adamchavez's posterous

Best present ever. Minced garlic in 5 seconds.

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 16:50:15 -0800

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Winter in Utah

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:35:55 -0800

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Where am I?

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:29:13 -0800

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Breakfast!

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:18:12 -0800

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Error when trying to install MySQL on a Mac with Ruby on Rails

Sat, 16 Oct 2010 11:32:00 -0700

When trying to install mysql I got the following error:

Building native extensions. This could take a while...

ERROR: Error installing mysql:

ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension.

/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/bin/ruby extconf.rb --with-mysql-dir=/usr/bin --with-mysql-lib=/usr/lib64/mysql

mkmf.rb can't find header files for ruby at /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/ruby.h

Gem files will remain installed in /Library/Ruby/Gems/1.8/gems/mysql-2.8.1 for inspection.

Results logged to /Library/Ruby/Gems/1.8/gems/mysql-2.8.1/ext/mysql_api/gem_make.out

After some googling, I found the following tutorial which I think should help me fix this:

http://www.kieransenior.co.uk/2010/02/04/mysql-cant-connect-using-ruby-on-rails-mac-os-x-snow-leopard/

.. only problem with the above blog post is that instead of it being

location mysql_config

it should be

locate mysql_config

Edit 1: Still didn't work. Installing XCode to see if that fixes it.

Edit 2: After installing XCode it finally installed!!

Edit 3: Looks like it actually didn't work. New error when I used the command: rake db:migrate

rake aborted!

uninitialized constant MysqlCompat::MysqlRes

After googling, I found a StackOverflow post which said to use the command

sudo env ARCHFLAGS="-arch x86_64" gem install mysql

Then I tried the "rake db:migrate" command and it worked!!! I'll update again if something breaks.

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How to change the path variable in Mac OS X

Thu, 14 Oct 2010 23:39:00 -0700

This is a bit trickier than it was in Windows, but not too bad once you get the hang of it.

1. Open up the terminal

2. Type the following:

export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/mysql/bin>> ~/.bash_profile

Note: You would replace "/usr/local/mysql/bin" with whatever path you want to add to your system.

What this does is take your current path, represented by the variable "$PATH", and concatenates the string that follows it, ending with the ">>". It then adds that new string to the path, represented by PATH=, and it knows what file to edit by looking at the last part "~/.bash_profile" The first 2 characters "~/" simply tell the machine to search anywhere in the hard drive for the file ".bash_profile" and finally, the "." before "bash_profile" tells us that this file is hidden.

3. Type enter

4. Type the following:

env

5. Type enter

6. Look for the line that starts with PATH= and you should see your path added to the others.

7. Do a happy dance! You're done.

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Helpful Videos and Tools When Taking CS 124 at BYU

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 00:14:00 -0700

As I go through the semester, I'll add videos and other resources to this list that I found useful. Hope you find this helpful!

Prof. Anant Agarwal from MIT explains concepts similar to CS 124. This guy is really good at explaining things on an intuitive level and also every lecture he has a different surprise about half-way through to help drive home the concepts he's teaching. Highly recommended lecturer if you're feeling lost about NAND gates, AND gates, and digital abstraction.

MIT Basics of digital abstraction (starts getting into the stuff we cover in this course at about 42:20)

MIT Inside the Digital Gate

Multiplexer

Simple Binary Math

Sign & Integer, One's Complement, and Two's Complement

AND, OR, NOT, NOR, NAND, XOR, ADD

http://teahlab.com/ I used this site as a reference to remember what the difference between NOT, OR, AND etc. are.

Online Digital-Circuit Sandbox

http://logic.ly/

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Just made the switch to Posterous

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 18:22:51 -0700

They made it so easy to import from Wordpress I couldn't resist! They even copy your old URL structure so your links don't break.

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Superhuman: the incredible savant brain

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 23:58:25 -0700

Infographic by Smarter.org

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Apple iPad - Why it will become a hit

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:56:00 -0800

My initial reaction to the iPad was "meh." But as I started reading some blog posts about it my mind has changed. I think of my mom, and what she does at the computer -- basically it's email, craigslist, & the occasional news story. That's pretty much it, & she just wants it to work.

