Shrinking World : Smaller is Better

The world is getting smaller and smaller, instead of think big, shouldn't we start to think small now?

-lauyee

Gone were the days when going BIG matter most in simply everything. Going big could means so many thing so behold your judging eyes! (though dear god I wish mine is bigger, and I din't meant my belly but a little lower)

A lot of people had speculated about how would the world be with the rapid development of internet and invention of faster machine to make distance closer. Globalization and "One World" concept was popularized and is quite successfully employ, now many of us can keep in touch with our friends from oversea or work oversea easily and most importantly cheaply. Going big seems to be a wise choice,  with the lowered geographical barrier a lot of business can easily expand oversea. However it is interesting that people tend to want things small, in other words simple, plain, short, or simply small.


This has been the trend way before globalization kick in, notice how car getting smaller, phones, computers, laptops, those geeky gadgets that I couldn't name, premium stockphoto to microstock photo, the world growth rate (yes population is on a rise due to longer average life span thanks to medical advancement) and even processes. Unless if you apply for ISO status we strive to simplify our process, from tons of paperwork to paperless, from long winded process of putting up a personal site to blogging and then microblogging. Everything is going smaller, scaling down to a very personal level, and reaching out to more and more individuals.

I remember those days when website were for the corporates and individual who wish to put the personal information on the worldwide web need to at least have basic idea of how internet works, you need to know at least HTML to even create your 'bio' page online. Then come webdesigning softwares like Dreamweaver and FrontPage, then some free webhosting sites who have existing templates, and blog kicks in then now microblogging and social networking. All you need to do is follow simple instruction to create your 'online profile' From a process which you needed a team of people and numerous coding time educed to a two minute sign up process.

This is possible thanks to people who still think small, well to be fair, people who are thinking so big that they notice the details. Big idea is now an aggregation of small ideas (eg. youtube get their traffic because people posting their short clips [small ideas] online), big revenue were derived from unnoticeably small revenues (eg google and their ads revenue; and also people who earn from adsense ad income). Please do not be obsessed  with "THE NEXT BIG THING", look around you, look into them, the details, how could we simplified something so that every individuals who wish to do it can do it individually. Think small! Instead of the obsession of looking for the next big thing, create a small thing, and grow them, if you have that small idea which can earn you a tiny little bit of extra income, so long as time permits, do it! An extra tiny stream of income is income, but we only have 24 hours so spend them wisely (this serve as a self reminder). It's now time to think small, simplification, back to basic. However do keep a holistic view and an open mind for criticism for they are your best friend when you are developing anything new, do analyze their criticism before writing them off as skeptics.

Disclaimer:   Please note that this is not a thesis on any subject and I am entitle to my own opinion, and you are entitle to your's, so I'm not going to straight out disagree with anyone, and do understand that I am no expert in whichever field (unless if you consider expert in bullshitting counts) so please do not expect any proof or supporting material. Thank you.

Money vs Truth

Money can't buy you the truth!

- lauyee

Alright alright, simple fact, I'm not going to argue about what else money can or cannot buy, the list would be arbitrary and infinite. Right before you jump to your smart conclusion about how money can buy you the truth, think again, I'm just telling you that money can't buy you the truth and you suddenly get so defensive? What's wrong with you? Just realized that you've never bought the truth?

Let's start with a few very simple example, something we see around us, name any product that you've bought because of some advertisement and it actually works like it claims, I can safely say 90% of the time, it doesn't. Repeat after me, you bought something because of a marketing gimmick, and marketing gimmick is never near to the truth. Well basically whenever you buy something that you doesn't really need, you've just bought a lie that sales person proposed, and more often then not you feel good doing so.

Now now, let's look at something intangible, something a lot of us sought for but gifted to only a handful of people, something we know as beauty. Bingo, cosmetic, if you're telling me that a girl with those heavy make up is of true beauty to you, so be it, you just bought a lie you sold yourself. People buy cosmetics so they can give lesser truth to their audience! If her cheek have that natural blush, would she be dumb enough to cover her face with possibly damaging chemicals?

