elan.org - News Entries - September, 2000

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elan.org > Writing > News Entries - September, 2000

Saturday, September 30, 2000
Near my apartment is Santa Cruz Ave. It is a quaint street that can be considered the Main Street of Menlo Park. Most Main Streets are filled with hardware stores, grocery shops and locksmiths, but this one is filled with Japanese restaurants, expensive Asian wares, (tables, tea sets, brass Buddha’s, etc.), banks, jewelers and of course a Starbucks. I walked down the street to get acquainted with the area yesterday. Towards the end of my walk, I checked out the Tibetan carpet store. The two men in there (one was a monk) were quite friendly. One of them told me about TibetLink.com, which is a search engine for Tibetan resources. They also told me about a Tibetan temple down the same road about five minutes away. Unfortunately, there are only two Tibetan restaurants in the Bay Area, both of which are far from here. There are at last five in New York City. I figured with all the Asians around here, there would be more, but there is a larger Tibetan population in NJ and NY then around here according to the two nice men at the carpet store.

11:59 PM

"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug."
-- Mark Twain

4:10 PM

Friday, September 29, 2000
The water quality seems good here and it is coming from Yosemite!

12:17 PM

Thursday, September 28, 2000
I am investigating cell phones and service plans in the bay area. I'm trying to choose a good phone and a plan that allows me to call anywhere in the US without roaming charges. I am leaning towards SprintPCS, although I have used BellAtlantic Wireless (Verizon) for the last year. I came across this funny review of Sprint's service in the Bay Area. Now I'm hesitating. I'll wait until I get to work on Monday and ask around. For this kind of stuff, I trust personal opinion more than any web site reviews for some reason. Do you have any recommendations?

3:19 PM

Wednesday, September 27, 2000
That's it. The last of the boxes are shipped. Time to finish the suitcases. I'm outta here in about an hour. The first leg of my journey is here and the second is here. Elan is going bye-bye (from NJ).

12:20 PM

Tuesday, September 26, 2000
The car wasn't picked up last night. It was picked up today. Hopefully I'll only be carless for a few days after I arrive (which is tomorrow night).

7:20 PM

Monday, September 25, 2000
The weather is getting rather cold out here in Jersey, it will be nice to be here instead.

4:23 PM

Cameras 1, 2 and 4 are down until I get resettled in California. The computers are shutdown. My desks will be taken apart later this afternoon. My car will be picked up by the transporters tonight. My chairs and bookshelf have been taken apart. I'm shipping books, computers and cookware today. I'm off to Bed, Bath and Beyond to get sheets for my new queen-sized bed. Today is a busy day and all about moving except for the good-bye dinner tonight.

12:12 PM

Saturday, September 23, 2000
I am having a few people over tonight for a going-away gathering. Camera 4 should be showing the action...

6:10 PM

Friday, September 22, 2000
I'm moving to California and I want to share with you the motivations, the hopes and the challenges that go with it. So, I wrote a new journal entry (finally) to tell you all about it. It is long, but has a lot of stuff that I think is worth reading (if you like reading the other things you find here). Here is bulleted summary of what I share:

I am moving to California next Wednesday (September 27, 2000).
I am renting an apartment in Menlo Park.
My roommate is Jason Williams.
I will be a Designer for Cooper Interaction Design in Palo Alto.
My friend Max has moved to Silicon Valley, too.
I want to change my life.
Expect some changes around here.

That is a snippet of what you'll find in "Bear with me as I change my life." Some of you have been wondering what is going on in my life. Well, there it is.

11:53 AM

I made it home from Atlanta last night only an hour later than planned. I'm going to miss working with the team there and getting my head around their problems. They will be announcing their corporate site soon, and I'll share the link when they do.

11:50 AM

Thursday, September 21, 2000
It is supposed to rain for most of the day in Atlanta. Let's keep an eye on my outbound flight tonight. Perhaps we'll have fun watching the numbers increase again. Yey!

