TJ's Kaleidoscope

Chain Stores Coffee Taste Quantified

T ∀ ChainCoffeeHouse ∃ Peet's such that CoffeeTaste(Peets) >> (CoffeeTaste(Starbucks) ∪ CoffeeTaste(CoffeeBean))

 

Quote of the Day

I like my coffee strong, not lethal!  ~M*A*S*H

Simple Joys

I was riding back from my repeat conquest of the local Santa Monica bike rider's favorite hill assault--Mandeville canyon and feeling pretty good about myself about having not lost any cardio fitness in the days following completing the Solvang Century.

Ocean Blvd was teeming with tourists (which is the reason why it took longer that usual), but the marine layer had dried off so the sun was shining, and I was happy. Out of the blue this eight or ten year old kid sticks his hand out and my first impulse--being the defensive rider I am--was to dodge him until in a split-moment I realized he was trying to do a high-five. Of course, I returned the gesture and as I continued ride away I heard him give out this high-pitched squeal of joy, it was as if that high-five had made his day. I'll never know why he felt the need to high-five me, or why it made him so happy, but what he'll never know either is that one gesture made my day as well. The unfiltered response to what seems like an innocuous action made the entire day a whole lot lighter. That simple human contact reminded me that joy comes from the simplest of things. So kid, wherever you are, thank you,

 

Quote of the Day:

Little drops of water,
    Little grains of sand,
Make the mighty ocean
    And the pleasant land.
Little deeds of kindness,
    Little words of love,
Make our earth an Eden,
    Like the heaven above.

                  --Julia Carney

The Sputnik Moment

The Sputnik moment metaphor (or is it a simile?) has made resurgence in the media stream intended to be a rallying cry for Americans to the true challenges facing the country. Most recently this NY Times article on Shangai students outperforming their western counterparts in standardized test scores. Reminds me of a TedX talk by Blair Taylor who shared his lessons learned by observing the Chinese education system and gave a rousing call to action for fixing the school system.

 

 

Quote of the Day:

You cannot be comfortable with a deteriorating order.

                                                                  --Blair Taylor

The Secrets of Elite Athletes

And as athletes improve — getting faster and beating their own records — “it never gets any easier,” Dr. Swart said. “You hurt just as much.”

via www.nytimes.com

It's nice to know it never gets any easier. One just has to be at it, a little bit everyday.

Life Value and the Paradoxes of Risk

I believe firmly that the sort of risks which put one in a position to control ones lot in a world of incessant change are the risks which attempt to add something of value to that world.

via www.terry.uga.edu

An good speech by someone who made a lot of money by playing with risk.

Want to be Happy? Focus on the Now.

And now, welcome back for the hypothesis of our experiment: Wherever your mind went — the South Seas, your job, your lunch, your unpaid bills — that daydreaming is not likely to make you as happy as focusing intensely on the rest of this column will.

via www.nytimes.com

So, it seems the people of the days of old had it right all along, stay focused on the task at hand, and you'll be happier. Now there's scientific data.

Talent is Overrated

Good article on peak performance via HBR. http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/08/six_keys_to.html

Google & its Algorithm

Bill Burnham has this great, lengthy blog post on how Google will be hated and precisely for what is its core strength: it's search algorithm. Now, I read the post, and can't say I agree, for very simple reason because the fundamental assumption that Bill's making is that the algorithm itself is a static product. Algorithms are around to serve a purpose, to achieve a goal, to provide results. In Google's algorithm's case the goal is to provide quality results. That's what got them as big as they are and that's what they should continue to focus on if they are to keep their bread & butter business alive. In other words, as the operating environment for their algorithm changes, their algorithm--keeping it's goal in mind--should change as well to reflect the changed reality. In other words, as people find ways to game one revision of the algorithm, the next revision of the algorithm should adapt to filter those gamers. This isn't bad, this is growth, and I believe as long as Google stays relevant in the determining of search quality, people will continue to use it, and that over likability, is the ultimate barometer of success.

Computer History

So, I'm at the Computer History museum at Mountain View California for ReadWriteWeb Mobile summit, and I saw this. Can't help but realize that at some point science fiction becomes history. How will time travel become history?

At some point this used to be the future.

Quote of the Day

History is more or less bunk. It's tradition. We don't want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker's damn is the history we make today.

