Switching to WordPress blogging

The new header for the WordPress blog

Remember I mentioned a few days ago that I would be switching my blogging activities over to WordPress? Well, I have just started the new page and you can see it here.

Lists for Happinesss and Prosperity

Everybody seems so busy these days, flying around to this meeting or that conference, running from one appointment to the next, career-building, lining the nest, trying to make ends meet.

How many times have you heard someone close to you say with a note of rising desperation in their voice,"There aren't enough hours in the day!"?

Have you ever found yourself rushing from one task to the next, engaged in a manic race to check as many things off your to-do list for that day? Or do you even keep a list?

Hopefully you do not attempt to get through each day by the seat of your pants and operate with the assumption that you can keep a list in your head. Because if that's what you do, then you are wasting a lot of your valuable mental energy just warehousing the list and that is bound to create an additional load on your already over-loaded brain.

So don't do it!

It's a lot easier on your whole system to take a few minutes before the mad rush to sit down and write your list of the most pressing things that you really need (or want to) accomplish in the next day, next week and even next month.

Seriously.

Once you get it down on paper you can basically forget about it. More specifically, you can just concentrate on one item on your list at a time without stewing and brewing over the remaining tasks. Because really, multi-tasking is not all it's cracked up to be. When you try to do more than one thing at a time, you are risking the very real possibility that you will dilute your efforts so that nothing gets that well attended to. This will lead to dissatisfaction and a feeling that you are not accomplishing what you set out to do.

Just imagine the great feeling of putting all your energy, enthusiasm and desire into doing just one thing incredibly well. So what if a couple of things on your list fall by the way-side for that day. There's always tomorrow. You can just pick up where you left off after a good night's rest, knowing that you did your very best in the time you were given for that day. You will sleep like a baby knowing that you gave it your best shot and that tomorrow's another day.

I realize of course that this is quite elementary and almost everybody that reads this will probably think "Tell me something I don't already know!" but let me tell you, I happen to know several people off the top of my head who have not got it through their heads (and these are professional people with massive workloads...) that they can free themselves of some major stressers simply by taking the time on a religiously regular basis to put down in writing their short, medium and long-term priorities.

From my own experience as a very busy designer, artist and inventor who juggles quite a variety of tasks on a daily and weekly basis I can attest to the idea that a simple to-do list is my most powerful business and personal tool, period. Without belaboring the point, I can say this because once I have items on a list a certain feeling of personal power and calm settles into my day. I free myself to focus all of my creative energy on ONE THING at a TIME. Sounds simple enough but if you fail to do this, you will miss out on the deep satisfaction of concentration on the issue at hand as well as the knowing that your handy list will still be there once you are ready to strike off your current task and move on to the next thing.

The coolest thing about making a list is that you do not have to restrict the size or ambition of the items. You might knock two or three things off in one day, or it could take a month or more to slowly whittle away at a biggie. Just keep advancing your cause(s) and you can't go very far wrong.

Might sound trivial and obvious but not so much when you read the statistics on burn-out, job dis-satisfaction and most important of all, personal happiness.

REPOSTING Photo Montage of DIY deuce

Someone once said that a picture is worth a thousand words, so here's 7000 words about the DIY 'deuce'...

Remember that I am 1st and foremost an artist...a visual artist...so I am showing you these images because I think they are pretty neat just as images. The Skyaak DIY 'deuce' design is actually quite intricate and complex, considering it starts off as two sheets of flat paper.

Don't you think it has a cool sculptural look? Not to mention that this little unit glides through the air like a dream...call it 'kinetic art'.

I built a new DIY 'deuce' last night, shown above.

I used 'Canada flag' celophane tape to cover the wings and shaft with to give it extra strength. Also looks kinda cool. The good ol' patriotic look!

It glides really well, but I have found now (no big surprise really) that when I put a bit more ballast weight (along w the 3 large paper-clips) in the nose it glides quite a bit further and also tracks a much neater trajectory. I actually just stuck a stick of gum in its paper wrapper right into the front of the 3-sided shaft. Probably weighs about .05 of a gram or so.

Basically, I'd suggest as heavy a ballast as possible in the nose to maximize the performance...keep adding extra weight until just before it starts to nose-dive and you will get a much better glide.The Skyaak design really likes carrying some extra weight in its nose. A harbinger of a future power-pack?

Checking out ScribeFire to cross-pollinate SEO

My buddy Fred Schechter mentioned that I ought to check out FireFox's cool feature called "Scribe-Fire". Well here I am trying it out. Just one of the many things you can do with Scribe-Fire is blog about any website that you visit and so I thought it would be interesting to try it out with the new website we are developing called "www.SpiritofManitou.ca"

So let's fire this thing up and watch the fireworks.