When do you get the truth? Usually when you least expect, very indirectly and you don't need to pay a single penny for it. You could face it or deflect it, or simply just brush it off, as if you din't hear it. Remember when you say "No thanks" to that sales person who gave their best presenting their sales pitch, and he mutters "Stingy bastard,,," at that very moment, that's the truth, you are being stingy.

If you have a close friend who tell you the truth, cherish their friendship. you have a friendship that money can't buy! Though it may be hurtful, trust me I've been through that very path and learn his lesson the hard way, The real Bros will sometimes smack you down with the truth that may stunts you for days,  but it's your job to evaluate the degree of truth, and it's your decision to improve yourself or not. When someone stuff you with the truth, accept them gracefully, and be really glad that you have such an honest friend, which is really rare. When was the last time you told your friend the whole truth anyway? If you wouldn't even tell them the truth when they arn't paying you, what are the chances that you will tell the truth if someone is paying you not to tell the truth?

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What Can Be : What It Is

It's about seeing the world as what it can be and not what it is.

- Dr. K. R. Sridhar

 The conversation actually goes like this (Thanks to SustainabiliTank I don't have to go through the whole video again):

It started out with an interview (watch it here) by Lesley Stahl with a fantastic starting monologue:

In the world of energy, the Holy Grail is a power source that's inexpensive and clean, with no emissions. Well over 100 start-ups in Silicon Valley are working on it, and one of them, Bloom Energy, is about to make public its invention: a little power plant-in-a-box they want to put literally in your backyard.

Then it ended with a great come back from the CEO of Bloom Energy who is the inventor of Bloom Box
“You are an idealist,” Stahl remarked.
“You know, it’s about seeing the world as what it can be and not what it is,” Sridhar replied.

Knowing that I am far from a techy person, NO this is not one of those post criticizing the possibility of BloomBox or cheer of joy or chant of worship from those "Go Green"-er, lauyee only go green when lauyee get angry.

This is about the flash of genius I get when I heard that line, seriously, how could lauyee not quote it! Since the beginning of time I've heard people saying that I'm an idealist or its endless list of synonyms, well for some example:

• I'm looking at that hot chick and tell my friend man I wish she's mine.
• Looking at that Audi A8 and tell my friend that I wish that was my ride.
• Looking at that bungalow house beside that beach and tell my friend welcome to my house.

That's just a few example I easily pluck from the back of my head, there's actually more, for one I hope lauyeelosophy got published and I sit on cash from royalties. Basically you get the idea, and now I could just tell my friends, "Dude, it's about seeing me as what I can be and not who I am!"

Trust me, this is a practice that a lot of people use, subconsciously! Remember the sales man who sold you your house? Din't you heard him say, "a mild renovation here and there and this would be just perfect!" Telling you about the mild renovation is making you see the place as what it can be and not what it is now! It works like a charm for the sales man.

Now haven't you figure out why those losers with nothing better then you can score hot chicks while you only have your left and right hands? They've figure the power of "Seeing as what can be and not what it is!" Countless times I've heard people telling their girl, tales of them working hard for that dream cars of theirs, that dream house, but do I need to be that obvious to tell you what that guy is dreaming when he's telling those tales?

Once there was this friend of mine who is kinda good with girls told me,

"lauyee, it's not about spending on them that matter, it's about spending, so spend on yourself when you're with them! What they want is to be convinced that you could spend, and it's not like you don't have to spend anyway. It's about lifestyle, and not just material stuff, girls now are smart"

Of course that work like a charm for him! See, he position himself as he could spend his fortune on his date, while in actuality he's smartly spending the money for himself. Again, "Seeing as what can be and not what it is!" Me? I'm still on the "I need free booze" donation drive.

Seriously, don't just myopically look at a person, a company or a situation. Not everyone are gifted, and if a man dare to dream and work hard for his dream persistently, there's no saying what would his life become. Some men just doesn't share their dream publicly, they keep them close to themselves or those who are close to them, don't write them off for who they are but rather find out who they want to be.