10:45 AM

Continuing on the storm theme today:
"A vow made in the storm is forgotten in the calm."
-- American Proverb

10:47 AM

For those who didn't know, Yael (Amir's little sister) started a weblog called "16 candles down the drain." And Amir is right, she's a better writer than him or me. Hey Yael, what are you going to call it when you turn 17?

10:42 AM

There was a heavy downpour this morning in Atlanta. There was a heavy downpour during one of my past trips to Atlanta. Life really gets affected in Atlanta when there is a slight change from the typical dry warm weather. It took me 70 minutes to get a taxi to show up at my hotel this morning so I could get to work. The third taxi company the hotel called finally showed up. At least I was able to do work in the lobby while I was waiting.

10:18 AM

Hiring mothers of young children makes so much sense. I've never been able to generalize about another group on the level of concentration and focus that mothers manage to accomplish.

10:06 AM

Tuesday, September 19, 2000
I'm hoping 9:10pm it is because I'm heading to the airport now.

7:59 PM

Cool, next the flight went to 8:35pm then to 8:54pm. If you like seeing numbers increase check out this page.

6:48 PM

I wonder if I will even make it to Atlanta tonight. My flight, initially scheduled to leave at 6:00pm has been delayed to 6:30pm, then 6:50pm and now 8:15pm. That gives me more time to pack and do other things, but still. I wanted to get in a decent hour so I could get to the office early with a well-rested and productive state of mind.

5:21 PM

My friend Ryan (who refuses to do anything new to his web site) won a TiVo this week by writing a poem about why he needs one! There are ten winners a day until October 31st. Enter the contest!

2:17 PM

Today is about packing stuff and sending it to California. That means the cameras are going to be down for two weeks until I move and get settled in. One of them (Camera 3) will be up sporadically until that point. I'm also heading to Atlanta tonight for one more trip of on-site consulting. I'll be back very late Thursday night.

12:28 PM

Some of you have remarked that my brother looks like John Travolta. What do the rest of you think?

12:26 PM

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Monday, September 18, 2000
The wedding is over, though it doesn't feel over. I know that all these years of us wondering, hoping, crying, and complaining about the women my brother has been dating and not dating are over. After you get to certain age and you think you’re ready to get married then every date after that is a struggle until you meet the one. Then, when you meet the one, every date is wondering if she really is the one. I don’t know this from personal experience, but from what I remember, my brother and my older friends went through these stages. Now that's over, right? Well, soon it will be my turn, or at least that is what I heard at least ten times yesterday.
I feel relieved that it is all over, but now there is nothing to stand in the way of me thinking about my move. The best man's speech and seeing people I haven't seen in years was on my mind up until now, but those are both over. Actually, we have a few folks from Canada and California over doing shots of Russian vodka and singing old Yiddish songs. I get to see a bunch of drunken Russian 50-year olds reminiscing about twice a year when someone from my parents' early years visits New Jersey. I find it very entertaining in the beginning, but as the night drags on, I get more impatient. I know I'm going to miss it in California and I'll do the same thing (maybe not drink and sing, but something else—eat waffles and chocolate ice cream?) when I'm older. But anyway, back to the wedding, here are some pictures from yesterday:

My family and me at the photographers before the wedding.

From left to right: My brother (the groom), me, my mother and father before the wedding at the photographers.

The hall where the cocktail hour was.

Amy and me at the reception.

The young dancers hired to entertain the guests.

Something, I don't know what it is, hired to entertain the guests.

People and things hired to entertain the guests.

The bride and groom at the photographer before the wedding.

My brother (Ari) and his wife (Inga) early in the morning at the photographers before the wedding.

I had a blast dancing, playing with the crowd during my speech and seeing all 200+ relatives and friends. It was an event that is closest to what my wedding will probably be like. Although, that depends much on who the lovely lady will be. :)

8:53 PM

"When you kiss me without uttering a word, you speak to my soul."
-- A quote from a Perugina candy

7:54 PM

Sunday, September 17, 2000
My brother's wedding is today! I'm about to finish preparing the Best Man's toast and I need to guard these rings with my life. Pictures to come when it is all over...

