Oh my spring break feels good.

Holy moly. It's been awhile. I'm on spring break, have all the time in the world, but haven't had much of anything to blog about lately. Nevertheless, here's a quick update.

First, news.

700 MHz auction is over. Verizon was the secret winner of Block C. Alex totally called it. I'm a bit bitter, but mostly because I would have liked to seen Google win.

AT&T is funding research into a new 3D browser, called Pogo. The linked article has some promising looking vids of how this browser might look. Although still in private beta, it might be interesting to see where this new visualization tool takes the internet.

That's about all the tech news I have for ya in this post--all the news I care about anyways.


I applied to several jobs this week: several internship positions at The Standard Insurance company, another at Intel, although its a summer internship, and another at Jive Software, who writes open source enterprise collaboration software.

I've been relaxing, playing a few vids, reading, spending time with family and I gotta say it feels great. I had lunch with my cousin early this afternoon, then spent the rest of the day perusing PHP, Perl, and Java code to expand my horizons a bit.

That's about it for now. I wish I had more tech news but there hasn't been much exciting news lately.

I hate Comcast.

Two Reasons Not To Own Individual Stocks

Bear Stearns & Washington Mutual.

One of the earliest & most successful investment banking firms on Wall Street (85 yr old Bear Stearns) has taken an alarming fall from solid value to nearly bankrupt in a span of 8 months.

Before I explain further, this is a great opportunity to take my weekly jab at Jim Kramer (host of the most ridiculous show on television). This guy actually had the nerve to recommend Bear Sterns as of LAST WEEK. Check out the video:


Okay, let's get going.

Our increasingly active Federal Reserve, approved a fire sale of Bear Sterns (ticker: BSC) to former rival JP Morgan at a whopping $2 per share to keep the firm from going bankrupt! This is a stock that rose from $60 per share to over $150 from 2003 to 2007. The stock has been in free fall from that point and technically isn't worth two cents, let alone $2.

Similarly, WaMu (WM), a formerly steady and quality holding in the financial sector has fallen from a high of around $45 per share to under $10 within the past year. Again, due to sub prime exposure and terrible management.

The sad thing about these companies going under is that thousands of investors have been absolutely CRUSHED by owning these stocks. AND, they never saw it coming! They couldn't.

There is simply too much risk in owning individual stocks. I recommend diversifying your portfolio across multiple sectors and adding as much as 30% international to add a global element as well.

Remember that if your portfolio goes down 50%, it must go up 100% from that point to be even.

Some Clover love for the Irish - Happy St. Patrick's Day

Just thought I would through a bit of love out for all of us who love and celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Thank god for the Irish. Here's a little Danny Boy for a musical fade-out.

Its a Small World After... 2008

Alright, so I'm totally stoked (which is apparent in all the urban living posts) about the proximity and efficiency gained from living and working in the Portland Metro area. Aside from the whole getting hit by a car within the first month, urban living defiantly is worth not having my own lawn.

There is a flurry of news this morning, this being my favorite from Nature, that half of the worlds population will live in cities by the end of 2008. There is no shortage of advocates of sustainable advantages gained from living in cities. For one, economies of scale (doing anything as big as possible) is usually more efficient than doing the same activity on a smaller scale (less of it, forgiving the gluttony of modern society). For instance railways are some of the most efficient methods of moving large masses of products across land, and if everyone lived in a major metro area, businesses like Safeway could avoid large trucking costs and society could avoid the pollution of having to truck food to the burbs. The list goes on and on with food, travel, electricity, opening agricultural lands, and energy efficiencies gained from vertically oriented living structures (cheaper heating and with modern air flow... cheaper cooling) that are all benefited from living in the city.

The planet is defiantly moving toward urban living, I grew up in the extreme country (Toutle, WA), so this was interesting to me. Whether its by choice or necessity, I think it is interesting, and think the mass migration to the cities could give much needed motivation for some transportation, internet access, and energy efficiency innovations that are needed in our modern era of pollution, disease, and global warming.

Welcome to the cities everyone!

How the Numbers Play

Ran across this cool vid this morning and thought I'd share it with everyone.

More evidence that the rate of change is accelerating. And some scary stats on China. The creators' sources are linked on the YouTube page, if anyone is curious.

