FDA Approves Depressant Drug For The Annoyingly Cheerful

I have a few people I am going to get this drug for.
 

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Everything is so amazing and nobody is happy...

Can you relate to this in your life? Lately I have been fund raising for my start-up Indicee and what this guy is talking about reminds me of my interactions with just about every venture capitalist in the Silicon Valley. You can give them an airplane that can fly from New York to Hong Kong in 20 minutes for $500 and they will respond with "but is there a market for that?" or "Is the current method that much of a problem?" The response.....Umm no it isn't a problem and that is why someone else is going to get rich off of this idea rather than you.
 

Louis CK from Ankush Gera on Vimeo.

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Flying for the masses? F-16 fighter pilot and skateboard designer create the Icon A5

I was reading Wired (Jan 2009) and bumped into this article on the Icon A5 - The Ultimate Flying Machine. Having been a pilot for more than a decade I have to say this concept makes me nervous. While I agree that aviation is a heavily regulated industry that does hold back innovation in many regards, the concept of allowing the average consumer to hop in an airplane with little training and experience is a recipe for potential disaster.  The idea of getting to the "masses" is happening everywhere. Consumerization of products that are traditionally known to be difficult and complex is a massive opportunity.  My new start-up Indicee is all about putting business data into the hands of every business user in every company without the traditional complexity we have seen in past software products.  So I get the Icon idea. However, there is a greater risk potential with something like an aircraft than other product segments. If our software doesn't work....people don't die.  More importantly, even if our software works perfectly but the user has poor judgement when interpreting the data they won't die. And this is one of the more important points with respect to the consumerization of aviation.  Risk assessment, decision making and exceptional judgement takes proper training and experience. After 13 years of flying I still don't treat flying like I do driving a car. It quite simply requires more focus, attention to detail, skill and judgement than driving a car. Now put the aircraft on the water and you have just magnified the challenges and potential risks. Ever wonder why float(sea) planes cost so much to insure? What is going to happen to the pilot that you  "taught to solo in 5 hours" comes in for his first glassy water landing?  What about landing and taking off at high altitudes. Will they have had enough training and experience to understand the effects of density altitude? Will they be able to get off the water and clear the hill at the end of the lake? 

I think anyone that is reasonably smart and has descent hand-eye coordination can learn to fly. The challenge is how far do you "dumb things down" to attract enough of the masses without sacrificing the necessary training to safely operate the aircraft? I remember when I learned how to fly and when I look back I am amazed at all the things I didn't know but needed to know. The challenge with a simplified training program is that you lull the pilot into thinking that is all they need to know to fly when really it is only the beginning of a life long process of learning. I had the benefit of a brother(airline pilot and experienced bush pilot) to open my eyes to all of the stuff I didn't get during the standard flight training program. Thirteen years later I still wake up every day thinking I should take more training, do more flights, practice my short field landings, stay more current flying floats.....the list goes on.  Will this new breed of aircraft and associated training programs promote this same mindset? The pilot in me is skeptical but the entrepreneur in me hopes for Icon's success.

What do you think? Comment below if you have an opinion.

Icon A5

Here is a video from Wired.com of the Icon A5

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Marc Andreessen on Charlie Rose...good interview.

An interesting conversation with Marc Andreessen. Not such a great time to build a VC fund but I am sure he is going to play on his name to raise the capital.

Full Transcript on the Charlie Rose site here.

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Pictures and explanation of my knee surgery...incase this interests you.

After years of hammering my body in motocross, running, cycling, rock climbing, skiing and a bunch of other sports it is of no surprise that my body has begun to fail a bit. Three years ago I crashed hard in a bike race and had 50 guys run me over leading to a busted shoulder. This was the first major injury for me after 37 years....oh...wait that isn't true...I broke my leg at the age of 1 and spent 2 months in traction! :-) But since then I have done a whole bunch of stupid, crazy stuff in sports. During my years riding motocross I was shocked I didn't do myself in on a few occasions. After the shoulder injury I ended up getting my first surgery and I was hoping it was going to be my last. Yeah right....

Today I had knee surgery on my right knee(left knee is on its way). This injury was not caused by a single event like the shoulder. Instead it has been nagging at me for years(mildly). The key symptom is a locking knee joint during deep knee bends with torsion. In the last year or so it started to get worse so I thought it was time to deal with it.  

My surgeon was Dr. Paul Sabiston who happens to be a kiteboarder here in Vancouver. I am not entirely sure but I think Paul gave me the "fast track" through the system giving me an assessment and surgery in less than 3 weeks. 

Below is an explanation of the injury and the resulting images during my surgery performed earlier today. Paul sent the images and descriptions to me via email early this evening.

The Injury

A meniscal tear is a tear in the meniscus, a shock-absorbing structure in the knee. There are two menisci (plural of meniscus) in each knee, one on the inside (medial), and one on the outside (lateral). I had what was called a "bucket handle" tear on the medial meniscus which is slightly different than the one shown in the picture below. Of all the knee injuries I think this one is the simplest to fix and the quickest to recover from. I am planning to be back on my bike this time next week doing some light spinning.

Causes

Most injuries to the meniscus are caused by trauma, usually compression and twisting of the knee. Movements that can cause trauma to the knee include pivoting, cutting, and decelerating. Because aging tends to break down the inner tissues of the meniscus, minor trauma (such as squatting) can injure the meniscus in an older person.

The Surgery

Note: I am not sure I got the correct descriptions with the images....if you see an error let me know

Metal probe with cartilage tear at back of knee

Other half of cartilage tear with probe behind

With torn piece removed

Torn piece of cartilage in a grasper

Normal ACL

 

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