I have seen many people mentioning that they have ran out of ideas, that all ideas have been used up. Is this true? I do not think it is. Many of us (especially people around my age) often forget how new the world of computing and the internet really is. So today I am going to give you a little history lesson.

The Wheel

This simple invention is thought to have been created in Ancient Mesopotamia during the 5th Millennium BC. That was a long time ago! Early wheels were just wooden disks with a hole for the axle. Even though they were created that long ago, it was not until circa 3500 BC that the Wheel was being used for travel. This large void in time is thought to have been because of there were no roads and that there were very few wheelwright’s skilled enough.

The wheel evolved during c. 2000 BC by using spokes which allowed for lighter and swifter transportation. The next change was by the Celtics who added an iron rim around the wheel. This design was used until the 1870′s CE when wire wheels and tires were invented.

Modern Technology

It would be an impossible task to summarise the last century in one post, so I would just like to link you to a very good website instead.

Timelines of Invention and Technology

Have you decided on the answer to the question yet? Personally, I believe that ideas and inventions will never stop being there… you just have to be able to see them. It seems that usually the only way to see these ideas are by developing new technologies. Remember the wheel could not be used until the roads were made? Well this proves that the ideas might already be there, but to use them to their full potential you need to remake them to use new technologies. The wheel took thousands of years to develop the technologies it needed, the modern technology is advancing more rapidly every year.

Hopefully this has inspired you to keep looking for the next thing to do, especially if you are starting to get a little depressed like I know many people are. Do not let yourself feel like this, keep improving yourself and that of those around you!

Thank you,

Shane

Hello everybody,

I am very sorry for the recent lack of posts, I shall try my best not to miss any more. Today is the 10th, and last, edition of What Can I Watch? So I am going to show you some inspirational videos which will make you think.

Who said penguins cannot fly?
This is a very inspirational video, for me at least, as it makes you wonder what you could do if you put your mind and determination to it.

No disability means it is time to give up
This is powerful. It shows how far some people are able to go, just by believing in themselves and not giving up.

Magic is real
Okay, maybe not in the terms of Harry Potter magic or anything… but magic as in doing something that most people would believe impossible or that does not make sense, that is real. You just need to stay motivated, and keep practising.

“If you haven’t failed, then you haven’t lived”
This is a very famous phrase, and you can see how true it is by watching this short video. It basically sums up what I always tell you, failure is important.

I think they are very good videos and I have decided to compile you a list of where to find more!

• http://www.zenhabits.net/2008/08/top-5-most-inspirational-videos-on-youtube/
• http://www.marcandangel.com/2008/04/05/33-inspirational-youtube-videos-conveying-genuine-life-lessons/
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH4zzkGqW8A&feature=channel
• http://www.inspirationalvideos.net
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDN1qwf3bcM&feature=channel_page

I hope you liked watching all the videos! Next week we will start a new series, what would you like to see?

Thank you,

Shane

Do you like looking at people’s design portfolios? I do! So today I would like to introduce you to Matthew Leak, owner of Status By Design.

Firstly, could you please tell us about yourself? (Who are you, where do you live, what do you do for a living?)
Hey, I’m Matthew Leak and I’m from Manchester, UK. I’m currently a student studying for my A levels at college, but when I’m not sat behind a desk studying, I’m sat behind a desk designing. I’m a Web & Graphic Designer, and I am the creative director of Status by Design. (www.statusbydesign.com)

Who/what is your biggest inspiration in life and business? Also where do you get your design inspiration?
The biggest part of my design inspiration definitely comes from wanting to better myself. I have seen some impressive designs out there, and I always say to myself when I see them, that that will be my artwork up there one day. Another vital part of my inspiration is the music I listen to. It might sound silly, but if I’m designing, I will almost certainly be listening to music, and the music I listen to definitely reflects the final result. In case you’re wondering, I am a huge fan of electronic music, the main genres being trance, house & drum and bass. At the time of this interview, I’m listening to Blames essential mix, it’s really good.
My inspiration in terms of who & business is definitely the crew over at Attik. Those guys are amazing.

