The results of the election have proven once again, that the ideals of humanity, know no color, or ethnicity. That there is always light at the end of the tunnel, and that race relations are getting better, things are changing and the younger generation, is ready to take control of it’s future.

Now, I’m not delusional, I don’t believe that by the end of November, Gas prices will be around $0.99/gallon, or people will not be evicted from their residences. There is a lot of work ahead of us, the hard part is about to start. Enjoy this electoral victory for a few days, but start preparing for the tough times ahead.

Keep in mind, we need to elevate ourselves, and our society from the bitter, partisan, and petty actions of the people we did not vote for. Like Obama said, he’ll listen to us, especially when we disagree with him. We need to listen to the dissenters. Just like we claimed, it was our patriotic duty to question the policies of the current government, the McCain supporters, and future dissidents are doing their patriotic duty. Respect them, and their opinions.

This victory by the democrats, does not mean that the Obama supporters get to do what they please, with no regard to the other side. Doing so, would make them no better than the people they voted out.

We need to be sure, that just because someone disagrees with Obama’s policy, it doesn’t mean he’s racist. It doesn’t mean he’s a terrorist, or he doesn’t love America, it definitely doesn’t mean he’s dumb. I hope people understand and appreciate Obama’s call for humility. The mud slinging is over, the fight is over, now it’s time to extend your hand, and help your opponent up. The opponent wasn’t running to rule you, he was running to serve you.

Honor it.

It takes a lot of courage, and more importantly conviction, to willingly try and lead a nation. You know you won’t make everyone happy, you know that rocks will be thrown at you, and you know
you may end up losing. But, how many of us truly have the courage to fight for what we believe in? How many of us ran for president? How many of us were willing to face the boos, and the intense scrutiny, how many of us are willing to travel day in and day out, without taking a sick day, or sleeping in late.

So, just because the other guy lost, doesn’t make him any less of a warrior or patriot.

Don’t Forget
Let’s not forget what angered us, what moved us to vote the way we did. The voter suppression issues, the voting machine inaccuracies, the corruption, these things run deep, far deeper than one man. The President of the United States is not an individual, but an embodiment of the sentiments of the people of America. He is not capable of leaping tall buildings, he’s not capable of deflecting bullets, he is a man. He is a father, he is a husband like the rest of us.

So, like us, he’s not perfect. He’s susceptible to the greed, the power, and temptation that comes with such power. .

Keep an eye out on him, don’t trust him, because that is what your duty as an American asks you to do.

So, it’s been a few months since iPhone 3G came out, and a little over a year that the original jesus revealed itself.
After using the phone from the day of launch, here are my thoughts on where Apple can focus on, to make my life easier.

1. Wireless Syncing: Seriously, AppleTV has it, why not the iPhone? I’d like to be able to keep the phone next to my
   bed as an alarm, charging via the supplied wall charger, and still have the phone update my music, my new TV shows, and
   podcasts automatically. I don’t want to go back to the office to connect to my laptop. What’s the point of the wall charger otherwise?
2. Dashboard Sync: Here’s another thing which would help me and others considerably. I already have my dashboard configured with my weather applets, my clocks, and my stocks. Why do I have to renter them into the phone? Granted, it’s a one time thing usually, but if I make a change to the cities I want to check the weather for, I have to do it in two places, same for the hot new stock my friend just told me about.
3. Legitimate Tethering: I love my phone, I am happy with AT&T’s 3G service, I want to use it with me whenever I need to, why do I need to have two separate plans? This is the most customer unfriendly thing Apple has ever done in my opinion. Apart from greed, I have not come across any other reason for not allowing this. AT&T and Apple have shown complete and utter disregard, and contempt for their users here. I bought the iPhone because I thought it would be a converging device, so I wouldn’t have to have a cell phone and an mp3 player when I travel. Now, I have a cell phone/mp3 player + 3G data card, with software that sucks for it. AT&T offers users of their 3G unlimited plan, basic access to their wifi hotspots, but they have no way of getting this access via a mac. Plus, the option GT ultra card software, is horrible, it crashes randomly. It makes no sense that these two companies can’t work with each other and make sure the products they peddle work with each other out of the box.

That’s my list, how would you change things? Not that Apple is listening over here, but it’s always nice to dream eh? I purposely left out the copy/paste thing, as it’s a given, it would be nice to have, I personally have never needed it on ANY phone, maybe I’m not a power user after all?

Computer World has an article about Telecommuting . So, I thought I’d chip in my inflated $0.02. Telecommuting, doesn’t mean working from home. This is one of the biggest myths, and truths people will realize over time. What makes me such an expert? I’ve been telecommuting for the past 3 years, straight, full time. I’m not talking about moonlighting, and doing part time work for companies who post on craigslist. I’m talking multi million dollar projects. I haven’t been fired, I haven’t left the company, and I’ve been rewarded with a raise, and more importantly, I haven’t missed deadlines.

