I remember growing up and my dad told me that the ultimate blessing is to be loved and admired. Most will get one or the other, some don't get any and the truly blessed will get both.

Well, goddammit, yet another friend's relationship on the rocks. Man, why do people hold back?

Steve Burgess said: "It doesn't matter who gets credit." I don't agree. "In academia, for example, trying to take credit for someone else's work is called plagiarism, and it's very serious. You can lose your job if you're caught doing it. The rules are different in the commercial world. If you have a patent and someone tries to use it without your permission, you have a good case for damages, and money may change hand."  (Scripting News)

It does matter because it shows respect and appreciation to the pioneers. Thank you Dave.

”In a surprise and dramatic reversal, President Hosni Mubarak took a first significant step Saturday toward democratic reform in the world's most populous Arab country, ordering the constitution changed to allow presidential challengers on the ballot this fall.” (MSNBC)

My favourite day.

“An Israeli government spokesman, Gideon Meir, said the bombing proved the need for the Palestinian Authority to "dismantle terror groups" rather than try to persuade them to accept a formal truce, Reuters reported. Israel's public security minister, Gideon Ezra, said, "We will have to see where we can tighten the screws and the Palestinian Authority has to tighten its screws."  (NYTimes)

We barely done witnessing the promising Sharm El Sheikh  peace conference and now we have this attack on Israel.

It's time for the new PLO leadership to stop negotiating with Hamas and Hezbollah  and start a violent showdown with these terrorist organizations.

The time for internal diplomacy has ended. Let's not have the crime of a few again sabotage the dreams of millions.

“An Israeli government spokesman, Gideon Meir, said the bombing proved the need for the Palestinian Authority to "dismantle terror groups" rather than try to persuade them to accept a formal truce, Reuters reported. Israel's public security minister, Gideon Ezra, said, "We will have to see where we can tighten the screws and the Palestinian Authority has to tighten its screws."  (NYTimes)

We barely done witnessing the promising Sharm El Sheikh  peace conference and now we have this attack on Israel.

It's time for the new PLO leadership to stop negotiating with Hamas and Hezbollah  and start a violent showdown with these terrorist organizations.

The time for internal diplomacy has ended. Let's not have the crime of a few again sabotage the dreams of millions.

because by now my energy reserve has plumetted way low down the 'exhaustion' level and work can become unbearable.

I went back to my old hangout yesterday, now occupied  by the newly opened Startbuck, a replacement to my dearest Seattle's Best Coffee. The building looks the same and the layout feels familiar. It's just doesn't have the same soul no more. I know none of the people behind the counter, none of my famed SBC girls perkilly making flirtatious small talks at 6 am (what a great way to start a day) and none of those hearty calls “dody's cappucino's ready”. I miss the time when one of them will often stop by my table and having their lunch break chatting with me (“I'm going to be a pastry chef“) allowing me to have a badly needed break away from “(new WindowStruct()).Open()“ type of literary quest.

The first year of silverkey was pretty much owed to this cafe because we were just still working out of our home and I spend hours everyday in this third place.

I love the limited choice in the old cafe.

I love the maroon coordinated colors.

I love the crackling noise of the fireplace in the winter. 

Now this place is just an empty space with green markings everwhere serving a barely OK overpriced coffee. This makes it the 4th Starbucks within 200 feet from my apartment.

” The Kansas attorney general is demanding abortion clinics turn over the complete medical records of nearly 90 women and girls, saying he needs the material for an investigation into underage sex and illegal late-term abortions.

Two clinics are fighting the request in Kansas Supreme Court, saying the state has no right to such personal information.

But Attorney General Phill Kline, an abortion opponent, insisted Thursday: "I have the duty to investigate and prosecute child rape and other crimes in order to protect Kansas children."

Kline is seeking the records of girls who had abortions and women who received late-term abortions. Sex involving someone under 16 is illegal in Kansas, and it is illegal in the state for doctors to perform an abortion after 22 weeks unless there is reason to believe it is needed to protect the mother's health.” (CNN)

You can impose freedom and even the “worse affected” will be better off.

 "The very first name I clicked on the blogroll to the right, was by Cat, a conservative Christian with a link to Blogs for Bush.