Spirit of Manitou Studio Trail

My design was chosen as the official logo for our new group.

Hi all! Just popping in to let you know that a group of local artists/artisans are firing up the first- ever "Spirit of Manitou Studio Trail". My site is here.

And you can see the first fold at www.SpiritofManitou.ca

It's kinda cool with Google Map installed.

My exact co-ordinates are now known to the entire planet.

Better get baking cookies to serve up to our visitors on the Studio Trail!

The Studio Trail kicks off on this coming July 12th and 13th. 2008.

DIY 'deuce' Banner Mock-up

Here’s a working draft of the banner that is coming soon, once we cross all the t’s and dot all the i’s. You can get a sneak peek at the animated version but just remember, it’s not an active link quite yet. Let us know how you like it so far...any feedback would be taken seriously.

Reader Alert

In the next little while we are changing to a Wordpress format, just ramping up as we speak. You will see a prompter here that will zing you to the new blog.

For all you archive buffs rest assured that this blog can get archived in its entirety at the Wordpress site.

We lose nothing.

Stay posted for progress reports on the DIY 'deuce'...

We are slogging away at it every spare minute we can.

Making exTREMEly rapid advances...the Dream Team is surely coming to life.

REMEMBER the contest to WIN a *FREE* Skyaak Pro Model 3 Shipped *FREE* anywhere on the planet is STILL UP and RUNNING!
Watch for the counter to tip into a new grand (ie:8001) If you land on the tip # you automatically WIN.

Copy and Paste the counter into an email and send it to mrgaudet@gmail.com to make immediate arrangements to have your Pro Model 3 rushed to you to try out!

Trying out the DIY deuce

My good buddy Dylan Cooke and his girlfriend Cassie dropped in yesterday afternoon for a visit. I've been telling Dylan about the DIY 'deuce' and he was pretty excited to see it.

We tossed it around for a while and concluded that YES it replicates the flight characteristics of the Model 3 exactly!

When you give it that last-second flick it cuts a nice clean trajectory and executes that cool spinning motion. We noticed that the nose of the little unit almost always stays up above the horizon in flight...that 'positive incidence' thing.

Dylan is heading off to Vegas next week with his company 1-800-GOTLITE? which is a custom-design LED sign company making big waves on the Saskatoon scene as well as on the national stage here in Canada. Evidently, they are breaking into the States as we speak!

This is all very good for Skyaak, because Dylan is an original enthusiast who is just as determined as ever that he will help find a way to advance the Skyaak cause as inspiration strikes.

7000 words about Skyaak

Someone once said that a picture is worth a thousand words, so here's 7000 words about the DIY 'deuce'...

Remember that I am 1st and foremost an artist...a visual artist...so I am showing you these images because I think they are pretty neat just as images. The Skyaak DIY 'deuce' design is actually quite intricate and complex, considering it starts off as two sheets of flat paper.

Don't you think it has a cool sculptural look? Not to mention that this little unit glides through the air like a dream...call it 'kinetic art'.

I built a new DIY 'deuce' last night, shown above.

I used 'Canada flag' celophane tape to cover the wings and shaft with to give it extra strength. Also looks kinda cool. The good ol' patriotic look!

It glides really well, but I have found now (no big surprise really) that when I put a bit more ballast weight (along w the 3 large paper-clips) in the nose it glides quite a bit further and also tracks a much neater trajectory. I actually just stuck a stick of gum in its paper wrapper right into the front of the 3-sided shaft. Probably weighs about .05 of a gram or so.

Basically, I'd suggest as heavy a ballast as possible in the nose to maximize the performance...keep adding extra weight until just before it starts to nose-dive and you will get a much better glide.The Skyaak design really likes carrying some extra weight in its nose. A harbinger of a future power-pack?

Still Working on the DIY 'deuce'

Work (read: play) progresses very nicely on the Skyaak DIY ‘deuce’ front.

Fred Schechter and I are plugging away at all the various details to pull this baby together on a daily basis. It is very cool to be working with a guy of Fred’s caliber. You know the old expression “you learn something new every day”? Well my friends, it fits, big time!

Working with Fred has been an amazing journey of discovery as we get deeper and deeper into this project.

I actually feel honored and privileged to be teamed up with such a talented guy.

I haven’t dropped in to post a blog entry for quite some time now, simply because every spare minute has been gobbled up with the DIY ‘deuce’ project.