Stimulating Essays on Startups

Quick post. Paul Graham (Bio) is a Computer Science PhD and one of the partners of the venture capital firm Y Combinator.

He's got a plethora of great, thought-provoking articles mostly on startups, but also on programming and internet trends.

LINK

Enjoy!!

Stem Cell and Genetic Engineering Lecture

Utilizing the 3rd Dimension

I love Portland!

Alex and I had a great talk the other day about how much fun we're having with, and how rewarding we're finding, city living. I didn't anticipate liking it as much as I do. The more I explore downtown and interact with the city, the more I enjoy it. And one thing I've always fixated on in the city is the utilization of the 3rd dimension (up).

Suburban sprawl makes my blood boil. It's a creepy sort of fantasy world where people pretend they live perfect lives. Kids play in the yard/street, families walk their dogs and chat with their neighbors, minivans and SUV's are standard requirements for qualifying for a loan, and people generally relish in the fact that they've succeeded in achieving the American dream. But it's not perfect, is it? In reality (and I do love reality), suburban living is bland, dry, flat, and plastic. It is the complete opposite of 3rd dimension utilization. It's a fake world, with cookie-cutter homes, where community and street names are named after the nature they replaced with asphalt (Douglas Fir St., Duck Pond Village), and everyone has entirely too much space. So much so that they spend much of their time maintaining that space--moving lawns, pressure washing driveways, weeding gardens, and landscaping backyards. Bleh!

And for the sake of this blog, most importantly it's incredibly inefficient. Think about the volume of air around you currently, it's really quite amazing. If you live in a suburban area, this is likely void of anything except oxygen and nitrogen. City living has always been attractive to me because, among other things, it utilizes this typically-overlooked space, or it at least utilizes this space more so than other areas. One can think of the third dimension in the same way we think about the first two--prime real estate. In the current light of global warming and rising fuel costs, it seems fitting that we should be using more and more of this real estate. Rather than spreading out, we should be spreading up.

Consequential to living downtown is adapting to a smaller area of living. In my opinion people have way too much space and way too much stuff. Alex and I both remarked at how much we threw away in the process of moving. Everyone would benefit from doing a little junk management. It's incredibly liberating to be free of unnecessary crap. And I'm certain I could get rid of more if it was required. I live in a very humble 425 sq. ft. studio, but still find my living situation very comfortable. One cannot escape the fact that square footage = status. The more square footage you own, the more expendable income you must possess, and thus the higher your status. But I think in the future this trend will be blunted to some degree. Within the next 10 years it might be that people look down on those with unnecessary space, and think highly of those who live within their means--I do this already to some degree.

I would hate to argue my way into a corner so I'll end with this. City living is great so far, either because it's still novel to me, or because I really like the lifestyle, but probably a bit of both. The city affords so many amenities that I can't imagine living anywhere else right now. This move has been a real positive experience for me and I urge anyone curious about the lifestyle to post a comment or shoot me an email.

Website Recommendations

Earlier this week I recommended everyone check out Mint, the financial information aggregator/analyzer. Mint is an absolutely great tool, I can't stress this enough. And Evan blogged about LendingClub. In this post I'll list and describe a few useful sites that caught my eye: Bluefly.com which sells high end clothing at discounted prices, LinkedIn.com which facilitates business networking, and Google Reader which organizes your blogs into one browser window.

Bluefly is really only useful if you like to be fashionable, but hate the premium prices. I actually stumbled on this site while reading an article on Mint, Eight Things You Shouldn't Buy New. And I only threw it in because I was picturing myself buying work attire at reasonable prices. Bluefly sells higher end name-brand clothing (Prada, Gucci, etc.) at discounted prices, likely through some sort of overstock deal. "How" is not important--what's important is that they offer great deals (10%-40% off) on really nice clothing. I can't say I personally use this site, as I don't follow fashion all that closely, nor do I have the expendable income to do so right now. Nevertheless, if you're going to purchase nice clothes, at least get the best deal.

