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Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Dec 062011

“Did you hear that Steve Jobs died?” read the text from my brother. I was at dinner with my family and the news hit me harder than I expected that it would. I knew that his health was not good, but I was holding out hope that it would turn around.

I picked up his book about the first of November. It took me a while to read it, there was a lot to process. For me, it’s not just a quick read like many books I consume. I had to take it in digestible doses.

In July 2011 Jobs told Walter Isaacson, His biographer:

“I know there will be a lot in your book I won’t like.” It was more a question than a statement, and when he stared at me for a response, I nodded, smiled and said I was sure that would be true. “That’s good,” he said.

Jobs had aspects of his personality that most would consider character flaws. I’m not sure I would characterize them that way. Personalities are complex things, and who is to say that the genius that was Steve Jobs would have been completely broken without those very “flaws”.

He is among the short list of people I truly admire. Why? The answer might surprise you. He was an enigma. He espoused Zen living, but created commercial products that’s people found hard to live without. He cared little for money, but was as shrewd of a business man as has ever lived. He was frequently callous but could just as easily break down in tears.

For a billionaire, he was unassuming. He had no security detail. He even kept the back door unlocked during the day. And while he was never able to live with the calm spirit and mind that his Zen beliefs taught, they were engendered in the products he envisioned and lead his companies to produce.

Steve, the world misses you. Now please go and make the afterlife more user friendly.

Memiary: journaling for the 21st century

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Dec 212008

For years I have gone in and out of journal writing stages, especially when I hit the computer age. I am constantly torn between the old tried and true book journal, or the convenience and speed of the computer. A paper journal is so linear that it is easier to focus ones thought. The computer is powerful with spell checking, searches, formatting. Well now I have found a third option, Memiary.

It’s not meant as a replacement to either method, unless you are satisfied with the level of granularity it provides.

I came across this website (and optional iPhone app) that makes journaling easy and fun. Memiary is a website that allowed the user to enter five items each day. The magic doesn’t happen all at once. It’s easy to think of the most important things that happen to you each day, but imagine looking back a year from now, or five or 50. Wouldn’t it be great to know what you did on this day 10 years ago. It only takes moments a day. I record things throughout the day, and polish them at the end of the day. But each person might have a different way of recording their day.

Signing up with the site is free, and the design is simple and beautifully designed. Go check it out.

Home:Theater

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May 282008

I’ve been meaning to make this post for several months now It just took me a while to get around to it. (Or to get a “round tuit” as my mother used to say…never did figure out what a round tuit was, but wouldn’t you know it, they sell them on online.) Anyway, already off topic.

Last December I started turning my living room into a home theater room. It was a big project, but it turned out nice! It’s wonderful to be able to watch a movie on my own 150″ screen. It has almost all the benefits of being at a movie theater, without the drawback. Plus a few advantages such as pause, rewind, subtitles, light control, etc.

I was going to put a picture of a kitty, or a T-Rex on the screen, but I didn’t get around to it.

The wall of my home theater screen all taped off and ready to paint. The screen is 150″ diagonal, I could have gone 170″, but then I wouldn’t have room for the speakers on the side, and the electrical plugs at the bottom would have been in the way.

I applied the special screen paint that I purchased from DIY Projection Screens.

The finished project. I have the room lights on and the camera flashed, so the screen is washed out, but in the right conditions, it’s really amazing.

Here is the reverse look. You can see the projector mounted to the ceiling in the top, somewhat to the left.

The projector is the Panasonic PT-AX200U

Sleepy? Read this!

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Oct 192005

What is the deal with sleep? Why do we need it? How do we get the most out of it? What if we can’t get enough of it?

Here is a good page about sleep that combines a lot of great research finding. It seems really common-sensical to me.

Sleep isn’t just a form of rest! Sleep plays a critical physiological function, and is indispensable for your intellectual development! Those who do not respect their sleep are not likely to live to their full mental potential!

$100 Self Powered Laptop

energy, technology No Responses »

Sep 302005

MIT has announced a $100 laptop that can operate for 10 minutes on a 1 minute hand crank. Man…we need more things like this in our schools, and in our lives.

Household LED Bulbs

energy, technology No Responses »

Sep 292005

Not only do we need to find alternate (clean, renewable) ways to produce energy, we need to find ways to not use as much. Here is one idea that is starting to take hold: Replacing Incandescent light bulbs and even compact fluorescents (CFLs) with LED Bulbs. Once price of these bulbs come down a bit more, I will be using them in my house.

Sarah brought home a free gift from her work a few months back. A Two pack of flashlights. Wow, I was under whelmed. How exciting…flashlights…just what we need. And then I looked at them and realized that they were LED flashlights. Well, my attitude changed almost immediately. I hunted down some batteries and started to use those flashlights right away. I have been enjoying them ever since. They take very little juice to make them work. (I have a set of batteries in one of the flashlight that was too dead to use on my sons race track, but still work fine for the flashlight.)

Are PC's Becoming Relics?

technology No Responses »

Sep 262005

Is the day of the home PC going to become a thing of the past in the near future. Jonathan Schwartz, president of SUN, seems to think they are.

“The majority of the world will first experience the Internet through their handset,” Schwartz said.

This quote got me to thinking. Most things that the average person needs to use a PC for, can be programmed right on to a cell phone now: email, web browsing, word processing, etc. When a keyboard mouse and displays can be connected to a phone at will, we will have the future. Imagine docking you phone and using it as a workstation…undocking it and away you go.