Scandinavia is incredible

It's funny, I never thought I would visit Scandinavia. After the variety of places I've been lucky enough to visit, it hardly registered on my radar. But was I glad I did!! One can not imagine the variety of natural beauty that exists throughout Norway and Denmark... it's almost enough to make one stomach the insanely inflated cost of living.

Bergen turned out to my favorite city on this trip, partially due to this wonderful "park" at the top of the funicular. It turned out to be a Hansel-and-Gretal forest, unspoilt and inviting, and such a magnificent peek into what the perfect forest would look like.

The picturesque Nyhavn sported its colorful buildings and surprisingly good food on the edge of Copenhagen.

The view from the apartment was incredible. I wish I had a time-lapse camera to show how many faces the mouth of the fjord took on depending on the time of day.

It is insanely difficult to capture the enormous scope of Flam. The cliffs rise so high that small clouds manifest halfway up the canyon walls! The water is so serene and it's deafeningly quiet. There is no place I've found that instill as much natural grand-ness as Flam. Absolutely worth the expense and time it takes to arrive here.

apparently planting trees also saves the lives of baby girls!

I came across this article on the BBC this morning and just had to share.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/mobile/world/south_asia/10204759.stm?SThisEM

Perhaps one of the most heartbreaking things about poverty is the absolute uncertainty. In this country, we have the luxury of paying for certainty. Insurance, litigation, quality control, public goods and services. This sort of thing is unheard of in many places in the world. The idea that nature could provide it's own assurance to a baby girl in an Indian village - in all senses one of the most vulnerable by definition.

The Hiring Process

Another exciting thing about working for a startup is that we must go through the process of hiring people. It's something the other Director and I take extremely seriously because we only have funding for 1 other body, so that person really needs to be the whole package and bring a hell of a lot to the table. Picking the wrong person can be more of a burden than they are worth, as so many people are used to the corporate lifestyle where they have a very limited job description and are basically paid to fill a seat. Startups do not have this luxury, and ours is more demanding than most because you need to treat it like your own enterprise.

After a month of interviewing, starting, and ending the hiring process, I truly think we've seen it all: arrogant PhDs who think they're above it all, energetic, happy-go-lucky types who are completely unreliable, people who don't understand that we're not a corporation and do not have extremely deep pockets, and grown men who can not take criticism and completely refuse to return any sort of communication when faced with such.

I think if I were better at breaking up with people, I'd be better at the whole "we've decided not to go forward with you" situation. How do you explain to someone that they're not a good fit? That their values aren't quite in line with what you need to be successful and that there's so much at stake - one shot at getting the right person on board where you need the person to listen and not be a know it all, but be mature enough to roll with the punches and there isn't time to train and mold and dictate every little action that must be taken. A self-thinker, a motivated and brave individual who is not just willing to put the work in, but able to do so on their own initiative, and presentable enough to relay with the other people on their team at the drop of a hat with absolute competence and precision. It's asking a lot, but like I said.. we have one shot at getting it right.

Throughout France

France is an absurdly beautiful country. There really isn't enough attention paid to all the wonder that lies outside of Paris. Experiencing France inch by inch proves a breathless journey, as you see in person all the beautiful things that French painters have depicted, Kings and Queens conquered, and writers mused about.

The Poppy Fields in Giverny, the Cliffs of Etretat, the Castles of the Loire Valley...

Monet's Lily Pond

We stopped off in Luxembourg for a day, because I seem to like going to tiny countries that would otherwise be missed on most people's trips. Northern Luxembourg was amazing - crisp air, beautiful forested hills and valleys, and gorgeous museums everywhere displaying the entire spectrum from illuminated manuscripts to ultra-contemporary art.

From the top of a castle in Viand.

Cultural appreciation through International cuisine?

I've always been ambivalent on my regard for foodies. They've always reeked of privilege and the most shallow form of understanding different cultures through food. But on the other hand, the appreciation for different cuisine definitely has its heart in the right place. And I definitely have an automatic liking to people who will try any kind of food out there with an open mind.

I chanced upon this blog: http://www.confinednomad.com/, which is kind of fun and really echoes how diverse and amazing I find New York City to be. It's a great idea for residents here to make a checklist of authentic food from each country and make the experience an adventure. What I don't see in this blog is much reflection on the culture or developmental state of each, a lens which I guess is limited to few to begin with and which they never purported to include anyway. But what they do excel at is discovering and explaining the diversity of cuisine within a single country. I discovered this for the first time when my roommate introduced me to South Indian food, which I am now addicted to and I find far more delicious than its North Indian counterpart. Dining at a Chilean restaurant for the first time also introduced me to new ingredients, like the insanely huge corn kernel that tastes nothing like corn from the Northern Hemisphere.

