Hey Gio

I was able to finally review the contents of this package. I’ve always been a fan of trend spotting due to my fascination on how ideas spread and the creative minds behind them. It also delivers a wealth of ideas for future business pursuits. The section on open source footwear and ubiquitous e-commerce got the wheels in my head turning. It’s truly overwhelming when you consider the amount of ideas and products that’s currently being produced and marketed. Unfortunately, most will not make it past prototype development.

I was taught that the simplest definition of marketing is to create demand. Is that theory still true today or are there other “dimensions” beyond creating demand?

I think the last time I swung my clubs was back in August 2007. I miss playing it but I expect to be a little rusty the first few games. The farthest I’ve gotten was 215 yards with a men’s Big Bertha 2 Plus Driver. That was my best but I average around 185 yards with the driver. I also switch around between irons and hybrids. It took a while for me to get used to hybrids but there was definitely an improvement in distance. Irons are great because they feel so natural and I still see the use of hybrids as cheating. Once I got 160 yards from my 5 iron and couldn’t seem to do it again. Maybe I’ll get it if I practice some more. I can’t wait to play the 9 hole course in Alameda.

When I started working after college in my early 20’s, I was very proud of the United States’ progress and the strength of its currency. I have traveled to pre-Euro Europe, Canada and Mexico. The U.S. Dollar went a long way back then and everything seemed “cheaper”.

What happened?

Aside from the devaluation of the U.S. Dollar against foreign currencies, the buying power has dropped inland as well. $1,000,000 in 1999 is only worth $734,000 today after adjusting to inflation. How should we invest? Even more discouraging, what will happen to the retirement funds of the aging baby boomers? Not only is Social Security in crisis but the value of the funds boomers have saved up lost significant value.

Time for Recess

This is not going to be pretty and a global recession is imminent. It’s a question of how we are going to cope with it.

In the U.S., I think the two major contributors of the destruction of its currency are unscrupulous financial practices led by the mortgage lending industry and the war in Iraq.

The United States is known for its generosity to help out other nations but lately it’s been having hidden agendas. The priority of the newly elected leaders should focus on the U.S. economy while significantly reducing foreign aid and war budgets.

After all, a broke America is a weak America. What was the current administration thinking?

We argue a lot over petty things and you easily get excited causing you to raise your voice. Sometimes, we behave like undisciplined children. But beyond that, you have opened my eyes and showed me how to love and commit.

The best way to show someone that you really care for them is to love them unconditionally and also be sincerely interested in what they are doing. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t be involved in the projects we are working on together. In fact, I pushed really hard to be able to work with you. I can quit and do something else…but I can’t. I love what I do because it’s a common interest we share and it gives me an opportunity to spend time with you.

You changed my life by allowing me to care and be unselfish. You revived my drive to excel in life. You created an environment for me to unleash my competitive nature.

Mista Wong, you have a terrible habit of putting words in my mouth and misunderstanding me. I will tell you this, you’re my hero and I look up to you.

I got this game for Christmas and I’ve been playing it for hours each day. I’m so hooked, too bad I’m almost at the end of the game. I love the Final Fantasy series and prefer RPG games over any other genres. The best feature of FF3 DS is the classic 16-bit style of play. No annoying fancy 3D, just good old fashioned game play, an awesome plot, lovable characters and fun side quests. It’s not a Final Fantasy 2 for the Super Nintendo (THE BEST GAME EVER - and will blog later explaining why) but the roots from its SNES father is noticable.

Oh and my Final Fantasy 3 DS friend code is 1117 9224 6044.

You need to have access to the wifi feature and have a few buddies on the roster to take advantage of the awesome weapons you can’t get otherwise. I have the best weapons for my favorite characters:

Luneth - Dragoon, job level 99

Arc - Monk, job level 99

Ignus - Knight, job level 99

Refia - Thief, job level 99

I’m also building up job levels for the ninja, black belt and the infamous onion knight. For the final boss, you NEED to have a Devout. A level 20 is sufficient for this job and you don’t have to build it up to a 99.

We’ve all been burnt out at sometime. If you’re self employed, I think it’s healthy to have days where you do no work at all. Don’t get me wrong, I love and enjoy the challenge of my job but we all need time out. Feeding ducks at the park, visiting friends and family or just spending half a day watching cartoons then beating everyone at Tetris, Street Fighter and Wii Tennis are great escapes from the everyday work load. Having time off is a way to recover and invigorate. I experience sudden bursts of productivity after days off.

I can get extremely productive sometimes but I hardly use organizers or calendars to plan my day or agendas. It depends on personalities I guess but there’s no right or wrong way to get the job done.

