media of the week

a brief history of Haïti

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:10:55 -0800

In this brief presentation (Slideshare, PPT, PDF) you will get a quick but thorough overview of the remarkable history of the land, the people, and the indomitable spirit of Haïti. This is one of struggle for freedom, of eventual redemption, of difficulty fitting in a much bigger and hostile world, and of incredible personalities like Toussaint and Dessalines...

Growing up in Port-au-Prince, my father Pierre-Richard, would always tell us, and school us, on this proud history. As an amateur historian and collector, he always had new lectures, books, and artifacts to show us during Sunday dinner. As I grew older, and with the recent events, I came to appreciate even more this magnificent history and the lessons he was trying to teach us.

It was a pleasure to create this short presentation along side my father over the past week and present it on February 18th at the IBM Silicon Valley Lab during a special event titled “Tribute to Haïti” part of Black History Month celebration across IBM labs. I am grateful to Laura Clayton, Terry Davis, and Malaika Paquiot-Mose for the invitation and organization.

Haiti Quake People Finder app on Facebook

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:57:37 -0800

Haiti Quake People Finder is a Facebook application created to socially collect, update, and share information on the survivors and victims of the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12th, 2010.

RSS feed of the survivors and victims. If you add the app to your Facebook profile then you can select survivors and victims who are friends and family and have a central place to see updates about them.

Consider donating to the relief effort via President Clinton’s Foundation Haiti Earthquake Relief.

living STRONG

Mon, 3 Aug 2009 10:29:45 -0700

credit “http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G0C26o4O2U”

More than any diseases that affect human beings, the class of diseases that directly targets the unit of life, the cell, is one of the most pervasive and oldest on the planet. Usually named after the part of the body it was primarily discovered, cancer can impact most human parts, organs, as well as affecting all age groups (from babies to centenarians) and all races and all living human beings, regardless of national origins or locations on the planet.

While more frequent in older human beings, cancer, in simple terms and in a nutshell, affects the programming of the cells at the locus of its first apparition. Affected cells go “out of whack” and reproduce incessantly to create a tumor... The spread of the tumor to nearby organs and other cells makes it a malignant type. The propagation, or metastasis, of the faulty cell programming into the lymphatic system or other parts of the body leads to latter stages of the cancer and to almost certain death of the host.

Practically everybody knows someone who has experienced cancer or worst have or are experiencing it themselves. While evidence suggest that some cancer can be hereditary many more are not. Lots of environmental factors and substances are known to be carcinogens, e.g., asbestos, benzene, and others, but to our bewilderment some of the cancers these carcinogens help accelerate can appear seemingly without these factors’ influences... Many habits, such as tobacco smoking and the heavy and sustain consumption of certain foods can cause cancer; though, people who seemingly have never smoked in their lives can also develop lung cancer and other types cancers that would typically be attributed to smoking.

Looking at the history of humans on this planet we discover that cancer has been with us a long time. Some of the oldest documented cases of cancers date back to the Egyptian civilization, more than 3,500 years ago. Analysis on some mummies lead to conclusions of cancer death. Some eight cases of breast cancer are recorded in uncovered papyrus during that age. The word cancer was actually coined by the father of medicine, Hippocrates, and is derived from the Greek words, carcinos and carcinoma to describe tumors. The Greek term “karkinos” is actually a term describing a crab which Hippocrates thought a tumor resembled.

While Hippocrates first named this class of disease, the evidence of the existence of the disease predates him and evidence of the disease in the animal kingdom is strong and pervasive. Most animals groups develop or can develop cancer. Recent statistics indicate that cancer accounts for almost 50% of deaths of today’s pets over 10 years of age...

Like humans, animals develop all types of cancer and in some cases what appears to be unique cancers. The rare feisty, devil-like, marsupial found in Tasmenia is currently battling a rare type of cancer of the face. What is troubling is that the Tasmenian Devil cancer is contagious and spreads when the little creature bites other Devils, which is part of its natural means of interaction. While scientists are trying their best to study and help the Devil, like for human inflicted cancers there is no known cure and the Devil species, already in low numbers, is now facing complete extinction from spreading the disease to each other.

