Seeking Inspiration

This morning I made a slide for extra credit in my Operations Management class. The prompt was to “summarize an interesting example of the challenge of trying to run an operation at scale”. As a recent investor in Shopify and also a growing fan of the CEO Tobi Lütke, I went with Shopify and how they scaled by enabling others to scale. All of this was inspired by listening to Tobi’s episode on Masters of Scale (I’d recommend by the way) with Reid Hoffman.

After building the slide, I realized that I was eager to share in class not because I thought I did a good job, even though I did, but that I was eager to share the existence of the podcast and Shopify, both things I believe in and support. Not to mention the ideology, which to me seems kind of trite because in the tech world and reading things regarding tech & management, you see it a lot. But each background in my class is unique which means many of my classmates may never have been exposed to some of this material or have come across it. However, their desire for an MBA leads me to believe that they would be interested, if only they knew about it.

Of course I’m operating off of how I think. A major reason for my decision to be here was to be inspired, to learn from others, and get exposed to things I wouldn’t normally see. As far as I can tell, everyone loves to share things their passionate about, even if they’re shy. You just have to get them to volunteer that knowledge.

How do you do that?

1. One way, is to signal that you’re interested in learning from them and open to new ideas and challenges to your existing belief system. People don’t like to share if they don’t think you’ll use it. Unless of course, they’re they evangelist type and enjoy shoving ideas down people’s throats. Luckily that’s not a trend I’ve noticed among my peers.

2. Share openly, widely, and often. I especially try to give personalized suggestions when I notice people’s interest. I truly want them to get to learn more about things they’re curious about. If that’s not enough for you, from a selfish perspective, we’re all invested in the success of our peers for life. Being affiliated with people who succeed make your brand stronger and also your abilities better. In addition, in a seemingly disconnected era, it can help make unsuspecting friendships or at least a network of people with common interests.

So I guess this morning thought exercise has reaffirmed by desire for learning and seeking out inspiration and redoubled my desire to share and spread ideas.

As a closing side note: while writing this, my morning alarm went of playing Hans Zimmer. Let me tell you, when epic music starts playing while you’re in the middle of an idea, it feels like you’re saying profound, even if you’re just screaming into the void like yours truly.

Hope to be writing on here a bit more, but we’ll see.

RIP Kobe

I’ve only ever owned one NBA jersey, it was a yellow number 8 Kobe jersey. I was maybe 9 years old when I got it. Kobe was one of two athletes who I actually idolized, Brett Favre being the other.

I remember being near tears when Reggie White died, I also remember not knowing why.

I have never been a huge NBA fan but I enjoyed it. Kobe was bigger than basketball. He was the young gun, he represented my area, he was the greatest of all time in my eyes and those of many others. Watching him grow against those I knew as the greats was a pleasure. He was an amazing role model and even after retiring had moved into making an impact in the world.

Hearing that he died tonight is hard to accept and hard to believe. As one of the largest celebrities of my lifetime, I’ve always just assumed he would be there. Obviously, no one lives forever. But a death of this magnitude always wakes people up a bit. RIP Kobe.

In another note of loss but far less somber is the falling of IE in the FT rankings again. I already can see anger in my classmate group chats. Many want money back because they “paid for the rankings and to get the chance for recruiting”. Not to be a traitor or anything, but I actually am upset by their claims.

Maybe the school is dropping in rankings because people view the school as a place to buy access to good companies, rather than a place to become a person fitting of a great company. Maybe instead of focusing on anger at the school, you could focus on improving yourself and getting the value that you paid for.

I don’t know, I just generally dislike public showings of anger. I hope that they resolve things quickly, if there is any recompense, I’ll gladly accept, but I think asking for it is very naive.

Anyways, this has been a weird night — be grateful you have what you have and sleep well.

Good night.

Not the Ideal First MBA Post

Angry people who want attention are all around you.

I just went to an info session for my dual degree program, excited to learn about what is to come.

30 minutes in, things got weird, people started yelling, I felt incredibly uncomfortable.

Why? Some people felt that they had been kept in the dark and/or misled by the institution. Now, they want to know how they can change it. Some were upset that they've paid money for false promises. At least, that's how they made it sound. However, many (not all) failed to ask for anything actionable. They just wanted to vent out loud….loudly.

I have some issues with how the situation was handled on both sides. Yes, I came out with a few doubts about the competence of the program. Much of this doubt was from my agreement that much of the information is shrouded or uncertain and by the poor, deflective answers given by the panelists. But, much of the wavering in confidence comes from my peers' behavior.

When I decided to get an MBA from a highly ranked university, my hope was that I was the worst and least qualified person there.

Why didn't I want to be successful? Why do I want the challenge of competing against people better than me? Because the point is growth. The point is not to go get a piece of paper and say that I'm better than others.

"Imposter Syndrome" can be a good thing, it means you've surrounded yourself with the right type of people, those who will push you and hold you to a higher standard.