And the battle begins!

Living in a Chinese community, today is the 6th day of Chinese New Year! A day suitable for commencement of business after the long Chinese New Year holiday. This day also mark a new start in my life, a lot of plans need to be put on hold after my father's heart attack. Instead of expanding the sales coverage, I need to first maintain the customer base and try to increase the sales from the existing customer base. Now I wonder how would I manage to pull that off given the fact that I've just pare my product portfolio, in which I've removed 60% of the product off the new catalog.

This year seeing that the economy is having a turn for the better, the competition will be fierce. With the low entrance barrier it will be a dogfight. Simply anyone with decent access to cash can come into my industry (If you haven't know yet, I'm in the Hardware Trading business, hardware as in handtools not computer). Yes access to cash means you doesn't even need to have the money, so long as you can have access to it, loan for example. Trust me so long as you have access to cash or made believe to have it, suppliers will be queuing up to support you! If you happen to know mandarin it would be a lot easier for you! You can just search from Alibaba.com and you can import your own hardware product to sell. There are abundance supply of tools and if you know how to market it, the margin is high. Which is why a lot of people are still coming into this industry!

Our company have survived for 40 years, that's a respectable record but none of the company leader manage to bring the company into prosperity, year by year they strive to survive, and now I wonder if I can steward the company into the ocean of success or would I just sail it to doomsland. Extra hard I shall work, to make sure that my company can survive for at least the 3 years to come, and hopefully thereafter I would manage to call in new work force to expand the business and may it expand exponentially. Let's hope for heaven and work like hell! I AM SPARTAN!!! AND LET'S THE BATTLE BEGINS!!!

Past : Present

We are all product of our own experiences of good and bad, everything that is happening to me, that made me who I am.

-Noah Bennet, Heroes S4E19

There's no man without past, sometimes the insignificant event that we've been through in our pass hit us hard in our present day, sometimes a random act of kindness rewards us when we din't  even expect it. Ain't life just wonderful? Sometimes you work hard thinking that it might pay off one day but life doesn't seems to work that way. The work that you're working hard on might be the punishment for the laziness of younger days. Like instead of working we're busy 'like'-ing the photo friend posted, posting comments on friends status updates or whatever else that one could think of. The aggregated insignificant inefficiency will cost us a lot come payback time. So next time think twice before logon to facebook. You might need to work extra hour just because of that one status update that you've made. Like what Alicia Keys said, "It's called Karma baby. And it goes around."

Vodka Valentine

While the Vodka in my glass is crystal clear my mind is clouded with various thoughts, of what I could do, should do and would do.

Vodka to me is really inspiring, they look harmless just like normal drinking water, but they could easily knock out any unsuspecting victim. 40% ethanol (C₂H₅OH) and 60% water (H2O), sound really really simple, matter of fact Vodka means little water in Salvic, the mother tongue of Russian who invented Vodka. It taste like nothing but pure alcohol, so versatile it actually mix well almost everything, and at the same time mixes best with nothing. If you ask a barkeep to describe the taste of Vodka, they will tell you that it's tasteless, sound pretty much like what people would describe me to be honest.

On this very day where people are busy celebrating their love and affection with their sweetheart, worshiping the devil of consumerism, advocated by florists, gift shops and restaurants, some are left out. Not denying the fact that I'm updating my blog because the  -one-  (smart guys keep their backups, and I'm one of those who arn't so smart) person that I'm trying to date turn me down, sadly. However, this is not about jealousy, or saying that the grapes are sour just because I couldn't have it. Seriously if you have someone with you to celebrate it, be glad, be really glad that you have someone who likes you or loves you, or somehow  infatuated to celebrate this special day with you. Trust me, lovers can celebrate everyday, but not everyday a Valentine's day, it is a special day why else would people be celebrating it for 1514 years since 496 A.D.?

As the words piling, Vodka is slowly finishing and I'll have to move my ass to drown myself in more alcohol, after all, it's a day where we over celebrate our love! Being as versatile as the vodka, I'm sure I could mix well with anyone. Having a mind clearly knowing what I want, and half high thanks to the vodka, I'm more than ready to face the "Where's your date?" bomb!

