考え - Kangae

Some Easter Musings

Stephen Terlizzi — 2012-04-06T07:22:14-07:00

Justified through Faith, Sanctified through Hope and Revealed through Charity

As Good Friday approaches, I spend much of my time thinking about the sacrifice that our Lord Jesus Christ made for us on the cross. I remember as a child being afraid of the crucifix. In fact, there were two churches in my neighborhood - one with a crucifix and one with a mural of a glorified Christ. I always liked the latter. Lately during the Mass, however, I am fixated on the crucifix behind the altar at St. Nicholas, Jesus’ sacrifice, and how I can emulate it in my life.

Justified Thru Faith
The first thing that stands out for me about the crucifixion of Jesus is that we are justified through faith. So what does that mean? Well, justification means that our sins are forgiven. Through no action of our own, we have been cleansed of responsibility of our sins. By dying on the cross, Jesus has washed away with His blood the trillions of sins in the world by the billions of individuals past, present and future. This gift is ours if we simply accept it through faith; truly, the gates of hell are unlocked from the inside. Acceptance of God’s gift is the key.

Sanctified thru Hope
Does that mean we don’t need to do anything? Well, no. Justification may come through faith, but sanctification comes through hope. Sanctification, another theological term, is the process of becoming holy and bringing ourselves closer to the Triune God through the work of the Holy Spirit. As explained by Father Barron in the recent miniseries Catholicism, our Father the Creator made us with a yearning for something more - a yearning to love Him as part of the body of Christ.

However, we often put our hope in worldly things (power, pleasure, wealth, fame, etc.) to fill this yearning in our hearts instead of placing our hope in God and entrusting our lives to Him. Hope in worldly things is only a temporary fix. When we place our hope in God, we become closer to God and want to do His will in the world. Looking at Christ on the cross, we realize that at that moment Jesus denied all worldly things to do the will of the Father. He sacrificed the very essence of His relationship with the Father to take on all of our sins - His great act of charity for all humankind.

Revealed thru Charity
As members of the body of Christ, we are called to acts of charity. As written in the Letter of James (2:20), “faith without works is useless”. But didn’t we say that our sins are already forgiven by Jesus’ selfless act on the cross?

We are called to works of charity not so that we can be saved, but rather because we are saved. Many people say, “If I could see Jesus’ miracles in person like during biblical times, I would believe.” Well, Jesus is alive and well on earth living in each of us as part of the body of Christ. Charitable works are the way Jesus is revealed to others in the world through us.

“Justified through Faith, Sanctified through Hope and Revealed through Charity” is a blueprint for us to live a Christian life in this fallen world. So when we look at Jesus on the cross during this Lenten season, we should not fear; it was His greatest triumph and a most perfect example of how to follow the way.

Merry Christmas to All

Stephen Terlizzi — 2011-12-24T17:46:40-08:00

Merry Christmas to All and Happy New Year! I am looking forward to a wonderful 2012!

Mr. Reader Replaces Reeder

Stephen Terlizzi — 2011-11-21T07:00:55-08:00

I admit it. I am a RSS junkie. When it comes to reading websites for information, I cannot get enough. Fortunately, there are a number of RSS readers that allow me to quickly scan through multiple sites.

To date, I had been using Reeder ($4.99 - iTunes Link) as my primary RSS reader on my iPad. That is no longer the case as I have transitioned to Mr. Reader ($3.99 - iTunes Link). Why? Simply because it allows me to scan the multiple feeds quicker and it renders the web pages clearer and faster.

When I lazily want to scan the feeds like a magazine, I use Flipboard (Free - iTunes Link). But when I want to make short order of the feeds, it is my new friend, Mr. Reader. By the way, Reeder is still my choice on my MacBook Pro...for now.

R12 Spirituality - Living on the Edge

Stephen Terlizzi — 2011-11-13T17:16:32-08:00

Living on the Edge is a website that you should definitely visit if you are interested in exploring the spirituality part of your life. They have a concept of living an authentic life as a R12 (Romans 12) Christian.

From their website:

• Surrender to God. Romans 12:1
Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy pleasing to God.

• Separate from the world’s values. Romans 12:2
Do not confirm any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds.

• Sober in Self Assessment. Romans 12:3-8
Think of yourself with sober judgement, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

• Serving in Love. Romans 12:9-13
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

• Supernaturally responding to evil with good. Romans 12:14-21
Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse.

Please give it a look...it could change your life.

Make the Ordinary Unique!

Stephen Terlizzi — 2011-09-25T19:07:49-07:00

Alamo Square Park must be one of the most photographed spots in San Francisco. And here is my perfunctory tourist photo of the Seven Sisters with the San Francisco skyline in the background. To add some interest to what is an ordinary photo, I added people in the foreground and made everything black and white except the Seven Sisters.

It is a nice little picture that won't win any Pulitzer Prizes. However, it illustrates a key point about photography and life – Make the Ordinary Unique!

Enjoy!

My Top 10 Favorite Catholic Saints

Stephen Terlizzi — 2011-08-14T20:13:53-07:00

Here are my top 10 favorite Catholic saints and why. This was a great exercise and gave me a lot of insight into the person I really am. Enjoy!

Saint Thomas Aquinas - The scholar in me loves him
Saint Stephen - First Christian martyr and my namesake
Saint Paul - For everything he wrote and taught
Saint Thomas More - For standing with his principles
Saint Joan of Arc - For her dedication to the cause
Saint Augustine of Hippo - Because every sinner deserves a second chance
Saint Francis of Assisi - For being a simple man of action
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton - The first native-born American saint teaching the Way
Saint Michael, the Archangel - Sword in one hand and scales of justice in the other
Saint John the Apostle - For his faithfulness to our Lord during His Passion

Solitude

Stephen Terlizzi — 2011-08-08T20:42:35-07:00

‎"Solitude gives us the power not to win the rat race but to ignore the rat race altogether.” - Richard Foster

So true!

Plants vs. Zombies Replaced?

Stephen Terlizzi — 2011-07-17T20:11:27-07:00

It has happened. Plants vs. Zombies has been replaced as my #1 time-waster - oops I mean game - on my iPad. Its successor? Ticket to Ride.

Ticket To Ride ($6.99 - iTunes Link) is a faithful iPad adaptation by Days of Wonder of the same board game. The objective is to build railroad lines across the US (as well as other locales like Europe and Switzerland with expansion packs). You get points by completing long rail lines between destinations that you randomly receive from the deck. You need to match the lines with the color train cards in your hand. The game is simple but the strategy is difficult.

There is solo play against a pretty good AI as well as online play against other humans on a site hosted by Days of Wonder. And with the latest release, there is pass-and-play for up to 5 players. The iPad app is a little expensive at $6.99 with additional maps ranging from $0.99 to 3.99.

So if you have a yearning to be the next Dagny Taggart, then download the game and have fun! Who is Dagny Taggart? Well, that's the wrong question – it should be "Who is John Galt?"

Capturing the Essence with Your Photography

Stephen Terlizzi — 2011-07-01T08:01:12-07:00

The Los Altos Camera Club’s annual photo walk is this weekend. We’re planning an early Saturday morning expedition in a town called Alviso, located at the bottom of San Francisco Bay. Alviso's best years are kind of behind it, so needless to say it makes for an interesting subject. So much so, that the special category for our monthly competition this month is "Capturing the Essence of Alviso". Of course, the key question is how do you as a photographer capture the essence of a place?

It certainly is not "frame and shoot", "frame and shoot", "frame and shoot". Any essence found in that manner will be pure luck. The key to capturing the essence is to see what others don't readily see. Using the grey matter between the ears to see something that is under the nose of the regular inhabitants, but utterly ignored.

It means capturing the unusual; whether it is truly unique or the everyday seen in an unusual way. However, unusual for unusual sake is not enough. The photograph needs to tell a story, a vignette about the life of that location. There must be a mood set by the photograph that captures the imagination of the viewer.

Subjects abound to illustrate the essence, people going about their daily life, elements of life that embody the values or activity of the location. All can translate the soul of a place.

It isn't limited to a single photo. Creating a triptych of tight, medium, and wide is an excellent way to accomplish the goal. However, the set of photographs need to not only standalone as great photos, but work together as a set.

Sound challenging? Photojournalism too hard? Not into street photography? In truth, any photographer regardless of their field of photography can accomplish “capturing the essence”. Why? Because in the end, "capturing the essence" is what we should be striving to achieve with all our photographs.

Happy Father's Day

Stephen Terlizzi — 2011-06-18T10:40:08-07:00

My IOS Photography Workflow

Stephen Terlizzi — 2011-05-22T12:58:46-07:00

Lately, I have been using my iPhone as my primary walkaround camera for casual photography. I am quite happy with the photographs that it can capture. As I have discussed in the past, my camera application of choice is Camera+ (itunes link, $1.99). While Camera+ has some nice post-processing capabilities for quick editing and sending to Facebook or Twitter, sometimes I want more advanced editing. That is where two additional software products become important: one for the iPad (Filterstorm Pro - above) and the other for both the iPad and iPhone (Pics - below).

Processing the Photo on iPad

I really like the iPad for post-processing of my phones, but the camera on the iPad is terrible and not suitable for photography. My new favorite photography program on the iPad is Filterstorm Pro (itunes link, $14.99). While a pricey app as iOS goes, Filterstorm Pro is like a combination of Lightroom and Photo Mechanic for the iPad. Obviously, it is not as feature-rich as those software programs, but it accomplishes much of the same tasks on the iPad.

It includes various features such as batch processing of images to edit IPTC metadata and transmit multiple images to iPad photo library, FTP, Flickr, Dropbox and email. Filterstorm Pro's editing tools include the standard items like cropping, rotationing and straightening as well as curves, white point and black and white tools. You can use masking tools to apply filters to different areas of an image.

How do you get the image to the iPad?

You won't be taking the photos with the iPad camera. However, you can load photos through Apple's iPad Camera Connection Kit (Apple Store link - $29.99). That is great if I want to unload my photos from my Nikon, which is a discussion for a different blog. What about if I want to get my photos from my iPhone?

Enter Pics (iTunes link - $1.99). Pics is a critical photo management app for iOS that allows you to sort you photos into different albums, protect them with a passcode and most importantly transfer them to your computer through Wifi connection AND to your companion iPad/iPhone via a peer-to-peer (P2P) connection. Now, I can take photos on my iPhone with its outstanding camera and transfer it to my iPad without having to move them to my MacBook Pro! And the app is an universal app so you only need to pay once.

The software has a sync capability over the P2P connection; though I have not yet tested the functionality. Also, there is a Mac application called Pics Assistant (MAS link - Free), but I haven't been able to get it to consistently work effectively.

A Powerful iOS Photography Workflow

The combination of Camera+, Filterstorm Pro and Pics has really changed the way I handle my iPhone photography. If you are serious about yours, I suggest you check out this winning combination.

Lighttrac - A Must-Have iPad App for Any Outdoor Photographer

Stephen Terlizzi — 2011-04-17T14:51:47-07:00

By: Stephen Terlizzi

Shortly after I received my new iPad 2 several weeks ago, my first activity was to search for some great iPad Photography apps. While the cameras in the iPad 2 (unlike my iPhone 4) are eminently forgettable, it is definitely a great platform for planning your photography and reviewing the resulting photographs. If you are an outdoor photographer, one application that is a must-have is Lighttrac by Rivolu Pte ($4.99 - iTunes Link).

LightTrac helps you find the perfect lighting for your outdoor photos by giving your the information you need on the available light from the Sun and Moon based on the time and location anywhere in the world. LightTrac calculates and plots the angle of Sun and Moon on top of a map, for any location and can save multiple locations and easily switch between them.

As you can see from the above picture, I can get information about any location (in this case the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco) including Sunrise/Sunset and Moonrise/Moonset as well as the angle of the Sun or Moon at a given time. You can choose the date, time and location in advance to plan your photo shoot.

You can save the information for later retrieval and change the map from satellite to Google Street Maps as required. Finally, you can export to email a KML that can be used in Google Earth, Google Maps, etc. It would be nice to have some other export options such as Dropbox.

