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Here's wishing my wonderful parents a
I know it's not an easy road, but they are truly inspirational to actually make that "Til Death" vow come true. Because of them, I know it takes work to make it last, but it can be done, and I can't wait until I reach our 44th anniversary (in the year 2049).
I love you, Mom & Dad
Because of DVRs, I don't watch commercials very much. That is probably why I missed this commercial when it came out at the end of 2011. It's The Muppets (who just had a new movie out) + one of my Forever playlist songs in a Google+ commercial, Queen & David Bowie's Under Pressure. It's pretty awesome, especially poor little Beaker. Enjoy!
I like Spam...my Dad is from Hawaii, it's in our salty blood to like it. BUT, I have had enough of the comment SPAM on my blog. I get hundreds a day just killing me when I have to clean them up. Mr. O has tried to add a CAPTCHA, but it's not working. So until I have a better option, comments have been disabled.
So hopefully when I return to actual blogging, we'll have a better solution so you can all send me lots and lots of REAL comments. I'm tired of getting fake Prada or LV ads. ;)
If you REALLY want to contact me, email me (haha - you know you're dying to talk to me). There's a link on the main page with an envelope.
Sorry I haven't been updating my blog AT ALL. I went back to work in late Oct 2011 so having a fulltime job and taking care of an infant is a lot to juggle. Let's not forget trying to keep us fed, clothed, clean, and housed in a somewhat decently livable house as well, and the blog just seems like last priority. I hope to strike a better balance for 2012.
Until then, here's a little Holiday Cheer from our family. This is our 2011 Christmas card. It's BabyO's First Christmas. He's 4-Mo old right now. What a fun age. He can roll onto his stomach, but not back (haha), and we see his brain just learning like the little sponge it is.
I wish all of you a joyous holiday season. I hope you are surrounded by loved ones, and if you're not, make sure to call them to tell them how much you love them. Life is precious and we really must make the most of every moment we have together.
SILLY LOVE SONGS
You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs.
But I look around me and I see it isn't so.
Some people wanna fill the world with silly love songs.
And what's wrong with that?
I'd like to know, 'cause here I go again
I love you, I love you,
I love you, I love you,
I can't explain the feeling's plain to me, say can't you see?
Ah, she gave me more, she gave it all to me
Now can't you see,
What's wrong with that
I need to know, 'cause here I go again
I love you, I love you
Love doesn't come in a minute,
sometimes it doesn't come at all
I only know that when I'm in it
It isn't silly, no, it isn't silly, love isn't silly at all.
How can I tell you about my loved one?
How can I tell you about my loved one?
How can I tell you about my loved one?
(I love you)
How can I tell you about my loved one?
(I love you)
But I look around me and I see it isn't so.
Some people wanna fill the world with silly love songs.
And what's wrong with that?
I'd like to know, 'cause here I go again
I love you, I love you,
I love you, I love you,
I can't explain the feeling's plain to me, say can't you see?
Ah, she gave me more, she gave it all to me
Now can't you see,
What's wrong with that
I need to know, 'cause here I go again
I love you, I love you
Love doesn't come in a minute,
sometimes it doesn't come at all
I only know that when I'm in it
It isn't silly, no, it isn't silly, love isn't silly at all.
How can I tell you about my loved one?
How can I tell you about my loved one?
How can I tell you about my loved one?
(I love you)
How can I tell you about my loved one?
(I love you)
--------------------------------------------------------
This ranks up there with the BeeGees' More Than a Woman or How Deep is Your Love
What I Learned from Steve Jobs
By, Guy Kawasaki
1. Experts are clueless
Experts--journalists, analysts, consultants, bankers, and gurus can't "do" so they "advise." They can tell you what is wrong with your product, but they cannot make a great one. They can tell you how to sell something, but they cannot sell it themselves. They can tell you how to create great teams, but they only manage a secretary. For example, the experts told us that the two biggest shortcomings of Macintosh in the mid 1980s were the lack of a daisy-wheel printer driver and Lotus 1-2-3; another advice gem from the experts was to buy Compaq. Hear what experts say, but don't always listen to them.
