tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103918232012-01-30T20:39:57.979-05:00Razor_gotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01158957680291788118noreply@blogger.comBlogger971125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10391823.post-11871333429472957262012-01-30T20:39:00.001-05:002012-01-30T20:39:57.984-05:002012-01-30T20:39:57.984-05:00<a href="https://write-box.appspot.com/">Writebox</a> I like to dump small text files in my Dropbox account as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonplace_book">commonplace book</a>. A bit of a first world problem: while there is already a massive ecosystem of apps and programs for this task, I just feel better if there is an even more universal tool so I can truly access all my notes ANYWHERE. This is where <a href="http://write-box.appspot.com">Writebox</a> comes in: it seems to pretty much work on any browser that support HTML5. It's hosted off the Google Apps Engine. The original author seems to only post in Japanese, so I cannot find out anymore about this "program" except for the fact that it works great. If you're Dropbox obsessed like me, you will love WriteBox.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10391823-1187133342947295726?l=416-905.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/g2pGr_z6cRPxhwozQQTm1-FIm3Q/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/g2pGr_z6cRPxhwozQQTm1-FIm3Q/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/g2pGr_z6cRPxhwozQQTm1-FIm3Q/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/g2pGr_z6cRPxhwozQQTm1-FIm3Q/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/vUEiz/~4/_m_xcXuemsw" height="1" width="1"/>Razor_gotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01158957680291788118noreply@blogger.com0http://416-905.blogspot.com/2012/01/writebox.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10391823.post-23269481188737389562011-11-13T23:37:00.001-05:002011-11-13T23:37:00.306-05:002011-11-13T23:37:00.306-05:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote class="posterous_medium_quote">I think that’s why merely reading a lot won’t make you a great writer, just like listening to a lot of music won’t suddenly make you a piano virtuoso, because reading emphasizes the drawbridge words. On the flip side, writing a lot without reading much leaves you all backwind and no drawbridge, trying to get from point A to point B without stopping to admire the view. It’s only by doing both reading and writing that you start to understand how to string the different words together.</blockquote> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://blog.jackcheng.com/post/12741862160/keyframe-bias">blog.jackcheng.com</a></div> <p></p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://razorgoto.posterous.com/excellent-readd-by-jackcheng-the-keyframe-bia">Sammy's posterous</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10391823-2326948118873738956?l=416-905.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/m5zDETCD0D6Wp413ixPDbT5UaEE/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/m5zDETCD0D6Wp413ixPDbT5UaEE/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/m5zDETCD0D6Wp413ixPDbT5UaEE/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/m5zDETCD0D6Wp413ixPDbT5UaEE/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/vUEiz/~4/Beie_PAvPk8" height="1" width="1"/>Razor_gotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01158957680291788118noreply@blogger.com0http://416-905.blogspot.com/2011/11/excellent-readd-by-jackcheng-keyframe.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10391823.post-1280912491269804922011-11-12T23:48:00.001-05:002011-11-12T23:48:59.729-05:002011-11-12T23:48:59.729-05:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><p>Perfect quote on current power user's hate on #Ubuntu | @adaptiveoptics "The irony is, many of the things that make Ubuntu more accessible to the masses is making it more difficult for me. I think I am not alone in this." <a href="http://bit.ly/vySAwD">http://bit.ly/vySAwD</a></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://razorgoto.posterous.com/adaptiveoptics-many-of-the-things-that-make-u">Sammy's posterous</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10391823-128091249126980492?l=416-905.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/tiyxsqR_SuyKSAIVfQorUAo4YoM/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/tiyxsqR_SuyKSAIVfQorUAo4YoM/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/tiyxsqR_SuyKSAIVfQorUAo4YoM/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/tiyxsqR_SuyKSAIVfQorUAo4YoM/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/vUEiz/~4/uvwDcRkHJOY" height="1" width="1"/>Razor_gotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01158957680291788118noreply@blogger.com0http://416-905.blogspot.com/2011/11/adaptiveoptics-many-of-things-that-make.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10391823.post-51402104675341890312011-11-10T11:05:00.001-05:002011-11-10T11:05:31.722-05:002011-11-10T11:05:31.722-05:00<p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-iEw2h3Xpj68/Trv2Si9jdpI/AAAAAAAAAs4/J1bpS5mJW88/s1600-h/image%25255B2%25255D.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-F1MDPTk85dE/Trv2S09KZ5I/AAAAAAAAAtA/wWJgt53o9UI/image_thumb.png?imgmax=800" width="244" height="98" /></a></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10391823-5140210467534189031?l=416-905.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/818-VYttWcRO24nKj9JGjf22m7I/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/818-VYttWcRO24nKj9JGjf22m7I/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/818-VYttWcRO24nKj9JGjf22m7I/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/818-VYttWcRO24nKj9JGjf22m7I/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/vUEiz/~4/4Mh4hvHRN-Q" height="1" width="1"/>Razor_gotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01158957680291788118noreply@blogger.com0http://416-905.blogspot.com/2011/11/this-is-why-i-pray-for-death-of-flash.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10391823.post-56817570227565506802011-11-08T09:29:00.001-05:002011-11-08T09:29:19.234-05:002011-11-08T09:29:19.234-05:00Too many people seems <br />to be complaining about how Steve Jobs isn't James Watts. <br /><br />Who is?<br /><br />- Posted from my mobile<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10391823-5681757022756550680?l=416-905.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/3AMIrFfN9ktB66OJPhSwGv_OHAs/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/3AMIrFfN9ktB66OJPhSwGv_OHAs/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/3AMIrFfN9ktB66OJPhSwGv_OHAs/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/3AMIrFfN9ktB66OJPhSwGv_OHAs/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/vUEiz/~4/UqKpW89XrnI" height="1" width="1"/>Razor_gotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01158957680291788118noreply@blogger.com0http://416-905.blogspot.com/2011/11/james-watts.