Remember that success comes from improving OTHER people's lives. All your achievements, while probably very gratifying to your mother, have not improved my life at all.
Do you use OS X or Mozilla? Have you ever used their software update mechanisms?
If yes, I've improved your life -- they use my delta compression work (bsdiff, originally written as part of FreeBSD Update) to reduce the size of updates which have to be downloaded. As of about a year ago, my work had saved users around the world well over a hundred years of waiting for updates to download.
"Remember also that every time you open your mouth in the presence of a person who has an abundance of knowledge, you display to that person your exact stock of knowledge or your lack of it! Genuine wisdom is usually conspicuous through modesty and silence."
That's a two-way street, dbosson. I wouldn't hasten to silence him, nor chasten him for opening his mouth "in the presence of a person who has an abundance of knowledge," as you put it.
If we assume 100 million internet users that you saved 100 years, that's roughly 30 seconds per user. Let's say just 10% of people use OS X or Mozilla - that's 5 minutes per user.
This is not to belittle, just to put your "100 years" in context. It's great work and you've saved me personally a lot more than 5 minutes.
"A man's power to connect his thought with its proper symbol, and so to utter it, depends on the simplicity of his character, that is, upon his love of truth, and his desire to communicate it without loss."
I think this sentence and those that follow are very insightful, when it comes to communicating our ideas.
After watching the screencast I got some good insight into what Versionate can do [the features], but I still don't know how it will improve my life [the benefits].
I think you should really stress the benefits and tell people why it is so important to have their files online.
Peace of Mind. You never have to worry about losing important files when your computer crashes.
Instant access to your files from anywhere. If you forget your computer or flash drive at home [no need to worry] your files are online and you can get them when you arrive at work.
I think some simple comments like this could really help.
In the essay "The 18 Mistakes that Kill Startups" Paul Graham mentions how it is impossible for business guys to hire good programmers. I posted this essay because it shows why it is impossible and will give business guys a deeper understanding.
