Oftentimes, in order to do the big things, you have to let the small bad things happen. This is a skill we want to cultivate.” echoes this blog at Educational Technology and Life » Blog Archive » Link: The Art of Letting Bad Things Happen (and Weapons of Mass Distraction)
So many happening geeks, and all of them at once. Overwhelming. Look at San Francisco is Rich with Geek Celebrities– bub.blicio.us
Social media opens up possibilities like never before. In one click , you can donate money, spread a message, reach thousands of people and assist those who need help. This blog sums it up very well with regard to Tim Ferriss Lit Liberation project. Read it at Can Social Media Save the World? » The Buzz Bin
Tim Ferriss’s goal to gather $1 million to fund a school in Vietnam is now widely known. There are links that lead to the cause at Tim Ferriss Takes on Literacy and Education : [chrisbrogan.com]
Time management is all about taking action, not just about sitting and mulling over time plans. See blog Smooth Harold | The Blog of Blake Snow: The problem with productivity
As you all know I work at Skyriver Communications as their VP. of Engineering. Skyriver is a very progressive company that is led by Saeed Khorami. Part of our corporate directive is to provide support and relief in any way that we can and during the fire storm of 2007, we were able to provide support not only the the victims and volunteers but also the the President of the United States on his trip to San Diego.
For the people directly impacted by the Fires Skyriver set up free WiFi Hotspots at disaster sites including the Del Mar Fair. We are covering the stable areas for all of the horse and pet owners and a majority of the sleeping areas by the main grand stands. And for the President of the United States we provided emergency Internet communications to the press corps when he was in San Diego.
Due to the nature of the Skyriver service we can rapidly respond to emergencies, events and critical bandwidth needs within hours. Our comprehensive coverage area leave very few areas unserviced.
Fire Storm 2007 has been called the worst natural disaster to hit the United States since hurricane Katrina, which hit New Orleans on 29th August 2005. One of the most vital services is communications. Emergency services need to be able to contact each other and just as importantly families need to be able to contact each other.
During a disaster, concern and worry about family members as well as the state of the family home runs high, and without access to up to date information panic can occur. Skyriver Communications experienced no network down time or outages during the raging fires and we provided our customers with continued connectivity. Because of our reliable network we were able to respond to the communications crisis by sending volunteers out to install much needed equipment to enable free wireless internet connectivity to the evacuees. Skyriver Communications donated free broadband wireless internet access to 2 locations at the Del Mar race track.
The Del Mar race track was one of the only shelters that allowed animals inside the buildings as well as providing fully equipped stables for horses, goats, pigs and more. Along with the animals, the owners were also gathered around the stables and although needs for food, shelter and support were provided, communication needs were left unattended. In fact the only communication devices were cell phones and due to the fires, lines were jammed and service was sporadic. Skyriver’s emergency response to this need was to donate and install two access points and repeat the signal down. We were able to provide free service in each of the two areas of about 1000 feet each.
The second location Skyriver donated service two within the Del Mar race track was the Plaza Mexico, the central gathering location for evacuees. Skyriver’s high capacity services penetrated the building insuring people could use the service from the comfort of indoors and away from toxic ash falling from the sky.
To finish up our disaster response, Skyriver Communications provided the press contingent to the President of the United with on demand WiFi Hotspot and high speed Internet coverage on the Miramar Airbase. The Presidential coordinator contacted our office at 3pm on Wednesday evening for a 9am visit. We were able to coordinate our back office team and deploy a 3Mbps link by 5:30pm that same day. Our typical installation has a 3-day turn around but for critical emergencies we can respond within a few hours.
The Skyriver offices are located in Poway and many team members were evacuated from their homes and our hearts and thoughts go out to them and everyone affected in these difficult times.
In response to the current fires in San Diego County; Skyriver responded to the ever changing needs of the President of the United by providing a last minute high capacity link to his staffers and the press corps at the Miramar Airbase on Thursday morning.
We were contacted at 3pm on Wednesday after our competitors provided failed to install their connection as promised. Knowing the urgency of the link we were able to install by about 5:30 that same day.
Aaron and I went to the base to see the President and Governor Arnold Swarchenegger before they boarded Marine 1 to survey the fire damage. We were close enough to see Air Force One and Marine One but not close enough to be seen by the President. We then spent part of the day in the Press room making sure that the link was working for the crew.
We were about 300 feet away from Air Force One
Here is a copy of the pass to Meet the President:
and a copy of the Press Schedule for October 25th.
Picture Inside the Press Room
The author starts off saying the 4hww is interesting as well as an easy read. Moving forward he explains the concepts, DEAL and more at Networking Insight: Book Review: The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
Tim Ferriss with ‘The 4 hour work week’ and Lea Woodward “X Marks The Spot: The Indispensable Guide To Living As a LIP And Working From Anywhere??? offer insights on Location Independent Living and better living by abandoning the deferred life plan. The author, a social media producer finds both inspiring and plans to adopt them soon at Living and Working from Anywhere – 24/7 with Ronald Lewis
Are people giving up money for relaxation? Interesting thoughts at Virtual Economics: In praise of idleness
Today I got to make a difference in the lives of people who were affected by the San Diego Fires. Skyriver Communications choose to come to the aide of the community by providing Free WiFi Internet Access to the people who were displaced by this emergency.
We installed two major hotspots at the Del Mar Fairgrounds to provide Internet access to the evacuees, the press by the main grandstand and to the pet owners at the stables.
Click to see all of the pictures of the Skyriver Volunteer Effort
I was amazed to see how many people were responding to this crisis and just how organized the people at the Del Mar Fair seemed to be. There was an efficient drop-off location for food, clothing and other necessities and a process for sorting the items out into specific categories and distributing to those in need.