And I am just lovin' it!

Thought I would post one of my current favorite photos of the DIY unit:

Working on the Skyaak DIY 'deuce'

Picture shows scale of the Skyaak DIY 'deuce' ready to be hand-launched using the 'Finger-Flicker'...

This launching technique is mechanically similar to the 'atlatl' concept and adds real zest to the power of your toss.

The closed (ring) wing system creates amazing stability, allowing a precise throw that will surprise you with its accuracy. The DIY 'deuce' is a true feather-weight glider. Basically, you are tossing the weight of four paper-clips and a sheet of paper!

The DIY 'deuce' can handle very high scale speeds with ease, remaining extremely stable throughout its trajectory. This makes it ideal for co-ordinated target practice. And because it's so lightweight, you can toss it around safely in-doors.

When you reinforce the paper parts with a layer of cellophane tape, the DIY'deuce' becomes a rugged little model that will stand up to endless throws. Whatever, you can always photocopy the download and make another one ... or a whole fleet if you want!

Skyaak DIY 'deuce'... NEW for the glider model enthusiast.

How does Skyaak fly?

Early Mock-Up of Affiliate Banner for the Skyaak DIY 'deuce'. Coming soon to a website near you!

This unlikely-looking flying craft seems to create its own vortex as it glides through the air. It self-corrects its trajectory, especially when it spins on its axis in flight. With a certain amount of expertise, you can create an energetic spinning motion when you throw it that increases both the stability and velocity of your flight.

Order Skyaak Online

Order your very own Skyaak Model 3 today at the cool online Inventor's Boutique based out of Long Island, NY called NewDaVincis.com

NewDaVincis...Great People, Great Ideas, Great Products, Great Service!

Skyaak Action Video

SKYAAK ACTION DEMO

Live Video Shows Skyaak Package, Contents, etc.

Virtual Skyaak soon to be a Reality

The concept of a down-loadable Skyaak model (‘deuce’) is really taking shape and form. I have started designing a mini-series of customized graphics for the shaft and wings and that is crystalizing as we speak.

I’ve been shunting design ideas back and forth to Oakland CA for about the past week or so and Fred’s been coming up with brilliant suggestions. Man, this guy has a real knack of shooting straight from the hip and getting right to the crux of the issue(s) around putting this idea together piece by piece in a very dynamic way.

Right now we are trying to figure out a way to get the Skyaak to tell people how to build itself, just like every good model kit ought to. We don’t want separate instruction sheets (for assembly and flight tips)...we want the download to be as economical as possible. Economical in the sense of efficient and elegant vs. one less sheet of paper. We’re thinking of including a sort of ‘prompter’ schematic that will graphically assist you in building the shaft and wings. I visualize this system of symbols to be a skeletal overlay that is positioned at all the dynamic points ( eg: the parts that get folded or rolled or inserted or taped or clipped or cut...) so your Skyaak ‘deuce’ literally tells you how it wants to get built.

Fred’s idea.

Pretty neat, eh?

The Skyaak ‘deuce’ will be interactive on two levels:
1) after you print your model it will tell you how to build itself,
2) after you build it you get to toss it around to witness the cool spinning motion and see how it glides in a nice gentle arc-shaped trajectory.

My vision has always been to share the unique ‘Ring-Wing’ aeronautical design with as many people as possible and we all have Fred Schechter to thank for first suggesting this delivery technology. For 2 bucks everybody can try it out. Now our job is to pack a positive, interactive experience into this little bundle and then deliver it to you!

$2 SKYAAK Download Coming Soon! - Find That Money - Helping Entrepreneurs Grow - Zimbio

$2 SKYAAK Download Coming Soon! - Find That Money - Helping Entrepreneurs Grow - Zimbio

Skyaak Dream Team Cometh

Skyaak 'Deuce' early prototype shows detail of nose w 3 paper-clips doing double duty as both fasteners and ballast. "Appropriate-Scale Technology" at it's best!

It always amazes and delights me when a high-power professional designer/product developer expresses an interest in my Skyaak project and its R&D. Fred Schechter is a prime example of someone who knows the R&D business inside out and is a person who is expressing a very lively interest in the Skyaak project.

That is so cool!

I have always thought that the only way we are going to see the R&D progress successfully is to attract fellow professional developers into a 'Dream Team' working environment where everyone has equal opportunity to benefit as a result of their input and level of involvement.

