But much to my surprise a search of the internet revealed no easy to use tools. So – I figured I’d make it easier for people to find should they be in the situation I was, so without further ado here is your very own mat man template.

Google Sheets: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ZKNfzpMh_fS1KR7MRlndqXdeOIS_u85ScEw-vUGxZ6U/edit#slide=id.p

It’s worth noting you can also save that as a PDF or Powerpoint if that’s more your speed.

If you’re not familiar with mat man, the idea is simple. You take the pieces above and make them into a little man, à la the example below:

Then you take pieces away from the man to make various letter shapes. I think it is mostly meant for capital letters, but it works for lower case ones too (mostly). Little a and e and g and q and such can be tricky, but you can definitely make all the capital letters.

If you really need a cheat sheet, see below.

I admit the G is horrid, but it works. I think real mat man has a more well rounded head to help with things like that, but none the less this has worked well for us.

Hope this helps you and your little one learn their letters and handwriting without tears, crying, or tantrums. My kids have loved it, and I’ve been very pleasantly surprised how much the quieter of the two has revealed she’s known all along, even if she hadn’t shown it yet.

Good luck!

PS – Someone asked me why all the extra shapes on the print out. Ha! If you have kids you know why. Mat man mark 1 unfortunately drowned in a bowl of chicken noodle soup.

PPS – A recent visitor to the site pointed me to a digital version of mat man they built, great on desktops and tablets: http://matmanfun.com/

The post Mat Man Template appeared first on Chris Yoko.

Here are the lyrics:

Hit me up I hit these streets
Lookin’ for a tasty treat

See ‘er right before my eye
Ooh mama oh my oh my
Forget the room you’re all I see
How to get you home with me?

Whisperin’ into your ear
Say the words you wanna hear
Get you juicy you’re so wet
Slide into my new Corvette

Hold this bottle of champagne
At my place we’ll make it rain
Now we’re here at my estate
Oh my god I just can’t wait

Open up and in the door
I can’t take it any more
You got all the curves I need
See your body pass it please

Lay you down off comes your top
Now you’re gettin’ me all hot
Twerk it bouncin’ up and down
Make me smile never frown

Slide my hand behind your head
Want to taste you while you spread
Got your hands around your waist
Girl don’t tease give me a taste

Now I see you all spread out
Body’s perfect there’s no doubt
Only one thing left to do
Is makin’ one right out of two

Single round’s never enough
Need more time eatin’ that muff (muffin)
Insteada seconds gimmie thirds
You’re still speechless got no words

Now we cookin’ do not (donut) stop
Girl you make that biscuit pop
Great ol’ legs (griddle eggs) you make it work
Be makin’ (bacon) me go all berserk

What a sticky mess we make
You’re all over my pancake
Covered in your syrup, sexy
Aunt Jemima you’ve hexed me

People say you can’t be mine…

But girl…

I’ll see you at breakfast time

Da Lucid // CY aka Chris Yoko

The post How Do You Like Your Eggs? Lyrics (Song) appeared first on Chris Yoko.

One day I reach into my pocket to grab my wallet like I’ve done 364 times before, and lo and behold my wallet was gone. At some point my pocket had been picked and now I came up empty handed.

Having the long relationship I’ve had with the store and cashier I thought maybe he’d give me a break and I could hit him back next week. I looked up at the cashier half pleading half expectant.

The cashier looked at me and without pause grabbed the cup of coffee and threw it in the trash.

And that was that. I walked out of the store and I never went back.

That story isn’t true, thank God. Imagine the reviews a business like that would get! But the digital equivalent happens all the time, and SaaS companies don’t bat an eye…

But that story sums up exactly how I felt when after 7 years of being a Pandora One subscriber, my account was cancelled because my CC on file had been compromised and subsequently deactivated.

I know it’s a bit insane to personify a piece of software, there is no person on the other end of the Pandora app running my transaction, getting to know me. But, as a user of the service for so long I began to feel quite an affinity for the brand.

I felt like I had a relationship with Pandora.

And so when my account was cancelled 2 days after my card was stolen it felt the same as the story above.

The rational part of my brain knows that it is an automated system and they happened to run my card 2 days after it was deactivated. My brain knows there wasn’t any malicious intent behind cancelling my account.

But the irrational part of my brain made it feel like this company is supported as a customer for years didn’t care about me at all. Despite my affinity for them, there was no affinity in return.

And so I started to dwell on my brief bout with insanity as I considered my, and our, relationships with software. Humans aren’t rational. Much of the joy we get out of any experience isn’t based on the rational output, but the emotion we feel from the experience.

