My New Language Buddy (MyNLB)

I'll refrain from spamming my contact list about helping me out and rating my competition entry.

But if you respect my drive and enthusiasm for doing my own thing out there and taking the risks leading to where-ever I end up later in life, please rate my competition submission (I got hated on with 1 star ratings.) The link is above.

Now you can find out how I feel

the China Channel is a plug-in for Firefox that allows you to simulate what it's like to be surfing the web behind the great Chinese firewall. This delightful product recreates the surfing experience of someone at a standard Internet-connected computer in China where websites with "blocked content" brings you 10 minutes of dead air.

Some people really have nothing better to develop in their free time.

iPhone Game: Puzzllotto

Puzzllotto is the first application to come out of developer Mike Lee’s United Lemur development company. The $5 app is a puzzle game where each day from its release, the reward for solving the puzzle will increase by another $1000, with a maximum of $30,000 available to the winner. If nobody claims the prize by the end of the 30 days, United Lemur will donate that $30,000 to charity.

What an interesting marketing ploy. Each $5 app sold will bank United Lemur $3.5. That means they will need to sell an average of 286 copies of Puzzllotto per day to break-even. It will be interesting to find out how this app does for United Lemur but I am under the impression it will do more than fine (which will be based on how well the press circulates this interesting app.)

Back to Mobile

Okay. So I'm looking at mobile apps again...

The mobile landscape has made some significant changes this year. Most notably, the distribution of its applications have moved up the value chain from mobile carriers to the OS developers. Symbian, Apple, and Google are the new kings and they are taking a more or less "open" approach to what is available to the consumers (basically, the users will determine everything forward.)

I seriously think it's going to be the internet all over again. We started off with shareware and then gradually moved towards services (such as free to play) on the internet in the past. I don't think it will be any different this time since Google and Symbian have taken a truly "open" strategy towards their platform. I believe this is why iPhone apps are making a good buck right now (and won't last too long doing so.)

Now the question is, with all these new app developers rushing into these mobile platforms (ala facebook apps last year), what are the smart projects to be working on to take advantage of such situations? I say that because I know one thing NOT TO DO is to follow the crowd and develop just another app as well.

I Miss my Music

A few weeks ago, my Rhapsody subscription ended and I decided not to renew it. Given I've already been having trouble streaming (and no browser usage) in China, I decided it was finally time to part ways because I don't use it enough anymore.

I simply don't have the time/space to listen to anything. I would if I had more school work and am at my desk (but I don't). And neither does it help that I would get myself run over while biking around the neighborhood with my iPod plugged into my ears.

Recent albums I have yet to check out are:
Rise Against - Appeal to Reason
Oasis - Dig Out your Soul
Snow Patrol - Take Back the City
Metallica - [forgot]
Anberlin - Surrendar
Kings of Leon - Only by the Night
Thievery Corporation - Radio Retaliation

One hell of a pitch

Basketball is life?

I've been playing basketball for the past 13 years. Aside from a few months stretch here and there, I don't think I've ever really taken a break from it. In fact, the more I play, the more I see how it resembles life and the world around us. The depth in a game of basketball is limitless. The details are subtle.

Over the years, my skills and perception of basketball has changed radically. One major development is the change from 'Me' to 'We'. I like to think of it as smart basketball because I don't believe in consistent heroic efforts anymore. It's about winning and not scoring. Isn't that what leaders are supposed to believe in too?

In light of my Chinese classmates, I've been playing more basketball lately. It's a great way to blow off steam and escape. When I'm on the court my attention is undivided, it's the feeling of being consumed.

Dammit, Linkin Park bailed on Beijing last weekend.

I've been obnoxiously busy lately. A very good busy I would add. Probably described as trying to make the most out of business school. I would have more time to blog about something to blog if it weren't so.

Currently in the Running:




Did you know? Each Nintendo Employee Generates $1.6 Million In Profit (At Goldman Sachs, each are worth $1.24 million)

littlebigplanet

LBP just arrived!! It's probably the last of major PS3 titles I am significantly looking forward to after MGS4. Seriously, who isn't to like a 4 player platformer that requires teamwork and simple controls to play(joystick and one button to grab/push).
It's going to be interesting to find out whether the community is going to embrace the level creation tool and share interesting levels.

On the note of platformer games, Braid on XBLA is also similarly awesome.

A Rock Star

is not someone who takes the temperature, who gauges the marketplace before he creates his "art". A rock star is someone who needs to create and is willing to tolerate the haters along with the fans. He’s someone who incites controversy just by existing. That’s what we lost in the dash for cash. Unique voices. I’m not saying we haven’t ended up with some pleasant music, but it just hasn’t hit you in the gut, it’s the aural equivalent of Splenda, it might do the trick, but it’s not the real thing. The real thing grabs your attention, drives down deep into your heart and lodges itself there. A rock star doesn’t follow conventions, doesn’t go disco or add drum machines just because everybody else does. A rock star exists in his own unique space, and if you met him you probably wouldn’t like him. Because he tends to be self-focused to the point of being narcissistic. Because he cares. He needs to get his message out.