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10391823.post-672554103505764402011-10-03T16:18:00.001-04:002011-10-03T16:18:28.953-04:002011-10-03T16:18:28.953-04:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote class="posterous_short_quote">Possessions tend to breed more possessions. Once I started ridding myself of them, it became clear just how little I needed and how easy it was to live without.</blockquote> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/itinerate-writer-talks-of-living-and-dreaming-on-20000-a-year/2011/09/26/gIQAzdi8CL_story.html">washingtonpost.com</a></div> <p></p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://razorgoto.posterous.com/itinerate-writer-talks-of-living-and-dreaming">Sammy's posterous</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10391823-67255410350576440?l=416-905.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/uxqzH2O1TRr-9OgSZeyIBj0c0sE/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/uxqzH2O1TRr-9OgSZeyIBj0c0sE/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/uxqzH2O1TRr-9OgSZeyIBj0c0sE/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/uxqzH2O1TRr-9OgSZeyIBj0c0sE/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/vUEiz/~4/ivb8qHwDWVE" height="1" width="1"/>Razor_gotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01158957680291788118noreply@blogger.com0http://416-905.blogspot.com/2011/10/itinerate-writer-talks-of-living-and.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10391823.post-36771572255048709092011-09-23T17:29:00.001-04:002011-09-23T17:29:34.306-04:002011-09-23T17:29:34.306-04:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote class="posterous_long_quote">Economists always ask us to ‘imagine’ how things must have worked before the advent of money. What such examples bring home more than anything else is just how limited their imaginations really are. When one is dealing with a world unfamiliar with money and markets, even on those rare occasions when strangers did meet explicitly in order to exchange goods, they are rarely thinking exclusively about the value of the goods. This not only demonstrates that the Homo Oeconomicus which lies at the basis of all the theorems and equations that purports to render economics a science, is not only an almost impossibly boring person—basically, a monomaniacal sociopath who can wander through an orgy thinking only about marginal rates of return—but that what economists are basically doing in telling the myth of barter, is taking a kind of behavior that is only really possible after the invention of money and markets and then projecting it backwards as the purported reason for the invention of money and markets themselves. Logically, this makes about as much sense as saying that the game of chess was invented to allow people to fulfill a pre-existing desire to checkmate their opponent’s king.</blockquote> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/09/david-graeber-on-the-invention-of-money-%E2%80%93-notes-on-sex-adventure-monomaniacal-sociopathy-and-the-true-function-of-economics.html">nakedcapitalism.com</a></div> <p>This is fucking awesome.</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://razorgoto.posterous.com/david-graeber-on-the-invention-of-money-notes">Sammy's posterous</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10391823-3677157225504870909?l=416-905.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lOfLEgbwDk964D5wvS3oplkl7x4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lOfLEgbwDk964D5wvS3oplkl7x4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lOfLEgbwDk964D5wvS3oplkl7x4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lOfLEgbwDk964D5wvS3oplkl7x4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/vUEiz/~4/njwBO2EE3gg" height="1" width="1"/>Razor_gotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01158957680291788118noreply@blogger.com0http://416-905.blogspot.com/2011/09/david-graeber-on-invention-of-money.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10391823.post-4649661327732543802011-09-22T10:37:00.001-04:002011-09-22T10:37:56.436-04:002011-09-22T10:37:56.436-04:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote class="posterous_long_quote"><span class="kw2">ssh</span> host cmd /c <span class="kw2">dir</span></blockquote> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://nicolasb.com.ar/2011/09/running-commands-on-windows-from-linux-through-ssh/">nicolasb.com.ar</a></div> <p>Cool!</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://razorgoto.posterous.com/nicolas-brailovsky-blog-archive-running-comma">Sammy's posterous</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10391823-464966132773254380?l=416-905.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rINl23VPJqaBqQuNw60Su0yKecc/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rINl23VPJqaBqQuNw60Su0yKecc/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rINl23VPJqaBqQuNw60Su0yKecc/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rINl23VPJqaBqQuNw60Su0yKecc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/vUEiz/~4/CEYFY01CL4M" height="1" width="1"/>Razor_gotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01158957680291788118noreply@blogger.com0http://416-905.blogspot.com/2011/09/nicolas-brailovsky-blog-archive-running.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10391823.post-29816158420641172702011-08-21T20:34:00.001-04:002011-08-21T20:34:04.089-04:002011-08-21T20:34:04.089-04:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote class="posterous_long_quote">We ran into a gentleman that had no clue about these commands.&nbsp; When he wanted to keep or send a particular part of something on a website, he would shrink his browser to half size, open an instance of notepad and then type the text verbatim and then save it.&nbsp; He had an entire library of folders, based on subject and date, filled with text files of things he had copied over time .<p> Keep in mind, the gentleman did not touch type...it was index fingers and cramped wrists for his efforts.&nbsp; </p><p> I swear, when he finally grasped the concept of copy and paste, I thought the Hallelujah Chorus was going to fill the room.</p></blockquote> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://linuxlock.blogspot.com/2011/07/can-you-teach-computer-101.html">linuxlock.blogspot.com</a></div> <p></p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://razorgoto.posterous.com/the-blog-of-helios-can-you-teach-computer-101">Sammy's posterous</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10391823-2981615842064117270?l=416-905.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/VFshFjPfrhS7t_TAHGO41bTeUVI/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/VFshFjPfrhS7t_TAHGO41bTeUVI/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/VFshFjPfrhS7t_TAHGO41bTeUVI/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/VFshFjPfrhS7t_TAHGO41bTeUVI/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/vUEiz/~4/DbGDaSGmcpE" height="1" width="1"/>Razor_gotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01158957680291788118noreply@blogger.com0http://416-905.blogspot.com/2011/08/blog-of-helios-can-you-teach-computer.