What-Ifs...

"Don’t squander your time on the what-ifs of life. They are unlimited and endless."

—  Gary Zukav

Quotes about simplicity

• "Simplicity boils down to two steps: Identify the essential. Eliminate the rest." – Leo Babauta^[3]
• "If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself." – Albert Einstein^[4]
• "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." – Leonardo da Vinci^{[citation needed]} (Leonardo never wrote nor was reported to have said this.)
• "It is true intelligence for a man to take a subject that is mysterious and great in itself and to unfold and simplify it so that a child can understand it." – John H. Taylor
• "The Power of Simplicity." – Ken Segall
• "Simplicity is the key to brilliance." - Bruce Lee
• "The greatest ideas are the simplest." – William Golding^[5]
• "Simplicity is a competitive advantage." {Hubspot Company values}
• "Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb nail." – Henry David Thoreau^[6]
• "Simplicity [is] the art of maximizing the amount of work not done" - Agile Manifesto^[7]
• "Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art." -Frédéric Chopin^[8]
• "A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." -Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplicity

...smallest step in the right direction...

"Sometimes the smallest step in the right direction ends up being the biggest step of your life. A chance to start over, this time better, the way you want it.

How to move your iPhone and iPad backups to an external drive

By Peter Cohen, Monday, Aug 18, 2014 a 12:00 pm EDT

17

If you sync your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch on your Mac, you know that the first thing iTunes does is back it up (unless you've told it not to). Depending on the size of your device and how much data you have stored on it, this can gobble up dozens of gigabytes of space. Did you know you can move those backups to an external hard drive? You can, and we can walk you through how.

How to save space on your Mac by moving iPhone and iPad backups to an external drive

We've already gone over how to move your iTunes library to an external hard driveto save space, but did you know that iTunes may still be gobbling up space on your hard drive? That's because when you sync an iOS device on your Mac, it backs up the device to a hidden folder inside your home directory Library folder.

Hard drives on Macs are getting smaller as more and more systems use solid state storage, and our iOS devices are getting bigger. With some iPad and iPad mini models available in up to 128 GB of storage, that means iTunes can create somehuge backup files.

Unfortunately, iTunes doesn't give us an easy way to move those backup files to an external drive. So we're going to use the Terminal app, found inside the Utilities folder, to do some UNIX command line magic to get it to work.

iTunes creates backup files for your iOS devices inside your home directory Library folder. The first step is to find that folder.

To access the Backup folder:

1. Open the Finder.
2. Hold down the Option key.
3. Click on the Go menu.
4. Select Library.
5. Find Application Support and open it.
6. Find MobileSync and open it.

That MobileSync folder contains a Backup folder, which includes iTunes' backup files for your iOS devices.

Attach your external hard drive. Drag that Backup folder to the external drive. You might want to put it in a clearly marked folder so you remember in the future what it's there for, like "ios_backup" or something similar.

Once you verify that it's been copied, rename but do note delete the original Backups folder (maybe call it old_Backups or something equally descriptive).

A note on aliases and symbolic links

Let me take a moment to explain this next step. We're going to use the Mac's Terminal app to create a symbolic link to trick iTunes into backing up onto your external drive rather than the boot drive.

Have you ever created an alias in the Finder? Aliases have been around since the classic Mac OS days. Aliases point to a file or folder that's kept elsewhere - it can be in another folder on your Mac's hard drive or another drive all together, even a server volume. They're handy ways of connecting to information you need to quickly and easily.

Unfortunately, some applications don't follow aliases properly. An older way of creating those sorts of connections is more reliable for actions like what we want iTunes to do: Symbolic links, or symlinks. They work at a low enough level that applications and operating system functions don't have as hard a time with them as they do aliases.

For the sake of the following example, I've unimaginatively named the external drive External. If yours is named differently, you'll need to change the /Volumes/External pathname in step 4.

To create a symbolic Backups folder link

1. Open the Finder.
2. Open the Utilities folder.
3. Double-click on Terminal.
4. type: ln -s /Volumes/External/ios_backup/Backup ~/Library/Application\ Support/MobileSync/Backup then press theReturn key.
5. Quit Terminal.

If you kept that MobileSync folder open, you'll see a new file created in it that looks like this:

The Finder says it's an alias. Don't be fooled. It's actually a symbolic link.

Now run iTunes and let it back up your iOS device. Make sure it's working by checking the creation date of the file you now see in the external drive backup folder. Assuming it's working, it's now safe for you to delete the old_Backups folder and get that precious hard drive space back.

