考え - Kangae

Slow Syncs with Omnifocus and Your iPhone

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-08-10T14:23:17-07:00

Having a problem with syncing Omnifocus on your Mac with Omnifocus on your iPhone? I sure was! In fact, I was ready to trash the whole solution and complain to Omni Group about the $100 that I spent on the solution.

Fortunately, Omni Group is planning a new version of Omnifocus for iPhone that will solve the problem, but hasn’t appeared yet in the App Store. If you can’t wait like me, there is an AppleScript workaround provided by Omni Group at this link.

It solved the problem and I am happy again. If you are a serious GTD user, you should check out Omnifocus.

UPDATE 8/13/08 --- Omnifocus V1.0.3 is now on the App Store and supposedly fixes the Sync problems.

Some Fun with Words

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-07-05T18:35:46-07:00

Occassionally, you come across a fun site. Wordle is just that.

As the Web site describes:

"Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends."

I ran the tool on my blog and here is the "word cloud" it created:

Lots of fun. Enjoy!

Moo Cards: A "purple cow"

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-06-27T08:57:09-07:00

If you are in the market for an innovative way to differentiate yourself, you should check out Moo cards. As Seth Godin says in his book Purple Cow, “Cows, after you’ve seen them for a while, are boring...A Purple Cow, though. Now that would be interesting.” Conventional business cards are boring, while Moo Cards are not.

Moo is a London-based printing company that allows you to create your own unique and personal products using stock images or your own photos from Flickr or your computer. Their minicards are 28x70mm in size -- approximately 1/3 the size of a regular business card -- and can have any picture on the reverse size with 6 lines of text on the primary side. While they are higher priced than ordinary business cards, they really differentiate you.

Since I have been handing out Moo mini-cards, I have not failed in engaging the other person about the cards and my background. They are definitely worth getting.

Fluid & Google: The Death of Office?

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-06-19T08:51:45-07:00

If you are an Apple user and frequently use sites like Facebook, FriendFeed, Google Docs, etc., then Fluid is a technology that you need to investigate. Fluid allows you to very easily to run your favorite web applications as separate Cocoa applications on your desktop.

I created a separate application for FriendFeed, Facebok and Google Docs. Why? To manage my workflow easier and to prevent the situation where an error in one tab kills my other tabs. The combination of Google Apps and Fluid is very powerful and has the definite potential to make Microsoft Office irrelevant someday. I am not yet ready to abandon Office; however, the sharing and search capabilities of Google Apps are very appealing.

I recommend that you download Fluid and try to make some Site Specific Browsers. I think you will find it very helpful in the move to web applications if you are use to the desktop application workflow.

A Good Investment of An Hour of Your Time

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-06-07T07:44:04-07:00

I just finished watching an hour-long video on YouTube of a panel by authors Marci Alboher - “One Person/Multiple Careers: A New Model for Work/Life Success” and Tim Ferriss - “The 4-Hour Workweek; Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich”. It was part of the Authors@Google series and took place about one year ago in Mountain View.

Some key takeaways resonated well with me. Tim Ferriss emphasized time and time again against focusing on list of items and accomplishing as much as possible as opposed to focusing on the effectiveness of the work you are doing. His pareto analysis approach, i.e. focus on the 20% that achieves the 80%, is spot on. He also said that, when forced to do things from 9-5 in a single location, people will make up things to do to fill the time. While managing organizations, I have found this to be very true . The key is getting people to do innovative, effective things with the extra time.

Marci Alboher talks about “Slash Careers” where you have multiple jobs/pursuits to your life. I can certainly relate to her discussion. In addition to having run a division in a high technology company, I have specific interests in marketing, sales, computers, coaching individuals, writing, presenting, wine and cooking. I am always balancing these different activities in my life. I am truly a “slash” individual.

The video offers a new way to look at careers and life and really reinforces my belief on time management. Enjoy.

Starbucks/AT&T -- Why so complicated?

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-06-03T10:03:17-07:00

Incredible hassles this morning trying to register my Starbucks card for free wifi support. Firstly, they obviously did not size the system to handle the demand. Even though I was entering my proper Starbucks login and password, the system insisted on coming back with an error.

Then, finally when I got through, it wouldn’t accept my card that currently has a $15 balance because...get this...I haven’t used it in 30 days!?! What about all the soy lattes that I have bought with cash in the last 30 days? They don’t count.

This is what happens when a corporation treats their customers like criminals. Obviously, some empty suit at corporate headquarters is worried that someone may “free ride” on the wifi network by buying a latte and sitting there for many hours.

Starbucks just doesn’t get it! Simply provide free Internet access like Panera, independent coffee shops, etc. and they will come...and they will drink coffee. Get rid of these absurd hoops to jump through and 2-hour limitations. Particularly since your competition already has!

Starbucks should trust its customers and they will reward it with their business. Especially those who already have their loyalty cards!

UPDATE: I made a special trip to Starbucks to buy a latte on my card. It was accepted finally!

Evernote and ShoZu

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-05-31T15:39:05-07:00

Lately, I have been using the beta of Evernote as a way to organize my notes on the MacBook Pro as well as to have an online copy. While still a little immature, the synchronization, search and OCR on photos are very impressive. Also, the integration with various platforms (Mac, Windows and Windows Mobile) is cool.

One thing I was not happy with was the resolution of the snapshots done by the Evernote Windows Mobile client. As an alternative, I could take a higher resolution photo and then email it to my Evernote email account; however, it would take a lot of steps. Enter ShoZu.

By making Evernote email my one-step account in ShoZu, I can quickly take a photo and send it to Evernote online. Evernote will store it, OCR it and, when I synchronize with my Mac application, provide a copy on my laptop. It is quite cool.

I recommend that everyone should try Evernote and ShoZu. They are an excellent combination.

Reckless Kelly - Time to Visit the iTunes Store

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-05-30T15:14:36-07:00

There are times where you find a hidden gem and you need to pass it forward. Reckless Kelly is one of them.

I was introduced to them by one of my friends. Hailing from Texas, their country/rock blend is quite enjoyable...if you don’t have any of their music, it is time to visit iTunes and download their three best songs:

Wicked Twisted Road
Seven Nights in Eire
Stick Around

Enjoy!

"A Tale of Two Upgrades"

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-05-29T15:25:06-07:00

To quote Charles Dickens, “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” This week two long-awaited upgrades arrived for Mac users: RapidWeaver V4.0 and Delicious Library 2. Both have offered some free upgrades to its installed base.

RapidWeaver allows any registered RapidWeaver 3.6 customer, i.e. a Serial Number starting with RW3SN. RapidWeaver is an excellent Web site creation tool and is the one used for this blog. For me, the upgrade was a snap and now I am using RapidWeaver 4.0 for this entry. I will report on my impressions of RapidWeaver 4.0 in a later blog entry, once I have had the opportunity to explore it further.

Delicious Library has stated that any customer that bought Delicious Library 1 on or after December 1st 2007 would be entitled to a free upgrade to Delicious Library 2, when available. Here is the actual blog entry. Delicious Library is a cool application that allows you to “catalog your books, movies, music, software, toys, tools, electronics and video games”. However, unlike the RapidWeaver upgrade, this upgrade is not going as well. The Delicious Library 2 installation and migration of my library has gone flawless; however, the new version does not accept my Delicious Library 1 license key. Consequently, my instance of Delicious Library 2 is running in demo mode and will NOT allow me to scan in any new items.

There are no instructions on the Delicious Monster Web site on the process to get a free Delicious Library 2 upgrade license key and I contacted Delicious Monster by email two days ago about the problem. I have yet to receive a reply.

My hope is that Delicious Monster will be honoring their commitment to the installed base. In any event, they are not handling the situation as well as RapidWeaver. I am wondering if we will see a rerun of the YazSoft PR disaster?

UPDATE 6/4: Good news. I found the free upgrade path for Delicious Library. You simply need to go through the normal purchase process embedded in the software and they will credit you the $20 upgrade fee if you qualify. Unfortunately, I needed to find this on my own and there is no real explanation on the Delicious Monster Web site. Nevertheless, I never received a direct response from Delicious Monster.