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10391823.post-60979583621123264902011-08-21T17:16:00.001-04:002011-08-21T17:16:57.431-04:002011-08-21T17:16:57.431-04:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><p>So I just "switched" to Vimperator today. Switch is a hard word since I am still using Firefox. It's just that I am surfing the web with a bunch of hard to memorize keystrokes instead of a mouse.</p> <p>Dunno. It is more engaging for me. Will have to see if it sticks.</p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://razorgoto.posterous.com/switched-to-vimperator">Sammy's posterous</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10391823-6097958362112326490?l=416-905.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_4n3WLGtsDceSMwRoDQU5U0TpAc/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_4n3WLGtsDceSMwRoDQU5U0TpAc/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_4n3WLGtsDceSMwRoDQU5U0TpAc/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_4n3WLGtsDceSMwRoDQU5U0TpAc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/vUEiz/~4/UW0DmArWYNI" height="1" width="1"/>Razor_gotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01158957680291788118noreply@blogger.com0http://416-905.blogspot.com/2011/08/switched-to-vimperator.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10391823.post-67544448448666809252011-08-21T14:02:00.001-04:002011-08-21T14:02:26.472-04:002011-08-21T14:02:26.472-04:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote><div> <p><a href="http://diaspora.chinasmack.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/jende-andrew-huang.jpg" rel="lightbox[97]"><img src="http://diaspora.chinasmack.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/jende-andrew-huang-280x326.jpg" height="195" alt="Jengde Andrew Huang." width="167" /></a></p><p></p> <p>Growing up, I never thought much about my Chinese heritage. Despite Saturday mornings at Chinese language school and living next door to my grandparents—who fled China with the Kuomintang during the civil war—my main interest in my “Chineseness” was in wondering why was I Chinese? How was it that I had an unpronounceable name and no one else? Who was this Sun Wukong and why did I have to watch his exploits? In my elementary school, there was one other student who spoke Mandarin, and we avoided each other like the plague so as not to be too obliviously branded as outsiders.</p> <p>The Chinese community in Minneapolis was a small one. I think I may have seen my schoolmate at one of the many social events that Chinese families flocked to. Meeting the friends and acquaintances of my parents only solidified my belief that I had very little in common with those people. These gatherings and the people at them were not a part of who I was. I was only there because of the randomness of ancestry. I didn’t loathe my background; at worst I scorned it. It was clear that all things “American” were naturally superior to anything “Chinese.” At best, being Chinese was simply inconsequential to who I was as a person. The only times I would actively attack our family background was as a means to offend my father, who had come to the United States in his 30s and represented the catchall idea of the “Chinese.”</p> <p>As the years passed, my time at Chinese school ended and the links to that world grew even fainter when my grandmother returned to Taiwan following the death of my grandfather. I was happy to embrace the American aspects of my life, though there was always a slight unsettled feeling at the edge of my consciousness. Like I knew that I never fully belonged. But I ignored it and pushed on. At university, passing a foreign language proficiency test was a requirement for graduation. Despite knowing that learning new languages was not a strong suit, the unhappy memories of my Saturday mornings in Chinese class led me to try Latin, and finally settle on sign language as my language of choice.</p> <p>I passed the proficiency test, graduated, and after a few years of working, decided to join the Peace Corps. Though initially unenthusiastic about the thought of his only son volunteering for two years doing development work in a far off country, my father eventually suggested I try to get sent to China, which has a small Peace Corps presence. But in the same vein as my resistance to studying Chinese at university, the idea of going to China held no interest for me. And besides, my sights were set on Africa. I was eventually sent to the Republic of Cape Verde, a small archipelago of ten islands off of the west coast of Senegal. Once in country for training, I quickly learned that the Cape Verdeans were well acquainted with the Chinese.</p> <p>As the story goes, sometime in the early 1990s, a Chinese businessman from Wenzhou who was based in Africa sent two of his nephews to Cape Verde to see what sort of business opportunities might be found. Nothing interested him, but his nephews opened up a small store selling household goods and clothes. Their initial success led them to lure over family and classmates from Wenzhou, who then repeated the cycle. By the time I arrived, there were over one thousand Chinese operating 300-odd shops throughout the islands.</p> <p>I was assigned to a community that, over the course of my time there, saw the establishment of three Chinese shops (or, “loja Chines” in the local language). Four Chinese shopkeepers ran the lojas. They were all recent arrivals to Cape Verde and the distances they were willing to travel and the sacrifices they made as they chased opportunities to the edge of the Atlantic fascinated me. I had no romantic notions regarding their motivations for being there. It was simply money and business. And their aspirations for a better life for themselves and their children are part of the same story told by waves of immigrants throughout history. But these Chinese from Wenzhou stuck a different, much more resonant chord in me. Perhaps because I was seeing their stories unfold up close and personal? Or maybe I could see traces of my own family’s history in their stories? As a result, I began (perhaps for the first time) to grasp the scope of the struggles and achievements of my parents and grandparents, in their quest to build a new life for themselves in a distant land.</p> <p>Though I was in Cape Verde to immerse myself in the local culture, there were times I was focused on creating stronger connections with the shopkeepers. We discussed their lives in China, the culture of the Chinese in the U.S., and daily life and the goings-on in our community. That scorn I had for all things Chinese had disappeared, having been replaced with a deep and almost unexplainable urge to absorb as much as I could from the shopkeepers. I wasn’t just trying to explore a culture I had a passing familiarity with, I was trying to better understand a part of myself that I had ignored. The way these shopkeepers saw the world reminded me of what I heard from my parents—especially my father. Their conversations led me to better appreciate the mentality of my parents and the decisions they made for me as I was growing up.