Well, Mr, Schechter is a wonderful example of this philosophy in action, as we are working away behind the scenes as you are reading this post on creating a very cool new concept: providing an on-demand .pdf down-load that will give you a printer-friendly template so you can build your very own working model Skyaak 'Deuce' .

Check out Fred's musings here as a product developer and package designer out of Oakland, CA. But don't take my word for it. Check out what self-proclaimed "Investigative Designer" David Seah has to say about this guy. Here's a taste of David's latest blog entry to set the scene:

I had a long coffee meeting with Fred Schechter yesterday, an industrial designer based in northern California that I've been talking to on-and-off for the past couple of years. Industrial Design is one of those majors I wish I'd known about when I was applying to college; not knowing any better, I had gone into Electrical Engineering. Fred himself had originally started in Mechanical Engineering, but thanks to a chance conversation with a friend ("they have a MAJOR for making cool stuff???") he made an early exit and jumped to the world of product design. Anyway, we've been chatting about our mutual interest in making and selling our own products, and Fred's perspective on it from the industrial design / manufacturing side has been invaluable in fleshing out my next steps. He's an enthusiastic guy too, so if you're looking for someone to talk to about early-stage concept and prototyping for manufacturing, it's worth dropping him an email. Anyway, the conversation has helped solidify some thoughts on my personal career direction, so I thought I'd share them...

Fred has been an incredible (and credible) mentor and adviser on this latest Skyaak endeavor and I want to refer his talents to anybody who has an idea for the next 'big thing' but maybe lacks the expertise to take it to the next level.

The thing I am really enjoying most about our friendship and working relationship is Fred's unflagging optimistic spirit and his ability to 'cut to the chase' to distill the essence of an idea and take serious steps to work it out! I am very happy and excited about all of the progress we have made on our .pdf download project.

Just wait, this is gonna be lots of good clean fun!

BTW, I see that visitor #7001 has come and gone without claiming his *FREE* Skyaak Model 3.

Oh well, no biggie. We shall see what happens with visitor #8001, #9001, #10,001 and so on...

Air-Foil Primer

Anybody interested in the endlessly fascinating art and science of "Air-Foil" design and engineering can check out this excellent primer by aeronautical engineer John Dreese:

http://www.designfoil.com

This is a very informative, well-written and concise overview of air-foil methodology that I highly recommend to anybody considering a DIY airplane or glider project.

BTW, I see that the visitor counter at the bottom of this page is now at 6997. This means, of course, that the fourth-next visitor will trip the counter over to 7001 to instantly qualify to receive a FREE Skyaak Model 3 shipped FREE anywhere on the planet.

No pressure, folks...I am merely drawing your attention to this because I want the lucky person who lands here as visitor #7001 to be 1) aware that you are a winner, and 2) take advantage of the opportunity to accept your prize. It's that simple.

Remember, just send me your copy of the counter pasted in a note to mrgaudet@gmail.com along with your surface address and we will fix you up!

In the meantime, work is progressing nicely on the latest Skyaak joint project, the R&D of the 1st "Skyaak on demand" to be available soon as a down-loadable scale-model working Skyaak, dubbed the "Deuce".

Watch for the Widget coming soon that will give you immediate access to your very own DIY Skyaak model.


Flies this way >>>>>>>>>>>>

One of the 1st Deuce prototypes, made entirely of regular 8.5" x 11" printer paper tricked out with packing tape and a few paper-clips. This model executes the trademark spinning (on its axis) motion in flight shortly after being launched and tends to keep its nose up for a nice arc-shaped trajectory. Very promising!

Working on the Skyaak .pdf Download

Who knew how much fun it would be to pull together all of the elements needed to make the dream of a 'download-able' Skyaak a reality? Yup. Fun and challenging. But I am getting tons of help from my buddy Fred Schechter of DS4 Design out of Oakland, CA. Among a host of innovative ideas that Mr. Schechter has dreamt up, one that stands out is his VUF (very user-friendly) "Bumper Sticker Holder". Huh? Check the link to see how very cool this is and how useful it could be for you!

Fred has been super helpful since the inception of the idea to beam the Skyaak design to the masses in a RRC (really, really cheap) download-able .pdf format that everyone can simply print out on their PC. Sounds pretty innovative to me!

Heck, Fred came up with the idea in the first place! We were just innocently talking about the Skyaak design and BLAM!, he announces that it would be a really cool idea to make the design available to everyone for, like, 2 bucks. We figure that once people get the configuration into their hands as a 3-D mini-replica ( that actually flies...of course!) that suddenly a blazing light of comprehension will spark in their imaginations and they will feel an undeniable urge to find out more...to step up to the full-scale Expert Model 3...