7:06 AM

Friday, September 15, 2000
Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez! I want to read about his early life and years of training.

11:53 AM

Thursday, September 14, 2000
Alan makes some good points about TiVo in TiVo is One Jack Short, but I think he is just a bit off the mark. The reason TiVo is concerned about adding features like networking jacks to the box is because the current subscriber base is filled with ETAs (early technology adopters). When and if these advanced VCRs make it to the stage where they are bought instead of today's VCRs by someone like my mother, then the existence of networking jacks is a moot point. At that point put in the networking jack, let the techies have their fun and let third parties improve the system because 85% of the people who buy it won't care and will use it as it comes out of the box. At that point, TiVo has little to lose.

4:57 PM

Wednesday, September 13, 2000
My mom tried her dress on tonight for my brother's wedding. She looked absotutely fabulous (as though she is the bride). I find it absurd that men just can't look as good. We're stuck in a tux, while a woman can (and must, unfortunately) shop like mad for something flattering and unique.

11:05 PM

"Good to begin well, better to end well."
-- German Proverb

4:41 PM

Ryan just pointed out that CNET put up a page of radiation ratings for cell phones. My brick (as I like to call my cell phone, which doubles as protection in dark alleys) is too old to be on the list.

4:04 PM

Living in the NJ I heard a lot about last week's U.N. World Leadership Forum. The radio stations spent most of their time talking about traffic and street closures while urging everyone to avoid that whole area of Manhattan. This led me to think about what they could possibly do to make New York secure and safe. Well, my curiousity was partially sated when I found Dan Bricklin's page (with pictures) about security at the forum.

3:49 PM

Cam found a funny NY Times article that makes great use of bold! Like he said, it is like reading two articles in one.

3:31 PM

I have been researching companies that transport cars. I need to ship my vehicle to California. All the companies seem to be family-owned. They also seem to be all located in the middle of nowhere. I feel like they are all being run by people in the boondocks (is that a word?). Ironically, I get concerned when a company refers me to the Better Business Bureau for references. I guess I'm just not used to dealing with small companies that don't have national brands. Would you trust these guys if you ran into them on the street? Don't they look like the people you would expect to run pyramid schemes?

12:59 AM

Now this is a bit more interesting than Survivor.

12:35 AM

Tuesday, September 12, 2000
Today I was researching ways to keep in touch with family and friends on the east coast when I move to California. I think I found the solution. Yap Gear will let me make 1¢ per minute phone calls to anywhere in the domestic U.S. (only the 48 mainland states). All I have to do is buy the phone for $55, connect it to one of my computers and it will use my Internet connection (regular modem or DSL) to call people.

10:53 PM

Would you believe that in the last seven days 64 people came to my web site looking for a biography of Bill Gates. If you type in "bill gates biography" in Yahoo, my site appears as link number four. I wonder how many students have submitted biography papers that look just like mine.

10:44 PM

Some of you have remained unconvinced by my recommendation to see Nurse Betty. Go see Nurse Betty! Andrew and Rory think you should too. As does Jamie, who's found some cool Crispin Glover fan sites, too.

10:34 PM

I chatted with one of Amir's friends last night about his travels. We decided that when his friends visit his site to read about his travels, jealousy is the predominant emotion. He has done so much already, and its only 3 months into what could be a 12-month or longer adventure. Just a brief list of the adventures that he chose to share: Inca ruins, paragliding, the Nasca Lines, snow boarding in the desert, and passing out while leaving a cafe. The stories he shares and the pictures he leads us to on his front page are awesome, but I found two obscure links (bad pictures from July and bad pictures from August) that tell more about the native life he's seen and the kinds of pictures he takes that we usually don't get to see.

