The product is VERY Apple. When I lifted the top of the box, I predicted that the Nest would be facing up with nothing covering it…sure enough I was right, just like an iPhone. The quick-start installation guide was very complete, and they even include a small screwdriver to do the job. I had to use a trim plate because my old thermostat left some marks on the wall.

Setup was quick and easy, the entry for your wifi password resembles a combination lock and it is sort of a kick. The nest immediately downloaded a software update and updated itself flawless.

I’m pretty excited to see how much this can save me on my heating. I have been pretty bad in the past about turning down the heat when I leave for an entire day or weekend sometimes, so if nothing else this should pay for itself with the ability to crank down the heat from my iPhone. The app is simple and effective, by the way.

I’ll update when I get my first winter heating bill and compare it to last year.

Sign in failed because YouTube service for the account “ddn3d” is temporarily unavailable.

I figured YouTube had a temporary outage and I moved on. Today I tried to export the same video and got the same error. At which point, I realized that I had recently merged my previously-standalone YouTube account (ddn3d) with my Google login (david.dellanave). Something along the line doesn’t understand the difference, so it spits out this general error.

Logging in with my Google account credentials fixed it immediately.

The format it was designed to work on is:

FirstName LastName

Here is the tool

Have fun!

Billions in government grants?

Stem cells?

Or just one guy armed with the knowledge that you can change your own body and the will to cure Tourettes.

This time around I used genetify to do multi-variate testing with an optimizng algorithm.  Let me show you why this is important.

Let’s say we got 50,000 unique visitors to our landing page.

3.0% conversion rate	5.0% conversion rate

So you say, great, orange converted better. So what? Everyone knows orange buttons convert better. Well you’re right, but we also tested some much more interesting things that I’m not willing to share. But, let me show you something more important.

Assume we had 50,000 unique visitors, with a $200 sale price.

50,000 * 3% = 1500 = $300,000
50,000 * 5% = 2500 = $500,000

If we had simply 50/50 split tested to SEE which result was better:

25,000 * 3% + 25,000 * 5% = $150,000 + $250,000 = $400,000

But using a genetic algorithm that optimized in real-time for the best conversion rate:

10,000 * 3% + 40,000 * 5% = $60,000 + $400,000 = $460,000

Because our algorithm optimized itself for the best conversion, we made an extra 15% in revenue.

The coolest thing about MVT with a genetic algorithm is that it will find combinations that work the best that you would never have dreamed of.

If you aren’t using the tools available, you are leaving money on the table.

1. Quit Yammer.
2. Open Terminal
3. type: rm -rf ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/AIR/ELS
4. type: rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/Yammer*
5. Relaunch ze Yammer.

Last week I was in beautiful Del Mar, CA for ThinkTank and I’m happy to report that it was a fantastic event. I’ll admit I was a little skeptical at first knowing all the crazy thing DK would have in store but it really all fits together.

This is the one event that you should attend if you need or want to make connections in the industry but are not very good at meeting people and networking at the typical conferences. The way DK has structured the activities it would literally be impossible to spend 3 days there and not at least meet every person.

As a result of ThinkTank, I also discovered surfing which could possibly be my obsession over the next 15 years.

My only criticism is that sometimes the event isn’t serious enough. But then again, if you are really serious about growing your business, go to Elite Retreat. Yeah DK, I know that’s a shameless plug, but it’s also true. ThinkTank is a wonderful, fun event but it is a lot harder (in my opinion) to get serious and see a return from what you do at ThinkTank than it is at Elite Retreat where there is a laser-focus on results.

All told, DK and his team put together a well-organized (much to my surprise) and fantastic 3 days in the sun and surf. Bravo.

You should not go to Elite Retreat if you have “ideas” that you haven’t started on because you think you need one or more things before you get going.

You should go to Elite Retreat if you’re good at absoring diverse information and synthesizing it into something you can use for yourself or your business.

You should not go to Elite Retreat if you are hoping that someone is going to reveal a pearl that will change your business overnight.

You should go to Elite Retreat if you enjoy meeting other entrepreneurs and hearing and seeing what other people are out there doing.

You should not go to Elite Retreat if you think that your business exists in isolation (revenue or not) and that relationships don’t matter in the web 2.0 world.

You should go to Elite Retreat if you would even consider hiring one of the experts to do some consulting for your business.  If you can recognize the value that an expert consultant can immediately deliver, and you would consider paying money to have one of these guys examine your business and provide feedback then the Elite Retreat is more than a bargain.

You should not go to Elite Retreat if you think you are smarter than everyone else and have nothing to learn.

You should go to Elite Retreat if your business could benefit from the relationships you have the opportunity to cultivate with other like-minded entrepreneurs.

You should not go to Elite Retreat if your idea of working is the 4 Hour Work Week or doing as little as possible related to your business in a given day.

You should also not go to Elite Retreat if NYC is your favorite city in the world and you love going to conferences there so you can partake in all the different things NYC has to offer.  Unless you come early or stay late, you’re not going to see much of NYC because you’re going to be spending 2.2 full days with some of the brightest people you will ever get a chance to meet.

The house is beautiful and is chock full of treasures mainly from southeast Asia but other parts of the world as well. I will confess that from the web site I thought the house and the rooms would be very “kitchy”. I was actually completely wrong, everything is beautiful and unique.

From Minneapolis you could easily leave around 3 to beat the traffic, enjoy dinner in Stillwater, stay at the Elephant Walk, have a fantastic breakfast and be back the next day by noon at the latest. Life is short, if you’re not taking time to do things like this you’re Doing It Wrong.