With such a pervasive ill across the animal kingdom, a natural question is whether cancer is a stain in the design of life? Is it a bug in the programming of life? A mistake by our programmer creator or a ubiquitous evolutionary flaw... No one really knows for sure and most of the working treatments simply try to destroy the cancer cells (killing adjacent cells in the process) before they spread to vital organs or other parts of the body.

The prognosis for a cure or significantly better treatment, it seems, is not very good. Besides a better understanding of the mechanisms of the disease, a better categorization, and a better statistical understanding of the factors that lead to higher propensity for cancer, modern medicine and science is still mostly baffled by the disease. The best known cure is early detection and removal of the flawed cells via surgery and chemotherapy. Many do survive the disease to lead long lives, but across the world we continue and increasingly mourn for loves ones taken too early by the disease...

One such survivor who has gone on to continue to achieve a prosperous and remarkable life is the american cyclist Lance Armstrong. After being diagnosed with testicular cancer that had started to spread, Lance was treated, recovered, and ended up winning what is easily the most gruesome sporting event in the world. Lance it seems was motivated by his predicament and managed to win Le Tour de France (TdF) an unprecedented seven consecutive times...

Lance’s achievement is so extraordinary that he was accused of doping or having used the cancer treatment to his advantage in cycling! His return to the podium in this year 2009 TdF is putting these rumors to sleep and showing even how incredible of an athlete he is as well as the sheer triumph of of his indomitable spirit.

However, perhaps Lance’s greatest legacy since surviving cancer is the establishment of the LiveSTRONG foundation for cancer research. Besides raising millions for scientific research and helping with programs for currently afflicted patients, the Lance Armstrong Foundation and Lance’s personal battle and examples give something even stronger than dollars to the cause. It gives hope and courage to those afflicted (directly or indirectly) to keep fighting and believing that one day a cure will be found...

And if that cure is not achieved in our lifetime, by living STRONG like Lance we will have won anyhow by unlocking our potential and unleashing our own achievements by not letting the disease paralyze or impact our dreams and spirit.

LiveSTRONG!

the prototype of success

Tue, 26 May 2009 18:22:47 -0700

credit “Bill Gates and wife Melinda Gates of the Gates Foundation from a MSNBC article on the foundation’s efforts”

For most cultures, the folkloric definition of success is equivalent to acquiring lots of wealth and power. The more one acquires the former, the more it generally entails the latter. Naturally, how one acquires wealth, whether from your own talents, sweat, luck, or old fashion inheritance would then seem to determine a lot of your future potential for success.

This common, and simplified definition of success has been challenged in Malcom Gladwell’s new book: Outlier - the story of success. The thesis of Gladwell’s book is that success is not simply pre-determined nor favored by innate talent, nor inheritance, nor the accumulation of lots of wealth...

Rather, in simple terms, success seems to be determined much more by luck, hard work, and the right cultural milieu! If true, the consequences of Gladwell’s thesis would be to democratize our notion and paths to success. It is perhaps most in line with our American ideals of happiness and dreams, however, the outlier thesis implies that with freedom of choice and with some opportunity, anyone could become the next Bill Gates.

Mr. Gates is the Rockerfeller of our age. A computer genius, who seemed to outsmart everyone, from the blue suits in New York to the jeans and sneaker wearing boys of Silicon Valley. For more than 25 years, Mr. Gates’s company dominated the most important technological revolution of modern times. With uncanny business and technological decision after decision, he led Microsoft to virtual domination of personal computing while achieving one of his noble goals of placing a computer in every home...

Gates is idealized as the perfect computer ‘nerd’ with rare business acumen and insights. However, on careful examination, Gladwell deconstructs Gates’s success to uncover what has made this Harvard dropout so successful and dominant. Turns out Gates’s is the near perfect outlier...

While Gates was born of a comfortable and happy family, he started ‘working’ as a programmer in his early teens when most had never heard of nor seen a computer in person. The trade of software engineer or programmer were not even invented. Gates was programming the mainframe at the University of Washington from night to dawn during his summer vacation. Before he entered Harvard, the young Bill Gates was one of very few handful of programmers worldwide with more than 10,000 hours of programming under his belt.