Experts--journalists, analysts, consultants, bankers, and gurus can't "do" so they "advise." They can tell you what is wrong with your product, but they cannot make a great one. They can tell you how to sell something, but they cannot sell it themselves. They can tell you how to create great teams, but they only manage a secretary. For example, the experts told us that the two biggest shortcomings of Macintosh in the mid 1980s were the lack of a daisy-wheel printer driver and Lotus 1-2-3; another advice gem from the experts was to buy Compaq. Hear what experts say, but don't always listen to them.
2. Customers cannot tell you what they need
"Apple market research" is an oxymoron. The Apple focus group was the right hemisphere of Steve's brain talking to the left one. If you ask customers what they want, they will tell you, "Better, faster, and cheaper"--that is, better sameness, not revolutionary change. They can describe their desires only in terms of what they are already using--around the time of the introduction of Macintosh, all that people said they wanted was a better, faster, and cheaper MS-DOS machine. The richest vein for tech startups is creating the product that you want to use--that's what Steve and Woz did.
"Apple market research" is an oxymoron. The Apple focus group was the right hemisphere of Steve's brain talking to the left one. If you ask customers what they want, they will tell you, "Better, faster, and cheaper"--that is, better sameness, not revolutionary change. They can describe their desires only in terms of what they are already using--around the time of the introduction of Macintosh, all that people said they wanted was a better, faster, and cheaper MS-DOS machine. The richest vein for tech startups is creating the product that you want to use--that's what Steve and Woz did.
3. Jump to the next curve
Big wins happen when you go beyond better sameness. The best daisy-wheel printer companies were introducing new fonts in more sizes. Apple introduced the next curve: laser printing. Think of ice harvesters, ice factories, and refrigerator companies. Ice 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0. Are you still harvesting ice during the winter from a frozen pond?
Big wins happen when you go beyond better sameness. The best daisy-wheel printer companies were introducing new fonts in more sizes. Apple introduced the next curve: laser printing. Think of ice harvesters, ice factories, and refrigerator companies. Ice 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0. Are you still harvesting ice during the winter from a frozen pond?
4. The biggest challenges beget best work
I lived in fear that Steve would tell me that I, or my work, was crap. In public. This fear was a big challenge. Competing with IBM and then Microsoft was a big challenge. Changing the world was a big challenge. I, and Apple employees before me and after me, did our best work because we had to do our best work to meet the big challenges.
Steve drove people nuts with his design demands--some shades of black weren't black enough. Mere mortals think that black is black, and that a trash can is a trash can. Steve was a perfectionist, and he was right: some people care about design and many people at least sense it. Maybe not everyone, but the important ones.
6. You can't go wrong with big graphics and big fonts
Take a look at Steve's slides. The font is 60 points. There's usually one big screenshot or graphic. Look at other tech speaker's slides--even the ones who have seen Steve in action. The font is 8 points, and there are no graphics. So many people say that Steve was the world's greatest product introduction guy. Don't you wonder why more people don't copy his style?
Take a look at Steve's slides. The font is 60 points. There's usually one big screenshot or graphic. Look at other tech speaker's slides--even the ones who have seen Steve in action. The font is 8 points, and there are no graphics. So many people say that Steve was the world's greatest product introduction guy. Don't you wonder why more people don't copy his style?
7. Changing your mind is a sign of intelligence
When Apple first shipped the iPhone there was no such thing as apps. Apps, Steve decreed, were a bad thing because you never know what they could be doing to your phone. Safari Web apps were the way to go until six months later when Steve decided, or someone convinced him, that apps were the way to go--but of course. Duh! Apple came a long way in a short time from Safari Web apps to "there's an app for that."