Also, the application is a universal app and is available on the iPhone, too. In short, if you do outdoor photography and care about taking outstanding photos, this is a must-have application.

Adobe Photoshop CS5 Full 299.00.

Stephen Terlizzi — 2011-03-11T09:28:50-08:00

Adobe Photoshop CS5 Full 299.00. Normally retails for 699.00.

Adobe has a great deal for Photoshop CS5. It looks like it is time to buy your first copy of Photoshop ($299) or upgrade for ($199). The deal is a full edition (Not an educational version). The offer ends April 04, 2011

You can get 30% off Lightroom 3 as well if you buy them together.

Check it out here.

Top 10 Tips to Great Storytelling

Stephen Terlizzi — 2011-02-21T14:19:32-08:00

10 Top Tips to Great Storytelling

View more webinars from WeArePhotographers.com.

What is your "To Be" list?

Stephen Terlizzi — 2011-02-04T10:04:30-08:00

Hamlet said, "To Be or Not To Be". I guess in his melancholy that is a vaild question, but I recently heard on a radio broadcast that real question..."What is your ' To Be' list?".

What do you want to be in your life and have you add your "To Be"s to your "To Do" list? Often, one's "To Do" list is jam packed with actions to undertake. I am a big advocate of Omnifocus GTD to manage my "To-Do"s, but have given serious thought on what transformative "To Be"s to add.

It is funny that I have often advised companies to have operational and transformative objectives; however, I never thought about my "To Do" list in that matter. So take your moleskin notebook and go to the nearest park. There, think hard on "What is your 'To Be' list?"

Feeding Your Mind

Stephen Terlizzi — 2011-01-10T09:14:14-08:00

‎
"What we allow to enter our mind is the most important decision we make." - Chip Ingram, Living on the Edge

What do you allow to enter your mind on a daily basis?

Geektool Unleashed

Stephen Terlizzi — 2011-01-02T10:34:29-08:00

With three screens on my office configuration, I have a lot of workspace to use. Over the holidays, I did some geeking out and configured one of my screens with Geektool. Geektool allows you to display on your desktop various kinds of information. In the picture above, the to-do list on the left, the post-it note, stock quotes, bible quote, webcam picture and the date & weather information are all embedded in the desktop using Geektool. Download Geektool here.

It is a preference pane module that allows you to display the contents of a file (e.g. the Post-It note which is simply a note that exists in Notational Velocity), an image from a webserver (e.g. the webcam image or the weather image) and the most powerful outputs from shell commands (e.g. my Omnifocus to-do list cut off on the left or the extracted Bible quote from Daily-verse.com). Also, don't forget to customize your desktop image to work with the Geektool elements like the old paper and yellow post-it on my school blackboard.

You can find many Geektool scripts (and images of some very tricked out Desktops on the internet). Just Google Geektool! For the Omnifocus Geeklets to embed your overdue and due soon items on the desktop, please click here.

As for the Bible quote, that is a Python Script written by my good friend Nilesh that extracts a daily bible verse from the website daily-verse.com. You need to install Beautiful Soup, which is a Python HTML/XML parser, and it can be found here, http://www.crummy.com/software/BeautifulSoup/ .

The script is:

from BeautifulSoup import BeautifulSoup
import urllib2
page = urllib2.urlopen("http://daily-verse.com/")
soup = BeautifulSoup(page)
thequotation = soup.h2.prettify()[12:][:-15]
thesource = soup.h3.prettify()[5:][:-7]
print thequotation + "\n" + "\n" + thesource

I used a Corsiva Hebrew Bold Font 18 points and full justification. Also, you need to remember to force carriage returns in Geektool.

Have fun customizing your desktop! Enjoy!

RSS Feeds Live with Reeder!

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-12-22T08:52:19-08:00

I am a news addict. I admit it...politics, technology, current events...I love reading about what is going on in the world. And I want it from multiple perspectives which means in this age of biased reporting...multiple news sources. To keep on-top of the information, I am a big user of RSS feeds. What is an RSS feed? Geek alert ahead...skip next paragraph if you want.

According to Wikipedia, "RSS (most commonly expanded as Really Simple Syndication) is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format. An RSS document (which is called a "feed", "web feed", or "channel") includes full or summarized text, plus metadata such as publishing dates and authorship. Web feeds benefit publishers by letting them syndicate content automatically. They benefit readers who want to subscribe to timely updates from favored websites or to aggregate feeds from many sites into one place. RSS feeds can be read using software called an "RSS reader", "feed reader", or "aggregator", which can be web-based, desktop-based, or mobile-device-based. A standardized XML file format allows the information to be published once and viewed by many different programs. The user subscribes to a feed by entering into the reader the feed's URI or by clicking an RSS icon in a web browser that initiates the subscription process. The RSS reader checks the user's subscribed feeds regularly for new work, downloads any updates that it finds, and provides a user interface to monitor and read the feeds. RSS allows users to avoid manually inspecting all of the websites they are interested in, and instead subscribe to websites such that all new content is pushed onto their browsers when it becomes available."

Geekiness aside, it is a way to have changes from website come to you in a reader rather than you going to various websites. I had been using NetNewsWire on my Mac and iPhone combined with Google Reader to provide syncing. But no longer!

I have moved to a new package on both platforms, Reeder. You can find Reeder for iOS in the App store as a released product and Reeder for Mac in beta, here. Previously, it was unbearable to scan my RSS feeds on my iPhone and now I can make quick work of them on the road. When I am at my mac, it is easy and quick to review the feeds, read the interesting articles and send it off to various sites, like Twitter or Instapaper, or email the link.

I suggest that you check out Reeder if you are a heavy RSS user.

Top 10 Tips for Great Portraits

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-11-30T14:24:09-08:00

For the Camera Club of Los Altos (CCLA), I did this presentation on Top 10 Tips for Great Portraits. I hope you enjoy it!

Top 10 Tips for Great Portraits

View more webinars from Stephen Terlizzi.

Resonate - A Book Review

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-11-21T10:36:09-08:00

There are two go-to people for the best techniques in building compelling presentations: Nancy Duarte and Garr Reynolds. They have transformed my ability to create great, interesting presentations. I loved Nancy's 2008 book Slide:ology and now she has released Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences. This "prequel" to Slide:ology, which was more about the process of creating a presentation, was written before Slide:ology and talks about creating the story in the presentation.

She examines the structure of outstanding presentations in context of other forms of storytelling and provides a thought process to reach the audience on an emotional level. It has an excellent balance of theory and practical applications and is definitely worth the read.

Outstanding book that will uncover ideas that you did not realize you did not know!

Amazon Link

Words to Ponder

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-11-11T19:35:27-08:00

"The problem is that we buy the lie that only if the other person would shape up, my life would be much better."

- Chip Ingram, Living on the Edge

The Foundation of All Clear Thinking

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-11-01T14:36:33-07:00

“These, then are the two points I wanted to make. First, that human beings, all over the earth, have this curious idea that they ought to behave in a certain way, and cannot really get rid of it. Secondly, that they do not in fact behave in that way. They know the Law of Nature; they break it. These two facts are the foundation of all clear thinking about ourselves and the universe we live in."

-- C. S. Lewis

Divvy, Keyboard Maestro and Multiple Monitors

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-10-22T13:59:56-07:00

My current MacBookPro setup has three monitors on my desk. In addition to the standard laptop screen to the right, I have a Gateway FPD2485 LCD display serving as my Main Screen and an additional LCD screen from my old retired Dell desktop on the left. The Dell LCD display is connected to my Mac through a Diamond Multimedia DisplayLink BVU195 USB Display Adapter ($89.99). The setup gives me some serious screen space to do my work; however, it also makes management of my windows problematic.

I solved the problem by using two different software products - Keyboard Maestro ($36) and Divvy ($14). I reviewed Divvy, which is a window management tool in a previous blog entry. Keyboard Maestro does many things by allowing you to create custom macros for automation. Using Keyboard Maestro, I made three macros - one for each screen - that allows me to move the window of the front application to the various screens using hot keys. The main problem with Divvy is that one normally needs to mouse to the appropriate screen to move the window and then hit the Divvy shortcut.

To solve the problem, I create a KeyBoard Maestro macro as seen above that moves the mouse to a certain location relative to the Main Screen's Top Left Corner (see top). Then, I simulate the typing of F5 that brings up Divvy's shortcut options (see above). I select the appropriate shortcut for the size of window I want and voilà the front application window moves to the appropriate monitor with the appropriate size. Two keystrokes and it's done...very efficient.

You just need a Little Vitamin R

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-10-05T16:13:44-07:00

I am big believer in David Allen's "Getting Things Done" approach to To-Do Lists. The concepts of getting everything you need to do out of your brain an onto a list and then organizing that list into projects and contexts works great for me. On my Mac and my iPhone, I use Omnifocus to manage my To-Do list. The trap that may people fall into is that they spend more time organizing and less time doing. Moreover, most GTD applications don't help with the execution part of the "Getting Things Done".

Well, Vitamin R from Publicspace.net focuses on changing just that. It is a tool that helps you break down large tasks into a series of short time slices. It helps you focus on the task at hand, usually 15 to 30 minutes in length (e.g. Pomodoro Technique). That is important because our brains are not meant to multitask; in fact, excessive multitasking leads to less efficiency.

To avoid distractions, Vitamin R can hide or quit unnecessary apps during a given time slice. After a time slice is completed, you can evaluate the effectiveness of the time slice on how distracted or how "in the flow" you were. A quick "Now & Later Board" can allow you to quickly dump ideas that occur while accomplishing a time slice without breaking your concentration.

Finally, Vitamin R can integrate with Omnifocus. By dragging an Omnifocus task into Vitamin R, you can automatically close the task complete in Omnifocus once it is done in Vitamin R. Very cool for closure. In short, Omnifocus+Vitamin R are an excellent combination of GTD and Pomodoro techniques.

Vitamin R is $19.95 for a single user license. They have a free trial so you can try to out yourself.

20% off Ergonis Software

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-09-24T16:28:41-07:00

Ergonis Software, the maker of PopChar X, KeyCue, Typinator and SharewarePublisher, is offering a 20% discount off any purchase by using the coupon code BackToWork when you check out. This offer will expire on September 30, 2010.

I regularly use KeyCue by Ergonis to quickly remember keyboard shortcuts. According to Ergonis, "KeyCue helps you to use your Mac OS X applications more effectively by displaying a concise table of all currently available menu shortcuts." For users new to Mac OS X, this application is a must-have at 19.99€. You will be amazed by the improvement in your productivity.

However, you should buy from Ergonis because of the company. About a month and half ago, they upgraded KeyCue from V5.0 to V5.1 and presented me with a $10 fee for upgrade. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper. It turns out they migrated from a "time-based" upgrade policy to a "release-based" upgrade policy. After several back and forth with customer service, who do I get an email from? The CEO of the company, who proceeds to explain the issue in detail with me and then reminds me of a second KeyCue license that I got as part of a MacUpdate bundle that I forgot about. This license is entitled to free upgrades until the end of the year and will probably take me to the next major release. I was quite pleased with the attention I was given and, quite frankly, ex-post I probably was acting a bit petulant.

Anyhow, you should take advantage of the current BackToWork coupon code to get KeyCue if you don't have it. It is a great product from a responsive company.

Neglecting My Mayoral Duties

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-09-10T14:30:46-07:00

With the November elections coming up, I realized that I have been neglecting my mayoral duties at the four establishments where I have mayorship in foursquare. Now do I really care about these mayorships? No, but I thought it would be fun to highlight them:

1) El Calderon Restaurant -- http://www.yelp.com/biz/el-calderon-restaurant-mountain-view

El Calderon Restaurant is a small, family-owned place in Mountain View off of El Camino Real. If you want authentic El Salvadorian food, then this is the place to go. And when you think about El Salvadorian food, you think Pupusas. I really enjoyed the Pupusa here...very cheesy and not too oily. In fact, from the salsa chips to the hard taco shells, this place knows how to keep everything light. Service is great and the family is very friendly. Worth visiting.