UPDATE 6/18: I finally got an email from Delicious Monster with my free license key. Clearly, they have honored their commitment to existing users; however, it is more than three weeks since the product announcement.

Was I in Tokyo?

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-05-26T08:59:44-07:00

Sometimes I am surprised and yesterday was one of them.

While my wife was shopping for food at Nijiya Market - the Japanese supermarket in Mountain View, Ayumi - my 10 mo. old daughter - and I went to Grain D'or Bakery in the same strip mall. Grain D'or is related to Andersen's Bakery chain where I frequented often when I lived in Tokyo. We get excellent premium white and raisin bread there.

Also, I normally sit with Ayumi and have a cup of coffee and sometimes a cheese danish. They brew Mr. English Coffee from my favorite coffee shop in Los Altos. This time however, they had run out of all the freshly-brewed coffee, except de-caf. When I told them that they needed to re-fill the "high test" coffee, they offered me a free cup of espresso for the inconvenience. Nice touch, but hardly blog-worthy. Patience.

As I was having my coffee, an elderly person in a wheelchair came into the restaurant and one of the staff helped her to the table next to mine. She was going to have lunch in the cafe. At the same time, out of joy Ayumi let out a huge shriek and the elderly woman commented how loud she was. It was understandable so I moved to the outside tables to give her some peace --- after all she is paying good money for lunch, too.

Here is the blog-worthy service item --- after I finished my coffee and brought the mug inside, the same staff person came and apologized again for the lack of fresh coffee AND to tell me how adorable my daughter is and thank me for moving to accommodate the elderly person. It is the kind of service and commitment you unfortunately don't find here in America, but is commonplace in Japan.

As Seth Godin puts it, it is part of Grain D'or 's purple cow and what makes it remarkable. I recommend that you visit the store at 137 E. El Camino Real, Mountain View, CA 94040 (650) 210-9488.

What if this afternoon your Twitter feed was offline?

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-05-15T12:58:20-07:00

Ironically, after praising Twitter yesterday for helping my solve my RSS feed problem, the service was out for a couple of hours in the late afternoon on 5/14. It is interesting how addicted I am to the Twitter feed for get up-to-date information from my trusted network.

What if this morning your digital newpaper didn't arrive?

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-05-14T08:09:18-07:00

Imagine waking up and finding out that you have zero newsfeeds pending to read. What happened...did everyone decide to boycott the Internet? Could there actually be no updates to the 34 feeds that I normally follow? The silence is eery...almost like something out of a horror movie or a Twlight Zone episode.

Unfortunately, the moment of insanity passes and Occom's Razor takes over. The simplest solution is the best...there must be something wrong with the mechanism that is updating my NetNewsWire feeds. So I start at the beginning and assume sleep is to blame and stop and restart the application. No effect. After hitting the Refresh All button five or six times hoping that it would automatically start up again, I decide that I need to fix it.

Dismayed and annoyed, I vented my frustration by sending a status update to all my social networking sites using MoodBlast. Suddenly it dawns on me...maybe it isn't only me. Rather than searching the forums to find a solution, I decide to see if anyone else is complaining on Twitter. No one in my feeds are having the same problem?!?! However, I do get my news fix on how Team Slipstream is doing in the Giro.

However, when I go to Summize, I hit the Jackpot! Not only is there a description of the problem, but someone has already provided a solution...NewsGator is the problem and remove the synchronization from your preferences within NetNewsWire. Suddenly, the RSS feeds load and I have 104 new feeds to read. Maybe, I shouldn't be so happy.

This was a very illuminating experience on our dependence on and the power of new Web V2.0 communication methods...i.e. RSS Feeds and Twittering. In record time, I was back up and running...the free and quick dissemination of information will dominate the future of the Internet.

A Bag of Nails

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-05-11T20:48:57-07:00

Once upon a time there was a little boy with a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he should hammer a nail in the fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. But gradually, the number of daily nails dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the first day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He proudly told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence.

"You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out, it won't matter how many times you say 'I'm sorry', the wound is still there."

Source: A Old Buddhist Tale

Quotes to Live By

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-04-22T09:03:03-07:00

Below are some quotes to live a full and enriching life:

"To expect defeat is nine-tenths of defeat itself." --- Henry Mencken

"Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm." --- Winston Churchill

"Tough times don't last. Tough people do." --- Joe Torre

"Every time you spend a dollar, you sacrifice a bit of your future." --- Unknown

"Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy." --- Thinh Nhat Hanh

"Nothing will be ever attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome." --- Samuel Johnson

"If you laugh, you think and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day." --- Jim Valvano

State Farm Insults Bicyclists

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-04-05T10:22:53-07:00

In the following advertisement from State Farm, a businessman to save on rising gas prices moves from driving his car to commute to work to riding a bicycle. The advertisement's proposition is that they will save enough money on his insurance so he can go back to his gas-guzzling automobile.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6sNjUoF_Do

The guy is portrayed stupidly with a suit top and cycling pants and a women ridicules the person for his cycling pants. This commercial is just another attempt to portray automobiles as the end-all, be-all and cycling as a second-class citizen. If the guy can get to his office safely, then all the power to him for cycling instead of driving. Good for his health, good for the environment, and good for all of us.

We should be promoting commuting to work by bicycle...not denigrating it. To learn more about commuting to work by bicycle, please see this site.

Road Less Traveled

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-03-27T08:43:29-07:00

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth

Then took the other as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet, knowing how way leads onto way
I doubted if I should ever come back

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference

Robert Frost

Fighting Diabetes by Cycling

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-03-26T15:35:45-07:00

On June 6th I will be cycling 75 Kilometers to fight Diabetes in the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure fund-raising event. The Tour de Cure is a series of cycling events held in over 80 cities nationwide. I have joined thousands of others to pedal in support of the Association's mission: to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.

According to the American Diabetes Association, the top 10 reasons to fight diabetes are:

• Nearly one in ten American adults now has diabetes.

• Diabetes is the fifth-leading cause of death by disease in the U.S.

• Diabetes is a chronic disease and has no cure.

• Each year, more than 80,000 people with diabetes undergo amputations.

• Diabetes can cause other serious health problems ranging from stroke, heart disease, and
kidney failure.

• The incidence of diabetes has increased by 61 percent since 1990 and continues to rise at an
alarming rate.

• Approximately 20.8 million Americans have diabetes — including 6.3 million who don’t even
know it.

• An additional 54 million people have pre-diabetes, putting them at great risk for developing
type 2 diabetes.

• One out of every three Americans born today will eventually develop diabetes if present
trends continue.

• More than $1 in every $10 spent on health care services in the U.S. is attributable to diabetes. This translates to more than $132 billion direct and indirect healthcare costs (2002 statistics).

If you are interested in helping with a donation, please click on this link. Your tax-deductible gift will make a difference in the lives of more than 20 million Americans who suffer from diabetes and another 54 million people in the United States with pre-diabetes. Each kilometer I ride, each dollar you donate will be used in the fight to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by this disease. Together, we can all make a difference!

Yesterday's Post Was An Internet Prank --- Rickrolling

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-03-15T09:06:41-07:00

Yesterday' post was an Internet prank called Rickrolling. Basically, you trick the reader into believing that the post is important and then sending them to a copy of Rick Ashley's "Never Give You Up". The song actually hit #1 on the Billboard Charts on March 12, 1988.

Some details on Rickrolling can be found here. And yes it is a real link!

Celebrating a 20 year anniversary

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-03-14T10:41:21-07:00

Check out this link!

Enjoy! ;)

YazSoft Makes Good on Their Offer to MacHeist Customers

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-03-13T12:59:23-07:00

What an incredible month for people who bought the MacHeist bundle! The forum pages were exploding about the SpeedDownload V5 upgrade and YazSoft's handling of the situation.

Happily, YazSoft has come to a final resolution on the issue and it is very good. Kudos to MacHeist and YazSoft to fix the situation for the best interests of the customers. However, time is short to take advantage of the upgrade so read below:

• This offer will last a total of 14 days from today (expires March 27, 2008).

