Tax season is upon us

Every year this time I did my best to avoid touching my computer at all even though I know I was going to get money back from the Federal and the State. I know it is stupid idea to lend your money to the government without charging them any interest. I guess it is just human nature or the human inertia.

But this year things are changing for better. Wife finally took interest in finance, and got her insurance agent license and is on the way getting other required certificate. So she offered to do the tax this year. What a relief! So she is pushing me to give her all the documentation and work with her to download the software, importing last year's data, reviewing W2 etc. It is so much better than doing tax just on your own.

If you haven't done your tax yet, and you did the tax by yourself in the past, may I suggest you to make a change to do the tax return with your significant other?

spend your return wisely.

I am reading "The Big Short" this week. I work in financial industry,  and I have discussed the financial crisis with friends many times. But the sheer stupidity -- or it could be just the greed blinded them -- of big firms and big executives of these firms still shocked me again.

Stay foolish, stay hungary.

iPad 2 line

As I mentioned in the previous email, I was in the line at a local BestBuy store for about two hours that got my iPad 2. There is one small thing I forgot to mention in the earlier blog. It may not see much to people grown up here but meant a lot to a guy like me grown up in China.

There was a young guy in his late twenty or earlier thirty that was two men before me. He talked a lot about his coming wedding and his honey moon. And he mentioned that his fiance was also in the line getting an iPad 2 as well but was way before him. I almost wanted to ask him why he didn't join his fiance and save himself some time. But something distracted and I didn't think about asking him anymore. Maybe he would be surprised by my question and would not know how to answer such a weird question at all. Maybe he would ask me back like "you mean why I didn't cut the line to join my fiance"???

In China, his not joining his fiance and cut the line would be considered to be a dumb move. No one would respect it. It is like a shocking call to me. I remembered two years ago in Sesame Street park how I cut a long line to join my friends for a raft ride (I was very reluctant but my friends insist that out family should join him). I would say his action (or inaction) allow me to shed my last culture burden once and for all. For that I thank him whole heartily.

As to the iPad 2, the first impression is kind of underwhelming but I grew to like it better and better every day.

It's moving very slow

So I left work earlier on Friday to try my luck at a local BestBuy store, for iPad 2 of course. I got to the local BestBuy around 6:10. At first glance, it seemed not many people at all to a point I was wondering that this local BestBuy may not even carry any iPad 2 at all or must have sold out it's limited stock. However after I strolled into the apple show desk, to my detriment there was quite a long line about 200 peopleish. Once I got to the end of the line, the last guy told a sales associate will be coming back to hand out more vouchers for iPad 2. After about 15 minutes the moved about 2 feet, and that last buddy decide that was it and left with a good luck to me. Of course by this time, there were about 15 people behind. I decided that I would give it another 30 minutes and if things didn't improve much I would just leave. Another 20 minutes gone and the line moved maybe another 10 feet. I was about to call it quit. Just right then a BestBuy sales guy with a sheet came to line and asked who didn't have a voucher yet. I was the first one in the line without a voucher. So I told him i need a 32G black wifi. He didn't quite get what I need while he was nervously checking the inventory. And then he asked me again what I need and I have to repeated it to him slowly. He then jogged it down on the sheet and I was able to see a number of 45 just besides the 32g black wifi model line. So it meant they have 45 32g black wifi units. I am about the last one or two counting how many fives were before me. Well, pretty lucky. Then i said to myself now I would have to be here no matter how long it would take. It was moving very slow. So I started chat with people around me. We tried to figured out what could cause it to be so slow. We sent one guy to the front to see what was going on. He reported the line was moving but people while was able to decide what iPad model to pick they really had a difficult ti me to decide which color of the smart cover would better suit them. That seems to cause a lot of delay. Who could guess that. Another hour and 15 minutes and it finally it was me. I handed over my voucher and the sales guy took it and run into a back room to fetch the iPad for me. I peek through a small opening and could see there were many big empty boxes that were host iPads and about two full cases were not opened yet. Not sure how many iPads each box could accommodate. Once I handed over my voucher it took less than 2 minutes to consummate the transaction. So I was in BestBuy slightly less than 2 hours. That's 120 minutes. BestBuy has three checkout lines for the iPads, say 2 minutes for one iPad, from 5 to 8--that was when I was done--, that local BestBuy probably sold about 270 iPads. That was a very impressive number. Say it will close on 9 on time, it would sell another 90. Wow, just from one local BestBuy. An apple retail store would at least double that number.
So when I told the BestBuy I would skip the smart cover cause only gray and beige were left, the sales guy replied, why? Pick one today and exchange it in a week or two when we would have more colors available. I thought it for about 2 seconds and decided to follow his suggestion. Nice move BestBuy. Otherwise I would certainly drove to a local apple retail store (about 30 minutes away) this weekend to pick the smart cover. I bet BestBuy had a good training on their sales people. Nice job for BestBuy. Not too bad for customer like me. And apple just made tons of money from this smart cover thing. You have to give it to SJ. No doubt that he devoted a big slice to it during his presentation.

It was frustrating waiting inline yet it was fun and interesting to chat with strangers that all share the same passion as apple does, that pay attention to details and small things. I might do it again come iPhone 5 to stand inline for the first time for the phone to get one to replace my wife's old white iPhone 3G.

So long for now, will post my review after a week of usage. But I would say that the smart cover is really smart, and I wrote this blog from the new and shiny iPad 2.

Steve Jobs's best speech

Maybe Steve Jobs's speech at Standford 2005 graduation ceremony is the most famous, but the following one that he gave at 1997 right after he came back to Apple is the best. Especially that he asked the audience to change the mentality that "For Apple to growth and prosper, the Microsoft has to lose". Very classic. And Steve Jobs laid out the Apple's came back strategy clearly. This whole video could be used in a Harvard MBA class.

Focus and Focus

I just reflect on what Steve Jobs said in the past keynotes, earning conference calls. I vividly remembered this statement from Mr. Jobs, "there were so many things we could do and we choose only a few things to focus on". (this may not exactly be Mr. Jobs's wording but it was what he meant anyway). 

It is truly remarkable if you look back at the products from Apple over the last decade. With so much talent in the company, so many ideas, so many possibilities, that Mr. Jobs has picked only a few and steered his people to focus on. 

I think Apple's people really get what it means to pay attention to details, whatever slightly those details are. I am not sure anyone at Apple except Mr. Jobs has the guts, or credibility to be able to have Apple people to focus on a few things. With so much cash, without a strong leader, it is inevitable that Apple would think it is invincible and just step into too many fields. That is my biggest worry as an Apple shareholder and as an Apple admirer.

J-20 and Liu Xiaobo

Say what? Well, China President Hu Jintao will be visiting Washington later this month. Usually the China government would release several political prisoners to show some good will towards Washington. But this time around, instead of releasing the prisoner say Liu Xiaobo, the China government decides to leak out some photos about its coming fifth generation fighter J-20.

What a change!

Well, a country that is capable of producing the fifth-generation fighter yet have to put a citizen that merely expressing his political will into a 11-year prison (and a Nobel Peace Prize winner 2010). It remains to be seen how China would turn itself into a real civil society in the coming decade.

"...and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed..."

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America