11:35 AM

Sunday, September 10, 2000
Dude, go see Nurse Betty! It was awesome. I haven't laughed so hard at a movie for a long time, and it was real genuine laughter (not short giggles like at Jim Carey or Naked Gun type movies). Even Crispin Glover had a significant part of the movie playing a similar role to his role as George McFly in Back to the Future. In fact, serious Back to the Future fans may notice a line at the end of Nurse Betty that parallels a line George McFly made towards Biff. I'm digressing. It was a hilarious movie with Renée Zellweger and Morgan Freeman both doing an amazing job. Go see it!

1:41 AM

Saturday, September 9, 2000
In this endless quest to satisfy my feet, I found Uncle Zach's Organic Socks. By the way, I have the same problem finding dressy socks. The sizes in the stores are 10-13, and I need the 6-10. There seems to be a short theme on elan.org these past few weeks... short on the content and content about short stuff. :)

6:58 PM

Another attempt at shoe shopping today produced a leather jacket and some okay black shoes for daily wear. Nothing worth writing about on your web site or anything.

5:14 PM

I'm researching mattresses today. I think I've settled on an air-filled mattress from Select Comfort. Now I need to decide on a size: full or queen. Though, this doesn't solve my problem completely. I need to find a frame and head board, too. Any recommendations on a site? At least I could order my mattress, put it on the floor and sleep on it before I get the rest of it.

5:10 PM

Camera 1 still doesn't work. When it stopped working, I forgot to update the "live video" link on the webcam page so when people clicked on it, they didn't get "live video." I fixed it now so you will get Camera 2 when you click on it and I fixed Camera 3 so live video works from it also. I'll be giving the site a little more attention this weekend. I'm hoping to catch up with a bunch of site stuff.

1:39 PM

"Surrounding yourself with dwarfs does not make you a giant."
-- Yiddish Proverb

1:03 PM

Friday, September 8, 2000
My flight was delayed and we landed an hour later than scheduled. Well, at least I'm at home safe and sound. Talk to you tomorrow!

1:27 AM

Thursday, September 7, 2000
I've never seemed to be able to fit a run into a lunch hour, although I've never really tried hard. Somehow, I don't feel I could get a whole run, stretching and shower done in an hour. Yet, more and more people are doing other things during their lunch hour and eating later. I would love to come back from lunch fully energized instead of tired from the food while it digests in my body. Tiredness seems to happen more often than energized after lunch. Although, I almost always come back from a run more energized than not. Perhaps I should work harder on changing my routine.

8:56 AM

There are no quick and easy shortcuts when it comes to health. Eat real fruit and vegetables, don't pop pills for nutrition and to try to prevent cancer.

8:45 AM

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Wednesday, September 6, 2000
To all of my friends who always wanted to have a simple page where they write a journal or weblog like this, but thought it was too complicated... well, now it isn't! If it was too hard for you to setup (what the hell is an FTP template directory?) or it cost too much money for you to host your site, then I introduce you to: BlogSpot. From the company that brings you Blogger, BlogSpot is a free complete hosting and blogging solution (with advertising).

2:29 PM

Sybil, the woman who hosted me for a few days in Singapore, is regressing as the doctors continue to find more cancer in her body. Matt, her loving husband, wrote an update today on his site about her condition and what they are doing. Please send positive thoughts, energy and wishes her way.

1:17 PM

I think I got myself upset when I wrote last night that I'm developing a chubby tummy. So, I got up this morning and went for a jog on the treadmill in the hotel's exercise room (which happens to be next door to my room). Now I feel better and more ready for the long day at work.

8:36 AM

Tuesday, September 5, 2000
Today was a good consulting day. We made progress on various fronts. Tomorrow we’re conducting card sorting studies and usability tests. The Thai food for dinner was decent and will be lunch tomorrow, too. Note: Elan hard at work, with little time to play, makes his tummy chubby.