The moral of this story is a lesson in SaaS UX; programmatic empathy. The Ritz Carlton thrives on seizing errors and transforming them into the most remarkable element of their customer experience.

SaaS companies can do the same with a simple set of rules. Rules which would have easily prevented this admittedly irrational emotional response from happening at all.

Using Pandora as an example;

IF user has been a member for more than 3 years

AND

IF credit card on file is declined

THEN
 
Extend premium subscription by one month

AND 

Send payment lapsed - 3 year email (see below)

Hey there Chris,

We noticed your card was declined recently. Maybe it just expired and you forgot to update it, or it got cancelled or compromised. We know it can be a hassle and don’t want to add more stress to your life. In fact music is supposed to do just the opposite!

We’ve gone ahead and extended your subscription for this month so you have some time to listen to more *favorite artist or station* while you work through everything. And in a week or so when things settle down please update your credit card information *here*.

Keep on *rocking* (Or other word based on musical preference; rolling, jamming, grooving, etc.)
The Pandora One Team

If I got that email, I’d have kept my Pandora One subscription for another 7 years or more.

But I didn’t, and despite how irrational my reaction is I’m now trying out Spotify.

Mahalo,
Chris

PS – I know I could have tried to find a support contact and emailed them to let them know about the issue. When your busy updating your card and 100 other accounts, spending another 10-15 minutes to whine to your streaming music service isn’t very high on the priority list. I see this as an opportunity to proactively help a customer rather than put the onus on them to try to fix it.

It’s significantly cheaper to keep a current customer than to earn a new one. I was also surprised to see that Pandora never contacted me after my subscription ended. If I had a client of 7 years just up and leave, I would certainly want to know why. Even if it were too late to save that relationship who knows how many other customers may be feeling something similar, but you can still save them.

I really love(d) Pandora, and perhaps one day I’ll go back. But not until I get over my ridiculous irrational feeling of being scorned.

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“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.”
― G.K. Chesterton

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I’m not alone in believing that this will be a case that sets important legal precedent on the topic of encryption.  Furthermore it stands as a rare encapsulation of the broader changes technology has brought to bear in our lives, and the roles companies and governments play within them.  The ever quickening pace of technological advancement has given rise to exponential changes in all aspects of our lives.  It also also given both corporations and governments access to an unprecedented volume of data about us.  A common complaint about this access has been that it may be used to profile people, advertise to them, and track them among a host of other issues.  I’ll put these aside from this post as those are still very much valid points and worthy of their own discussion.

Does Encryption = Privacy?

The focal point in this particular confrontation between Apple vs the FBI is a citizens right to encryption.  Both the FBI and Apple have presented their logic to the public and make compelling cases.  (Though in my opinion the FBI’s commentary is purposefully naive, as those with any technical knowledge know that a if a program was built to unlock iPhones there is little to no chance of it remaining securely in the government’s hands for a singular use.)  And while there is plenty of debate on both sides of this matter, I’m inclined to concur with Apple’s statement in favor of protection of encryption.

This does, however, highlight the fact that it appears that possible, in this case, it is a large corporation fighting for the people.  Apple is also clearly serving their own business interest (“Smartphones, led by iPhone…”) with this statement as well, a selfish motive doesn’t change the fact that they still appear to be defending the vast population of users they represent, and the technology-using public as a whole.

I won’t be surprised if this case is the cause of the next update to the Right to Privacy Wikipedia article.  Our smartphones, be they Apple, Android, or even Windows Phone have become an inherent part of both our public and private lives.  The fact of the matter is that people have (or should always have) the right to choose what is public and what is private and have those wishes respected and protected.  If a closed blind or curtain was the barrier for privacy in the past, data encryption is the barrier for privacy in the present.

The post Apple vs the FBI: Is Encryption a Right? appeared first on Chris Yoko.

I forget to call, I forget to write.  It isn’t that I don’t care about you. It’s that I don’t care about Birthdays.

Your Birthday is meant to be a celebration of your life.  And if we still lived in a time where you’d have to ford three rivers, repair a broken axle, hunt a 400 pound bear (but only carry back 200 pounds of meat) and of a party of 6 only 3 of you might make it through 5 years then you’re damn right a Birthday would be worth celebrating!  In that case every Birthday would be a major throw down.

But these days all you really have to do to make it through most years is not text while you drive and keep your eyes up and your ear buds low enough that you don’t step in front of a bus.

I exaggerate a bit, but mere survival is no longer worthy of the celebration it once was…

But I do think your life is worth celebrating.  And if you’ll bear with this case against Birthdays I think I have an suggestion for an alternative.  A Birthday replacement.