Now, I am not a conservative Christian, nor am I in the least bit political, but I realised if she can be a revolutionary nomad, then so can I"
(Victoria)

” Virtually all the new ministers are experts in the field they are to oversee, including 10 with doctorates, a medical doctor, a lawyer, several engineers and several with master's degrees. The technology minister, Sabri Saidam, 41, holds a doctorate in electric engineering. The new agriculture minister, Walid Abed Rabbo, has a doctorate in human resource management from the United States and was in Jordan's agriculture ministry before becoming a consultant in the Palestinian agriculture ministry. “ (CNN)

The new Palestinian cabinet.

I found a thick and pretty wedding invitation in my mail box yesterday from all the way down Australia. My special friend from back in high school (11 years ago) is getting married.

Congratulation Christine and Richard.

http://www.mirrordot.org/stories/8ac0ebadba511986155483c9ae231d77/index.html

80 screens play by play of the new Star Wars Episode 3. It looks much better than Episode 1 and 2.

” "Groupware" is all about things like "workflow", which means, "the chairman of the committee has emailed me this checklist, and I'm done with item 3, so I want to check off item 3, so this document must be sent back to my supervisor to approve the fact that item 3 is changing from `unchecked' to `checked', and once he does that, it can be directed back to committee for review."  (JWZ)

Workflow is useful, but only if it doesn't insult one's intelligence and actually useful for the user. Yes, we are tackling the issue of todo lists and work items management (delegation), designed for participants, not centralized manager.

The goal of daily work is getting things done. Everything else is superflous.

Just visted a sweet $950/month one and half floors bachelor pad in Buck Town. The bedroom in on the second floor overlooking the living room. I would have taken it but it's about 8 blocks from the nearest L-train and that's a big no no.

It would have been a great place for parties, but you wouldn't be able to get anyone to attend it because its inconvenience.  

The search for a new place to live continues.

” was visiting New York last week and noticed something I’d never thought I’d say about the city. Yes, nightlife is pretty much dead (and I’m in no way the first to notice that). But daylife — that insane mishmash of yells, chatter, clatter, hustle and chutzpah that makes New York the urban equivalent of methamphetamine — was also a little different. It was quieter. “ (Andrew Sullivan)

Who? what? you talking to me?

http://gowda.nomadlife.org is a new blog started by a good friend of mine, Arathi; a traveller, a mean cook, a color addict and an architect at SOM (the company behind the construction of “freedom tower”, NYC).

She brags about the view from her office  looking east of Chicago to the lake on Michigan Avenue and she cuts my hair for free :)

For All I Care

Long Distance Runner

My buddies have stuck around with for more than 2 years now and keep continuing the tradition of writing great songs and producing great tunes. Both bands will be playing together on April 22 in Logan Square Grounds (Chicago).

Rock On !!

Jon Stewart's Daily News coverage on Blogs vs Media. It's really funny.

”Private conversations with George Bush secretly taped by an old friend before he was elected president foreshadow some of his political strategies and appear to reveal that he acknowledged using marijuana, The New York Times reported Saturday.” (AP)

This is the biggest non-news story ever. Move on.

Paid Content covers the $410 million acquisition of about.com by the New York Times company.

It's a waste of money. About.com was useful before the era of weblogs. Not anymore. For a similar numbers of “paid blogs” in about.com (500 or so, which amounts to $700K or so per blog), you can build a competitive offering with similar or greater amount of knowledge blog at a much much lower cost.

There are thousands of new weblogs created everyday and there is no way a centralized outfit like about.com can compete with the variety of information and knowledge being provided by these “wild” and decentralized weblogs.

Verdict: Stupidity on the high order.

”
And girl it looks so pretty to me just like it always did
Like the spanish city to me when we were kids
Oh girl it looks so pretty to me just like it always did
Like the spanish city to me when we were kids

She took off a silver locket she said remember me by this
She put her hand in my pocket I got a keepsake and a kiss
And in the roar of dust and diesel I stood and watched her walk away
I could have caught up with her easy enough but something must have made me stay “

I just love this song.

My recently discovered high school friend is now blogging at http://erika.nomadlife.org. She's now in Perth, Australia, finished a PhD and now researching on some lung stuff.

