Shades of Gray

Loans via Kiva

2008-02-12T17:56:50Z

Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world. By choosing a loan on Kiva, you can "sponsor a business" and help the world's working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the entrepreneur you've sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back. Checking the site out, S. and I wondered if the focus on profiles and pictures will mean that only the good looking entrepreneurs would get funded -- hopefully not! But it will be interesting to learn from the Kiva team what trends they see in this person-to-person microfinance endeavor.

Baby humor

2008-01-08T00:46:42Z

YouTube Favorites:
The Fight for Kisses

Dad's Club

Badmash Arrives

2007-09-30T00:29:11Z

Born September 27th at 9:52pm! Badmash is a common nickname in India for mischievous little boys, which I fully expect our N. to be.

We called him "Doc"

2007-04-05T19:00:00Z

We called him Doc for a reason. He had a gift for diagnosing what was wrong. One of my early memories from summers at the farm was reading my cousin's story of Doc and the Seven Dwarves: Sleepy, Sneezy and all the others. Of course, Doc found what was wrong and soon Sneezy wasn't sneezy any more! Later in life, I found that he had a knack for pinning down and explaining all those little problems. When my orthopedist said, "Take two aspirin and call me in the morning," Doc asked a few questions, probed my back and proceeded to tell me what to look for on the x-rays, which exercises to do and what drugs to take and avoid. He loved sharing his gift with his friends; of all the technology he had, I think his favorite might have been a palm pilot medical reference we made so he could keep on advising his Meadowood dinner companies in retirement. His talent was not the only gift Doc shared. Each summer when I came to visit, I would meet a new adopted family member. Bud & Geneva reach out to so many people, providing a steady job, filling in for absent parents, running summer camps, or just delivering care packages in times of need. His generosity set an example, making possible many things that otherwise would not have been possible. Grandpa, we love you and honor the time we had with you.

Collapse

2006-05-22T02:01:02Z

Jared Diamond's Collapse presents an interesting study of many past societies. At first it seemed to lack the brilliance of his previous work, Guns, Germs & Steel. In the course of reading it over several weeks, I took many breaks, considered putting it aside or jumping ahead, but somehow always coming back for a bit more. What's the relevance of deforestation on Easter Island? How can one make any judgment now on a topic as complex as China's emerging environmental policies? The well written introduction claimed it would all come together in the end. And it did. The final three chapters are a tour de force review of 1) behavior and systemic breakdowns that lead to poor societal choices, 2) current initiatives credibly addressing these issues for fisheries, forests and mineral extraction, and 3) a status check on twelve threats to the long-term health of our system. Alone, these three chapters would provide a good primer on the point of sustainable development. Illustrated by a dozen society review of success and failure due to environmental policies, the point becomes unforgettable. Economically-oriented, environmentally-aware, yet skeptical might be a good phrase to capture my attitude towards the concept of sustainable development. Enjoy one's environment, make economic choices, avoid hyperbole and try to structure policies such that encourage long-term viability of the system. This book spoke to me. I don't know how it will change my behavior yet, but I'm sure it will have an impact. For now, I'll start by learning a bit more about the Forest and Marine Stewardship Councils.

Swapping hosts

2006-05-14T02:00:56Z

Changing hosting companies turns out to be a big deal. Just transfered to (mt) Media Temple.

Political worldview

2005-12-18T19:13:18Z

And after a quick assessment of my economic and social political views at the Political Compass, one source of my frustration in politics comes out. Relative to current world leaders, I seem to hold a very different world view.

Theological worldview

2005-12-18T18:46:48Z

An interesting quiz at QuizFarm categorizes one's perspective on Christian theology . Although I'm somewhat of a closet student of religion, I found myself having to research the particular theologians and even some of the doctrines mentioned. Not necessarily for the lay user! Take it at http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=43870. For those interested, here were my results:

You scored as Emergent/Postmodern. You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don't think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this.

Emergent/Postmodern

82%

Classical Liberal

75%

Modern Liberal

64%

Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan

61%

Neo orthodox

54%

Charismatic/Pentecostal

46%

Reformed Evangelical

36%

Roman Catholic

36%

Fundamentalist

What's your theological worldview?
created with QuizFarm.com

Sailing away

2005-07-04T04:33:34Z

Reaching the mid-point of intermediate sailing lessons at CalAdventures, today, I now understand that mysterious smile and hint of yearning in the the voice of true sailers. Sailing a Coronado 15 in 20 knot winds, out into the swells of the open bay beyond His Lordship's point at the Berkeley marina proved a challenge at first. An early capsize with instructor on board provided a sound lesson on the responsibilities of crew and skipper. But by mid-day when the gusts were hitting 25, the mental shift occurred. No longer was the boat "tippy." No, if I wasn't hiked out, tail to the surf in a perpetual situp, something was wrong! Sailing the British Virgin Islands in a 50' boat a few years back, I glimpsed the finer side of sailing. There the goal was to not run a ground, drift out to see or spill the chardonnay. But now I've seen the side of sailing that can properly be called a sport. Heart pumping, sea spraying, hiked to the max and loving every minute. That was today's lesson at the Berkeley Marina.