Well, love should be like the vodka, 40% of pure love, diluting it with 60% of self interest, after all we are just human, not like vodka, even if we are versatile we have a choice of who we want to mix with, and we always love ourselves before anyone else, if you don't you really should! You can't love someone more then yourself!

Alas, Happy St. Valentine's Day!

Belated by now...

Clash of the Titans: Google Buzz vs Facebook

SAN FRANCISCO: Google Inc has opened a new social hub in its e-mail service, leaving little doubt that the Internet search leader is girding for a face-off with Facebook.

The new Gmail channel, called Google Buzz, includes many of the features that have turned Facebook into the Web’s top spot for fraternising with friends and family.

It came less than a week after Facebook made changes of its own. Among other things, Facebook now shows a list of friends available for chatting on the left side of the page, similar to where Gmail now displays its chat feature.

The Google Buzz features won’t reach all of Gmail’s estimated 176 million users worldwide for several more days. A link to the service will appear on the top left of the page, in a prominent position just under Gmail’s inbox tab.

Like Facebook, Google Buzz will let Gmail users post updates about what they are doing or thinking and share those with the rest of the world or with only a select group of people.

Gmail users also will be able to track other people’s updates and instantly comment on them for everyone else in the social circle to see.

And, just like Facebook, Google Buzz can serve as a showcase for video, photos and weblinks to interesting stories.

Google Buzz also shows similarities with Twitter, an online communication tool that broadcasts messages of up to 140 characters. A mobile phone application of Google Buzz is particularly Twitter-like: It allows people to see the public updates of other people in the same vicinity.

Brin grins

Some of Google Buzz’s features mirror social tools already available in instant-messaging services and other web-based e-mail, including Yahoo! Inc’s and Microsoft Corp’s. Google Chat, which is incorporated into Gmail, already has limited ability to display status updates.

Google launched a social network called Orkut six years ago, just a few weeks before Facebook began in a Harvard dorm room, but Orkut has gained little traction outside of Brazil. Meanwhile, Facebook has emerged as a cultural phenomenon with more than 400 million users worldwide.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin seemed confident that Google Buzz will enjoy broader success.

“Every couple years something new and revolutionary emerges and thanks to the Internet it can really emerge very quickly and affect many people in a short period of time,” Brin said.

“I certainly hope that trend will continue and I hope we will make our own contribution with this set of capabilities.”

Without mentioning Facebook specifically, other Google executives predicted the new service will do a better job of sifting through the clutter of personal updates to pull up the ones most likely to pique each individual user’s interest.

Although Google remains far more powerful, Facebook poses a threat because much of the personal information shared on the site remains boxed in a “walled garden” that can’t be indexed by search engines.

And Facebook has become a more alluring marketing magnet as more people spend more time there. That status threatens to siphon revenue from Google, which makes virtually all of its money from advertising.

Competing

Facebook had little to say about Google Buzz on Tuesday.“Generally, we’re supportive of technologies that help make the Web more social and the world more open and are interested to see how Google Buzz progresses over time,” the company said in a statement.

Facebook also declined on Tuesday to comment on a report by the blog TechCrunch that Facebook is developing a new e-mail service, which would encroach on Gmail and other web-based e-mail services.

The rivalry between Facebook and Google has been heating up since Facebook sold a 1.6% stake to Microsoft in 2007. Facebook stirred things up further by wooing a Google advertising executive, Sheryl Sandberg, to become its chief operating officer. — AP

FACEBOOK-LIKE: The new "Google Buzz" feature for Gmail will enable Gmail users
to create status updates on Google Buzz and read and comment on the
updates posted by their friends. — AP

 IMPROVED: Gmail users will be able to track other people’s updates and instantly
comment on them for everyone else in the social circle to see. — AP

