20 people.
One team does sales and marketing, one does case design and human interaction, one does the software, and one does the circuitry, leaving one team open. How about reducing the number of teams by two and replacing them with individuals: a sales/marketing person, an HR person, a clerk, and an accountant. I don't think such a small company would have its own lawyer.
It would be more interesting to have each episode be self-contained, with a new product every episode. Needless to say, our employees are exhausted. Clearly this is a private company.
Oh, I know, they would manufacture toys. Those annoying electronic computerized toys that make a lot of noise. Those should be sufficiently different to make each episode interesting. A heart monitor or cell phone requires more than 20 people.
Saturday, May 29, 2004
Ideas for engineering dramas
Disclaimer: I am sure every idea is a ripoff of some existing television show or movie.
Television drama centers around human nature and eliminates the mundane stuff. For example, on shows about lawyers, you only really see the part where the suspect is tried and sentenced. You never see intellectual property trials. On shows about doctors, you see the emergency cases and blood everywhere. You never see hospice care or the chronic cases unless there is a major turning point.
I know, I know, this is generalizing. Feel free to contradict me.
How about creating a series about a particular product? For example, those portable defibrilators. Each episode would be about a different life saved or lost. Perhaps there could be a small design flaw that the engineers must debug and fix by the end of the series.
Or tracing the journey of cell phones. The loves lost and found, the emergency calls at midnight for whatever dramatic or mundane reasons, the panicked 911 calls.
Guess this needs a lot more work.
Television drama centers around human nature and eliminates the mundane stuff. For example, on shows about lawyers, you only really see the part where the suspect is tried and sentenced. You never see intellectual property trials. On shows about doctors, you see the emergency cases and blood everywhere. You never see hospice care or the chronic cases unless there is a major turning point.
I know, I know, this is generalizing. Feel free to contradict me.
How about creating a series about a particular product? For example, those portable defibrilators. Each episode would be about a different life saved or lost. Perhaps there could be a small design flaw that the engineers must debug and fix by the end of the series.
Or tracing the journey of cell phones. The loves lost and found, the emergency calls at midnight for whatever dramatic or mundane reasons, the panicked 911 calls.
Guess this needs a lot more work.
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