What I saw today, did not give me confidence in some of my peers, or even the system that screened people. Most of the people are upset because, in my opinion, they are feeling regret over the money that they've spent. They're worried they aren't getting the value for what they are paying for. (Or they're trying to get something free because "their scholarship wasn't enough). Some voiced concern with tact and clear arguments, I respect them and have no issue with their problems, the others have some work to do.

On top of the second degree, people are her, first and foremost, to get an MBA. They want to become a business leader.

Yet, what business leader enters a venture with a lack of knowledge and ignores the associated risks? After investing in that venture, if information is still unavailable or the information received is different than the initial assumptions, does a smart leader get upset at people or things other than themselves? Of course not, entrepreneurs don't have external loci of control (is that the right plural for locus?). Risks mean bigger rewards but they also mean (although often neglected) higher chances of failure or negative consequences.

Then the reaction…If you do happen to encounter circumstances that aren't in your favor, it is a smart thing to be proactive and try to swung them in your favor. Those peers of mine with cogent arguments did just that. Those who yelled and devolved into chaos, hurt their own cause. I have a feeling that if they choose to stay, they will benefit greatly (assuming they listen --- which is bold I know) from any classes teaching leadership, effective communication, or anything related to professional soft skills.

I'm sad to see that I'm not working from the bottom up but I have already seen the amazing potential and brilliance of some of my classmates, so I can continue to hope I'm in the bottom 10%.

I have enjoyed my first two weeks at school and am still excited for the rest of the IMBA program as well as my dual degree. When things get difficult, I know that there are marvelous people around me who can support and teach me. For that, I'm lucky and grateful.

I’ll add some positive news just to brighten the mood — I am going to release my first YouTube video chronicling and teaching about my MBA program this weekend. I don’t know exactly how it will turn out, since I haven’t planned it. As I mentioned before though, I will review themes and topics I’m reading and learning about to give a sort of view in without giving away the things I’m contracted not to share. If you have any ideas or things you’d like to learn or talk about, let me know and maybe I can work that in.

Have a great weekend!

Get Bored

I woke up this morning disturbingly early thanks to being sick and perhaps from some delayed effects of jet lag. I spent my early morning listening to an episode of The Tim Ferris Podcast where he spoke with Tony Fadell who is one of the masterminds behind things like the iPod and Nest. It's a great episode and worth the listen.

One of the many things they discussed is Tony's concept of "getting bored". That is, after a stage or period in your life, to take a break and experience life and reawaken your mind to new possibilities. For Tony, every 8-10 years seem to be his periods of focus for different things. In a recent period, him and his wife traveled and lived in several countries with their kids, ultimately leading to his creation of Nest.

This struck home since I recently did the same thing. Since graduating high school I had been following expectations and largely just going where the tide took me, without much central planning. I kind of set the direction and liked where things went, so I went with it. I expect that pattern to continue. However, I felt the momentum slowing, much as a cannonball eventually touches the ground after it is fired.

So, as you know, I quit my job in Seattle and went to travel, ultimately leading me to Madrid, Spain (where I'm currently settling in -- my first week here) for a MBA and Masters in Digital Business and Innovation.  

This is what I view to be the beginning of the next chapter in my life. I've loaded myself with experiences, habits, and knowledge that are the raw materials to be refined. Truthfully, I don't know exactly what's next but it's no fun if you know how things will end up.  

While I already had my "get bored" moment, I am still hoping that during my time here in Spain I find my inspiration that can drive the next decade of my life with purpose and drive. I'll be turning 30 this year to, so it's good timing.

Lastly, I've been spending some time reviewing 2019 and thinking about how I'd like 2020 to go. It's a process I've done the last few years -- which have honestly been incredibly transformative and enjoyable years. There is no causation in either direction, but there's certainly correlation. This year, I used this as the guide for my reflection. I don't ever stick to guides completely, but it was a nice framework to start from.

Anyways, happy new year to everyone. I hope it’s a great one and you achieve what you hope to. I’m not one for hyper specific resolutions, but I do hope to write more on here. Maybe once a week? Maybe more. We’ll see. I’m also hoping to pull something together on YouTube if I don’t get too shy about it. Plus, as always, I’ll be on Twitter sharing passing thoughts and Instagram sharing my experience in Spain. Say hi and let’s chat.

Sandbox and Other Things

I’m less than a month away from my departure for Madrid. I’ve been mentally trying to prepare since I’ve been in a completely different head space than a school and business oriented one.

Because of that I’ve been trying to find things within that realm that excite me to pull me back in. Today, I found an easy one relating to VR, gaming, venture capital, and a whole lot more.

Andrew Chen is someone I follow on Twitter and he happens to work at Andreessen Horowitz. (check out his 2018 essay collection)

A16Z is invested in a company called Sandbox VR. After reading a bit about it, I was interested so I watched a review online and then found this amazing video reviewing their pitch with Andrew. It was one of those times you feel yourself getting sucked into a topic and then two of the dots connect.