”When you hear name-calling like what we've been hearing from the elite media this week, you know someone must be doing something right. The hysterical edge makes you wonder if writers for newspapers and magazines and professors in J-schools don't have a serious case of freedom envy.

The bloggers have that freedom. They have the still pent-up energy of a liberated citizenry, too. The MSM doesn't. It has lost its old monopoly on information. It is angry. “ (Peggy Noonan)

A pent-up energy of a liberated citizenry.

Take a look at this for an example (a blog written by a girl from Alexandria, Egypt

“ I think most Arabs went through what nisrin went through, not wanting to linked to Arabs.
Personally if i got to pick where i was from, it would most definetly be Egypt!
I am proud of all the blood I have, to be linked with the Prophet is an Honor, as well as being linked to the Ancient Egyptians and Mohamed Aly - one of the Best Leaders Egypt has ever had and many more.
See it's not the origin or blood we are ashamed of, its what the Arab world is coming to these days. After Pioneering in Everything, it is now in its darkest phases of ignorance corruption and retardation.
This being quite natural, is something we the so-called "Arab Countries" need to feel ashamed of, and that should refect on our behaviour so we can work on improving our status quo.
And like it or not, we are linked together -at least by the world community, so if Egypt advances on its own, it will be better off but the "Arab world" will still be in need. “ (superluli)

Anything similar will not be available to any press in Egypt anytime soon.

Cheers for the recently liberated market of ideas. And this time, there is nothing governments can do about it. The older concept (market) is taking over.

And that is my friend, a revolution in the making and we barely left the starting line.

”Larry Summers, when he was deputy Treasury secretary, told me in Davos that the first thing he learned in Washington was that any conversation with more than two participants would never be off the record (a lesson he has had to relearn recently).
” (Lance Knobel)

SilverKey is two years old now (well it was February 1st, but I forgot) and we are still here, cranking out code and realizing ideas along the way. Not too bad for a company started by two 25 (well, I was still 24 at that time) year old guys on credit cards. Now we are a multi-national company in every sense of the word (geographical and identity)

And this year we finally can dedicate a significant amount of time for our own product R&D. Working with small businesses and start ups (they account for about 80% of our customer base) are fun, but creating innovative products are the place we want to be. That requires a lot of works and come with loads of frustation. At least it won't be boring.

Spend the $4.95 on the latest edition of The Atlantic Mothly which put a 27 pages article titled “The Accuser” (“One woman has spent decades documenting crimes against humanity in Iraq. Now Saddam and his circle are facing justice“)  on their cover.

That article chronicle the effort of one woman (from Amnesty International then Human Rights Watch) who catalogues the brutality of the Saddam Regime for the past two decades.

Her work will become the main source to the incoming trials of the ousted Iraqi Regime.

The article referred to one Human Rights Watch released a report back in 1993 about the Anfal Operation “Genocide in Iraq: The Anfal Campain Against the Kurds“ which you can read in its entirety here.

One interesting nugget you find in the article is a story about how Saddam's Intelligence Service tried to assasinate Allawi (the current PM of Iraq Provisional Government) back in 1978 in London. The assasin used an axe to attack him in his house and manage to injure his head and leg.

”I hate good bye's. I am terrible at them” (Jen)

That's the price of being a nomad, a perpetual state of heartbreaks. Going somewhere else meaning leaving people behind.

Yet another guest expressed surprise last night that I can cook, "but you have an empty fridge !!". I told her I have outsourced my fridge to another entity.

There is no need to fill up your fridge if a supermarket is located directly from your apartment building.  No more rotten tomatoes, yay !!

That's a lot of distance to cover on  a motorbike.

Yeah, it has turned out to some sort of merchandise freak show day, but a day where love is explicitly celebrated is always a good day.

Maybe it's the state of things that even Mr Brand pitched me to get a steady girlfriend the other day. Holy cow.

“People born in the Year of the Rooster are deep thinkers, capable, and talented. They like to be busy and are devoted beyond their capabilities and are deeply disappointed if they fail. People born in the Rooster Year are often a bit eccentric, and often have rather difficult relationship with others. “ (Sarah)

This year is Sarah's and Mel's year.

I was born  in 1978 - Year of the Earth Horse  (summary: self centered hopelessly romantic brilliant bastard)

“People born in the year of the horse are sanguine, sharp-minded, dress fashionably, gifted with a silver tongue, and have acute insight. But they fall in the snares of love easily, and break away from them lightly.