Not sure if there's much I can do about the warning, but I'm constantly reminded by a black symbol (a scheme usually relating to death) in my taskbar regarding how crappy my battery has turned out.


I really don't care. I had a great time running all over my battery. I just don't want to know about it.

I pick GOOG

Google just dropped another 5% to do below $350 yesterday. I'm not saying its time to get in, but I'm waiting on it.

Granted it seems pretty much inevitable that we're heading for a recession (or depression?), ad dollars are bound to drop when companies look for ways to cut costs and minimize expenses during this time.

GOOG obviously hasn't been cut any slack based on its recent stock price knife dropping, but they are probably still one of the best advertising platforms out there in the market. At the least, advertisers get a certain ROI via search advertising compared to television and print medias. And even within internet search, the major hurting will be on YHOO and MSFT's business more so than GOOG.

According to Barclay, total ad spending in the U.S. is forecasted to decline 3.6 percent this year to $284 billion and then another 5.5 percent in 2009 to $269 billion. Of that total, Barclays is still estimating that Internet ad spending will grow 17 percent to $24.8 billion in 2008. But that represents a $1.4 billion haircut from its previous 2008 estimate of $26.2 billion.



Are We Sure About Pending Collapse of Ad-Supported Internet?

Go on. Guess. The elderly? WRONG. Teenage girls? WRONG. Japan's biggest users of the DS are (according to this Nintendo-supplied chart, anyways) the same who were the biggest users of the GBA, and the Game Boy before that: boys. Specifically, 10-12 year-old boys. After that, though, it gets interesting. The most dominant demographics after the boys are women in their early 30s, followed by 10-12 year-old girls, followed by men in their early 30s. Not teens, not twenty-somethings, but people in their early 30s.

Just finished reading...

Tribal Leadership is possibly the best book about leadership I have read thus far. It defines a simple foundation to make sense of how people interact (and work) together, and how leaders ought to leverage beyond one-self to achieve more with less. Some of the concepts are familiar, but still very worth reading unless you have absolute no doubts about leadership.

hilarious

From Gizmondo


For when fruits, veggies, exercise, plenty of sleep and the occasional colonic won't do, Gamer Grub promises to be the first "performance snack formulated especially for gamers." In flavors like Action Pizza, Racing Wasabi, Strategy Chocolate and Sports PB&J, the snacks are not only fortified with vitamins and minerals, but are specially engineered to be crumb and grease free, protecting your keyboard from its normal all-it-can-eat junk food buffet. We're not sure precisely which brick of the USDA food pyramid that videogame genre-flavored morsels fall into, but we're willing to wave most (OK, some) judgment until we're able to test this stuff for ourselves.

Until then, here are our rejected headlines for this story:

Gamer Grub:
Because Playing Games Doesn't Repulse Women Enough
Because We've Always Wondered What Mario's Balls Tasted Like
Because Vomit Has Nutrients Too
Because You're Not Fat Enough Already
Because It's Obviously Good For You
Because Your Blender Is Broken
Because the Rotting Scrapings of the Cheetos Factory Gotta Go Somewhere
Because the FDA Takes Bribes
Because the Chinese Aren't the Only Ones Trying To Poison Us

According to Gamasutra and gathered statistics by Famitsu and Enterbrain, the PSP sold 1,583,731 units during the first six months of the year in question, and that brings the total number to well over 10 million (10,157,757) in the land of the Rising Sun. Not surprisingly, the DS was second with 1,314,919 units sold, and of course, still holds a substantial lead with a total of 23,484,680 units sold overall.


I still stick to my beliefs the PSP (or some alternation of portable) will get big. It's only matter of time until we see other players (such as MSFT) getting in on it.

Modern Sky Fest

Checked in at the Modern Sky music festival over the past two days.

The music scene in China is developing at godspeed. There's a good crowd, lots of cool art and good haircuts. Though, some of the popular bands whom head-lined weren't so much my liking. I think it's because they all had a Chinese mainstream sound to them.

I still have to check out the midi festival that started yesterday. But 刺猬 HedgeHog is probably my fav Chinese band of yet.

Currently in my playlist...

Jazmine Sullivan is an American R&B singer-songwriter, a protegee of Missy Elliott.
What's with everybody taking samples from Daft Punk?

Can't wait to go shopping

The stock market is in turmoil and there is no better time to buy than when everybody is screaming ‘sell, sell, SELL!!!’

The question is when to buy and who. If I were god, I would be able to tell you exactly what time and day that is. But unfortunately I’m not, so let's just speculate...


Risk/volatility is pretty high right now. We’ve been seeing some major market rollercoasting based on announcements of the bailout plan. Obviously, a bailout will keep the market stable and no bailout will kill the market like wildfire. I think there will be at least some kind of bailout (nevertheless can be a half-baked one).
The proposed $700 billion bailout plan shows every sign that the leaders of America finally acknowledge the consequences of the crisis we're confronting. The stats below reflect this:

NASA budget for 2009: $17.6 billion, or 2.5 percent of the bailout sum.