So we are working away in our Top Secret R&D lab behind the scenes to pull out all the stops to create a fully down-loadable package that includes the basic die-line graphics that have been custom-tweaked specifically for this application as well as all of the assembly instructions and performance tips. The paper version that you can download on demand and print will function as a scaffold that you can build on...but more on that later.

You will have to provide a few paper clips out of your own stash.

Can't you feel the excitement growing?

Hang on, stay posted. We oughta be ready to launch this thing in the next couple of weeks!

Oh yeah, don't forget to scroll down to check out the visitor counter at the bottom of this page. Remember, if you are the lucky person who trips the counter over from 7000 to 7001 you can notify me at
mrgaudet@gmail.com and I will personally arrange for you to receive a *FREE* Skyaak Model 3 shipped *FREE* anywhere on the planet.

Over and out...

Michael.

Att'n: VISITOR # 7001 INCOMING!

Not to be repetitive, but I want to remind everyone that EVERY TIME the VISITOR COUNTER clicks over to a fresh grand, the reader that trips into the next thousand ( IE: VISITOR # 7001) immediately qualifies for a *FREE* SKYAAK MODEL 3 Shipped *FREE* ANYWHERE on EARTH!

Seriously: no joke, sans blague.

Just right click on #7001, select 'copy image' to copy the counter, then click on my email addie :

mrgaudet@gmail.com

Press Ctrl + v to paste the counter into a pm to me. Then you're away. YOU WIN.

SO PAY ATTENTION to the COUNTER at the BOTTOM of the PAGE, Y'ALL!

Over and out,

Michael.

$2 SKYAAK Download Coming Soon!

Now here's something really innovative. A buddy of mine has come up with the idea to create a Skyaak Ring-Wing "Die-Line" graphic that you can download right to your printer as a .pdf file! So for a couple of bucks you can build your very own working miniature Skyaak, that you can toss around with your buddies for some good clean aeronautical fun!

You just supply an X-Acto knife, a rollof clear packing tape, a specified paper type available at your local office supply store, a few paper clips and a true-blue DIY attitude.

You will have immediate access through our latest Widget via PayPal to the...wait for it...Mykro-Skyaak 'Deuce'.




"Mykro-Skyaak" rigged out with clear lexan wings and PET shaft.

Skyaak in Mississauga, ONT.

Here's a note I rec'd from my buddy Dan in Mississauga, ONT this morning:

"Hi Michael,

Got the package yesterday, thanks.

The packaging looks great, I like the sketches on the box amd the product looks great in real life.
I can't wait for the weather to get better so we can test this baby out.

Lets see if we can beat the 65' record.
Got a lot of big tall athletic guys in my family, lets see if we can develop the proper style of throwing the Skyaak and beat 65 feet.

I will keep you updated,

Take care,

Dan."

Woo-Hoo! Another great Skyaak connection takes shape.
I will certainly keep YOU updated on this front...

SKYAAK poised for JVC

Shrink-Wrapping 50 Skyaak units at Cosmo Industries, Saskatoon, SK.

It's been quite a while since I 've written anything here. I've been sucked into the FaceBook vortex, though I'm not complaining. The main reason I like FB is that it really is a simple and direct way to connect with specific people. Basically, you can seek out pretty much anybody that you want to talk with, such as various experts that relate to your field and even potential investors. THAT's where this is going! I have put together a Skyaak photo album there called "Adventures with Skyaak" that is creating a bit of a buzz.

This album is posted on my FaceBook site and I can also send the link to whoever I want. A very cool feature. Long story short, I'd be the first to admit that the Skyaak Model 3 still needs a couple of major tweaks to really maximize its functionality. I have met a gentleman on FB who is the owner of a prominent Canadian company. He is in the final stages of launching a new website that will showcase promising (read AMAZING) inventions that require JVC for one reason or another to take them to the next level. Just to prove his sincerity, this guy has gone ahead and ordered a unit through our NewDaVincis.com Skyaak vendor account and, I'm happy to say, his package is flying out to him as we speak!

Here's the format: select inventors are invited to shoot a 3-4 minute video that explains the stage they are at with R&D, marketing, packaging, etc. of their brain-child. In the process they explain exactly why JVC is required and how much is desired. The videos are posted for viewing by potential investors who pay a fee for access. I have been granted a sneak preview of the work-in-progress and the inventions posted there to date are simply amazing. It will be great to be a part of this exciting new team. When the new site is officially launched I will be back to reveal all.