• All MacHeist II bundle purchasers interested in Speed Download 5 can get it for free by entering username/email on this webpage. Once your info is validated, you'll receive your personalized Speed Download 5 info via email.

• Those of you who get Speed Download 5 for free will only get one Speed Download 5 license (not two). That free Speed Download 5 license will not qualify for discounted pricing or a free upgrade to Speed Download 6 when it's released.

• All MacHeist II bundle purchasers who've already purchased the Speed Download 5 upgrade for $15 before the start of this 14 day arrangement have 2 options:

you can do nothing and keep the two Speed Download 5 licenses you received as well as get Speed Download 6 for free when it's released
- or -
you can request for a refund from Yazsoft, in which case the 2nd Speed Download 5 license supplied to you will be de-activated and the free upgrade to Speed Download 6 removed

• All MacHeist II bundle purchasers who'd like to purchase the Speed Download 5 upgrade for $15 to show their support (during this 14-day period) will continue to get a 2nd Speed Download 5 license for free. If you choose to do this you'll also get Speed Download 6 for free when it's released.

• All MacHeist II bundle purchasers users that would like to purchase the Speed Download 5 upgrade for $15 to show their support (after this 14-day period) will continue to get a 2nd Speed Download 5 license for free. A free upgrade to Speed Download 6 will not be offered however.

YazSoft also has information at their Web site http://yazsoft.com/content/macheist.html.

An Instructive Joke for Eliot Spitzer

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-03-11T20:57:09-07:00

There once was a young man who had just left the doctors office after learning he was dying. He was understandably very upset by the news. He decided to find out what alternatives to medicine might be available and the very same day headed to the city's main public library to investigate further. Tucked away back in a dusty corner was an obviously old book on unusual facts. Searching through it, he stumbled across an entry concerning an account of some immortal porpoises living in Central Africa. Deciding on the spot that this was his salvation, he soon was on his way across the ocean to deepest darkest Africa. Hating to fly, he'd booked passage on an outgoing ocean liner.

As the ship neared the coast, he spied some sea gulls nurturing their broods along a craggy cliff. He soon thereafter disembarked and after acquiring enough provisions and equipment for an extended trek, headed into the interior in search of the immortal porpoises. After many days of slogging through interminable jungle, he came upon a clearing and saw what he took to be porpoises swimming within a pool in the center of the clearing. He excitedly rushed up to the pool and asked the porpoises (who amazingly enough could talk and indeed spoke excellent English) for the secret to immortality. One of the porpoises replied that yes they would give him the secret, but he would have to first do something for them. He of course replied with a resounding yes before he even knew what it was. The porpoise continued that they'd had a hankering for some baby sea gulls, which were in obvious short supply in Central Africa, and that they'd give him the secret of immortality if he'd bring them some baby sea gulls.

He agreed and remembering where he'd last seem some, but discouraged because he knew it was a long way back, headed back to the coast to get the baby sea gulls. He finally arrived after days of travel and successfully gathered several of the birds without being pecked to death by the angry parents. After safely enclosing them in some cages he'd brought along, he again headed back to the clearing in the jungle. When he finally arrived at the clearing he was dismayed to find that a pride of lions was lounging around the pool blocking all access to the porpoises and appearing to be in no hurry to move on. Frantically pondering what to do he remembered the tranquilizer gun that he'd brought along. Taking it out and loading it, he calmly tranquilized all the lions.

Elated he took the cages with the young sea gulls and headed toward the porpoises in the pool. Just as he was about to step over the sleeping lions, a game warden stepped out of the jungle and said to him. "Hold on there you can't do that!" "Why not?" said the man. "Because" said the game warden, "it's illegal to transport young gulls across sedated lions for immortal porpoises!"

Look for Eliot Spitzer to be pressured by the Mann Act to testify against the defendants and to resign from his governorship.

The pun comes from this Web site, http://home.flash.net/~rayearle/Puns.html.

Horrible Day for Bay Area Cycling

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-03-10T16:56:35-07:00

Yesterday was a terrible day for cycling in the Bay Area. Two separate accidents on roads that I normally ride remind us how fragile life is.

On a normally safe road, two cyclists were killed and one seriously injured after -- believe it or not -- a sheriff deputy apparently fell asleep at the wheel and ran into them across the road. Both cyclists were professional racers with one having Olympic potential. Also, on Skyline Blvd. at the top of the western hills of Silicon Valley, a car turned right in front of four Webcor riders --- also a racing team --- who were in a paceline. Three were sent to the emergency room with one still in the ICU. These riders were not recreational riders, but very skilled riders.

Cars and bicycles need to share the road safely. Dave Zabriskie, a world-class cyclist and a member of the 2008 Slipstream/Chipotle, has founded an organization Yield to Life to promote a safer environment for cyclists. It is time to get serious about safety for cyclists. Please donate to Yield to Life.

http://yieldtolife.org/

My Trusty HP12C Calculator...on my Mac

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-02-24T13:17:05-08:00

My trusty HP12C calculator is coming up on its 20th birthday party. Ever since my B-school days at Dartmouth College in 1988-1990, it has provided me with steady reliable functionality. I cannot image living without it.

One key different between HP12C calculator and others, besides the reliablity and excellent keys, is the use of reverse polish notation (RPN). In short, rather than inputting "1+1=" to get an answer, you input "1 enter 1 +". It uses the concept of a stack to store intermediate values. For a simple equation like "1+1", it is not relevant, but, for complex equations like (5+6)*(42-23)+24, RPN is much more effective. Of course, once you start using an RPN calculator, you become totally dysfunctional with a regular calculator beyond a simple "1+1="!

Not normally a problem since I have the trusty 12C; however, it always was a problem with standard calculators on PCs. Not with Leopard on my Mac! The standard calculator in Leopard can be easily converted to RPN with a simple Command-R. Nevertheless, it is not the same layout as my HP12C and doesn't come with all the same functionality.

That has changed...enter nonpareil for Mac OSX.

Nonpareil is a simulator of vintage HP calculators that was originally written for Linux. At this site, you can get a version for Mac OSX for your favorite HP calculator. Enjoy!

A Little Software to Trick Up Your Mac

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-02-14T15:11:32-08:00

Sometimes the little single purpose applications are the coolest to trick up your Mac. Today the Web site MacApper featured SlimBatteryMonitor , which is an excellent replacement for the standard battery monitor in the Apple menu bar. It takes up 70% less space than the standard battery monitor, but, with innovative use of color, is much more effective at showing the current status of the battery.

Definitely check it out. It is a great, free application. Also, the developer accepts donations thru Paypal.

Anatomy of a PR Meltdown

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-02-12T20:48:54-08:00

Today Yazsoft introduced a new version of their software, Speed Download. According to their Web site, Speed Download 5 "continues to enhance and tweak the performance of Speed Download to ensure utmost reliability. Version 5 includes tons of key improvements, and is a recommended upgrade for all Speed Download customers."

So where is the PR meltdown? Let me tell you a little story. I am using Speed Download Version 4 from my MacHeist bundle purchase last month and am quite happy with the product. Today, when Speed Download starts, it tells me that there is a new update for the software and starts an automatic download. Turns out, that the update is NOT a free update and loads a demo version of the software. Moreover, it won't accept my MacHeist bundle license when I entered it.

After looking at the MacHeist forum site, I found out that the MacHeist Bundle License wouldn't work so I tried to downgrade back to Version 4. Guess what, the Version 4 on Yazsoft's Web site was also a demo software that wouldn't take the MacHeist bundle license, but now it wouldn't download at all. The trial period was expired. Now, I couldn't download at all! Luckily, I was able to save the day by restoring from Time Machine!

I found out something else while at the MacHeist forum site. Even though Yazsoft was giving their MacHeist customers a discounted upgrade fee as they did with other Version 4 customers, it was giving customers who bought the software since January 1st the upgrade for free. Despite assurances that the version that was bought last month with the MacHeist bundle was a full version --- later confirmed by MacHeist on the forum ---, Yazsoft decided to change the rules and consider its MacHeist customers as promo software customers, different from their other customers. Unlike Circus Ponies who clearly stated that their V2.0 product would not be a free upgrade for MacHeist customers, Yazsoft never clearly stated their intentions.