                                                                                                          --Henry Ford

Blogging While Flying

Or is it flying while blogging? In any case, while many of my tech brethren may take it for granted, I think it's cool to realize that I'm seated in a Virgin America flight, 36,000 feet in the air, going at 429 MPH, and can still sit back and relax, blog, watch live television, or play video games. Now isn't that cool? Even a couple of decades ago, a king's ransom couldn't get you this, now I can get it for $9.95. Time flies, or so they say.

Quote of the Day

Abstraction, courtesy XKCD

Building a Mystery

So The Unofficial Apple Weblog had a recent post on how Apple's reimbursement of Steve Job's personal jet use had gone up, and how that could mean big deals in the offing. Now, there are two things that strike me as interesting. First, is the mystery, everyone wants to know where Steve's headed, and that just validates the great marketing machine that is Apple (bumbling, drunk engineers aside). More importantly, it signals how people will overlook so-called executive perks if they think the executive's any good. The use of private jets has become the symbol of corporate greed and excess, and still corporate America has chosen to keep a blind eye to the huge PR problem this creates(just ask these three), and yet here's one executive, where people are excited when he's flying private jets on shareholder expense.

Quote of the Day:

If A equals Success, then the formula is A equals X plus Y and Z, with X being work, Y being play, and Z keeping your mouth shut.

                                                                                                         --Albert Einstein

A Dozen Travel Observations

In a follow-up to my last post about my travel experiences to India back in 2006, this one talks about the journey I took in 2009. It turns out, my iPhone wasn't completely useless, given I had it with me at all times, I just jotted down things as they came to me. Of course, the standard caveat that these are my interpretations and observations.

1. I blame Hollywood for two things: every time an English man says "Hello" expecting him to say "poppet" right after, and second, hearing airport announcements in the English accent and thinking I'm at the Umbrella corporation.
2. Mobile technology in India is booming and yet very different. The iPhone doesn't turn heads here. This does.
3. The Delhi smog has a charcoal smell to it, the type you get from an earthen kiln. The LA smog does not prepare you for it. Don't worry, you'll get used to it pretty quickly.
4. Crossing a street in Delhi is like playing real-life Frogger.
5. In Delhi some of the best food are in hole-in-the-wall joints. Word of advice, don't try and convince the chef to cough up the recipe. Relish the memory and move on.
6. If you want to enjoy all the sights and sounds, expect to get sick. You're not from the area and the local microbes know that. Pop in a couple of broad-spectrum antibiotics, and you're as good as gold.
7. When in queues, the notion of personal space ceases to exist. Queues for that matter cease to exist.
8. In Delhi, like LA, the automated flush will go off while you're still using it.
9. Anthony Bourdain is right, you'll always like the food you loved as a child. I will always love rajma-chawal.
10. Indian food is a lot better in India, but Glenfiddich & coke tastes the same, unless it's Glenfiddich and Thums up which is exquisite.
11. There's something very magnetic about the sound of evening prayers rising above the city din.
12. LAX needs a face lift bad.

Quote of the Day

You can observe a lot just by watching.

                                             --Yogi Berra

Update:

One of the anonymous feedback I received on my post about resolutions was the use of the word irregardless. The sentence has now been rewritten.

Seven Ways to Reflect on the Past

Quick, before 2009 is a distant memory think about what you've done, learned, and would like to remember. I tried it, using Michael Hyatt's prescription, and I'd recommend it for everybody! It's pretty easy, a set of seven questions you try to answer and that helps you figure out where the year went. I kept my calendars a guide, but I could answer most of them from memory so the actual writing took about thirty minutes. Try it.

Quote of the Day:

If you didn't win a prize — and especially if you did — better luck next year!

           -- concluding remarks at every  Nobel awards ceremony

Making Resolutions Stick

I am part of what seems to be a large group of people who can't seem to keep resolutions. Yet, each year I make them break them. It's the optimism that's native to the human condition--the naivety that despite the plurality of previous failures, the next attempt will be that one stupendous success. This year too I decided my typical set of resolutions, the contents of which are immaterial to this post. This time however, I tried a different approach: Instead of coming up things I think I needed to change, why not get feedback on things you need to change from those who interact with you regularly.