2) Main Street Cafe -- http://www.yelp.com/biz/main-street-cafe-and-books-los-altos

Main Street Cafe and Books in Downtown Los Altos is half bookstore, half restaurant. I must confess that I have never bought a book here, but am a sucker for either their All-American or BLT sandwich. The bread on the sandwich is very tasty and filling. Add an ice-tea and you have a good lunch at a place where you can have a sane conversation.

3) New Wing Wah -- http://www.yelp.com/biz/new-wing-wah-restaurant-los-altos

New Wing Wah on State Street in Los Altos is your typical Chinese-American fare. It is not the place I would go for authentic Chinese food...that is reserved for places like Hunan Homes, Su Hong and Hong Kong Restaurant, all on El Camino Real. However, the service at New Wing Wah is good and the food was good - unlike so many others in its classification. They have a nice family menu.

4) Peers Park -- http://www.yelp.com/biz/peers-park-palo-alto

Peers Park is a great park for kids and sports. On the sports end, it has tennis and basketball courts as well as a lot of room to kick the soccer ball around. For the kids, there are two play structures - one for toddlers and one for big kids. Also, they have two swing sets as well as a lot of sandboxes. They have a lot of benches for tired mommies and daddies. It is near the Caltrain line so my daughter goes crazy for the train and it has nice clean restrooms.

So there you have it. My current mayorships; though who knows whether or not I will retain my office in the long-term!

Think Big, Execute Small

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-09-01T08:59:19-07:00

Do you want to have a fundable startup? Then, "think big, execute small"!

VC money (and institutional angels, too) are looking for large exits, $200-300M+. Consequently, they are looking for small growing markets with high-growth potential that can support a company valued at $300M+ at IPO or M&A. So you need to "think big" with your business idea. Something that is topped out at a $60-80M exit won't be attractive to a traditional VC since those exits will naturally appear during the journey to the $300M+ exit.

However, you need to "execute small". Show a consistent track record as a founder/CEO of doing the small stuff well. Knowing when to invest and when not to invest is critical. Also, good people decisions go a long way to success – don't be afraid to hire people smarter than yourself. Finally, set realistic milestone and meet them!

"Think big, execute small" is the recipe for a winning VC-backed startup.

A Simple Thought in These Difficult Times

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-08-17T10:16:33-07:00

Forgive my preachiness with this post. However, in our current difficult times, it is easy to get depressed and demotivated. When that happens to me, I look to Psalm 23 and remember that:

"The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want."

Knowing that He is always on my side makes the aggravating and disappointing things in this fallen world much more tolerable.

NDA means "No Deal Actually"

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-07-30T21:19:13-07:00

Everyone knows what an NDA is...it is a non-disclosure agreement.

According to Wikipedia, "A non-disclosure agreement (NDA), also known as a confidentiality agreement, confidential disclosure agreement (CDA), proprietary information agreement (PIA), or secrecy agreement, is a legal contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish to restrict access to by third parties."

To any investor, it means "No Deal Actually". An investor sees so many pitches that no good investor will entertain signing an NDA. They do not want to get involved in any unnecessary legal issues, particularly if they fund a similar company. Moreover, if you do push an NDA, then the investor will assume you don't understand how venture financing works.

However, you should ensure that the information that you provide to the VCs doesn't include any trade secret information at least in the early stages of the dance. Also, documenting what you disclosed to the VCs is a sound practice. Marking your information as confidential is another good practice.

Having consternations about no NDA? Well, your invention is either the greatest IP since sliced bread and you shouldn't have any problems getting funded or it is too easy to copy so you need to revisit your business plan if your purported competitive advantage is IP-related.

Cotswold - A Cheese Worth Trying

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-07-26T09:54:46-07:00

I have picked up this cheese multiple times from my local Whole Foods supermarket. It is definitely worth trying.

Coming from Gloucestershire County in England, Cotswold is a whole milk cheese to which chopped onions and chives are added. It is orange in color and taste like a cheddar cheese, but with a kick! The onions and chives make it a winner. In England it is called "Pub Cheese".

I usually eat it alone or with some grapes. A good red wine would be a great compliment. For the price, you are looking at about US$16 per pound.

Three Key Questions for VC Funding

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-06-30T17:28:28-07:00

Want to pitch your company idea for funding to VCs? Well. you need to be able to answer the following questions:

1) Team - Who is on your team? Do they have a previous successful exit as an entrepreneur? Do they have domain expertise that is valuable for this startup?

2) Market - Do you have a serviceable market that is small enough to be ignored by the big entrenched players, but fast growing enough to lead to a total market that can support a $200-300 million enterprise value for the company?

3) Differentiation - Do you have a differentiation against the competition? Does the customer care about the differentiation and will they be willing to buy your product because of it? How defensible is the differentiation?

Answer these well...and best of luck in your funding endeavors.

On Tenacity

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-06-08T08:37:18-07:00

At the recent commencement at my undergrad alma mater Stevens Institute of Technology, David S. Rose talked about the key attributes for entrepreneurship. One was tenacity.

Tenacity is critical to the success of an entrepreneur. You need to believe in your vision and drive towards the goal. Along the way you will hear many naysayers and be tempted to give up. Only with a sense of tenacity can you achieve the goal.

Of course, this tenacity needs to be tempered with an objective assessment of the reality. As the founder of the company, you need to know when to pivot appropriately. Only you will know what is the correct steps because you live with your business day-to-day. Advisors can advise and investors can worry and pontificate, but only you can make the call.

I always found this Zen-like saying valuable - "When faced with a rock, act like a river. When faced with a river, act like a rock." You didn't think this would be easy...did you?

118 Seconds?

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-05-25T17:44:27-07:00

According to Jeff W. Hayzlett - former CMO of Kodak and author of The Mirror Test, the time you have in order to pitch your business is 118 seconds. How does he get to 118 seconds?

The attention span of an individual is about 8 seconds before he or she loses interest, so you have 8 seconds to hook the prospective investor. And nowadays elevators are pretty fast...about 110 seconds according the book. So add them together 8 seconds for the hook and 110 for the pitch.

Got a business idea? Well, what's your 118 seconds?

Divvy, A Window Manager for the Mac

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-05-19T14:49:23-07:00

One area where Mac OSX is weaker than Microsoft Windows 7 is the movement and resizing of Windows. I really dislike the Green button on my Mac windows and the way you resize them.

Well, no longer. Divvy ($14) makes it easy to resize windows on the fly and to move them among multiple monitors. It uses a simple keystroke command to bring up a heads-up display that segments the monitor into 36 squares (6x6). You then select the squares that constitute the desired window size and placement and then Divvy will move and resize the active window. There are user-defined shortcuts in Divvy that make it easy to add full screen, 50% left, 50% right, etc. It is now in two days a critical part of my daily workflow.

I recommend that you take a look at this movie that does an excellent job describing the product. http://mizage.com/divvy/videos/divvy-screencast.mov

I highly recommend Divvy.

A Recent Tweet on Anger

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-05-06T14:49:10-07:00

I have been thinking a lot about anger lately and recently tweeted on anger:

Indignation is a just emotion when followed by mature action.

Anger itself is not bad...it is how you respond and use that anger. Notice the key words – indignation, just and mature.

Indignation - Is the source of your anger indignation or simply a perceived hurt, disappointment or low self-esteem? In other words, is it outwardly focused or inwardly focused?
Just - Is your anger focused on a just cause like reversing a wrong?
Mature - Does your response to anger cause you to rant and rave like a maniac or do you use it as fuel to take a mature responsible action?

Use your anger as a gift, not as a curse. Then you will control it, instead of it controlling you.

A word aptly spoken

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-04-07T14:05:46-07:00

“A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” Proverbs 25:11

I came across this proverb the other day and the visualization of "apples of gold in settings of silver" was very striking. One doesn't often think about how powerful words can be to help or harm. Combined that with the fact that most people are in the need for positive messages in the lives especially with the current environment, one can see the power of a random act of kindness.

So I pledge to go out and tell someone how good they are everyday. A random act of kindness with no-strings attached.

MacJournal For iPhone

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-03-30T14:53:06-07:00

About two weeks ago, I replaced Journler with MacJournal, which I received in the latest MacHeist NanoBundle. I have added the new MacJournal iPhone application and it has improved my journaling tremendously. I can now write my journal entries at any time, any place. When I am on the same wifi network as my Mac, I can then synchronize it.

As much as I like the MacJournal for the iPhone, there are a number of improvements that need to be made. First, remote syncing via MobileMe and/or Webdav would be great. I can do it with Omnifocus today and would love to see it with MacJournal. Also, better tagging capabilities is a must as well as support for rich datatypes like voice, photos and video.

One particularly annoying bug is, when a sync is initiated, you need to determine how the sync will run - i.e. who overwrites whom or sync differences - at the Mac. This requires you to be at your Mac when you sync. Since I can remote-trigger macros using Keyboard Maestro and its iPhone application, I can wake up my Mac, start MacJournal and then initiate a sync from my MacJournal on the iPhone. However, it doesn't run because it depends on an input on the Mac. Please fix soon!

Nevertheless, for a first release of an iPhone app, it has a lot of utility. I just want to see more features, particularly given its $4.99 price.

Airport Express, Airfoil, iTunes and Remote

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-03-23T15:49:12-07:00

Since I haven't been doing much traveling lately, my old Airport Express B/G hasn't been getting much use. I finally got around to hooking it up to my Bose stereo in the living room to share my iTunes library. Thanks to AirPort Express and iTunes I can listen to Rush, Zeppelin and Warren Zevon anytime...much to the dismay of my wife.

What makes it even better is the addition of the Remote app on my iPhone. You can use it to control your iTunes library from any room in the house. Browse music, control the volume and turn on the speakers in the living room are all possible. Also the price is right...free. Since I already had all the equipment, I have created a "poor man's" Sonos music system.

The kicker was the addition of Airfoil by Rogue Amoeba for only $25. This software allows you to send any audio from your Mac to the Airport Express as well as other devices such as Apple TVs, iPhones and other Macs and PCs. Now, I can not only send iTunes wirelessly through the house, but also web-based audio from Pandora and shared music services such as Spotify. All very cool!

I consider this a very successful Sunday afternoon project.

New Look to My Blog

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-03-14T09:33:46-07:00

Today I am introducing a new look to my blog. I have been using the old grey one for several years now and it was time to move to a better theme. The one I chose was Phelix from NimbleHost.

The theme has pretty extensive support for all major browsers, including Internet Explorer 6/7/8. Also, there is numerous extracontent areas to explore. Finally, it has support for the iPhone with automatic resizing of images.

Enjoy the new look!

Replacing Journler with MacJournal

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-03-04T11:57:11-08:00

For years, I have used Journler as the journaling software on my Mac. So many thoughts - happy, sad, innovative, mundane, mature, shallow, etc. - have found residence in my virtual journal. Consequently, I was said when I learned that the software would no longer be developed, but like an old comfortable pair of sneakers I keep with the software.

This week I received as part of the MacHeist NanoBundle2 a copy of MacJournal and made the transition. MacHeist runs for only another 6 days. I migrated my Journler entries over to MacJournal by copying my Journler "Journler Entries" folder to the sidebar of MacJournal. The only problem was the links to the videos would call up Journler so I needed to right-click on the links in the corresponding Journler entry and show the original video in Finder and then copy it to MacJournal. Fortunately, I didn't have many videos to migrate.

My first impressions of MacJournal? It will be an adequate replacement. Also, I hope the upcoming iPhone app will make it even better. So goodbye my friend Journler and hello MacJournal.

Use Ning for social networking for your local club

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-02-24T09:32:50-08:00

In addition to my Web site wearephotographers.com that we developed using Drupal, I am now the Web site master of my local camera club in Los Altos, www.losaltosphoto.com. When making that Web site, I used Rapidweaver for the main site and Ning to create the social networking component.

It was extremely easy to get a functioning site within a week. I highly recommend that strategy for anyone needing to get a simple Web site up and running for their local club or organization.