You run two design companies and a blog, why did you start these?
I started freelancing around a year and a half ago. I did this because I knew that when I was older I want to be my own boss, or the boss of other people. I prefer the thought of working for myself much more than working for somebody else. So I decided to start while I could. There was nothing stopping me, so I just went for it. About a month ago I decided to start Status by Design. So rather than working under ‘Matthew Leak – Freelance Web Designer’ I am now working under Status by Design. To me the name says it all, and the name of the company is just perfect for a design company, it’s cool.

Have you ever had times where you thought yourself or your businesses as a “failure”? If so how did you stop feeling like it? If not how do you keep yourself so optimistic?
Yes. It was when I first started freelancing. I was working on a site, sent the concepts to a client, and he didn’t like them, so he didn’t pay me for my time. Although this was a setback, I used it to my advantage. This determined me to get much better. And over the past year and half to two years I have really excelled, and I’ve been told by many colleagues, friends & clients that I’m extremely talented for a 17 year old.

Have you any advice to give to those currently in the position you were in when you first started?
Just keep working at what you do, getting better and building up your portfolio. If you don’t have any work, or can’t get any work, then keep trying. Never give up. I like to keep web portfolios client based. But some of the work in my printed portfolio is from imaginary clients. This is a good way to practise, and to brush up your skills so when the time comes to sitting down with a real client, you have an impressive portfolio for them to see.

What plans do you have for the future?
I would like to have my own modern / slick design studio, with a reputation for being one of the best in the industry, and to have an impressive client base, like Attik. But in the meantime I am looking at building some partnerships with printing companies who outsource their Graphic Design work. So with a few relationships built, Status by Design will be well on the road to success.

Is there anything else you would like to add?
Thank you for interviewing me.
Thank you very much Matthew. I think that was a very good interview, I hope you all do too! Do you have any questions for Matthew?

Shane

I believe that Twitter is a really good resource for Social Networking, but it limits us to only 140 characters. So today I would like to take a look at what effect this has on us.

What is good about 140 characters?

This is something that many people have pointed out, the good points about Twitter’s limits. This is purely what I believe, I may well be wrong… let me know your opinions!

• Concise -  Lots of us ramble on about nonsense all the time. If you read almost any “tweet” on twitter you will notice that everybody is able to get their point across much easier.
• Time -  When writing “tweets” it is much quicker to write and read than a blog post and often it can be just as useful.

Does 140 characters ruin our language?

Because of the limit on twitter, and other places, we use “internet slang” more often.  This means that we are losing our amazing use of language. Some people believe that being short and “to the point” is the best thing to do, but I prefer to write using words that we might not use in everyday life. Which do you prefer out of these examples.

1. “Join the contest today! #SCcontest at http://tinyurl.com/SCContest there are loads of great prizes! Please RT”
2. “Hello, Would you be interested in winning some really good prizes such as a custom WordPress theme or Twitter Power? If so then join the contest…”

The second example is just an extract of what I could write, personally I prefer it because it is not so… demanding. What is your opinion?

Thank you,

Shane

Last week I did not recieve as much discussion as I had hoped for! I did, however, notice a comment from Scott that really got me thinking.

As much as I don’t think this really fits into the category of “what you can watch” but it is something you can consider doing.

Visit your grandparents (if you can) and talk with them about their years of growing up, compare the differences between then and now, what’s changed? What hasn’t? etc. I know when I spoke to my grandma about it I was quite surprised at some of the things she was telling me.

I thought this was actually a very good idea, so I looked on YouTube for clips like this. I think I found what I was looking for! Watch these, and comment about them.

What do you think of these? Perhaps you have heard, or remember, stories about life during the war and the great recession, maybe about the difference in life that computers made?