One other thing: If it's unlikely that the external hard drive will be connected all the time, I'd recommend keeping iTunes from backing iOS devices automatically. To do so:

1. Open iTunes.
2. Click on the iTunes menu and select Preferences.... (Alternately, hold down the Command key and type ,.)
3. Click the Devices tab.
4. Check Prevent iPods, iPhones and iPads from syncing automatically.
5. Click OK.

Otherwise, when you try to back up your iPhone to a hard drive that's not connected, you're likely to see an error message that looks like this:

Hopefully you haven't run into any snags, but if you have any questions, let me know.

Have something to say about this story? Share your comments below! Need help with something else? Submit your question!

Klang Buddies... Buddies Forever...

Here is something to share...

They say buddies are for lifetime,
As we play, learn and grow together,
They say friendship is not bound by time,
As we bash, laugh and makan besar together,

I'm glad, contented and happy to have you guys,
Thanks for all these years of good friendship,
Seeing our friendship evolves from "godfather" to the "chun" guy,
Although sometimes we need the godfather's whip,

You guys have always been there for me,
As I move from singlehood to fatherhood,
One of my birthday wish is to see the same,
As you move from bachelorhood to husbandhood,

Last but not least...

Our bond only grows stronger by days,
Not limited by the words or years,
Sometimes even a simple "chun" word brightens the day,
Let's cherish this friendship together for many more years!

you can do it!

"Every single one of us possesses the strength to attempt something he isn't sure he can accomplish" - Scott Jurek

Letting go...

"One of the essential tasks for living a wise life is letting go. Letting go is the path to freedom. It is only by letting go of the hopes, the fears, the pain, the past, the stories that have a hold on us that we can quiet our mind and open our heart."

—  Jack Kornfield

breathe a bit of love...

"Love is like breathing. You take it in and let it out." - Wally Lamb

A little word of support…

We all have our ups and downs,

It is what defines us,

The problem and laughter we own,

Act as a catalyst to remind us,

That life has much more to offer,

If only we could see further,

That these are just life buffer,

Braving us to be a little greater,

Gambatteh! Jiayou! All the best!

These are the words of encouragement,

Not to ask us to be the best,

But to push us to strive for betterment,

Nothing is worth but a surviving the life’s test,

It is a life calling,

Let’s fulfill it with our greatest capability,

So that we live a life of meaning,

Making known of our greatest utility – Myself!

Dr. Phil’s 9 Inspiring Rules to Live By

"Everybody has a personal truth. A personal truth is what you believe about yourself when nobody's listening and nobody's watching" - Dr. Phil

"A strong sense of self is the foundation of personal power. If you define yourself by what someone else thinks, you've already lost the battle. Assert the right to be who you want to be" - Dr. Phil

"A successful reinvention doesn't happen when you hate the person you are. It happens when you love yourself enough to believe that you can do better and deserve better" - Dr. Phil

"The universe rewards action. Successful people take action toward a known outcome. You can't think about it. You have to do it—and you don't do it for a week or a month. You do it until. Until you get what you want." - Dr. Phil

"The major difference between a dream and a goal is a timeline for progress, coupled with accountability." - Dr. Phil

"We generate the results in life we believe we deserve." - Dr. Phil

"Happiness isn't a one-size fits-all proposition. You must define what it looks like for you and then make a conscious effort to access whatever gets you to your unique definition of joy." - Dr. Phil

"If there isn't something in your life that makes you wake up curious and excited to start the day, you will never be a powerful person. Passion is what fuels the jet engine propelling you toward a meaningful existence." - Dr. Phil

"You're going to live either the life chosen or the life assigned. I want you to live the life chosen." - Dr. Phil

20 Amazing Marketing Statistics That Will Drive 2014 (Infographic)

20 Amazing Marketing Statistics That Will Drive 2014 (Infographic)

How to Be a Better Negotiator in 2014. Guaranteed.

January 06, 2014 

• 21,584
• 278Likers
• 36Comments

inShare612

Absolutely. No doubt about it. You can be a more effective negotiator this coming year provided you do one thing differently. Do it faithfully and you’ll:

• Make deals that could otherwise slip through your fingers;
• Create—and capture—more value in the agreements that you reach; and
• Resolve small differences before they escalate into costly disputes.

But there is a catch. This isn’t like those “weird little tricks” with bogus advice about losing belly fat or improving your credit score. This requires some work on your part. Not a lot, but you’ll have to keep at it. Given the upside, the return on your effort will be high.

The assignment is simple: keep a journal tracking every negotiation you undertake in 2014, large or small. It could be securing a promotion, dealing with a difficult customer, or saving a few bucks on your cable service.

