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kayak
snowballs jukebox trust parachutes speaking gas others hero write |
In mid-December '08, I started working at Kayak, at first helping build their new, free iPhone app (which is now available in the App Store). Kayak is a great place to work, and a lot of fun. But far better than the fun is the team there. I used to be very confident in my software engineering skills, but now feel dwarfed and in awe of my coworkers. Work and innovation takes place at a dizzying pace here, and I'm very grateful to be a part of it.
-ca
This was shot the other day outside kayak.com offices. I thought I'd be doing the Internet a disservice by not posting it. Yes, that's me. Yes, I've had it coming to me.
-ca
It's done. We have it. For years I've loved the new touchscreen digital jukeboxes you see in bars everywhere now. Who doesn't want to search for any artist, song, or album on command? Especially at 2am. So one night, after coming home from the Sail Loft (one of Boston's premier establishments), I decided it was high time I get one of my own for my place. After working a little bit on it here and there over the course of several nights and weekends, my girlfriend got one hell of a christmas present. I call it "Audaq" mostly because I happened to own the domain name anyways, and it runs using functionality provided by Rhapsody music service. You can take an old computer and monitor that you're not using and buy a touchscreen conversion kit for $100-150, and then set this bad boy up, and voila - you've got your own touchscreen digital jukebox. Any song at any time, from the screen mounted on your wall. Oh yeah - you also will want the $45 wall mount. A couple pictures of this first version below. Sure, it needs improvement, but it works and is attached to the house stereo system. Some pieces of it were built on codesnap.com
At a later time, I'll post the software and the instructions on how to make your own here on the site, especially if I see there's some interest. -ca
I find this blog article about trust to be very interesting: http://paulenglish.com/trust.html -ca
Why don't commercial airplanes carry parachutes? I'm convinced that everybody has a fear of flying, but just experiences it to varying degrees. Is it because of cost? Most commercial jet airplanes cost between $50 million and $300 million dollars. I would think parachutes for passengers would be a drop of water in a bucket of that cost. I've heard many times now that having passengers jump safely out of a plane without training at 30,000 feet is extremely dangerous. But so is hurtling through the air at terminal velocity inside of a giant heap of metal and gasoline. More importantly, I have faith in our ability to innovate. If Virgin Galactic is going to be sending people on joy rides to space soon, I'm pretty sure we could figure out equipment that makes a 30,000 ft jump (or fall) possible for the average person. Or what about the cabin of the plane detaching as a separate capsule with its own, gigantic parachute, like the space shuttle pod? There's got to be a better way. -ca
This comic strip explains Google Chrome in a fun and interesting way: I'm continuously impressed with Google's ability to defy big company tendency to become boring and impotent. -ca
Tomorrow, I'll be giving a speech at my high school. Really, it will be a short one, designed only to introduce a much bigger speaker who is visiting the school. I'm terrified of public speaking, despite receiving compliments from various people the few times I have spoken. In fact, I think that almost everybody gets extremely nervous before speaking to a large audience. Even the best speakers seem to have some technique they prepare with - showing that they also experience that same extreme nervousness. It's likely something that you can't help. But what you can help is the quality of your speech. I've listened to way too many speeches where the speaker had good intentions, but then recited thoughts or cliches that were written down on a piece of paper, without any feeling behind them. And those are boring and everybody feels like their time is being wasted. One way (maybe the best way) to prevent this from happening is to ensure that you're speaking about something that you're passionate about. These tend to be things that you can talk about and become animated about without looking at a cue card. And generally, being animated and enthusiastic and engaging with the crowd (instead of looking at notes), is more exciting for your audience. So always understand that being nervous comes with the territory. When you are feeling strangely and intensely nervous at the beginning of your speech, that is normal (for most of us). But concentrate on making sure that your speech is interesting and engaging, and don't be afraid to come alive for this thing you're passionate about. Otherwise, you will be wasting the time and focus of the large audience in front of you, not to mention yourself. -ca
Recently, I've heard a lot of people complain about gas prices (I live in Boston, MA, in the US). I have also heard some interesting responses to this complaint. "Well, nobody's forcing you to buy gas..." is a common one. "Gas is still more expensive in other countries, so be thankful..." is another. "Switch to public transport...", "switch to a hybrid...", "get an electric car/cycle...", "bike to work..." - are all others I have heard. While these are all true, I think they are missing the most important point. What have we been doing for the past several decades? The internal combustion engine has been around for over 100 years, and most of the innovation on it took place in the 1800s (check out the history). We've been running predominantly on gasoline since the days of the Ford Model T, introduced in 1908 (which, incidentally, burned either gasoline or ethanol). During this time, we have all known that gas is a precious and limited resource - one that's not even that easy or safe to access and transport. There have been numerous price increases over the years, often met (not surprisingly) with consumer dissatisfaction. So