LinkedIn is a social network for the professional world. I know everyone is tired of joining social networks, myself included (I'm already on Facebook and Myspace). Alas I decided to joined the LinkedIn network for its potential to build business contacts. I have a light school schedule coming up this quarter and I'm hoping to find either an internship or part-time job in the software industry soon. LinkedIn is one of those tools that might help nab a much-needed recommendation, written or verbal, to land a job. The focus of LinkedIn is almost solely on academic and professional achievements. Profiles typically contain work experience, degrees held, schools attended, relevant skills, etc--it reads very much like a resume/CV. It's a quick way for an employee, potential partner/collaborator, or customer to see how capable you really are.

I've heard journalism is broken. I don't remember where I heard that, but it coincides with my hatred of news programs--so vague and no real content. So two years ago I decided to investigate the blog phenomenon. For a very short time I was bookmarking my favorite blogs and manually visiting each of them every day--as you can imagine, this gets old. It just so happens that Google offers an online blog organizing tool called Google Reader. Reader allows you to search and subscribe to blogs all in a single window. Reader auto updates as blogs are published and appear on the left hand side. I, for instance, like news dealing with technology, economics, and startups, so I added Slashdot, MarketWatch, and TechCrunch. Each morning I get hundreds of blogs, tailored to my interest, hand delivered to my Reader all in a single Firefox window--no reloads, no new windows, or mass-clicking. I scroll past the ones that don't pique my interest and read the ones that intrigue me. Further proof that the larger the internet becomes, the more valuable information organization tools become.

That's all for now--it's getting late. Apologies to anyone already totally familiar with these sites. I hope to conjure several more useful links in the coming weeks. Feel free to add any personal favorites in the comments.

Lending Club

The internet was first marketed as a communication device and information source. Chat rooms. Online libraries. Encarta! And so on. It didn't take long here in America to determine what the internet would eventually become--a MONEY MAKER of course.

Until this point, social networking sites have primarily focused efforts on relationships and (spotty) information.

Enter Lending Club.

Finally a social networking site connecting with the hearts and minds of America (f*!k yeah). The club allows you to borrow and lend money with other members at significantly better rates than major banks. Now we're talking!

The Advantages of Closing a Few Doors

We like options. Ya know? And at times, we may keep doors open without ever intending to walk through them. For example, you told a friend (who you absolutely can't stand most of the time) "I might give you a buzz later if anything comes up." Right.

Here is a NY Times article that suggests closing a few doors; whether with friends, work, etc, may actually be the better route.

Perhaps it's removing a project that's taking away from personal fitness. Or my favorite, "marketing" at work by surfing myspace.

Spreading ourselves too thin will diminish our productivity, effectiveness, and more importantly--well being.

Excuse Me... But You Just Hit Me With Your Car

So, yesterday was really rough. Stars aligned, and "when it rains it pours" really sunk deep into my consciousness. And don't get depressed, because there is a nugget of positivity at the end of the story.

I'm just starting my day as usual, get to the lab, start some reactions... then the phone rings and its my mother telling me that a long time friend had passed away in his sleep, and that his brother had found him in the morning. I know the whole family well, and stacking this death amongst my Uncle Rocky and my Grand Aunt Ruby... at this point I am emotionally hyper sensitive to the deaths of loved ones (never comes easy, but I think you get my point).

So I try to push through the thoughts of grief for my friends family and very close two other brothers (there were three brothers, and they were very close). I hate being intrusive so I resisted direct communication, and figured I would just send a message communicating that if I could be any assistance, just say the word and I'm there.

I hustle to get work done quickly because I needed to vent. So I left work, when home, and change into some biking clothes and start on about 20mi round trip ride to a Hillsboro Game Crazy to buy the newest Xbox 360 Army of Two. Great ride out there, pushed myself to pre-asthma attack for the entire ride in order to keep my mind from wandering. Got the game, which I was enthusiastic about because I had been waiting for along time, another much needed distraction... and started riding home. Then right here, just after the bus stop, a lady wasn't paying attention and took a right hand turn through the bike lane and we collided at approximately 20mph. I tucked, I rolled, and skidded my way to a stop... largely through the resistance of my forearms to the pavement. Most of the blunt force trauma got absorbed in the point of my left hip. I wore a helmet like normal, so when I hit my head on the ground there was not any injury. So luckily, and probably not surprising for people that know me, I was back on my feet in about 1 min, which was the length of time it took me to do my four point self-check (pinch right fingers then left, wiggle right toes then left, mentally check neck and back for tingles, then check teeth). After about an hour to deal with paperwork, cops, and ambulance. I made the trek back to downtown from Hillsboro on public transit.

