Annual Report

I think Matt pitched the idea of himself being a publicly held company, that his "stock", or value in life, went up and down based on the decisions he made and actions he took.

Along those same lines, I thought about the Board of Directors (BoD) for Will Read, Inc. Assuming I'm the CEO, who would I chair for his expertise in areas where I may want to grow? Who understands the core of Will Read's business and can help shape the future?

• Lara Owen - Head of energy and social things. She's also good at kicking my ass verbally when I'm being retarded.


• Matt Dickerson - At this point he has more historical knowledge of the company, and a cross section of it's product platform than most. Also a good source of balance and stability.


• Josh Williams - Because if Will Read, Inc. failed tomorrow, Josh Williams, Inc. would be there to step in and fill the gap.


• Davis Frank & Matt Magurany - They share a seat on the BoD because they both continue to show me that a) development can be done in a way that doesn't suck, and b) when the development chips are down, it is still possible to stay in it.


• Anne Radavich -They say that ever if there was a female version of me, it would be a lot like Anne. She is different from Josh in that she shares my traits, and not my mannerisms. Anne is full of surprises, like joining the Army, but like most everyone else on the BoD, has a very level head when approaching life's big challenges.

I feel like my brain could power down and that this team would make the same decisions that I would. There are some areas that are not represented, namely family and spirituality. I feel like there is a lot of room to grow there. Family in the 29th year for sure - there's no choice, the market demands it.

Setting up this analogy seems handy. It lets me identify where I'm investing my time, and it also seems to lend itself to establishing goals for the "fiscal year".

Cat Dudes

We were talking about Cat Ladies at work today, the ladies that have 57 cats and she loves them all and never has children because "the cats are her children", when someone mockingly said "you're being sexist". My brain, kinda mushy from the day anyway, decided to explore.

What it came up with was an observation that I don't know any single guys who have been living alone who owned a cat. None. Dudes just don't need cats. I have no reason to account for this, but an informal survey at the office quickly supported my observation.

Sure, single guys will take care of someone else's cat for extended periods of time. Guys might even verbally assert "I'm thinking about getting a cat, it'd be way easier than having a dog in my apartment." But I think at the end of the day you'd be hard pressed to find a guy who owns a cat of his own volition. Girls are crazy.

128 Slides of an Ideal Workplace

http://www.slideshare.net/reed2001/culture-1798664

This is how Netflix rolls, and largely it is also how Pivotal Labs conducts its business. I love my job.

You Can't Find Me in the Crowd

I've been part of several conversations lately that tell me people are afraid that "big brother" knows or will soon know more than they're comfortable with. One conversation was about the Patriot Act, I also was recently sent this link about what ordering pizza could be like. It basically shows a pizza girl clicking through the customer's health info, recent travel purchases, etc.,  and it is all meant to scare you so that you "Take Action" at the end.

But why shouldn't a pizza joint help me make good health decisions by upping the price when I order a pie? I still have the choice, it just is less attractive now to do the thing I wanted to do. Is it really so bad that this information is at someone's fingertips? If you live in a small community you already know what it can be like with everyone knowing what everyone else is up to. This isn't new. More importantly, why are you living life in a way that you have something to hide?

You argue back, "I don't have anything to hide, but what if I'm overlooked for a job because I have a heart condition, or because I spend a lot of money on pink flamingos?" To that I submit that you've probably been overlooked for things that weren't true about you. Wouldn't you rather people made decisions about you based on the truth?

Sure, if one person lets it all hang out while the rest of us keep it all in, he's going to be pretty vulnerable. But if we all lay it on the line for public examination, the guy who hides and holds back sticks out and draws attention. The more you make visible, the easier it is for people to trust you.

The spread of information isn't anything new, we see it in society old an new. You're already being judged, so why not give someone more than just a cover to go off of? Lastly, airing out your dirty laundry builds trust, so you have nothing to lose and so much to gain. Share your life, share it freely with anyone who will listen.