why haven't we done anything about it? More importantly, why haven't YOU done anything about it? You might argue that gas was still cheap enough, and we weren't in enough of a crisis to react. But the light bulb wasn't invented because we were short on fire, torches, or candles. You might argue that you're not a mechanical engineer, and it's not your job or business to improve on such complicated mechanisms. But wasn't Einstein a patent clerk? And look at all the individuals that have recently converted their car to some kind of alternate fuel-burning vehicle. Are they not just normal people like us? Innovation is very much possible, even by you, person complaining about gas prices. In fact innovation - at least the kind we're talking about - is and always has been brought to the world by regular human beings, just like you and me. So be a little bolder, use your mind, and try to find a better way. Use the Internet - another brilliant innovation that regular people just like you and me came up with. Don't complain that nobody else has come up with a solution. You have only yourself to blame. One day soon, I'd love to hear somebody say, "I'm so disappointed in MYSELF for these gas prices. I could have prevented this." -ca
A phrase that I like to say/hear: "Time and money are best spent on other people." I challenge you to think of 1 item, material (like an iPod) or non-material (like a vacation) that gives you anything close to the satisfaction of giving up your hard-earned money or time for somebody else's benefit. You might convince me, but it won't be easy. -ca
Two nights ago, I was at an outdoor bar, and somebody dropped a beer bottle. The bottle shattered into large shards, and the owner, very intoxicated, stumbled away. It was obvious that he wasn't going to clean it up or tell staff, so I began to walk over and kick the glass out of the way of traffic. The person I was with grabbed me, and told me not to do that - it was dangerous and I could cut myself. Strangely, against intuition, I listened to this person and watched as people in flipflops and thin shoes stepped around the broken glass. As I stood and watched, I suddenly recalled an episode from years earlier. Several years ago, I was helping two friends unpack a car. When I tried to pick up a large armfull of belongings, they both said in unison "Christian, don't be a hero." At the time, it caught me off guard, and made me ask myself many questions. Was I trying too hard to impress? Do I bite off more than I can chew? I found myself questioning my actions over and over again in my head for years. It was at least 6 years later that I came to conclusion on this. "Don't be a hero" - that's one of the worst pieces of advice you could ever give somebody. Why would you ever not want to be a hero? You should *always* try to be a hero, in everything you do. A hero, by almost anybody's definition is a person that you want to be. The person that can make tough choices and do what's right, no matter how difficult. The person who tries hard to better the lives of the people and the world around them. So if a hero is the person that you want to be, and the person that you like - why would you waste any time in your life not being that person? Especially when given a choice, or given an opportunity to be a hero (no matter how big or small). Whether it's saving lives during a natural catastrophe or picking up something that a stranger drops, there are a ton of chances to be "hero" every day. The more of these chances you capitalize on, the more likely you are to become that hero in your mind, and fall in love with person you've become. The more that you hesitate or shy away from these opportunities, the more likely you are to dislike yourself. That night, I stood and watched as people stepped around glass in their shoes and bare feet, knowing the whole time that I could have helped the situation. I never acted in the way I thought that I/somebody should, the way that a hero would act - and I will forever be a worse person for it. Don't listen when somebody tells you "don't be a hero". ALWAYS try to be a hero. -ca
It's about time I started to use this site for something. I've owned it for about 7 years. When I bought christianallen.com, a domain name cost around $35/year. Now, this domain name costs me only $5.95/year to keep. I recently was contacted by another Christian Allen - a video game developer - asking if he could buy this domain from me. Of course, I intend to keep this forever, but I did promise to link to his site so that people could still find him. So if you're looking for Christian Allen, the video game developer, you might find him here: serellan.com -ca
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some things that i like
codesnap.com is a site that facilitates software outsourcing. there are a few other choices out there, but this one is the fastest, easiest, and most useful. 
kayak.com is by far the best travel web site - super-fast and easy to use. they search hundreds of sites and show you the best fares - something i used to painstakingly do by hand when traveling. 
fleetinglook.com is the idea of a close friend of mine. a different way to increase your chances of meeting somebody. i think he's re-engineering the site right now, but stay tuned. 
wehatepants.com is a bizarrely funny site and clothing line some friends came up with. some friends who apparently don't like pants. 
a very inspiring non-profit organization doing work in several countries around the world. if you get a chance, read Mountains Beyond Mountains - the story of the doctor that founded it 25 years ago. 
i helped build this extremely fast-growing open source medical record system while living in East Africa for 3 years. unlike its commercial counterparts that cost 10s of millions of dollars, this is completely free. hopefully we will start seeing it used in big, 1st world hospitals within the next 5-7 years. 
i was able to attend this great school during my most formative years by virtue of their generous financial aid. i think we sometimes dissociate with our farthest back roots, which are arguably the most important |