Now for the conclusions.

The positivity I got out of this experience is mainly the notion that, although most of the time family and friends do not have a major impact structurally in our lives, when the world really beats you up (metaphorically or literally), they totally end up saving you.

None of my support net was available immediately after I got hit, so I ended up bleeding with a non-functional bike in bloody dirty cloths on the MAX just after being hit by an automobile, and I seriously wasn't having fun. But as soon as I got on, the bicyclists that had already occupied the hanging bike storage immediately vacated, helped put my bike up, and started genuinely inquiring what had led up to my current and apparent situation. (nugget 1)

After some great laughs and good advice, couple of assistance offers, I got into the car with my awesome girlfriend of nearly 5 years Pazely. She is 6 weeks from finishing her BS in Nursing, so she quickly got situated to clean me up. I sat in the bath, and this very passive girl watch me squirm and whimper like a 5 year old girl as she scrubbed out my road rashes. But she was a rock, did not flinch even once, which made me feel better. Then Mom had to run down to Portland to check in. Brought supplies, ate dinner, and offered some of that much needed distraction that I had been seeking all day.

In all honesty, although cheesy, was entirely designed to communicate a bad day that totally reacquainted me with the message that we should really cherish our support network, safety net, family and friends. Life gets rough, but the people with whom you have invested honesty and friendship will always back you up and get you through.

Expect that of yourself, and accept it from others when in need... both of which I experience yesterday.

Life Update

Still getting settled in the city. I finally got most of my things unpacked and set up. I'm still arranging and rearranging things to get the best use of space without compromising aesthetics. Overall the city is great. It's such a different lifestyle. I never thought parking would be such a big deal! Currently I park my car in a Smart Park 4 blocks north. My car is almost never the most convenient way to travel anymore. I walk nearly everywhere! And it's actually fairly liberating. It's good exercise. You get familiar with the city and mass transit. You get relatively fresh air. You'd be surprised how good a brisk walk in the morning can feel. I forgot how nice a good walk can be.



Academically, I thought I had a plan all squared away. I need 20 more classes to get my B.S. in computer science. Upon attempting to register though I was informed I needed to apply to the CS major...which is no big deal. I scheduled a meeting with an adviser to work out the nitty gritty details of transferring. I had that meeting today but to my surprise he advised NOT getting a B.S. in computer science. Rather, he suggested applying to the non-degree holding Masters program whereby after 45 credits (15 classes) I would earn a Masters degree in Computer Science. I would still need to pick up a few core CS classes--six or so--but other than that, I was essentially a shoe-in. If you're following my story closely you'll notice something funny here: 20 classes for a B.S. or 21 classes (6 core + 15 graduate) for a Masters.

Tuition is slightly more, but the difference is mostly negligible. But because I've entered PSU in the middle of the year, not all of those core classes I need are offered. But I think a little patience, perseverance, and a student T.A. position to nix tuition will fix me up nicely. In terms of efficient use of my time, I think the Masters program is a pretty easy decision.

And because I love anything to do with information organization, website recommendation of the month: www.mint.com

Mint is a personal finance aggregation site. It pools all your financial data for easy analysis. Alex and I have been following this site for quite awhile and joined back when it was in private beta, but only in the past couple months has it really developed into a really refined tool. Adding checking accounts and credit cards takes 5 minutes. They offer all sorts of graphing and charting visuals to track your spending habits. The Spend Space allows you to compare your spending habits to those of people in the same area. I HIGHLY recommend this site to anyone with more than one checking account, credit card, investment account, etc. It can be incredibly insightful to see where you're blowing the most money.

Book It

Below is a list of books I'll be reading, or re-reading in some cases, by the end of the month.

Yep, I said it. These books don't stand a chance of avoiding my brain.

Deals, Deals, & More Deals: Risk Arbitrage
by Regina M. Pitaro of Gabelli Asset Management

Investing In REIT's by Ralph L. Block

Value Investing Today by Charles H. Brandes

Leadership by Rudy Guiliani
(don't worry I've already read the Audacity of Hope just to be fair)