要如何告诉你？

不懂你今晚 你是否决定了早睡
还是仍在电视前 迟迟不肯入眠
也可能还没回家 和朋友喝茶聊天

可恶怎么关心和打扰那么接近
要怎么做你才能感觉到我关心
对你默默思念 你是否听见
还是我应该直接一点

告诉你我对你已经有了感觉
而我又不懂得 赢取你心的秘诀
只希望对你的真心 有天被你发现
愿意让我陪你 度过每一天

要如何告诉你我对你有了感觉
而我又不懂得 赢取你心的秘诀
只希望对你的真心 你不会太迟发现
别让我苦等到永远

---

毕竟是表白用的歌，曲子会请快一点，只可惜我音乐造诣不到家，不能够把曲记录起来，而且深夜了又没什么声音来好好唱完整首歌曲。希望在初一前可以完成吧！真的遇见一个自己喜欢的人不容易,好好努力吧！加油！

There is no ME in FASHION

Went for a pre-Chinese New Year shopping with my group of party buddies and se-fucking-riously, there's so many things I din't know about wardrobe shopping!

They take into consideration what is in fashion, what is the best size that suit them, the color that outshine others in the group, the brand, the overall look and  sometimes the price tag,

Me on the other hand, couldn't even care that much about it, I have a body that couldn't fit into those in fashion clothing, and a wallet that restrict my spending. Never had I spent more than RM 50 on a T, RM 70 for a shirt, RM70 for Bermudas, RM 120 on a long pants and RM200 on shoes. I'm cheap I must admit, and lazy too. While they work had to control their diet and work out, I just spend my small fortune on food and booze, basically I spend more on feeling good rather then looking good.

Don't get the wrong idea, I'm not exactly a great singer, but I love to torture ears. Best of all, when I can get a few beers while I'm torturing ears, and that doesn't help making me fit into those nice clothes even a little bit!

Think I should take looking good a little bit more seriously, because they say that one could harvest feeling good from looking good. Say you dress better you have a better chance to initiate a conversation with the girl that you're attracted to in the bar, and you'll feel good at the end of the day, and it's because you're looking good! Well, I couldn't deny that when they have their track record to back it up! 

Especially now that I have a very very good reason to do so, I think I should at least put in a few minutes a day fighting those fats and watch my diet closely. Like I said on previous post, heart over brain this time, and hopefully I fail not! Quoting Yoda, Do, or do not. There is no try.

Brain vs Heart

Everything is deem illogical until proven logical, would this logic be proven logical or would it be taken as another illogical logic?

- lauyee

Sometimes things just doesn't work out as thought, I'd never expect things to turn out the way they did over the course of time and they just did. However it's interesting, at least it makes me want to put in more time to work for it. Somehow the big brain is telling me that it's not really the best match, but the heart for once after a very very long while speak up for itself and objected! Big brain is telling me that I'm repeating the same mistake and I should have learn from that mistake I've made which wasted 1/5 of my life, but the cardiology department keep on objecting with some really really typical excuses, people does grow for example. In dilemma now, in which I shouldn't have! I've promised my brain to trust him more because logical choices always triumph over emotional choices, it's proven time and time again.

However, for now, I think, though illogically, I'll still follow my heart, for until it's prevailed that it's a total waste of time to work for it.

Time : Money : Poker

Time is not money if you don't know how to use it, but money is always time no matter how you use it!

- lauyee

 We are all born into the world living 24 hours a day,  however I had never know of any two person who doesn't share the same body (yes I know some of you are going to say Siamese twins) to use their 24 hours exactly the same. If life is a poker game (in which I think it's rather similar to a game of Texas hold 'em), we start the game with the exactly same amount of chips, but somehow some manage to play more rounds some lesser, we call it life span. Some privileged few are born under the star of great luck and often get some extremely good pocket cards, and some get normal cards with chance to get a flush, a straight and or even win out with their high card, and some poor thing just keep on getting two low number cards with no chance of getting even a straight or flush.