Romans 12

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-02-13T09:52:46-08:00

My most favorite passage in the Bible:

Romans 12

Living Sacrifices

1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

Love

9Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. 20On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

f.lux for your Mac

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-02-04T13:46:51-08:00

When you sit in front of a computer for as long as I do, your eyes get strained. Moreover, the later into the night you work, the more it disrupts your sleep. Well, I found this freeware software, f.lux that adapts the color of the computer’s display to the time of day, warm at night and sunlight-like during the day.

There is a switch that disables it for an hour when I need to do color accurate stuff, like processing my photographs. I can tell you that my eyes don’t hurt like they did before.

There is a version for Windows and Linux, too. Download it here.

HoudahGeo: For your geotagging needs

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-01-20T14:07:43-08:00

Are you looking for an easy way to geotag your photographs? Look no further than HoudahGeo.

You have the ability to geotag in three different ways: (1) using your GPS tracks, (2) using the basic map and (3) using Google Earth. Also, you have a number of different export options, including the EXIF data, Google Earth, KML files and Flickr. Also, the software is integrated with iPhoto so you can geotag photos that are already imported into iPhoto.

This software is definitely worth $30 and is a regular part of my photography workflow.

Happy New Year!

Stephen Terlizzi — 2010-01-05T13:39:16-08:00

"An unexamined life is not worth living." - Socrates

2009 was a tough year in many ways; yet a satisfying year in other ways. I spent most of the year bootstrapping a startup (wearephotographers.com) and in the process learned a lot about social media - becoming an expert! - and about myself. Only through the hardwork have I realized that you need to love what you are doing in order to make it worthwhile.

Truly, you cannot go through life just going through the motions. Examine your life and then live it. 2009 has set for me an outstanding springboard for 2010.

Happy New Years to all and make it a great one!

Looking for Gifts for Your Favorite Photographer?

Stephen Terlizzi — 2009-12-13T10:10:24-08:00

Check out my review of 12 Books for the 12 Days of Christmas at the WeArePhotographers.com site. These books have greatly assisted in improving my photography. Click here for the blog article.

Great Book on Black and White Photography

Stephen Terlizzi — 2009-09-26T09:14:19-07:00

Looking for a great book on black and white photography? I recommend that you read Advanced Digital Black & White Photography by John Beardsworth. It is a comprehensive look at how to make great Black & White photographs and the tricks to accomplish it in Adobe Photoshop. Buy the book...you won’t be sorry.

Scenes of Summer Photo Contest

Stephen Terlizzi — 2009-08-06T21:02:26-07:00

Sorry for not writing in a while. We have been going crazy launching our new Web site at www.wearephotographers.com. Moreover, we have start our first photo contest, Scenes of Summer.

Please check it out:

Drupal, Drupal, and more Drupal

Stephen Terlizzi — 2009-06-22T23:23:42-07:00

I haven’t been blogging here much lately, because I am designing our new Web site for our startup, WeArePhotographers.com. Since it is a big web community site, we are using a CMS system and have chosen Drupal. I am amazed by the flexibility and complexity of the tool, but firmly believe it will be the answer for future Web development. Tools, like Dreamweaver, will be having a hard time.

As for personal blogs like this one, I think Rapidweaver will still be sufficient. This was a nice break from the complexity of Drupal, but back to the big design!

Sushi Maru - San Jose Japantown

Stephen Terlizzi — 2009-05-25T18:47:50-07:00

The next time you are in San Jose drop by Japantown and have some great kaiten-zushi (回転寿司).

So what is it? It is a sushi restaurant where little plates of fresh sushi are placed on a conveyer belt and pass by each patron at the sushi counter. You then simply grab the food that you want and, at the end, you pay based on the number of plates you consume. Based on the decoration of the plate, the price is different to reflect the different types of sushi. Of course, you can still order directly from the sushi chef, if you don’t see something you want.

Sushi Maru in San Jose has some excellent sushi and is worth the visit. It is located at:

262 Jackson St
San Jose, CA 95112
(408) 998-8170

I can recommend that you try an assortment of sushi and then ask the chef for the daily recommendations. However, you should watch out, because it is very easy to run up the bill as you pull one tasty morsel after another off the belt.

Volunteer as a Photographer

Stephen Terlizzi — 2009-05-16T08:39:34-07:00

Want to improve your photographs? Is the secret to get better equipment? Absolutely not...better photography comes from taking photographs. But where do you find interesting subjects to photograph? Volunteer to be a photographer for a non-profit and document their event. I recently did just that for this year’s Bike to Work Day in Silicon Valley.

It is a win-win for everyone involved. You get to practice your photography skills in a low-risk environment and the organization gets better photos than they normally would get with a simple point-and-shoot.

Tiffen Dfx - Filter Options Galore

Stephen Terlizzi — 2009-05-07T14:15:30-07:00

I recently purchased Tiffen Dfx V2 Standalone Edition for my Macbook Pro. It comes with over 1,000 filters and special effects for post-processing your photos. While many effects can be recreated in Adobe Photoshop, the ease-of-use to try different effects makes this program a winner at only $99.95 for the standalone edition. It is the equivalent of buying 2-3 actual filters to put on your camera.

There is too many different filters to describe here, but the filters are categorized by filter function: Film Lab, Gels, HFX Diffusion, HFX Grads/Tints, Image, Lens, Light, Photographic and Special Effects.

So what can this software do? Let’s look at these before and after pictures. I took a quick grab shot of a raven at the top of the tree. It is not an exciting photo, but some interesting composition with the location of the bird and the branches of the tree.

Before

After

I used several filters to create the after image. First, I used the “day for night” filter to make the image look like it was taken at dusk. Then, I added a layer and used a Gel filter to darken the blues in the photograph. Another layer with a grain filter gave it the feel of a film shot and finally, a vignette filter caused the blur and darkening at the edges.

The software allows you to compare different filters easily and to select and mask where necessary. Also, you can change the opacity of each layer. It is a very flexible program that unfortunately does have a Windows legacy and can be seen in some of the menu structure. Nevertheless, definitely worth testing on its 15 day trial; though I warn you that you might likely end up buying at the end.

Gorillapod: "A" for Convenience

Stephen Terlizzi — 2009-04-30T13:22:01-07:00

I recently picked up a Gorillapod SLR-ZOOM from Joby. It is a very easy-to-use tripod that attaches to any standard SLR cameras, video cameras, or even your own tripod head. The Gorillapod SLR-ZOOM can support up to six pounds, while still maintaining its compact size. It costs about $50 dollars.

The cool thing about the Gorillapod is that you can wrap the legs around just about anything. So if you are on a photowalk, just attach it to a fence and get in that picture. Also, you can add accessories to the it such as a tripod head or a flash attachment.

I have paired this with a Manfrotto 484RC2 Mini-ball Head (Retail - $60) and now have a very portable tripod. It is also great for shots around the house. Highly recommended.

Your Handwriting as a Font for Free!

Stephen Terlizzi — 2009-04-14T15:32:13-07:00

www.yourfonts.com

MacHeist Bundle Update (2)

Stephen Terlizzi — 2009-04-05T07:29:10-07:00

Final Update! (4/9/09): MacHeist 3 Bundle is over. They sold over 88,000 copies of this amazing bundle and raised $850,000 for charity.

Update on the Update! (4/6/09): MacHeist 3 Bundle is fully unlocked. They are over $500,000 in donations to charity so The Hit List and Espresso have been unlocked. There is only one day left for the Bundle Sale so act quickly to get 14 applications for $39.

Here is another update on the MacHeist Bundle 3.

BoinxTV has reached the unlocked stage as the sales promotion has generated over $400K in charity donations. The new mega-unlock point for the final two applications (The Hit List and Espresso) is $500K and there are two days left on this application promotion. As of Sunday 4/5 AM, there is about $95K to go.

If you are on the fence on this promotion, now is the time to act. We can all get the final two applications. I can tell you from experience that I have used these applications much more than I expected. LittleSnapper has replaced Skitch...Picturesque is my quick phone beautifier...and World of Goo has wasted too much of my time already! Finally, I have used WireTap Studio, Kinemac, and BoinxTV to help with my new Web startup, WeArePhotographers.com.

MacHeist Bundle Update

Stephen Terlizzi — 2009-04-02T16:28:33-07:00

Update on the Update! (4/4/09): MacHeist has just added for all customers another application to their bundle, Times. It is an unique RSS reader that organizes the feeds into a visual newspaper format. Normally, it sells for $30. I will give it a look; though it will be hard to get me to shift from NetNewsWire due to the iPhone client and synchronization with NewsGator.

You will need to hurry though. There is only three days left in the MacHeist 3 Bundle!

Just a quick update on the MacHeist 3 Bundle. They have added two additional applications to the bundle: Delicious Library 2 and Multiwinia. If you have purchased the bundle and tweet about it on Twitter, you receive the gifts. Don’t be surprised if you are hit with a bunch of tweets saying:

I bought the @MacHeist 3 Bundle. 12 Top Mac apps worth $900+ for just $39 AND I just got Delicious Library 2 FREE! http://mhtweet.com/g4Flrc

So what are these new applications?

Delicious Library 2 is a great way to catalogue all your media. It won tons of awards several years ago and can use the iSight as a bar code reader. My entire book library is organized using Delicious Library 2. I highly recommend it.

Multiwinia is a shooting war game where you command stick figures to fight your friends online. I haven’t tried it out yet, but it looks fun. Certainly, it will be an attraction to buyers who have complained that there isn’t enough fun applications in this year’s bundle.

Picturesque is very cool!

Stephen Terlizzi — 2009-04-01T19:27:57-07:00

I really like Picturesque which I recently picked up as part of the MacHeist Bundle. It isn’t a full-fledged photo editor, but allows for quick enhancement of a photograph. It does four things really easy and well: (1) creating cool 3D perspectives, (2) producing awesome reflections without any need for layers, (3) introducing some curves to the photo without using masks, and (4) adding shadows, glows and frames around your picture.

For a presentation that I was preparing, I needed an image to illustrate something happening every 12 seconds. I took out my Nikon D40 and took a picture of the stopwatch on my iPhone on a blank piece of paper using daylight from the window. With Picturesque, I added some of the enhancements I mentioned above and made an awesome image with significant impact. This tool won’t replace Photoshop, but it is great for blogging, newsletters, presentations, etc.

MacHeist 3 Bundle

Stephen Terlizzi — 2009-03-29T14:42:23-07:00

Update (3/31/09): MacHeist has juiced up their bundle by adding Cro-Mag Rally for all customers. While a little “retro” (i.e. dated), Cro-Mag Rally is made by Pangea and has seen a revival with its iPhone version. Another reason to purchase the bundle if you are into prehistoric rally games!

I recently purchased the MacHeist 3 Bundle that is currently for sale. There is an excellent mix of applications in the bundle and it is definitely worth a look. At only $39 it is practically a steal if one or two of the applications are of interest. Here are the applications in the bundle and my take on them:

iSale ($39.95)
iSale is a application for eBay that allows you to make a professional-looking auction. I am not much of an eBay person and have not testing the application.

Picturesque ($34.95)
Picturesque is a cool-little application that allows you to easily manipulate photographs by changing its perspective, adding a reflection, creating a frame, etc. It is not a full-fledged photo editor, but adds some neat tricks. I would not pay $34.95 for it, but, as a bonus application, it is a winner.

SousChef (30.00)
I haven’t loaded SousChef, because I am already deeply into MacGourmet Deluxe. I didn’t think that I would be into a recipe management software, but it has been a real benny in the kitchen.

World of Goo ($20.00)
World of Goo is cool. A must play. Enough said.

PhoneView ($19.95)
My iPhone has become my lifeblood. This application allows you to get at the data stored on it in an easy fashion. That is a winner in my book.

LittleSnapper ($39.00)
LittleSnapper lets you store and annotate screenshots or web page captures. Previously, I was using Skitch for this functionality, but no longer. LittleSnapper is much better and made by Realmac Software, the company that makes Rapidweaver - the software I use for this blog.