Most of the people born in the year of the horse leave their homes when they are young <-true*; those who stay at home start their careers early. They are vigorous and energetic. Their most striking point lies in their strong self-confidence, gentleness, and the ability to act as agents in financial transactions.

They do not adhere to old habits and like to show off. In dress, they usually select light colors and peculiar styles, gorgeous but vulgar when they take part in activities or parties.

They like to be engaged in intellectual activities and sports <-true*, and people can see this from their skillful actions, graceful posture, and eagerness while speaking. They react quickly and can decide promptly and opportunely. A person born in the year of the horse is generous, likes to join in fun, and are totally easy going persons. They are flexible, active and intelligent, and can usually control others.

However, they are impetuous and stubborn in temperament, and have fiery tempers <-true*. Most importantly, they cannot recognize their own weaknesses, and are therefore slow to change<-ouch*. They want others to work as quickly as they do, and if they fail to obtain satisfactory results, they are full of complaints and their faces become clouded. A person born in the year of the horse is always enormously proud of his own success, has many good ideas, and is good at solving knotty problems. He can achieve great success in dealing with chaotic matters. However, he usually feels satisfied and is intoxicated with the small achievements he has made. Moreover, he is often forgetful and absent-minded. Therefore, you should always supervise such a person and urge him on so that he will not become slack.

These people are self-centered and like to be surrounded and served by their relatives and friends. They can channel other people's thinking to their own by using excellent words. And they will not give up until they have poured out all their thoughts, dancing with joy. *ha..ha*

Horse Poster

People born in the year of the horse believe that their aim in life is to "seek individual freedom and happiness." If you happen to favor this creed, they will not stand at your side for they only believe in their own happiness. However, they are not greedy,selfish, or envious. They will only get angry, but never engage in intrigue or conspiracy when there is trouble on all sides.*true*

Such people are not selfish about material matters. They do not make enemies of others intentionally, but others should not impose their opinions on them.<-true* They can scarcely wait when others do not comply with their acute thoughts and agile behavior. They may become excellent actors, but are not suitable to become teachers.

The contradictions in their temperament should be attributed to their changeable moods. <-true* They act according to their own intuitions. <-true* It is impossible to ask such a person to explain this, or to make a rational analysis of it. However, they can promote the further development of an activity by using their potential, which makes people gasp with admiration. They are often engaged in several activities at the same time, and are good at controlling situations. They put their plans into practice without hesitation once they have made up their minds.<-true* They either rush about to devote themselves to their careers, or they become extremely fatigued, and lie down.<-true*

It is difficult for a person born in the year of the horse to adapt himself to the schedule worked out by others, and they are too impatient to observe regulations. But they love stimulating jobs.<-true*

You should talk to such a person simply and clearly, otherwise he will not concent mouse on what you are saying. You should tell him directly whether a plan is feasible or not, and he will appreciate your sincerity and frankness. You should not suppress his emotions excessively, otherwise he will burst into anger, and leave the table or a meeting.

These persons are unwilling to be with people they dislike. They have their own ideas or thoughts, and it is difficult to make them submit to others. They also usually have a large circle of acquaintances and friends, and make new friends every day. But, they never rely on their friends too much.

They are always active in stirring up situations, and can bring about sunshine in winter.

They try to do things quickly, but lack persistence, and they cannot endure hardships over a long period of time. <-uh..uh*They are flexible, and can adapt themselves to circumstances. When meeting with others, they will not be as blunt as people born in the year of the dragon. For example, they will not visit you without notifying you in advance. On the contrary, they may send you a calling card first, or telephone you before visiting you at your convenience.

People born in the year of the horse may be rich, but the property that they own is not safe as they do not worry about protecting it, and therefore they may lose a part of it. They spend extravagantly, and like to make fun of others, both of which are by-products of their imaginative nature. They like to make their marks in the world, and often take the lead when there is nobody else to take responsibility for a decision.

They are quite sensitive to crises of love, and will lose everything if disappointed in live. There are many things that they finish unhappily, and they may experience several broken marriages during their lives.