Besides the obvious reason for interest, namely that I’d love to play these type of games, getting to see inside the investment/pitching process is a good warm-up for B school.

Specific to Sandbox, my initial reaction to a VR retail experience is buy-in. As a kid I remember one time trying a VR experience with terrible graphics where you walked on a treadmill and shot shapes. They brand themselves as The Holodeck Company which is exactly what I’d like to experience. For those of you who have read Ready Player One, you know exactly how the far reaches of this technology could go, for the rest of you…. Seriously though, go read the book but here’s a brief summary. You can physically control your character/avatar in endless virtual worlds and even experience and feel them as if you’re there. Think the Matrix, although it’s voluntary and there is no reality delusion. Or if you’re familiar with anime, you’ll know there is a whole sub-genre called Isekai which revolves around characters being transported to another world, many of which exist digitally or in seemingly digital worlds. (ex. Sword Art Online, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Shield Hero)

Public gaming hasn’t really been big since arcades dwindled after the console revolution. With mobile gaming on the rise, people aren’t necessarily glued to their living room to play and with the meteoric rise of competitive gaming and e-sports, the cooperation, competition, and social aspects are more important than ever.

With a generation that allegedly goes out and hooks up less than our generational predecessors, gaming meetups seem like a great opportunity. Not to mention, by adding the physical component could negate our characteristic loneliness and obesity.

I’m very optimistic about the growth of gaming and am super excited to see where it goes. Truthfully, since many gaming companies are cutting edge, I would be very excited to work with one after my graduation. We’ll just have to wait and see!

FinTwit

If you know me personally, you know that I use and reference things on Twitter a lot. Unlike me, however, there are people out there that actually have followings, specifically within the little communities online that are named x Twit (generally). One of the communities I lightly follow and (try to) participate in is “FinTwit”.

This podcast has three people I follow and regularly see things from — largely comedy — and so naturally I wanted to listen.

While most of the podcast is nonsense banter (a trend in podcasting), many of the topics are interesting and have a few actually good takeaways. I’m not going to summarize the whole thing and put my own twist on some that stood out to me:

• Mental models are just a way to not think. They can be good off the cuff but should be used as a test more than as a replacement for analysis.

• My only dogmatic belief is that dogmatic beliefs should be avoided. Anyone who thinks they’re right and their methodology is the only way is full of shit.

• Which leads into a good perspective — Everything I know is probably wrong, but some of it’s useful. The short explanation is that if you look back in history, the educated elite’s general beliefs were all wrong. It’s silly to think that all of what we take is true today as immune to what has been true forever.

• Fact checking is important. People fake and/or exaggerated data and findings all of the time. Once one person uses a bogus source for something it can spiral out of control and just become an accepted fact when it is, in fact, only some guy in Oklahoma’s assertion… you get the point.

Anyways, it’s a fun little listen, check it out: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2aSYgYtMXCrtlemjo4cgy1.

If you want to follow any of them here are their handles:

• @jposhaughnessy

• @RampCapitalLLC

• @SuperMugatu

• @jfc_3_

Mine is @brobcohen if you were curious ;)

Dopamine And Anticipation

I watched an interesting TED Talk I stumbled across yesterday by Robert Sapolsky. I read “Behave” this year and so I my interest was piqued when I came across an article on how he likes to write. I lost interest in reading the interview transcript but I was intrigued by a link that was to his talk about how and if humans are different from other primates. His main point in the intro was that we’re not really unique in what we do BUT how we do it and to the level we take it.

Watch it here: https://www.ted.com/talks/robert_sapolsky_the_uniqueness_of_humans. It’s about 38 min, so maybe download just the audio or watch it while you’re eating dinner.

You could discuss many of the points in this speech and maybe I’ll come back to them another time. The part I hung on to was about anticipation. While discussing how dopamine spikes before and not after rewards, I thought of many different activities that are mainly driven by anticipation. Furthermore, when success isn’t guaranteed but is a maybe, dopamine actually spikes higher. In addition, how anticipation can really be a driving factor in whether or not someone adopts those activities — especially if they are a target habit (i.e. healthy eating, exercise, etc.).

Here are a few top of mind examples, they may or may not be applicable but worth thinking about. It might help you to put your own habits, hobbies, and goals under the lens and see where your motivations lie and how you might be able to take advantage of them to do more of what you want and to identify activities that you don’t actually like.

1. I enjoy cooking which is driven by the anticipation of what the meal will taste like. When cook times are longer, I of course taste little bits during the preparation. This gives you a little tease and let’s you imagine how everything will taste together and once completed. A recipe for dopamine, if you’ll pardon me taking the low hanging fruit pun. Also, you can easily imagine yourself with heightened senses, smelling and staring at something baking in the oven, causing you to salivate and get excited.

2. As I mentioned, this could be great to take advantage of to lock in goals. Specifically I think of working out, which so many people seem to struggle with doing consistently. Here are some ways this might be taken advantage of:

   • Develop a pre-workout routine that gets you excited to work out. This would work in tandem with a pre-workout that gets your heart going, if you’re into that or could even be a light stretch'/warm-up routine with music that gets you hyped.

