Apple goes politics: No on proposition 8

No on Prop 8

Apple is publicly opposing Proposition 8 and making a donation of $100,000 to the No on 8 campaign. Apple was among the first California companies to offer equal rights and benefits to our employees’ same-sex partners, and we strongly believe that a person’s fundamental rights — including the right to marry — should not be affected by their sexual orientation. Apple views this as a civil rights issue, rather than just a political issue, and is therefore speaking out publicly against Proposition 8.

Proposition 8 is an initiative measure on the 2008 California General Election ballot titled Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry.[1][2] If passed, the proposition would "change the California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California."[3] A new section would be added stating "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."

The measure was originally submitted for the ballot by petitioners with the title "California Marriage Protection Act."[4] The title and summary were revised by Attorney General Jerry Brown to more "accurately reflect the measure."[5] The Superior Court of California ruled in favor of these changes, stating, "The title and summary is not false or misleading because it states that Proposition 8 would 'eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry' in California. The California Supreme Court unequivocally held that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry under the California Constitution." (from Wikipedia)

Collaborative work: Anyone can do anything?

Part of my work is collaborative work, and part of collaborative work are rules.

In a professional way, there are document creators and owners, who invite others to collaborate on a document. Changes are being seen in the revisions history. But the main part of collaboration is not that you can make changes but to talk about changes. That's more a technical part.

Collaboration means informing people about changes and discuss it. That's why I always suggest chat solutions combined with collaboration tools. and by the way, that's the recipe of success for Wikipedia: The discussions are improving the quality.

So if you are thinking about collaborative tools, think about in total. Use the whole power of it. Because, if you start using this tools alone, then you will fail.

So just think about these steps:

Create a document
Start with some content
Write some comments on critical parts or where you think a discussion is useful
Invite others
Follow revisons
Work together on the document
Supervise it as you are the creator who needs at the end the best quality
Make decisions if needed


Note: Collaboration is a tool, not a philosophy. It should help working together and improving quality of work.

Barcamp Saigon is coming soon

Check out BarcampSaigon.org for the latest news and registration.

Date: November 15th 2008
Location: RMIT, Nguyen Van Linh Boulevard, District 7, HCMC

Beginning at 8 am, End app. 5pm

Anti depression search techniques

Geek And Poke: Anti Depression Search Techniques

city talk - the Highlands coffee rat cake case

Much more than a photostory seems to be the rat cake scandal at Highlands coffee. Its a perfect example how companies are not able to handle such an issue - and there is a reason why i keep it general, because it seems that in fact there are now two companies involved - spoken with a PR tongue. Its also a Sheraton issue now...

Priorities for young people in Vietnam

I had a talk with a friend, a student. She is not really happy with their studies, the teacher tells them crappy things, so I suggested her to visit a job fair.
Now she called me and said, if its starting at 9 she will not go. "I am too lazy and to busy, because I am giving dance lessons too."

Its seems a matter of priority, how people handle their future. And I am always surprised when young people did get their ass off and do something. They just hanging around and spending their parents money.

Luckuly on the other hand I know some Vitenamese people who are totally different. They are really interested in pesonal development and a career. They will build Vietnams future.

Lehman brothers CEO: What a dickhead

Lehman Brothers CEO KO'd In Gym // Current

Mr Fuld said: "I want to be very clear. I take full responsibility for the decisions that I made and for the actions that I took based on the information that we had at the time."

That's easy to say when you still get your 300 Million Dollar salary and whatever else. These guys should face years in jail without any compensation and should pay all the money they have to at least their employees who are now jobless.

Same in Germany: These Hypo Real Estate Bankers are rolling on the floor laughing while the state has to pay the bill for their lifestyle. These guys just wanna become rich very fast without having any interest in what they doing. They just don't care.

Its time, that people have to feel responsiblity again. Thats means punishment, not just an apology.

Google Developers Fest Hacklathon in Saigon - Register now!

Google DevFest: Ho Chi Minh City - Google Hackathons - Google Code

What: Google will be holding a DevFest in Ho Chi Minh City. Join us for a day of coding and fun, where we'll cover topics ranging from OpenSocial & App Engine to YouTube & the Google Maps API.

Who: You! We'll provide space, power, and refreshments. You just need to bring your own laptop, ideas and enthusiasm to complete the mix.

When: Tuesday November 4th, 2008 1:00PM-10PM

Where: University of Technology

RSVP for the Ho Chi Minh City event below!

Register here

How to kill the music business

The National Music Publishers’ Association Take On iTunes » Late Night Wallflower

The National Music Publishers’ Association is taking on iTunes in a battle to increase royalty rates for artists. The publishers association want the rates hiked up 66%, from 9 cents to 15 cents a track.

What kind of dumb people are sitting in this Association??? Are they aware that if Apple closes its store people would not wait for reopening but reactive the bittorrent software? A increase of 66 percent is to border on insolence.