Acorn ($49.95)
Acorn is a simple-to-use photo editor. I haven’t tested it out, but I won’t be using it. Instead, I will stay with Pixelmator - the software I got from last year’s MacHeist bundle.

Kinemac ($299.00)
At $299, Kinemac was definitely included in order to bump up the value of the bundle. However, it looks like an easy 3D animation package. I will be using it to create animations for videocasting with BoinxTV and uStream TV.

WireTap Studio ($69.00)
If you want to record any audio which is being played by your Mac, then Wire Tap Studio is the software. I can see how it would be very useful for podcasts, capturing Skype conversations and for making custom ringtones. This app was unlocked when the charity contribution hit $100,000.

BoinxTV ($199.00)
I really want BoinxTV. It is a great software to create and edit videocasts in a live-to-disk or live-to-internet method. Right now, this application is not yet unlocked and requires $400,000 in charity sales. I am hoping that we reach this level before the sale ends.

The Hit List ($69.95)
The Hit List is a software package for to-do lists and “Getting Things Done.” I already use Omnifocus for this and won’t be changing, particularly since The Hit List doesn’t have a iPhone client. This application is also not yet unlocked and its unlock level has not been announced.

Espresso ($80.00)
Espresso looks like an excellent new web development tool that will compete with Coda. I am sure that this one will be a big draw for people if we get close to the unlock level. It will be unlocked at the same time as The Hit List.

I recommend this bundle. I think there is a lot of good applications in it at a very favorable price. Here is my referral link to the bundle. For full disclosure, if two people buy through my link, then I get two additional applications: Ambrosia’s Pop-up and Koingo Utility Package. By the way, any bundle customer who refers two additional purchasers can get this software as a bonus.

iPhoto 09 - Initial Impressions

Stephen Terlizzi — 2009-03-10T10:24:23-07:00

I have been using iPhoto 09 for about a day. I am happy with the three major improvements that Apple made: Faces, Places and Improved Editing. However, as usual, Apple dropped the ball on a couple of things.

First, with Faces, it is too difficult to got through my thousands of photos and find and check the photos for the face recognition. I cannot find a way to sort the photos in a smart album by unidentified faces. If that was available, then one could easily add the appropriate name. Also, I cannot find a way to add a name to a face that is misidentified when confirming names. It could be a learning curve issue, but it would have been good to get those features.

As for places, it works great if you have the GPS coordinates in the photo’s EXIF data BEFORE you import it into iPhoto. However, if you did not have the GPS coordinates in the EXIF data, it is a bearish manual process to add them with iPhoto. Also, if you use a tool like Geotagger or HoudahGEO to modify the EXIF data within the iPhone Library, there is no way to tell iPhoto to update its database. Finally, any input into the iPhone database of GPS information is not inserted into the underlying files EXIF data within the library.

All this technical mumbo-jumbo aside...please make sure you have the GPS coordinates in the photo’s EXIF data before you import it into Photo. So, in short, the new Faces and Places feature is great going forward, but Apple dropped the ball on utilities to make it easy to migrate your existing photos within the iPhone library.

Want to Get More Out of Your DSLR?

Stephen Terlizzi — 2009-02-26T18:40:44-08:00

Are you looking of a book to help you understand how to get the most out of your DSLR? I highly recommend that you read the Digital Photographer’s Notebook by Tom Ang. You can get it here from Amazon for around $17.

Each chapter covers a different facet of digital photography. Chapter One is an overview of the equipment required for photography and, even though the 3rd edition is three years old, it was a valuable overview. The second chapter is about the camera and taking the best shot possible. I firmly believe that it is better to take a good shot in the camera than to rely on trying to fix it in image post-processing.

The next chapter deals with various challenges of different fields of photography. I found the tips to make the best photos quite informative. The fourth chapter on scanners was probably the weakest. Maybe it was simply because I am shooting digitally and don’t have much interest?

Chapters 5 and 6 on digital manipulation and output processing more than made up for my flagging interest in Chapter 4. Ang provides an excellent overview of post-processing and output management. He clearly explains how to use the basic tools within your photo editor. You won’t be an expert in Photoshop, but you will know enough to get started.

Have you ever wished to improve your photographs? If so, this book is worth the investment.

The Future Death of Television

Stephen Terlizzi — 2009-02-17T16:31:36-08:00

Today, I have seen the death of broadcast TV. For more than 2 hours, I watched the Tour of California on Versus, suffering through their endless amounts of commercials. It turned out that the stage finish was delayed by about 20 minutes and, instead of staying until the end, they cut away to a hockey game.

Completely frustrated, I went online and it turned out that the Amgen Tour was broadcast from this Web site, see below. Note only did they have video and audio UNTIL THE FINAL SPRINT, but also they had play-by-play...GPS tracking..chat room...standings...etc. This is the future of media entertainment...Versus and its ilk are walking dead!

Happy 200th Birthday President Lincoln

Stephen Terlizzi — 2009-02-12T15:15:47-08:00

Today is the 200th anniversary of the birth of America’s greatest president, Abraham Lincoln. President Lincoln faced some of the gravest challenges for the nation as President and was able to keep the country together.

In tribute to his birthday, the Library of Congress released some new photos of the president onto their Flickr stream. Enjoy!

The Coming Drought in Silicon Valley

Stephen Terlizzi — 2009-02-04T21:17:14-08:00

We definitely have not been getting enough rain in these winter months in Silicon Valley. I suspect that we will see some serious water rationing later this year.

I recently took a walk in Memorial Park in Cupertino and the fountains were almost completely dry. Watching the swans and the ducks on these dry beds, while a great venue for some grab shots, really hit home the need for some serious rain over the next couple of months.

Nikon Photos

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-12-20T14:39:50-08:00

I recently took the plunge and purchase a Nikon D40 DSLR with two lenses: (1) the stock 18-55mm and (2) the 55-200mm VR zoom. I also picked up a SB-600 external flash. The entire system with shipping came to just over $700 from B&H Photo.

It is an amazing entry-level system and is definitely a gateway drug into digital photography! I have added a permanent page of my favorite photos to review. See the navigation bar above.

I hope you enjoy them.

Done Solely on iPhone

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-11-29T21:22:25-08:00

I have been playing recently with the camera on my iPhone. It is not a great camera, but, with some skill and apps like CameraBag and Photogene, you can make some good pictures.

A Local Photoshop in Palo Alto color-enhanced using Photogene

A Rose distorted using a Fisheye filter from CameraBag

Save the Planet using a B&W filter from CameraBag

Rubber Ducky color-enhanced using Photogene

Shoup Park in Los Altos using an Infrared Filter from CameraBag

Twitter, Friendfeed and Facebook

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-11-09T07:28:22-08:00

Amazingly, I haven’t had a blog entry here in more than two months. Boy have I neglected this blog! I apologize.

With Twitter, Friendfeed and Facebook, I am wondering if blogging will die over time. More people can get an instant update from me on those streams. We are definitely seeing a transition in my online activities.

Also, with my new social networking startup, I have been spending much more time building a network and business plans than blogging on the net. There is a definitely bandwidth limitation on a person’s ability to invest in a blog-worthy article.

I will start to blog more...my Omnifocus GTD keeps nagging me to do so!

Beware of Zeptopad V1.5 Upgrade

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-08-22T09:48:29-07:00

Yesterday, I upgraded a drawing application, Zeptopad, that I have on my 3G iphone to its latest version V1.5 using the standard mechanism within iTunes. The upgrade went as planned, excepted I was faced with an unpleasant surprise. After the upgrade, Zeptopad had wiped out all on my previous drawings!

I really like the drawing program, but data loss from an upgrade was not in my plans! Fortunately, I didn’t have anything critical on the drawings and they can be recreated, but it does shake my confidence in the program. Too bad since it is a nice program.

If you have Zeptopad on your iPhone, you should export the drawings to your photo roll before you upgrade. Unfortunately, you cannot import them back in a full-size afterwards. I do not know if there is a technical hack on a jailbreaked iPhone to get at the drawings to protect them.

Anyhow, you should protect your drawings before you update to Zeptopad V1.5. Otherwise, they will be lost in the upgrade.

Slow Syncs with Omnifocus and Your iPhone

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-08-10T14:23:17-07:00

Having a problem with syncing Omnifocus on your Mac with Omnifocus on your iPhone? I sure was! In fact, I was ready to trash the whole solution and complain to Omni Group about the $100 that I spent on the solution.

Fortunately, Omni Group is planning a new version of Omnifocus for iPhone that will solve the problem, but hasn’t appeared yet in the App Store. If you can’t wait like me, there is an AppleScript workaround provided by Omni Group at this link.

It solved the problem and I am happy again. If you are a serious GTD user, you should check out Omnifocus.

UPDATE 8/13/08 --- Omnifocus V1.0.3 is now on the App Store and supposedly fixes the Sync problems.

Some Fun with Words

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-07-05T18:35:46-07:00

Occassionally, you come across a fun site. Wordle is just that.

As the Web site describes:

"Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends."

I ran the tool on my blog and here is the "word cloud" it created:

Lots of fun. Enjoy!

Moo Cards: A "purple cow"

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-06-27T08:57:09-07:00

If you are in the market for an innovative way to differentiate yourself, you should check out Moo cards. As Seth Godin says in his book Purple Cow, “Cows, after you’ve seen them for a while, are boring...A Purple Cow, though. Now that would be interesting.” Conventional business cards are boring, while Moo Cards are not.

Moo is a London-based printing company that allows you to create your own unique and personal products using stock images or your own photos from Flickr or your computer. Their minicards are 28x70mm in size -- approximately 1/3 the size of a regular business card -- and can have any picture on the reverse size with 6 lines of text on the primary side. While they are higher priced than ordinary business cards, they really differentiate you.

Since I have been handing out Moo mini-cards, I have not failed in engaging the other person about the cards and my background. They are definitely worth getting.

Fluid & Google: The Death of Office?

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-06-19T08:51:45-07:00

If you are an Apple user and frequently use sites like Facebook, FriendFeed, Google Docs, etc., then Fluid is a technology that you need to investigate. Fluid allows you to very easily to run your favorite web applications as separate Cocoa applications on your desktop.

I created a separate application for FriendFeed, Facebok and Google Docs. Why? To manage my workflow easier and to prevent the situation where an error in one tab kills my other tabs. The combination of Google Apps and Fluid is very powerful and has the definite potential to make Microsoft Office irrelevant someday. I am not yet ready to abandon Office; however, the sharing and search capabilities of Google Apps are very appealing.

I recommend that you download Fluid and try to make some Site Specific Browsers. I think you will find it very helpful in the move to web applications if you are use to the desktop application workflow.

A Good Investment of An Hour of Your Time

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-06-07T07:44:04-07:00

I just finished watching an hour-long video on YouTube of a panel by authors Marci Alboher - “One Person/Multiple Careers: A New Model for Work/Life Success” and Tim Ferriss - “The 4-Hour Workweek; Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich”. It was part of the Authors@Google series and took place about one year ago in Mountain View.

Some key takeaways resonated well with me. Tim Ferriss emphasized time and time again against focusing on list of items and accomplishing as much as possible as opposed to focusing on the effectiveness of the work you are doing. His pareto analysis approach, i.e. focus on the 20% that achieves the 80%, is spot on. He also said that, when forced to do things from 9-5 in a single location, people will make up things to do to fill the time. While managing organizations, I have found this to be very true . The key is getting people to do innovative, effective things with the extra time.

Marci Alboher talks about “Slash Careers” where you have multiple jobs/pursuits to your life. I can certainly relate to her discussion. In addition to having run a division in a high technology company, I have specific interests in marketing, sales, computers, coaching individuals, writing, presenting, wine and cooking. I am always balancing these different activities in my life. I am truly a “slash” individual.

The video offers a new way to look at careers and life and really reinforces my belief on time management. Enjoy.

Starbucks/AT&T -- Why so complicated?

