Alicia Keys: As I Am

Hope you enjoyed the Live performance above from Alicia when she was on Stripped on AOL Music. You gotta love the U2ish arrangement of No One. I love that she mixes it up when she performs.

Hands down one of the greatest artists of all time. I love her so much. My most memorable Alicia Moment: I was sitting front row (Props to Shumsterfab) at her Diary concert and she looked right at me. ***MAGIC***

So her new album is blazing hot. Songs I recommend listening to are:
- No One
- Like You'll Never See Me Again
- Lesson Learned
- Wreckless Love
- Tell you Something

Life Matters: Programming versus Design

Sandy noticed that when I start production on projects now, I don't get right into the "design" (You know, the artsy stuff). Rather, I start with code writing frames that act as technical affirmation that we can execute a concept.

She then asked if "I would prefer programming over design?" The answer is absolutely not. I love design. Programming is a novelty however for the longest time, my solutions have for the most part been limited by my intermediate technical ability. For the first time in my life, I'm consistently working on advanced code and I'm just absorbing so much. It's exciting. But it's not exciting by itself, rather, it's exciting because it empowers my current design.

What I love about design is that it's such a broad field. There are so many facets to it and each definitely support each other. I started off in traditional design but as my career progressed, I found myself doing a bunch of other things such as screen printing, UI design and now a lot of programming. I love it because each discipline has so much to offer and I feel refreshed by the new techniques and nuances of each. It's all "design" in some form... but it's new every time. It's like a very giving relationship, you learn something new and it makes you fall in love again that much more.

Random Thoughts: Mark Zuckerman: The Next Shawn Fanning

Wow, I remember when I was taking in offers from companies, people were telling me to go to Facebook. It's all about Facebook! And although it has a strangle hold on social networking... that's the thing, It's social networking. It's a trendy thing. A fleeting thing. I just couldn't consider Facebook as a future place of work, it's going to be Friendster soon enough. I mean look at MySpace. It's was all the craze 6 months ago. Where the hell is it now? Tila Tequila Who?

So this all takes me back 6 years ago when Napster was all the rage and Shawn Fanning was a P-I-M-P... well... for a brief amount of time. Then record companies came down hard on his candy ass and it was all over. He had a chance to cash out and he didn't. Does this sound fimiliar to somebody now? *cough* Mark Zuckerman. The brother needs to be smart and sell this shit for the billions that people are offering and cash out because he something waaaaaaay more scary than the record companies coming his way: A thousand other social networking sites.

Soon, Facebook will be up on the social networking trophy wall next to Friendster and MySpace and we'll all look back and say... wow... that must have sucked for Mark.

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With that being said, much props for him sticking to his baby. I really admire him for that. But to me, that's just being too attached to your work. The billions he would get would afford him the possibility to pursue all his other dreams. That's just my opinion though. We'll see how things turn out.

Thank You eBay!

Hi all,

If you haven’t heard, this week will be my last here at eBay after two awesome years. I thought about this one for a while and ultimately, the timing was right.

So I will be joining a start-up called Meraki in Downtown Mountain View and I’ll be part of a tiny team trying to break the digital divide by opening up wireless broadband internet access to the rest of the world. More specifically, I’ll be doing anything, on and off-line, design wise to help get the word out.

It’s been an honor to work on such challenging projects with such wonderful, passionate, and knowledgeable people. It’s very humbling being around the talent here. I have grown so much because of you all.

I leave behind my work on iWeb so hopefully if you need to reference anything, it’ll be easy to find and as for people needing documentation done, I will get them up before my last day in PDF form.

I'm sorry if I haven't had the chance to talk to everyone in person before this email. I would love to grab coffee, chat via email, IM, and of course there's always the going-away party this Friday at Katie Bloom’s.

All the best,
John

Random Thoughts: Good User Experiences

I have just witnessed the power of a good... no... amazing user experience.

So I finally caved and bought an iPhone. Now I was one of it's biggest haters... Mainly because of the price. But last week, Apple dropped the bomb and brought the price down of iPhones down $200. O... M... G... I caved. Hard.