In addition to Bill Gates incomparable experience in the art of computer programming, he was born in a time that accompanied a tidal wave of technological changes. Information technology’s potential was barely noticeable and imaginable. Most of the major players could barely fathom the incoming changes that computing and software would achieve. In less than 20 years, information technology would become nothing less than the dominant driving force of modern economies, a relentless productivity booster, a new communication fabric for all societies, and the most important recent factor in America’s global economic dominance.

Mr. Gates was at the heart of this information technology revolution, not because he was smarter than all of us, but because, he was born at the right time, acquired a passion for programming when most teenagers were dreaming of being astronauts and were caught in old world professions, and he became an expert in the craft with sheer practice and passion. Mr. Gates was the first professional programmer and he was the first to really understand the business implications of software.

Nowadays, one would be unjust to label Mr. Gates as simply a computing genius. Yes he’s an outlier in the Gladwell sense but he is more so with his pledges to redistribute the vast wealth he had acquired to genuinely try and make the world a better place. With his wife Melinda, the Gates Foundation is tackling some of the world greatest problems: inner city education, the eradication of diseases like malaria and AIDS, as well as investing in the poorest of the poor so they can have a chance to also be outliers. For these efforts, in my book, Bill Gates is THE prototype of success; we could all learn from studying his passion, his work ethics, and his unbounded generosity.

Gates is not the only example in Gladwell’s book. The Beattles had thousands of hours of practice in Hamburg before invading America. They had practiced playing as a band more than any others, could that have been the source of their subsequent success? Hockey players from Canada are disproportionately born in January due to the few months of advantages such a birthdate gives them over other young players on the ice as they participate in leagues across the vast land. Gladwell gives many other examples from various trades and cultural inheritances and biases.

For me, other examples abound in modern sports. Tiger Woods is legendary for his long practices before and after tournament rounds---whether he is on the leader board or not. And this is not counting Wood’s relentless practices between tournaments. Michael Jordan liked to say that he always played every game as if it was his first, his last, and in front of a new crowd that had never seen him before. This intensity made for great basketball entertainment but also kept him sharp and on his game. Lebron James seems to be following in his airness footsteps...

The outlier thesis may not be fully true, we do not all have the sheer intellect of Bill Gates, the physical talents of Jordan, the mental toughness of Woods, or the musical abilities of Lennon or McCartney. However, the outlier thesis screams loud that talent alone did not produce these icons. Hard work, perspiration, not inspiration, produce them... as Thomas Edison knew long ago.

Success it seems takes hard work, passion, dedication, and a little bit of luck. This democratizing view bodes well with the foundational virtues of America and is what I believe will keep it going even in times of unparalleled hardships. While I do not know if the next Bill Gates will be American, I am certain she will be the kid that is passionate, works hard, and has an open heart...

the end of printed books

Mon, 2 Mar 2009 11:16:39 -0800

credit “Self with iPhone of my new Kindle 2 with a photo of the infinitely quotable Mark Twain on screen”

Last week Amazon released the latest update to their electronic book reader named Kindle. As an avid reader and gadget head, I got mine the day it shipped since I had placed my order the day Amazon announced the Kindle 2.

This is my first e-book reader and I suspect that the Kindle 2 may mark the beginning of the end of printed books. In my opinion, the Kindle is analogous to the iPod first or second generation in the late 1990s when Apple’s stock was in the low teens and Mac computers and Apple Retail Stores were a rare sight, not as ubiquitous as they are today.

Why am I so bullish on the Kindle when lots of e-book readers have failed miserably to replace the venerable paper book which have been part of human societies for so long that it’s hard to imagine a world without them?

First off, let me clarify that I am not saying that paper books will disappear completely anytime soon... It will take years, maybe one or two decades for this to occur; however, I am persuaded that just like the iPod and iTunes have made electronic music and music download as common as emailing, the Kindle is radically transforming the book industry. Electronic books will become the first choice for most first-world buyers, as iTunes music are now over CDs.