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-06-03T10:03:17-07:00

Incredible hassles this morning trying to register my Starbucks card for free wifi support. Firstly, they obviously did not size the system to handle the demand. Even though I was entering my proper Starbucks login and password, the system insisted on coming back with an error.

Then, finally when I got through, it wouldn’t accept my card that currently has a $15 balance because...get this...I haven’t used it in 30 days!?! What about all the soy lattes that I have bought with cash in the last 30 days? They don’t count.

This is what happens when a corporation treats their customers like criminals. Obviously, some empty suit at corporate headquarters is worried that someone may “free ride” on the wifi network by buying a latte and sitting there for many hours.

Starbucks just doesn’t get it! Simply provide free Internet access like Panera, independent coffee shops, etc. and they will come...and they will drink coffee. Get rid of these absurd hoops to jump through and 2-hour limitations. Particularly since your competition already has!

Starbucks should trust its customers and they will reward it with their business. Especially those who already have their loyalty cards!

UPDATE: I made a special trip to Starbucks to buy a latte on my card. It was accepted finally!

Evernote and ShoZu

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-05-31T15:39:05-07:00

Lately, I have been using the beta of Evernote as a way to organize my notes on the MacBook Pro as well as to have an online copy. While still a little immature, the synchronization, search and OCR on photos are very impressive. Also, the integration with various platforms (Mac, Windows and Windows Mobile) is cool.

One thing I was not happy with was the resolution of the snapshots done by the Evernote Windows Mobile client. As an alternative, I could take a higher resolution photo and then email it to my Evernote email account; however, it would take a lot of steps. Enter ShoZu.

By making Evernote email my one-step account in ShoZu, I can quickly take a photo and send it to Evernote online. Evernote will store it, OCR it and, when I synchronize with my Mac application, provide a copy on my laptop. It is quite cool.

I recommend that everyone should try Evernote and ShoZu. They are an excellent combination.

Reckless Kelly - Time to Visit the iTunes Store

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-05-30T15:14:36-07:00

There are times where you find a hidden gem and you need to pass it forward. Reckless Kelly is one of them.

I was introduced to them by one of my friends. Hailing from Texas, their country/rock blend is quite enjoyable...if you don’t have any of their music, it is time to visit iTunes and download their three best songs:

Wicked Twisted Road
Seven Nights in Eire
Stick Around

Enjoy!

"A Tale of Two Upgrades"

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-05-29T15:25:06-07:00

To quote Charles Dickens, “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” This week two long-awaited upgrades arrived for Mac users: RapidWeaver V4.0 and Delicious Library 2. Both have offered some free upgrades to its installed base.

RapidWeaver allows any registered RapidWeaver 3.6 customer, i.e. a Serial Number starting with RW3SN. RapidWeaver is an excellent Web site creation tool and is the one used for this blog. For me, the upgrade was a snap and now I am using RapidWeaver 4.0 for this entry. I will report on my impressions of RapidWeaver 4.0 in a later blog entry, once I have had the opportunity to explore it further.

Delicious Library has stated that any customer that bought Delicious Library 1 on or after December 1st 2007 would be entitled to a free upgrade to Delicious Library 2, when available. Here is the actual blog entry. Delicious Library is a cool application that allows you to “catalog your books, movies, music, software, toys, tools, electronics and video games”. However, unlike the RapidWeaver upgrade, this upgrade is not going as well. The Delicious Library 2 installation and migration of my library has gone flawless; however, the new version does not accept my Delicious Library 1 license key. Consequently, my instance of Delicious Library 2 is running in demo mode and will NOT allow me to scan in any new items.

There are no instructions on the Delicious Monster Web site on the process to get a free Delicious Library 2 upgrade license key and I contacted Delicious Monster by email two days ago about the problem. I have yet to receive a reply.

My hope is that Delicious Monster will be honoring their commitment to the installed base. In any event, they are not handling the situation as well as RapidWeaver. I am wondering if we will see a rerun of the YazSoft PR disaster?

UPDATE 6/4: Good news. I found the free upgrade path for Delicious Library. You simply need to go through the normal purchase process embedded in the software and they will credit you the $20 upgrade fee if you qualify. Unfortunately, I needed to find this on my own and there is no real explanation on the Delicious Monster Web site. Nevertheless, I never received a direct response from Delicious Monster.

UPDATE 6/18: I finally got an email from Delicious Monster with my free license key. Clearly, they have honored their commitment to existing users; however, it is more than three weeks since the product announcement.

Was I in Tokyo?

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-05-26T08:59:44-07:00

Sometimes I am surprised and yesterday was one of them.

While my wife was shopping for food at Nijiya Market - the Japanese supermarket in Mountain View, Ayumi - my 10 mo. old daughter - and I went to Grain D'or Bakery in the same strip mall. Grain D'or is related to Andersen's Bakery chain where I frequented often when I lived in Tokyo. We get excellent premium white and raisin bread there.

Also, I normally sit with Ayumi and have a cup of coffee and sometimes a cheese danish. They brew Mr. English Coffee from my favorite coffee shop in Los Altos. This time however, they had run out of all the freshly-brewed coffee, except de-caf. When I told them that they needed to re-fill the "high test" coffee, they offered me a free cup of espresso for the inconvenience. Nice touch, but hardly blog-worthy. Patience.

As I was having my coffee, an elderly person in a wheelchair came into the restaurant and one of the staff helped her to the table next to mine. She was going to have lunch in the cafe. At the same time, out of joy Ayumi let out a huge shriek and the elderly woman commented how loud she was. It was understandable so I moved to the outside tables to give her some peace --- after all she is paying good money for lunch, too.

Here is the blog-worthy service item --- after I finished my coffee and brought the mug inside, the same staff person came and apologized again for the lack of fresh coffee AND to tell me how adorable my daughter is and thank me for moving to accommodate the elderly person. It is the kind of service and commitment you unfortunately don't find here in America, but is commonplace in Japan.

As Seth Godin puts it, it is part of Grain D'or 's purple cow and what makes it remarkable. I recommend that you visit the store at 137 E. El Camino Real, Mountain View, CA 94040 (650) 210-9488.

What if this afternoon your Twitter feed was offline?

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-05-15T12:58:20-07:00

Ironically, after praising Twitter yesterday for helping my solve my RSS feed problem, the service was out for a couple of hours in the late afternoon on 5/14. It is interesting how addicted I am to the Twitter feed for get up-to-date information from my trusted network.

What if this morning your digital newpaper didn't arrive?

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-05-14T08:09:18-07:00

Imagine waking up and finding out that you have zero newsfeeds pending to read. What happened...did everyone decide to boycott the Internet? Could there actually be no updates to the 34 feeds that I normally follow? The silence is eery...almost like something out of a horror movie or a Twlight Zone episode.

Unfortunately, the moment of insanity passes and Occom's Razor takes over. The simplest solution is the best...there must be something wrong with the mechanism that is updating my NetNewsWire feeds. So I start at the beginning and assume sleep is to blame and stop and restart the application. No effect. After hitting the Refresh All button five or six times hoping that it would automatically start up again, I decide that I need to fix it.

Dismayed and annoyed, I vented my frustration by sending a status update to all my social networking sites using MoodBlast. Suddenly it dawns on me...maybe it isn't only me. Rather than searching the forums to find a solution, I decide to see if anyone else is complaining on Twitter. No one in my feeds are having the same problem?!?! However, I do get my news fix on how Team Slipstream is doing in the Giro.

However, when I go to Summize, I hit the Jackpot! Not only is there a description of the problem, but someone has already provided a solution...NewsGator is the problem and remove the synchronization from your preferences within NetNewsWire. Suddenly, the RSS feeds load and I have 104 new feeds to read. Maybe, I shouldn't be so happy.

This was a very illuminating experience on our dependence on and the power of new Web V2.0 communication methods...i.e. RSS Feeds and Twittering. In record time, I was back up and running...the free and quick dissemination of information will dominate the future of the Internet.

A Bag of Nails

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-05-11T20:48:57-07:00

Once upon a time there was a little boy with a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he should hammer a nail in the fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. But gradually, the number of daily nails dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the first day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He proudly told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence.

"You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out, it won't matter how many times you say 'I'm sorry', the wound is still there."

Source: A Old Buddhist Tale

Quotes to Live By

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-04-22T09:03:03-07:00

Below are some quotes to live a full and enriching life:

"To expect defeat is nine-tenths of defeat itself." --- Henry Mencken

"Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm." --- Winston Churchill

"Tough times don't last. Tough people do." --- Joe Torre

"Every time you spend a dollar, you sacrifice a bit of your future." --- Unknown

"Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy." --- Thinh Nhat Hanh

"Nothing will be ever attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome." --- Samuel Johnson

"If you laugh, you think and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day." --- Jim Valvano

State Farm Insults Bicyclists

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-04-05T10:22:53-07:00

In the following advertisement from State Farm, a businessman to save on rising gas prices moves from driving his car to commute to work to riding a bicycle. The advertisement's proposition is that they will save enough money on his insurance so he can go back to his gas-guzzling automobile.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6sNjUoF_Do

The guy is portrayed stupidly with a suit top and cycling pants and a women ridicules the person for his cycling pants. This commercial is just another attempt to portray automobiles as the end-all, be-all and cycling as a second-class citizen. If the guy can get to his office safely, then all the power to him for cycling instead of driving. Good for his health, good for the environment, and good for all of us.

We should be promoting commuting to work by bicycle...not denigrating it. To learn more about commuting to work by bicycle, please see this site.

Road Less Traveled

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-03-27T08:43:29-07:00

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth

Then took the other as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet, knowing how way leads onto way
I doubted if I should ever come back

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference

Robert Frost

Fighting Diabetes by Cycling

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-03-26T15:35:45-07:00

On June 6th I will be cycling 75 Kilometers to fight Diabetes in the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure fund-raising event. The Tour de Cure is a series of cycling events held in over 80 cities nationwide. I have joined thousands of others to pedal in support of the Association's mission: to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.

According to the American Diabetes Association, the top 10 reasons to fight diabetes are:

• Nearly one in ten American adults now has diabetes.

• Diabetes is the fifth-leading cause of death by disease in the U.S.

• Diabetes is a chronic disease and has no cure.

• Each year, more than 80,000 people with diabetes undergo amputations.

• Diabetes can cause other serious health problems ranging from stroke, heart disease, and
kidney failure.

• The incidence of diabetes has increased by 61 percent since 1990 and continues to rise at an
alarming rate.

• Approximately 20.8 million Americans have diabetes — including 6.3 million who don’t even
know it.

• An additional 54 million people have pre-diabetes, putting them at great risk for developing
type 2 diabetes.

• One out of every three Americans born today will eventually develop diabetes if present
trends continue.

• More than $1 in every $10 spent on health care services in the U.S. is attributable to diabetes. This translates to more than $132 billion direct and indirect healthcare costs (2002 statistics).

If you are interested in helping with a donation, please click on this link. Your tax-deductible gift will make a difference in the lives of more than 20 million Americans who suffer from diabetes and another 54 million people in the United States with pre-diabetes. Each kilometer I ride, each dollar you donate will be used in the fight to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by this disease. Together, we can all make a difference!

Yesterday's Post Was An Internet Prank --- Rickrolling

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-03-15T09:06:41-07:00

Yesterday' post was an Internet prank called Rickrolling. Basically, you trick the reader into believing that the post is important and then sending them to a copy of Rick Ashley's "Never Give You Up". The song actually hit #1 on the Billboard Charts on March 12, 1988.

Some details on Rickrolling can be found here. And yes it is a real link!

Celebrating a 20 year anniversary

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-03-14T10:41:21-07:00

Check out this link!

Enjoy! ;)

YazSoft Makes Good on Their Offer to MacHeist Customers

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-03-13T12:59:23-07:00

What an incredible month for people who bought the MacHeist bundle! The forum pages were exploding about the SpeedDownload V5 upgrade and YazSoft's handling of the situation.

Happily, YazSoft has come to a final resolution on the issue and it is very good. Kudos to MacHeist and YazSoft to fix the situation for the best interests of the customers. However, time is short to take advantage of the upgrade so read below:

• This offer will last a total of 14 days from today (expires March 27, 2008).