   • Instead of just going to a standard gym, find a sport or physical activity that involves other people, music, competition, or some other aspect that can have you thinking before and even after so you are excited. Take rock climbing for example; you might be excited to see what new problems they set up, which people you’ll see there (much easier to stick with it there is a little community), even what music they might play. Then after your workout you’ll feel good, riding the endorphins from the workout and then you’re thinking about the problems you couldn’t solve and how you might solve them next time. Then your good feeling is paired with not only the climbing itself, but the planning and breakdown of the tasks before and after. With a mix of some good old fashioned buzzwords, compound interest and feedback loop, you’ll have a strong habit in no time. The hard part is to build it before that can take effect.

3. Here’s a little more risque of a topic and one that I’m only theorizing about. As is often talked about, men have it far easier when it comes to sex and orgasms. While men are extremely likely to orgasm, while as the media has broadly explained, women are not. Why is this? There are probably tons of studies out there but just using Sapolsky’s information, we can take a good guess. Using his “maybe makes dopamine rise higher” idea helps differentiate men from women. Women are said to prefer anticipation and teasing well before anything moves to the bedroom, where of course foreplay is more important as well. Could it be that since their orgasms are more likely to be ”maybes” that anticipation hits them that much harder? Is the fact that men are so likely to orgasm that our dopamine hit comes into play that much later? I don’t know, but it’s an interesting direction to take this.

4. I’ve read before that Vacations/Trips/Etc.. are great because of this exact feature, that is, planning, going on, and reminiscing is a before/during/after goldmine where anticipation can bring you excitement far before you leave. Not to mention, while reminiscing gives you a slightly different feeling, it can also trigger anticipation of the next trip you’ll go on. Here is a study I found in my 5 second google search (via a Huffpost article) which is maybe what I remember seeing a long time ago. Anyways, it’s a good reason to plan a trip, even if you don’t actually end up pulling the trigger and going on it, it’ll feel good to imagine it.

Thanks for bearing with me on this exploration, I know it was long this time. I’ve been gone a while and it always takes time to get back to being concise. Hopefully I’ll be back with more soon.

Procrastination

While procrastinating I came across this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxbCHn6gE3U

One of my favorite lines is “You call it procrastinating, I call it thinking”. I feel very strongly about this, as someone who procrastinates.

Even now, when I have a break in flow, I have the urge to open another tab, read or watch a video, or go peruse the fridge to take my mind off of it and see what ideas pop in. When you come back, often it’s like someone just hands you the answer and says, “thanks for waiting”. I’m sure you know the feeling. But of course, it’s not always that simple.

In the video, he even talks about Leonardo da Vinci. I’m “reading” (listening to the audiobook) his bio (also Walter Isaacson, for those of you following my reading list) right now. Adam talks about him finishing the Mona Lisa after something like 16 years, but many of the other paintings didn’t get that far and remained unfinished.

Perhaps because of the timing and legend of da Vinci, we still consider his half completed works masterpieces (i.e. Adoration of the Magi), but it’s hard to imagine anything modern being considered that way…although the first counterpoint in my mind, though paling in comparison, is The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

Anyways, maybe this video will help you feel better about the times when you are being pulled away by distractions or when you feel like you need inspiration and take a break. It might also spur you to schedule yourself some work time or breaks in your calendar so you can rest, take a walk, look for inspiration and have your brain work FOR you.

If you like podcasts, Adam has an interesting one called Work Life, which has acted as my procrastination many a time. Check it out here.

Vegas

As promised, I’ve fallen behind my desired post level. I have a good excuse this time though, but I’m sure in the future I’ll let lesser things get in the way.

This last weekend I was in Las Vegas for a bachelor party. Yes, I know what happens there stays there or whatever. But I thought I’d take this time to share my opinion as a non-Vegas guy.

This was my second time there. The first time was about 8 years ago when I went in December to watch UW play Boise State in the MAACO Bowl. It was freezing cold, most of the weekend revolved around the football game and going out clubbing at night with college friends. I had a pretty good time.

This time was similar, in that I went with several friends (childhood friend’s bachelor party). The main difference was it was summer and the group is older and far more subdued.

The majority of us, including me, aren’t really gamblers. We played some but as an example, my gambling limit i.e. the cash I brought was $275. I ended up coming back with something like $225 so I did fairly well. The bulk of our casino time was spent following around the few who chose to gamble and dabbling in our own hands. I got the ins and outs of slots, but didn’t make anything, not surprising to me. I learned how to play Baccarat, which I think is the high point since it was fun AND I won $150. I skipped the blackjack tables this time, but went in on a few hands in Roulette - I won $60 here.

I think one reason I don’t like gambling is the relative cost per time of entertainment. I enjoy a long poker game because if you enjoy the hours playing, then losing everything was like the cost of playing the game., Whereas, in many other gambling methods, you can lose a lot in a matter of seconds.

