Be a doer, not a talker (Part 2)

I just reread a post I wrote from a little over a year ago title Be a doer, not a talker.  A year later, it's refreshing to see myself taking my own advice.  I've worked incredibly hard the past year - both in designing and building an app at work that I'm super proud of and in teaching myself Swift in my spare time and building the first app that I connected, designed, and built entirely myself (coming soon to iTunes!).  About 2 months after I wrote this post I made a major gamble on taking a job working on a new stealth wearable product.  It will not see the the light of day, but I've learned so much in this experience that it was all well worth it.  And finally, my crazy decision back in 2012 to leave my comfort zone and my family and follow a girl to California has all been worth it.  So glad I followed my heart - we get married in less than two months :-).

 #4 -  Work very hard—a surprising number of people will be offended that you choose to work hard—but not so hard that the rest of your life passes you by.  Aim to be the best in the world at whatever you do professionally.  Even if you miss, you’ll probably end up in a pretty good place.

#10 - However, as valuable as planning is, if a great opportunity comes along you should take it.  Don’t be afraid to do something slightly reckless.  One of the benefits of working hard is that good opportunities will come along, but it’s still up to you to jump on them when they do.

#17 - If you think you’re going to regret not doing something, you should probably do it.  Regret is the worst, and most people regret far more things they didn’t do than things they did do.  When in doubt, kiss the boy/girl.

#25 - Remember how intensely you loved your boyfriend/girlfriend when you were a teenager?  Love him/her that intensely now.  Remember how excited and happy you got about stuff as a kid?  Get that excited and happy now.  

Security in Tech and Life

So much has been written lately about security and privacy, particularly because of the Apple vs. FBI feud. It scares me that so many people with the potential to influence the final outcome don't seem to understand the technical issues, nor the long term implications. The same technology that protects my family and me also protects the US President and any Americans overseas in scary countries without many civil liberty protections. 

Blake Ross' excellent wise-guy summary gives some great real world examples of security that everyone can understand, but also does a great job of giving a cliff notes overview of why building secure software is so difficult. Also, I had somehow never known the details of how they secure airplanes now:

 "For as much money and time as we’ve wasted on printer-powered air security, only one innovation has prevented another 9/11: Locked, reinforced cockpit doors. These doors can withstand gunfire and even small grenades.

But sometimes, 6 hours into a Cancun flight, 3 helpings into Delta’s Cargo-Class Seafood, a pilot needs to deposit a few small grenades of his own. So there’s a handshake protocol:

1. When the pooping pilot wants to reenter the cockpit, he calls the flying pilot on the intercom to buzz him in.
2. If there’s no answer, the outside pilot enters an emergency keycode. If the flying pilot doesn’t deny the request within 30 seconds, the door unlocks.
3. The flying pilot can flip a switch to disable the emergency keypad for 5 to 20 minutes (repeatedly)."

First Impressions of Apple Watch Workout App

I finally got my hands on an Apple Watch this weekend!  I've been waiting for this since it was announced, mostly for the promise of the workout features.  My 2+ year old MOTOACTV watch is finally starting to show it's age - although I still feel it's one of the best running watches on the market as it combines GPS, bluetooth, wi-fi syncing, and a color screen all in one.  Oddly, almost no other running watches offer that.

My first run with the Apple Watch was nothing short of a disaster.  Perhaps I have it misconfigured, but the three most common actions for me (starting/stopping at an intersection,  changing audio playback, and seeing my workout metrics) were all HUGE usability nightmares.  More coming soon, but suffice it to say that for a company that prides itself in design and has marketed this watch as a fitness device, my first impressions were very disappointing.  

Be a doer, not a talker

That's #32 on Sam Altman's list of things learned before turning 30. There are many of these lists out there, but this is one of the best ones I've seen in a while.  Here are a few that really resonated with me:

 #4 -  Work very hard—a surprising number of people will be offended that you choose to work hard—but not so hard that the rest of your life passes you by.  Aim to be the best in the world at whatever you do professionally.  Even if you miss, you’ll probably end up in a pretty good place.

#10 - However, as valuable as planning is, if a great opportunity comes along you should take it.  Don’t be afraid to do something slightly reckless.  One of the benefits of working hard is that good opportunities will come along, but it’s still up to you to jump on them when they do.

#17 - If you think you’re going to regret not doing something, you should probably do it.  Regret is the worst, and most people regret far more things they didn’t do than things they did do.  When in doubt, kiss the boy/girl.

#25 - Remember how intensely you loved your boyfriend/girlfriend when you were a teenager?  Love him/her that intensely now.  Remember how excited and happy you got about stuff as a kid?  Get that excited and happy now.  

See the full list here.