Haas Estate

Posted on June 21, 2009 by sinyaw

The city of San Jose needed an airport; the government eminent domained their 100-acre ranch, for $500 per acre. They looked around for a place to raise a family and found this 10 acre plot not too far from the ocean and bought it for $10,000. Several years later, the adjacent plot was for sale, so they also bought it for $25,000. Together, there was about 83 acres of hilly land, quite enough for a small family.

They raised two kids. The boy grew up to be a teacher and lived with them. When his family blossomed, they gave him 10 acres. The young couple hand-built their nest, and lived there for the next 35 years, until now.

Jerry, born Gerald, commuted to silicon valley from his Santa Cruz home for 40 years until his retirement in 2006. This beloved math teacher, commonly known as Mr. Haas, introduced me to his 94-year-old mother in his enchanted house, built on the land bestowed upon him 35 years ago. Over BBQ chicken, beef, and free flowing wines, we talked freely. I tried to talk him out of retirement, but he was not drunk enough to agree.

Back home, Wife and I talked about his commute, herd of deer, birds feasting from his bird houses, and a workshop rivaling Norm Abram’s. Life is the accumulation of choices. Mr. Haas made his and stuck it out. That Saturday, he hosted four families of students who went to CalTech, MIT, UC/Davis, and Carnegie-Mellon. They are but a small sample of lives he imprinted upon. We admired his life decisions; our own have long made that an impossibility.

We are glad that Mr. Haas’s life crossed ours. I now knew him more as Jerry than Mr. Haas of Lynbrook High. I would very much like to sit under his arbor and share wines again. Next time, we shall drink Santa Cruz wines, instead of Napa Valley. And I would hike up to admire an overlook to Monterey Bay.

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Made to Stick

Posted on June 18, 2009 by sinyaw
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

Chip Heath, Dan Heath

ISBN-13: 9780739341353

Like many, I was lured by the get-rich dream. The recipe was simple: get a business license, find something simple to sell, write a brilliant direct marketing piece, print many thousand copies, send them to a highly productive mailing list, and wait for the bank account to balloon. The book emphasized the mechanics of every steps and tips on creating that brilliant piece. Your head was spinning with excitement. I could write a DM to sell this and that. They will find me the suppliers and rent me the mailing lists. All I have to do is be creative. I can do that!

Then I learned the costs of those mailing lists. Even if they are 6% response rate lists (as compared to the 0.5% of phonebook), my spreadsheet showed me that I would have no profit after paying off the list rentals.

So, sucker was I. Again.

Above is an attempt to create a memorable story. Did it work?

Make it Simple, find an Unexpected angle, use Concrete examples, cite Credible sources, tap into people’s Emotion, and, always, tell a Story. SUCCES. Don’t forget that your audience do know what you knew. These are the simple technique to make your points stick. Did you remember my opening story?

Good stories mostly follow one of the 3 plots: challenge, connection, creativity. The challenge plot is the overcome of seemingly insurmountable hurdle. The connection plot links people deeply. The creativity plot is the ingenious ways to solve problems. My story was not any of them, but it could still be memorable. I was inspired to buy Robert McKee’s book Story, or maybe attending his seminar someday.

Thank you, Michelle, for suggesting the book.

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The Magic Shift Key

Posted on June 14, 2009 by sinyaw

Like many iPod owners, I was frustrated with the inability to move my music library. I have about 3,800 songs in my collection; most of them MP3s I ripped from my CDs. Every once in a while, I need to move them. Last time, a vicious virus wiped out my computer. I have back-ups, but iTunes did not know that I lost my files.

I have a cumbersome way to move play lists. I manually edited them to reflect the new location then re-import them one by one.

This time, my C drive is full (yes, I am a PC user). So I bought myself a bigger disk, put it in as a second drive, and started to move files onto the new D drive, except for my music. Cursed iTunes to be overly protective on digital rights.

Then, I found the magic shift key.

  • Locate the directory that holds the file iTunes Library.itl Copy this whole directory to the new location.
  • Copy all your music files to somewhere in the new location.
  • Bring up iTunes while holding the SHIFT key. iTunes will ask you to choose a library. Point it to the newly copied iTunes Library.itl file.
  • Select from the menu Edit->Preference and choose the Advanced tab. Click Change to select the new home of your music.