Anyway, I think it’s cool to take breaks because it balances your life and will make you a bit happier too

This was a defunct group that I took over a few months ago. It’s been around since 2002 and although it had over 200 members, they were mostly inactive. I decided to add more stuff on my plate and committed to have the first meeting in over a year. It was interesting because slots were filled up fast and as soon as someone dropped off, another one took over their place. I just hope I don’t make fool of myself.

Areas of Discussion

The cheesy title of this meeting is “How to Boost Traffic & Turbo Charge Your Blog in 2008″

We will discuss major challenges in blogging including:
1. How to Generate and Grow Traffic
2. Building a Large Subscription Base
3. Monetization Strategies
4. Technology
5. (I will leave this open for you guys to suggest)

I have done very little, actually no preparation for this meeting. I want to wing it and speak from the heart. I fear public speaking and if I had to memorize a subject that I should know about already, then I feel my knowledge or interest is artificial.

I hope to do well and help as many as I can.

Everything we know about Socrates were based on writings by Plato, one of his pupils. Aristotle known for his study of biology and zoology was also Socrates’ student.

He was a such a unique man. During the height of Athen’s power and wealth in the short Pericles Era, he roamed the streets barefooted in ragged clothes. He didn’t care about his appearance and was considered ugly by Athenian standards at the time. He was a thinker and didn’t like relying on assumptions. He made a lot of friends while irritated others. Unlike most of the civilizations at the time which focused, based and expected outcomes from “Gods”, Socrates questioned the beliefs of these people and why they weren’t using logic and explanation.

Athens was the most powerful city during Pericles rule

Their navy was superior, defeating even the most powerful empire of the time, the Persians. They defeated the Spartans but with heavy casualties. When the Generals arrived back to Athens, instead of getting a hero’s welcome, they were put to trial and faced death for not saving their allies.

Socrates was against the execution of their 6 generals because that would cripple their navy. He understood the value of leadership but the ignorant jury shunned Socrates’ logic.

Based on Socrates’ quotes, he believed in one God. Jewish influence didn’t occur in Athens in this period.

The hour of departure has arrived and we go our ways; I to die, and you to live. Which is better? Only God knows.

Athens lost a huge war to Sparta due to their lack of leadership and the Athenians needed a scapegoat. They obviously chose Socrates for they felt that he was a threat to their civilazation. The method of his execution was to drink posion. The guards and his friends gave him the opportunity to escape but declined. His death marked the end of Athenian rule. They suffered defeat and never regained it.

I’ve always been fascinated with blogging and how it’s lauded as a great tool to spread ideas and all that stuff. Many have tried it but end up quitting after not generating enough traffic. Technorati alone follows over 44 million blogs so it’s really competitive out there.

Passion Blogging is the Newest Fashion

A HUGE plus is to start a personal blog about a topic or topics you are passionate about. Don’t think of monetization as that will lead to your disappointment. Who cares about the low traffic. Blog for fun. Learn how to write better. Practice the art first and everything will fall into place.

Ask yourself:

• What am I truly interested in?
• What are things or events that inspire me?
• Who annoys me the most?
• What do I want to learn?
• Why are we here?

Even if you are an obscure anti-social hermit who hates everything, you can still write about…how it’s like being an obscure anti-social hermit, the origins of your hatred and how you prefer it to be that way or how you would like to change your lifestyle and escape your dark, dull world. Regardless, there will be a group out there who will share the same interest as you. In fact, that hermit example is probably not a saturated subject and you can immediately own that niche. But I hope I don’t rank for it

The True Benefits of Blogging

Making money isn’t one of them although it’s nice to have more! Remember, this is my personal blog and I have no intentions monetizing from it. Why did I start it and why am I writing this? To me, the ultimate reward is to be able to write about anything I want. It is truly liberating because I get to pour what’s currently on my mind to this virtual diary. Another benefit is improving my writing skills. They are rusty right now but the more I write, the more I develop my writing style and voice. Being able to build a community whose members share similar interests can be rewarding as well.

The code is a lot simpler than C/C++ and Java. You get to focus on developing your skills as a computer scientist and worry less on the syntax and semantics. MIT teaches Python in their CS1 course due to its simplicity. Here’s a comparison:

Assignment: Print “Hey Gio” on the screen in Java

print class Hello{
public static void main(String args){
System.out.prntln(”Hey Gio”);
}
}

Assignment: Print “Hey Gio” on the screen in Python

def main():
print “Hey Gio”

main()

Great difference, right? Python can serve as a stepping stone to more complex languages to learn. I feel that if I started with C or Java, then I would probably be overwhelmed and quit. I will be self taught with no professors and college friends to study with. The best route in this case will be easier route which is Python.