When Apple first shipped the iPhone there was no such thing as apps. Apps, Steve decreed, were a bad thing because you never know what they could be doing to your phone. Safari Web apps were the way to go until six months later when Steve decided, or someone convinced him, that apps were the way to go--but of course. Duh! Apple came a long way in a short time from Safari Web apps to "there's an app for that."
8. "Value" is different from "price"
Woe unto you if you decide everything based on price. Even more woe unto you if you compete solely on price. Price is not all that matters--what is important, at least to some people, is value. And value takes into account training, support, and the intrinsic joy of using the best tool that's made. It's pretty safe to say that no one buys Apple products because of their low price.
Woe unto you if you decide everything based on price. Even more woe unto you if you compete solely on price. Price is not all that matters--what is important, at least to some people, is value. And value takes into account training, support, and the intrinsic joy of using the best tool that's made. It's pretty safe to say that no one buys Apple products because of their low price.
9. A players hire A+ players
Actually, Steve believed that A players hire A players--that is people who are as good as they are. I refined this slightly--my theory is that A players hire people even better than themselves. It's clear, though, that B players hire C players so they can feel superior to them, and C players hire D players. If you start hiring B players, expect what Steve called "the bozo explosion" to happen in your organization.
Actually, Steve believed that A players hire A players--that is people who are as good as they are. I refined this slightly--my theory is that A players hire people even better than themselves. It's clear, though, that B players hire C players so they can feel superior to them, and C players hire D players. If you start hiring B players, expect what Steve called "the bozo explosion" to happen in your organization.
10. Real CEOs demo
Steve Jobs could demo a 'Pod, 'Pad, 'Phone, and Mac two to three times a year with millions of people watching, why is it that many CEOs call on their vice president of engineering to do a product demo? Maybe it's to show that there's a team effort in play. Maybe. It's more likely that the CEO doesn't understand what his/her company is making well enough to explain it. How pathetic is that?
Steve Jobs could demo a 'Pod, 'Pad, 'Phone, and Mac two to three times a year with millions of people watching, why is it that many CEOs call on their vice president of engineering to do a product demo? Maybe it's to show that there's a team effort in play. Maybe. It's more likely that the CEO doesn't understand what his/her company is making well enough to explain it. How pathetic is that?
11. Real CEOs ship
For all his perfectionism, Steve could ship. Maybe the product wasn't perfect every time, but it was almost always great enough to go. The lesson is that Steve wasn't tinkering for the sake of tinkering--he had a goal: shipping and achieving worldwide domination of existing markets or creation of new markets. Apple is an engineering-centric company, not a research-centric one. Which would you rather be: Apple or Xerox PARC?
For all his perfectionism, Steve could ship. Maybe the product wasn't perfect every time, but it was almost always great enough to go. The lesson is that Steve wasn't tinkering for the sake of tinkering--he had a goal: shipping and achieving worldwide domination of existing markets or creation of new markets. Apple is an engineering-centric company, not a research-centric one. Which would you rather be: Apple or Xerox PARC?
12. Marketing boils down to providing unique value
Think of a two-by-two matrix. The vertical axis measures how your product differs from the competition. The horizontal axis measures the value of your product. Bottom right: valuable but not unique--you'll have to compete on price. Top left: unique but not valuable--you'll own a market that doesn't exist. Bottom left: not unique and not valuable--you're a bozo. Top right: unique and valuable--this is where you make margin, money, and history. For example, the iPod was unique and valuable because it was the only way to legally, inexpensively, and easily download music from the six biggest record labels.