You still have a job, act like it. (The Ugly)

Telecommuting, is not that hard. But, it’s not the holy grail for workers either. You’re not going to become productive because you work from home, you’re not going to save a lot of gas, and you’re definitely not going to “make your own hours”. The last part is true, if you want to be a telecommuter.
Just because you work from home, or remotely, doesn’t mean your responsibilities to other people go away. Deadlines are deadlines, people need to know what you’re up to, and what the status is. The only time they can get this information is when they’re working. So therefore, you’re still working when they are. Sure, you can actually do the work later, but you better be awake and available to answer phone calls during the 9-5. Your client is being nice enough to let you make your own hours and work remotely, but they can only do so much, you must extend the favor back to them, by being available when they need you.

Working from home isn’t so awesome after all (The Bad)

You’re not going to work from home, if you itch to telecommute, you itch not because you love your home, it’s because you hate the monotony of your cubicle, and your office. You’ll hate your house soon enough. I’ve found that if I work from my house for more than a week, I go crazy, and productivity drops. I’ve found many cool coffee shops and bars that I work from. Yes, I said bar. No, I don’t drink while I work. Get yourself a good pair of headphones, a 3g card, and a good laptop. You’re finally free to work from where you want to, don’t waste it at home.

And the commute shall set you free! (The Good)

I’ve found that I’m more creative, I get more done, and more importantly I’m happier. I don’t have to worry about the morning traffic report, and I don’t have to worry about inclement weather. I make sure I’m available during the day, even if I’m not working, I can answer a phone call from the pool, if the call requires me to get on the computer, I can very quickly. It’s a type of freedom, that can only be experienced once you understand your new responsibility.

So, I was reading an article about how Macs cost twice as much as PCs, and how they’re such a rip off, and only gullible consumers buy Macs. I thought, oh no, not again, not the vim vs emacs, linux vs windows troll bait.
Anyway, Macs cost a lot of money, PC’s cost less money. We get it. Pound for pound, spec for spec blah blah blah.
Well did you know that if you drive a Porsche at 60 miles per hour, and a Nissan Sentra at 60 miles per hour, they both travel the same distance at the same rate? They both stop for red lights, and they both get to the same destination at the same time? So why buy a Porsche?

Personal preference, some people like mid engine cars, some people like rear wheel, some people like the ability to get to 60 MPH in 4 seconds (please don’t start on exact times, or model numbers). People work hard for their money, and they usually make a conscious decision to buy a mac, they feel it gives them a better experience, and they’re willing to pay more for it.
I’m sure you can make your Ubuntu, Windows, OS X box to do the same things the other OS has, or you can find 40 reasons why y or more open than z.
Yes I’m sure you can tune your Sentra to go from 0-60 in 4 seconds, but that doesn’t mean that everyone should do it.

Let them be. They aren’t spending your money, let them spend it how they want to. Don’t you have a more pressing problem like:
If Worf was to fight Chewbacca, who would win?

To the KTLA reporter who was amazed by the people standing in line for the iphone. Yes, we know it’s just a phone. It’s just a phone, for God’s sake. Yet, you seem to miss the sad truth about your career. It’s a line, for a phone, and you are so horrible at reporting anything else, that your bosses sent you to report on a line. A line for God’s sake . Now, I could go on insulting you for your pathetic job, but you have kids to feed, so I understand you had to do what your bosses told you. So, let’s try to see this from another perspective.

Have you ever been excited about a sporting event? A football game, soccer, basketball, etc? Have you gone early for a movie premiere? I hope you said yes to at least one of the above, because otherwise you lead a very boring life. Now try and rationalize the logic of people who want to be home for kick off, tip off, or have to see the movie at midnight, the day of the premiere. Think about all the people who stand outside the line for the Oscars, who want to catch a glimpse of their favorite actor or actress.

Watching the opening kick off, with all your buddies at home is not going to change the outcome of the match. Getting to see a celebrity in the heat, is not going to change your life for the better. Yet, people do it. It’s called excitement, about something they care about. Something they’re passionate about.

Don’t mock someone’s passion, chances are you’re passionate about something they can’t relate to either.

Disclaimer: I stood in line for one hour on opening day, and decided to leave due to a conference call I had to attend, and I’ll be in line at 1:30AM for the premiere of The Dark Knight, so I can watch the 3:15AM show. I expect 450 other people in line with me, to watch “just another movie”.

I’m not sure if all recruiters work off some hidden cosmic rhythm, or if they share information.. but I find it amusing, that a bunch of them call me around the same time every month. Anyway, in the past 3-4 months I’ve been underwhelmed, and frankly offended by these email recruiters.

In light of This article by Nick Halstead , I thought I would throw in some experiences from contractor/job seeker side. I’m glad to see that these recruiters aren’t horrible just to the recruitee, but also to their paying client, yet disappointed.

Actual Conversation (this happened last week):
Recruiter Email and immediate phone call: Looking for web designer with over 10 years of experience in Adob (that’s how they pronounce it), photoshop, html, xhtml and css.
Me: I haven’t used photoshop since photoshop 3, I suck at design I learnt that in high school, i’m not fit for this position.
Recruiter: So how many years of Adob experience do you have? I have your old resume on file and I don’t see any.
me: Yes, because the last time I messed with photoshop, was when System 7.5 was out, and I had a pirated copy of it on our high school computer. I am not interested, and more so, I am not qualified for this position.
Recruiter: Ok do you think you can add photoshop to your resume and send it back to me?
me: ……. …. .. ..

