My room mate received a bundle of daffodils on Thursday night. They had not yet bloomed, and were just long green stems with buds on top which were waiting to become something more. Almost by the hour, one could watch as the buds started to transform and become tips of a petal, into a petal, and finally into a full flower. It took about 36 hours from when I first saw them until they fully bloomed, and I have to say it was probably the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen.
Category: Uncategorized
When men don’t wear pink
The NC State’s Men’s Basketball team lost to UNC today. It wasn’t a great game, and there was definitely a large discrepancy in both talent and desire. This post, however, isn’t about the frustration of being an NC State fan. That’s chronicled well in the hearts and minds of Wolfpack nation. This is instead one fan proclaiming his embarrassment that the men’s basketball team did nothing to commemorate the late Kay Yow.
When Kay Yow passed away last Saturday, I think that there was an immense level of shock throughout the population of people who have ever had anything to do with Kay Yow in one shape or another. Over the course of my 24 years in North Carolina, I was a fan, journalist, and disciple of Kay Yow’s career and philosophy. I read everything that I could find about Coach Yow, watched all of the multimedia pieces compiled by NC State’s Technician and the Raleigh News & Observer, and watched all of the specials which were played by the various TV networks. Just listening to the women’s game on PackPass this past Thursday, I knew that the weight of losing their coach, and wanting to win their first game back in her honor, was too heavy for these young student-athletes. Clearly, the reach was much larger than one basketball team.
Unfortunately, the reach did not include the men’s basketball team. I was more embarrassed by the fact that there was nothing more than a small black patch on their jersey’s to commemorate her memory than by the performance which was put forth against rival UNC in the match today. Kay Yow’s presence on this campus pre-dates everyone on that staff except for Associate Head Coach Monty Towe, and not even a pink ribbon. Going the full monty and wearing pink jersey’s in Yow’s honor may be asking too much for a group of young men, but imagine this scenario.
The men’s basketball team wears the pink jerseys, and regardless of outcome, auctions off the jerseys with all proceeds going to the Kay Yow/WBCA Foundation. There are only 12 of them, and they were worn in an NCSU/UNC game. How much money could that have fetched?
Let’s say the problem was that wearing a color jersey at home would lead to the team getting fined $100k. Have the Wolfpack Club start a fund to pay the fine, and then, on top of that, convince some donors to challenge the student population, young alumni, the alumni association, etc. to come up with certain percentages of that money, and they will match that percentage as a donation to the Kay Yow/WBCA Foundation. As an example:
if Student Government can organize and raise $25k, which is about $1 per student on campus, then the Vaughn family would have donated $25k to the Kay Yow/WBCA Foundation.
But no, none of this will come true because a simple black patch with white letters spelling out Yow on an illegible corner of a jersey is enough to honor a woman who was THE face of those who do not give up. Today the student section was pink, Wolfie wore a pink jersey, and the coach of the opposing team wore pink shoelaces, but the NC State Men’s basketball team didn’t realize that pink for one day would be a fantastic message to send for a generation of fans who need to remember and grieve when giving up is more difficult than it has been in a long, long time.
Closing paragraph of Obama’s first inaugural speech
America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
Comments to come…
CES 2009
While the pundits were relatively correct in pronouncing the death of CES, and trade shows in general, those who didn’t make it out to this year’s trade show really missed out on what was probably the top show in the last 3 years.
In truth, it’s really difficult to go to CES every year, and expect to see something new each time. I just don’t think that the industry moves that quickly. This is also why most feel that Apple pulled out of its relationship with the MacWorld conference. It’s just too hard to come out with something amazing year-in, year-out on such a tight schedule. However, the benefit of going every year is that you really start to notice when amazing, cool things are coming down the pipe. Case in point, when I met up with fellow NCSU classmates Jordan O’Mara and Win Bassett a few years back, they had discovered a game called “Guitar Hero” which they immediately fell in love with. The rest, as they say, is history!
What were this year’s gems?
I’ll be honest and say that I didn’t get to spend as much time at the trade show as I would have liked, and so I’m sure I missed a lot of stuff. With that disclaimer, here are some of the really cool technologies which I saw that I think will make big splashes in the years ahead.
These guys aren’t a technology, but instead a way to make your
technology look good. I think it’s really interesting that everyone has
the exact same computer, and that there isn’t a larger push by the
masses to be unique. Are unified, recognizable computers the “uniform”
of this generation? Is the thought that I can’t make myself different
or everyone won’t know that I have a Mac, and that makes me cool? Lame.
Anyway, these guys had some really good computer covers, iPod holders,
etc. for all of your digital gear.