Raconte-Moi Une Histoire
i heard about this frog
it's a very tiny frog
but it's also very special
you can only find it in the jungle
so far away from me
but if you find it and if you touch it
your world can change forever
if you touch its skin
you can feel your body changing
and your vision also
and blue becomes red and red becomes blue
and your mommy suddenly becomes your daddy
and everything looks like a giant cupcake
and you keep laughing and laughing and laughing
nothing is ever quite the same really
and after you finish laughing
it's time to turn into a frog yourself
it's very funny to be a frog
you can dive into the water
and cross the rivers and the oceans
and you can jump all the time and everywhere
do you want to play with me?
we can be a whole group of friends
a whole group of frogs
jumping into the streets
jumping into the planet
climbing up the buildings
swimming in the lakes and in the bathtubs
we would be hundreds, thousands, millions
the biggest group of friends the world has ever seen
jumping and laughing forever
it would be great, right?
it's a very tiny frog
but it's also very special
you can only find it in the jungle
so far away from me
but if you find it and if you touch it
your world can change forever
if you touch its skin
you can feel your body changing
and your vision also
and blue becomes red and red becomes blue
and your mommy suddenly becomes your daddy
and everything looks like a giant cupcake
and you keep laughing and laughing and laughing
nothing is ever quite the same really
and after you finish laughing
it's time to turn into a frog yourself
it's very funny to be a frog
you can dive into the water
and cross the rivers and the oceans
and you can jump all the time and everywhere
do you want to play with me?
we can be a whole group of friends
a whole group of frogs
jumping into the streets
jumping into the planet
climbing up the buildings
swimming in the lakes and in the bathtubs
we would be hundreds, thousands, millions
the biggest group of friends the world has ever seen
jumping and laughing forever
it would be great, right?
---------------------
---------------------
I was listening to M83's new album, "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming", and the innocence of this song with the little girl's voice made it so sweet. It's really a beautiful song that should make you smile a little.
On October 5, 2011 a very dark cloud descended upon the technology world as one of the most innovative men to ever grace its presence succumbed to a long battle with cancer. The world was left emptier without his genius light flickering in cyberspace. His impact is felt across the globe, as we mourn the passing of Steve Jobs.
I have only cried twice over a celebrity type figure's death; I cried for Michael Jackson, and now I have shed tears for Steve Jobs. It's not like I knew him, or even know that much about him, but what he did and what he signified has played a huge part of my life. I am an Apple-shipper. Not as much as some, but a shipper none the less. I was late to the game, but once I became one, I never let go. I only use a PC if I am forced to. I will anxiously await new products along with the rest of the geekdom and hope it is something I can have. I covet Apple products when I don't even need them. I don't even need to know that much about them because Apple's reputation precedes any smoke and mirror tricks other companies use to bamboozle you to buy inferior products.
Like Michael Jackson, I will always remember exactly where I was when I heard the news that Steve Jobs had died. And even if we all knew this day would come, we all hoped for a miracle that would save him. It was a selfish request really because we just wanted him to continue to lead the most amazing company there is. Without him Apple has failed once. I only hope he was able to put in the groundwork to ensure it does not fail again. Sadly, the Apple iPhone 4S was the last product released before his passing. It came one day before. People are clamoring to get their hands on one just to have the last Apple product Steve Jobs touched. This after the internet railed against it one day prior. I get it. It's probably why I want to hug my brand spanking new MacBookPro that I just got on Sept 30th.
Steve Jobs touched people in a way most CEOs don't because he made everyone believe in his vision. He brought you in and you became part of an elite Apple family (even if that family has grown exponentially with iPhones and iPads). Like my friend Warren Fu said, Steve Jobs was the Willy Wonka of technology. He knew not just how to make products that were easy to use and gave you exactly what you wanted, but he knew how to package everything into a sexy-have-to-have exterior. Apple has led the world in style and even if others don't want to admit it, everyone else has been trying to be better than them for a long time. Other companies try to make the magic Apple does, and have sometimes come close, but they didn't have Steve Jobs' special touch that made the Apple product always a bit better. I fear that magic touch is lost forever, but am crossing my fingers in anticipation of Apple's next great thing.
---------------------------------
This broke my heart when I went to the Apple website Wednesday evening:
---------------------------------
In honor of Steve Jobs, I will list all our Apple products, past and current, to show how much of an impact Steve has had in our day-to-day lives.
