Surf Roots, Software Thoughts

While driving back from a sushi happy hour tonight, a friend of mine asked me if I thought a genocide similar to the Holocaust could ever happen again in a westernized country. My immediate, gut-level answer was “no,” but it was unjustified at the time. I’ve since had an opportunity to think about why I was so quick to answer “no,” though my reasons are still perhaps unjustified.

Speculative questions such as the one stated above are, well, speculative. There is no way we can provide answers to them; we can merely make guesses at them. No one can predict a mass genocide with 100% certainty, especially someone as poorly educated in history as me. I think the reason why I was so quick to answer “no” was because I’m very positive. I don’t know if a genocide can occur again, so I answer “no” because it’s a positive answer. Perhaps having a positive attitude is unrealistic, but hoping and dreaming is the first step to getting anywhere, right? Being positive will lead to more internal happiness, which will then rub off on other people. Especially for me, being around positive people like Jim, Eric, and others really gets me pumped and makes me feel good. As you become positive, your friends will become positive as well, making their friends positive, and the cycle will continue.

I think my claims here are very subjective, so perhaps many of you won’t agree with me. However, I will say that a world with 100% positive thoughts is better than a world with 100% negative thoughts, so I believe in working towards the 100% positive world, despite how unrealistic that might be. Someone might argue, “Well some people just aren’t naturally positive.” My response to that is that I will continue to be positive and try to have an optimistic view and a smile on my face as often as possible; I’ll have positive thoughts that I’ll rub off on them :).

As I was reading Michael Arrington’s update post on the Yahoo-Microsoft deal, I recalled another post from Steve Jobs (the fake one).  Steve calls on Ballmer to give up on Yahoo and focus on Windows.

I’m with Steve here.  It confuses me that Microsoft is this worried to compete with Google, while they’ve just releases what’s possibly the worst operating system since Windows ME.  Linux is gaining popularity, with Ubuntu at the forefront, and Apple’s computer sales aren’t slowing down.  Shouldn’t Microsoft be worried about their largest revenue generator, the product that they’ve spent so many years developing, the product that made them the world’s largest software company?  The product I’m referring to is Windows.

In my quest to learn more about JavaScript, I launched another iteration of Best Seattle Bars that includes:

• Searching (searches the name, the description, and all reviews)
• Adding of new bars by the user
• More user profile fields (name, email, phone)
• Framework for SMS and email announcements
• Promotion integration (BSB is participating in the Fremont Troll Stroll to benefit Cystic Fibrosis)

Next up is probably photo adding and possibly a few others.  Any suggestions?  Hope you enjoy!

Two big announcements:

1. I booked my flight to China for the summer/fall! Flying to Shanghai on August 22nd at 7:00am from Los Angeles; returning to Los Angeles on December 21st at 8:03pm from Shanghai.
2. Jim is coming with me to work for Google as well!

After having a few shots and an itinerary, it’s beginning to hit me that I’m going to China for four months. Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude!

Disclaimer: the views below are of my own and not necessarily of Redfin and its employees.

Redfin has many, many critics. Many of these critics are real estate evangelists and, being critics, are certain that Redfin will fail. They usually make claims like, “When Redfin fails …” instead of “If Redfin fails …” Redfin also has very prestigious investors such as Vulcan and Madrona who have invested millions of dollars in Redfin because they believe Redfin will succeed.

This tug-of-war really got me thinking. Redfin is trying to start a real estate revolution, and I’m wondering whose opinion matters the most - critics caught up in current times or investors thinking about the future? I have some opinions.

Critic: “It’s impossible!”
In Redfin’s case, most of their critics bash Redfin for their business model. They don’t think that what Redfin is trying to do will scale. Redfin is redefining the role of a real estate agent, and many of their critics believe that the Redfin-proposed role of a real estate agent just simply won’t work.

Investor: “I think it could work!”
Investors have invested in Redfin because they believe that it can succeed. Redfin’s investors definitely did some research in the real estate industry prior to investing in Redfin, but Redfin’s investors probably aren’t as evangelical as their critics.

I believe that if a business will revolutionize a market to better the consumer, then all that matters is their ability to execute and how lucky they are. If the leader of a revolution has the vision and the ability to execute, then I believe that the critic doesn’t matter. Too often are critics’ opinions and beliefs plagued with animosity and disgust; they lose credibility because of this. Their emotions outweigh their rational, and their ignorance blinds them from the possibilities of a revolution. Similarly, VCs don’t expect all of their ventures to succeed, and very probably their greed clouds their evaluation of the current times.