Consequently, the MacHeist forum is ablaze with unhappy customers that feel that they have been cheated. Moreover, in addressing their concerns, Yazsoft's responses have been very defensive and evasive. They have blamed MacHeist for the misunderstanding and have pretty much alienated more than 40,000 new customers from the MacHeist bundle. One can follow the entire situation at the MacHeist forums. Moreover, the bad publicity is now spreading into the mainstream Mac bloggers (see Macmerc.com).

Whether or not it was an unethical business practice (bait and switch comes to mind) or simply incompetent marketing, this is a clear case of how NOT to do marketing in today's web marketing world. Yazsoft should have been upfront with the status of the MacHeist customers during the bundle sale. Now they face the need to make a drastic change in their policy or risk permanently destroying their reputation with a broad vocal group within the Mac user community.

Pimp your Mac with Gelaskins

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-02-10T20:03:15-08:00

One of the coolest ways to pimp your Mac is to use Gelaskins on it. Gelaskins are super low-profile skins for your Apple (or other PC) laptop computer. They come with an advanced 3M adhesive that makes them cleanly removable if you want to change the art. I wouldn't recommend changing out your skins on a daily basis, though.

They claim it is for protection purposes and, while it does protect against scratches, it only protects the top of your computer due to heat flow issues. Nevertheless, if you want to get noticed at the coffee shop while surfing the Internet, this is definitely the way to go!

They come with various types of artists; both traditional from Monet to Hokusai and new young artists such as Nathan Ota and Aya Kato. The skin on my MacBook Pro is The Great Wave Off Kanagawa from Katsushika Hokusai. It is part of his famous Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji wood block series from around 1831. Hokusai is world-renown as the best at Japanese woodblock printing; also known as ukiyo-e. In fact, his work was very enthusiastically collected by French impressionists, such as Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec.

Finally, if you looked closely at the photo, you will see that my 3rd Generation iPod Nano is also tricked out with a Gelaskin. Yes, they have them for iPods, iTouchs and iPhones, too! It is a skin of work from a young artist in Los Angeles, named Nathan Ota. His illustrations are very cool!

Presentation Zen: Buy it!

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-02-06T18:23:33-08:00

Every once and a while there is a book I read that just clicks. It simply knocks the ball out of the park. Presentation Zen is one of them!

A very easy and quick read, Presentation Zen offers page after page of excellent advice about how to build winning presentations. Before reading it, I thought I was an excellent speaker. Afterwards, I realized that I was implementing only about 30-40% of the ideas in the book. I cannot wait to prepare my next Powerpoint presentation. How often does someone say that!?!

Garr Reynolds is currently an associate professor at Kansai Gaidai University in Japan and spent many years working there. Consequently, the book has a Japanese flavor to it, which obviously also appeals to me. Some of the lessons are simply profound in their simplicity. For example, the key to a good presentation is two questions: "What is your point? Why does it matter?". I do not know how many presentations that I have attended in my life where the presenter was clueless on these points and just presented what he or she felt comfortable to present regardless of the relevance to the audience.

Another profound point is that the powerpoint slides are there to complement the speaker, not replace him or her. Therefore, every single point should not be on the slides. That is what should come out of your mouth. When the audience is trying to unravel the meaning in a complex slide, they are not listening to the speaker. Keep the slides simple to support the speaker...not replace the speaker.

I also liked the sidebar sections that provide interesting tidbits of knowledge. One cool one is about the Pecha-kucha method. Basically, Pecha-kucha was developed by a couple of expats in Tokyo and consists of presentations, where the presenters are limited to 20 slides, each shown for 20 seconds as the presenter tells the story in sync to the transitioning slides. Within only 6 minutes and 40 seconds, you need to tell your story. How's that for getting your pitch down?

What about all these restrictions? Reynolds postulates that the restrictions are actually liberators of your creativity. I agree wholeheartedly, but it is definitely work to get things to be simple. As Mark Twain said, "It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech." However, the investment that you make on the preparation makes the investment your audience makes worthwhile.

As for investments, go buy Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds. It is definitely worth it. Also check out his blog.

Leopard Version of MenuCalendarClock for iCal

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-02-04T19:17:56-08:00

Objectpark Software introduced Version 3.0 of its MenuCalendarClock for iCal, which supports Leopard.

It is a great replacement for the standard clock on the menu bar. When you click on the menu bar, it gives you a complete view of the monthly calendar. The days where you have appointments are highlighted and if you mouse over the day, it shows your appointments for the day. It also shows your to-do items within iCal. It is a very cool tool.

One negative is that it has a clunky dock icon that normally must exist on your dock. Search the Internet and you'll find out how to get rid of it, too. The software comes in a freeware version as well as a paid version with additional functionality.

http://www.objectpark.net/

Businessweek Doesn't Want Us to Link to Them

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-01-27T16:28:57-08:00

In an effort to be as far away from successful Web marketing as possible, Businessweek does NOT want bloggers to link to their site. According to this CNET report, Businessweek's use policy forbids bloggers from linking to interesting content, presumably to force users to start at their home page rather than deep linking to the content.

This runs completely counter to the new Web 2.0 Internet. They should be encouraging us to link to their pages to drive clickthrus to their Web site. It increases the possibility of all different social networking engines to highlight their stories in mashup sites. It just goes to show how out-of-touch mainstream media is when it comes to the Internet.

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9858916-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

Obama Under Attack

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-01-24T18:29:26-08:00

There is an interesting arcticle on Wired about Senator Obama using email and other Internet technologies to fight off email chain rumors of him being a secret Muslim. What makes it interesting is the viral nature of the Internet. Should Senator Obama use the Internet to fight off the allegations and possibily risk spreading it further or should he not dignify the dirt by giving a response?

Lately, Senator Obama has been becoming much more aggressive both in person and on the Internet to fight off allegations. I doubt it is a good strategy to be so aggressive and further an negative image. To paraphrase the Queen in Hamlet, "Methinks, Senator Obama doth protest too much!"

http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2008/01/obama_mail

Pakistani Army Attacks Militant Stronghold

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-01-20T20:29:40-08:00

Today, the Pakistani Army made a military attack in the border region near Afghanistan. The Waziristan region is not under Paklstani military control and is the stronghold of tribal leaders that support terrorists, like Al-Qaeda. The Pakistani army has found multiple engagements in this region with limited effect.

This new offensive shows that Musharraf wants to send a message that he is making a difference at tracking down Bhutto's assassins. He is on his way to Europe from a multi-day trip, including the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. This helps him with his interactions with other world leaders as well as sends a message to Pakistanis that he is taking action.

Hopefully, this will lead to a broader initiative for Pakistan to secure the border and limit the activities of tribal warlords that are supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan. If it makes life difficult for Al-Qaeda...so much the better.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1705491,00.html

Please Buy the Excellent Mac Bundle using Another Link

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-01-18T18:16:21-08:00

The Mac Bundle at MacHeist is a great value. I am very happy with the software in the bundle and, if you refer another two people who buy, you will receive a copy of LaunchBar and Notebook. Both applications are exceptional.

LaunchBar really fills a gap between a true launcher and Spotlight. Previously, I had been using Quicksilver, but its future development is suspect. Moreover, LaunchBar is actually easier to use. Notebook allows you to arrange all your information into a flexible, notebook format.

I have been fortunate that two of my friends have bought through my referral link so i do not need any more referrals. However, there are a large number of people that either are looking for someone to buy with their link or are about to buy and are willing to trade referrals. I recommend that you go to the MacHeist forum to buy.

So please do not use my link below, but rather go here:

http://www.macheist.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=6697

Excellent Mac Bundle at MacHeist

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-01-13T16:39:16-08:00

For you Mac users out there, MacHeist is offering an excellent Mac bundle of software. It has several applications that I have been using regularly since I bought the bundle, including utilities, such as 1Password, AppZapper, CSS Edit, and Speed Download, and applications, such as Coversutra, Snapz Pro X, and Pixelmator.