Maybe another day I can do a little research and discuss the methods casinos use to keep you playing, the psychology, etc.. That sounds interesting. Maybe the basics of game probabilities. Idk.

As for the food; let’s say I was disappointed. I had some good meals but nothing mind blowing, but the costs were kept down. I had a vision of Vegas as a foodie destination but it looks like that comes with a price and you have to seek it out.

All in all, it was a good time spent with friends. Will I be going back any time soon? Probably not unless another friend decides to have a bachelor party there.

Instagram Culture

I saw a post on LinkedIn that brought up an “old discussion” of whether or not Instagram should get rid of likes. The basic premise is that likes lead to jealousy and develop unwanted behaviors from overuse, to addiction, etc… Instagram of course benefits from that and so do the users.

I hadn’t thought of this before this morning, but likes are kind of like currency on Instagram except they are not explicitly traded. Also there is a clear class system based on followers/like counts. There are ways to move between classes but not much, and generally people don’t pass “upper middle class”. Let me break it down a bit. Of course, these vary heavily on age, since different demographics use the site more/more heavily.

Poverty - Not many followers, their posts are largely ignored. This is where everyone starts but can move out depending on their REAL LIFE social circle and their activity on Instagram. They’re excited when they get 10 likes on something.

Lower class - Where most people stay, this is the people with maybe a few hundred followers. Their following is probably mostly people they know but not necessarily. However, when it comes to people liking their photos it’s probably one out of every handful. Let’s say they start to get around 50.

Middle class - I’m here I think, as are most millennials. Several hundred followers and on good posts, over a hundred likes. Even with good content, there is somewhat of a ceiling that could be broken through more consistent posting, activity on the timeline, using lots of hashtags, or creating content. Up until this point, you don’t really have to do anything to get here.

Upper middle class - These people aren’t actual celebrities but they act like it. They’re probably selling something, have professional photos or ones they’ve taken on a real camera and uploaded on IG. They' spend time on their image and have been rewarded thousands of followers for it. A lot of time it’s just a good looking girl taking advantage of the internet’s desires. Other times it’s guys who make youtube videos. It could mean a lot of things. These folks have multiple thousands - hundred thousand followers. They get enough likes and messages they don’t check their notifications anymore. Messages probably take a while to get responded to. This tier is where Instagram begins to feel more like a brand page than a communication platform.

Upper class - Many of these people are real celebrities, from the outside world. Others have become celebrities online. These people are brands and so they make money off of the milions of views they’re getting. Either directly - through ads, merch shops, events, etc.. or Indirectly - brand loyalty, etc.. that carries into the real world profits they make; think Dwayne Johnson not advertising on his IG but since you like him as a person, you’ll go see his movies. Doubtful they respond to much, if they do it’s sporadic. Many use Twitter as a better way to communicate with fans. Many also hire staff/PR/Brand Managers to manage pages and design content. If you’ve made it this far, you’ve become a brand, so you’ve got to maintain your image.

So with regards to getting rid of likes, it would probably affect the well being of the lesser groups, especially among young people who have yet to learn to deal with jealousy. But for the “businesses”, it takes away a gauge of how successful posts are. If I recall they were going to allow stats to be private - so maybe in the business tools of IG they would let you view and share the information and it would only be a surface level change.

Either way, I don’t see IG folding under the pressure since the like count is what drives people’s creativity and desire to make good content and not just post a selfie of them on the couch. At least that’s my opinion as of this morning.

This has been a fun, meaningless post. But thinking about the comparisons are interesting in a time when much of the political fervor is against the wealthy elites, etc… Anyways, hope you enjoyed it. Let me know your thoughts, I’m always down to talk about weird things like this.

Music

So it looks like daily isn’t going to be as easy as I thought. Certainly I could just write every morning, but then I won’t have had inspiration from the day. So we’ll stick to daily but I might miss days occasionally. Lucky or unlucky enough, I don’t think I have many readers of this so it shouldn’t matter.

I’ll be in Las Vegas for the weekend so that will be a few missed days as well.

I’m writing this after getting back from a concert/art show that my brother played at (check out Maidename here). I don’t know if it’s because we grew up in Southern California, but the music/art combo has always been a big piece of our lives. It melded well with the surf/skate/snow culture that has it’s industry based here. Of course everyone blends their styles and tastes differently but it’s interesting to see the commonalities, the roots of where people come from.

Also, one thing I’ve never pursued hard enough has been playing music. It’s always been a passion of mine but whether through embarrassment, lack of confidence, or something more like laziness, I’ve never taken any bands too seriously, or joined a serious one. I’ve always been content to just jam and play covers here and there, never feeling I had anything worth saying or the ability to write anything worthwhile or that I would personally enjoy. As for the drums, that’s not true, since my approach seems to be just play and making stuff up comes naturally, but that requires other musicians with ideas.