I suppose what I’m trying to get at is that I believe that Redfin will succeed, and I believe that companies in similar situations to Redfin will succeed. I have a fundamental belief that all companies trying to do a good thing, with an awesome team, at the right time will succeed. Hopefully Redfin’s time is now, but I suppose we will see. I believe that as Amazon demolished the e-commerce market and Apple is (maybe?) demolishing the PC market, Redfin will demolish the real estate market and provide a better service to the consumer. Then again, I’m just a punk kid that hasn’t been on the block for very long, so maybe I’m either totally wrong or stating the obvious. What do you think? There’s a related post here as well.

PS - I think Bloodhound and I have the same WP theme.

Photo story: this photo was taken at my Google APM scavenger hunt; it’s of two gay Google employees making out in front of the scare-tactic Christians. Awesome.

Today I was one of a few thousand who was fortunate enough to hear the Dalai Lama speak. He visited the University of Washington to receive an honorary doctorate degree and graced the audience, mostly composed of students and faculty, with advise and wisdom.

Applaud started right as the marshal welcomed His Holiness into the arena. Everyone was clapping and happy. Then suddenly when he finished climbing the stairs onto the stage, the applaud escalated to a level that I’ve only heard at sports arenas. Students were hooting and yelling, clapping and whistling. It was almost as though the room had been filled by hundreds of thousands of new people, when really only His Holiness and a few apprentices had entered.

My first impression of the Dalai Lama was that of a humble and grateful man. He bowed and smiled as he entered the room and insisted that people sit down, for he was of no importance. He walked slowly with his hands together in the prayer position, smiling all the while. President Emmert and other high educators said a few short words and eventually gave the Dalai Lama a purple graduation gown and a large plaque. Everyone was applauding, but really they were waiting for him to speak.

He began by speaking his native tongue to ensure that his gratitude was accurately communicated. His translator said how grateful he was to be given this degree and to be given the opportunity to speak in front of a crowd of students. After his thanks he told a few jokes about his poor English and his degree for which he didn’t study at all for. He spoke slowly and carefully, and his English was broken but understandable.

He started by explaining that peace does not depend on the sky but instead on ourselves. Violence, hatred, and war are human inventions, and only compassion and wisdom can be the basis for peace. One must be truly at peace with oneself before sharing peace with others, and to be at peace with oneself, you have to be able to use your mind to expel violent and angry thoughts, which come naturally to anyone included His Holiness. Conflict is also natural and unavoidable, and his hope was that dialog would be used to unite conflicting opinions instead of war being used to destroy them.

The talk was absolutely wonderful and enlightening, and though I could put more detail into my story I chose not to. Instead of supplying more detail I want to share one of the stories he told, which touched me the most of anything he said. He was telling a story about enemies and people who do not have compassion or internal peace. One of the students who was elected to ask him a question asked him, “How do you share your compassion with your enemies and with those who do not have compassion?” He answered, and I paraphrase, “I do not know (chuckling). When in the presence of such people I try to smile, tell jokes, and be as happy as possible.” I can’t help but smile and feel totally happy when I envision his kind, loving, welcoming face say these words.

There is more that I’d like to say, but I don’t think my small blog post would do his message any justice at all. I instead plan to try and be good to my neighbors and respect those around me as est I can. I will try to not let anger, greed, or jealousy affect me, and I will try to smile as much as I can. I’m very grateful I was given this opportunity to be in his presence, and I hope that you too will be given an opportunity to see the Dalai Lama speak.

Photo credit: here and Jeff Prouty.

Take a look at this awesome link checker called Xenu’s Link Sleuth.  I tried to research why the guy called it Xenu hoping to find some comedic Scientology reference, but it seems like he just likes the name.  Anyway, you bootstrap the link checker with a single URL, and Xenu looks at every internal and external link in that starting URL.  For each internal link, Xenu parses HTML to look for other internal links and repeats the process on those other internal links.  Pretty cool, but it’s Windows only.  Here are some screens:

I’m a senior at the University of Washington, and I have a few things to rant about. In hindsight, they’re all minor things, but I believe they’re worth ranting about, especially because I don’t rant all that often.

