girk

Just so you know, the feature of having printable drill sheets should most definitely NOT be low priority. It might very well be your magic key to getting institutions on board. My Chinese professors from the past have been pining over such a feature, and continually ask me for resources that would meet this need. Again, drop me an email at melgirk at mail by Google.

Just as a bit of background, I am fluent in Chinese, have a degree in Chinese, and a few years ago, published a set of Chinese flashcards that are being sold in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, Japan, the US, and soon, Europe. I have a lot of relevant experience and knowledge to contribute.

I actually found with several of the characters that the stroke order it dictated was not correct. Meaning that if I tried to write it in the correct order, it wouldn't keep my strokes, because it had a different order in mind.

I will second the fact that the UI is very confusing. The functions of the buttons as compared to the graphics did not make sense to me at all.

If you're interested in getting more students on board to take part of initial group to be tracked, feel free email me at melgirk at the only email service worth using.

The level for basical fluency is 800 characters. Research done has shown that by knowing these 800 characters (which have been specifically determined) will allow you to read 80% of all Chinese ever written.

Thanks for sharing. I just graduated last August, and experienced these same persistent feelings all throughout my college career. I'm often the type of person who can be surrounded by a huge group of people and still feel incredibly alone.

Here is an excerpt from an essay I wrote after returning from a year abroad in China:

"The concept of 'foreignerism' is not unfamiliar to me. Though I have spent the majority of my life as a citizen and resident of the United States of America, I am, in many ways, suspended between two worlds. Long before I moved to China, I felt like a stranger in a strange land and I often yearned to find a place that I could truly feel at home. Then shortly after I had adjusted to life in Beijing, I found myself completely at ease. Looking back now, I have to wonder if I did actually find somewhere that I "fit in" or if rather, I finally became comfortable with the fact that I might never quite fit in anywhere."

I can send you (or anybody else) the rest of the essay if you would like. Just email me at m[at]gee.ky. However, all of my experiences in China leading up to this realization are chronicled on: http://www.middlefusion.com/

10-year-old Moshe: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/14/10-year-old-scholar...

Danielle Fong's essay: http://daniellefong.com/2008/05/15/advice-to-the-bright-and-...

I'm still relatively new here, so I'm not sure if it's common to comment on one's own submission.

After reading the article about the 10-year-old kid, Moshe, and the essay Danielle Fong wrote in response, I wanted to share this essay by Stephanie S. Tolan with you all, because it largely addresses the "imposter's syndrome" that Danielle mentioned.

This article was enormously influential in my life, and I hope that you guys will appreciate it as well.

I find myself explaining to people why they should care about Twitter quite often, so I recently wrote up a comprehensive blog post about it.

Twitter-Me This: http://www.gee.ky/blog/2008/05/twitter-me-this.html

My reasons include: Social Network, Keeping in Touch, Minutia Can Be Meaningful, Mobile Chatroom, Information On-The-Go, Privacy Shield, Accessibility, Forced Short-Form Communication, Pulse of the World, Proxy, and Brand-Monitoring.

Have you heard about coworking?

To learn more about coworking, check out this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/20/business/businessspecial2/...

If you're interested in the concept, find a Jelly near you: http://workatjelly.com/

You can also read more at the coworking wiki: http://coworking.pbwiki.com/

I think you should go to a Jelly. Seems like it would an especially effective way to alleviate "boredom" you are experiencing, which may not be stemming from the work you're doing, but rather just the lack of social interaction as a result of working very hard by yourself for an extended period of time. At a Jelly, you are working "by yourself," but amongst others.

Also, if it really is the marketing-type work that you find unsatisfying and boring, going to a Jelly will possibly help you find a cofounder/designer/marketing-type person with which to team up.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned NearlyFreeSpeech yet. They offer very reasonably priced a-la-carte hosting solutions, with no monthly plan requirement, so you don't get screwed for going over maximum bandwidth... or under. It's great for small sites. And for only an extra $0.01 a day for a "Respect My Privacy" service to hide your registration information. Domain registrations are fairly cheap at $7.99. They also have great tech-support.

https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/

Very cool. One thing I noticed is that it has "all" messages posted, including ones the user may have deleted off of their Twitter feed... Seems that once it is sent out into the Twittosphere, you can't actually retract the message, even by "deleting" it. So, this makes for an interesting way to see everything ;)

Great read. I will be adding this blog to my Reader, for sure.

I would say that although most companies wait until their logo is "burned" into the memory of customers, changing up the logo is a definitely a practice that is done. Just think about when you watch a commercial on television, and you know it's Coca-Cola long before they tell you. Is it the music? Is it the certain shade of red? It's branding. The Economist is also known for its creative use of brand power; their advertisements often feature a very small version of their logo, if it's featured at all. But the same dry, sharp wit for which the magazine is revered, leaves no doubt that the ad belongs to The Economist.