The iPad seems to fit very well in that category of people. People who just need something that lets them browse the web, do some occasional shopping, maybe read a book from time to time, but who have no need for the ability to tweak it under the hood. I don't know exactly what Jobs' marketing plans are for the iPad, but my hunch is that he will go after the baby-boomer generation who needs to have a computer but don't want/need to have all the bells/whistles of a regular computer.

The problem with most of the reviews of the iPad is that the people who are on the "front row" of the iPad announcement are geeks, & they look at the iPad and go "uuh, what's in it for me?" That's the thing -- there's not much there for them. But there's something there for their mom or dad. So while I won't be running out to the nearest Apple store to get one being the geek that I am, I predict that the device will be a big hit among the non-geek.

They Have Forgotten their "aha" Experience

Many people watching the presentation and commenting/blogging about it forget what it was like before they tried the iPhone. Before the iPhone, phones were just phones. Personally, I was using a Cricket phone because it was the cheapest monthly data plan. I used my phone for phone calls, & nothing else.

But when I tried out the iPhone, I knew that something incredible had happened. I was at Walmart. I had never experienced multi-touch. This ONE thing was a huge paradigm-shift for me, among many other things. The mobile web browsing experience ALONE had me excited enough to buy one. All mobile browsing before that was annoying, slow, & non-intuitive. You really have to go back to that first-iPhone experience to appreciate what "classic-computer" users are going to experience the first time they try the iPad. Now let's switch back to your mom.

Your mom is where you were before you tried the iPhone, except instead of an "old junk phone" it's an "old junk computer." She's been looking over your shoulder as you showed her how to use a PC. "Yeah, first you click Control Panel, then Network & Internet Connections, then look for an icon that says Network Connections then...." and on and on.

I have nothing against Microsoft - I love Windows myself & enjoy tweaking things from time to time and having full control over it. But by the time you're done explaining to your mom how to connect to the internet she thinks "Wow, my son's a genius & I don't ever want to try to do what he just showed me!" So she comes from that paradigm, and then she tries the iPad. It's simple, intuitive, & requires no understanding of the inner-system in order to operate it.

That's a big deal, & I think she'll have her own "aha" experience with the simplicity, but also with multi-touch, always-on internet, beautiful resolution, 10-hour battery life, etc. I believe the device will be another game-changer, just this time it won't be changing the game for the young and tech-savvy, but for the older generation who are less tech-savvy.

When you look at this from a business standpoint, it makes sense right? What's the market size of the tech-savvy? Now what's the market size of those who are not tech savvy? Yeah. "Normal" people make up like 90% of the population. Jobs and his team have just cracked the door to the mass-market, & I think they've picked the perfect device to do it with.

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Why Hasn't Voice Dictation Gone Mainstream?

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:43:00 -0800

Seeing this new Dragon Dictation iPhone app renewed the excitement I've had for a long time about voice dictation to control a computer, type, etc. You can speak like 160 words per minute and only type (if you're above average) around 60 or 70 -- some incredible office workers can go up to 80 or 90 wpm. This is a huge productivity boost, so why hasn't the mainstream adopted it yet?

I think part of it is that it would be really awkward to sit in a cubicle surrounded by a bunch of other workers -- & speak the things you normally type. At least that's part of what has stopped me from really getting into it. Somebody needs to create some kind of darth-vader mask so others can't hear you when you're dictating -- like noise-cancelling headphones in reverse and for your voice.

Perhaps it's also because of the bad reputation that voice dictation software has. Even though Dragon Naturally Speaking has all but perfected voice-to-text software, I don't think that it has penetrated the consciousness of the mainstream. Most people still think of voice-dictation software as being buggy; well, that's probably because most of it is. Like the software Google Voice uses for its voicemail dictation. It's pretty bad.

There are so many advantages to being able to use something like Dragon. Cut way down your risk of carpel tunnel syndrome, write a 10-page paper in the amount of time it used to take to write a 20-page doc, cut down on eye-strain because you can dictate without staring into a computer screen. There are probably others that I haven't thought of, but I think you see the point. Anyway, if you have any thoughts about why the lack of adoption, let me know in the comments.