Hours I spent editing XML file by hand and Apple has put all this in the simple SHIFT key. I am actually upset. Apple knew that users need this feature. They tarnished their reputation by making this task not intuitive, not friendly, and actually hidden. I am sure it is from the DRM concern. Sigh, how much RIAA has made my life less enjoyable.

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Out-of-Worldly

Posted on June 10, 2009 by sinyaw

Road Trip 2009: Day 3

To those aboriginal Indians, God must be really mad at them. Earth trembled, thunders deafened, molten rock devoured everything and came from everywhere. There was no escape. Women, children, men, and all lives perished. The torrent river turned into steam and soared to the sky fast.

When river returned to the scorched land, it found the bed and waterfall taken over by the solidified lava, pretty much the same path carved by the water for a thousand years. Water knew that she always win at the end. Gentle yet stubborn, she started her patient task of carving the stones.

Another thousand years passed. Water has pretty much tamed lava, now smooth and rounded. She was needed elsewhere, so she left, after bidding the rocks to wait. Without sweet water, harshness ruled the land that soon turned into desert. Like fossils preserving forms of lives forever, the waterfall froze in time, waiting for water to come back.

If you are in the Death Valley area, visit Fossil Falls. Set your GPS to N35°58.625 W117°55.170, or follow the directions from Mike Brown, a CalTech geo professor.

Drive up the 395 about half an hour from that intersection around Inyokern. You pass the dammed up lake on the right and then you see the huge basalt wall on the right, and, the final clue, you see the huge red cinder cone in front of you and, just before you get to the red cinder cone, you take a right on Fossil Falls Road. Then follow the signs.

Yes, you should still visit Death Valley. Furnace Creek is probably the best place to stay. Do not stop at Panamint Springs.

Road Trip 2009: Day 4-6

Visited family. Attended a wedding in San Diego. Drove all the way back to home on the 6th day. We, of course, rested on the 7th day.

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What’s at the end of the trail?

Posted on June 9, 2009 by sinyaw

Road Trip 2009: Day 1 & 2

Hikers are optimists. The trail promises to lead to the desination. There will be strained muscles, perspiration, and cardio-vascular challenges. On the trail, there are the unpredictable: bears, deers, animals, insects, poisonous plants, or treachorous conditions. Yet there is faith: the end will be rewarding and the path will be worth it. Me? I just want to spend time with family, whatever activities.

I met a couple from Costa Rica. The husband is a photographer. They have been staying in this park for 2 weeks, looking for wild lives. He encountered 36 bears! “Sequoia is much better than Yosemite,” he said. “There is no crowd and you can still find animals.” Competitively speaking, I thought, this far-away national park faces Yosemite and Humboldt Redwood Forest. It naturally attracts those like this Costa Rican photgrapher. It is his 7th visit.

On our way out, I drove slowly down the steep winding road. There wasn’t any car behind me and my passengers were dozing off. Suddenly, I brought the car to a screeching halt.

Everyone, including Dog, was wide awake and stunned. A brown bear was sitting in the middle of the road, no more than 50 feet in front of us. The bear studied us and vanished into the hill side before I can reach for the camera. Very cool.

Gateway Restaurant and Lodge is excessively expensive, typical for a place selling its location more than anything else. If you cannot find a place inside the park, there are choices several miles from the entrance.

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Wusses and A Dog

Posted on June 8, 2009 by sinyaw

Road Trip 2009: prologue

Americans love their roads. You cannot blame them. On this lonely 2-lane highway, there isn’t a soul as far as eyes can see. The gently rolling landscape is vast and awesome. Sky is so clean and blue. Air-con is on. Music is soothing. You and your family are all by yourselves. Just like another family on a horse-drawn wagon, more than a hundred years ago. Yep, this is the American way: land of the free.

I made sure that we never stray too far from civilization. We need clean beds, good water pressure, and modern plumbing. We like to expeirnece, as long as there won’t be any bruises or cuts. Yes, we are city wusses.