The Kindle, like the iPod before it, is not revolutionary, because it is not the first e-book reader nor was the iPod the first music player. However, due to their sufficient innovations and the simple facts that both devices are marketed by companies that get their respective industries, both devices are transformative. Looking deeper we’ll realize that the Kindle has similar features as printed books, solves a series of issues with its analog counterpart, adds lots of value, and has minimum drawbacks---or has the kinds one can live with.

First, the Kindle’s screen, like many other e-book readers is made from an electronic ink that is easy to read for long periods of time and there is no backlight, a feature that inconveniences long period of reading on laptops. This is not new knowledge, but with my personal usage for four days now, I can personally confirm this.

The user interface, especially page turning, menu, and back buttons are intuitive or at least easy enough for a generation growing up with smartphones and the Web. The Kindle has a built-in keyboard and a small joystick that allows one to take notes and quickly move about a page, as you would jot down notes or select sections in a real book with a pen or pencil or highlighter.

These basic features make it slightly on par with regular books. For me these are the most important attributes to allow me not to miss the dead tree versions. Even the weight and dimensions of the Kindle try hard to match the average book so that holding the Kindle reminds us of holding the former.

Second, the Kindle provides a series of advantages that are key for most modern readers. To start with, the Kindle’s capacity allows one to pretty much have their entire book collections all together in one 10 ounce device. The constant wireless access (via 3G, same as the network used for cellphones) means that this library can increase very quickly right there, on the spot, from the device.

With already 230,000 books available for the Kindle, at usually a reduced price, and many leading newspapers, magazines, and blogs, Amazon’s promise to make every book in every language eventually available, is also a powerful and attractive feature.

Like Apple’s iTunes did for my music library, Amazon wants to do the same for my book library, which has over-flooded both my house and office bookshelves... Plus, I can email my own PDFs to the Kindle to add personal documents and add existing electronic books. And, unlike the early iPods, the Kindle’s battery life is about two days with frequent usages with wireless on, and a supposed two weeks with wireless off!

Finally, while the Kindle is not perfect, I think its drawbacks are minor compared with its advantages, and these imperfections will likely be addressed in future versions or by competitive devices. Chief among the list of improvements for me are: (a) better keyboard or stylus support, (b) thumbnails view of my library, (c) better PDF conversions (retaining with more fidelity math formulas and general diagrams), and (c) better online content management.

The last item must have been an oversight by Amazon since the current Kindle management Web site is so dismal that I think it must be their first prototype. This is from the company with the largest, arguably most successful, e-commerce Web site presence who also gave us an iPhone application so polished that it is already iconic in that burgeoning market.

Maybe providing an open APIs, platform, and open book file format for the Kindle might allow Amazon let third parties create better sites, better conversions to include other material, innovative Kindle applications and services, and thus evolve an ecosystem around the device... Imagine a Kindle service that could help you organize every books, newspapers, and blogs you have ever read on your Kindle with cross references to similar material on the Web and connecting you with friends on Facebook that have similar reading patterns?

Nonetheless, on top of the overall conveniences that the Kindle brings, being able to eventually explore the long tail of books, in many (all) languages, as well as improving features such as text-to-speech, PDF emailing, and certainly eventual reduced prices will make give the Kindle larger appeal to book readers, college and high-school students, and daily newspaper and blog readers alike. The Kindle might become, in a few years, as common place as the iPod is now at university campuses and at many workplaces.

While the romantic in me will miss the unique smell of printed books and the nice illustrations on the covers, the Kindle has good enough solutions. The optional leather cover for the Kindle gives it, so far, a distinctive smell and feel and when in standby the Kindle displays photos of well known authors and historical book covers. Allowing one to customize the Kindle standby cover with personal pictures may also prove to be a nice side benefit...

Regardless of whether future Kindle versions improve on its current limitations, and more importantly open up, at the very least, as a long time Amazon book buyer, it has already forever transformed my relationships with books and how I read them and acquire knowledge. I think I am not alone to realize that we have just witnessed the end of printed books... And, on top of all this, such an event may actually also have the long-term positive side-effects of reduced paper wastes and limiting deforestations.