</p> <p>For all the insights I gained and the interest that was awakened in me, language still limited the amount of communication we had. My Chinese had grown weak over the years, which wasn’t a problem in the U.S., because I could simply insert an English word or two into an otherwise Chinese sentence. But that wouldn’t work with the shopkeepers, whose knowledge of the local language was commerce-centric, and thus ensuring our encounters always to be in Chinese. So my time in Cape Verde was also marked by the daily use of Chinese – something I hadn’t done since living next to my grandparents.</p> <p>So an unlikely result of my time in Africa was my improved Chinese skills. I also rediscovered something of myself. You might think that this new found desire to reconnect with what I’d disregarded for so long would create some sort of resolution for me but, instead of settling that unsettled feeling, it only stirred up more issues about myself. And it seems that my father—who has now spent an equal number of years in Asia and the West—anticipated this years ago. A Chinese relative recently visited him and asked if my father considered himself Chinese or American. My father replied that when he saw Chinese people doing something he didn’t like, he thought of himself as American. But when he saw Americans doing something equally disagreeable, he considered himself Chinese. My father wanted me to avoid this fate, so he decided to allow me to grow up as an American, and not have to choose between that and the Chinese.</p> <p>But my time in Africa made me realize that even with a primarily American upbringing, I would never fully fit into one world, and would always be caught between them. Cape Verdeans had a hard time believing that someone with the shape of my eyes and the color of my hair could be American. To the shopkeepers, I was a bit of an oddity that spoke Mandarin, but how could I be one of them if I didn’t understand that in the heart of every Chinese laid a dragon? And no matter that I was born and raised in the U.S., it never escapes notice that I am not a full, unhyphenated American.</p> <p>So here I am, too Yellow to be American, and too White to be Chinese. Though I’m lucky to be the child of two cultures, where this leaves me, I’m not totally sure. The path I took from Africa to a rekindled the interest in my Chinese roots is perhaps unique. But what’s more common is the struggle that many face in reconciling the mix of cultural and ethnic backgrounds that make up who they are as a person. When others ask me about my background, I can say Chinese-American or Huáyì. But does this really explain anything about me? Sometimes, I can barely understand what those words imply. How, then, can someone else nod their head and truly comprehend?</p> <p>I am American. I am not. I am Chinese. I am not. Someday, I’ll figure out what I am. Or maybe not.</p> <span style="clear: both; display: none;"><img src="http://diaspora.chinasmack.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-spamfree/img/wpsf-img.php" height="0" alt="" width="0" style="border-style: none; height: 0px; display: none;" /></span> <div> <div>Related Posts</div> <a href="http://diaspora.chinasmack.com/2011/usa/misha-barbour-half-chinese-half-irish-not-quite-banana.html" title="15 comments" rel="bookmark"> <div> <img title="misha-barbour" src="http://diaspora.chinasmack.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/misha-barbour-180x120.jpg" height="120" alt="Misha Barbour, half-Chinese, half-Irish American." width="180" /><p> </p></div> <span> Half-Chinese, Half-Irish, Not Quite “Banana” </span> <span> 15 </span> </a> <a href="http://diaspora.chinasmack.com/2011/usa/nathan-guo-i-am-the-ethnicity-that-is-stealing-jobs-from-them.html" title="45 comments" rel="bookmark"> <div> <img title="nathan-guo-and-friend" src="http://diaspora.chinasmack.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/nathan-guo-and-friend-180x120.jpg" height="120" alt="Nathan Guo, and friend." width="180" /><p> </p></div> <span> I Am the Ethnicity That Is Stealing Jobs from Them </span> <span> 45 </span> </a> <a href="http://diaspora.chinasmack.com/2011/usa/george-ding-i-became-american-and-the-world-kept-turning.html" title="68 comments" rel="bookmark"> <div> <img title="george-ding-preview" src="http://diaspora.chinasmack.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/george-ding-preview-180x120.jpg" height="120" alt="George Ding." width="180" /><p> </p></div> <span> I Became American and The World Kept Turning </span> <span> 68 </span> </a> <p> </p></div> </div></blockquote><div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://diaspora.chinasmack.com/2011/usa/jende-andrew-huang-how-africa-led-me-to-china.html">diaspora.chinasmack.com</a></div> <p>chinaSMACK has been doing a series on ABC (American Born Chinese). </p><p>Interesting because most of the writer are fairly normal people and not academics. All are Americanized, but realized sometime in their mid- late- twenties that they can never be fully American.</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://razorgoto.posterous.com/how-africa-led-me-to-china-jende-andrew-huang">Sammy's posterous</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10391823-6754444844866680925?l=416-905.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/3ug14728MQhOFxSvjrtWYvFa1Ws/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/3ug14728MQhOFxSvjrtWYvFa1Ws/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/3ug14728MQhOFxSvjrtWYvFa1Ws/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/3ug14728MQhOFxSvjrtWYvFa1Ws/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/vUEiz/~4/_24X8rRQtWc" height="1" width="1"/>Razor_gotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01158957680291788118noreply@blogger.com0http://416-905.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-africa-led-me-to-china-jende-andrew.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10391823.post-24159578892000976322011-08-21T10:33:00.001-04:002011-08-21T10:33:16.039-04:002011-08-21T10:33:16.039-04:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote class="posterous_medium_quote">There's something about intelligence agencies - maybe the familiar comfort of a three-letter acronym on the wall, maybe the late-night spanking parties - that draws fraternity boys like ants to a picnic, and right now the road to bro advancement leads through an Arabic classroom. Their complete lack of a sense of irony allows these students to combine sincere appreciation for The Fountainhead with a desire for a lifelong career in government service, and the hardest part of studying Arabic is having to listen to their asinine opinions after they have gained enough proficiency to try to express them.</blockquote> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://idlewords.com/2011/08/why_arabic_is_terrific.htm">idlewords.com</a></div> <p>Best quote ever!</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://razorgoto.posterous.com/frat-boys-are-arses">Sammy's posterous</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10391823-2415957889200097632?l=416-905.