Quality vs. Quantity
You've heard it said: "Quality is more important than Quantity!" When you hear this phrase do you think that so long as you focus on quality you don't have to worry about quantity? Or put in a specific way... Is it possible to spend quality time with your children without spending quantity of time with them? Is it possible to get quality customers without having a quantity of customers? How about quality of education without quantity of it? Or quality of ideas without quantity that comes from brainstorming?
While there are remote chances that quality may occur in isolation of quantity, I suspect that most if not all quality things come from quantity. The more ideas you generate, the higher chance you'll get a quality idea. The more time you spend with your children, the higher likelihood that you will get quality time with them. The more customers you get, the more chance of finding loyal quality customers.
Quality is not isolated from Quantity.
USB Devices not working in VirtualBox
Background
Recently, I installed Windows 8 on a VirtualBox. Everything seemed to work great until I tried to sync my phone. Since that did not work, I tried connecting a USB flash drive (memory flash card via my monitor's flash card reader). That did not work either. Then I tried connecting my video camera. No luck. Windows 8 would not recognize any of those devices. Device Manager in Windows 8 would have a warning icon next to the device in question.
After searching through forums and videos on YouTube I came across a badly made video (sorry forgot to note the link and now I can't find it) that had the answer. But it was not emphasized.
Solution
- Make sure your virtual machine is shut down
- Navigate to your virtual machine's Settings
- Click on USB
- Make sure both Enable USB Controller and Enable USB 2.0 (EHCI) Controller are checked
Buffalo Bills vs. NY Jets
Yesterday December 30th, 2012 I took my oldest daughter to the Buffalo Bills vs NY Jets last game of the season. This was the first NFL game we attended in person. It was a clear cold day. After finding a parking spot we joined one of the lines of people walking toward Ralph Wilson stadium. After going through security and ticket check at gate 6 we found our way to section 126 row 18 and seats 8 and 9. Seats 6 and 7 that we bought were occupied by someone else. Since the game was not sold out we settled in adjacent seats.
Some of the things that caught my eye were how small the field looked from my perspective and how real the players were on the field. Having watched many NFL games on TV and now seeing players in person brought on a sense of closeness. Sharing the same space, weather conditions, and time with the players helped me relate to the players. Between plays, the players on the field were keeping warm by jumping up and down, stretching and jogging in place. Meanwhile, my daughter & I were freezing our toes off sitting on the styrofoam seat cushions we brought.
We got to our seats about a minute and a half into the start of the game. In the first quarter, the Jets kicked a field goal and Sanchez threw an interception to Scott for a 20 yard pick-six. The second quarter was not much different for the Jets, they added two more field goals. The Bills had a nice screen play to CJ Spiller for a 66 yard catch and run touchdown. Not much happened in the third quarter and in the fourth the Bills added two more touchdowns. The Bills had two field goal kicks that Lindell missed left. The Jets had two blocked field goals but one still made it through the uprights. Tim Tebow was in for one play in which he handed the ball to a running back for a two yard gain. It was nice to hear the crowd chant Tee-Bow, Tee-Bow. But the chanting didn't sway Rex Ryan's decision to continue playing Sanchez. Sanchez struggled by throwing an interception and fumbling the ball. Other errant plays he made were near intercepted and off target. On the other side Fitzpatrick made one nice play to Steve Johnson for a good gain.
A disappointing part of the whole experience were the actions of many fans. There was nothing I could do to prevent my daughter from hearing constant uttering of profanities from people around us. There was a guy two rows in front of us with a beer in his hand that could not close his mouth. Three rows down from up were a young couple, also with a drink in the guys hand, that were acting like little kids. Then there was a verbal argument behind us over seats. That argument didn't lack any violent tone and profane words. Among other things, there were people throwing snowballs onto the field. There were other fans that sat or stood and watched the game without incident. Would have been nice if everyone was like those calm and collected fans.
This was a new experience for my daughter and I.
New Year’s Resolutions
Recently I sat down with my wife and children to create a list of resolutions that we would like to accomplish in the almost here 2012 year.
At first we tossed around a list of items that was all over the place. For example: draw closer to God, give homeschooling a try, become better at time management, create an android version of smart golf scorecard, learn how to play a guitar, loose a few pounds, etc. Quickly the list became disorganized.
A thought came to me, "we should list one goal per fragment of our life." We identified six parts to focus on: spiritual, relational/family, calling/mission/purpose, physical/emotional, educational/work, and hobby/other.
We tried to make sure our goals were measurable. After over an hour the four of us had recorded at least one goal in each of the six categories.
"If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail." -unknown
Happy New Year!
Influencer
Today I completed the Influencer training. The Influencer Model is a structured process of how to cause change. It starts with defining a problem in a form of solution. Once the solution has been defined via clearly measurable results then brainstorm on what the vital behaviors cause the wanted results. After finding the vital behaviors, analyze the sources of influence that should be placed to cause change. Make sure to apply at least four sources of influence as this will raise the success rate of change.
Having the analysis complete, execute by implementing analyzed plan and new vital behaviors. Lastly, measure the results.
Why Learn?
Learning for the sake of acquiring knowledge is rarely beneficial. But learning for the sake of making the right choice based on the acquired knowledge, now that's wisdom.
In this blog I will attempt to paraphrase things I learnt for the benefit of those around me. They say that the best way to learn/remember what you have learnt is to teach someone. So this blog will be my attempt at teaching others with a hidden motive of actually trying to learn things myself.
The Learning Pyramid
Taking Life for Granted
What are some things men tend to take for granted?
[list them for yourself]
Diagnostic Questions
- What do I complain about?
- Do I have an area of disobedience?
- Does the grass look greener on the other side of the fence?
- Do you practice good health habits
Tools
- Notice those who have less
- Slow down
- Develop associations with people who are different from you
I Peter 5:8
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Judges 16:20
Then she called, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" He awoke from his sleep and thought, "I'll go out as before and shake myself free." But he did not know that the LORD had left him.