- Microprojectors
This was by far and away the coolest thing that I saw. The days of clunky, A/V club driven projectors seems to have come to an end. The quality was good, but not great, but yet the thought that the full projector get up can be miniaturized to the point where it will fit into your backpack just seems awesome to me. I was most impressed by 3M’s product, though there were some Asian companies which had products that seemed to be close in the race. The main features to look for are
- Luminance
- Battery Life
- Size
And for some pretty obvious reasons, size really matters in this regard! My prediction is that within 3-5 years this technology will be embedded into your smart phone, and you will simply bring your presentations/movies to class, work, community theater, and project away.
A really cool, though still somewhat gimmicky, technology which I discovered was 3-D television. It was quite spectacular to see some technologies created in real time (which is what Sony was doing), and other companies such as TDV Technologies using the glasses, also real time, and providing an out of TV experience. I’m not really quite sure what the use case is today, but I’m imagining a scenario where I can walk into the 3D projection from my screen and watch as Shawne Merriman breaks through the line, and turn around and watch him sack Peyton Manning. That, I would buy.
- NetBook Computers
The Intel booth was highlighted by the rise of NetBook computers and their ATOM processor. I think that the ultimate goal for NetBooks is truly having a portable document, e-mail, and basic browsing machine for situations, such as travel, where you probably aren’t doing truly intensive work. I’m just not convinced that it’s for me as the machine I have already does quite poorly when I try to get work done. Nonetheless, everything seems to be included (optical drives, webcam, and the standard array of USB slots). Also, you can’t disagree with the argument that you’re paying for exactly what you’re getting, and so I see the value for the heavy traveler.
This was just really, really cool. I took a photo of this because I almost couldn’t believe it. The focus of Gravitonus seems to be accessibility, but they’ve also made quite the fashion statement when it comes to “Pimping My Workstation”. Check out the photo, and the link, but I think as ergonomics becomes a bigger, and bigger, issue in the technology workplace these out of the box approaches will become more and more popular. I’m not quite sure what the pricing is, but that’s probably the limiting factor right now. Nonetheless, this ranked extremely highly on my coolness radar at CES 2009 this year.
- OLED Technology
The OLED technology which was in the Sony TVs was unbelievable. The colors are ridiculous, and they could be the thinnest monitor-like device I’ve ever seen. Just a few years ago, the push amongst the TV Manufacturers was size of the screen, contrast, true 1080p, and now it seems to be thinness, as this was on display in many places. However, the OLED screens at Sony were hands the ones I found to be the most unbelievable. The width of my thumb was probably 4x wider than the entire television. Just awesome!
Your talents will be recognized and suitably rewarded
— Dinner, October 2
It’s nice to be remembered, but it’s far cheaper to be forgotten
— Dinner, September 3
Imagine…
One day, mutual friendship will be unnecessary as mutual decency will be the standard norm, and humanity will emerge as our greatest asset.
Oh how time flies…
I’ve been in California for two months now. It’s amazing how quickly that time has passed. I started a new job, moved to a new city, bought new furniture (ended up building it all!), made new friends, and the list seems to go on and on and on.
I only realized how much time had gone by when I called my younger brother, and realized that he was already moved back into his dorm, and getting ready for his sophomore year in college. It’s bizarre to me how I used to have such a rigid schedule – fall semester, spring semester, internship, repeat – for so many years, and in the blink of an eye, it all changes. But I think that’s what makes it that much more exciting. In 2 months, we have released our AIR app, added a public feed system, and really started to lay down a foundation for our future. It helps that we got an additional round of funding, and brought Bain Capital on board. I’ve also learned so much about all the wrong ways that I was doing things. My biggest lesson learned:
It’s always worth doing it the right way first regardless of the marginal costs you will pay to set it up and get things working. Doing it otherwise will always cost more in the long run. Too often the allure of short term optimization leads to long term inefficiency.
I think the next period of time, whether it be a few months or the next year, is going to see me really grow up as a developer, and hopefully as a person as well.
On that front, I’ve really found myself going back to the fundamentals. I’m reading like I did when I was in middle school, and I play soccer in nearly all of the free time that I have. By exercising my mind and body, I’m confident that I will neither burn out nor become one-dimensional. Both are states that I fear I could easily fall into, but so far I think that I’ve taken the steps necessary to come out on the better end of that battle.
And so now I wait to see the future unfold, but don’t worry too much because standing around and watching isn’t something I plan on getting used to.
The near future holds a gift of contentment.
— Dinner, August 15
Here goes nothing…
Well, I start real life on Monday by showing up for my first day at Tokbox. Some places that’s today, but here it’s still tomorrow. It’s amazing, exciting, nerve-racking, and humbling all at once.
Standing on the shoulders of giants gives one an amazing view, but it’s important that while I gaze at what has been that I maintain focus on what I will be. Someday my shoulders will support another generation of amazed, excited, nervous, and humbled individuals, but between now and then awaits immortality.
Here goes nothing…