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xPQGZNTxVxEN7FPoKfW6AYVt41k/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xPQGZNTxVxEN7FPoKfW6AYVt41k/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xPQGZNTxVxEN7FPoKfW6AYVt41k/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xPQGZNTxVxEN7FPoKfW6AYVt41k/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/vUEiz/~4/z_Xo-zvtGRY" height="1" width="1"/>Razor_gotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01158957680291788118noreply@blogger.com0http://416-905.blogspot.com/2011/08/frat-boys-are-arses.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10391823.post-24013215168547538732011-08-18T16:53:00.001-04:002011-08-18T16:53:00.176-04:002011-08-18T16:53:00.176-04:00<blockquote> <h6>“Steve, I’ve never seen such a perfect datasheet. It answers every possible question a prospective customer could have about our product. The problem is that our computer sells for $150,000. No one is going to buy it from the datasheet. In fact, reading these, <em>the only thing your datasheet will do is give a prospective customer a reason for saying “no” before our salespeople ever get to talk to them</em>.</h6> <h6>Do you mean you want a datasheet with <em>less </em>information?!”&#160; I asked, not at all sure that I was hearing him correctly. “Yes, exactly. Your job in marketing is to get customers interested enough to engage our sales force, to ask for more information or better, to set up a meeting.&#160; No one is going to buy our computer from a datasheet, but they will from a salesman.”</h6> </blockquote> <p>- Told to Steve Blank by the CEO of Convergent and <a href="http://steveblank.com/2011/08/05/bonfire-of-the-vanities/">retold here</a>.</p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10391823-2401321516854753873?l=416-905.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PqMTXpwVW21Gs7xlN1ghsC3vrOw/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PqMTXpwVW21Gs7xlN1ghsC3vrOw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PqMTXpwVW21Gs7xlN1ghsC3vrOw/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PqMTXpwVW21Gs7xlN1ghsC3vrOw/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/vUEiz/~4/2QS4qxUK3h4" height="1" width="1"/>Razor_gotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01158957680291788118noreply@blogger.com0http://416-905.blogspot.com/2011/08/on-relationship-between-marketing-and.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10391823.post-49032994361891888052011-08-17T16:59:00.001-04:002011-08-17T16:59:06.962-04:002011-08-17T16:59:06.962-04:00<p>&#160;</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-AvqPX_csv54/TkwrlOdh4uI/AAAAAAAAAsM/P5J8hHVbG04/s1600-h/image%25255B3%25255D.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-X4kuVS1dwRU/TkwrmnpnWYI/AAAAAAAAAsQ/qHCuD-KhJ0s/image_thumb%25255B1%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184" /></a></p> <p>I saw this chart on <a href="http://gigaom.com/2011/08/16/20-years-of-linux/">GigaOm</a> today. Apparently, so – if you read the fine print. Almost all the entry for “Other” were for Arch. I am not sure it the survey was flawed or if Arch has become some kind of dark horse in the Linux distro race.</p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10391823-4903299436189188805?l=416-905.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/8O7tS9PiJUy-p8rhaKZHSHnOgdc/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/8O7tS9PiJUy-p8rhaKZHSHnOgdc/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/8O7tS9PiJUy-p8rhaKZHSHnOgdc/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/8O7tS9PiJUy-p8rhaKZHSHnOgdc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/vUEiz/~4/i21OgvTU_9s" height="1" width="1"/>Razor_gotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01158957680291788118noreply@blogger.com0http://416-905.blogspot.com/2011/08/arch-linux-is-more-popular-than-debian.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10391823.post-78377428922604653182011-08-13T01:53:00.001-04:002011-08-13T01:53:43.511-04:002011-08-13T01:53:43.511-04:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="" src="http://posterous.com/images/%20http://www.hedislimane.com/diary/admin/images/CF023882.jpg" /> </div> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.hedislimane.com/diary/day.php?m=8&amp;y=2011&amp;d=2">hedislimane.com</a></div> <p></p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://razorgoto.posterous.com/frances-bean-is-now-18">Sammy's posterous</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10391823-7837742892260465318?l=416-905.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/3Qqh4PCT1p6lsw5Tvrf8wdU0_O4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/3Qqh4PCT1p6lsw5Tvrf8wdU0_O4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/3Qqh4PCT1p6lsw5Tvrf8wdU0_O4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/3Qqh4PCT1p6lsw5Tvrf8wdU0_O4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/vUEiz/~4/-Xg7AegHEyw" height="1" width="1"/>Razor_gotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01158957680291788118noreply@blogger.com0http://416-905.blogspot.com/2011/08/frances-bean-is-now-18.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10391823.post-4879685569664398442011-08-12T15:10:00.001-04:002011-08-12T15:10:43.673-04:002011-08-12T15:10:43.673-04:00<p>&#160;</p> <p>&#160;</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Z3Eq2SWzEBU/TkV6sWEknbI/AAAAAAAAAsE/trd1OE0ZLoM/s1600-h/image%25255B2%25255D.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-p0cfOrWKcZY/TkV6snDyq1I/AAAAAAAAAsI/JP6Jod0n3sw/image_thumb.png?imgmax=800" width="244" height="215" /></a></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10391823-487968556966439844?l=416-905.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/jyDX5Ov0kVAD4d97vDsqAFO7gt0/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/jyDX5Ov0kVAD4d97vDsqAFO7gt0/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/jyDX5Ov0kVAD4d97vDsqAFO7gt0/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/jyDX5Ov0kVAD4d97vDsqAFO7gt0/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/vUEiz/~4/9acaHN1wkZE" height="1" width="1"/>Razor_gotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01158957680291788118noreply@blogger.com0http://416-905.blogspot.com/2011/08/these-guys-need-to-update-their-ads.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10391823.post-34519575791105856962011-08-01T21:33:00.001-04:002011-08-01T21:33:51.704-04:002011-08-01T21:33:51.704-04:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote class="posterous_long_quote">Hammerbacher looked around Silicon Valley at companies like his own, Google (<a href="http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?symbol=GOOG">GOOG</a>), and Twitter, and saw his peers wasting their talents. "The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads," he says. "That sucks."</blockquote> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_17/b4225060960537.htm">businessweek.com</a></div> <p></p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://razorgoto.posterous.com/this-tech-bubble-is-different-businessweek-va">Sammy's posterous</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10391823-3451957579110585696?l=416-905.