Anyways, if anyone reads this let’s jam. And maybe I’ll figure something out or look at Craigslist and try to join something for a few months. Make a few friends, a few tunes, play a show or two. Why not?

College Football

I’ve taken a long break from football but I watched a few college football games and got into them more than expected. Especially the University of Washington game (my alma mater). When I started as a freshman, we went 0-12. We were terrible. Somehow we made some minor bowl games in my tenure and have now become a great team under Chris Peterson.

I think my football interest had dwindled when all my teams were really bad and the games I’d watch lacked their luster.

I don’t think I’ll ever be back to where I was as a kid, but if UW can remain a contender, I’ll keep watching. Fair weather fan? Absolutely. I have no need to watch unsatisfying entertainment because of loyalty. That’s a waste of my time.

In the mean time, for most sports, I’ll continue to be a big fan of the playoffs and good execution.

Jeez, if I read this as a kid I would be disappointed in myself, but he was a kid, what does he know.

I wonder if there’s some gene that makes someone a good fan? Is it the same as someone who is religious? People who seek a sense of belonging, inclusion, something greater than themselves, etc..? I’ve been over letting my mood be affected by the actions of some guys running around on a field. Do I enjoy and appreciate good play? Of course. Is my day going to be any better or worse if my team wins? Outside of the duration of the game, no.

Sorry about this incredibly non-pointed rant about sports fandom. Maybe we’ll discuss other topics in the future.

AI Applications and Browser Extensions

Today’s inspiration comes from an article I’ve had saved in My Pocket* for a while. This video of AI generated people (fully clothed bodies) is incredible. Perhaps zoomed in and slower you could spot the errors, but in real time speed as videos normally are, this could be monumental. Having also seen some recent deep fakes that were pretty fun and discernible, here’s an example of Bill Hader/Tom Cruise. However, when used in a more serious way the implications are serious. So some brief food for thought.

The hordes of media consumers are already notoriously bad at looking up sources, verifying facts and stories they hear, etc.. When videos are easily manipulated, videos will need to be verified with much stricter rules to avoid mass panic, unfair accusations, etc.. with PROOF….at least visual proof. How would a jury rule on a video that makes someone look guilty when that video is indeed a fake. Perhaps this will lead to AI analyzing of video to determine whether it’s real or not, and thus the tech wars continue (think a higher stakes version of the game AdBlocker’s and media companies do now).

*If you don’t use this browser extension already, it’s extremely helpful. It’s like a favorites folder but that’s more convenient, accessible, and has some more features as well. For people like me who get articles from all over, especially on massive platforms like Twitter, Reddit, or Medium it’s easy to get a reading list that’s 50 deep. To manage all of those, it’s nice to have one place to put everything, of all media types, where I can pick and choose what to read or watch when I have time. Also you can archive and favorite things you don’t want appearing but don’t want to lose forever. If that sounds interesting, check it out here: https://app.getpocket.com/

Side note: today is the 16th anniversary of my Bar Mitzvah — don’t know why I thought of that, but time flies I guess.

Biographies

Biographies do a great job of showing the progression through someone’s life. Many times, it makes every decision seem purposeful and thought out. Obviously, as everyone who has ever lived knows, this is not the case. A good example of this in the Ben Franklin (Isaacson) bio that I’m reading is that Ben went to England for work. It was meant to take a few months, which turned into 5 and then a second stint of 10 years later on. Reminds me of my move to Seattle for college for four years and subsequent return for another four.

The only certainty is that nothing in life is truly certain. One of the things I hope this blog leads to is my own awareness of the present moment and potentially a forum for discussion so that the future can be bent in our favor. Of course, we don’t always know what’s best for us. So even if everything went according to plan, you might be settling.

The important thing isn’t to have to firm of expectations, maybe just some hopeful optimism to keep you motivated and working for the best results and realist pessimism to make sure you always have at least one contingency plan that you’re comfortable because you KNOW something will go wrong.

Perhaps no one is reading, but at least I’m codifying it for myself. Every day, as I build this writing habit, I’m one step closer to a potential find of an interested reader, someone to discuss things with, a creative opportunity, or beyond. Nothing bad can come out trying (unless I write something completely distasteful) and unless I’m stubborn, only learning will come of failure.

Here’s to improving — come along the journey with me.

Cheers.

Step By Step

I’m currently jumping through all the hoops that are required to go to graduate school, many of which because it’s in a foreign country. While I knew this would be an issue and I have started with ample time, it still is frustrating.

Today’s adventure was finding out where I can get fingerprinted in order to submit for a background check via the FBI. Then that has to receive and apostille which appears to be some sort of international notarization that is in line with some Hague Convention.

On top of that, I’ve also had to get new copies of my diploma, also apostilled, and a few other items.

Bureaucracies are notably slow moving and overly complicated but pairing multiple together magnify the effects. It’s a lot like zooming in, screenshotting, and then zooming in again…the resolution is just completely awful.

