Todd Sattersten :: Astronaut Projects

The Best Present in the World

I turned 34 on Monday.

I told my wife I didn't need anything big for my birthday.

This morning at 3:45am, she delivered a 7 lb. 14 oz. baby boy.

Everyone is doing great.

We are all going to sleep now. We'll get some pictures up soon.

Weekend Music - D.H.T.

As a child of the 80's, I have always loved Roxette. They had an amazing ability to write great pop music. I always appreciated being able to buy one of their albums and enjoying the whole thing.

Belgian band D.H.T. has gone and redone Listen To Your Heart. There are club mixes, but the one getting radio play is an acoustic version. I rarely like remakes, but this one is really good.

A Jury of Your Peers

"Whenever Merck was up there, it was like wah, wah, wah, " said juror John Ostrom, imitating the sounds of Charlie Brown's teacher makes in the television cartoon. "We didn't know what the heck they were talking about."

-Merck Loss Jolts Drug Giant, WSJ, 8/22/05

This quote really concerns me. The cornerstone of Merck's case was that the death of Robert Ernst was caused from arrhythmia, not a heart attack. Vioxx has been shown to cause problems with blood clotting, but there is not been any association with irregular hearbeats. Instead, the jury chose to focus on a potential coverup of concerns about the drug.

I know that communication requires two parties - one transmitting and one receiving. It is clearly possible that the lawyers did not structure message for the audience (the jury). What I am more concerned about is a jury ignoring scientific evidence, because they don't understand it. They deliberated on the case for a total of one hour.

Being Open

I scheduled a call today with someone who I thought was doing some cool stuff. I told him I had read about his company recently and wanted to find out more.

"Are you writing a story?"

"No, I am just interested."

I told him I had a similar idea for publishing.

"We work with authors too."

I said that it wasn't really the same thing. I explained a bit and said I just wanted to know what sort of things he had learned through starting the company.

"Before we go any further, are you looking to partner with me or set-up some kind of consulting."

I said again that I wanted to know more about his business.

"It would be great to sit here and throw around ideas with you, but my time is really limited."

[Pause]

And I thanked him for his time.

I guess I have gotten use to talking about ideas freely and openly. It is such a natural part of the blogsphere.

Ideas that are shared, flourish and prosper.

Not everyone shares that view.

Looking at the world...

This is just a great post from Mike at rohdesign.

It involves kids, zoos, and everyone's early fascination with the world.

Weekend Music - The Push Stars

This was a random find in iTunes tonight:

The Push Stars - Minnesota

It is just a fun song.

History Supplying the Stories

McMenamins is a chain of pubs located in the Pacific Northwest. Brothers Michael and Brian have knack for buying properties no one wants, restoring them, and turning them into "historical theme parks". Restoration involves historians finding stories about prior residents and artisans painting murals of the found 'characters'. The 50 locations will often cross-promote each other through brochures and beer coasters.

I just love the use of story in their customer's experience.

[source: For Fun & (Minimal Profit); Forbes - 8/15/05]

Gaining Momentum...

I seem to be gaining some momentum again for blogging.

I just wanted to point you over to my FC Now BlogJam contribution. It is entitled The Time For Action Is Now.

Can anyone explain to me...

...why Journey's Don't Stop Believin' is #8 on iTunes?

Citizen Lawyer

The Internet is allowing people to take back control of journalism and marketers. How about law?

The Wall Street Journal has a great story [sub. needed] of exactly that today. Susan Hudock was fired from Aventis on medical grounds that she could no longer do her job. She suffers from shingles and was dealing with the condition by taking pain medication. This made is difficult for her to drive to see doctors as a drug rep. She asked for long term leave based on American With Disabilities Act and was denied.

This started the four year legal battle. She start with a lawyer helping her and had to go it alone after the legal bills became to large. The article details the trials and tribulations of representing yourself in the legal system. Some of the resources she used included FindLaw, the Cornell University Law School site, and episodes of Law & Order: Trial by Jury.

Hudock lost the case in trial, but will be again by representing herself as she appeals the verdict.