Originally I thought it would just be a phone attached to an iPod video but leave it to Apple to come out with something totally unexpected. The result is a device that is a combination of daily features that are delivered to the user in a way that is intuitive, powerful and dare I say... fun!

So I had a number of co-workers with one and I was impressed. But owning and playing with one are two different things. I found myself yesterday driving to pick up my girlfriend's car and we totally overshot the exit and we had no clue if we did or not (We both have horrible case of wanderlust). Instead of pulling off the freeway, we just whipped out the phone and dug up the exit we just passed. It brought it up and we just missed it. I'll spare you all the other stories but you get the idea. The right thing at the right time.

Now I had a fairly featured phone to begin with however it was such a pain in the ass to do anything that I didn't even bother. Now everything is such a joy to do. It's the point that I'm working on my laptop and I found myself trying to use my finger to manipulate the data on my screen. Heh...

So for everyone out there, I was wrong (dead wrong) about the iPhone. It's everything and more. But it's one of those things that unless you own one, you'll never really know.

Life Matters: Nothing On Me

At the end of a tough day.
There is home I can't wait to run back to.

I have a beautiful wife to be
waiting for me (that's where home really is).

My life is secure, opportunity is abundant,
and my future is what I make of it.

So don't try to intimidate me,
you don't scare me.

Don't try to bring me down,
you're a featherweight.

Don't judge me,
You don't have a clue of who I am.

But watch me,
as I rise.

and cheer for me,
because I'm the underdog.

and keep in touch,
for I won't forget who you are.

It's going to be a lot of fun,
and you'll be partying with me.

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Talk to you soon.

2007 Resolution #2: Carpe Diem + 1

OK, so I know it's a little late for a new year's resolution however it's silly that you have to wait until the end of the year to make a dedication for the better.

I was inspired by an episode of Scrubs (Season 4, episode 14) with guest star Colin Ferrall who plays a lives-life-to-the-fullest Irish Guy who doesn't have any regrets or hold any grudges. It sparked something within me.

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So lately, I've been really good with my life with going the extra mile and I've been feeling good about everything so I wanted to articulate these feelings. What I've come up with is "Carpe Diem + 1".

The best metaphor I can find for it is in basketball. It's called "and one" and it's where as you are trying to score and you get fouled however you will the ball into the hoop. In layman's terms, it means that through adversary, you push your way through and as a result, you are rewarded an additional chance to score.

So I want to continue to do at least one thing more for myself everyday outside of my job. So whether it's blogging, calling a friend, making an additional investment, saving that extra dollar, working out for 15 minutes or all of the above. I want to squeeze that much more out of my day.

Carpe Diem + 1 is placing my head on my pillow and instantly passing out. It's taking one step closer to realizing my dreams. It's about having that piece of mind that you have options and that I don't have to stress anymore. Most importantly, Carpe Diem +1 is me going into life effecting everything and everyone around me rather than the other way around.

Live.

Life Matters: Thunderbird, Thunderbird, You are Finally Mine

So a long time ago, I was popping 100 hour weeks and sleeping in my cube 2-3 nights a week. It was a sad sight. I had a little cave in my cube with a sleeping bag and a pillow that was blocked off with a bunch of filing cabinets. It was a sacred space. I could just pop underneath during the day and nobody would know I was at my desk. It was nice. In any case, I had friends, I was needed at work, but there was a sadness that I couldn't escape. I was aware of everything but gosh, sometimes you're just stuck and there's nothing you can do about it. So one day, I went to the car dealerships with KC to test drive cars and there was an old school thunderbird that I we drove that I just fell in love with. I was also looking at an Infiniti G35, a Nissan Z, or a Infiniti FX35 at the time. The 'bird', as I fondly call it now, blew them all away.

As always, I have a thing about about waiting a week that my heart jumps out of my chest for. It allows me to absorb everything and really see if this is something I really want or if it's just infatuation. The feeling didn't die. The key moment of the wait was where I was sitting on a couch at Yahoo! where the beautiful and wise Susan Sullivan walks by and said that I looked "sad." I guess I was. I told her about what's been going on (as mentioned in the previous paragraph) and she just took it all in and said she went through the same thing before. Then she asked what else was going on and I told her about the car and she just smiles and says... "You know, sometimes you just gotta buy yourself something nice to remind yourself why you are working so hard." To this day, that was some of the best advice I have ever received.