Those born in summer are usually more able to cope with their lives than those born in winter. When they are middle aged, which are their peak years, they will be capable and experienced, able to bear responsibilities, and scarcely ever fettered.” (ChinaVoc)

“Horse and DOG
Very Happy and compatible union. Success and prosperity in love and partnership. Deep understanding and affinity for one another.“

"why should religion unite people? if we agree to that then we agree that religion could separate people. and that is the wrong ideology."

Oh man, Luly just schooled us. We have to shut up now. (tom gara)

from (Superluli)

That is just awesome. wow.

Currently on my reading list (don't try this at home)

W.E.B Griffin “Retreat, Hell!” - an excellent fiction based on the eve of China intervention in Korea war. Recommended.

Phil Jackson “The Last Season“ - Phil Jackson's personal perspective on L.A. Laker's 2004 season. Midly amusing but not worthy unless you are into NBA ballers.

“wordcraft“ - a business book that shed the light into the product/brand name invention (you'll read about how they come up with the name Viagra) - only interesting in you are into this kind of stuff.

Wolfram “a new kind of science“ - a encyclopedic size treatize on cellular automata. I am still sloggin' through this monstrous book.

“softwar“ - The best book on Oracle's CEO's Larry Ellison - Well recommended if you are a geek like me.

“20/20 vision“ - A fascinating book about international trends by the Chief Editor of the Economist. Still finishing it up.

“Faithful“ - two fans (famous authors) ' chronicle about the Boston Red Sox's 2004 season. Haven't read it yet.

“The Flyers“ - no judgement. Hasn't started.

“Resisting Rebellion“ - an excellent and insightful examination on insurgency around the world. Well recomended.

“The power of productivity“ - a fascinating global microeconomic examination by McKinsey Global Institute on nations economic health. It's kindda dry but the insight is useful. Recommended.

“Microsoft Reboot“ - This is supposed to be a treatise on Microsoft change of business practice and reform ..blah...blah..blah...burn the book.

“The Sling and the Stone: On War in the 21st Century“ - A book about 4th generation of warfare. Haven't read it yet.

“The flatland“ Yes, that book. I haven't read it yet.

“For the Survival of Democracy : Franklin Roosevelt and the World Crisis of the 1930s
“ - Haven't read it yet.

“Walk on water“ - You gotta..gotta..read this book about the elite Pediatric surgical unit based in Cleveland (real story). Very inspiring.

“Florence of Arabia “ - Very highly recommended funny and fine piece of writing set on a country callled “matar“ that involves that oil producing country “wasabi“ and involves satelite television and a protagonist name Firenze and the CIA and state department.

Reason magazine interviewed Neal Stephenson, the author of my favourite book, Cryptonomicon

“If you met the novelist Neal Stephenson a decade ago, you would have encountered a slight, unassuming grad-student type whose soft-spoken demeanor gave no obvious indication that he had written the manic apotheosis of cyberpunk science fiction (1992’s Snow Crash, in which computer viruses start invading hacker minds). It wasn’t his debut—he’d published two earlier novels in the 1980s—but the book was such a hit that it put his name on the science fiction map in a way the earlier efforts had not.” (more)

Went to Lava Lounge after a 16 hours work day for  a friend's 30th birthday chill out. Nothing was out of place until a slightly drunk friend complained “you work too much, Dody. Work to live, not live to work”.

I was pissed to hear yet another cliche thrown at me, but I didn't want to ruin anything so I kept my mouth shut and forced a stupid smile. A shot of Tequilla worked wonder for my temper.

” Anyways, I find myself craving arousal of the intellectual persuasion, particularly missing discussions and debates with you, which is primarily why I started to revisit the blogging business again.  On a positive note, I did finally check out the Nomads to which you referred me and it looks fabulous.  I want to explore my own crib again first though before plunging headfirst into another online forum.  Love the initiative and imagination.  Not surprised, merely humbled.” (jackie)

Let me know when you are ready for the blog smackdown again :)

”Carly Fiorina stepped down as chairman and chief executive of Hewlett-Packard Co., a surprise move at the company that she had steered from its roots in the printer business more deeply into computers, HP announced Wednesday. “ (AP)

She's the casualty of HP and Compaq merger. I don't know why big companies still likes merger. Cool The Kinks song (Picture Book) on the ads though.