Computers:
- Apple II - 1977
- iMac - 2003
- iBook (G4) - 2005
- MacBook (Intel) - white - 2006
- MacBook (Intel) - black - 2006
- Mac Mini (Intel) - 2006
- MacBook Pro - 2011
iPod:
- iPod 3G (4 buttons + wheel) - 10GB
- iPod 3G (4 buttons + wheel) - 15GB
- iPod 3G (wheel only) - U2 Special Edition Black & Red
- iPod 4G (B/W) - 40GB
- iPod 4G (Photo) - 60GB
- iPod 5G (Video) - 80GB
- iPod 6G (Classic) - 120GB
- iPod 6G (Classic) - 160GB
iPad:
- iPad2
iPhone:
- iPhone (Version 1) - 8GB
- iPhone 4 - 32GB
Other:
- Airport
- Wireless keyboard
- Wireless Mouse
- Might Mouse
---------------------------------
I know this list is just "stuff" to most people, but to me, it means a way of life. I just want to thank Steve Jobs for the impact he's had on my life. The Cult of Mac is real, and our leader has left this earthly plane to better places where pain no longer will plague his mortal body. I know he left this earth at peace with his life and legacy. I hope he's traveling on wearing his famous black turtleneck and jeans.
After he died, so many quoted his 2005 Stanford University speech. I have had that speech blogged for awhile because it is so inspirational to read. He truly was a great man and will be missed.
I leave this entry with a quote from that speech. I hope his death will inspire everyone to live their lives to the fullest and not fear. Easier said than done, but he did it. As he ended his speech, "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish."
Goodbye Steve...
WELCOME
KEOKI ALEJANDRO
Born: August 11, 2011 6:38PM Eastern
7lbs 10oz, 20 inches
This song has much more meaning now after the birth of our beautiful baby boy.
LULLABY
They didn't have you where I come from
Never knew the best was yet to come
Life began when I saw your face
And I hear your laugh like a serenade
How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough, is forever enough
How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough
Cause I'm never, never giving you up
I slip in bed when you're asleep
To hold you close and feel your breath on me
Tomorrow there'll be so much to do
So tonight I'll drift in a dream with you
How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough, is forever enough
How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough
Cause I'm never, never giving you up
As you wander through this troubled world
In search of all things beautiful
You can close your eyes when you're miles away
And hear my voice like a serenade
How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough, is forever enough
How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough
Cause I'm never, never giving you up
How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough, is forever enough
How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough
Cause I'm never, never giving you up
Is forever enough
Cause I'm never, never giving you up
Never knew the best was yet to come
Life began when I saw your face
And I hear your laugh like a serenade
How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough, is forever enough
How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough
Cause I'm never, never giving you up
I slip in bed when you're asleep
To hold you close and feel your breath on me
Tomorrow there'll be so much to do
So tonight I'll drift in a dream with you
How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough, is forever enough
How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough
Cause I'm never, never giving you up
As you wander through this troubled world
In search of all things beautiful
You can close your eyes when you're miles away
And hear my voice like a serenade
How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough, is forever enough
How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough
Cause I'm never, never giving you up
How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough, is forever enough
How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough
Cause I'm never, never giving you up
Is forever enough
Cause I'm never, never giving you up
PURE LOVE LIKE WE NEVER KNEW EXISTED
<3<3<3<3<3
Previous 10 entries...
Happy Birthday...Maybe? Aug 9, 2011Life...is love Aug 7, 2011
Happily Busy May 16, 2011
Oh lookie...I got another blog award =) May 6, 2011
A-Z Blogging Challenge: In Review & Honorable Mentions May 6, 2011
April "30th" - Letter "Z" = Zwan May 6, 2011
April "29th" - Letter "Y" = Yeah Yeah Yeahs May 5, 2011
April "28th" - Letter "X" = The xx Apr 29, 2011
April "27th" - Letter "W" = We Were Promised Jetpacks Apr 28, 2011
April "26th" - Letter "V" = Vitamin String Quartet Apr 27, 2011
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