kindle is getting tractions

Some time ago, I blogged about kindle, Amazon's ebook device. Now that it's finally public, I am glad to see good reviews like this

Our PM Jeffery, who used to be on the ebook project (codename Fiona), had been beta testing kindle for a while, and he reported good feedback on this device, too.

I wish I could afford the $400 new toy, plus tax.

Not at all coincidental

In celebration of my coming birthday, NASA is going to launch a space shuttle, if weather and mechanical conditions are deemed fit.

When researchers are actually rewarded

3 AT&T researchers were award $500k for improving the recommendation accuracy by 8.7%
Thanks to Netflix's open competition, everyone with a PC and some insight can be a winner.

The $1 mil grand prize is still up for grab. Folks in NEC and IBM, take note.

死也不容易

Norman Mailer died last Saturday. And his wikipedia entry had the following disclaimer:
"
This article is about a
person who has recently died.
Some information, such as the
circumstances of the person's death and surrounding events, may change rapidly
as more facts become known.

"

Norman Mailer

Again, it's not important what you get in this world, because you can't take any of them with you. What's more important is your legacy. I trust Norman Mailer would be a happy one because he will be remembered by many as one of American's best writer.

why work for mature company

The payoff of working for a mature company is really disproportional to one's contribution. That being said, why would one ever wants to work for a large corporation?

1) less risk
It's a stable platform for you to enjoy a normal life while getting the technical and management training. Read more books, learn as much as you can.Enjoy the hands-off relaxation when you still can.
2) preparation for your own business.
To learn the skill and gather experience. You can have hands-on experience of executing a real business.
3) jumping board
Holding a good position in a good company will give you good reputation and credential that is needed when you start your own business.

In the end, just remember that the fastest way to climb the corporate ladder is outside the company. If you are up to the challenge.

Jung Typology Test

I got labeled as moderately I, slightly N, moderately F, slightly J, which is also called  INFJ
Is that a good thing or bad thing? I don't know. I guess one can't change his/her typology, right?

aggressive yet smooth talker

Today I did a lunch interview with a TPPM candidate, who had many years of hands on PM experience.
He never hides his self-confidence, but always shows it in a very polite way. He answers my questions in a way that he gets more information from it. He is in his late 20s and doing a MBA while keeping his current full time job.

In some sense, he is a perfect model for me to catch up within the next year or so.

One day of MyFamily series sales

Today John told me that we sold 5k units from this series (approx. revenue $100k) in one day, just ONE day. This is what we call a gift that keeps giving.
With the holiday season approaching, the sales skyrocketing, we are more likely to get more resources for the new exciting projects. Go Johnny go go go!

My 1st table topic presentation in Toastmaster meeting

Table topic is the "fun" part where speakers improvise a 2-minute talk about a topic posted by the toastmaster. Today's topic is
"Your first/worst/best car/pet/job/date/kiss".

I thought about it for 1.5 minutes when another fellow was giving his speech on his first cat.

Here is what I came up with,
"I am going to talk about my first car. When I first come to this country 6 years ago. I was fresh-of-the-boat with $1000 in my checking account. Obviously I couldn't afford a car. So I saved up my meager RA salaries for the next 5 months until my saving reaches $2000. Meanwhile, I kept looking the classified ads for used cars. Eventually, I found a car that I can afford. Although it was beaten up 1989 Corolla, it was love-at-first-sight for me.
It met all my expectations: it has 4 doors, enough trunk space to put all my sports gears, and it runs smoothly. The mileage was relatively low for a 1989 car, because it only switches hands among college students that drive locally.

But I didn't rush to buy it, instead I took my housemate's advice to sleep over the idea. During that week, I started to compare every car I saw on the street with my target. Every comparison convinced me that the 89 Corolla was the best I can afford. So as always, I negotiated with the seller and wrote a check to get the key.

That day after dinner, I sat into my own car, parked behind my apartment, listening to the cassette player that comes with the car. I thought to myself: now I actually OWN a part of this country. A bigger than life satisfaction immerses me.
"

秋日午后

秋天
伫立在一幅描绘春天的油画前，
看淡紫色云彩之间，
一阵花瓣翩阡。

但能使美景良辰再现
还有什么奢求？

再萧瑟的季节
也会有明媚的一天
最美好的，一直就在你身边。

QPass story: reinvent itself to overcome failure

Happened to find this pretty legendary come-back story about QPass.
It proves again that starting up is a tough job and takes a lot of nerve to handle the failures.