Anyways, it’s not as bad as it sounds. But I’ve noticed when there are electronic methods things are sped up and smoothed out (much of the time, at least once perfected). You already know I’m a proponent of tech innovation, so you won’t be surprised that I eagerly await the government dinosaur to modernize and have quick, automated system.

The Importance Of Naming In Fantasy Sports

I’m cheating a bit. It’s just after 12:30 AM, but it’s the same waking day, I’ll count it.

I did a fantasy football draft tonight. I haven’t done it in years and had retired, but some friends needed a twelfth and the buy in is only $20 so why not. Despite barely watching football anymore, my knowledge isn’t all gone, plus I pick up a lot of passive news with all the time I spend on Twitter.

I’m pretty happy with my team, especially the name, “Ka’imi hameha”. To me, naming your team is one of the most important parts of the season. Anyone who doesn’t name their team a pun of one of their players or at least something to do with pop culture, etc… should reexamine averything they stand for….. Well, maybe that’s a bit harsh. But, instead of talking about the specifics of my team, I’m going to talk about why I love the name I came up with.

First off, Ka’imi’s full name is John Christian Ka'iminoeauloameka'ikeokekumupa'a "Ka'imi" Fairbairn. Ka’imi is a good nickname since the ode to his Hawaiian culture is quite the mouthful. So maybe, at first, that’s why you think I named my team. A homage to the great King Kamehameha and link to his heritage. Yes that’s true, but only partly, I noticed that second. The real reason is because it is the classic move of Goku from the Dragon Ball series; it was one of my favorites growing up.

So in an act of respect to kickers everywhere, this will belong in my top list of fantasy names, alongside the best of my EPL league. Hope you get the references.

1. Giroud Dreams of Sushi

2. Too inappropriate to share — but it’s a innuendous* pun for Romelu Lukaku

3. Hopped In Her Ass Like a Kangiroud

4. Gündoğan Wing (This Year’s)

5. Llalana Del Rey

*I mean full of innuendo here. I’m not convinced this is a real word.

Recommendations

One of things that makes me the most fulfilled (is this the right word?) is recommending something correctly to someone who really appreciates it. It’s a mix of affirmation of knowing that person, knowing your taste is good, and also being able to extrapolate your knowledge of them to infer what they might like.

Two examples recently are:

1. Connecting two people I met in my travels and they turned out to get along super well.

2. Recommending one of my favorite restaurants to a friend and he loved it. For the record, it was Maido in Lima — which I recommend to EVERYONE who goes there.

I wonder if other people are fired up about stuff like this. I know many other people love sharing and taking recommendations of books so I assume that it spills into other things as well.

Anyways, short entry today but let me know if you have any recommendations for ANYTHING, let me know and I’m happy to return the favor.

Habits

Welcome to September — this will be the first complete month I’ve been in one location for probably about a year which is crazy to think about.

Started the morning with an exciting soccer watching session in Laguna Beach with a great friend of mine. Sadly Arsenal only tied with Tottenham 2-2, however, given it started off 2-0 against them, they rallied well and pulled out a tie. I thought that once we hit our stride we looked pretty good, it only took 45 minutes. Also, while our attack looked powerful there was a lot of room for counter attacks and out midfield and defense looked shaky. I hope to see some improvement.

Anyways..

As I continue to build a routine and develop habits I’d like for home, my mind begins to pick up on different things and once again is focused towards development. After the soccer game, I met up with a different friend from high school and much of our discussion was about what we had done in work/life and what our goals are and how we’re going after them. It’s nice to get this kind of forward facing discussion back since so much of the conversation while traveling was immediate — logistics for getting places — or focused on the past — getting to know people and their histories.

Writing this before I squeeze in my daily yoga practice and bed at 10:42 PM means I’ve procrastinated the two habits I’m currently trying to build until late, but at least I’ve gotten there. Maybe I’ll feel up for some Duolingo as well, although that can be more frustrating.

One plug I want to put out there as I think about it is the importance of a VPN. I ordered a subscription to be able to watch Game of Thrones abroad, but I’m going to keep it. I know have it on both my phone and computer and think it’s pretty important regarding your online security. It’s not a panacea for all potential problems but Ben Franklin (I think) once said something like “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” under his Poor Richard alias. It’s roughly $8.50/month and does two key things:

1. Allow you to access anything worldwide i.e. content restrictions (not a huge issues in the US)

   and more importantly

2. Keep your internet secure and anonymous

Allegedly some avid online shoppers also utilize this to game algorithms that serve up different prices to different users/regions on sites like Amazon. Try that out for yourself if you’d like. Oh and remember if you’re going to use amazon, use smile.amazon.com since then some of the money gets donated to charity!

G’nite!

An Eye For Design

The first newsletter I subscribed to in what appears to be a resurgence in an old 90’s trend was that of Steve Clayton, Microsoft’s Chief Storyteller. From what I’ve gathered, he is responsible for the broad themes and stories utilized for Microsoft and the integration of their products into people and business’s lives.