Found My Bluetooth Earpiece

It was in my fencing bag.

Now if only I could find my missing Wiimote I'd feel a lot less crazy.

My Phone Breaks Out

Because I was tired of my phone being super lame, I jailbroke it. So now I have the following things:

• Backgroundable apps - thank you!


• Bluetooth tethering, not that I really have a good use case for it


• GPS turn by turn directiony thingy


• Keyboard Cat ringtone/alarm  - sweet


• GV Mobile is back!

I still want AVRCP so my headphones can r0x0rz my b0x0rz.  I'm really tempted to shell out some bucks for the camera app that lets me tap anywhere to use the volume key which would be great of self portraits. I also can't wait to hook up a GPS logger to Google Latitude (is anyone a user btw?).

Fun Fact

The term "guano" does not just refer to bat poop. Among other animal poo, it also includes seal poop.

Who knew?

My Phone

I think I loved my iPhone 3GS for like two business days.

But I can't tether. I can't do much with Bluetooth period. I kinda want skip and pause/play controls to work on my headphones. I want to hook up a keyboard just for shits and giggles. I want to sync with my computer without wires. For reals.

I want other apps besides iTunes to play music in the background, like Pandora, so I can rock out AND check my email.

My location should be something I can publish ALL THE TIME, not just when an app is open. Really, I want to send a txt, not look at a dumb app update my position. I know where I am, my friends do not, figure it out.

I want my apps to be approved. Google Voice, Latitude, and all kinds of other cool things that "duplicate functionality" just mean the bar is higher for all parties involved. And you won't hear me complain if they have the occasional scantily clad woman here and there.

The Pre is a great piece of hardware, backed by a great OS, but leaves something to be desired in the app store. The Android has all the Google goodness I want, but someone forgot the headphone jack, wtf? Even Nokia touts a lot of the missing things here. And I might consider a Windows based phone if I thought "usability" was an add-on.

Sad face.

Really Good Birthday

Lara and Bailey combined forces and planned a fun evening for me on my birthday last night. They gathered up some people I know and had everyone show up at Bucca di Beppos. It's been a while since I'd been to a Bucca, but not for lack of trying.

So I had pasta galore, and bread, and pasta, and good company, and wine, and did I mention I had some pasta. Man I love pasta and people. I was given some really great gifts, including an old book I had loaned out half a year ago. I felt really special to have something planned for me. It really made it a great 28th birthday.

A New Question

Bailey asked me Friday night, "Why is a great guy like you not already married?"

I didn't have a good answer for her then. The standard answers could be things like, "I'm not as good of a catch as you may think", "I'm very picky", or "I'm afraid of commitment", but I'm not sure those are the reasons. They're all at least partially true, I am just a guy, I do set the bar high, and I'm just as apprehensive as the next guy (or girl) about spending the rest of my life with someone.

I can blame fencing for some of it. Even in the longest, best relationship I've had, I consistently picked fencing over her, over us. I think that's what scares me the most about fencing - the addictive effect it had on me. Fencing was easy to pick because it was easy for me to feel needed, and it was easy for me to meet expectations. It seemed like I was living, when the reality was that I wasn't risking anything at all.

The more realistic picture would be that I've been married to fencing for the last eight years, and that I've only been divorced for a year - since I moved out to San Francisco. In that sense I'm kind of just getting back into things.

More than just loving fencing, I think the real issue is that I've been reluctant to risk... myself. No, that's not quite right, I put myself out on the internet for all to read and judge, and I risk life an limb doing things like fencing, kite boarding, and rock climbing. These are not safe activities.

I think I'm afraid of failing someone else. I fear becoming another person's most important person, and not living up to her expectations, falling short. I cna point to countless examples in my life ranging from preschool to present day where I have freaked out, broke down, or abandoned a situation because I didn't think I was good enough. I'm not afraid of failure in itself, but I am afraid of people not finding me to be what they need me to be - of that, I am scared shitless.