• All MacHeist II bundle purchasers interested in Speed Download 5 can get it for free by entering username/email on this webpage. Once your info is validated, you'll receive your personalized Speed Download 5 info via email.

• Those of you who get Speed Download 5 for free will only get one Speed Download 5 license (not two). That free Speed Download 5 license will not qualify for discounted pricing or a free upgrade to Speed Download 6 when it's released.

• All MacHeist II bundle purchasers who've already purchased the Speed Download 5 upgrade for $15 before the start of this 14 day arrangement have 2 options:

you can do nothing and keep the two Speed Download 5 licenses you received as well as get Speed Download 6 for free when it's released
- or -
you can request for a refund from Yazsoft, in which case the 2nd Speed Download 5 license supplied to you will be de-activated and the free upgrade to Speed Download 6 removed

• All MacHeist II bundle purchasers who'd like to purchase the Speed Download 5 upgrade for $15 to show their support (during this 14-day period) will continue to get a 2nd Speed Download 5 license for free. If you choose to do this you'll also get Speed Download 6 for free when it's released.

• All MacHeist II bundle purchasers users that would like to purchase the Speed Download 5 upgrade for $15 to show their support (after this 14-day period) will continue to get a 2nd Speed Download 5 license for free. A free upgrade to Speed Download 6 will not be offered however.

YazSoft also has information at their Web site http://yazsoft.com/content/macheist.html.

An Instructive Joke for Eliot Spitzer

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-03-11T20:57:09-07:00

There once was a young man who had just left the doctors office after learning he was dying. He was understandably very upset by the news. He decided to find out what alternatives to medicine might be available and the very same day headed to the city's main public library to investigate further. Tucked away back in a dusty corner was an obviously old book on unusual facts. Searching through it, he stumbled across an entry concerning an account of some immortal porpoises living in Central Africa. Deciding on the spot that this was his salvation, he soon was on his way across the ocean to deepest darkest Africa. Hating to fly, he'd booked passage on an outgoing ocean liner.

Horrible Day for Bay Area Cycling

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-03-10T16:56:35-07:00

Yesterday was a terrible day for cycling in the Bay Area. Two separate accidents on roads that I normally ride remind us how fragile life is.

On a normally safe road, two cyclists were killed and one seriously injured after -- believe it or not -- a sheriff deputy apparently fell asleep at the wheel and ran into them across the road. Both cyclists were professional racers with one having Olympic potential. Also, on Skyline Blvd. at the top of the western hills of Silicon Valley, a car turned right in front of four Webcor riders --- also a racing team --- who were in a paceline. Three were sent to the emergency room with one still in the ICU. These riders were not recreational riders, but very skilled riders.

Cars and bicycles need to share the road safely. Dave Zabriskie, a world-class cyclist and a member of the 2008 Slipstream/Chipotle, has founded an organization Yield to Life to promote a safer environment for cyclists. It is time to get serious about safety for cyclists. Please donate to Yield to Life.

http://yieldtolife.org/

My Trusty HP12C Calculator...on my Mac

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-02-24T13:17:05-08:00

My trusty HP12C calculator is coming up on its 20th birthday party. Ever since my B-school days at Dartmouth College in 1988-1990, it has provided me with steady reliable functionality. I cannot image living without it.

One key different between HP12C calculator and others, besides the reliablity and excellent keys, is the use of reverse polish notation (RPN). In short, rather than inputting "1+1=" to get an answer, you input "1 enter 1 +". It uses the concept of a stack to store intermediate values. For a simple equation like "1+1", it is not relevant, but, for complex equations like (5+6)*(42-23)+24, RPN is much more effective. Of course, once you start using an RPN calculator, you become totally dysfunctional with a regular calculator beyond a simple "1+1="!

Not normally a problem since I have the trusty 12C; however, it always was a problem with standard calculators on PCs. Not with Leopard on my Mac! The standard calculator in Leopard can be easily converted to RPN with a simple Command-R. Nevertheless, it is not the same layout as my HP12C and doesn't come with all the same functionality.

That has changed...enter nonpareil for Mac OSX.

Nonpareil is a simulator of vintage HP calculators that was originally written for Linux. At this site, you can get a version for Mac OSX for your favorite HP calculator. Enjoy!

A Little Software to Trick Up Your Mac

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-02-14T15:11:32-08:00

Sometimes the little single purpose applications are the coolest to trick up your Mac. Today the Web site MacApper featured SlimBatteryMonitor , which is an excellent replacement for the standard battery monitor in the Apple menu bar. It takes up 70% less space than the standard battery monitor, but, with innovative use of color, is much more effective at showing the current status of the battery.

Definitely check it out. It is a great, free application. Also, the developer accepts donations thru Paypal.

Anatomy of a PR Meltdown

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-02-12T20:48:54-08:00

Today Yazsoft introduced a new version of their software, Speed Download. According to their Web site, Speed Download 5 "continues to enhance and tweak the performance of Speed Download to ensure utmost reliability. Version 5 includes tons of key improvements, and is a recommended upgrade for all Speed Download customers."

So where is the PR meltdown? Let me tell you a little story. I am using Speed Download Version 4 from my MacHeist bundle purchase last month and am quite happy with the product. Today, when Speed Download starts, it tells me that there is a new update for the software and starts an automatic download. Turns out, that the update is NOT a free update and loads a demo version of the software. Moreover, it won't accept my MacHeist bundle license when I entered it.

After looking at the MacHeist forum site, I found out that the MacHeist Bundle License wouldn't work so I tried to downgrade back to Version 4. Guess what, the Version 4 on Yazsoft's Web site was also a demo software that wouldn't take the MacHeist bundle license, but now it wouldn't download at all. The trial period was expired. Now, I couldn't download at all! Luckily, I was able to save the day by restoring from Time Machine!

I found out something else while at the MacHeist forum site. Even though Yazsoft was giving their MacHeist customers a discounted upgrade fee as they did with other Version 4 customers, it was giving customers who bought the software since January 1st the upgrade for free. Despite assurances that the version that was bought last month with the MacHeist bundle was a full version --- later confirmed by MacHeist on the forum ---, Yazsoft decided to change the rules and consider its MacHeist customers as promo software customers, different from their other customers. Unlike Circus Ponies who clearly stated that their V2.0 product would not be a free upgrade for MacHeist customers, Yazsoft never clearly stated their intentions.

Consequently, the MacHeist forum is ablaze with unhappy customers that feel that they have been cheated. Moreover, in addressing their concerns, Yazsoft's responses have been very defensive and evasive. They have blamed MacHeist for the misunderstanding and have pretty much alienated more than 40,000 new customers from the MacHeist bundle. One can follow the entire situation at the MacHeist forums. Moreover, the bad publicity is now spreading into the mainstream Mac bloggers (see Macmerc.com).

Whether or not it was an unethical business practice (bait and switch comes to mind) or simply incompetent marketing, this is a clear case of how NOT to do marketing in today's web marketing world. Yazsoft should have been upfront with the status of the MacHeist customers during the bundle sale. Now they face the need to make a drastic change in their policy or risk permanently destroying their reputation with a broad vocal group within the Mac user community.

Pimp your Mac with Gelaskins

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-02-10T20:03:15-08:00

One of the coolest ways to pimp your Mac is to use Gelaskins on it. Gelaskins are super low-profile skins for your Apple (or other PC) laptop computer. They come with an advanced 3M adhesive that makes them cleanly removable if you want to change the art. I wouldn't recommend changing out your skins on a daily basis, though.

They claim it is for protection purposes and, while it does protect against scratches, it only protects the top of your computer due to heat flow issues. Nevertheless, if you want to get noticed at the coffee shop while surfing the Internet, this is definitely the way to go!

They come with various types of artists; both traditional from Monet to Hokusai and new young artists such as Nathan Ota and Aya Kato. The skin on my MacBook Pro is The Great Wave Off Kanagawa from Katsushika Hokusai. It is part of his famous Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji wood block series from around 1831. Hokusai is world-renown as the best at Japanese woodblock printing; also known as ukiyo-e. In fact, his work was very enthusiastically collected by French impressionists, such as Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec.

Finally, if you looked closely at the photo, you will see that my 3rd Generation iPod Nano is also tricked out with a Gelaskin. Yes, they have them for iPods, iTouchs and iPhones, too! It is a skin of work from a young artist in Los Angeles, named Nathan Ota. His illustrations are very cool!

Presentation Zen: Buy it!

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-02-06T18:23:33-08:00

Every once and a while there is a book I read that just clicks. It simply knocks the ball out of the park. Presentation Zen is one of them!

A very easy and quick read, Presentation Zen offers page after page of excellent advice about how to build winning presentations. Before reading it, I thought I was an excellent speaker. Afterwards, I realized that I was implementing only about 30-40% of the ideas in the book. I cannot wait to prepare my next Powerpoint presentation. How often does someone say that!?!

Garr Reynolds is currently an associate professor at Kansai Gaidai University in Japan and spent many years working there. Consequently, the book has a Japanese flavor to it, which obviously also appeals to me. Some of the lessons are simply profound in their simplicity. For example, the key to a good presentation is two questions: "What is your point? Why does it matter?". I do not know how many presentations that I have attended in my life where the presenter was clueless on these points and just presented what he or she felt comfortable to present regardless of the relevance to the audience.

Another profound point is that the powerpoint slides are there to complement the speaker, not replace him or her. Therefore, every single point should not be on the slides. That is what should come out of your mouth. When the audience is trying to unravel the meaning in a complex slide, they are not listening to the speaker. Keep the slides simple to support the speaker...not replace the speaker.

I also liked the sidebar sections that provide interesting tidbits of knowledge. One cool one is about the Pecha-kucha method. Basically, Pecha-kucha was developed by a couple of expats in Tokyo and consists of presentations, where the presenters are limited to 20 slides, each shown for 20 seconds as the presenter tells the story in sync to the transitioning slides. Within only 6 minutes and 40 seconds, you need to tell your story. How's that for getting your pitch down?

What about all these restrictions? Reynolds postulates that the restrictions are actually liberators of your creativity. I agree wholeheartedly, but it is definitely work to get things to be simple. As Mark Twain said, "It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech." However, the investment that you make on the preparation makes the investment your audience makes worthwhile.

As for investments, go buy Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds. It is definitely worth it. Also check out his blog.

Leopard Version of MenuCalendarClock for iCal

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-02-04T19:17:56-08:00

Objectpark Software introduced Version 3.0 of its MenuCalendarClock for iCal, which supports Leopard.

It is a great replacement for the standard clock on the menu bar. When you click on the menu bar, it gives you a complete view of the monthly calendar. The days where you have appointments are highlighted and if you mouse over the day, it shows your appointments for the day. It also shows your to-do items within iCal. It is a very cool tool.

One negative is that it has a clunky dock icon that normally must exist on your dock. Search the Internet and you'll find out how to get rid of it, too. The software comes in a freeware version as well as a paid version with additional functionality.

http://www.objectpark.net/

Businessweek Doesn't Want Us to Link to Them

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-01-27T16:28:57-08:00

In an effort to be as far away from successful Web marketing as possible, Businessweek does NOT want bloggers to link to their site. According to this CNET report, Businessweek's use policy forbids bloggers from linking to interesting content, presumably to force users to start at their home page rather than deep linking to the content.

This runs completely counter to the new Web 2.0 Internet. They should be encouraging us to link to their pages to drive clickthrus to their Web site. It increases the possibility of all different social networking engines to highlight their stories in mashup sites. It just goes to show how out-of-touch mainstream media is when it comes to the Internet.

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9858916-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

Obama Under Attack

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-01-24T18:29:26-08:00

There is an interesting arcticle on Wired about Senator Obama using email and other Internet technologies to fight off email chain rumors of him being a secret Muslim. What makes it interesting is the viral nature of the Internet. Should Senator Obama use the Internet to fight off the allegations and possibily risk spreading it further or should he not dignify the dirt by giving a response?