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/yW6nVYA6hrlekubtI9apI2D8a4I/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/yW6nVYA6hrlekubtI9apI2D8a4I/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/yW6nVYA6hrlekubtI9apI2D8a4I/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/yW6nVYA6hrlekubtI9apI2D8a4I/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/vUEiz/~4/KQibSe3l_c8" height="1" width="1"/>Razor_gotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01158957680291788118noreply@blogger.com0http://416-905.blogspot.com/2011/08/this-tech-bubble-is-different.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10391823.post-63545430783388658782011-07-31T15:55:00.001-04:002011-07-31T15:55:36.841-04:002011-07-31T15:55:36.841-04:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote class="posterous_medium_quote">Despite these concerns, it is becoming accepted wisdom that any lingering shame around online dating is gone. Familiarity with the internet, a more casual dating culture and verifiable success stories have all helped. By now, most of us are not far removed from a couple who met online. “There’s a tipping point happening,” says Ginsberg. “There used to be this stigma, or it was ‘good for my friends but not for me’. People don’t realise how pervasive online dating is.</blockquote> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/f31cae04-b8ca-11e0-8206-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1TiFx4qwF">ft.com</a></div> <p>Everyone I know has privately told me that they have an online dating profile. They just don't tell anybody they know in real life.</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://razorgoto.posterous.com/inside-matchcom-ftcom">Sammy's posterous</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10391823-6354543078338865878?l=416-905.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/aLbliFpwOSIGvOIaMZccT2WzlQs/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/aLbliFpwOSIGvOIaMZccT2WzlQs/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/aLbliFpwOSIGvOIaMZccT2WzlQs/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/aLbliFpwOSIGvOIaMZccT2WzlQs/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/vUEiz/~4/CF0QEF8jRxw" height="1" width="1"/>Razor_gotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01158957680291788118noreply@blogger.com0http://416-905.blogspot.com/2011/07/inside-matchcom-ftcom.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10391823.post-27458449348787026982011-07-11T12:33:00.000-04:002011-07-11T12:33:33.964-04:002011-07-11T12:33:33.964-04:00<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10391823-2745844934878702698?l=416-905.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/tmxKP7f2BT6j3cYPHDaE6cnn1fw/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/tmxKP7f2BT6j3cYPHDaE6cnn1fw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/tmxKP7f2BT6j3cYPHDaE6cnn1fw/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/tmxKP7f2BT6j3cYPHDaE6cnn1fw/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/vUEiz/~4/ng5zcaZ2E7g" height="1" width="1"/>Razor_gotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01158957680291788118noreply@blogger.com0http://416-905.blogspot.com/2011/07/mike-cane-approved.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10391823.post-33825428998124202052011-05-23T15:28:00.001-04:002011-05-23T15:28:33.358-04:002011-05-23T15:28:33.358-04:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote class="posterous_long_quote"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The vacant landscape of portions of inner Detroit has retained its vestigial </span><a href="http://www.ci.detroit.mi.us/Legislative_old/BoardsCommissions/CityPlanningCommission/docs%20for%20posting/zoning%20maps/pdf/zmap13.pdf"><span style="font-family: inherit;">low-density residential zoning</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">, which the 800-page </span><a href="http://www.detroitmi.gov/Portals/0/docs/legislative/cpc/pdf/Ch%2061%20Apr%2001,%202010.pdf"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Detroit zoning code</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> dutifully recites is "designed to stabilize and protect the essential characteristics of the district," even after virtually all the structures once present have been burned, demolished or abandoned.</span></blockquote> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://oldurbanist.blogspot.com/2011/05/did-zoning-ever-conserve-property.html">oldurbanist.blogspot.com</a></div> <p></p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://razorgoto.posterous.com/old-urbanist-did-zoning-ever-conserve-propert">Sammy's posterous</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10391823-3382542899812420205?l=416-905.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Q5fGk4-wHLTEbO4ozab9UANvbD8/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Q5fGk4-wHLTEbO4ozab9UANvbD8/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Q5fGk4-wHLTEbO4ozab9UANvbD8/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Q5fGk4-wHLTEbO4ozab9UANvbD8/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/vUEiz/~4/lzkEsFRSxmY" height="1" width="1"/>Razor_gotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01158957680291788118noreply@blogger.com0http://416-905.blogspot.com/2011/05/old-urbanist-did-zoning-ever-conserve.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10391823.post-89783395763775020522011-05-15T18:45:00.001-04:002011-05-15T18:45:17.958-04:002011-05-15T18:45:17.958-04:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><a href="http://instagr.am/p/ETJT9/"><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/razorgoto/zGwFbHtczrxIfvHmCbutqavDsFpeqEtpcaAzflroduIfdFjqEbetpBDqIEvg/media_httpimagesinsta_yviHk.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Media_httpimagesinsta_yvihk" height="500" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/razorgoto/zGwFbHtczrxIfvHmCbutqavDsFpeqEtpcaAzflroduIfdFjqEbetpBDqIEvg/media_httpimagesinsta_yviHk.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> </a><br />Taken at Wimpy's Diner <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://razorgoto.posterous.com/eating-all-day-breakfast-uptown">Sammy's posterous</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10391823-8978339576377502052?l=416-905.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9DvTysZPDEgjELKdcQR90X68rhY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9DvTysZPDEgjELKdcQR90X68rhY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9DvTysZPDEgjELKdcQR90X68rhY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9DvTysZPDEgjELKdcQR90X68rhY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/vUEiz/~4/kjgbKAAaBIE" height="1" width="1"/>Razor_gotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01158957680291788118noreply@blogger.com0http://416-905.blogspot.com/2011/05/eating-all-day-breakfast-uptown.