I don’t actually know him, although we’ve emailed back and forth once or twice. I found him since an old client of mine liked something of his on LinkedIn, it surfaced, and I followed it. I’ve kept following it for about a year or more, every Friday. Certainly I haven’t read them all but they are fun and one of the inspirations for my own. Since I am unemployed at the moment, I can afford the time to do this daily — at least in theory. I am impressed at the consistency that Steve has maintained his weekly one over the years.

This week’s was a fun game to spot your artistic eye and see if things are centered, a skill I moderately worked out when building thousands of slides in PowerPoint at The Spur Group. You can check it out here: https://www.supremo.co.uk/designers-eye/

I don’t mean to steal his idea, that would defeat the purpose of this blog. However, one of the purposes is to think about the things you come across in your daily life, this being one of them.

After a few trials, you’ll notice it’s incredibly hard. Without going into philosophical questions of what it means to be artistic, which could take ages, I want to run you through a train of thought I have regarding my free time at the moment. I’ve always battled with seeing myself as creative or artistic. To me, artistic is a skill. It’s the execution of dexterity of a certain skill which I don’t have. I am ok at drawing for someone who hardly does it. When I practiced a lot, my music skills are fairly good. All of these take time to hone.

Quizzes like the is this centered question that a bit. Some people may naturally have a good sense for it — much like perfect pitch for music (which still needs training to assign letters to tones, etc.). Then there is your mentality and disposition which may overcome natural ability. In the centering game, some fastidious people may measure or take much more time to be certain of answers.

But when talking creativity, it comes in many flavors. Some create from nothing — at least seemingly. They build things, they design, they well create. However, for me, I’ve always been an interpreter, which has bothered me because it doesn’t feel creative, though I’m not certain I should care. The kind of creativity that I feel comes when dealing with constraints — cooking with limited ingredients, solving problems in work that don’t have a clear answer, anything that could be called a workaround.

I generally find myself wanting to organize things up front because that history can allow you to understand why things were done, when and which rules can be broken or bent, and how to move forward. Anyways…

Maybe all of this is just an excuse that I’m not good at art. But I’ve always had an issue with technical skills requirements getting in the way of doing the things I’d like to do. Maybe that’s something I’ll just have to work around.

(Sorry I know that last bit was a bit disjointed and poorly written, if anyone manages to read it, I apologize for your agony.)

Microsoft Surface Laptop 2

Sorry to anyone who perhaps came across this and to myself for letting this slip so early in the habit building process. Unfortunately, my computer died on me and I had to get a new one. I had done quite a bit of research online already; trying to decide between many PC options.

I’ve spent the last decade or so on macbooks and loved it, however after working in a professional setting on a PC, it’s hard to go back. In addition, once I start my MBA, I think a PC will suit me better.

Decision: Microsoft Surface Laptop 2

I wanted something light, fast, and comfortable to use. I was willing to pay a little more for these things.

Form Factor: One of my early curiosities was a Pixel Slate. A VC executive I get a newsletter from raves about his and I loved the simple idea of only having a tablet and being able to take notes in class and auto-transpose them to text. But with Google backing out of tablet development, I wasn’t sure it would hold. Also, outside of just taking notes and internet browsing, I still have a (probably irrational) fear that a browser-based computer won’t suffice. However, that still left the Surface, other tablets and 2-in-1s. After talking with a few people, it sounded like word on the street was that despite the functionality of the tablet form, many people don’t bother to use it. If that was the case, my dream of drawing on images and taking notes by hand probably is more imaginary. So that left the laptop.

Brand: My options now were hardly slimmed down. There are tons of good computers out there, many of which fit my needs. I could go overpowered through someone like Dell and pay roughly the same, I could go cheaper and have more modularity of parts to upgrade later, or I could go with MIcrosoft’s flagship product. I was pretty torn between the Dell XPS13 (which my old company uses) and the Surface Laptop 2. I thought about a few others but the quality of the keyboard on the Surface Laptop is top notch. The Dell certainly can be a higher performance machine; the specs can be upgraded a ton to feature double the ram, virtually have infinite storage, and have a 4k screen, but those all cost money to upgrade.

At $799 the Surface Laptop 2 and the Dell don’t seem as evenly matched. Plus the look and feel of the Surface Laptop are smoother, even if it’s a tad heavier. So that’s what I got.

Sure the Black would have been cool - it’s beautiful, but it wasn’t in stock and you had to upgrade your storage (I explain why I passed this up below). But in order to get back to writing these blogs to you and just having a computer — I swooped the silver base model. So far, so good.

Performance: I ended up getting the base model of the computer but for my needs I think that’s ok, it still has an Intel i5 processor and 8 GB of RAM. Sure, the i7 w/ 16 GB RAM and at least 4x the storage capacity seems obvious to get, but for an extra thousand dollars? I’m not so sure.

The greatest risk I have is storage, but I already have a massive external hard drive so I can periodically archive whatever I’d prefer to keep off the cloud there.