By the way, there is more information on the Dilbert-Google fiasco these two posts on the same blog: http://xooglers.blogspot.com/2006/05/theres-no-story-yet-plo... http://xooglers.blogspot.com/2006/06/brilliant-love-it-now-c...

Perhaps I am "just" an introvert, and not a loner -- the author does say they aren't the same thing -- but I didn't so much care for the tone of this article and thus will probably not read the book. I much prefer Jonathan Raunch's article, "Caring For Your Introvert": http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200303/rauch

@DocSavage, I'm not sure I understand your response. If you spend your time working with gifted kids (or talented young entrepreneurs), I think you invariably develop some expertise on how to identify them, in "the wild," in "captivity," or wherever.

Just because their 'public school' (or company or university or whatever) is considered good, doesn't necessarily mean they are good. Conversely, not being gifted, talented, and/or a young entrepreneur doesn't make them bad. But if you spend your time working with people falling in the former category, perhaps you would feel as if the latter category was missing something. That's not criticism, it's just an observation.

And if they are missing something because of their external environment (company, private school, public school, university, or what have you), then, well, as with all analogies, the comparison eventually breaks down. We are humans and not wild animals in captivity. I realize that oftentimes, kids don't have a choice about what schools they go to. But, regardless, that's not really the part I thought was relevant. My point was more that there is a good chance that the people who are unhappy in a large, corporate bureaucracy may be the same people who were unhappy in a public school. Generally speaking, individuals have some capacity or power to change our external environment. And if you're motivated to change your environment, chances are, you will. Books, games, etc., are all great escapes for people/kids who are in a less than desirable (read: less than challenging) situation. Just as start-ups are a great escape for people who are bored to tears in large, corporate bureaucracy.

Shrug. I understand that there are obviously different opinions on this essay, but personally, I just don't feel that what Paul Graham wrote was an attack.

This is a really interesting idea, but I feel that much like with other rankings by user recommendation, it inevitably leaves the door open to people who will learn the system and then work the system.

Also, I'm just not so sure about the idea of a middle-man in this type of situation. Perhaps I'm idealistic, but I have always believed that if opportunity doesn't knock, you should build a door.

I went to a very large university (~50,000 students), which is viewed as something negative by many people. However, I cannot recall a single class where the professor did not know my name. Similarly, I cannot recall a single class where I didn't get to know the professor in some personal sense.

Particularly at such a large university, I think that some sense of personal connection with a professor is important. Why? Because I believe students learn better from a person with which they can emphasize. Furthermore, in my personal experience, having an entertaining professor directly correlates with the amount of enjoyment, knowledge, and fulfillment that I feel I receive from the class.

Many of my professors are now on Facebook, and I wholly appreciate their effort to be accessible in ways other than email and/or office hours.

So very true. I try to keep my opinions about Apple to myself, for all of the same reasons.

mS

I love Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. I had a professor in college who taught 'Introduction to Creativity' and was extremely passionate about teaching the ways of Csikszentmihalyi. We the students were inspired and intrigued by her passion about his ideas nearly as much as his ideas themselves. My friend and classmate started a blog, titled "optimal experience" (as an ode to Csikszentmihalyi) at: http://blog.think27.com

Honestly, I'm not sure why everybody is up in arms about either one of these essays (full-length version and/or Cliffs Notes). Both of them seem right on target to me.

Reminds me of an essay by Stephanie Tolan titled "Is It a Cheetah?", which offers cheetahs as an analogy for gifted children who are confined to (and as a result, crippled by) public school systems.

Excerpt: "The cheetah needs to run! Despite design and need however, certain conditions are necessary if it is to attain its famous 70 mph top speed. ... It must have plenty of room to run. Besides that, it is best motivated to run all out when it is hungry and there are antelope to chase. If a cheetah is confined to a 10 X 12 foot cage, though it may pace or fling itself against the bars in restless frustration, it won't run 70 mph."

Full article: http://www.stephanietolan.com/is_it_a_cheetah.htm

One of best xkcd comics in recent memory. Come Monday, I'll be printing it out and taping it up on my monitor.

mS

I talked about this with my boss last night over drinks, and we both got a good laugh out of it. It's hard to believe that any person (particularly a programmer) would set a reply-to address to a real domain other than their own. I understand not wanting bounced emails, but c'mon guys. They have to realize that somebody DOES actually own that domain and that they WILL receive their bounced email. Shame on the companies like Bank of America and other companies who deal with sensitive and/or confidential information.

mS

I think this sounds like a great idea, especially given Jason's extensive experience working with young entrepreneurs and start-ups.

However, I am concerned with the "open door policy" and the "free to cheap" cost. With no real barrier to entry, the amount of participating people may become overwhelming, thus making it difficult and/or impossible to achieve the "intimacy" aspect.

In addition, both of these aspects would increase the possibility that the participants would not necessarily be the type of highly motivated, independent people (who would have found their way into the startup camp regardless of any barrier to entry, no matter how challenging) who are predisposed to succeed in a startup environment.

mS