Raymond Chen

Sean calls me “King of Procedure” lately. Haha, since I happened to do some similar work before he did, so I had the chance to get to know about the procedure, forms blah blah first.

And when my wife and I went to see a movie this afternoon, we spent very long time waiting in the line in front of the box office. Their procedure took so long for different customers.

Then I brought up a question: what are the purposes of procedures?

The serious answers:

1. They are supposed to make things simple in every nodes, which would help the overall efficiency;

2. They are used to enforce company policy, making sure powers are porperly checked and accidental damages are controlled.

The funny ones:

1. They are used to scare the customers or colleagues away so that less workload is possible;

2. They are used to display real power, when powerful managers can always get things done while ignoring any procedure;

3. Well, it makes us not bother to think too much.

Chinese people are superstitious. Though I don’t need a very good number for my car plate, I still don’t want some sound stupid. In the number choosing line, there was a western guy who said “I don’t care. Any number is fine”. He made us feel stupid. Haha

It’s a test of my patience. Waiting for my new car is making me uneasy. It’s already overdue. And there are so many registration works ahead. The only comforting news I’ve got is that someone had waited 3 months before he finally got his car!

Looking back has become a  luxury lately. Since my first day on board to my new company, workload and reponsiblity are so huge that I don’t even have time to think about last year and my last employer, until some co-worker brought up the topic this morning: change.

The only thing that would not change is change itself. We have moved from our comfortable zone to this new frontier. Our familiar roles are either need to be expanded, or changed dramatically.  That means opportunity. Some may not be so ready, but they have to finish that change of mindset ASAP. We should all be able see this thrilling prospect. I think the only proof we need is 1-2 projects with good performance. I believe I’ve a wonderful team. And we are on the right track, heading to another fantastic adventure.

After buying iPad and iTouch, I’ve bought many accessories. I always introduced them to my friens when I felt they were good. The result is not so good, luckily sales is not my profession.

The sketch pen for iPad, which I’ve bought the 2nd one, could not be sold to any of my friends.

The tiny bluetooth keyboard was only bought by Henry.

The small charging adapter, which converts A/C to USB output and can be used to charge iPad, can not make a sale. But I’ve made the 2nd order this afternoon.

The deluxe insinde-ear earbuds, which can prevent up to 85% noise when its power is turned on is good. I never tried to promoting it to anyone. I think the requirement is not common. It could be a little bit inconvenient if being used at home. But in a noisy environment like Starbucks, it really creates a quiet private space..

The iPhone holder is goood. It can support my iTouch standing in a tilted angle, good for watching podcast.

You will be much busier when you are between jobs, that’s what my friend said. That’s true. I took four days of annual leaves this week, before the termination of my current employment. I’ll still go to work next full week, and then start another two week of annual leaves.

I was quite busy last four days. In the first half, I was focusing on the past. But my focus had turned to the future in the second half. I’ve met some people, talked to some guys and taken much time to think. I’ve seen some bros facing difficult decision. And I know I have to make my own some day.

Leaving the old comfortable zone is not easy for everybody. This time, I am a little bit excited. I know no matter how I choose, it cannot be perfect. But I am just soooooo ready.

I thought of a software that I loved very much last decade. It was designed for Windows 95. Yes, Windows 95, the classic and obsolete Windows OS. I finally figured out its name, Icon Corral.

I googled it. To my surprise, I found it! Here is the link.

It is used to put any window title on taskbar to the system tray when it is minized. Pretty simple. Such feature will be soon be included by the upgrade of OS, just like thousands of other features.

I’ve brought many stuffs, which were rarely used, in my recent tour to Hawaii. I should consider leaving them at home on my next trip.

1. Cellphone Car Rack

Used:  Never

I planned to use it to hold my Nexus One for navigation while I was driving. It turned out my preinstalled GPS software didn’t work. And my main navigation tool was my iPad, which displayed an offline Google map with directions to navigate. And it was being hold in Ida’s hands all the time. The rack is only useful when I am driving alone.

2. Telescope

Used： Never

It was not Yellowstone. There were not so many wild lifes, I meant mammals, in Hawaii, which requires a telescope to get a good observation. I never bothered to take it out from my backpack in my tour.

3. Digital Camera Charger

I’m not a big fan of photography. It turned out that I had only taken less than 300 pictures, which only consumed one battery bar. With two fully-charged batteries, I don’t need to bring the charger next time.

4. Wireless Mouse

Used:  Once

If I’d sticked to my iPad all the time, I didn’t need that mouse at all.

5. Waterproof Plastic Bags

Used: Never

I brought two of those bags, one for cellphone and the other for digital camera. They’ve never got wet.

6. Network Cable Roll

Used: Never

I brought a cable with a device that can automatically roll back the cable. It’s never been used. All the guest room had provied cables.

I know what Netflex is, but not Hulu. But I can guess it’s another online video service, and also US-only. When I was asked by my friend how Netflix is going to make profit on such low monthly fee, which is $7.99, I don’t know. It must have something to do with the user volume.

I used to install Netflix on my iPad. But it had no much usage, since I’m located in China. If there is such service in China, will I pay for it? Not likely.

Firstly, pirate version is still very easy to access through emule. Though legal copies are more and more affordable, but without a certain inconvenience to get pirate ones, we still won’t choose them.

Secondly, there are no good shows worth our monthly fee. We watch American sitcoms most of the time. And they are not supposed to appear on Chinese market. Due to regulation and censorship reasons, they are not legal in the first place.

And for me, I simply don’t have an acceptable broadband Internet connection. VOD is as far as buying another apartment, which simply will not happen.

When the Japanese, in the movie Inception, said he had bought that airline, the whole theater was filled with laughter. A word came into my mind, Carbonite.

Carbonite is an online data backup service, which I’ve been using for a few months. I hadn’t done much background check of it before I uploaded my personal data. I’m still comfortable with that now. Come on, I never record my bank account pin on my computer. And I’m no celebrity, whose privacy is valuable to paparazis.
The most important thing is, that is an American company. FBI cannot read my files at will like those Chinese secret police do in China. They at least need permission from court. And even they can do that, I don’t mind…
But what if someday Carbonite is bought by a company controlled by Beijing? Would Carbonite issue a warning or something, telling us the new risk we are facing? I doubt that.