News broke this morning that Apple CEO Steve Jobs has disclosed he has a hormone imbalance that lead to his steady decline in weight this past year. Rumors about him on his deathbed, I suppose, are greatly exaggerated. I've been on the fence regarding whether he was right or wrong to not share this information earlier. A person's health is nobody's business but their own. But as the CEO of a very public company, doesn't he have the obligation to his shareholders to disclose any and all information that might affect the health of the company they own? Put it that way, the answer seems clear. However, put it another way like so - as the owner of a business, do you have the right to ask about the private health matters of your employees? Your answer may be different.
 
In the end, I think that Apple has always been a secretive company and Steve Jobs has always been very tight lipped about his personal life. However, I think that this whole thing could have been diffused very quickly by either offering full disclosure early on - "Steve is undergoing tests to figure out why he's losing weight. We've ruled out a return of his cancer and the best medical team in the country is on the case. They have assured us that his life is not in any danger." Or by having a very clear succession plan - "The success of Apple can be attributed to many good people, not just Steve. In the event that Steve wishes to step down, it'll be in the good hands of Person X." One thing I'll give Microsoft is that the ascension of Ballmer to the throne was gradual and very clearly laid out. You can at least rule out any succession ambiguity as the cause of their recent woes.

I'm a couple of days late on this but a hearty Happy New Year to everyone! Hope 2009 is more prosperous for us all versus 2008 (though I doubt it).
 
As is my 4 year old tradition, I'll be giving up meat for the first 3 months of the year. This started back in 2004 when I went vegetarian for a month. Since then I've added a few weeks every year with the ultimate goal of going vegetarian 100% (as every good Buddhist should). It'll probably be a long time before I get there but it's partly about the journey and not just the destination. My last animal protein meal was a bowl of fish cake noodle soup made by mom. This is in contrast to last year's last hurrah meal of all you can eat meat at Espetus in the city. I used to have the impending feeling of meat withdrawals leading up to the New Year but have found that over the years, I start looking forward to taking a break from normal food. There are still certain foods that I absolutely crave like pho, but after the first few weeks, it gets easier and easier.
 
In the past, my vegetarian lifestyle didn't actually result in me losing weight. This is probably due to the extra carbs I eat to compensate for the lack of protein but this year, I'm gonna try to make an effort to use this time to get in better health. Got a recent blood test before the holidays and could definitely improve on my cholesterol, sugar, and fat levels. I'm also going to try and lose 20 pounds over the next three months. One cool iPhone app I saw was Weightbot which helps you track your weight each day. Definitely worth $0.99 for a clean and easy to use weight tracking app. UI is superb. I'll be posting my progress over the next three months so wish me luck!

So I figured out how to take screenshots of what is on my iPhone. You need to have the 2.0+ software upgrade, then press the power and Home button at the same time (don't hold or it will reset the phone). The screen flashes and then you'll hear the camera click. Whatever you had on the screen will be in your Camera Roll.
 
Here's a screenshot of a new game I'm playing called Strategery. One of the developers used to do some work for us (Sumul, he's great!). The games pretty simple to learn but hard to master, especially on the harder settings. I'm about to crush the computer in this screenshot.
 
Click here to get the game from the iTunes App Store and here's the website for the game itself.

I woke up this morning to the radio airing the news that the auto bailout has passed.  I'm glad a lot of people won't be losing their jobs but I think we're only delaying the inevitable.  The $17.4 billion bailout has provisions that require, among other things, the automakers to "prove they can restructure sufficiently" or those loans would be called back.  My question is, can the automakers really turn it around?  It's like a gambling addict who just needs some seed money to win back all the losses his accumulated over the years.  Chances are, it's just not going to happen.  And what if they don't sufficiently restructure?  Would they really care if the loans are called back?  They'd be in the same position they were before the bailout except now with three months of salaries paid.  And actually, I don't think Congress would have the guts to actually do it.  The old cry of "we can't let the US auto industry fail" will be heard again.

If the government really wanted to make a difference, they should have asked for the resignation of all top level executives from any company that asked for a loan.  The way it's setup now, these automakers will come back to Congress in March and either ask for more money or time to prove they are restructuring (probably both).  Why would anyone give money to a group of people who have a history of failure?  This is in stark contrast to a company like Toyota who hasn't had an annual corporate loss in 71 years (they expect to end the current fiscal year with a loss).  In fact their profits in 2007 alone were $14.9 billion - almost the same size as the current bailout.  With a cushion like that, who needs a handout?