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Getting rid of the "Replace the lamp" message: How to reset the lamp timer Sony XGA vpl-px15 projector

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 08:16:57 -0700

If you replaced the lamp in your Sony Projector, but continue getting the "Replace the Lamp" message when you turn it on, follow the steps below to reset your lamp timer and get rid of that message:

Turn off the projector. Normally when the projector is on, you will see a green light lit up. When you turn the projector off, this green light will flicker, then turn red. Wait until the light turns solid red, then go to step 2.
Quickly press (a) reset, (b) left arrow, (c) right arrow, (d) Enter in that order. You must press this sequence within 3 seconds from the time you hit the "reset" button.
You might want to repeat step 2 a couple of times, as there will be no indication by the machine that you have successfully reset the lamp. Going through the sequence multiple times will not cause any problems, as reseting the lamp timer again will do nothing but... well... reset the lamp timer.
Turn on the projector. If it has worked, you will no longer see the message "Replace the lamp" and you are done!
If you still see the message, try steps 1-4 again. If it still won't work, dial the official Sony Projector specialists at 800-883-6817. Press option 2, then option 6 and you should connect to the right people.

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Beware of TaggedMail.com scam - Tagged.com Wants Your Credit Card info

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 04:21:11 -0700

Update Jun 24 1:47PM: I just received a note from Greg Tseng -- he wrote a public statement that you can see here: http://blog.tagged.com/?p=4

Update Jun 6 11:08PM: It looks like the CEO, Greg Tseng, has a bit of a history with spamming people to get businesses off the ground. See http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/feature/2002/08/07/crushmaster/index2.html

I contacted him to get his side of the story. If I hear back from him I'll report it here.

Just got this email from a friend of mine -- but he didn't send it. It's from a site called Tagged.com or TaggedMail.com -- the scam apparently wants you to sign up at their site, and give them your email and credit-card info. It is not clear whether the site sells a legitimate product or service, but their marketing tactics are certainly immoral. Breaking into people's email accounts and sending out false emails ain't a good way to build trust with the community. It appears that once you've given them your email Tagged.com adds your email to a list -- so the spam will only get worse. If you get an email like this below are a few steps you might want to take to make sure nobody else gets tricked: 1. Delete the email 2. Email your friend to recommend that they email the people in their address book to make sure others don't fall for the phishing scam 3. Advise your friend from whom the message was sent to change their email password of the sending account Hope this helps! P.S. You can read about other people who have been attacked by this scam at this live search on Twitter: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=taggedmail

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If your professor's lecture is confusing/boring/lame, find the world's expert..

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 23:20:26 -0700

...and see what he/she has to say. http://academicearth.org/

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An Innovative Way to Prevent Cheating on Writing Assignments

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 15:53:56 -0800

http://etherpad.com/ep/pad/slider/13sentences Wow. So simple -- usually the coolest things are. P.S. To see a really interesting conversation on this, go to this Hacker News thread.

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Highly Recommended for Serious Entrepreneurs - Lecture Series by Founder of Mozy, Josh Coates

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 15:12:53 -0800

I'll be attending this as much as my schedule permits. I highly recommend coming if you are serious about getting a company off the ground.

Coates’ Venture Startup Lecture Series

Provo, UT -- February 13, 2009 — Starting Tuesday, February 24th, Josh Coates will present a weekly lecture series on how to build a successful Technology Startup. Coates is a veteran Silicon Valley entrepreneur who has experienced both spectacular success and dismal failure in the arena of the technology startups (but mostly success!) This six-part lecture series will provide candid advice about how to navigate the well-worn path of venture startups:

Technology and Fundamental Business Concepts (Feb. 24)
Raising Capital: The Simple, Well Understood Path (Mar. 3)
Pro-active Product Development for the Enterprise Market (Mar. 10)
Hiring the A-Team: Rocks and Clowns (Mar. 17)
Practical Internet Marketing (Mar. 24)
Personal Liquidity and Financial Exits (Mar. 31)

This lecture series will be hosted at the Novell Cafeteria (Bldg G.) "We are thrilled to be able to host the Coates’ lecture series again this year.” said Shauna Theobald, Program Director for the Technology Center at Novell. “Attendees from last year’s series raved about the positive impact Josh’s advice had on their businesses. Josh has firsthand knowledge of how to lead a tech-based venture to success. ” This free lecture series is open to the public every Tuesday from 12-1:30p.m., starting Tuesday, February 24th. This series is sponsored by the Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum, the Provo Technology Xelerator, the Technology Center at Novell, and SiliconSlopes/Omniture. About Josh Coates: Josh began his career doing research in parallel computing at UC Berkeley and went on to found two venture backed startups related to large scale data storage technology. His extensive experience ranges from high performance computing and data center operations to venture funding, financial modeling, marketing and mergers and acquisitions. Coates has been honored for his innovation by MIT and Ernst and Young and featured in Forbes and the Wall Street Journal. He currently volunteers as an adjunct instructor in the Computer Science department at BYU. For additional information: http://www.uvef.net Contact: stheobald@novell.com Phone: 801.318.2764

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact Information: Shauna Leavitt Theobald stheobald@novell.com work: 801.861-4046 cell: 801.318.2764

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"The Art of Pitching" Cliff-Notes from "Art of the Start" by Guy Kawasaki

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:30:56 -0800

I'm re-reading "Art of the Start" & thought I'd take some notes -- then I thought, "Why not just post them on my blog? Kill 2 birds with 1 stone" So here you go. Enjoy! Question: How can you tell if an entrepreneur is pitching? Answer: His lips are moving.

Pitching Tip 1:

In the first minute, answer the question: "What does his organization do?" -- Don't go off on personal tangents at the beginning of a pitch

Two Things to Do Before Pitching to a VC

"Set a timer to 1 minute. Give your current pitch until the timer goes off. Ask the audience to write down one sentence that explains what your organization does. Collect the answers and compare them to what you think you said."
"Videotape yourself giving your pitch. If you can watch it without being embarrassed, you're ready to go."

Pitching Tip 2:

Observe the 10/20/30 Rule

10 slides or less
20 minutes (leave 40 minutes for questions/discussion in a 1 hour meeting)
30 point font

Pitching Tip #3 - 1 Person Talk & 1 Person Listen & Take Notes

Story on listening:

"I once accompanied a startup's CEO and COO on a pitch to a venture capitalist. A few days after the pitch, I met with the VC alone. When we began to discuss the Management (with a capital M), all he said was, 'I noticed that the CEO did a lot of talking, but the COO was sitting there taking notes. The CEO didn’t write down a thing. I think the COO is a quality guy.' "I don't remember whether what the venture capitalist had been saying at the original meeting was actually noteworthy, but that's not the point. The point is that shutting up and taking notes or, God help you, actually listening for ways to improve is a good thing to do in a pitch, where even the smallest actions create a big impression. The visible act of taking notes says

I think you're smart

You're saying something worth writing down

I'm willing and anxious to learn

I'm conscientious

"Taking notes provides these benefits, plus the value of the information that you're recording. It can't get much better than this." "Also, at the end of the meeting, summarize what you heard and play it back in order to make sure you got the correct information. You can make an even greater impression by also following through, within a day, on all the promises that you made during the pitch -- for example, providing additional information."

For RSS feeds without the setup from Guy Kawasaki on startups, try startups.alltop.com

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CEO of EnticeLabs Ryan Caldwell On Startups - How Entrepreneurs Can Bring America Back

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:59:00 -0800

I had the opportunity to sit down with Ryan Caldwell last week. He's the CEO of Entice Labs, a startup based in Provo, UT that is changing the way companies recruit and attract talented people in technology. Using cutting-edge, patent-pending technology, Entice Labs allows employers to reach five times as many job candidates at a fraction of the price. Caldwell, a graduate of an earlier iteration of the Information Systems program at the Marriott School, is no stranger to startups and entrepreneurship. His first company was MadKey, an internet company that specialized in high-speed networks. He discovered an innovative way to get speedy internet to customers for less than what any of his competitors were charging. He described his competitors as being "a little miffed" as they would be out-bid nearly every time they went up against MadKey. Caldwell's team could service an entire apartment complex with high-quality service and only charge a fraction of their competitors’ fees. Needless to say, they had no problem getting new customers. Even more impressive though, was that they managed to maintain a profit margin of 80% even with such low prices.

A few weeks before his graduation from the Marriott School, he sold MadKey for $2.9 million. Not receiving the typical graduation present, he celebrated by doing what everybody who sells their company for a few million dollars before graduation from college does -- he kept working. Caldwell valued his startup experience, but wanted to see the corporate and international side of things. He worked in the corporate world for about 9 months in San Francisco (my hometown, and one of Caldwell's favorite places), where he traveled as far as London and Singapore for corporations like Microsoft and Visa. After getting a good feel for the corporate world, he then came back to Utah to help a few friends with their startups. He ended up at Entice Labs after being introduced to the team through colleagues in the area. The company had some big challenges ahead of it when he picked up the reins as CEO, and he and his team have been sprinting and sweating ever since to get the startup to its current level. "It's been one of the hardest things I've done," said Caldwell as we discussed his time at Entice Labs over Pita Pit sandwiches.

Caldwell likes to communicate with analogies, and used many of them to describe the ideas we discussed. He called MadKey the "JetBlue of High-Speed Internet," as it didn't try to get all the routes, just the ones it could be the best in. Caldwell also reminisced about his time at BYU. He and I are both Information Systems majors, so he asked me about some of the professors, "Lindstrom, is he still there?," he asked. "What about Hansen?" We both laughed as we swapped experiences about the classes we had taken from them. Before we wrapped up, I asked Caldwell about his motivation for building companies -- mostly out of curiosity as Paul Ahlstrom of vSpring recently asked Derek Pando and I about the motives that attracted us to entrepreneurship.

His answer surprised me, but the things he said I could relate to. He started, "I have a strong belief in duty. When I see some of the problems that our country faces I think that most, if not all, of the problems we have could be solved if more Americans took seriously their responsibility to produce and build and serve. Unfortunately, there are many people, even in Utah, that expect a handout. It is such a blessing to be here in this country and if we don't take our lives and make something of value for others we don't live up to what it means to be an American." His answer reminded me of my own beliefs, and my own love for our country. Caldwell's point, as far as I understood it, is that "when much is given, much is required." If you'd like to find out more about Entice Labs, Ryan Caldwell, or the rest of the team (which, by the way, includes current Marriott School Information Systems professor, Stephen Liddle), visit their website at http://enticelabs.com

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How to Create a Google-Docs Form (Create a Questionaire, Survey, Invitation, etc.)

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 21:55:00 -0800

1. Go to docs.google.com (login with your gmail or google account)

2. On the left-hand side you'll see a box that says "new." Click that.

3. A drop-down menu will appear. Click form. An editable version of your form will appear.

4. Edit your form.

5. Click "Save" and you'll be given a link that you can share with others.

6. If somebody fills out your survey or questionnaire, the results of what they entered will come to you in a google docs spreadsheet that you can access from your google docs account.

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Rare VC Internship Opportunity for the Right Student(s)

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 23:31:03 -0800

A chance for a student to work at a vc-backed startup this summer, and learn venture capital at vSpring once a week! Update: We're very interested in candidates with a background/passion for GTD.

Location:

Salt Lake City, Utah

Industry:

Finance/Banking - Venture Capital

Job Function:

Finance, Human Resources, Marketing, Product Management, Project Management, Supply Chain Management/Logistics

Description

Internship:

Looking for 8-12 interns to work with successful start-up companies in Utah.

Project Description:

vSpring Capital, the most recognized venture capital firm in Mountain West Region, is now accepting applications for summer internships. Several of vSpring's portfolio companies have expressed interest in adding a summer intern to their start-up team. Interns have previously worked on projects such as implementing software platforms, establishing financial controls, creating strategic road-maps, researching competitive landscapes, and leading entire marketing strategies.

Job Description:

We are looking for 8-12 MBA or undergraduate business students to serve as full-time interns. Interns are placed in vSpring portfolio companies to provide the company a means of accomplishing projects that might be difficult given the company's limited resources. Therefore, intern assignments represent significant value-add projects and tasks that help the portfolio companies to secure their competitive advantage. Intern assignments are strategic in nature, and may involve market research and quantification, competitor analysis, marketing, product and project management, R&D, or finance. Only after individual job descriptions are developed are candidates screened and interviewed. These descriptions are then matched to the intern possessing the best combination of skills and background. Interns achieve the highest levels of quality and performance in their internships, and produce deliverables that are consistent with vSpring's recognized standard of excellence.

Benefits and Opportunities:

Work with premier and highly-active venture capital firm and gain invaluable experience with a successful start-up organization. Establish a network of business professionals that can assist in career development. Specifically looking for those interested in Finance, Marketing, and Operations. The portfolio companies of vSpring are in the technology & life sciences fields.

HOW TO APPLY:

Send resume and cover letter to [Update] Adam Chavez at adam@vspring.com (Mobile: 801-687-1401)

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