Why celebrate simple survival when we can celebrate contribution and personal betterment.  And for that reason I’d like to consider celebrating your Personal Best Day.

Much like you may celebrate, fondly remember, and constantly challenge your ‘Personal Best’ or ‘Personal Record’ for fastest mile or heaviest lift, do the same for your life.  Remember, celebrate, and constantly challenge the way you’ve bettered yourself or the word around you!

A Personal Best Day can change as you accomplish new feats and continue to improve the world around you.  A Personal Best Day can be celebrated both while you’re here, and after your gone in a way a Birthday or day of passing can’t.

I don’t expect the whole world to change, but I would like to make this change myself.  To show you that I care about you, and what you’ve achieved during your time here.

I didn’t get the chance to ask my grandmother (Karen Highberger Yoko, pictured above with her Great Grand Daughter) and to honor her and to make sure I don’t fail to ask others I care about, I’m asking now.  What is your personal best day? (You can enter it in the survey below, or click here to take the survey.)

Create your own user feedback survey

PS – Sorry for all the times I didn’t wish you Happy Birthday.

The post A Case Against Birthdays appeared first on Chris Yoko.

Beyond the changes I’m experiencing myself, I’ve also become far more aware of the changes we, as a species, are going through.  Our technology has reached the point where it is beginning to fundamentally change us.  For example, many anthropologist posit that you could take a grown man or woman from over 2000 years ago, ancient Rome perhaps, and pop them into the modern day and, with some initial shock and time to adjust, they’d be able to handle themselves about as well as anyone else. (Barring the fact that they’d have to deal with constantly contemplating the fact that time travel is possible and the impact that has on science and our lives in general.)

It seems to me, someone woefully under-qualified to present such a theory, that the above statement will not hold true for the generations which follow us.  I believe we’re poised to witness the actual transformation from humans as homo sapiens to… whatever it might be we decide to call ourselves next.  (I talk about it more in my incredibly esoteric Manifesto, which is one of the major reasons for updating this site.)  I think generations that follow may be so accustomed to the use of technology almost from birth, and the rapid pace at which they must process and respond to stimuli that our ancient Roman friend will be too hardwired to sufficiently adapt to a lifetime of electronic input.  Of course, regardless of their ability to respond to this stimulus they’d still be a homo sapiens.

In another couple of generations however, I don’t know if that will be enough to be considered a “fellow human.”  We’re going to need to think about this term, “human,” and what it really means.  Will a child who undergoes genetic modification to overcome a crippling disease still be considered a fellow human?  Most likely yes, it’s unlikely that we’d jump right into genetic engineering with such gusto that we alter someone so significantly they’re no longer sexually compatible with the rest of the human race.  But at some point we’ll blur that line, and I think we need to put some serious thought into what that means. For all of us.

If we’re meant to continue to evolve in order to progress and pursue the purpose of life, it’s very likely the next step will be of our own making.  We need to understand what that process will look like and what impact it will have on the world and its population.  The last leap in evolution has regulated our closest genetic relative to a lifetime in a small reservation at the best, or a life of scientific testing and experimentation at the worst.  I have a feeling we, as a people, would prefer not to befall a similar fate when the next evolutionary leap takes place.

It may seem far fetched now, but consider the wealth and educational gap which currently divides much of our population… now consider that the more wealthy will have the ability to more easily afford advanced medical treatments as they become possible, including, at some point, genetic enhancement.  It doesn’t take much of a stretch of the imagination to envision a world in which those fortunate few consolidate wealth (most likely with the help of significant automation) and the remainder of the population, unable to earn a wage, become little more than wild animals to this group of the fortunate elite…

Anyway, I fear I’ve become very side tracked from the original purpose of this post.  I updated the site, and used the title ‘Fellow Human’ to help explain some of the thoughts I share in my Manifesto about the fact that, before long, “human” isn’t going to be a universal label for mankind.

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“…it’s true: time does heal.  It will do so whether you like it or not, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.  If you’re not careful, time will take away everything that ever hurt you, everything you have ever lost, and replace it with knowledge.  Time is a machine: it will convert your pain into experience…and you will never be able to reverse it, you will never again have the original moment back in its uncategorized, preprocessed state.  It will force you to move on and you will not have a choice in the matter.”

“At some point in your life, this statement will be true: Tomorrow you will lose everything forever.”

“Enjoy the elastic present, which can accommodate as little or as much as you want to put in there.  Stretch it out, live inside of it.”

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