The bundle costs $49 and 25% of the sale price will be donated to a charity that you can choose out of a 10 options. All the applications are unlocked at the time of this writing, except Pixelmator. However, it is close to being unlocked, too. Click on my referral link to get to the site.

https://www.macheist.com/buy/invite/52696

Blogging from Mr. English Coffee Shop

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-01-12T14:17:14-08:00

I am sitting here blogging in a specialty coffee shop in Los Altos called Mr. English, where not only do they provide some the best, freshest-roasted, organic, fair-trade certified coffee (how is that for a value proposition!), but also free wifi access. Unlike the Peet's Coffee down the street - which has no wifi --- and Starbucks down the other street -- where it costs money, Mr. English provides the perfect combination for a Saturday afternoon in Silicon Valley. Great coffee and Internet access.

To quote their Web site: "We specialize in roasting 100% certified organic Arabica coffee of the finest caliber. We believe in certified Fair Trade, Rain Forest Alliance, Shade Grown, Bird Friendly, and use exclusively Swiss Water decaf brands. Our catch phrase "Gourmet Coffee for Connoisseurs" describes our fundamental dedication to specialty roasted coffee, and freshness to an extreme."

In addition to great, socially-responsible coffee, the highlight of the visit is to talk with the proprietor, Thomas McBay, who has an undying passion about coffee and interest in chatting about almost any subject. Forget about trying to get that kind of enthusiasm from a Starbucks barista. Don't expect assembly line treatment at this place, but rather a specialized attention with excellent coffee and flavors. At a busy time, they may become bottlenecked and require a little wait. Also, they typically serve European-sized espressos so don't expect the bitter, over-drawn espressos that you would get a major chain.

Thomas is known as Mr. English not because of coming from the United Kingdom -- he does not ---, but rather because he has spent may years in Japan teaching English and running a coffee company there. His wife, who also works in the store, is from Japan. Consequently, it has also become a center for Japanese people in the Bay Area to visit when in Los Altos. Having a great yakitori place Sumika nearby definitely helps, but that is another post!

Next time you are in Los Altos, CA, pass by the Starbucks on Main Street and the Peet's on State Street and head to Mr. English Coffee (also on State Street). Their address is 325 State St., Los Altos CA and are open from 7 days a week from 7:30PM to 5:30PM.

http://www.mre-coffee.com/

McDonalds vs In-N-Out Burger

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-01-08T21:06:53-08:00

One of the problems with being away for several weeks is that the cupboard is bare. Consquently, I have had the "dubious" benefit of eating fast food twice this week. Once for breakfast at McDonalds and once for lunch at In-N-Out Burger. For you unfortunate souls who do not live in California, Arizona or Nevada, In-N-Out Burger is a local burger chain that emphasizes the quality of the food.

http://www.in-n-out.com/default.asp

I was amazed as I watched the workers at In-N-Out Burger concerning their efficiency and professionalism of the staff versus my experience at McDonalds. I found the staff at McDonalds to be unmotivated and listless. The overall experience at In-N-Out Burger was vastly superior to McDonalds. I believe that the root cause is the way In-N-Out treats their employees. Not only does the company pay significantly above minimum wage, but also it provides a complete benefits package to its employees. Their company culture is to provide back to the community and all stores are company-owned.

And it truly shows in the quality of the food. The burger and fries are freshly-made (though it may take time to get your food -- sometimes Order-N-Wait during crowded times) and are awesome. If you are on the West Coast and hankering for a great burger meal, then In-N-Out Burger is a must.

Finally, some food for the mind. I think that In-N-Out Burger is a recipe for success for many companies: Treat your employees fairly, provide some clear goals and guiding principles, and watch the magic happen.

Hatsumode

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-01-03T21:17:07-08:00

Hatsumode (初詣) is practiced by many Japanese in the New Year. It is the first visit to a shrine to celebrate the New Year and typically happens during the first three days of the year when everyone is on vacation. This year I visited Senso-ji temple in Asakusa.

Unfortunately, I was not the only person to think that it was a good idea. Senso-ji temple is one of the most popular attractions in Tokyo for both Japanese and foreign tourists. In addition to the temple, there are large amount of tourist shops to buy almost any kind of souvenir or charm.

The main street of shops leads from a large gate to the main temple.

Once you reach the temple, you throw a coin along with (often over the heads of) your fellow visitors and make a prayer. At a busy time like this, there can be a large group of people trying to get into the temple.

Once you are away from the main entrance, the crowds are much more bearable. In fact, you exit from Senso-ji temple to the left or right. You can get a nice view of the temple from there.

Finally, the reward for completing your mission is some authentic Japanese Matsuri (Fesitval) food. This can run the gambit from foreigner-friendly grilled corn to more adventurous foods, like grilled octopus or squid. A favorite of mine is yakisoba, which is made by stir-frying ramen noodles, typically with pork and other vegetables like cabbage. It is topped with various seasonings like pickled ginger, fish flakes and mayonnaise.

Happy New Year from Tokyo

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-31T23:34:51-08:00

Hello all...Happy New Year from Tokyo!
新年あけましておめでとうございます。

2008 is here and in Japan that means a nice meal, called osechi-ryori! New Years was one of the key festival times during the old Imperial times of Japan and it is still widely celebrated today albeit on the Gregorian calendar, rather than the older Chinese calendar. During this time, the woman were not suppose to cook food (except for a soup called ozoni) so the osechi-ryori is typically foods that are made in the end of the previous year and can last for several days. They are usually a range of sweet, spicy and sour foods, like black soybeans and herring roe.

One key food eaten during the first few days of the new year is ozoni. Ozoni is made mostly with mochi (Japanese rice cakes) and can include meats such as chicken or fish. It typically has vegetables like spinach, herbs and carrots for color and flavor. We will eat ozoni for breakfast the first couple of days of the new year.

By the way, one of my favorite Japanese sayings uses mochi: Mochi wa mochiya (餅は餅屋).

It means "For Rice Cakes, the Rice Cake store". In other words, let the professionals do it. So next time someone is trying to force their opinions on you, simply say, "Mochi wa mochiya." Likewise, when you want to butt into someone else's area of expertise, remember "Mochi wa mochiya!"

A great Korean meal in Tokyo?

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-29T14:30:44-08:00

I had an awesome Korean meal last night for dinner. No I didn't travel to Seoul...I had it in Tokyo. In Adachi-ku, no less.

My meal was just like the ones that I used to have in Seoul when I travelled there on business. Other than the restaurant was in Adachi-ku, and not a place like Akasaka, it is not surprising that I can get excellent, authentic Korean food in Tokyo. According to wikipedia, there are over 600,000 Koreans in Japan as of 2003 and an additional 280,000 Koreans who have been naturalized Japanese citizens. Koreans make up the largest minority in Japan.

Back to the food...last night we had yakiniku, or Korean Barbecue. With this meal, you have a grill in front of you in the table where you grill the meat, veggies, garlic, etc. You then take the meat and put some spicy sauce on it and wrap it in a leaf. You eat this like a little burrito. Along with the meat comes an assortment of side dishes. The most popular is kimchi. Kimchi is another traditional dish made of various vegetables that are fermented with different seasonings. The most popular kinds are those made from Napa Cabbage, diced radishes and cucumbers.

Finally, we had a trio of items that are very Korean. The first was pajeon, which is a Korean pancake made with eggs, flour and green onions. Sometimes, pajeon also has seafood such as squid in it, but last night's version did not. We also ate Korean nori, or seaweed, as a standalone item. Normally, most people will eat nori as part of sushi, but Korean nori can be snacked on its own with some salt and sesame oil.

Lastly, to wash everything down, we drank makkori. It is a milky white, sweet rice sake from Korea. It is made by fermenting rice with boiling water and, while the alcoholic content is a modest 6-7%, since it is so easy to drink, it is very dangerous!