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10391823.post-82660082311579422972011-05-15T14:51:00.001-04:002011-05-15T14:51:38.477-04:002011-05-15T14:51:38.477-04:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><div><table><tr><td><img src="http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/84179237/gummis_normal.jpg" style="float: left; height: 48px; margin: 8px; margin-bottom: 3px;" /><b>Racialicious (<a href="https://twitter.com/racialicious">@racialicious</a>)</b><br /> <a href="https://twitter.com/racialicious/status/69827501219790848">11-05-15 14:12</a><br />links for 2011-05-15: <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=#Asianpeopleproblems">#Asianpeopleproblems</a>: A Critique of &quot;Paper Tigers&quot; | Scattered SpeculationsThoughts on thi... <a href="http://bit.ly/iRoAcW"></a><a href="http://bit.ly/iRoAcW">http://bit.ly/iRoAcW</a></td> </tr></table></div><p /><div><p />Sent from my mobile</div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://razorgoto.posterous.com/racialicious-critique-of-paper-tiger-asianpeo">Sammy's posterous</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10391823-8266008231157942297?l=416-905.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/UouCYAVS8IogPC6T-t-7cItVwdQ/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/UouCYAVS8IogPC6T-t-7cItVwdQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/UouCYAVS8IogPC6T-t-7cItVwdQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/UouCYAVS8IogPC6T-t-7cItVwdQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/vUEiz/~4/q495TQS5hBU" height="1" width="1"/>Razor_gotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01158957680291788118noreply@blogger.com0http://416-905.blogspot.com/2011/05/racialicious-critique-of-tiger.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10391823.post-50368347642542153852011-05-15T14:13:00.001-04:002011-05-15T14:13:16.040-04:002011-05-15T14:13:16.040-04:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><a href="http://www.nonblocking.io/2011/05/how-to-make-wifi-work-at-tech.html">http://www.nonblocking.io/2011/05/how-to-make-wifi-work-at-tech.html</a> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://razorgoto.posterous.com/best-advice-i-have-read-on-how-to-do-wifi-at">Sammy's posterous</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10391823-5036834764254215385?l=416-905.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/B8kp2WupwxwDCGcVS_zjFPNEmNE/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/B8kp2WupwxwDCGcVS_zjFPNEmNE/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/B8kp2WupwxwDCGcVS_zjFPNEmNE/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/B8kp2WupwxwDCGcVS_zjFPNEmNE/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/vUEiz/~4/yIi91K2rksE" height="1" width="1"/>Razor_gotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01158957680291788118noreply@blogger.com0http://416-905.blogspot.com/2011/05/best-advice-i-have-read-on-how-to-do.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10391823.post-14854777619351936992011-04-27T14:54:00.001-04:002011-04-27T14:54:53.536-04:002011-04-27T14:54:53.536-04:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote class="posterous_medium_quote">Instead of buying the exciting new products I wanted, I was hurled into a mass of people scamming one another -- and all because of stupid, perverse commission systems that seemed like good ideas to the M.B.A.'s back at corporate.</blockquote> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.inc.com/magazine/20081001/how-hard-could-it-be-sins-of-commissions.html">inc.com</a></div> <p></p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://razorgoto.posterous.com/how-commission-structure-can-distort-your-bus">Sammy's posterous</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10391823-1485477761935193699?l=416-905.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iWDe1bQsp1qyW_cUKZ85rR6z7Q8/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iWDe1bQsp1qyW_cUKZ85rR6z7Q8/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iWDe1bQsp1qyW_cUKZ85rR6z7Q8/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iWDe1bQsp1qyW_cUKZ85rR6z7Q8/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/vUEiz/~4/FZFJnvaOlTI" height="1" width="1"/>Razor_gotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01158957680291788118noreply@blogger.com0http://416-905.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-commission-structure-can-distort.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10391823.post-17049661528941440662011-04-24T23:19:00.001-04:002011-04-24T23:19:25.238-04:002011-04-24T23:19:25.238-04:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote><div> <h3>The Restaurant-Failure Myth</h3> <h3>Research shows that some popular perceptions about the rate of failure in the restaurant industry are just not true</h3> <p>By <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/print/smallbiz/content/apr2007/sb20070416_296932.htm#">Kerry Miller</a> </p> <p> "Do you know me?" asked Rocco DiSpirito in a 2003 TV spot for American Express. "I'm a chef who already runs two restaurants in New York. Now I'm opening a third on national television in a time when nine out of 10 restaurants fail in the first year." </p> <p> Like many viewers, H.G. Parsa did know DiSpirito from his NBC reality show <em>The Restaurant</em>. The nine-out-of-10 figure was familiar, too. As an associate professor in Ohio State University's Hospitality Management program, Parsa had heard it many times before. But based on his 13 years of restaurant-industry experience, he still didn't buy it. </p> <p> Parsa says he spent three months trying to track down someone at American Express who could give him a source for the 90% figure quoted in the ad. As it turns out, they didn't have one. "American Express has not been able to track down a specific data source for the statistic," reads a written statement a spokesperson sent Parsa in response to his request. </p> <h3>Urban Mythbuster</h3> <p> Parsa wasn't surprised. He had run several spreadsheet simulations to verify the statistic himself and found that not only is the 90% figure off base, it's practically impossible, given industry growth rates. He decided to do his own research on failure rates, using Health Dept. records to track turnover among 2,500 restaurants in Columbus, Ohio, over a three-year period. </p> <p> His research—consistent with similar studies—found that about one in four restaurants close or change ownership within their first year of business. Over three years, that number rises to three in five. </p> <p> While a 60% failure rate may still sound high, that's on par with the cross-industry average for new businesses, according to statistics from the Small Business Administration and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. </p> <p> Parsa's study garnered serious attention within the hospitality field: Within a year of the paper's publication in the <em>Cornell Hotel &amp; Restaurant Administration Quarterly</em> in August, 2005, Parsa's research had been downloaded nearly 2,000 times, a record for the trade journal. But in the culture at large, the nine-out-of-10 myth has stubbornly defied debunking. </p> <h3>Wary Lenders</h3> <p> While it's certainly not the