So now 4 years later, I'm about to pay off that car. It's barely more useful than a motorcycle and a world less than the other cars on the road but man, it's the best at being fun. And to this day, I'll walk up to it and my heart still beats as fast as the first time I saw it. And to this day, my blood rushes just as hard the first time I drove it. So to you, my dear friend:

You represent some of the toughest times in my life but, you also represent the turning point as well. You seen more than most ever will and you've always been good to me. You've always put a smile on my face and you always give me pride. So Soon... soon. You'll be all mine.

Random Thoughts: Only On MySpace

So I finally joined MySpace. I had a Friendster page already and I really had no desire to go and create new profiles on other social sites. However with my job, being a user experience designer, I found myself more and more intrigued with the whole idea of social networking. What drives traffic? Why do people comment? What exactly is and isn't online social etiquitte? There is so much going on and I finally took the plunge and created a MySpace profile years after they have launched.

The first thing I noticed is how open people are on mySpace. This site by far has the least barrier of resistence when it comes to linking to other people. Total strangers will add you and invite you to join their networks. It's amazing how open this community is. I think the person who represents this attitude the best is Tila Nguyen... okay... Tequila, the crown princess of MySpace. Much like stopping by the Vatican in Italy, I had to make a stop by her page and check things out. It's crazy, she has like 2 million friends and is releasing a CD... WTF!? ... only on MySpace.

It's such a powerful marketing tool. For example, at work, There is a girl who leads a band of female DJs and she has like a fan base of 20,000 plus people. It's crazy. My mind is going crazy with how I can use this to drive traffic to my personal projects. Like, can I create a fictional character and have people add him as a friend and then eventually use his public exposure to endorse products, points of views or even create a sub-culture like Obey Giant? There so much you could do.

The other thing is that really amazed me is that I had the ability to reach out to people you'd normally would have no access to. Sandy and I have been watching The Search for the next Pussycat Dolls and I was rooting for Chelsea Korka, the once teased, overweight, halo playing (she grew up super close with her two brothers), X-Men comic reading girl (calm down fellas) with bangs who can belt out notes as good as anyone I've ever heard. In any case, she made it to the finals and didn't end up getting picked and man, you just gotta feel for her because she has the whatever it takes attitude.

When we were on the message boards, we learned that she just created a My Space page and it's one of those things that just amazes you because it's really only here where you can reach out to somebody who has or hasn't made it yet and send out a word of encouragement.

I can't wait to get a couple of days of open time and go and create something in this new virtual sandbox. It seems like a ton of fun and I can't wait to see what I dig up.

Life Matters: The Virginia Tech Massacre

I've been thinking and praying about it all the last few days. Just letting it all sink in. It's seriously a lot to take in from a distance. I can't imagine how I would react if I was actually there. I think you just handle like everyone in Blacksburg, VA. I seriously feel for them. It's damn scary and not to freak anyone out, but it could happen anywhere.

Please allow me to first say that my thoughts and prayers go out to all who were effected by the massacre. The following words are just trying to help out with the situation in the smallest way that I can. They are not in any way to be disrespectful to the victims of the massacre in any way. Please read it in that light.

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So I've been reading all the articles about how to fix or prevent this for the next time. It a necessary conversation however I just can't help thinking that it's all knee jerk solutions and not really hitting the heart of the matter. What can we really do about this? Let's look at some of the current conversations.

Locking people up at first signs of distress: OK, so anytime somebody has an emotional outburst, is depressed, or is having a bad day we're going to lock them up. We all have emotional moments and many of us have a hard time growing up. Not all of us were jocks, prom queen, part of the popular crowd or the even the smart kid in class. Frankly, the majority of us weren't. And those of us who are picked on, well, it's not hard to see that it doesn't do a lot for your self esteem and people need to vent sometimes.

More guns: OK, stop right here. To me, this is the silliest arguement I have ever heard. More guns is not the answer. If anything, banning guns makes more sense. The arguement that "if we ban guns, then the only people who have guns will be criminals" is weak one. We can get guns now and I have to ask, if you were to be assaulted right now, where's your gun? How many of you would know what to do with it? Better yet, how many of you would have to ability to shoot to kill?

