Images from the party are live. The webcam page will redirect you to the party webcams automatically.
8:50 PMI am taking my Webcams down now to move them to the New Year's Eve party. They should be back up at 9 PM with live images from Dave's house. We will probably update images every one or two minutes and allow you to see all the images taken during the night. If you will be on-line, you are welcome to watch our party as it is going on. Hopefully, electricity, phone lines, the Internet and my ISP will all be working. I may be asking too much.
So, tonight is the night we've been talking about for way too long. I don't feel like anything bad will happen, but some things will at random places. But, technology won't be the main cause, human behavior and shortsightedness will. People will interpret anything negative as worse than it is.
For example, my friend Amir works with former AT&T employees. His coworkers had a lot to do with the telephone network and understand how it works. They said telephones aren't used by most of the population at once, and in fact, the telephone system is designed to handle only 2-3% of the population. So, tonight, when everybody tries to pick up the phone at the same time to see if it's working, the system won't be able to send everybody a dial tone. People might interpret this to mean that all phones stopped working, when in fact, they are working, just not at that moment for you. So, let us be conservative tonight and laugh at everyone else's shortsighted responses. Then we might come to realize how shortsighted we are everyday of every year.
4:10 PMThursday, December 30, 1999
This week was fun. Vermont was great! I enjoyed getting away from the daily routine of home-to-work-and-back life. I did enjoy snowboarding, although I mildly sprained my wrist and knocked myself dizzy a few times. I think I will snowboard again this season.
The backyard of the private house we rented was a frozen lake. We went hiking and some of my friends ice-skated. I even got a chance to make pancakes and (many thin pieces of food that were supposed to be) waffles for everybody. Thanks go out to Amy and Anna for helping me poison my friends.
I went back to work on Tuesday. We are making progress. I think it is a challenge to get the core of everyone’s vision out of their heads and into words in a way that we can all understand, analyze and combine them. Most people have fears of getting to the core of their vision. Sometimes we learn that when we finally express our vision that it isn’t that great or well thought out. Anyway, I am glad I am part of this stage. We are also developing personas as recommended by Alan Cooper in The Inmates are Running the Asylum.
Tuesday night, I went to the Camworld gathering at the Caribe restaurant in Manhattan. I met a few other people who write on their own sites. You can see a list of attendees at Cam’s site. I was curious to meet other people that write their thoughts on their web site for the world to see. What kind of person does it take to do that? Well, these days, it really doesn’t take any kind of person. The technical constraints have been overcome with tools like Blogger. The pioneers who have come before us have helped us overcome the fear and uncertainty. If you have something to say, nothing is stopping you, but yourself. Of course, whatever you create still has to be useful, entertaining and worth reading. Well, that is if you want people to read it.
Speaking of quality writing and linking, I’m finding obvious patterns to the quality of writing I put here. When I sleep well, manage my time well and don’t feel overwhelmed I actually write good stuff. But, when something is unbalanced, like my work or personal life, then that affects the quality of my writing in some way. Therefore, what I write and even when I do or do not write communicates more to you then just the words I write.
After the Camworld gathering I had some steamed milk and honey at a coffee shop near Columbia University with my recruiter. I wonder if I will ever stop calling her "my recruiter." She hooked me up with Onclave and did a great job with other interviews, too. So, great recruiters do exist; they are just rare. Ironically, she is the only one I have ever worked with. If you are a great candidate looking for a new media job in Silicon Alley, check out Silicon Alley Connections.
3:45 PMWednesday, December 29, 1999
Oh boy, what have I become?
12:55 AMFriday, December 24, 1999
We are in Vermont! The drive took us about five hours, with a half-hour gas and food break. We listened to Dave Matthews, Gipsy Kings and Björk. During my next karaoke visit, I want to sing Matthews' "Ants Marching."
Last time I snowboarded was January 1995. I stopped snowboarding because I stopped enjoying it. It felt like a project to drive far to a good ski resort, put on gear, pay money and spend time sitting on a lift so I can cover the same distance on the way down in one tenth of the time. Plus, I was never in good enough shape to excel past an East coast black diamond skier. We will see what this weekend brings.