How you bet (in a sense use your time) directly affect your wealth, some just waste it on dumb hands trying to bluff their opponents, they won't always fail, but once they failed they meet their doomsday, some took calculated risk and play some play real tight minimizing their risk. However you play, you might get really lucky and sometimes win, but if you bet on luck, even if you might win and actually manage to convert your chips into money at the end of the game, it wouldn't be with you for long, because luck is never constant, it changes, sometimes, you folded just to find out that you are actually having the best hand and you just missed the big pot because you don't dare to take the risk, or at times, you thought you're going to lose and the turn and river just turn the tide and you end up winning. Luck is very much desired, but never solely depend on it, unless if you really is Tyche or Fortuna herself. There's no sure win strategy in the game, but there are however some formula that could increase your chance of winning, and it take great discipline to abide by the formula and end up a winner. Just like how you should use your time! There's no saying that what you do will be fruitful, however there are some formula for you to accumulate your wealth, and it take great discipline to make sure that the plan work and convert your time into money! In other words, if you doesn't have the skill to make good use of your time, it's worthless, and your time is not money!

However you constantly buy time using money! Say in Texas Hold 'em, you want to increase your chip pool, but the max buy in is 24 chips, you can always buy allies, make them lose their chips to you so you increase your chip pool. Then you skilfully use your advantage against your opponent. Look around, whatever you've bought with your money, need time to produce, and you use your money to trade for those products. That product is produced by people who need money, and trade their time for the money!

We are all born with the same amount of time per day, it's how we use it that makes us really different. In stages of life, we eventually need trade our time for money -or- to obtain the skills that brings us money. After that some might be smart enough to make their money work for them, buying time of others and use it for themselves, leveraging as those smarties may call it. You can read thousand of motivational book, self made millionaire biography, road to wealth guide book (as if it's ever a non-fiction) the underlying principles are always the same. Use your time wisely, gain knowledge, trade time for money; use your money wisely, trade money for more time. Repeat the cycle until you can stop trading your time. Of course in the course of trades keep a positive mind as luck may not always be with you.

So who am I actually?

When you can wear too many hats, you eventually forget how your hair suppose to look like.

- lauyee

Seriously I've forgotten, I play too many roles in my life, first a great grandson, then a son, a brother, then a student, a friend, a mentee, a mentor, a lover, a sinner, a hater, an unemployed, an employee and now an employer, and that's not including those various roles that I've forgotten and the role in numerous role playing games I've played. Wouldn't say that I did my best in all those roles but I at least try to be above average, and most of the time, I could pull it off quite well, being able to put on different hat when I need to face different situation. Come to think of it, who am I? Am I kind or evil?

My friend who's quite successful in his dating life told me, just relax be yourself when you're facing the girl that you like, and HAVE FUN! You're a fun guy, you know how to crack jokes and all, you'll do great. Then again, would that be me? Was it really me that cracked those jokes? Or was it just another role that I'm playing? I'm confused, could I really love someone when I don't even know which one of myself love the person the most?

Seriously, who am I actually?

It's time to monetize!

I've got tons of bullshit to share, most of the time, the bullshitlism make an interesting read, even for myself when I read back. I can't believe that I am so FOS (full of shit, not the apparel chain). Future lies uncertain, every penny earn now is going to help me retire sooner. Now that I know bullshitting is my strength why not make good use of it and monetize my skill?

Moreover, it's always my ambition to make a living by bullshitting, though my original plan was a lot less creative, becoming a lawyer, where I bullshit by quoting case law set by other bullshitter or the legislation itself created by even more bullshitter.


However I'll try to KISS (keep it short and simple) with my shit, I don't have forever to write up a post and who the hell would spend their time reading all those uninteresting bullshit anyway. Exactly, poor soul like you who have nothing better to do with your time will be reading this.


Please take the bullshit here with a grain of salt, I'll have to warn you that all the bullshits are my personal view and is more often then not far from the fact.

Random Picture : Serious Thoughts

Apparently you need to be smart enough to understand what I'm trying to say, and to make life easier, I've included what I wanted to say in the source code, go figure if you want to but hey, don't waste your the time of your life like this alright? Go do something better for your life, pick up that dammn phone and call whoever you've been missing so much!