The gunman (I will not honor him by mentioning his name) walked into a store and bought not one but two guns. If guns were banned, the worst it could have been was a knife and in that case, people could have defended themselves with any number of things (pick up a stick, throw a desk, pretty much anything).

Increased School Security: How are you going to increase security for a university? I have no clue on how they are going to do something like this for something that huge. They talk about IM messaging the student population and pre-recorded messaging and I think it's great idea to prevent further loss like in this situation like this. But this is something from within, by surprise, and by self sacrifice. This is bigger than a defense issue, it's a cultural issue.

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OK, so it's easy to criticize and even to myself, I'm saying "OK man, if you're so smart, what would you do?"

Well, we need to stop putting this shit on the front page of the news papers and replaying everything a thousand times. We are making a celebrities out of tragedy. If anything, we should do what it takes to improve things but not to the point where we are encouraging things. And rather than talk about the gunman, the victims should be in the spotlight and we should be focusing on them.

The gunman was reported to have been constantly mocked and picked on. I've been on both sides. Frankly, I never felt that good about making fun of someone and I definitely never felt good about being dissed. We need to stop tearing other people down. Stop making fun of people. Stop trying to make yourself look better. You're really not. When you see someone you know who's bummed out. Smile. Say "Hi." Do something. And if that's not within you, then at the very least, don't put other people down.

I do know this doesn't solve everything. There are many aspects I'm not aware of but I do know it really helps stop this vicious cycle from both ends. Not publicizing it won't encourage this kind of act and reaching out to others (at the very least leaving people alone) will help prevent it.

What are your thoughts?

Ping Pals: Verbal Affirmation

So I have to ask, have you been verbally affirmed today? You know, complimented for the sake of being complimented. "Hey man, nice pants!" or a "You look nice today." The benefits are amazing. You laugh but it's true. Benefits include reduced stress, improved mood, higher self-esteem and improved confidence. Lesser known benefits include feeling an inch or two taller, the urge to give high-5's and an undocumented sensation called the "warm fuzzies." No joke.

Well for the hell of it, James, a college buddy of mine, and I shared a few moments of verbal affirmation via IM. Here's how it went.

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ME: verbal affirmation time!!!!

JAMES: YAY!!!

ME: James.... you are a scholar and an athlete

JAMES: You, John are very kind and caring

ME: James your skin has the glow of a healthy, young woman

JAMES: John, your eyes radiate with the light of a hundred suns

ME: James... women want to be with you and men want to be you

JAMES: John, even the greatest scholars in the world can learn a thing or two from you

ME: James, you are a prodigy of goodness

JAMES: John, you are the paragon of style and class

ME: The Dalai Lama is to Sea Bass as James is to Bottlenose Dolphin

JAMES: Men run from John, women run to him

ME: Hehehehe... OK, enough verbal affirmation for today

JAMES: ok...

ME: *feels all warm and fuzzy on the inside*

ME: oh, one more

ME: James... you make Spartans look like out-of-shape teenagers.

JAMES: *blush*

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Give it a go. You just might like it.

Prayer: It's Tough... Really Tough Sometimes

I've come to be very thankful in the latest portions of my life. But things weren't always so good. I wanted to share the little prayer I made everyday during those times.

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Dear God,

On bended knee I've come to pray
Give me strength to face this day

Wisdom in things I have control
Peace of mind with things I don't

Patience with others and others in me when we put up a fight
A good a natured heart to do what is right

In fragile times grant me gentle hands
And a sweet tongue that never reprimands

Lion hearted courage when times get tough
Poise, make me rock steady in my faith, when the oceans get rough

All these things I ask of you
Because the path I travel, is traveled by few

Amen

Random Thoughts: The Mating Habits of Humans

I used to watch nature shows all the time... Ya, ya... shut up. But I have to say it's seriously engrossing. You learn show much about the life of an animal: What it eats, what type of environment it likes, and of course, it's mating habits.