No chance to visit Tokyo or Seoul for real Korean barbecue? If you live in Silicon Valley, I recommend that you try Secret Garden at 3430 El Camino Real, Santa Clara CA. You can recreate same meal there.

Akihabara Visit

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-28T19:54:16-08:00

Today I made a visit to Akihabara, which is the place for the latest electronics in Tokyo. The assortment of computers, cellphones, digital cameras, etc. is mind-blowing. If any place can bring out the inner geek (or in Japanese otaku) in you, it is Akihabara.

Not only does Akihabara appeal to the gadget hound, but also fans of Japanese anime will find much to like in Akihabara. I don't know of another place in the world that compares to the concentration of electronics and manga shops. Probably the best electronics store in Akihabara would be Yodabashi Camera that only just recently opened in 2005. Unlike some of the other key stores (Ishimaru Denki, Sofmap, and Loax), Yodabashi Camera is located in a brand new building on the east side of Akihabara Station. And, yes of course, they have a lot more than just cameras.

No discussion of Akihabara would be complete without discussing the latest trend to make your favorite otaku special...maid cafes. At the maid cafes, the waitresses are dressed in maid outfits and treat the customers like masters and lords. They often look like they stepped out of an otaku's favorite manga. While the fun is definitely NOT sexual in nature, some maid cafes do offer hand and foot massages. Also, for an additional charge, you can spend time talking to your chosen maid in a special VIP room. See the link below for a video segment on Youtube -- unfortunately in Japanese --- but you'll get the picture.

Nevertheless, for any visitor to Japan who loves electronic gadgets, manga, etc., Akihabara is a must place to visit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B7YuXMBKDs&feature=related

Bhutto's Assassination

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-27T14:58:40-08:00

It is a sad day for South Asia geopolitics as Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in Pakistan. Ms. Bhutto was shot at close range by a gunman in the neck and the chest with the neck shot being the fatal blow. Afterwards, the gunman blew himself up causing more damage. The fact that the suicide bomber was so effective at taking out his target makes me wonder about the security around Ms. Bhutto.

Apparently, Ms. Bhutto was already in the car and then stood up to appear through the sunroof to wave to the crowd. At this point the attack took place. From the pictures, it appears that the security was very lax and sloppy. Ms. Bhutto was such a high profile target that one would have thought this high risk environment would have been better controlled. A great woman lost her life due to poor preparations by her security staff.

What does this mean for Pakistan and the US? Clearly, the Bush administration was using a reconciliation between Musharraf and Bhutto to solidify a democratic Pakistan. This strategy has taken a big step backwards. Ms. Bhutto, despite the potential corruption charges, was the best hope for a more secular, democratic Pakistan. Pakistan clearly will become a major hotspot for the remainder of the Bush administration and the next President.

What about any domestic upheaval and turmoil? Could this lead to civil war in nuclear-armed Pakistan? It all depends on the military, which traditionally holds all the cards in Pakistan. As long as the military leaders remain united, then the country will be safe. At this point, it is not in the military leader's interest to break rank. If that happens, then watch out.

Greetings from Japan

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-26T13:29:14-08:00

As part of the New Year's celebration, I am spending it in Japan. New Year (Oshogatsu) is the most important holiday in Japan and represents a chance to start afresh with a new year. It is a time when people close out all the business from the old year, go to bonenkai parties (i.e. parties to forget the old year) and plan celebration for the New Year.

However, New Year's celebration is more of a family affair than a New York-style, Time Square-like celebration. In fact, New Year's eve is very quiet, followed by a family meal on New Years Day. However, I am getting ahead of myself; I will report on this in more detail later.

SRS iWOW V2.0

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-20T22:40:24-08:00

I found another must-have Apple software package. SRS iWOW plug-in has significantly improved the audio quality of the speakers in my Mac Book Pro. When I am listening to iTunes, there is a clear difference between the sound with and without iWOW.

The product costs $19.99; however, it was included in a recent promotion bundle from MacUpdate that I discussed last week. In addition to the improved quality, the software has automatic presets that will automatically change the settings based on the genre classification in iTunes. Finally, the product comes from SRS Labs who has a long pedigree in quality audio products. If you listen to audio on your laptop speakers, you should get this product.

Edit 10/23/07: Bad news...it turns out that SRS iWOW interferes with iMovie HD audio playback. Consequently, I have removed it from my computer; however, if you don't use iMovie HD, it is still a good product. Also, there may be other incompatibilities out there.

http://www.srs-store.com/store-plugins/mall/iwow-plugin.asp

Musharraf Ends The State of Emergency

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-16T20:22:00-08:00

In the only nuclear Muslim state Pakistan, President Pervez Musharraf has ended the state of emergency. While met with some approval, clearly the politics in the country and civil liberties of the press and the opposition are still curtailed. Is Pakistan on the path to civil war? What would that mean to the world?

Fortunately, even though you have three individuals vying for power in the civil government (Musharraf, Bhutto and Sharif), the real power in the country lies with the military. As long as the senior military officials remain united, then peace will remain in Pakistan. To date, they show no signs of fracture. With their enemy India poised next door and internal problems on the Afghani border, I doubt we will see internal dissent. This power by the Pakistani military shows the true meaning of Musharraf's abdication of the top military position and the effect on his power position. It definitely weakened his position in the country.

Truthfully, with a Muslim nuclear power, despite the United States' push for a "true democracy" in Pakistan, it is in the best interests of the United States for Pakistan to remain in the control of a strong military. This is particularly true since the United States military has over the years created tight relationships through the Pakistani military. When dealing with a nuclear power, that is always a good thing

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1695160,00.html?xid=site-cnn-partner

"Baseball's Best" Cheat

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-15T06:56:33-08:00

This week, George Mitchell released his report on steroid use in baseball with the actual names of players. Included in the report was Roger Clemens, among other star players. We now have Clemens, the dominant pitcher during my lifetime, as well as the dominant batter (Barry Bonds) accused of using steroids to enhance their performance. It is an indication of the sad state of affairs, where win at all costs is paramount. I think it is a microcosm of a bigger problem in America: the lack of moral absolutes...no real definition of right versus wrong.

Over the past decade or so, there has been a definite trend towards moral relativism. According to Wikipedia, "moral relativism is the position that moral or ethical propositions do not reflect objective and/or universal moral truths, but instead make claims relative to social, culture, historical or personal circumstances. Moral relativists hold that no universal standard exists by which to assess an ethical proposition's truth."

The drive to win, to get endorsements, etc. becomes the goal and any means - even if it is illegal, let alone unfair or immoral - is irrelevant to meeting the goal. Today's society has allowed people to look at things from their own selfish point of view, rather that an absolute standard of right and wrong. Some of our biggest sports role models are showing that it is a slippery slope to inappropriate behavior. To send the right message to our children, this must stop.

If they are truly guilty, they should pay the price...no endorsements, no baseball records, no Cooperstown legacy.

Death as a Taxable Event

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-12T06:19:49-08:00

There is a common saying that there is only two certainties in life: death and taxes. The estate tax combines both into one event.

What is the estate tax? Upon death, the government will tax (or to some people confiscate) a certain percentage depending on the size of the estate and certain marital exclusions before it reaches the person's heirs. The insidious fact about estate taxes is that the money was already taxed as income once before...the government is simply nudging its way back to the trough for another feeding. I believe that death should not be a taxable event!

Why should we care? Well, first it sends the wrong message to people. "Save your money and build a business" and we will penalize you by taking away your money. "Spend wildly and rely on social services for your retirement" and we'll take care of you. We'll simply tax more people in order to pay for it since the government knows best.

In truth, these types of issues are fundamental to the next election. The estate tax will be repealed completely in 2010 and then reinstated in 2011 back to the original tax levels. With Congress failing miserably at fixing the AMT tax, where there is bi-partisan consensus, I am doubtful that Congress can address these types of contentious issues.

I would like to see more debate on these issues since the country is at a crossroads with the next election.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/12/news/newsmakers/buffett_clinton.ap/index.htm?cnn=yes

My Ten Favorite Non-Apple Software Packages for My MacBook Pro

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-10T20:49:40-08:00

In no specific order, here are my top ten favorite Non-Apple software packages that I use everyday on my MacBook Pro. Enjoy!