Thank you,

Shane

As you all know, I am a strong believer is listening and understanding what people say. I have already written a small e-book about quotations and today I would like you to think about poetry.

Poems are wonderful devices, they let us allow language to share our darkest secrets and our strongest emotions. I am not a very good poet, but I am always captivated by poems that I hear and read. It would be impossible to share all poems that I find inspirational with you, so I shall pick a random few. Please let me know your favourites too!

Wishing
Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Do you wish the World were better?
Let me tell you what to do:

Set a watch upon your actions,
Keep them always straight and true.
Rid your mind of selfish motives,
Let your thoughts be clean and high.
You can make a little Eden
Of the sphere you occupy.

Do you wish the World were wiser?
Then suppose you make a start,

By accumulating wisdom
In the scrap book of your heart. 
Do not waste one page on folly;
Live to learn and learn to live.
If you want to give men knowledge
You must get it ere you give.

Do you wish the World were happy?
Then remember day by day,

Just to scatter seeds of kindness,
As you pass along the way.
For the pleasures of the many,
May be oft times traced to one.
As the hand that plants an acorn,
Shelters armies from the sun.

 The Lonely Spider
Andreanna Atkins 

 The lonely spider reaches out
For what, you might ask?
If not to spin his web then for what?
For his identity
The identity of him
His identity…

The lonely spider calls out
For what, you might ask?
If not for his mate then for what?
For his identity
The identity of him
His identity…

The lonely spider waits
For what, you might ask?
If not for his food then for what?
For his identity
The identity of him
His identity…

‘A spider doesn’t have feelings! ‘
How should you know?

‘A spider isn’t that smart! ‘
That could be true.

‘A spider can never have a real identity! ‘
And neither could you, or any of us
But we try to find one even if we’re not looking
And thats our life… after which we die

What have we done with our life up until then?
Either we’ve thrown it away, gave it up, wrecked it, lived it up to the fullest, took it for granted, or got far in it.
We still had one.
It’s up to us what we shall do with it
Just like the lonely spider
Who will probably just end up on the bottom of your shoe anyways

What do you think about poetry? Do you write any poems? What are your favourite poems, why are they your favourite? Please get this discussion going, I believe poetry very powerful.

Thank you and please remember to participate in the contest,

Shane

It’s here!

We have all been waiting for this, the Success Circuit Contest. Yes I know, really bad name! If you would like to recommend a name for it, I am sure we can change the name later. Now I am going to tell you the prizes first, then how you can win them. More prizes shall hopefully be added during the contest so stay tuned!

How to Play

So, you know what you can win, now you need to know how! There are three different contests, you can enter them all.

Comments

This game is simple. Your aim is to become our top commenter this month. As of this post, the ladder will be reset. You have until the 31st of March to write as many comments as possible. I have one piece of advice (from my experience of winning Infected By Bug’s contest): Double and triple check the archives, do not miss a post and remember to reply to new ones (though do not spam). Remember there is not only a high chance of winning, these are valuable backlinks to your website.

RSS

Nothing can get easier than this, all you have to do is subscribe to our RSS feed using either RSS or Email. You may enter this once and if you are already subscribed then you are already able to win.

Twitter

As you know, I am very interested in Twitter. The last way to win by simply is using Twitter.

1. Follow @ShaneHudson and/or @SuccessCircuit
2. Use the hashtag #SCcontest
3. Tweet about the contest eg. “I just entered #SCcontest at http://tinyurl.com/SCContest hosted by @ShaneHudson there are loads of great prizes! Please RT”

RSS and twitter winners shall be drawn using Random.org so it is a completely fair contest. Remember there is not just 1 winner! Please tell your friends about this! All of the contest in this post shall last till the 31st of march. There shall probably be other giveaways within that time frame so check daily and make sure you have my twitter accounts followed (@ShaneHudson and @SuccessCircuit).

Good luck and have fun!

Shane

Disclaimer: All of these prizes are to be handled by their owner, neither myself or Success Circuit has anything to do with the transactions.