Carl Pei

Video

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 14:08:58 +0100

Catching up

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 04:36:00 +0100

Recently, I started hearing more and more about something called Pinterest. The knee-jerk reaction was to dismiss it as useless, but then fear struck me. Fear that I was getting old, starting to accept habits as truths, and ceasing to learn new things.

Since then, I have been testing as many new web services as possible, trying hard to understand what makes them popular.

Change is accelerating, and I want to stay ahead of the curve.

Free engraving

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 05:48:00 +0100

Apple’s free engraving isn’t really free. Resell value goes down, increasing the lifetime cost of the products, while also increasing Apple’s inventory turnover rate for new products due to the decreased appeal of second hand, engraved products.

Increased goodwill towards the brand comes as a bonus.

Not a bad idea at all.

"This is a very noisy world, so, we have to be very clear what we want them to know about us."

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 17:40:33 +0100

“This is a very noisy world, so, we have to be very clear what we want them to know about us.”

- Steve Jobs

My Dearest, I have tried to compose what might adequately capture what I’m feeling. Although I have...

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 16:09:00 +0100

My Dearest,

I have tried to compose what might adequately capture what I’m feeling. Although I have written and rewritten this many times over, I have yet to succeed.

Time to time, I’m reminded of your presence; making my heart flutter briefly. When that happens, I pinch myself to check that I’m not dreaming. Are we really together? Slowly, this is becoming a daily occurrence.

Although we haven’t known each other long, it feels natural to be around you; I can be myself. Actually, years prior to today, I’d look at you, and think of you as some kind of unattainable goddess. Foolishly, I thought we could never be. However, the process of pursuing you, and finally attaining you, has taught me that very little in this world is unattainable.

You are truly beautiful. Dazzlingly decadent in nighttime, intoxicatingly exotic during day. Truly international, you also reflect the best of the East.

I thoroughly enjoy my time with you. But it also scares me, since time slips away too quickly when we’re together. As our paradoxical relationship unfolds, our separating line becomes finer and finer. In time, we become indistinguishable from one another. I become a part of you, and you a part of me. It will be impossible to tell when or how it happened, but I can’t wait for that moment.

Hong Kong, I hold you in my thoughts.

Photo

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:07:25 +0100

We are in the beginning of the greatest change that humanity has ever undergone. There is no shock,...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:49:40 +0100

We are in the beginning of the greatest change that humanity has ever undergone. There is no shock, no epoch-making incident-but then there is no shock at a cloudy daybreak. At no point can we say, here it commences, now, last minute was night and this is morning. But insensibly we are in the day. If we care to look we can foresee growing knowledge, growing order, and presently a deliberate improvement of the blood and character of the race. And what we can see and imagine gives us a. measure and gives us faith for what surpasses the imagination.

It is possible to believe that all the past is but the beginning of a beginning, and that all that is and has been is but the twilight of the dawn. It is possible to believe that all that the human mind has ever accomplished is but the dream before the awakening. We cannot see, there is no need for us to see, what this world will be like when the day has fully come. We are creatures of the twilight. But it is out of our race and lineage that minds will spring, that will reach back to us in our littleness to know us better than we know ourselves, and that will reach forward fearlessly to comprehend this future that defeats our eyes. All this world is heavy with the promise of greater things, and a day will come, one day in the unending succession of days, when beings, beings who are now latent in our thoughts and hidden in our loins, shall stand upon this earth as one stands upon a footstool, and shall laugh and reach out their hands amidst the stars.

H. G. Wells, 1902, The Discovery of the Future, Nature, 65, p. 326-331.

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 05:14:32 +0100

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

- Mohandas Gandhi

Cheap Willl Be Smart. Expensive Will Be Dumb.

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 19:03:04 +0100

Cheap Willl Be Smart. Expensive Will Be Dumb.

"…skill is often necessary, but always insufficient"

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:54:54 +0100

“…skill is often necessary, but always insufficient”

- neilk on Hacker News

ROBOTS OR DINOSAURS?

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 23:59:50 +0100

I AM A ROBOT

ericanishio: It’s very easy to be different, but very difficult...

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 11:32:06 +0200

ericanishio:

It’s very easy to be different, but very difficult to be better. - Jonathan Ive (Senior VP, Apple)

The best productivity hack ever

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 22:58:27 +0200

The best productivity hack ever

I lost a hero today.

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 08:06:02 +0200

I lost a hero today.

Narayanan Krishnan

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 01:07:15 +0200

Narayanan Krishnan

"Seriously, if you always put limits on what you can do, physical or anything else, it’ll..."

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 15:08:00 +0200

“Seriously, if you always put limits on what you can do, physical or anything else, it’ll spread over into the rest of your life. It’ll spread into your work, into your morality, into your entire being. There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level.”

- Bruce Lee

The best birthday present ever

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 00:50:28 +0200

The best birthday present ever

Relentlessly resourceful

Sun, 04 Sep 2011 20:24:47 +0200

Relentlessly resourceful

How Bad Do You Want It?

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 21:17:48 +0200

How Bad Do You Want It?

Summer reading list

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 19:13:20 +0200

Read some books while traveling this summer. Here’s a list along with short comments.

A Brief History of Time - A book about all the big questions. Where do we come from? What will happen? What is time? Etc.. Very well written.
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People - Gives you an insight on how it’s like to work at a magazine like Vanity Fair. The book got boring at times.
The Man Who Loved China - Interesting biography about a British scientist who discovered and proved to the world that China invented lots and lots of things.
Foreign Babes in Beijing - American girl stars in Chinese TV show. Insightful reflections on ordinary people living extraordinary lives in Beijing during the start of this millenia.
Ich Bin Ein Beijinger - More like a collection of short essays than a book. Witty, fun & accurately reflects on life as a Beijinger.
The 1 Minute Manager - Short & concise management book. Offers a good lesson.
Freakonomics - I read Superfreakonomics before reading this. Both are great books written by smart authors.

Still reading:

What the Dog Saw
This is a Book
Speak, Memory
7 Habits of Highly Effective People