1) Journler --- Journaling software
http://journler.com/

2) Rapidweaver --- Website and blogging software
http://www.realmacsoftware.com/rapidweaver/

3) iGTD --- Getting Things Done software
http://bargiel.home.pl/iGTD/

4) Sapiens --- Interesting mouse-based launcher
http://www.donelleschi.com/sapiens/

5) Inquisitor for Safari --- Spotlight for the web
http://www.inquisitorx.com/safari/

6) MacTheRipper --- DVD Ripper for Mac OSX
http://www.mactheripper.org/

7) Quicksilver --- Comprehensive application interface
http://www.blacktree.com/

8) Slingplayer --- Watch your life TV on your MAC
http://www.slingmedia.com/

9) VMware Fusion --- Run Windows in a VM
http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/

10) SecuritySpy --- Watch your IP Surveillance Cameras
http://www.bensoftware.com/ss/

The Cravery

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-09T12:33:33-08:00

If anyone is ever in Irvine, Tustin or Los Altos CA and you are looking for excellent gourmet fast food, you need to check out the Cravery. They take the simple pot pie and transform it into a gourmet meal.

For $8.95, you can get a pot pie and a good-sized side salad, which will definitely fill your stomach. My favorite is the Chipotle Chicken Fajita pie with a Chinese side salad. They also have an excellent selection of bottled teas from Ito En. You should try the Rose Green Tea, which is Pure Green Tea with rose petals.

All in all, a very satisfying meal. Finally, they have free wifi. I completed this post from inside The Cravery in Los Altos. You definitely need to check it out!

http://www.thecravery.com/home.aspx

Great Mac Software Bundle Promo

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-07T19:22:48-08:00

MacUpdate has a great Mac software bundle promotion underway that is well worth the money. They have partnered with 10 Mac developers to bring us a fantastic bundle. You can buy this bundle for $49.99 instead of $534.75, a savings of $484.76. Hurry though since this offer ends in 4 days.

What is unique about this bundle is that only seven of the applications were available for purchase for the $49.99; however, as more people buy the bundle and once it reaches a threshold, an additional application is added. Of course, the previous purchasers also get the license key for the new application that is available. The first milestone is at 1,000 purchasers and the additional application is a mindmapping software, called XMIND. This application was the one I really wanted and I jumped in when the bundle past 1,000 sales.

As of this writing, the total is 1,891 sales and the next threshold is 2,400 sales for a video motion stabilizer, called iStabilize. I am hoping that we will reach the threshold over the next 4 days since I do a lot of video recording and editing. At 5,000 sales there is a cool animation software, called PulpMotion, but I don't think the sales will achieve that level.

The seven other applications include some awesome applications, including RapidWeaver which makes website publishing very easy. I already use Rapidweaver for this blog and highly recommend it. Other applications looking very useful in the bundle are a good FTP utility (Forklift), a publishing software (Swift Publisher) which can be upgraded to a retail version for an additional $10 dollars, and a neat screen saver (Marine Aquarium), which provides virtual fish and a calendar on a rock. Nice eye candy that doesn't need to be fed!

Usually bundles have only one or two killer applications, I think this one has multiple useful apps!

http://www.mupromo.com/

Ahmadinejad declares victory but the real victory may be peace

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-05T21:34:10-08:00

As expected, Ahmadinejad has declared victory in the latest news that Iran may not have a nuclear weapons program. By standing up to the West, he saved Iran. However, just as it was no longer advantageous for Iran to continue the threat of developing a nuclear weapon, it may no longer advantageous for Iran to portray that it is a wild card that led by a fanatic.

As described in the below link, we are seeing a power shift towards the moderate forces in Iran. Ahmadinejad has played his role and is no longer an asset in the negotiations with America and the world. I fully expect to see Rasfanjani have a resurgence in power and influence in the future with an implicit approval by the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071206/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_nuclear

No Nuclear Weapons Program in Iran

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-03T21:27:50-08:00

According to a report released today by the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), Iran has not been pursuing its nuclear weapons program since the fall of 2003. This reversal of assessment on the risk for Iran on nuclear weapons opens the window for Iran and US to negotiate a peaceful settlement on Iraq.

It is not surprising that Iran had abandoned the nuclear program since it would probably never have seen the light of day. Israel or the US would have had to destroy it long before it was completed. However, up to now, it was advantageous for Iran to portray the appearance of a nuclear weapons program and a irrationality to use it. However, Iran is NOT run by irrational leaders, but rather a set of very tactical negotiators that are trying to preserve the security of Iran.

What is Iran's biggest security threat? Clearly, a Sunni-dominated Iraq, Iran's desired position is to have a hegemony over the state of Iraq to avoid another disastrous war like the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. With the success of the surge and the Sunni people providing a united front against the terrorist insurgence, Iran's desired position is becoming more improbable. Also, the US desired position, a pro-US government with permanent US bases, is equally unlikely.

Clearly this is a situation where both parties are ready to negotiate. An active weapons program or the impression of an active weapons program is now a hinderance for the negotiations to move forward. The public may never know why the NIE changed their assessment of the situation. Did Iran leak new information to jump start the negotiations? Was the threat of a nuclear weapons program no longer useful for the US negotiating position?

Whatever the case, without a doubt, this revelation opens a window for Iran and US to negotiate a favorable outcome in Iraq. Let's hope this is the first step.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/03/iran.nuclear/index.html

Venezuelans Say No!

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-02T21:58:41-08:00

Regarding Chavez's referendum to provide sweeping changes to the Venezuelan constitution to increase presidential powers and bring about socialistic changes, the Venezuelans say No! The voters defeated the measure by 51% to 49% delivering a stunning defeat to Chavez's agenda in an apparently fair election.

Despite concerns expressed in my previous post commenting on the initial exit polls, Chavez was delivered a stunning defeat in his plans to remake the Venezuelan constitution. It appears that saner minds prevailed and Venezuela won't become the new Socialist beacon in South America. Clearly, Chavez overplayed his hand and his bluff was called. The people have spoken and they said "No to Dictatorial powers to Chavez" and "No more Chavez after 2012."

It was a good day for democracy in South America.

Chavez: Ruler for Life?

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-02T14:49:45-08:00

The initial exit polls are in and it appears that Hugo Chavez will have succeeded in driving his referendum through to allow him to potentially rule Venezuela for life and to turn the major oil exporter into a socialist state. With the removal of term limits on the presidency, Chavez can run for president indefinitely and serve as long as he wins the elections.

Of course, what are the odds that there will be a fair election in Venezuela any time in the future? Chavez did not allow independent oversight on this election from Organization of American States and the European Union as was done in past elections. If the measures pass as expected, Venezuela has basically elected a dictator. Other than being a nuisance on the world stage, what does this truly mean?

If Venezuela was not an OPEC country, then Chavez would not have much power or interest for US Foreign Policy. However, Venezuela supplies up to 15% of US oil imports so a disruption would be damaging to the United States. On the flip side, the US purchases more than 60% of Venezuela's oil output so Chavez would be hesitant to back up his big talk with an actual cessation of oil sales to the US. The next likely purchaser would be China; however, it would need to modify its refining facilities to handle the high-sulphur oil that Venezuela produces. So Chavez actually needs the US and the US needs Venezuela. This bodes for more of the status quo.

What about an uprising against Chavez within Venezuela? Clearly, the protests that have happened up to this election show that there is a segment of the Venezuelan population that is not happy with the changes. Can they mobilize to defeat Chavez? Is that in the best interests of the US? Possibly, it is better for the US to have the devil that it knows in Chavez versus unrest in an important oil producing country, especially with the price of a barrel of oil hovering around $90/bbl.

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSN0235721220071202

Organizing my Thoughts

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-01T15:39:12-08:00

For approximately 1 month, I have been using Journler, a daily notebook and information manager on my MacBook Pro. Using Journler along with iGTD - a Getting Things Done organizer for the Mac, I have been able to better document my thoughts and organize my activities.

Fully integrated with iLife, Journler is a valuable addition to the application suite and allows me to add multlmedia to my journaling. The software has a smart folders to organize your individual entries and an excellent search capability with its Journler Lexicon functionality. While the product does have GTD capability, I find iGTD to be a better application. Finally, the software has some good filtering capability to quickly find specific journal entries.

If you have a Mac and are looking for a good journaling software, you don't need to go any further than Journler.

http://www.journler.com/

Misguided Job Protectionism in Today's Flat World

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-11-30T19:25:12-08:00

America is facing a very real talent problem. We cannot get enough knowledge workers in the United States and lawmakers are irrationally concerned about limiting the number of H-1B visas for foreign professionals to work in the United States. The reality means that the job will simply move overseas and the salaries won't be spent on goods and services in the US which would improve the US economy, but rather will improve another country's economy.

As an executive, I have first-handed seen how difficult it is to recruit qualified candidates and the need to locate R&D facilities in other locations (not only for cost reasons, but also due to the lack of candidates). While we have seen offshoring of R&D happening in a big way, we will start to see other knowledge worker activities moving globally as the earth flattens more, to borrow a phrase from Thomas Friedman.

Moreover, Internet technologies are making it much easier to provide collaboration throughout the world. Several months ago, I was in Moscow using Skype to have a conference call with a simultaneous go-to-meeting conference to share computer desktops and chatting with other colleagues on instant message. By the way, when I was done, I was able to watch my own TV in the Holiday Inn in Moscow using my Slingbox.

Below is the link to an excellent article in the Wall Street Journal on this subject. Enjoy:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119638963734709017.html?mod=opinion_main_review_and_outlooks

No more stinky environment, No more stinky feet

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-11-27T18:46:10-08:00

Skyonic Corporation of Austin TX has come up with a process to capture and convert carbon dioxide emissions into something that not only is easy to store, but is incredibly useful...sodium bicarbonate. Also known as baking soda!

According to their website:

"THE SKYMINE™ PROCESS: The Skyonic SkyMine™ process addresses the significant issue of climate change through the mineralization of CO2 as carbonate compounds. SkyMine™ is a post-combustion carbon capture and sequestration technology that works with any large-scale stationary CO2 emitter (e.g.- coal, natural gas or oil fired power plant). The process is effective, ecologically and thermodynamically sound, and can be done profitably. Since the technology can be retrofitted to existing facilities or designed into new ones, it addresses both the current problem of climate change, and the future demand for cleaner energy to support development.

The SkyMine™ process removes heavy metals, acid gasses, and carbon dioxide from conditioned at-temperature flue gas. SkyMine™ stores the carbon emissions as stable sodium bicarbonate (better-than-food-grade baking soda) for long-term storage as land or mine fill and returns the flue gas to the plants stack for release. This means that the SkyMine™ process is a non-emitter.

Our feed chemical for the reaction to remove the carbon is sodium hydroxide, which is produced on site as a part of the SkyMine™ process. This reaction to produce sodium hydroxide also produces hydrogen and chlorine as byproducts. These can be sold to market at a profit, not only defraying the cost of CO2 removal, but even generating a profit for the SkyMine™ operators. These chemicals are also “green”; they are produced at low energy and without emitting CO2 (since the heat to drive the process is captured from the heat in the flue gas.

THE BENEFITS OF SKYMINE™:

The SkyMine™ process turns gaseous CO2 emissions into solid, stable carbonates (primarily sodium bicarbonate).
The SkyMine™ technology does this with a competitively low energy penalty.
The SkyMine™ process also removes mercury and heavy metals, as well as acid-rain gasses from the flue stream.
The SkyMine™ technology produces clean (non-methane-based) hydrogen and low-energy chlorine.

A SkyMine™ plant can be operated at a profit, because the hydrogen produced (as well as the chlorine and bicarbonates) have commercial value."

This is the kind of innovation that will lead us to a cleaner environment. Where does the no more stinky feet fit in? With all that baking soda, you'll be able to spare some to put into a pair of socks that you can stash into your shoes to kill the odor and refresh them. Only one of the many uses for baking soda!

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-6220127.html

Middle East Peace Talks

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-11-26T17:55:26-08:00

This week starts the Middle East peace talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis. While the Bush Administration feels optimism, that progress could me made, the dynamics of the region preclude a major breakthrough agreement.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, is not in a strong position, controlling only part of the Palestinian Authority -- the West Bank --- while his rival Hamas controls the Gaza strip. For the Israel's security, a divided Palestine is an ideal situation. However, Israel will need to provide some concessions to Abbas to help strengthen his position against Hamas. However, Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, is not in a powerful position within Israel. His position is weak since the failed war last year against Hezbollah in Lebanon and there are many in Israel that believe a compromise today to a moderate Abbas could come back to haunt them later.

The wild card in the meeting is the addition of Arab League nations such as Syria and Saudi Arabia. Syria will want to discuss the Golan Heights, which will be fine with Israel since it will distract the agenda away from compromises on Palestine. Saudi Arabia is an important addition as a financial backer of Hamas in its ability to influence the Hamas position. Nevertheless, their participation will give the meeting more significance than simply a meeting between Abbas and Olmert.

While the Bush Administration may want to pull off a peace-making success --- almost a flashback to the final days of the Clinton Administration ---, the players (Olmert and Abbas) do not have the power to pull off a major breakthrough agreement. Truthfully, until Israel is absolutely confident that the goal of the Palestinians is to negotiate final borders between itself and Israel and not the eradication of the Israeli state, there cannot be a major peace.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/26/washington/26cnd-diplo.html?ex=1353733200&en=1a235347428acb63&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Whales and Asian Geopolitics

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-11-25T14:22:43-08:00

A recent post in the NY Times blog Dot Earth talked about the unpopularity of Japanese whaling amongst various countries and Japan's insistence on whaling for scientific purposes. While whale meat is not often eaten in Japan --- for disclosure purposes, I ate it once when I lived in Japan, I believe that Japan's insistence on its right to whaling has more to do with geopolitics than culture or food.

The security of a nation is determined by (1) its ability to defend its borders and (2) access to the raw materials necessary to keep its economy going and its people fed, clothed, sheltered, etc. As an island nation with one of the largest militaries in the region, Japan can easily defend itself against invasion. As found out by American forces during WWII, an invasion of Japan would be a costly and painful undertaking.

However, Japan has its weakness. It has a paucity of natural resources and depends on external trade to be self-sufficient. Oil from the Middle East, minerals from South Pacific, food from America...Japan needs to have access to trade routes and the ability to project power to protect those trade routes. Currently, Japan relies heavily on its relationship with the United States to ensure that supply lines are open and flowing. If this were ever to change, then Japan would need to build up the capability to project its power further from the Japanese mainland.

I think that Japan's defiance of the whaling commission is its way to say no to the rest of the world and that it will not be pushed around when it comes to supplying itself with the necessary resources to thrive. Also, this is a way for the government to build nationalist pride in its people. It is easier to push the buttons on a historically and culturally significant activity like whaling than to get people excited about protecting trade routes!

Is this just idle chatter? Just think about this...the embargo of Japan and its need for a Western-pacific hegemony is what put the US and Japan on a collision course during WWII. Is another war coming...not likely as long as the US and Japanese interests remained aligned.

http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/24/the-song-of-the-hunted-humpback-whale/

Welcome to Kangae

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-11-24T20:16:08-08:00

Welcome to Kangae.

Kangae (考え) is Japanese for idea. That is the theme for this blog...sharing my ideas on various items, debates, etc. I hope you will enjoy it.

Why the Japanese? Well, for most of the 1990s I lived in Tokyo. There is no better learning experience than to live in another culture. Japan is significantly different than America and truly it stretches you like a rubber band. And like a rubber band you never return exactly to where you started. The biggest difference I learned in Japan was the consideration of others before acting on something. In Japan the group is a dominant social group and if you are too different, then you cannot fit it.

Of course as a foreigner, you can never truly become Japanese. Nevertheless, adapting to that culture leads to a culture shock when returning to the stubborn individualism of America.