first urban legend to fly in the face of facts, Parsa holds the banking community largely responsible for perpetuating it. "They are the ones that benefit from the myth, and they use it more than anyone else," he explains, though he's quick to note that his opinion is based on logic, not research. </p> <p> Because of the belief that restaurants are high-risk investments, he says, many banks won't lend to restaurants at all. Typically, the ones that do require would-be restaurateurs to pay sky-high interest rates or put up significant collateral (say, a house) to mitigate the perceived risk (see BusinessWeek.com, Winter, 2007, <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/print/smallbiz/content/apr2007/sb20070416_296932.htm#">"Tapped Out"</a>). Ironically, Parsa's research identified lack of sufficient startup capital as one of the major elements that contribute to a restaurant's failure—making the myth a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts. </p> <p> Of course, a lot of restaurants do open and close each year, because opening a restaurant has such low barriers to entry and exit. And because the figure seems true—after all, there's plenty of anecdotal evidence—statistics-quoting experts who don't cite their sources often go unchallenged. The media—<em>BusinessWeek</em> included—adds fuel to the fire (see BusinessWeek.com, 5/19/03, <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/print/smallbiz/content/apr2007/sb20070416_296932.htm#">"Cooking Up a Global Empire"</a>). And every "under-new-management" sign in a restaurant window acts as an independent confirmation, cementing the idea that restaurants are impossibly risky further into our collective memory, continuing the cycle. </p> <h3>Franchise Safety Is Overrated</h3> <p> And it doesn't end there. Research shows that a lot of the conventional wisdom about failure in the restaurant industry is similarly faulty. </p> <p> One widely held belief is that franchise restaurants are much safer bets than independent restaurants. But Parsa found that the three-year success rate for franchised restaurants is actually only a few percentage points higher than it is for independents—about 43%. That's a far cry from the 90% or higher success rates trumpeted by many franchisors. </p> <p> So far a cry, in fact, that the International Franchise Assn. decided it had to step in to clear things up. In 2005, the IFA issued a letter urging its members to remove from their Web sites or printed materials "any information claiming that the success rate of franchised establishments is much greater than that of independent small businesses," calling the information "potentially misleading." </p> <p> The IFA specifically called out franchisors for using old Commerce Dept. data that has been shown to be invalid. But because changes in franchise ownership usually remain behind the scenes, Parsa says it's still easy to make franchises look like a much safer bet than they are. "In the Yellow Pages, a Taco Bell is still a Taco Bell," Parsa says—even if it's had five different owners in a year and isn't turning a profit (see BusinessWeek.com, 1/29/07, <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/print/smallbiz/content/apr2007/sb20070416_296932.htm#">"Franchise Owners Go to Court"</a>). On the other hand, Parsa's failure-rate statistics are somewhat misleading too, because they count any turnover as a failure, including restaurants that close or change hands while still profitable. </p> <h3>Juggling Family Ties </h3> <p> Given the immense time commitment that goes into owning a restaurant, it makes sense that some owners want out, even if they're making money. And in fact, the number of profitable "failures" is not insignificant. A 2003 report from an economist in the SBA's Office of Advocacy analyzed unpublished data from the U.S. Census and found that one-third of closed businesses were financially successful at closure. </p> <p> "It appears that many owners may have executed a planned exit strategy, closed a business without excess debt, sold a viable business, or retired from the workforce," the report noted, adding that business-failure statistics might therefore present "much more daunting odds for business success than is actually the case." </p> <p> Whether failure rates overstate or understate the odds, no one disputes the conventional wisdom that making it in the restaurant industry is no cakewalk. What entrepreneurs might find surprising is just how much a restaurant's success hinges on an owner's ability to keep the pressures of work from affecting life at home. </p> <p> Parsa says how well an owner juggles the demands of the business with family life is actually one of the most critical factors contributing to a restaurant's success—more important, even, than "location, location, location." </p> <h3>Overcoming Geography</h3> <p> His conclusions were based on in-depth interviews with 20 successful and 20 failed restaurateurs. He determined that "beyond muddled concepts, failure seemed to stem in large part from an inability or unwillingness to give the business sufficient attention, whether due to lack of time, passion or knowledge." </p> <p> Most of the failed restaurant owners themselves attributed their failure at least partly to competing family demands, including divorce, ill health, and retirement. Some owners voluntarily closed when the family sacrifices became too much, like one owner who said she didn't want to miss seeing her children grow up. </p> <p> Location, while an important factor, appears to be more of a "moderating variable" than a causal one, Parsa says, ruling that "a poor location can be overcome by a great product and operation, but a good location cannot overcome bad product or operation." </p> <p> DiSpirito—whose restaurant Rocco's on 22nd Street shut down just over a year after its well-publicized opening—might well have a few moderating variables of his own for the list. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/bios/Kerry_Miller.htm" target="_new">Miller</a> is a New York-based staff writer covering startups and small business. Miller is a graduate of Brown University. </p> </div></blockquote> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/print/smallbiz/content/apr2007/sb20070416_296932.htm">businessweek.com</a></div> <p></p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://razorgoto.posterous.com/the-restaurant-failure-myth-businessweek">Sammy's posterous</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10391823-1704966152894144066?l=416-905.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_LVGRqi03j3j-Eni4e42xaBTyuU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_LVGRqi03j3j-Eni4e42xaBTyuU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_LVGRqi03j3j-Eni4e42xaBTyuU/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_LVGRqi03j3j-Eni4e42xaBTyuU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/vUEiz/~4/dPjsJOytEXY" height="1" width="1"/>Razor_gotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01158957680291788118noreply@blogger.com0http://416-905.blogspot.com/2011/04/restaurant-failure-myth-businessweek.html