10:57 PM

Monday, September 4, 2000
Tuesday brings more travel. I'm down to Atlanta again for more design consulting. I think the engagement is working out well. There is a nice chemistry between the team and me. It is a place I could see myself working, although that won't be happening (I ain't moving to Atlanta) anytime soon. The project is interesting, too, for the following reasons:

It is at a point in the schedule where I can make high-level recommendations and they can actually be put into the schedule.
It is before any customers have used the site, so we can make a good first impression.
The client is sensitive to design concerns and a regular practitioner of discount usability testing.

No wonder I'm enjoying it so much. I'll share who the client is when the site launches. I'm not afraid of sharing the above information, mainly because the client knows all these things about them are true. :)

11:44 PM

Today brought four more unsuccessful hours of shoe shopping. Atleast I came away from the experience with two pairs of pants and three pairs of socks.

11:17 PM

In a recent GoodExperience.com column (August 28), Mark Hurst writes the following regarding personalization:

But even the best personalization is no match for good, old-fashioned *word of mouth*. David Weinberger, author of the Joho newsletter, gets this quote in the article:

"If you go to Amazon.com and get a list of relevant titles, is it more accurate than getting advice from your friend? Friends who know you will always be better judges of your tastes than will masses of people who behave like you."

That quote isn't exactly right. Just because my friends know me, doesn't mean they can recommend the appropriate titles or products. My friends don't have the broad experience with a multitude of titles that the masses do. There are pros and cons both ways, which is why both word of mouth and automated massive systems are useful and in use.

12:16 PM

Sunday, September 3, 2000
Last week, I decided to go hiking for a few hours to contemplate my job offers, to reflect on the current problems/opportunities in my life and to think about how I want my upcoming months to be. Overall I have been running around keeping too busy by jumping from thing to thing to person to place to role to thing and so on. I didn't give myself time to renew, so I needed it. Last Sunday was the first time I went hiking by myself. I packed up the bag, picked a spot on the trail map for Harriman and got into the car. I hiked for a bit, climbed up to viewpoint and just plopped down there in my Crazy Creek chair for about three hours. I thought about what I needed to think about (not everything though), made some decisions, stood up, took a picture and hiked back out. When I took the picture, I experimented with the panoramic features of my camera, and was surprised with the outcome. Here was the view from my contemplation seat (278k big).

7:59 PM

Caffeine = drug, what else is new? I learned something new last week about caffeine. Water is the emotional element (metaphysics?). This means that when you drink a lot of water and are hydrated you become more sensitive to your body's signals and emotional triggers. When you are hydrated, you are more in tune, so to speak and have a higher potential to be happy and do the right thing (and be more sensitive to the negative emotions and feel more of the pain). Caffeine dehydrates you, so when everyone on this planet drinks a lot of it, they get an energy boost, but they also simultaneously become number to their feelings. This is similar to alcohol, but caffeine is a more approved escape route. I found that to be an interesting connection--also probably not a surprise to most.

7:23 PM

Actually, do you know what the secret is to making money online? I'll tell you. You can make loads of dough by selling dressy and casual shoes for really small feet! I spent the day in Brooklyn, Soho and the Upper West Side looking for shoes I can wear to my brother's wedding and to replace the raggedy old brown ones I wear everyday that I have been not impressing my interviewers with. Nobody had shoes my size, and if they did, the style stunk. I'm convinced my feet have shrunk in the last year. I never had it so bad trying to find shoes. Seven freaking hours of shopping and not a single purchase. Just last night I was complaining about how shopping was such a wasteful activity. The only thing not wasteful about it today was spending time with my mother--an opportunity that dwindles each day, as I get closer to my California move.

6:57 PM

Why does everybody write about the secret to making money online? There is no secret to making money online. What's the secret to making money offline? There isn't one. It is not about being online or offline, it is about providing something worth paying for in a sustainable way. There is no secret, so stop trying to convince the world there is one.

6:50 PM

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