Vijesh was the one who came up with this idea, after he heard of Rypple--An online service that allows you to gather feedback and correspond with responders while preserving their anonymity. I basically split my surveys by groups: business partners, i.e., the guys with whom I co-parent CallFire, colleagues--the folks with whom I work with everyday and friends--the ones who put up with me outside of work.

Every question had two things in common. The sampling was small which was good because there weren't too many to crunch through, and yet enough where it was difficult to associate feedback with its author. While some chose to identify themselves, in many cases I noticed that the anonymity of the process gave the respondents freedom to provide feedback that might not be as forthcoming in person. Interpret how you will, but most of feedback boiled down to the the very couple of things I felt I could work on this year. So this year, I'll be working on very much the same things as last year, except that this time feedback from those around me may help make measurable progress. One day at a time, they say. In the mean time, if you'd like some question ideas, here are the ones I used (and yes, feel free to chime in):

For Friends: https://rypple.com/jthinaka/year
For Colleagues: https://rypple.com/jthinaka/job
For Business Partners: https://rypple.com/jthinaka/ways


Quote of the Day

Give me a stock clerk with a goal and I'll give you a man who will make history. Give me a man with no goals and I'll give you a stock clerk.
                                                                                             --J.C. Penney

Related Posts:

1. Trouble Keeping Your Resolutions?
2. But Bard what did you mean?
3. Guaging Risk

Lessons from Swimming

This year has been a tough one for my feet. It all started with a stress fracture from a hike back in March, and subsequent false starts where in I'd think it'd healed, only to go back and wait it out on bleachers. Just when that seemed to be done with, my other foot ran into some major snags that required more attention, details which at this point are of little consequence. The end result is that it basically threw my entire physical routine in a tizzy. It got bad enough that I had to withdraw from the Long Beach Open, quit any kind of foot-based cardio including ellipticals and steppers.

My workout schedule, for the most part has remained unchanged for a couple of years. Working out three-four times during the week, combined with a weekend's worth of Tennis with the occasional hike and kayaking thrown in the middle. I'll admit that CallFire's had been making that three-four times down to two-to-three. Regardless, I still lead a pretty active schedule and almost everything I indulged in required the strenuous use of my feet. The lack of cardio wasn't doing my health any good, and foot-based options nil.

It was then I decided to retake swimming--the sport to which I never quite warmed up. My experience until then had been limited to neighborhood recreational pools and for reasons other than exercise. It was then no surprise that I was horribly out-of-shape and out-of-form when swimming in a regulation pool. Not only could I not finish one lap in one go, the wake left by my actions would have made a trawler proud. However, with no other sport to turn back to, I was forced keep chugging. I went to doubling my laps per hour in about two months. More importantly, I began to enjoy swimming and love the hour of complete disassociation.

I know what I faced is trivial compared to the things some of the people I know and read about. General Wesley Clark, for instance, loves swimming because he lost major chunks of his foot in the Vietnam war. Yet, the personal nature of these setbacks have taught me lessons that, quite honestly, could only be learned the hard way. If I hadn't the back-to-back foot problems, and used that opportunity to pick up another sport, I'd never have experienced the lesson that learning a new sport brings. When I'm running on the treadmill I use the TV and my ipod to create a chaotic environment that allows me to forget the burn in my lungs and the rote nature of my actions. When I'm playing tennis, my play is influenced significantly by the person on the other side of the net and the point gets close, I stick to plays I know, to what I know will help me win--whether it works or not. Swimming on the other hand, accords none of these distractions. First, I'm thoroughly incompetent in the pool, so unlike Tennis there's not comfort zone. Unlike running there's no induced ADD that allows me to forget that I'm running short on air, or silence that voice in my head that tries to distract me by replaying the events from the day. I just have to focus on completing the lap, one stroke at a time, and whenever I do lose concentration, it's self evident.

I hope to get back on my feet soon, and back to running and playing Tennis, but I don't think I'll ever give up Swimming, not because I've gotten better at it, but because I've come to enjoy it, the fear of coming across as a fool has been long been replaced by the exhilaration of learning. The implicit understanding that yes, I will suck at it but if I can keep at it I will do better today than I did yesterday, that's a good thing and that's life.


Quote of the Day

When you learn a sport, you go through the cycle of humility. You learn about yourself.

  --Wesley Clark