Vol. 6   No. 4

Newsletter of Menlo Innovations LLC

May 2007

Brilliant! - John Zimmerman, an associate professor in Carnegie Mellon University's School of Design and Human-Computer Interaction Institute has devised a new type of alarm clock that keeps young children sleeping. The Reverse Alarm Clock that consists of a moonset and sunrise calculator, a small circular wall-mounted unit that is set by the parents. According to the article the moonset and sunrise calculator controls a "sky display," illustrating time in a way that young children can understand by using images of the sun, moon and stars. When the moon is lit, the children should stay in bed; when the moon is off, the children can get out of bed if they wish but not disturb their parents, if possible. Finally, when only the sun is on they must get up and start the day.

Looking Through the Master's Eyes - Monet and Degas are both known as masters of the French impressionism movement, which is characterized by short brush strokes, pastel colors and indistinct outlines that the eye blends from a distance. But many people feel that their later works lack the brilliance of their early masterpieces. Now a Stanford ophthalmologist has used Photoshop to recreate the aging Impressionists' eye on the World.  Both artists suffered from eye disease in their later years. Monet had cataracts while Degas likely suffered from macular degeneration.
Spring into Menlo! - The flowers are blooming, the trees are budding, and the sun is beating down. What's the perfect way to escape the summer heat? Training at Menlo of course! We'll give your business a fresh injection of ideas and to help you spring ahead of your competition. You can view our course listing online. We hope to see you soon!  Menlo Briefs subscribers can save 10% off the cost of registration by entering the discount code RS053110P during registration.
Geeerms in Spaaaaace - Uh-oh. The derelict rocket stages that propelled Voyager 1, Voyager 2, and Pioneer 10 to the edges of the solar system are likely carrying Earthly bacteria out into the galaxy. How long can they survive in space? Well there's the humdinger -- no one really knows.
A Peek Inside the World of Mental Illness - What's it like to be schizophrenic? Most people will never know, but now they have the opportunity to have a brief peek inside the world of the mentally ill. Developed with psychiatrists and endorsed by advocates for the mentally ill, Virtual Hallucinations is being used by law enforcement, corrections, and health care professionals in at least half a dozen states. The system offers two interactive scenarios. In one, you're riding a bus in which other riders appear and disappear, birds of prey claw at the windows, and voices hiss, "He's taking you back to the FBI!" The other features a trip to the drugstore, where the pharmacist seems to be handing you poison instead of pills, and hostile customers stare at you in disgust. The hope is that it will make a difference when it comes to understanding what a mentally ill person is going through.
We're Passionate About What We Do - Menlo is filled with passionate, enthusiastic people who only love one thing more than the work they do: sharing that passion with others.  We love public speaking and are thrilled to have the opportunity to share inspiring messages focused on business success. Look here for our current speaking engagements and a list of some topics that we've spoken about in the past. Call us today at (734)665-1847 to book your next event.
Is It Too Late to Change My Vote? - California State Sen. Carole Migden was involved in car crash when she took her eyes off road because her cell phone rang. So what's the big deal? Migden voted for a state bill that fines people for using their cellphones while driving. D'oh!
Plastic Blood? - Lance Twyman believes he has a solution to chronic blood shortages: artificial blood.  The molecule he developed over the past 5 years is remarkably similar to hemoglobin in size and shape, and it provides exactly the right environment around the molecule's core for iron to bind and release oxygen. So what does it look like? Twyman's plastic blood is a dark red water-soluble paste with the consistency of honey.
Score Another One for the Home Team! - Ann Arbor was just named the #5 best city to live in and the #1 area for knowledge workers in the U.S. Click here to get a 30-second overview and pass it along to someone who needs to know!
It's Time to Get Your GEEK On! - Meet the ultimate fanboy. He's been collecting Star Wars memorabilia for 30 years and gave up a career as a staff reporter for The Wall Street Journal to do it full-time. According to the article, his collection is rivaled only by George Lucas himself. The pride of his collection? His complete Darth Vader costume. It took him nearly 10 years and multiple purchases to complete. (Okay I admit it, I am just a little green with envy!)
Cheater, Cheater, Pumpkin Eater - Examination board Edexel is starting to add RFID tags to exam papers in an effort to stop exam fraud.  The RFID tags are just one of the new techniques and technologies being tried. The goal? Deterring, preventing and detecting malpractice in the examinations process.
Who's That Girl? - You look at your neighbor's house and see an armed gunman through the window. What do you do? Call the police and let them storm the house, right? That's exactly what David Williams' neighbor thought, and so did the officers who responded to the scene. The problem is that in this case the "perp" was a life-sized mannequin of Lara Croft from the popular "Tomb Raider" video game series.

All tours depart exclusively from our location in Historic Kerrytown® in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

 

Next tour date: Wednesday, June 27th at 5:30 p.m.

 

Call 734-665-1847 to reserve your spot today! Or click here to register online.

Curious about Menlo Innovations?
Welcome to Menlo!

 

Just the other day someone walked in our door to deliver some documents and commented "I don't yet know what you do here, but a year from now I want to be working here." This is the easiest environment to recruit in ever. The Chief Happiness Officer in Denmark named us one of the ten coolest places to work ON THE PLANET!

 

You just gotta see it to believe it.

 

Imagine an environment without cubes, walls, doors or offices in a one hundred year old brick Kerrytown loft in Ann Arbor, Michigan. One big open room full of just-the-right-size teams working on six to ten projects at a time for our customers. It's noisy, a bit messy, and no one has they're own private space. It looks different every time you come. It's a "One Room Schoolhouse for InnovationTM." All of the team members work in pairs and the tables they work at are usually arranged in such a way that the pairs work shoulder-to-shoulder, or else they face each other across the table. Call a meeting with Ted by saying "Hey Ted!" Call a meeting with the Dragonfly team by saying "Hey Dragonfly". Call an all-company meeting by calling out "Hey Menlo" and watch the entire team stop in an instant have the meeting and then go back to work without moving. Each week the pairs are changed, so if Ted and Kealy worked together last week, they aren't working together this week. We've built the "Learning Organization" Peter Senge described in The 5th Discipline.

 

Why do we do choose to work this way? For the same reason Thomas Edison created such an environment: Serendipity and rapid knowledge exchange. Our clients are counting on it. They need fresh innovative thinking everyday. The need creativity, performance, energy, enthusiasm, excitement, hard work and teams of Menlonians thrilled to be working on their project.

 

That's why people come to Menlo Innovations - to work here, to bring their project here, to learn how we do what we do, or just to see it. Come see it for yourself. We love welcoming visitors and we'll conduct tours at the drop of hat.

 

Menlo Innovations LLC
Designing great software using High-Tech Anthropology®
410 N. 4th Avenue, 3rd Floor
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104-1104
(734) 665-1847

www.menloinnovations.com

Coding, format, and on-site content copyright © 2007

 

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