Lately, Senator Obama has been becoming much more aggressive both in person and on the Internet to fight off allegations. I doubt it is a good strategy to be so aggressive and further an negative image. To paraphrase the Queen in Hamlet, "Methinks, Senator Obama doth protest too much!"

http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2008/01/obama_mail

Pakistani Army Attacks Militant Stronghold

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-01-20T20:29:40-08:00

Today, the Pakistani Army made a military attack in the border region near Afghanistan. The Waziristan region is not under Paklstani military control and is the stronghold of tribal leaders that support terrorists, like Al-Qaeda. The Pakistani army has found multiple engagements in this region with limited effect.

This new offensive shows that Musharraf wants to send a message that he is making a difference at tracking down Bhutto's assassins. He is on his way to Europe from a multi-day trip, including the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. This helps him with his interactions with other world leaders as well as sends a message to Pakistanis that he is taking action.

Hopefully, this will lead to a broader initiative for Pakistan to secure the border and limit the activities of tribal warlords that are supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan. If it makes life difficult for Al-Qaeda...so much the better.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1705491,00.html

Please Buy the Excellent Mac Bundle using Another Link

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-01-18T18:16:21-08:00

The Mac Bundle at MacHeist is a great value. I am very happy with the software in the bundle and, if you refer another two people who buy, you will receive a copy of LaunchBar and Notebook. Both applications are exceptional.

LaunchBar really fills a gap between a true launcher and Spotlight. Previously, I had been using Quicksilver, but its future development is suspect. Moreover, LaunchBar is actually easier to use. Notebook allows you to arrange all your information into a flexible, notebook format.

I have been fortunate that two of my friends have bought through my referral link so i do not need any more referrals. However, there are a large number of people that either are looking for someone to buy with their link or are about to buy and are willing to trade referrals. I recommend that you go to the MacHeist forum to buy.

So please do not use my link below, but rather go here:

http://www.macheist.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=6697

Excellent Mac Bundle at MacHeist

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-01-13T16:39:16-08:00

For you Mac users out there, MacHeist is offering an excellent Mac bundle of software. It has several applications that I have been using regularly since I bought the bundle, including utilities, such as 1Password, AppZapper, CSS Edit, and Speed Download, and applications, such as Coversutra, Snapz Pro X, and Pixelmator.

The bundle costs $49 and 25% of the sale price will be donated to a charity that you can choose out of a 10 options. All the applications are unlocked at the time of this writing, except Pixelmator. However, it is close to being unlocked, too. Click on my referral link to get to the site.

https://www.macheist.com/buy/invite/52696

Blogging from Mr. English Coffee Shop

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-01-12T14:17:14-08:00

I am sitting here blogging in a specialty coffee shop in Los Altos called Mr. English, where not only do they provide some the best, freshest-roasted, organic, fair-trade certified coffee (how is that for a value proposition!), but also free wifi access. Unlike the Peet's Coffee down the street - which has no wifi --- and Starbucks down the other street -- where it costs money, Mr. English provides the perfect combination for a Saturday afternoon in Silicon Valley. Great coffee and Internet access.

McDonalds vs In-N-Out Burger

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-01-08T21:06:53-08:00

One of the problems with being away for several weeks is that the cupboard is bare. Consquently, I have had the "dubious" benefit of eating fast food twice this week. Once for breakfast at McDonalds and once for lunch at In-N-Out Burger. For you unfortunate souls who do not live in California, Arizona or Nevada, In-N-Out Burger is a local burger chain that emphasizes the quality of the food.

Hatsumode

Stephen Terlizzi — 2008-01-03T21:17:07-08:00

Hatsumode (初詣) is practiced by many Japanese in the New Year. It is the first visit to a shrine to celebrate the New Year and typically happens during the first three days of the year when everyone is on vacation. This year I visited Senso-ji temple in Asakusa.

Happy New Year from Tokyo

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-31T23:34:51-08:00

Hello all...Happy New Year from Tokyo!
新年あけましておめでとうございます。

A great Korean meal in Tokyo?

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-29T14:30:44-08:00

I had an awesome Korean meal last night for dinner. No I didn't travel to Seoul...I had it in Tokyo. In Adachi-ku, no less.

Akihabara Visit

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-28T19:54:16-08:00

Today I made a visit to Akihabara, which is the place for the latest electronics in Tokyo. The assortment of computers, cellphones, digital cameras, etc. is mind-blowing. If any place can bring out the inner geek (or in Japanese otaku) in you, it is Akihabara.

Bhutto's Assassination

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-27T14:58:40-08:00

It is a sad day for South Asia geopolitics as Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in Pakistan. Ms. Bhutto was shot at close range by a gunman in the neck and the chest with the neck shot being the fatal blow. Afterwards, the gunman blew himself up causing more damage. The fact that the suicide bomber was so effective at taking out his target makes me wonder about the security around Ms. Bhutto.

Greetings from Japan

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-26T13:29:14-08:00

As part of the New Year's celebration, I am spending it in Japan. New Year (Oshogatsu) is the most important holiday in Japan and represents a chance to start afresh with a new year. It is a time when people close out all the business from the old year, go to bonenkai parties (i.e. parties to forget the old year) and plan celebration for the New Year.

However, New Year's celebration is more of a family affair than a New York-style, Time Square-like celebration. In fact, New Year's eve is very quiet, followed by a family meal on New Years Day. However, I am getting ahead of myself; I will report on this in more detail later.

SRS iWOW V2.0

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-20T22:40:24-08:00

I found another must-have Apple software package. SRS iWOW plug-in has significantly improved the audio quality of the speakers in my Mac Book Pro. When I am listening to iTunes, there is a clear difference between the sound with and without iWOW.

The product costs $19.99; however, it was included in a recent promotion bundle from MacUpdate that I discussed last week. In addition to the improved quality, the software has automatic presets that will automatically change the settings based on the genre classification in iTunes. Finally, the product comes from SRS Labs who has a long pedigree in quality audio products. If you listen to audio on your laptop speakers, you should get this product.

Edit 10/23/07: Bad news...it turns out that SRS iWOW interferes with iMovie HD audio playback. Consequently, I have removed it from my computer; however, if you don't use iMovie HD, it is still a good product. Also, there may be other incompatibilities out there.

http://www.srs-store.com/store-plugins/mall/iwow-plugin.asp

Musharraf Ends The State of Emergency

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-16T20:22:00-08:00

In the only nuclear Muslim state Pakistan, President Pervez Musharraf has ended the state of emergency. While met with some approval, clearly the politics in the country and civil liberties of the press and the opposition are still curtailed. Is Pakistan on the path to civil war? What would that mean to the world?

"Baseball's Best" Cheat

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-15T06:56:33-08:00

This week, George Mitchell released his report on steroid use in baseball with the actual names of players. Included in the report was Roger Clemens, among other star players. We now have Clemens, the dominant pitcher during my lifetime, as well as the dominant batter (Barry Bonds) accused of using steroids to enhance their performance. It is an indication of the sad state of affairs, where win at all costs is paramount. I think it is a microcosm of a bigger problem in America: the lack of moral absolutes...no real definition of right versus wrong.

Death as a Taxable Event

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-12T06:19:49-08:00

There is a common saying that there is only two certainties in life: death and taxes. The estate tax combines both into one event.

My Ten Favorite Non-Apple Software Packages for My MacBook Pro

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-10T20:49:40-08:00

In no specific order, here are my top ten favorite Non-Apple software packages that I use everyday on my MacBook Pro. Enjoy!

1) Journler --- Journaling software
http://journler.com/

2) Rapidweaver --- Website and blogging software
http://www.realmacsoftware.com/rapidweaver/

3) iGTD --- Getting Things Done software
http://bargiel.home.pl/iGTD/

4) Sapiens --- Interesting mouse-based launcher
http://www.donelleschi.com/sapiens/

5) Inquisitor for Safari --- Spotlight for the web
http://www.inquisitorx.com/safari/

6) MacTheRipper --- DVD Ripper for Mac OSX
http://www.mactheripper.org/

7) Quicksilver --- Comprehensive application interface
http://www.blacktree.com/

8) Slingplayer --- Watch your life TV on your MAC
http://www.slingmedia.com/

9) VMware Fusion --- Run Windows in a VM
http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/

10) SecuritySpy --- Watch your IP Surveillance Cameras
http://www.bensoftware.com/ss/

The Cravery

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-09T12:33:33-08:00

If anyone is ever in Irvine, Tustin or Los Altos CA and you are looking for excellent gourmet fast food, you need to check out the Cravery. They take the simple pot pie and transform it into a gourmet meal.

Great Mac Software Bundle Promo

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-07T19:22:48-08:00

MacUpdate has a great Mac software bundle promotion underway that is well worth the money. They have partnered with 10 Mac developers to bring us a fantastic bundle. You can buy this bundle for $49.99 instead of $534.75, a savings of $484.76. Hurry though since this offer ends in 4 days.

Ahmadinejad declares victory but the real victory may be peace

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-05T21:34:10-08:00

As expected, Ahmadinejad has declared victory in the latest news that Iran may not have a nuclear weapons program. By standing up to the West, he saved Iran. However, just as it was no longer advantageous for Iran to continue the threat of developing a nuclear weapon, it may no longer advantageous for Iran to portray that it is a wild card that led by a fanatic.

No Nuclear Weapons Program in Iran

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-03T21:27:50-08:00

According to a report released today by the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), Iran has not been pursuing its nuclear weapons program since the fall of 2003. This reversal of assessment on the risk for Iran on nuclear weapons opens the window for Iran and US to negotiate a peaceful settlement on Iraq.

Venezuelans Say No!

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-02T21:58:41-08:00

Regarding Chavez's referendum to provide sweeping changes to the Venezuelan constitution to increase presidential powers and bring about socialistic changes, the Venezuelans say No! The voters defeated the measure by 51% to 49% delivering a stunning defeat to Chavez's agenda in an apparently fair election.

Chavez: Ruler for Life?

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-02T14:49:45-08:00

The initial exit polls are in and it appears that Hugo Chavez will have succeeded in driving his referendum through to allow him to potentially rule Venezuela for life and to turn the major oil exporter into a socialist state. With the removal of term limits on the presidency, Chavez can run for president indefinitely and serve as long as he wins the elections.

Organizing my Thoughts

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-12-01T15:39:12-08:00

For approximately 1 month, I have been using Journler, a daily notebook and information manager on my MacBook Pro. Using Journler along with iGTD - a Getting Things Done organizer for the Mac, I have been able to better document my thoughts and organize my activities.

Misguided Job Protectionism in Today's Flat World

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-11-30T19:25:12-08:00

America is facing a very real talent problem. We cannot get enough knowledge workers in the United States and lawmakers are irrationally concerned about limiting the number of H-1B visas for foreign professionals to work in the United States. The reality means that the job will simply move overseas and the salaries won't be spent on goods and services in the US which would improve the US economy, but rather will improve another country's economy.

No more stinky environment, No more stinky feet

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-11-27T18:46:10-08:00

Skyonic Corporation of Austin TX has come up with a process to capture and convert carbon dioxide emissions into something that not only is easy to store, but is incredibly useful...sodium bicarbonate. Also known as baking soda!

Middle East Peace Talks

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-11-26T17:55:26-08:00

This week starts the Middle East peace talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis. While the Bush Administration feels optimism, that progress could me made, the dynamics of the region preclude a major breakthrough agreement.

Whales and Asian Geopolitics

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-11-25T14:22:43-08:00

A recent post in the NY Times blog Dot Earth talked about the unpopularity of Japanese whaling amongst various countries and Japan's insistence on whaling for scientific purposes. While whale meat is not often eaten in Japan --- for disclosure purposes I ate it once when I lived in Japan, I believe that Japan's insistence on its right to whaling has more to do with geopolitics than culture or food.

Welcome to Kangae

Stephen Terlizzi — 2007-11-24T20:16:08-08:00

Welcome to Kangae.

Kangae (考え) is Japanese for idea. That is the theme for this blog...sharing my ideas on various items, debates, etc. I hope you will enjoy it.