I feel really mature right now
Ok. So for the last few days, my little brother has been obsessed with these videos of kids doing "drive by insults"... Basically, it's a bunch of kids that obviously have too much time on their hands who decided that it would be fun to drive around town and scream insults at random people from their car. I must admit, I thought it was pretty funny... But then I went to the guy's Myspace page who screams all the insults, and it said he was freaking 19 years old! Which means he's two years older than me, doing things I would have done three years ago. Anyways, I feel really mature -- maybe I'm growing up too fast... Hahaha
Thursday was a terrible day, Friday was amazing. I don't know if I will start blogging about my business ventures; I will think about it for a few more weeks before I write anything.
Some great quotes from Warren Buffet
Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.
On public opinion
You're neither right nor wrong because other people agree with you. You're right because your facts are right and your reasoning is right - that's the only thing that makes you right. And if your facts and reasoning are right, you don't have to worry about anybody else.
On airlines
As of 1992, in fact - though the picture would have improved since then - the money that had been made since the dawn of aviation by all of this country's airline companies was zero. Absolutely zero.
On gold
It gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head.
Um... could this guy be any more of a genius ???
Being well rounded is a bad excuse
For mediocrity.
I don't believe in being well rounded anymore. I don't believe in knowing a little bit about everything. I used to try to know a little bit about everything that was going on; what was happening in sports, technology, business, the blogosphere, etc... I don't want to be like that anymore. It's all a waste of my life. The only thing I should be doing is becoming great at what I love to do; flash developing. After reading The Fountainhead I came to this conclusion. And I'm not talking about trying to become good at something you suck at; find something that you're naturally good at and become the best.
There is a long list of reasons why I have come to this belief; I will begin to list a few.
#1 - Love work, love life - How many people do you know that are miserable simply because they work jobs that they hate ? Last time I checked, nearly 87% of people don't like the jobs that they work at. Sucks for you buddy, that's 1/3 of your day that you get to spend trapped in a cage, realizing that you should be doing what you love. Oh the pain and agony!
#2 - The experts make all the money - True in nearly every industry (I have yet to find an industry that this is not true). Here are a few examples: professional sports - the best players get paid the most; freelancing - the best charge the most; colleges - the best educations cost the most (a bunch of bs - the best educations are free; from real life experiences... but whatever)
#3 - The more you charge, the less you have to work - I'm going to make up this next statistic, but you will understand I think: for every one polo shirt that Abercrombie sells, Old Navy has to sell 10 polo shirts to make the same profits. This is terrible for Old Navy; they have to be selling like crazy to stay in business. Rahul Sood said it best --"Growing market share by slashing prices is ultimately a losing proposition."
#4 - Mediocrity is the bane of human existence - What an unfulfilling life. Great, you're above average at everything you do. You're going to get an above average paying job, an above average car, an above average house. How depressing! You're in between greatness and average! I'd rather suck at everything else and just be the greatest flash developer in the world than being mediocre at everything my hands touch. I must admit, I have tried to be like this for the last few years and it has been completely unfulfilling
#5 - The greatest make all the money - I said it in number 2 and I'll say it again. The world revolves around money; my blog revolves around money; everything in the universe revolves around money. However, I don't want to come across as greedy; let me crush that impression right now. I am very ambitious, and want to be the world's greatest at whatever I decide to do with my life. And money will come with it.
In a world of rapidly evolving technology and competition, becoming the best has never been so easy, and staying the best has never been so hard. Look at Terrel Owens; he was the best wide receiver in the NFL until Chad Johnson came. He couldn't step it up to the next level though, which (my speculation) has led him to an attempted suicide. Life must suck if you can't stay the greatest.
Once you get to the top, stay there.. And stay there for a long time... Do whatever it takes to stay the best, and never follow. Remember: second always tries harder.
Anyways. Don't be well rounded. Be great. At one thing. And you will own the whole world.
Rap music is a religion!!!
IT HAS TO BE. Ok here is why:
- Nelly said "let me see yo grill"... Everyone got a grill
- DFB said "in my white tee"... Everyone got 10 white tees
- E-40 said to "shake them dreds"... Everyone's growin' out their dreds
- The Pack said "I got my Vans on"... The Vans store is filled 24/7 with gangstas
- DFB said to "lean wit it, rock wit it"... I do that every day
- Fat Joe said to "lean back"... I lean back SO much
- Mistah F.A.B. said "ghost ride it!"... And everyone ghost rides
- Mac Dre said "can you do the thizzle dance"... And everyone and their mom thizzes
- E-40 said "go stupid/go dumb dumb/go stupid/go dumb dumb"... And the whole bay went stupid n dumb
- And last but not least, BO RIZZLE said "hop out the WHIP/THIZZ FACE, THIZZ FACE"... And nobody listened to him!!!