This happens a lot, and I hate to say it, the recruiter is always some guy from India.

Now, almost all of my contracts I’ve found have been through recruiters, there are some really good ones out there, but finding the good ones shouldn’t be so hard. Recruiters are necessary, I’ve been on this one contract for 3 years now, this contract was found by a really good recruiter in Chicago. These guys were so good and ethical, that they haven’t tried to recruit me away, or use me as a way to get other candidates through the door, though I do know some other contractors that have started working there via them.

PS: To the recruiters reading this, this is not an invitation to solicit me. I’m just venting, I’m sure the good recruiters out there, have some horror stories of bad candidates themselves, I’d love to hear them.

Dismal. It seems the only thing I got right were:

1. Mobile Me
2. 3G
3. GPS

From the perspective of what’s next, I guess more information will roll out, I’m a little worried that Mr. Jobs didn’t find one small piece critical.. and that is Tethering..
Will the iPhone 3G allow tethering? Or do I need to have two unlimited data plans from AT&T? Sure, dropping the price by $200 is nice, but even if I was to take the cost savings, that’s only 1.5 months of 3G service with the laptop and phone.. I really hope they have a tethering option, and I hope they announce this ASAP, I’ve been using AT&T’s 3G network again for the past 2 weeks, and I’d really like to know if I need to cancel my service and just the iphone’s or if i’ll get hit with a $200 termination fee, if I decide to upgrade to the iPhone 3G.

So, the internet is abuzz, rampant, on fire.. with speculation as to what could or couldn’t happen at the Steve Note next week. So, not to be outdone, and definitely to help throw in some dry wood into the fire.. here’s my take on things.

• MobileMe.com: Apple owns this domain. Why do I know this? Because I tried to register it myself 3 years ago, I started a company and we were doing ‘mobile stuff’ with it. When I did a whois on the domain, it was owned by Apple.com. Now that they’ve moved the hosting over to mark monitor etc, I doubt they gave up the ownership of it. This was also my first indicator that an iphone was coming, and that I was entering the right market
• .Mac Changes: Granted, these changes are way over due, but instead of an overhaul, I’ll jut be happy if things worked as advertised 8 years ago, get the basic syncing to work, then we’ll worry about other fancy features ok Steve?.
• iPhone 2.0: We all know the software update is due anyday now, my bet would be June 29th. Hardware upgrade would be nice as well, along with the standard request for 3G. Some other things I’d like to see:
  • Copy and Paste
  • Ability to ‘beam’ my contact information to another user, or recieve such information from another mobile phone. Seriously, paper business cards.. in 2008? Go green Apple, save the paper, oh and not everyone has a business card, I’d like to be able to give people my personal info, or business info with just a tap. My name is hard enough to pronounce, imagine teaching people how to spell it for my email address.
    PS: I think the first Palm Pilot did this advanced trick…
  • Better support for car stereos etc. My Alpine still complains about the iphone everytime I plug it in, it works, but it’s annoying. I can’t do a firmware update on my car stereo as I can, the iphone.. so .. mobile me car matey! arrrrrr!

Thanks for playing.

Interesting Story , this logic is amazing.. I really feel for the family and this kid, they’re going to have medical expenses for the rest of their lives, it sucks.

But, seriously, who’s the brain damaged one here? The kid or the parents? Using their logic
If the kid wasn’t playing baseball, he wouldn’t have been hit in the chest.. so, let’s sue the parents themselves for taking the kid to the baseball game.

Look, I feel for you guys, I’m really sorry that you have to deal with this tragedy for the rest of your life, but out of respect for your son stop the law suits.

So Hasin Hayder’s post about questions that he asks during an interview. Specifically, if they know the name of the benevolent dictators, or creators of the languages and tools the person will be using for the job.

This has brought up a lot of discussion on his blog, with people saying he’s being unreasonable, and some agreeing with him. So, I thought I’d chime in as well. Chris has already done, so I’m going to join the bandwagon :).

Initially, I was in the “Hasin’s being a little harsh camp”, but I think I understand what he’s trying to do/say. Not knowing who Rasmus, or Michael, or Guido are, doesn’t mean you’re a bad programmer, but it could possibly give an indication of your passion. This is not a surefire way to tell though, usually I use the more direct method, and ask them what their passion is. Why? Because it’s easier to find out what their passion is. It’s fairly easy to ask, and there are no assumptions being made.
At the same time, one of the biggest things I look for, is the ability to say “I don’t know”. Even if it’s for something as trivial as “who’s the father of PHP?”, PHP is mature enough now, that not everyone will know, someone could be coming from a very strong Python, Perl or “name your language here” background. If someone told me they didn’t know, I’d hope they say but I could find out.. One thing I’ve learnt, is that if you go to a job where you aren’t learning anything new, you’re going to hate your job.

Knowing who Rasmus is, doesn’t indicate competency, but it could indicate my ability to carry on a conversation with you at a bar.