changing to something other than windows

i've been thinking about changing operating systems lately. i've been putting off using a better operating system cause i just don't want to hassle with all the minor "broken" things. i've been really happy with XP for a while. it is a pretty stable operating system and it works with nearly everything. that is the nice thing about windows. buy a new digital camera and it works with XP; i'm not sure you can say the same thing with linux. here is a funny video about the different os choices.

there are pluses and minuses for all choices. austen would say its lame that i still use XP for hacking and i definitely agree. but, the simple fact that my work computer is a xp machine and that xp is the operating system installed on all my computers pretty much makes me an xp user.

so i've been thinking of getting a mac or maybe getting a separate linux machine. i don't know. i'm almost ready to make a change, i wonder what i need to push me over the edge. i guess the bottom line is that i don't care that much; or i would have switched a long time ago.

more people are sharing

there has been a slight change in culture in my circle; more people are actually google reading, twittering, and sharing. it is actually an interesting time right now as we all are trying to figure out how best to make this all work. there is no formula.

with that being said, let me revisit my triumphant post: i got 2 people to use google reader today. a lot of what i wrote still makes a lot of sense (i guess i didn't write it that long ago).

but, i do want to keep on reminding myself about the 10 second vignette of knowledge concept.

anyway, i'm totally psyched about the recent culture and tech change. yay! gotta get more people involved.

Finding what you are passionate about

Here is a good post that kind of sums my perspective on life and work: Finding the right work (what you're passionate about) is like discovering your own soul in this universe.

"When you love what you do then it is no longer work, it becomes a way of life."

I love what I do. Our job as a company is to find the people that share a similar passion and help our current employees find and embrace their own drive. In my opinion that is what separates ordinary companies from spectacular ones. Our job as a company is to embrace passion. When you think about it, that's not too hard.

think about things other than code

bill gates (http://blog.wired.com/business/2007/12/bill-gates-the.html):

I don't think you can overemphasise the importance of having a good background in maths and science. If you look at the most interesting things that have emerged in the last decade - whether it is cool things like portable music devices and video games or more practical things like smart phones and medical technology - they all come from the realm of science and engineering.

writing code isn't everything. math and science equals innovation too. i really believe that.

sicko, google, and grass-tech-roots

sicko
i just finished watching SiCKO. great movie. i don't care if it is potentially one sided. at least moore is sticking up for what he believes in.

there are a couple of things that bother me about these types of films:

a movie like sicko doesn't get into the mainstream. that is crazy to me. a quick little story: i bought an inconvenient truth DVD months after it was released (but i really wanted to see it, but never got around to buying the dvd), thinking that everyone should have heard about the movie by now. i went to a family party and asked, "hey, i just got inconvenient truth, what did you guys think of the movie?" to my surprise, only one family member knew what i was talking about. i was shocked. so, i went to work and asked the same question. this time a few more people knew about the movie, but some where completely oblivious to the who thing. wow, i said to myself. people just don't pay attention to this kind of stuff. hmm...

critics... there are too many critics. blah, blah, blah... i just happened to read the readers reactions to al gore winning the nobel peace prize. i hate critics (haha, irony). they say "blah blah blah, gore sucks, blah, blah, blah". instantaneously, my brain translates that to "haha, haha, haha, you suck way more, you dumb critic, haha, haha, haha". like i said earlier, at least gore is trying to do something. even if it really does suck, then you, for not doing anything, must suck way way more. thats how i feel. just take these movies for what they are worth - the entire purpose is to raise awareness - and gore did an excellent job.

anyway, back to sicko. sicko makes me feel like america is the odd ball. i get the "why can't we just get with the program" feeling.

google
google is the exact opposite. google is the odd ball, but in a good way. i get the "why can't every company be like google" feeling. this is strange, because almost everything google does seems to be open to the public. google is awesome because of what we hear about them is awesome. (haha, why can't yahoo copy that? why can't anyone else copy that?) for example, they they focus on global justice. here is a cool quote:

"Imagine somebody saying, 'You know, our greatest asset is our employees,'" said Cohen, a political theorist and professor of political science, philosophy and law. "Imagine, number one, that it's true; and number two, that they take it seriously. It's as if that's what's going on at Google. I don't think any company has done this.

(i took this a little out of context so you'll have to read the whole article yourself) imagine a company taking its employees seriously. wow, what a concept. here is more:

"It's been a unique experience to figure out how a company like Google could make a difference,"

"We want Googlers to understand the issues," she said. "A lot of times we probe speakers about how Google can help. Googlers are always coming up with solutions."

you know what, i'm sick (sicko... haha) and tired of hearing that googlers can do this and can do that. why can't i! why can't every company have a .org (as in google.org) associated with it.

anyway... google seems like the best place to work for many many reasons. haha, one of my friends couldn't come up with one reason why he worked at his company. boo to that. why can't his company be awesome like google? is it impossible? does google have the monopoly one awesomeness? i think not.

tom hanks
so, i found out that tom hanks has a myspace page (haha, i found that out by watching oprah). anyway, what kinda started this whole blog was that i was noticing how people are using tech to spread the word. a kind of grass-tech-roots kind of thing. sicko and inconvenient truth did it with blogs, comments, votes, badges, etc. tom hanks does it with myspace pages. so does leo - and i was reminded about his film the 11th hour. grass-tech-roots (i just made that up) is cool. grass-tech-roots is the kind of thing i was hinting at before in my previous post.


another anyway...
i'm not getting all political on you... but i think the google article puts it best. "Think Globally, Act Googley." that is awesome.

one laptop per child

i know that everyone is talking about one laptop per child. but, i think its important to get the word out and a little perspective on what people actually think about this. so here is what i honestly think.



i think it is a fantastic idea. i think it is expensive but who cares if you change a life. i think i want to help out and get one. i think i'm not sure if that is the best use of my money. i think i should use my money for something like this. i think if i was a kid that couldn't afford stuff like this, then i'd really really be happy and thankful for getting one. i think this could change the world. i think the laptop isn't that cool, but really cool at the same time. i think there are kids in america that could use this. i think bill gates should by a million of these and donate it. i think it might be a little too slow to really use. i think its cool that everything runs off of python. i think i would split this with someone. i think i would like to give it to the kid. i think i would love to see a documentary about this. i think all laptops should come with all the harry potter ebooks. i think all laptops should come with an encyclopedia. i think it would be great that one day it was 50 dollars for one laptop. i think one laptop per child is a lot of laptops. i think where do kids in third world countries plugin to electricity. i think the laptop might get stolen. i think i wish i had this when i was a kid. i think it is a fantastic idea.

i think every child that wants a laptop should be able to get one. i think this is cool.