Start your entry before you go to the bargaining table. Lay out your strategy. Consider best and worst case scenarios. Reckon your walk away. Try to figure out what might be acceptable to the other side. Document the whole process from how you prepare, what unfolds in the back-and-forth, the outcome, and finally, of course, what lessons you learn along the way.

Keeping a real-time journal is essential. Memories are imperfect. Telling details can get lost. If you reconstruct the story after the fact, the outcome may seem inevitable. Brief notes, taken along the way, will illuminate points where you might have taken things in a different direction.

You don’t have to write a treatise. For simple transactions, an outline will do. But putting your plan down on paper pays off three ways:

1. An explicit plan forces you to weigh tradeoffs in advance. Negotiating a new position, you’ll have to figure out how much salary you’d give up in return for stock options. That could be a tough choice. Analyzing pros and cons beforehand is a whole lot better than making a heat-of-the-moment decision.
2. Imagining different scenarios enhances your creativity. It’s like limbering up before a tennis match. You get your head in the game and become more agile.
3. Planning also a healthy reminder of what you don’t know about the other side’s interests and intentions. Negotiation is an exploratory process. Be ready for surprises, pleasant and otherwise. Don’t treat your assumptions as hard facts.

Some of my posts in coming months will dig more deeply into negotiation preparation and strategic analysis. The more complex the transaction, the more detailed your journal entry should be. But get started now. Making quick notes as you negotiate is far better than nothing. Over the course of the year you’ll gather data that will reveal strengths to build on, as well as weaknesses that you’d better address.

Long-term learning. Think about it: judging performance in any arena requires a baseline. For your annual physical, the doctor compares your latest cholesterol numbers with last year’s results to see if they’re headed in the right direction. You likewise look for trends and patterns over time in weighing investments. The same kind of tracking pays dividends for negotiators. But the only way to learn from experience is having an honest record of your performance.

I’m talking about doing more than calculating your bargaining batting average, where you’d compare the number of agreements made to deals attempted. For one thing, that’s a poor measure of success. As I noted in a post last summer, if you always come to agreement, there are two explanations and both are bad. Either you’re being too agreeable and saying yes to terms you should refuse. Or you’re being too cautious only going after sure-thing opportunities.

So don’t just look at outcomes. Go back to your notes and evaluate how you well you strategized at the outset. Did your negotiations generally play out as you expected? If you tend to be overly optimistic (or pessimistic), that’s something that you can fix. Likewise you may see that you’re better at certain kinds of negotiations than others (value-creating opportunities, for example, rather than haggles over price). Again, you can work on that going forward.

In future posts I’ll have more suggestions about learning from experience. But you can help yourselves now by enlisting a friend to keep a journal of his or her experience. Compare your notes regularly. By coaching one another, you’ll sharpen your strategy going into a negotiation. And by debriefing together, you’ll have twice as many cases to learn from.

So, yes you certainly can be a better negotiator in 2014. Yes, some work is involved, so you might be tempted to slack off. To keep you going here’s a carrot and a stick:

• If you’re diligent, you’ll make more and better deals. You’ll finish the year with a sense of accomplishment and greater confidence in your ability.
• If you fail to make this small effort, but negotiate with people who are serious about enhancing their skills . . . well, best of luck.

*****

Harvard Business School Professor Michael Wheeler is the author of The Art of Negotiation: How to Improvise Agreement in a Chaotic World (Simon & Schuster).

He has been a key figure at the renowned Program on Negotiation (PON) at Harvard Law School since its founding 30 years ago. During the 2013-14 academic year, he continues to teach in executive programs at HBS and PON, and is also a visiting professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

Learning, Living, Pushing, Changing...

"If you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're Doing Something." - Neil Gaiman

MEE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First it was our lovely home,

A place we called our home sweet home,

Just a simple and comfortable home,

Nothing fancy nor a dome,

That’s the beginning of MEE,

Nothing to do with mee,

It’s just an acronym for MC, Ethan & Eddy,

So do not mistaken us for mee,

And then came the love of our life,

He’s cute, handsome and lovely,

Our life would never be the same,

Continuous joy and laughter with his smiley J,

Thank you mummy for taking care of us,

You’ve been so great and able,

Without you there won’t be us,

As we count our blessings at our dining table,

We know that a happy family,

Is not by the measure of our wealth,

But by the love and care we pour in the family,

With relentless amount of our happiness health,

So let’s welcome another great year,

As we continue to build our little family,

With the right mixture of love, care and happiness,

As we mold to be the MEE family!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~