Today is the first day of the new year—the year to fly high. (Yes, those are swans on a bed of clouds, and yes, I felt creative and decided to draw this on my iPad Sketchbook Express app.)
Anyways, the point is, it’s a brand new year with endless possibilities, so:
Happy 2012, everyone!!!
One more day till the big 20-12. What have I learned? Well, I have to go back two years first…
In 2009, I made a 3 part series examining myself. After much introspection, I decided to: 1) Enjoy life now! 2) Understand 2009 and pay tribute and 3) Tell the OLD me what the NEW me has learned.
In 2010, I made 3 revelations about life and myself, including the fact that “the ambitious me, the driven me, the excited me, the never-quitting me” was back. I also predicted that 2011 would be “the bomb.”
Well, 2011 happened… and—drum roll please—it was more than just “the bomb,” it was the BIG BANG—the force of energy I needed to create a space to do all the things I want to do next year.
But before I get to next year, let me recap this year:
Those are just the highlights! (A lot of other things happened that will gear me up for 2012.)
Anyways, as I’m closing out 2011, I am a bit teary-eyed. This year has been more than I expected. I went into it thinking I’d do well in my job, I’d hang with my friends and family and I’d enjoy life. That was enough for me. What ended up happening was the amazing opportunities that led me to unexpected things that would change me… and, DAMN, it was exhilarating!
But, I know none of this could have happened without the undying support from my family and friends, the unwavering encouragement from my mentors, and the unrelenting drive from something beyond my comprehension.
So, what about 2012?
Well, I have no idea. This year was only the beginning and it was amazing. I can’t imagine what it would be like next year. I can feel a bit of fear creeping up, but there is just SO much out there to learn, to dream, to grasp that I am overpowered by excitement.
My 3 new year’s resolutions are:
Well, there you have it. My 2011 recap and my 2012 goals.
What are your’s?
Tags: inspiration, Life, list, love, New Year's Resolutions, thoughts
Santa was truly great to me this year! His gift? Giving me a strong network of amazing people: family, friends, mentors, co-workers, and more.
As I had mentioned before, up through Thanksgiving, I was thankful for 3 most exciting events (all, in some part, had to do with my network).
Well, in the past month, even more exciting things have happened (because of Santa’s gift):
And, this is on top of all the exciting projects coming up next year!
I know I am very lucky and I am so appreciative of every moment.
Like I had written on facebook and twitter this morning, even if you don’t believe in Santa, you can believe in the magic of sharing with your loved ones all the joy, laughter, and memories from the year as well as the amazing feasts of this season.
I know it’s been very magical for me this year, especially when I got to share with you, my reader, all my hopes, dreams, joys, pain-points, annoyances, and everything else. (Hope you had as much fun reading as I had writing.)
Merry Christmas!
Happy Thanksgiving! Last year, I asked what it meant for a nation of immigrants. This year, I want to give my thanks because it has been amazing.
I got a chance to:
I realized that everything I’ve done this year is because of 3 important things (I’m most thankful for):
#3 – My City.
New York City gave me the platform to excel.
#2 – My Brain.
My brain allowed me access to the ambition and drive from deep within.
#1 – My Support Network.
And, without my strong support network of encouraging friends and uber-confident parents, I wouldn’t have been able to seize all the opportunities that came my way this year.
So…
Thank you, New York City.
Thank you, Brain.
But, most of all,
Thank you family, friends, mentors, and supporters.
2011 wouldn’t have been the same without you!
Santa's Gift to Me: A Strong Network
SOPA & PIPA Trying to Kill Innovation and the Internet Blacked Out?
18 JanThe Internet blacked out today (01.18.12) in protest against SOPA & PIPA.
The Economist’s World in 2012 conference had a debate on whether innovation is dead. Well, today, it almost felt like it could be dead… maybe not now, but very soon. All over the web, tech titans like Google and Wikipedia and others like WordPress and Tech Crunch stood together in protest against SOPA & PIPA.
What’s SOPA & PIPA?
Imagine a world where you can no longer upload a video of yourself singing a cover to your favorite artist or mix parts of a movie or just have the freedom to share information freely and openly.
Well, that’s what SOPA & PIPA are trying to do. Limit you. Don’t get me wrong, I believe these two pieces of legislation have good intentions, theoretically, but like many theories (e.g. communism), in practice, it doesn’t really work.
SOPA is the Stop Online Piracy Act (House) and its sister legislation, PIPA, is the Protect Intellectual Property Act (Senate). Both laws aim to curb the rampant piracy that has gone on in the web space for years, especially with the torrents giant The Pirate Bay, stripping billions from the movie industry.
However, SOPA & PIPA at its current state, gives away too much power to too few, says Gizmodo. ”The beating heart of SOPA is the ability of intellectual property owners (read: movie studios and record labels) to effectively pull the plug on foreign sites against whom they have a copyright claim.”
In addition, SOPA (unlike its sister legislation, PIPA) has a provision, dubbed the “Free Bieber,” which makes “it illegal to stream unauthorized copyrighted content” (Wall Street Journal).
Here’s something even crazier: “If the government decides any part of that site infringes on copyright and proves it in court? Poof. Your digital life is gone, and you can’t get it back” (Gizmodo).
Now, that’s scary.
But what’s scarier is the fact that these two 4-letter words could kill innovation!
How can SOPA & PIPA kill innovation?
Well, innovation or creativity, in general, often comes from copying, mixing and remixing of existing ideas.
When tons of restrictions are placed on what may or may not be deemed as “pirated” materials, people could stop trying. Just imagine reading a ten page contract each time before you can draw a picture of your favorite cartoon character. Wouldn’t that deter you from drawing that character? And, if you don’t make the attempt to draw that, would you ever think of changing the eyes and ears to bring about more personality to your creation? And, if you don’t do that, would you ever add this potential new character to the world? Maybe… but maybe not.
Think about it. Sometimes, the best creations are the “improvements” upon the old. Look at Counter Strike, one of the most played PC games. It was a mod(ification) to Half Life!
If that didn’t make you think twice, then think about one of our time’s most memorable songs: “Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice. That song was—yes, that’s right—pirated, in SOPA/PIPA terms. (I don’t condone straight-up copying, but sometimes the beginning of an innovation starts with copying something that exists…)
Anways, TED’s Clay Shirky explains best (see Mashable’s article for highlights):
Conclusion:
All in all, I agree that we need better regulation so our intellectual property rights can be protected. Mark Schaefer from {GROW} said it well: “I just spent nearly a year of my life writing a book. If there is no hope of getting paid for the difficult work and sacrifice that goes into creating content like this in the future, I will never write another book. And so on.”
But let’s not go overboard and cut off the pipelines that could potentially fuel innovation and creativity!
Sources:
Gizmodo - What is SOPA?
Mashable - TED Takes on SOPA: Why it Would Create a ‘Consumption-Only Internet’ [VIDEO]
{GROW} - Have you become a STOP SOPA lemming?
Wall Street Journal - What Is SOPA Anyway? A Guide to Understanding the Online Piracy Bill
International Business Times - What is SOPA? Possible Consequences that Could Ruin the Internet
CNN Money - SOPA explained: What it is and why it matters
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Tags: censorship, google, PIPA, SOPA, technology, thoughts, wikipedia, wordpress