For example. Male horses fight amongst each other to establish who is the dominant male and the prize is well, the herd of female phillies that he gets to mate with. By winning, he's essentially established his own Horsey Harem. Swans on the other hand, mate for life (And contrary to popular belief, lobsters do not mate for life. Damn you Friends for misleading us!!!). Tigers mate and then go their own ways. So there's a lot of mating habits and a bunch in between and not so in between. Animals are weird. Maybe that why Animal Planet was so interesting.

The thing is with all animals, there is consistency within the species. Humans on the other hand, there is none. There is polygamy (Akon & Some Mormons), serial monogamy (Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears), homosexuality (Tom Cruise), love triangles (Brad + Angelina + Jenny Shimizu), partner sharing (Barney & Betty Rubble and Fred & Wilma Flintstone), tried and true couples (a lot more than you think), and like animals, everything else in between and not so in between. Why is that?

Richez 2 Ragz: Starbury Rising

So first off, I gotta give props to my buddy DubbleDubs for making me aware of this through his blog. This has moved me so much that I had to join the "Starbury Movement".

Starbury is a sneaker and clothing line endorsed by two-time NBA All-Star Stephon Marbury and was launched in September 2006. There are many styles, mostly for $9.98, but Steph's on court shoe, the Starbury I and Starbury II, sells for $14.98. The big idea is to offer a well designed quality shoe as an alternative for low income families to the Nike's, Reebok's and Adidas' of the world, which sell for 5 to 10 times as much. Frankly, the big 3 of the sneaker world has made our world into a place where kids get made fun of when they're not sporting the latest 'kicks' that the so called "All-Stars" are wearing (Jordan's costs $200) and robbed or killed if they do.

Hearing, seeing and reading about things like this makes me want to quit so I can go and design for them. Something bigger than myself. Something that really is making a difference in the lives of people who are less fortunate. Something that I wish was around when I was a kid.

My first pair of Nike's came when I was in Sophomore in High School. Before then, I wore a steady stream of ProWings and the occasional pair of Converse (Hexalite BABY!) that lasted me 3 months on average but I ended up stretching them out for about 5 to 6 months until the soles literally would fall off. I would like to think of myself as a pretty decent baller back in the day. And yes, I do remember begging my mom to buy me a pair of $75 shoes (forget the $150 dollar Jordans... are you insane?). In any case, we were not as well off back then as we were now. My mom was more concerned about my education rather than the brand of shoe I was wearing. To quote Stephon, “Two hundred to buy a pair of sneakers, that’s groceries for a week.”

Food, Family, God, Education (just to name a few)... those are the real important things in life. Not how much your shoes cost or how shiny your car is. It's all superficial but somehow, marketers and advertisers have found some way to convince us that is the case. Today’s youth (frankly, everyone) is so brainwashed that they believe paying a C-note and more for shoes, brand name clothes or some gaudy chain equals to feeling better about yourself or superior to others. It needs to change. And from the ground up is as good a way as any other.

So let's check out the current shoe endorsement landscape:
LeBron James: 90 Million / 7 years, Nike
Kobe Bryant: 45 Million / 5 years, Nike
Allen Iverson: 5 Million / 1 year for the rest of his life, Reebok

Even nice guys:
Tim Duncan: 25 Million / 5 years, Adidas
Duane Wade: 10 Million / per year, Converse (Not hating... he still tithes 10%)

And the rest of the NBA: A lot of money to wear hundred dollar shoes that cost $10 to make.

So you have 300+ guys in the NBA who could have started this but didn't. And let's be honest, only a few people could have pulled it off. All-Stars and Hall of Famers really, and the one of the most hated on and most controversial was the only one to do it. Well... two now.

Big Ben (Wallace) is in on the action. As he says: "Kids don't really understand what it takes to go out and buy a pair of $300 pair of shoes. We don't understand the pressure we put on our parents when we're growing up. This is one of the things where I think the parents will appreciate it a lot more than the kids right now because it eliminates so much stress from the parents. All parents want to see their kids have nice things."

So two guys get it. Two guys remember where they came from. Let's hope more remember. We need them to.


FYI... Yes, Stephon has been sporting the shoes the whole season and recently has been averaging 23 points, 6 assists, 3 reb and 1 steal for the month of March.