I kind of laughed when I read the entry on peanut butter in CAR, as I never saw such luxury there. I think if they really wanted to be authentic they would eat manioc (I believe this is the local word for cassava, but I'm not sure) and big fat, fried grubs. NO JOKE. Even the expats had to try the stuff. And sadly, one NGO worker described manioc as having "no nutritional value, smells like sh!t, makes you stupid and gives you gout." Don't even get me started on her.

Don't get me wrong, I love food just as much as the next person. I love the lovely manners of preparation and reliance on certain ingredients like they were familiar chords in your cultural songbook. But there's definitely a contingency of hipster foodies that seem to think that all over the world, people sit in their well-appointed living rooms with clean silverware and china plates with the air conditioning on and just happen to have different items on said plates. I think to not bring in the customs, history and a little bit of sensitivity rather misses the point. Besides, I'm somewhat jealous at how their pure curiosity and missions obtain them all these invitations to people's homes and other otherwise inaccessible places due to their light hearts, empty stomachs and open minds. Or is their open stomachs and empty.. ? Anyhow.. that is my diatribe for the day. =)

Best Free Productivity Applications

I absolutely adore the mobile revolution. We're starting to see people break down tasks and queries into discrete parts and businesses have begun to bring a lot of value to each piece, and somehow.. we get it for FREE. I've used many wonderful standalone apps after owning a Droid and working with the non-profit organization Iridescent. The President is such a smart cookie with a firm grasp of technology and a fiscally responsible spirit that constantly seeks the best tools for the lowest cost in order to keep Iridescent running in peak form at a reasonable expense.


After fighting and losing a fax battle with my gorgeous Samsung Printer, which literally is my most prized possession: Color laser, reasonably priced cartridges through the manufacturer, scanner and fax machine - all in one. Oh.. and get this.. it's WIRELESS and doesn't need to sit attached to your router. So I can print from multiple machines to the living room, and scan something and have it wirelessly appear on my choice of computers in a different room.

But the first time I used the fax, it didn't work. I needed to fax over a prescription so it was pretty important. No amount of struggling with phone lines, resetting, or software updates were helping. And when this happens, I do what I've started to do more frequently, I got my Droid out and searched the Android Marketplace (it's like the iPhone app store for the Android OS) for a solution. And of course I found one!

There's a free fax application called "Mobile Fax" or "Scan2PDF" where you snap a phone picture of whatever you need to fax, you can preview the fax, punch in the number and send it off. Here are the caveats on the free version:

You can only send 1 page a day via your mobile device. They send you an email to confirm that you want to send a fax. But if you have a mobile device it should be linked up to your email so that's just a few taps away. They don't allow cover letters on the free version either.

I did a little more exploring and found out that the website/organization is GotFreeFax.com, and through the actual website, the limits are even more generous (2 pages, cover letter, etc) Also has optional extremely low paid services (10 page faxes for 0.99 cents, etc.) I really enjoyed the fact that you could fax a number of document formats from your computer.

Ha! In your face Samsung! You will not defeat me! But you have definitely been demoted to being my second favorite device!

Another great tool I discovered was the scheduling application: Doodle.com

There are many similar applications, such as the one found embedded in Google Calendar, but what Doodle.com does is lets you survey meeting participants with pre-set times and dates which really speeds up decision making. It's got all the bells and whistles such as adding notes and comments, time zone support, and participant control (so that you can use it to say fill volunteer slots (1 choice only) instead of the usual usage of finding a common meeting time).

Oh, and the best part is - you can integrate it to your Google Calendar, Outlook, and Lotus Notes! =) I love applications that build on each other, rather than trying to compete with an almost identical product.

One of my favorite is Adobe Photoshop's mobile photo editor. The app has its bugs and seems to need more frequent updates, but early on it worked wonderfully. The Droid unfortunately has a pretty bad camera. Or a good camera but bad camera software. The camera doesn't seem to have a working light sensor so indoor and outdoor photos are much lower quality than iPhone and Blackberry's version. What makes them bearable is Photoshop's photo editor, where you can change saturation, exposure, crop and digital zoom with a swipe of your finger. And you can save and repeat to get to ever higher levels of exposure or saturation. Thank goodness for this app because then you can upload reasonable photos on the go, instead of having to return home, edit them at your desk, and then upload or post.

Another winner is Google's Translation App. You can find it on the top right hand corner of this page. Instantly select your language and Google does its best to instantaneously convert the content into your language of choice. Brilliant and globalizing.

More apps and reviews will be added as I discover them!

My visit to Planned Parenthood

I finally had my visit to the local Planned Parenthood - It was quite the experience!