National Science Foundation (NSF) annual budget: $6.06 billion (basically the fore-front of R&D throughout the nation’s universities)

Military operations and other activities associated with the war in Iraq (2003 through the end of fiscal year 2009 ): $606 billion

Social Security program (annually): $608 billion

I think I ought to have appetite for additional risk at this time of my life. But at the same time learning to play smart and get in when the market stables down (at the cost of when prices will not be as handsome anymore) seems more worthy. I think such discipline will be a great receipe for additional investing in the future.

I'm going to get in on the leaders of industries that were hit hardest by the crisis. Leaders ought to have better fundamentals. And since they were hit hard, potential to make up the valuation they once had is probably also best-est.

CS4 Photoshop

In my opinion, the most jaw-dropping new feature of the upcoming Photoshop is the “seam carving” resize tool.

Traditionally, if you want to resize the width of an image, but not the height, you’ve had to accept some distortion as the image was stretched. Last year, however, two researchers came up with a technique known as seam carving, or intelligent resizing.



The opposite works as well. If a region of an image needs editing — say, a tourist standing in your otherwise pristine scene — you can use the Seam Carving tool to remove the tourist and leave the rest of the scene intact. It’s one of the cooler things we’ve seen Adobe add to recent version of Photoshop. Even just using the beta version, we’ve become addicted.

I probably sound like such a Photoshop geek, but this new feature is going to rock the number of techniques available in the Photoshop world. I'm not sure where I would even start... I'll probably just standby and see what the web comes up with first.

Air @ YuGongYiShan

Unexpected Goal in Life: See Air live. Check.

I've always been a fan of Air, but they just bumped up to favorite band status after I saw them live at my favorite venue Yugongyishan last night.

Air is a French two piece set: bass and keyboard (with drummer support). They play all their downtempo songs live and perform all their vocals between the two of them (both guys).

Last night they played all of their popular tracks including those from 'Moon Safari' and 'the Virgin Suicides'. Some of the songs simply brought me to another world, it was ecstasy. I've never been as wowed by a downtempo band.

Best thing at Beijing since the Olympics.

How to work on Quitting your Job

The average blog that runs ads, according to Technorati, is actually making money:

Among those with advertising, the mean annual investment in their blog is $1,800, but it’s paying off. The mean annual revenue is $6,000 with $75,000+ in revenue for those with 100,000 or more unique visitors per month.

According to the survey, more than half of these bloggers have blogged for more than 2 years (the 46% of professional bloggers). I think what this is really telling us is that if you are committed to writing about a topic day in day out, you can start a business that will allow most writers to either quit their day job or make a great buck in their spare time (while at work).

In my opinion, this is a pretty straight forward way to start a lifestyle business. You write about what you are passionate about and you work on your own schedule. I'm under the presumption there are still a lot of niches out there that are not being covered yet.

Now start blogging, read a few books about starting good blogs, and you'll be off to liberty.

my MGS4 review

I'm going to do another gamer review post today. I actually finished it a month ago, but I feel like I owe this one because it’s Metal Gear Solid 4...


Best Metal Gear of the entire series (so far)? I sure think so. Back when I started this blog in the December of 2001, I rated MGS2 a 9.8. And if I were to stick to that scale, MGS4 belongs at 11.

MGS4 is emotional, gripping, satisfying, and a gaming experience never been quite as polished as before. It does the impossible of tying up the convoluted story of the entire series into something more digest-able while still bringing new elements into the plot to provide something new and refreshing. MGS4 is the series at its extreme, it is everything that was introduced in the previous titles and it all somehow works and makes sense.

If Kojima were to end the series with this bang, then the title has lived up to all its hype and expectations. And that’s no small feat giving it is practically the first major ‘must-have title’ on the Playstation3. It seems like most reviewers have also come to similar conclusions about this title. MGS4 is a work of art for its time.

I wonder what Konami has up its sleeve as far as recouping development (and PS3 exclusivity) costs for this title. For one thing they've definitely developed some major technology and processes along the way. I would expect them to make pretty good use of that in their up-coming titles.

Kojima Productions' stealth action shooter moved three million units since its June 12 debut, propelling Konami's PlayStation 3 business to 57.3% of its total sales in the quarter ending June 30.

Three million units is pretty good. I would suspect MGS4 sales to stick through until the end of this year. I tried to do a search on their upcoming titles without much luck, they don't have any big titles announced other than Silent Hill and Pro Evolution Soccer (Winning Eleven). This makes me convinved that they are working on a few secret titles that have yet to be announced.

Music Sept 20th, 2008

Cheers

So the 2nd wave of financial meltdown has finally arrived upon us this week. I don't mean to hate on any specific individual, but I'm secretly glad this has happened. I just simply don't agree with finance and their culture of 'see who can come up with the biggest scam' to afford their big yachts, nice fancy dinners, and ridiculous egos. Honestly, some of them don't deserve it. I'm not saying finance is bullshit, I'm just saying half of it is.

Job security is for those who don't realize that there is no such thing out there anymore. The fact is businesses all have a bottomline, and history has repeatedly told us that these bottomline's are measured in bills and not the people that make up these companies. You never know when you may be cut for reasons beyond your control.

Business school applications entering 2009 are going to sky rocket this year. I guess I got lucky on this one, I would rather not be part of that rat race.