1: Better Dorms
The dorms are just awful. They’re dungeons, especially McMahon and Haggett. I was fortunate enough to live in Lander my freshman year, which was just as depressing as the rest with a fun, social resident population. I spent my freshman orientation in Haggett, and it was possibly the worst first impression I’ve ever had of anything.

Here’s a shot of Haggett:

2: Better On-Campus Food
The on-campus food is expensive and unhealthy. I’m talking about dorm food and HUB food. If you’re feeling like eating healthy, then you eat a salad. Otherwise you eat burritos, pizza, etc that’s more expensive than if you were to buy them outside of the school. Credit cards aren’t accepted either. Accept credit cards.

3: Better Gym Setup
The IMA is great, but it’s isolated and its hours of operation are somewhat confined. It’s annoying to get to the IMA in the rain, and it rains a lot in Seattle. This is probably unsolvable, but this post is all about rants :). Perhaps setup some sort of shuttle that goes between the IMA, north campus, and south campus once or twice an hour.

4: Police
I get an email about once every six weeks describing a shooting or stabbing that occurs in the U-district. I rarely see police officers patrolling the streets, which is probably why all this crime happens. After speaking with some fraternity friends, it sounds like it’s basically a 100% guarantee that your party will be visited at least once by the police. Let college students party (because they’re going to anyway) and focus more on preventing murders, robberies, and other more serious crimes. If my mom found out about all the crime that goes on around the UW, then she would probably throw a fit and send numerous letters to the administration (seriously). My mom is super worrisome, especially when it comes to her children, but I love her anyway.

5: Lower Student Apartment Housing Costs
Come on, we’re poor college students. UW-provided apartments are way over the going rate. Nordheim court’s starting rate is $840 / room / month, and Stevens Court starts at $597 / room / month. Stevens Court is more reasonable, but their rooms are very, very small. I could furnish an entire house for $840.

6: Better Support for Student Organizations
I’m the president of the Husky Snowboard Team, and I have had an insanely difficult time putting on an on-campus rail jam. The HUB event bureaucrats are awful at communication, timeliness, and efficiency. Read more about this here.

7: Better Carpool Parking
The UW’s carpool policy is just stupid. The point of a carpool policy is to encourage people to ride-share, which saves gas and money. UW decides to end their carpool parking discount in the afternoon when the parking lot isn’t even close to being half full. Allow carpooling discounts all day. I really don’t get it.

8: Covered Bike Parking
It rains a lot in Seattle, and most of the bike parking is open. It would be very cheap and easy to setup small covers over at least some bike racks. I don’t mind biking to school in the rain, but I get rather annoyed when my bike just sits outside in the pouring rain.

9: Better RA Training
I was fortunate enough to have pretty good RAs, but I heard horror stories about some friends’ RAs. The UW RAs are entirely too strict, uptight, and power-hungry. RAs should be trained better to be less strict, yet still aware of how to handle misconduct, emergency, etc. I think my freshman year would have been more enjoyable if I wasn’t always worried about playing guitar too late or getting arrested for having a Swiss Army knife in my dresser.

10: Snow Days
The UW absolutely will not shut down school when it snows. I was greeted with nearly six inches of snow one Monday morning my junior year, and UW didn’t shut down school. My bus never showed up, and I ended up missing my classes. This happened to a lot of people, so UW decided to keep school open again this year when we got a big snow.

This post is definitely a rant, and I feel pretty emo writing it, especially given all of the generalizations I just made. However, I have been very, very happy with UW, especially on the academic side of things. I will write a post about the great things about the UW, but in the meantime learn why I don’t regret coming to Seattle from Los Angeles. Do any of my classmates have anything to add?

Photo credit: here.

Jim just wrote a really nice post about JavaScript libraries and browser abstractions.  I’m sharing this link in response to my new found love of JavaScript.  It’s a great read; go take a look if you’re interested.

What’s a gaper, you ask? A gaper by definition is someone who dresses for looks. What that means in snowboard speak is someone who dresses strait ’70s, ’80s, and maybe even early ’90s. The colorful Husky Snowboard Team tore through Stevens yesterday, hooting and stretching. We BBQed in the parking lot and celebrated the last weekend of the snow season.

Here’s me (the hat says, “SR-71 Blackbird” with a picture of the jet - it’s my favorite jet; it’s also hard to tell that I have a mustache):

And here’s the team (minus a few people):

I can’t wait for gaper day next season. Just for reference, this was Dustin and I at New Years gaper day earlier this year: