3 weeks ago I bought the new 3G iPhone. Like everyone else I wanted to see what the hype was all about. I wasn’t disappointed.

A week after the iPhone was released I headed down to the local Apple Store. Strolling into the mall towards the Apple Store I saw a line of about 500 people. I thought “I wonder what they are waiting for…” As I got closer I realized they were in line for an iPhone. A week after the release people were still lining up for an iPhone. They are nuts!

I ended up ordering the phone from the local AT&T store. They could have a white iPhone in three days. True to their word I had the phone on the evening of the third day.

The iPhone itself isn’t anything revolutionary. Phones have been able to do what the iPhone does for a while now. PDA’s have been out for years with similar capabilities as the iPhone. Where the iPhone shines is its interface. The user interface is the simplest intuitive interface on the market. A monkey could use the iPhone (it’s probably why they are selling so many).

Apple took their award winning iPod, mobile internet and a cell phone and created the iPhone. Like I stated above, it’s nothing new. Other products do the same thing, but none do it with quite the finesse of the iPhone.

The bane of mobile internet devices has been browsing. The rich experience of a desktop browser just wasn’t available. Apples approach is to use a desktop browser. Safari does an amazing job presenting websites as they would look on a desktop. Coupled with the iPhone zoom technology, it almost rivals the desktop.

There are two aftermarket products that should be bought for the iPhone: a full case and a protective film for the touch screen. For the case, I bought the black hard-shell from contour; it is a form fitting black plastic with a rubber feel. It’s for sale in the apple store. For the protective film, I bought the anti-glare protective film from the apple store. Using both products leaves very little of the phone unprotected.

The iPhone is a great phone. Anyone looking for a new phone should check out the iPhone. It’s not for everyone, but most people will find it useful.

I had my longest interview yesterday: 4 hours. They didn’t mean for it to run 4 hours, but it did. Interesting shop, they have some great ideas. I hope they can find their niche.
Tech interviews typically go something like this:

Tell me about yourself.

Interviewer asks about discrepancies in your resume (dates, descriptions …etc)

Interviewer picks a project off your resume and asks you about it.

About this time, they get into the technical aspect of the interview. Usually asking a question about object oriented design or some type of technology.

At this point the interview is almost over and either the interviewer ends the interview or you are introduced to a few people on the project. Once you have met some of the key personnel on the project you are kindly escorted out of the building.

Yesterday’s interview followed the above pattern, with the exception of the meeting people part. Since it was for a leadership position, they wanted me to meet/work with the team. I was watched while I interacted with the team. They wanted my feedback and they were going to get the teams feedback.

Recently, I quit my job.

I was worked like a horse. 70 to 80 hours a week. Craziness, you would think that I would put my foot down. Nope, working for someone who you respect makes all the difference in the world. Everyone has had the one or two bosses/managers who you don’t want to let down.
It’s a great place to be.

I was literally single handily responsible for put this company on the map. They made millions off my work.

In the end I was another expendable employee putting the bling bling into the owner’s banks accounts. I was just another replaceable cog.

Lesson Learn: If they can do it, so can you. Do the work for yourself and put the bling in your account.

A passage written to a son from a father. Found inside the cover of The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success:

Within these pages are some secrets to making your dreams come true.

Once we understand out true nature and learn to live in harmony with Natural Law. A sense of well being, good health, fulfilling relationships, energy and enthusiasm for life and material abundance will spring forth easily and effortlessly.

This is just the beginning…

Imagine life as this gooey mess. If you have ever made cookie dough, you know what I am talking about. First the sugar goes in, then the flower, throw in a couple eggs, some baking soda, a bag of chocolate chips, a half cup of vegetable oil and some oatmeal. In this mixture (life) there are varying textures, consistencies and temperatures.

Someone who holds little or no resentment towards the world dives in bare handed mixing the cookie dough. They feel many sensations, textures, consistencies and temperatures. Nothing escapes their senses: They smell the sweetness of the sugar; they feel flat bottom teardrop shape of the chocolate chips. They experience the mixture in the present — its realness.

Someone who holds a grudge –plays the victim in life and does not feel the nuances of the mixture. They cannot differentiate between the flower and the sugar. It’s all white. To them it’s the same thing. They are wearing gloves. The more negative emotion they have, the thicker the gloves become and the more numb they become to the mixture (life). If their gloves get thick enough, the chocolate chips may become rocks; the vegetable oil might become kerosene. Now they are afraid of the mixture (life).

I’m inspired:

… successful people don’t strive for ’success’, they operate in a mode of continuous learning…

A bird unto air…
A Fish unto water…
A man unto himself…

One of the most important aspects of life: Balance. Ben Franklin stated a balanced person is someone who has 8 hours of rest, 8 hours of work and 8 hours of play.

If only that were possible, we go and go, only spending time to rest. Wouldn’t it be nice to have 8 hours of rest and play every day?

4 months ago I was working 70 to 80 hour weeks. At first it was great; I was doing great things. Slowly I began to wear out. Resentment set in. 3 months after starting a job I was searching for another.

Returning to a normal work week did not help. It took days off, to find balance and passion for work again.

What’s amazing is while resentment builds inside for the work place, it effects all my interactions. It’s all encompassing. If I am pissed off at work, that same level of anger or frustration is present in my communication with a grocery clerk or someone I’m talking to at a bar.

Being in balance and recognizing when you are slipping out is so important. While you are in balance all your interactions are at their fullest they are whole and real. When you are not, you are fearful and get offended easily. It’s not a place anyone wants to be.

It came to me at 7-Eleven. I’ve been struggling to understand purpose. What is it? How do you discover it. My readings always came to the same conclusion: “Purpose is different for everyone”. Well, thanks, that really helped – not!

Back at 7-Eleven, I’m in line looking at the magazines. Hilary Duff is on the cover of MAXIUM, Matt Damon is on the cover of GQ and Katherine McPhee is on the cover of another. Then it hit me: What do these people have in common? Devotion to a cause: Hillary Duff is an actress; she has spent years on her career, same with Matt Damon. Katherine McPhee has done the same, but as a singer. If you think about every person at the pinnacle of their art, they are because of commitment and passion.

On Being a Man and Personal Growth

• The Game – Neil Strauss
• Fire in the Belly – Sam Keen
• The Way of the Superior Man – David Deida
• The Red Queen – Matt Ridley
• The Paradox of Choice – Barry Schwartz
• The Progress Paradox – Gregg Easterbrook
• The Power of the Full Engagement – Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz
• Bonds That Make Us Free – C. Terry Warner
• How to Fall Out of Love – Dr. Debora Phillips and Robert Judd
• Risking – David Viscott
• Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill
• How to be a No Limit Person – Wayne Dyer
• Your Errous Zones – Wayne Dyer
• New Psycho-Cybernetics – Maxwell Maltz
• Frogs into Princes – Richard Bandler and John Grinder
• Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway – Susan Jeffers
• How to Argue and Win Every Time – Gerry Spence
• My Voice Will Go With You – Sidney Rosen
• Provocative Therapy – Frank Farrelly
• Mind-lines – L. Michael Hall, Bobby G. Bodenhamer, and Joseph O’Connor
• The Two Million-year-old Self – Anthony Stevens
• Type Talk – Otto Kroeger and Janet M. Thuesen
• The Art of Speed Reading People – Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger
• Vital Lies, Simple Truths – Daniel Goleman
• Meeting the Shadow – Connie Zweig and Jeremiah Abrams
• Radical Honesty – Brad Blanton
• Selfish Gene – Richard Dawkins
• Seven Masters One Path – John Selby
• 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People – David Niven
• Seven Simple Steps to Personal Freedom – Gerry Spence
• The Prince – Niccolo Machiavelli, Rufus Goodwin, and Benjamin Martinez
• The Hero’s Journey – Niccolo Machiavelli, Joseph Campbell and Phil Cousineau
• Dying Well – Ira Byock
• The Mating Mind – Geoffrey Miller
• The Innovation Paradox – Richard Farson and Ralph Keyes
• The Art of Seduction – Robert Greene
• The Art of War – Sun Tzu and Thomas Cleary

Business

• Competitive Advantage – Michael E. Porter
• A System of Logic – J.Stuart Mill
• World Dynamics – Jay W. Forrester
• Competitive Strategy – Michael Porter
• Wealth of Nations – Adam Smith
• The principles of Political Economy – David Ricardo
• Competitive Strategy Dynamics – Kim Warren
• The Fifth Discipline – Peter M. Senge
• Industrial Dynamics – Jay W. Forrester
• Managing Across Borders – Christopher A. Bartlett
• Competitive Advantaged of Nations – Michael E. Porter
• Administrative Behavior – Herbert A. Simon
• The Logic of Scientific Discovery – Popper
• Critique of Pure Reason – Immanuel Kant Translation: Norman, Kemp & Smith
• A Behavorial Theory of the Firm – Richard M. Cyert, James G. March
• Marketing & Hierarchies – Oliver E. Williamson
• The Firm, The Market & The Law – R.H. Coase
• A Evolutionary Theory & Economic Change – Richard R. Nelson, Sidney G. Winter
• The Quest for Value – G. Bennet Stewart III
• Manual of Political Economy – Vilfredo Pareto Translation: Ann S. Schwier
• Competitive Strategy Analysis – Robert M. Grant
• Competing for the Future – Gary Hamel