May 19 Drove to Sequoia National Park. Explored and hiked a bit. Gateway Restaurant and Lodge, never again
Day 2 Drove and hiked around Sequotia National Park. Hampton Inn at Barstow
Day 3 Fossil Fall and Death Valley Panamint Springs Resort, Death Valley, the only choice for pet owners
Day 4 LA, family business near Anaheim
Day 5 Wedding in San Diego Hilton at Torrey Pine, La Jolla. Wow. Talk about civilization.
Day 6 UCLA Highway 5 all the way home
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Tyranny of Handshakes

Posted on June 3, 2009 by sinyaw

When Kid came back home from her freshman year, she will stick out her fist and yelled, “Pound.” I soon learned the protocol. I would bump my knuckles with hers and “pound” back. I fathomed “pound” was the new high-five.

Obama and Michelle made it a national craze when they pounded on stage on June 3rd of 2008. That act created the National Fist Bump Day.

According to Cary Darling of Star-Telegram.com, a Norwegian immigrant Thomas Sandberg first started promoting fist bumps to free American from the tyranny of handshakes. Do we really have to exchange germs and other bodily articfacts as part of the greeting ritual? Do we really have to touch each others?

Many cultures learned this tyranny only recently. Chinese traditionally greet each other by wrapping the left hand around the right-hand fist. Indians and Thai press their palms in front of them and bow a little. Japanese bow to each other, sometime deeply. They all seem to come to accept handshaking as part of the standard business greeting ritual, together with their traditional ones. The thing is, Americans do not have an alternative, traditional greeting ritual. Handshaking and, occassionally, hugging are the only ones.

Now we can add fist bumping. At least until something else becomes the new fist bump.

ps: Yes, I remembered what happened 20 years ago.

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No Bench Warmer

Posted on May 27, 2009 by sinyaw

Budget is tight. All hirings are frozen. Economy is bad. One of your employee is not performing. If you manage him out, you won’t get replacement. What do you do? This, of course, is a decision after you have exhausted other means to make this employee productive.

Retaining him keeps your organization full. You will not lose your charter, since someone is assigned. Your influence in the company maintains the same level, so you think, since the size of your organization stays the same. (See my “Myth on Size” post.)

You will spend disproportaional time managing this employee. He will make you look bad, since he cannot deliver the projects. He will drag down the teammates, who will either have to cover for him, or resent his not pulling his own weight.

If you manage him out, you get credits from your boss for “doing the right thing.” You get a perfect reason for not meeting some of your goals. Other employees will most likely be motivated, since now everyone hates the teammate that make them look bad. But you will have less budget and therefore less slack should something goes the wrong direction. You and your organization will be a bit more vulnerable.

When I was trying to convince a manager to do the right thing. He said, “I have a ‘no bench warmer’ policy.” I was taken aback. What a punchy way to express this. Needless to say, I did not spend much time convincing him.

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Bible

Posted on May 22, 2009 by sinyaw

Kid, on Easter, finished Bible (NIV). Unlike other books, this one took her several years. Bible is not a book to finish in one sitting. I attempted the same, when I was just a few years younger than she is today. I probably skipped many pages, but did finish.

We did not raise kid to be religious, but she is not an atheist either. Many of her friends are devoted Christians. She went to churches with them, not regularly and not to worship either. Faith is clearly not a big part of our family life. It is also not the topic of this post. The book is.

An long-time friend, in his 70s, visited me several years ago. He observed religious activities in my house, made assumptions, and proceeded to save me. My biblical knowledge surprised him, so were my strong opinions on theological topics. At the end, he said, “No reasonable people will insist that Bible is literally true.”

Not doing so is a necessity to faith.

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Summer is here, Use sun block lotion

Posted on May 18, 2009 by sinyaw

But not necessary the one with highest SPF. First, we should understand what SPF is.

If you get sun burn, without any protection, in 10 minutes, using an SPF 15 lotion will make you last 150 minutes. Simply put, SPF multiplies the amount of time exposed to sun. If you plan to stay under the sun for 4 hours (240 minutes), there isn’t much point using anything higher than SPF 24.

Why would you use SPF 100 products then? Either you will get burnt in 3 minutes without any protection, or you plan to stay under the full strength sun (noon time) for 17 hours.

It is a much better approach to use cheaper sun block products, and re-apply them periodically. People tend to use less higher SPF products, since they are more expensive. Remember, you are supposed to use about an ounce if you are wearing only swimming trunks or bikini. This means the 3-ouncet tube should last only several times.

Bottom line? Stick with SPF 30, apply them generously.

Several references:
New York Times, Life Hacker, WikiPedia.

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