I approached the corner of a large and unmarked building and a middle aged man was wordlessly handing out flyers across the street closest to me. I would later discover the pamphlet was for abortion alternatives. Then right in front of the building was a single grizzly looking older man was carrying a sandwich board plastered with crude and grotesque pictures that were a bit difficult to identify, and he was yelling on about how "inside, they cut up babies and torture them!" He sounded so earnest and concerned. If I had more time I would have  liked to inform him about the importance of having a choice at all in an advanced country, but more importantly that most people probably visited Planned Parenthood for women's healthcare, STD testing services and contraception. But I was running late for my appointment and I didn't feel like getting knifed this fine morning, particularly considering I don't have health insurance for the inevitable visit to the ER that would follow an encounter with anyone carrying signs showing blood and guts. I was very grateful that there was a security guard standing outside keeping an eye on the grizzly man and ushering clients inside.

When I made it through all the many doors and security checkpoints, I was somewhat surprised to see over 20 young women, aged 18-35 waiting for their appointments. It was just before 9am and the seats were all filled! Most of them were in business casual attire and the demographic was split nearly 50/50 between whites and non-whites. They were all young women and it was very quiet in the room, but no more quiet than  your average doctor waiting room I suppose.

I was asked to report upstairs to the financial assessment counselor and was pretty disappointed to learn that despite making barely enough money to pay rent, I still made too much for their free healthcare. But I did qualify for reduced rates which put the annual checkup at about $125 and if I chose to get birth control on premises it would cost me $15 a pack instead of $20. The assessment advisor seemed to rely almost completely on my honest to assess qualifications. I brought some bank statements since I don't get paystubs, but she didn't seem to understand that as a consultant, my last paycheck could be THE last paycheck for a WHILE.

Since the cost was fairly reasonable I didn't argue too much. Just a doctor's visit to a GYN paying cash costs upwards of $150, forget about the lab tests and cancer screening! I gladly took my somewhat-reduced note and was shuffled downstairs again to pay first. Then I was shuffled to a nurse who would create my file and print a bunch of stickers to go on all the paperwork. So far, she was the nicest of the 4 or 5 administrators I had already encountered. She asked if I wanted an HIV test, and since I already paid for my services, I was pleased to see that this service provider seemed to give them FREE OF CHARGE. If that isn't incentive to check your health and stay safe, I don't know what is.

There was a pretty significant backup as there was only 1 doctor on duty and so I was shuffled into the office with the HIV counselor. Unfortunately not much of a counselor - all she did was ask me to sign a form and let me know that they must report all results to the Department of Health whether the result was positive or negative. No sensitivity, no asking if I had any concerns or questions, nada. However, I was absolutely DELIGHTED to find out that instead of the usual nerve-wracking blood draws, HIV tests at Planned Parenthood are done with a simple oral swab! Painless, 99.3% accurate and results in 20 minutes. Kudos to biotech companies who have worked so hard to make it all simple, painless and accurate. Very big kudos indeed! 

An hour later, I was finally called in for my women's health check. I was about 9 months late having my checkup so I was a bit nervous, particularly having been shuttled to about 6 different people who didn't care to spend more than a minute with me. I was so impressed at the service I received with the doctor, it was worth the 3 hour total wait and morose faces I previously encountered. The doctor was young, kind, clearly very intelligent and very responsive. First of all she apologized for the long wait - can you imagine?? Then she told me my HIV test came back negative and then checked my glands, breathing and heartrate, and then proceeded with the exam.

We even chatted about travel and work during the exam, so I didn't feel a thing! She asked if I had any concerns and treated me with more respect and sensitivity than my previous high-priced Beverly Hills doctor. I'll take this doctor anyday, and she is definitely getting a Christmas Present from me!

It just goes to show you that in America (and perhaps all over the world) you will find excellent professionals serving people from all walks of life, from the diamond-encrusted Park Avenue types to the frightened-out-of-their-wits teenagers. I'm just really glad that those in the middle aren't lost in the shuffle, so that this healthcare-less young woman can stay healthy enough to make it to the next screen.

United and Continental merge. Thoughts on Large and Small Businesses.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/03/news/companies/United_Continental_merge/index.htm?hpt=T2

Wow, a year on the heels of Delta merging with Northwest! We're starting to see huge airline companies pitted against smaller airlines (JetBlue, Virgin America, etc.) I wonder if this means prices will be going up, or down for the consumer. While I like the advantages of reliability of a large company, I'm always worried when companies merge as it lessons market competition. Within competition are the very drivers of improvement, efficiency and customer understanding.

I've worked for large companies and small companies and there are prizes and pitfalls to both, but large companies seem to thrive on bloat and administrative impediments. It often becomes a place where nameless, faceless people in cubicles have any creativity or life sucked out of them on a daily basis. And you wonder why things like this happen: Maytag Crosses Popular Blogger, Gets Spun Dry. We've all had encounters like this. Large companies seem to thrive on hiring people to squash all the patience and reason out of you when you need their help.