- [update] Mistah F.A.B. said “I go dumb in my backpack — superman/spiderman/spongebob backpack.” And suddenly Mervyns couldn’t stock enough kindergarten backpacks to meet the demand :p
Hahahahahahahaha
Any comments ? :p
Atlas Shrugged: first impressions
I have heard a lot of hype regarding Atlas Shrugged. I finished the first chapter today... Before starting the book, I googled it and came up with this article. Thought it was pretty cool. Anyways, I loved the first chapter; it reminded me so much of The Fountainhead. Rand is still introducing the characters and setting the scene, so I won't know much until I get to about chapter 10 on section 1.
:)
The three things you can live off of
Food, gas, and books.
I just looked over my statement for the last month, and those three make up for nearly $500 of my expenses. Well, books made up for about $350 of it; the rest is just gas and food... And you know what ? I felt like I've spent my money wisely for the first time in my life. Usually I would blow $500 on clothes (well, I'm about to blow $1k on new ski equipment and clothes :p, but that's justifiable...), but I think that buying books is almost as good an investment as buying food for yourself. I don't know why, but it just gives me that feeling.
Read to achieve. Seriously.
Finished with The Fountainhead, starting Atlas Shrugged
After three weeks of reading The Fountainhead, I am (sadly) finished with it. But that's not the last time I will read that book; I want to re-read it every year or every other year from here on out. I am starting Atlas Shrugged tonight, which I have heard rave reviews about. Have you read Atlas Shrugged ? What do you think of it ?
And I've added my teacher, Mario Landeros, to my blogroll. Nice to see a teacher up to speed with the rest of the world these days... :)
You’re pushing my buttons… By not pushing yours
All it is is a tiny little green button with an icon of a phone on it. Yes, I'm talking about the "answer" button on your cell phone. You own a "mobile" phone so that you can answer it when you are mobile, or not in the vicinity of your land connection. And when I call you on that mobile phone, I expect you to answer it every time.
One of my biggest pet peeves is people that never answer their cell phones... As in the people you can count on to not answer them. Um... What's the point of you having a cell phone if you're not going to answer it? It's so easy, even if you're busy, just click the answer button and let the person know you'll call them back later. But voicemail, everytime ? That isn't going to land you a job for a new client, now is it ? That's not going to instill any sense of responsibility you have to your parents, will it ? The answer is only two letters long -- NO.
I am willing to make exceptions though, here is a list of a few:
#1 - If you're in a meeting with an important person. People that aren't important, tell them to hold on for a sec and take the call
#2 - If you are drunk or at a party. Self explanatory I think...
#3 - You're skiing
#4 - You're with your girlfriend... Haha JUST KIDDING. Tell your girlfriend to shutup and answer your phone.
#5 - If you're making a bunch of money doing something, and don't want to be interrupted. Money is more important. Period.
#6 - If you're in church... Every time there is an altar call, without exception, somebody's phone goes off. Turn off your stupid phone while you're in church, come on, have some respect for God...
Yeah so those are just a few good reasons.
I'll be down in Mountain View again this weekend, another meeting. Like always, call me if you'd like to say hi or something. My cell phone is always posted online :)
Mmm… it feels so good to be right
Facebook in talks with Yahoo to sell for $1 billion. Hahaha nearly twice as much as that lame excuse of a social networking site... Myspace... Muahahaha
Good job Zuckerberg. You're a genius.
Egoism and Altruism
The Fountainhead deals with these two views at the core of every main character. Here are the definitions of each --
Egoism: the view that we are always motivated by self-interest or that we always should be so motivated. Contemporary rational choice theorists attempt to understand how actual social institutions can be based on the choices of individuals acting according to egoist principles. The prisoner's dilemma and other problem cases show difficulties with this approach.
Altruism: the view that the well-being of others should have as much importance for us as the well-being of ourselves. Some argue that altruism, even if it is desirable, is not possible, and that our ethics must be based on egoism.
The true definition of altruism can not, and will never be exemplified in a human being. The only person that has achieved true altruism is Jesus Christ (you could argue him to be an egoist). It's not possible to reach true altruism because nobody can possibly have absolute humility; even the most minute hint of pride negates the possibility of achieving it. But I don't want to come out against it either; look at what some of these billionaires have done -- Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Google.org have done and are currently doing some amazing things for the world as a whole. I have complete respect for all these people that are involved in helping others; it's a noble thing. But to say that anybody is a true altruist is fallacy.
And what's wrong with being an egoist ? Why can't one be self-sufficient ? Nearly everybody's (I leave out Mark Cuban :p) self-respect is defined by what other people speak over them. The "you are"'s become "I am"'s, as Pastor Greg said tonight at 1221. It's so true though; why can't we have our own images of ourself, and not care about what anybody else thinks ? What's wrong with that ? Sure, when someone tries to stick it to everybody else, they will take so much crap. But at the end of the day, you are not defined by what other people think of you; you are defined by yourself. Bleh.
The problem with me is I feel that I can't express in writing what is in my head; it seems like it doesn't make sense in words. It all works up in my head though. Anyways...
Read The Fountainhead. You wan't regret it.