Love is calling home and having loud conversations with Mom, Dad and my 3 sisters in Chinese New Year.

Love is having my youngest sister screaming at the top of her lung teasing me for not having a girlfriend. Go for the girl with “dog zodiac“, she implored. And bring her home next year.

Joy is having heard their voices again at the same time. For a brief moment I was transported home, full of fun memories.

Joy is having tears in your eyes realizing how lucky you are to have a family this fun and loving. Boy do I miss them.

The last time we had dinner together was in 2002, where all of us managed to go back home at the same time for the Year of the Horse celebration. It was the first time in 10 years.

Love. Family. Live.

True innovation requires creating something new, something that wasn't never successfully done before, something that is different from the status quo.

In doing so, you must be aware of things that comes from the status quo. Some of them are the enemy of your innovation because by its nature, your innovation will try to replace them.

And there is no way to do it without a healthy dose of confidence. It's never worked or been done before. Others have failed, why do you think you will be the one that make it happen. You will get so much negative energy from the environment because you are introducing something new. It can't be done, it's been tried before and didn't work, it didn't make sense, we didn't need it, etc. The only way you can proceed and blow through these annoyances is to say “fuck'em”.

It's you and your team.

You can be wrong and they can be right but fuck 'em. The only defeat is not giving your ideas and innovation a chance. Everything else that gets in the way, fuck'em. There is no middle ground. Either make it work or die trying.

fuck'em.

”"The last three decades have seen an astonishing expansion of democracy into areas that many people thought democracy was simply impossible," Robert Pastor, a Carter Administration policy adviser who now directs the Center for Democracy and Election Management at American University in Washington. Ignoring the 1970's axiom that democracy was a system for middle-class Protestant nations, democratic rule has spread in the last 25 years in Catholic Latin America, Buddhist east Asia and, lately, Islamic Indonesia and Malaysia. “(NYTimes)

Awesome, aint it.

I've just experienced a quite strange coincidence tonight in my quest to do 2 weeks worth of laundry.

Someone stole my detergent that I left in our spacious laundry room (20 washing machines, 10 dryers) because I was going up on my floor (16) for another load of laundry. I returned to a missing detergent. Yup, someone fucking stole my detergent. I live in a more expensive apartment building in the central of fucking Gold Coast Chicago and someone stole my half empty 5 bucks detergent at 11 pm.

Boy I wasn't happy.

But I have one more load to do and it needed to get done. Then something unusual happened. When I used the chip card on the washing machine, it didn't display the usual number (1.50 per load) or the amount money I have left on the card (at this point, it should be down to 2 dollars, I filled the card earlier with the minimum 5 dollars). Instead it flashed some random number, 5535 or something. Hmm, strange but I didn't pay attention to it. The machine worked.

The card charging machine thought that I had 13.83 dollars on my card when I tried to refill it. wow.

My first load was done and I moved them to the dryer, 1.25 per session. The dryer accepted this suddenly strange card without any  problem.

After that, the charging machine told me I had 14.00 dollars.  And that number stayed the same after I used it again on the dryer for my second load.

My card has turned into an unlimited credit laundry card after I lost a 3 dollars worth of detergent in the same night. This is a bizzare bizzare world.

I'm currently reading a business book called “hardball : are you playing to play or play to win”.

Essentially the book says that American businesses have gone soft and lost its hard driven competitiveness.

“use every legitimate resource and strategy available to them to gain advantage over their competitors...[and by doing so] attract more customers, gain market share, boost profits, reward their employees, and weaken their competitors' positions." “

It implores businesses to be ruthless to their competitors. If your competitor left an opening, drive a stake through it. Step on them while they are down. Fuck'em. Let them bleed and die and sell their carcases.

No sympathy for the enemy.

I have no problem with the book but I rather concentrate on building our own markets and our customers than worrying about our competitors. They have plenty of opportunities to shoot themselves on the foot. As Digs quipped in his blog “As though more proof was needed that Dody doesn't have a soul!”

I am reading the tales woven inside the nomadlife community and thinking of myself, man, they have interesting lives, triggering my nomadic instict to move and travel and travel and travel again instead of bidding my time and building a longer term structure that I can depend on.

Lads/laddies,

I am now both the number one “dody“ on google and msn search.

Bwahahaha..

ps: slow news day.