Last night I went to a wedding. My friend, Ilya Grinberg, married a wonderful woman named Regina. Non-religious individuals would call the event a religious Jewish wedding. I had a wonderful time dancing with "just" men. See, I am so used to dancing with females that I didn't think it would be fun with males. Well, last night I realized the happy energy of the event combined with the movements of dance was more than enough to make it fun.
Traditionally, the guests are supposed to entertain the bride and groom. So, for much of the time, guests took turns engaging in fancy and funny dances, while the newlyweds participated or watched. I would love to make guests entertain me during my wedding. :)
10:16 PMWednesday, December 22, 1999
Nobody found the timely death of Q spooky? Desmond Llewelyn, Q from the James Bond series, died in a car crash (link from Jen Kitchen) on Sunday, December 19. In The World Is Not Enough, his lines allude to this movie being his last Bond movie. He said something like “always have an out.” They even introduced a character to replace him.
I am heading to Vermont with Amy this coming weekend to chill with Amir, his sister and friends. It should be fun and cold.
Next Tuesday I am going to CamWorld’s Holiday Meeting in New York City. I look forward to meeting other people that write these online journals and weblogs. Oh yeah, for those of you who thought I was special, think again. There are hundreds, soon to be thousands and eventually many more who maintain online journals and weblogs.
11:16 AMMonday, December 20, 1999
Saturday night my friends and I realized why people are so nice during Christmas Day. First, we thought it might be because they get presents. Then we thought it might be because they give presents. It isn’t either. We think its because they spent so much time being rude, impatient and obnoxious shoppers. After expending all that negative energy and the relief of shopping being over, they don’t have a choice but to balance their behavior by being polite, patient and kind for one day in the spirit of Christmas.
9:39 AMThursday, December 16, 1999
A few years ago, I discovered the term "shovelware." The media used it to describe content on the Internet that was originally created for another form of media. For example, magazine companies rushed to place their archives of articles and pictures online. Shovelware generally had a negative connotation because the underlying belief was that content created for the Internet is more appropriate than content created for print, TV or radio. Well, the reality is that content that is and isn't shovelware has utility.
So, I would like to introduce my own shovelware. I recently found papers, stories and other things I have written during my high school years. I decided to bless you with the opportunity to experience them. Each shovel (assuming a shovel holds one piece of content) reminds me of how I was. With that in mind I have commented on why and how they were written and what I learned from reading them now, years later. The first entry into my shovelware library is called Facsimile.
Facsimile is a parody of J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. I created my own story, but tried to write it in the same annoying way he wrote. I think I succeeded. I was annoyed when I read Facsimile. I wrote Facsimile for a tenth grade English assignment in 1992. My friends recently enjoyed reading it. I think you might, too.
6:05 PMWednesday, December 15, 1999
Have you ever felt like you live in a car? I do.
Oksana was nice enough to call me last night and inform me that minutes before she saw me on TV. Apparently, I was on a Russian TV station for a few seconds. Last Thursday I helped run an art auction hosted by the Russian Young Leadership division of the UJA (United Jewish Appeal) in New York. We raised some decent money for charities. The Sunday before we hosted a Hanukah party for underprivileged children in Brooklyn. Oksana said that is what they talked about. I had no idea I would be on TV. Cool.
11:30 PMMonday, December 13, 1999
My friend Leo said that I “take this whole be-part-of-a-startup-family thing way to seriously.” I do not think I take it too seriously. I just think that if I spend 45+ hours a week doing something then I should be doing good things with good people for a good reason.
Brigitte said that I express well the nature of working in a startup. Thank you, Brigitte.
I went to a Princeton University formal with my friend Inna this past weekend. That was my first formal. In my four years at Lehigh, I never went to one. I was not part of any group that hosted such events and never dated anybody at Lehigh who was (or wasn’t).
10:46 PMSunday, December 12, 1999
I have a friend. He is funny, uninhibited, smart, caring and quite unique. His name is Max and now you too can experience his humor and uniqueness on his personal web site.
8:58 PM