On the other hand small companies have so much spirit but don't have a system in place to grow steadily and not in havoc-wreaking spurts, maintain checks and balances and support all the facets that keep their talent happy and healthy.

But my deepest respect goes to the success stories - the large companies that maintain a creed of service and excellence, and the smaller companies that make history and learn to both change and improve lives - and not just burn them out.

Alright back to the point! What it definitely means is that the smaller airlines are going to have to watch their profitability and fuel hedging to stay on point, because larger companies have been known to artificially drop prices to run smaller outfits out of business. I have a feeling we are evolving into a 2-price brackets industry in airline travel now, geared towards two different types of travelers.

Southeast Asia Travel Guides - free until August 1, 2010

Southeast Asia seems to be one of the more difficult places to navigate. A bevy of dialects encountered, one of the last visages of undeveloped countries, prone to natural disasters, and in some cases - constantly shrinking land mass. If you find yourself lucky enough to travel here (I haven't been yet, but hope to do so in the next couple of years), you may find yourself in need of a travel guide.

TravelFish is offering their e-guides for free (with registration) for the next 3 months. I'd snatch them up quickly!
http://www.travelfish.org/freeguides.php

Testing out Digital Photo Frames

So I've been going a little crazy on Woot! lately.. I can't help it I love gadgets and so occasionally I will review a few products that I've really enjoyed or if I feel like there's a bit of misinformation or bias in techie-info-land and I've had a vastly different experience. I now have in my possession not 1, but 2 digital photo frames! I've wanted one of these for ages after seeing the gorgeous Pandigital at a friends' house, I was literally mesmerized. But the ones with good resolution or a decent size have always been way over $100 plus tax, etc, etc.

I think the best one out there is still the Pandigital 15". I've seen the slightly smaller version (not sure what size) sold at Costco for about $140 plus tax, which was still way above my price range for something I didn't know too much about technology wise. I still think this model is the King of digital photo frames. Amazing size, highest resolution (1024 x 768) in a reasonable aspect ratio I've seen out there, a ton of internal memory, plays music and video.

The only feedback for this item on Amazon is unfortunately not so spectacular, but I truly think it's one of those instances where the one person who had a problem felt the need to rate this product negatively, though they admitted the ease of getting a replacement one from Amazon immediately without even having to return the old one first.


I happened upon the 10.2" Polaroid photo frame on Woot! for $50 plus shipping and snagged one immediately before reading all the specs (because we all know what Wooting is like!). Resolution is actually the same as the Pandigital in a different aspect ratio (1024 x 600) as the Polaroid is just in an overall smaller size and extra wide. The LCD is very bright and clearly high quality, but the packaging of the LCD is just cheap. Was a matte aluminum frame really necessary?? But despite this, Polaroid somehow used an LCD that makes the colors really jump out at you, expressing your photos to their best potential. Drawbacks are 1) you can't play music or videos 2) it doesn't display pictures in portrait very well - it ends up cutting off a bit of the top and most of the bottom of the picture. Granted, most of us take pictures in landscape but that's definitely an annoyance that could be a dealbreaker to some. The buttons on top also feel a bit cheap and there's no remote. But I have to give it to Polaroid, this is probably the best value for the money out there and I absolutely LOVE mine.

Again, I was a little worried due to the ratings on Amazon, but I've had mine for over 2 months and there are no problems. I don't run this photo frame 24/7 though. Maybe only 8 hours a day.

But of course, in my ever unsatisfied quest to get the best product for my money, I bought a SECOND photo frame - again on Woot! for $35 plus shipping for an 8" one from HP. This one plays music and video, has  very good resolution for its size, a very expensive look and has a remote that definitely makes your life easier when changing settings or wanting to do anything from across the room. Also has a calendar, alarm, and a few other bells and whistles. But after looking at my large, over 10" Polaroid frame with its superior brightness and gorgeous colors for over 2 months, this little one just didn't cut it. Shame, as it's really beautiful and decent quality. I probably would have loved it if I didn't lay my eyes on the Polaroid one first. But for $35, it's a well thought out piece of technology and beauty (and without the layout problems of the Polaroid):  a great present to give someone - even the packaging is sleek and stylish!

I just got this frame today, so I'll test out the audio and video at a later time and report back on its quality.

If you're even thinking about getting a photo frame, this is probably a pretty good time to get one. There are a lot of them deeply discounted to equal the cost of a couple of hardcover books. I imagine many of us are probably getting to a place where we have tons of beautiful pictures that we'd love to display without cranking out paper photos (don't even get me started on inkjet printer cartridges) or having our limited mantles covered with mismatching frames. Cycling through the 500+ "best shots" that I've taken over the last 6 years is such a treat. I never get tired of glancing over and seeing hippos up close or the color of the water in Cancun, or a macro photo of ripe grapes on the vine in Porto and remembering a beautiful piece of my very charmed life.