Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present Mr. and Mrs...

As many of you know I have been working hard the last few months helping Eric and Kati plan their wedding. Well, the day is finally here, today we will don our tuxes, we will go to the Circle D farm and Eric and Kati will get married. Last weekend I was lucky enough to be able to go to another wedding with Eric and Kati and I was able to get some really good lighting and some excellent timing. So since its there wedding day, and I know that a picture is worth a thousand words, here is my two cents.

Eric and Kati,
I hope nothing but the best for you as you begin your lives together. I am so happy for you.

CONGRATS GUYS!

Steve Jobs 1955-2011

Steve Jobs and his wife after his last Keynote as Apple CEO

So as most of the world has heard by now, Apple's co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs has passed away. I don't think its possible to really comprehend how influential his life was and its certain that his legacy will live on in the attitude and ideals behind the company. So being that I am not only an iPhone, iPod, and Macbook owner I thought that I would post a story that was reported on Vic Gundotra's Google+ last month after Steve stepped down as the CEO of Apple.

"One Sunday morning, January 6th, 2008 I was attending religious services when my cell phone vibrated. As discreetly as possible, I checked the phone and noticed that my phone said "Caller ID unknown". I choose to ignore.

After services, as I was walking to my car with my family, I checked my cell phone messages. The message left was from Steve Jobs. "Vic, can you call me at home? I have something urgent to discuss" it said.

Before I even reached my car, I called Steve Jobs back. I was responsible for all mobile applications at Google, and in that role, had regular dealings with Steve. It was one of the perks of the job.

"Hey Steve - this is Vic", I said. "I'm sorry I didn't answer your call earlier. I was in religious services, and the caller ID said unknown, so I didn't pick up".

Steve laughed. He said, "Vic, unless the Caller ID said 'GOD', you should never pick up during services".

I laughed nervously. After all, while it was customary for Steve to call during the week upset about something, it was unusual for him to call me on Sunday and ask me to call his home. I wondered what was so important?

"So Vic, we have an urgent issue, one that I need addressed right away. I've already assigned someone from my team to help you, and I hope you can fix this tomorrow" said Steve.

"I've been looking at the Google logo on the iPhone and I'm not happy with the icon. The second O in Google doesn't have the right yellow gradient. It's just wrong and I'm going to have Greg fix it tomorrow. Is that okay with you?"

Of course this was okay with me. A few minutes later on that Sunday I received an email from Steve with the subject "Icon Ambulance". The email directed me to work with Greg Christie to fix the icon.

Since I was 11 years old and fell in love with an Apple II, I have dozens of stories to tell about Apple products. They have been a part of my life for decades. Even when I worked for 15 years for Bill Gates at Microsoft, I had a huge admiration for Steve and what Apple had produced.

But in the end, when I think about leadership, passion and attention to detail, I think back to the call I received from Steve Jobs on a Sunday morning in January. It was a lesson I'll never forget. CEOs should care about details. Even shades of yellow. On a Sunday.

To one of the greatest leaders I've ever met, my prayers and hopes are with you Steve.

-Vic"

I know that as the world mourns more stories will come out about him, but this one has been in my head every time someone talks about him since I read it last month. Its an attention to detail that not many of us have, and a passion that 99.9% of the world does not have.What I really like about this story is that it not only shows that as a CEO Steve worked 24-7 365 but also shows an attention to detail that not many CEO's can say that they have for their product or their company. He will be missed by many people and is one of the few people that many of us can point to an actually say "You made my life better". Well today as we remember his legacy I would like to say this: "Thanks Steve."

Source

Distracted Driving

On October 1st, 2011 the Maryland General Assembly Chapter 471 or Senate Bill 424 went into effect. What this law does is adds a modification to the existing law where "...a person may not use a text messaging device to write [or], send  OR READ a text message OR AN ELECTRONIC MESSAGE while operating a motor vehicle…". While like most of us I agree that this would be a great things, less distracted drivers, few accidents, I also feel that this represents a disturbing trend. Violators get a 70 dollar and a one point fine on their license. I don't feel that a quick glance at your phone while driving is the problem here. I feel that this law is misplaced and feels more like a new tax to me.

Before you get upset, let me tell you a story. A few days ago my wife and I decided to walk our dog up to the local shopping center. To  do this we had to cross a few roads and while we were crossing the street (in a crosswalk) we almost got ran over by a woman who was turned around yelling at her kids. I feel that picking on cellphones and people who are reading text messages in a world where constant communication is a must is simply blaming on small thing for a much larger behavior, distracted driving. In my opinion this is like blaming the air on the fire and not the match or the fuel. Not a perfect metaphor but I have seen and witnessed many incidents where people are either yelling at kids, spouses, reading books, air drumming (guilty), or something else that is distracting them from the road. This is the actual problem, NOT the phone itself.

In addition the law will be really hard to enforce, you can read it here. From what I take from it I have my Iphone. The law states that this section does not apply to the use of a global positioning system, well since GPS is built into my phone doesn't that make it a GPS unit? They have GPS units that play music, how is that different? In addition many would say that the law says "Text messaging device" means a hand held device used to send a text message or an electronic message via a short message service, wireless telephone service, or electronic communication network" wouldn't every traffic enabled GPS device also qualify here? What about OnStar? That totally communicates through an electronic communication network. So this brings us to the final distinction, "...a hand held device". Okay so if I get a window mount for my Iphone and I am texting from there does that now mean that this device no longer qualifies and I not breaking the law?

Martin O'Malley needed to not pass a law that attacks a certain device being used a certain way and instead attacks an entire behavior, distracted driving. Pull people over for turning around, looking at the back seat and talking to their passengers, this is VERY dangerous.  The reality of the situation is that people are just going to hold their phones in their laps, farther away from the road, and this will make an even more dangerous situation. The law is almost unenforceable and I plan on keeping a copy in my glove box in the event I get pulled over.