And if you are wondering where you can buy his shoes, check out the Starbury Site or Steve & Barry's

Random Thoughts: The JT Connection

A lifetime ago, I broke up with my first girlfriend. I thought she was "the one" (play heavenly music). I was pretty devastated and from that point on, I ended up in a series of rebounds (which led to additional disaster) that led me to swearing off relationships altogether. I ended up taking 4 years off during which I worked my ass off. Fun huh?

So the reason I'm writing about this all is because of all the tabloid crap that I've come across and the most recent talks about Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears. So turns out he wrote her a letter that according to insiders, "He poured his heart out. He told her he was sorry they fell in love so young, because if they'd fallen in love even just a few years later, he would've married her--and they'd probably have kids together by now."

So before I go any further, I'm over that relationship. I walked away from it and it was the best thing I ever did for myself. Here's why:

So my fiancé (yes she's "the ONE" (play heavenly music)) and I were talking about it and I mentioned that "he wasn't ready for her when they were dating." Seriously, what happened to him happened for a reason. Do you think his music would be as good as it is if he didn't go through that bullsh*t? Hell no, "Cry Me a River" would have been yet another boring love ballad and the same has to be said for "What Goes Around Comes Around." When they were dating, Timberlake didn't have game. He was solid then but having his heart broken was the catalyst that made him grow into what he is now. Seriously, when people go through personal hell, the strong turn inwards and build themselves up.

During my 4 years of solitude, I crossed a lot of things off my life list (went skydiving, learned to ride a motorcycle, etc...), I worked on my portfolio, my career, my personality (Although some might ask: "What improved?"), my body, my knowledge, everything. Most importantly, I learned to be alone and as a result... I grew.

Being alone forces us to look at ourselves without any distraction. It's probably the most honest time we will ever get to learn about and more importantly, love ourselves. Embrace the change, the solitude, and the perspective that comes from it. You'll thank yourself later.

Life Matters: My Father's Stroke

My father had a stroke last Thursday. He woke up feeling numb in his right arm and as he drove himself to the hospital, he quickly degenerated into a parapallegic. His whole right side, his arms, his hands, his leg was completely lifeless. It's terrifying how such a small stroke could do so much damage.

I took a few days off from work and drove down the next Tuesday to see how he was doing. It was hard to watch him when I first got there. He literally had to pick up his lfeless right hand and place it on walker to go to physical therapy. As I saw him dragging his foot away down the hall, the tears started to flow. It's times like this you really appreciate the little things such as walking, shaking hands, or even giving a picking up a spoon to eat. He was going to relearn it all.

So as bad as it looked when I got there, it was just the opposite as I was leaving. Within 24 hours, my father was walking better, he could lift his arm above his head and give a handshake (even though he still had to pick it up and place it in someone else's hand. He was in good spirits too laughing away and joking away all day. In physical therapy, the doctor asked me how I thought he was doing and I joked, he's doing great, It's the most exercise he's had in years. Everyone burst out laughing. It was awesome. I think what was more amazing was all the support he got from his neighbors, his colleagues and family. We all came out in force to take care of him.

When I first heard of the situatinos, my attitude was thank God because it was only a small one and that he'd probably make a full recovery. I still hold true to that but with one more thing I learned: We don't ask to avoid what trials are to come... but we can pray that God shows mercy and makes what we about to go through easier.

2007 Resolution #1 : A Year without Retail

I have yet to talk about my New Year's resolutions however I wanted to hold off until I had a plan about how to address them. My first goal for 2007 is to save more.

I love saving. I love that keeping money in the bank gives me something that just can't be bought. Peace of mind. I love that saving is like a second income. Frankly, it's better. I don't get taxed.

So I put away a fair amount every month. I live comfortably however if I save anymore, it wouldn't be. So if I don't add more to what I put away, I will have to cut down on what I spend. So here's the plan/thesis.

By buying non-necessity things only online on eBay or at the outlets, I will be able to gain more for a fraction of it would cost at the retail level. The quality and value of what I purchase will be of equal or better than what I would be able to purchase in store and, my quality of life will improve because of these purcases. I will also go one step father and claim that I will make money off these purchases. As a result, I'll be able to fullfill this resolution.

I will track my spending(earning) and report in future blog entries. More resolutions to come.

Cheers,
John