Mac Annoyances

2005-02-11T05:46:33Z

After using the new iBook for a month now, S. & I have agreed that while generally elegant, it does have its share of flaws. While some are just due to ingrained habits of a decade of PC-use, others are just annoying. The book Mac Annoyances captures the spirit perfectly. I was about to buy this book, until I discovered via Google Print that my particular pet peeves are missing! So instead, here's my list of mac annoyances... 1) Delete key is really a backspace. Turns out fn-delete is the forward delete of the PC world. 2) Many non-postscript Windows shared printers (including our Canon Multipass F80) are unsupported. The article How to Use a Printer Attached to a Windows XP Computer in Mac OS X provides a workaround for this by running GhostScript and a port redirector on the PC. Note that under Panther, you can just share the GhostScript redirect port via Windows instead of setting up Unix print services. 3) Poorly implemented full keyboard access. I'm used to accessing menu commands using Alt-key + letter combinations. But on the Mac, one has to use an F-key to access the right target (menu, dock, etc...) then the arrow keys to navigate to a menu item. This totally screws with my reflexes and means I'm using the mouse much more than I'd like. Looking for a fix, I've come across million articles saying I should just learn the apple + letter shortcuts, how much more consistent these are on a Mac and how the Microsoft implementation is poor design. But you know what? I've got years of muscle memory to overcome and I still use a PC all day. So how about a compatibility mode? 4) Microsoft Office is ... um ... well ... different. Speaking of compatibility modes, how about an option to make the Office toolbars and menu keys the same as the PC version? It's nice that Office 2004 is "mac-like" but if I already know PC Office, why change?

New Year's at Nd

2005-01-13T06:07:09Z

New Year's this year was a bit of a change. Turns out that sunrise from the veranda of Manjali, one of the guest houses of Navadarshanam, is quite lovely. In fact, it inspires one to do a surya namaskar or two (the sun salutation yoga sequence). S. even decided to joined in despite protestations that yoga is slow and boring. The next day, we were doing it again... Another guest commented how impressed she was with our dedication. A feeling somewhere between disbelief and pride started forming. Was I actually turning into one of those people with the discipline to be up early, doing what's good for the body and soul? Impossible! Well, it lasted for over a week. Now back in Berkeley, I find the combination of jet lag and the all too familiar landscape of our home sapping my will. But briefly, I achieved an aspect of that person I've always wanted to be...

Bon voyage

2004-12-28T04:04:55Z

Heading off to India for a few weeks today, hope to have some traveler's tales to tell shortly! Our plan is to spend a week at Navadarshanam, the spiritual retreat near Bangalore run by S.'s aunt and uncle. Then we will go to Chennai to visit other relatives. Thankfully, no one in the family was affected by the Tsunami.

Back to Mac

2004-12-23T21:15:23Z

After waffling for some time, I've decided to switch -- back. Previously a mac aficionado, I'd used a IIci, Powerbook Duo and finally Powerbook 5300 before succumbing to the Windows world of business computing. I'd briefly flirted with going back to a Mac in 2000 when I returned to school, but I couldn't justify the premium and possible compatibility headaches of a TiBook. Lately though, I've been comparing the elegance of iTunes with Adobe Photoshop Album on the PC. Photos, music, finances, web browsing & publishing (to a unix server) are my primary personal computing tasks. And the Mac just makes those regular activities more enjoyable. Or so I believe based on several drop-in sessions to the local apple store. The kicker though was an unbeatable offer. The UIC micro-center held a one-day sale today for 12" 1GHz iBooks at $599. That's 25% off the normal academic price. It's not the $2500 Aluminum Powerbook I'd had on the wish list. But that's a sweet deal for a home system only 30% slower than top-of-the-line. With a RAM upgrade and wireless card, I'll still be under the magic 1K mark. Here's hoping OSX, iLife & such live up to the hype.

Biomedical networking

2004-12-07T19:33:05Z

After the move to California, I've been job hunting with steadily increasing intensity. My prior employer needed me through the end of the year, giving plenty of time to network and consider opportunities. Of course, that also provided way to many possibilities! Biotech, medical device, tools, startup, post-IPO, large company, business development, product management, consulting? It was just like first-year MBA career planning all over again! I've finally wrapped things up though, taking a medical device product management job at the newly established division of a major company. The goal? Take the winning new technology developed by an acquired startup and drive it into new market segments both at home and internationally. Put that way, it sounds like exactly what I wrote back in my old career handbook. The hunt has reinforced a couple of things to me. First, it's a question of not what you know vs. who you know. It is first who you know (get in the door) and then what you know (get hired). Second, even under the best circumstances, 3 months is the bare minimum to complete a job hunt at the professional level. Finally, there are a wealth of resources available--the challenge is choosing the best and getting active in the community. To that end, here are some of the things I've found most valuable in my hunt: Networking groups * NorCal Product Development & Marketing Association * Silicon Valley Product Management Association * BayBioNEST Entrepreneurial Series * The BioScience Forum * BioE2E entrepreneurs' forum Online Resources * LinkedIn peer-to-peer guide of who knows whom and where they work (note my prior entry) * LinkSV directory of N CA venture funded companies There are many more organizations here in the Bay Area, the majority focused on software and information technology. Of those that do include the occasional biomedical topic, SVASE and the WorkIt directory stand out for quality of co-sponsorships and quantity of listings respectively.

How Berkeley

2004-09-24T05:36:34Z

I'd wondered what all the downtown chaos was last Sunday. Now I know it was the "How Berkeley Can You Be?" parade. There's a photo gallery here. I must say, all the junk turned into art and many of the characters in the parade look familiar, but I don't see many of the abundant wildflowers from around town.