It took a few hours for us to install our links, but once they were up and Lisa and I had finished walking the grandstands to tell people about our free hotspots there were about seven people connected within 15 minutes.
UPDATE –
As of today November 26th those displaced by the fires who were situated at Qualcomm Stadium have been moved to the Del Mar Fair. We have verified that the HotSpots are functioning normally and we are hoping that everyone has uninterrupted Internet access. We labeled all access points with an SSID: SKYRIVER-FREE-WIFI just to make sure that everyone knew that it was free to use.
The whole company came together to support the San Diego community in the best way that we know how. We wanted to make sure that it there was even a slight possibility that providing free Internet could make someones life a little easier that we needed to be a part of the solution.
Long and detailed, this is the mini version of 4hww at The 4 Hour Workweek: Questions and Actions about Time Management « Corrie Haffly
How could office habits and expectations be the same as fifty years before even after the advent of computers? More such intriguing thoughts at RyanHoliday.net: The Ryan Holiday Blog
The reverse 911 Emergency Notification system does not call cell phones or VOIP phones. Here is the link to the Office of Homeland Security for Reverse 911 listing. This service is currently for City of San Diego residences and businesses.
List of Homes Destroyed in Rancho Bernardo
**This list was compiled by the Office of Council member Brian Maienschein and is
not an official listing of all structures lost. I will continue to update this list as
more information becomes available.
Aceituna Street:
18494
18525
18607
18647
18667
18687
18707
18736
18787
Agreste:
11691
Aguacate Way:
17867
17887
I found this link to an up to date map of the San Diego Fire
San Diego is on fire, there are eight wild fires that have been burning with zero percent containment for more than twelve hours. I am writing this on my laptop with a Bluetooth connection to the internet from a downtown evacuation site. This was a mandatory evacuation that covered our office and my house.
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There are dozens of people around me who packed their cars earlier this morning with their most prized personal items, documents, family and pets. It seems that most people have been able to get out. I am very thankful that the City of San Diego responded as quickly as it did. |
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While I am sitting here, I am getting calls from clients who are panicked about their servers, data and corporate information. Most of them are out of the direct path of the fires but the concern is universal when it comes to disaster planning.
The disaster recovery plan for our office kicked into effect at about 6:30 this morning. We went through this about three years ago so we were up to date and current on our plan. Our employees knew what to do. But don’t assume that everyone in your office knows what to do in a disaster. For our office we had a conference call at 7 a.m, and we contacted each employee by 7:30 to confirm their status. Our critical business records are in secure fireproof storage and our servers are backed up remotely, so we are 100% covered off site for any system disasters.
We use BackupRight.com Our servers are backed up each night and we could be up in about four hours even if the office burned to the ground.
So about a month ago I ordered a King size memory foam mattress from Costco. I had gone online and read all of the reviews, the overall consensus was that it was the most amazing sleep ever.
The bed was shipped in a box weighing about 150 pounds and after I lugged it up the stairs, the excitement began. The opening of the box and the removal of the mattress is one of the most incredible processes that I have seen.
You cut through a sealed bag and air just wooshes into the bag and the bed starts to expand towards it full size. I let the bed expand for about 96 hours before touching it and other than a hump in the center the bed expanded completely without any inflation issues with the corners. I installed the mattress on a new eastern king size platform. Moving this 150 pounds by yourself is not recommended, but I was able to muscle it into place.
After buying a new set of sheets, I was ready for my first nights sleep on the bed. Climbing onto the mattress was really, I mean REALLY comfortable and it did not take me any time to get used to it. The first nights sleep and honestly every subsequent sleep was unbelievable.
So if the sleep was amazing, why did you return the bed? Honestly thats a touchy subject so I have embedded a Youtube video.
So now that you know sex on a memory foam mattress sucks. If you are in any way athletic or like changing it up the imprints that mold support your body for sleep, screw you up for sex. I liken it to playing tennis on a grass or clay court when you are used to playing on a standard court. Its not better or worse, its still tennis but it is not really played the same way. There would be a huge learning curve and I was just not willing to take the time.
I have read that a number of people are cool with memory foam mattress sex, but I am not one of them. I like a little more support and bounce. Just personal preference.
Sooooooo, I thought that it was going to be a problem to return the mattress – one because it is not “new” and that it weights 150 or so pounds. I know that it came in a small box but once it was inflated, there is just no way for me to get this to my local Costco.
With San Diego burning,
I am reminded of a song by the Housemartins called The Worlds On Fire. Growing up the Housemartins and the Beautiful South were one of my favorite bands of all time.
I had the opportunity to see the Beautiful South about a year ago at the HOB in San Diego.
Now, I was told not to play with fire
I said, look out Church the flames grow higher
I said, watch those flames lick that spire
I said, look our Church the falmes grow higher
{The World’s on Fire}
There’s a curtain closed early in an upstairs room in England
There’s a couple misbehabving when they should’ve been praising Sunday
And there’s a bounce in a walk and the neighbours stop to talk for hours
And when eyebrows are raised at the next song of praise come Monday
{Oh-ho!} What a beautiful morning
{Oh-ho!} What a beautiful day
{Oh-ho!} What a sickening feeling
It took this long to make it, now we’re throwing it away
Now, I was told not to play with fire
I said, look out Church the flames grow higher
I said, watch those flames lick that spire
I said, look our Church the falmes grow higher
{The World’s on Fire}
The world’s on fire!
“it’s the big-picture generalists who will predict, innovate, and rise to power fastest??? Catch this blog at Links for 20 October 2007 | Life Optimizer
Sex on a Foam Mattress