Extra coffee taken away. No coffee left!
No tea left… No sugar replaced… sigh…
Minor victory… but a step in the right direction. (I had to go downstairs and get some splenda from the restaurant)
I need to find someone fluent in Spanish to help me leave messages 🙂
Yesterday I left a note for housekeeping:
“No Coffee Please”
They leave about 3 coffee samples and they are in bags with the coffee filters to attach to the water generator in the room.
Neither H nor I drink coffee. I figured, rather than getting something that will just lie around… I’ll leave a note.
Housekeeping saw the word Coffee and thought I wanted MORE. And they left MOOORREEEE. I talked to the front desk who explained that housekeeping didn’t speak English, only Spanish
Well, unfortunately I’m back to the basura scandal of 2002. I will link to that when I find it.
So, round two. Today I left a two sided note. The front said, “Flip page for English” at the top and then (thanks to Google Translate:)
Hola, servicio de limpieza. Por favor, no sustituir el café Ya no se bebe café. El café se tiran a la basura Nosotros preferimos tomar el té. Le invitamos a salir de extra de eso. Gracias. Por favor, tome de nuevo el café. No queremos ponerlo en la basura.
I really hope that is translated correctly.
The back of course starts with: “Por favor, a su vez este documento al otro lado del español.”
And then (for those that don’t speak Spanish or at least comprehend google translated Spanish):
Hello, housekeeping. Please don't replace the coffee We do not drink coffee. We will throw it in the trash. We prefer tea. You are welcome to leave extra of that. Thank you. Please take back this coffee. We don't want to put it in the trash.
I’ll report on my successes/failures tomorrow.
Updated: I’ve bolded what I got right, and struck thru the wrong. I think this may be the best I’ve ever done on one of these.
I have to admit, as a niche Apple 3rd party engineer, I hate these days. It’s not that I’m not excited for the technologies, believe me; I am. But so is everyone else now. Over the last 2-4 weeks I have been asked by no less than 50 people what is being released. Actually, to be more exact, people ask me if “Product X” will be released.
A couple of reminders. I do not not have I ever worked for Apple. <sarcasm degree=”mild”>So, of course; I am utterly privy to their product release schedule.</sarcasm> Okay, it’s true. As a niche developer who’s devoted my career to one company’s products; I do make business analysis part of my job. But, personally, I’ve gotta feel sorry for the guys who do that for a job like Ken Ray and Andy Ihnatko. They must get grilled by the minute coming into one of these.
But of course; yes, I have my predictions of what will occur today.
But first, I do remind everyone to take a breath and consult this BRILLIANT chart of the Anatomy of Apple Rumors.
Software:
It’s pretty damned obvious we’ll be seeing iOS 5.0 and Mac OS 10.7.2. I do not believe that the former will be available today. Going by the rumor and leaks board (as I will not confirm my knowledge as a developer under NDA) The last beta seed of iOS 5.0 was released on the 30th of August. Beta seed 7 came a very short time after beta seed 6 and dealt with iCloud adjustments. There was also a seed of 10.7.2 and iTunes. At this time; I do not believe developers have been given the go ahead to submit app updates against iOS 5.0. This process takes 1-2 weeks. Usually quicker pre-release. But the idea of Apple releasing an OS without the Apps really checked solidly against the release version for bugs and crashes seems RISKY. So: Expect a solid release date for iOS 5.0 of 1-3 weeks from now.
10.7.2 may release today; but I sense that the rapid iCloud updates suggest there may be a little bump or two that needs to be ironed out. And if they are seeing these bumps with thousands of developers; they know they aren’t ready for millions of non-developers. iCloud is the future for Apple and it has to above all else not be another Mobile Me.
iCloud:
On the topic of iCloud; it touches everything. So expect updates to Mac OS, iOS, iLife, iWork (Mac and iOS), AppleTV, and anything else that Apple touches with storage.
iPhones:
Ah the question I have been asked for months. Literally.
The rumours are split over two devices: the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5.
Again, strictly off the rumours boards I don’t see an iPhone 5 coming at this time.
I realize that it’s been 16 months since the last major phone release. I realise that the Holiday buying season is about to kick off (or did that start in May, I lose track)
Honestly, unless Apple has achieved an entirely new standard in leak control (which is possible) there’s not a lot to hang the iPhone 5 off of at this point. Also; this kind of a change is more likely to cannibalise some of their potential holiday sales. With the current war on the middle class; people want better for cheaper. And new iPhone models ‘appear’ cheaper by having more power and doodads for the same price. So, an iPhone 5 will have great power, but still be a tier above netting a huge holiday influx. Especially with toys like cheap Androids and the Amazon Kindle Fire being sold at a loss.
I’m going to agree with the following rumors:
iPhone 4 at 8GB for less than the current models. A surprising amount less
iPhone 3GS base model for free with a contract. And I can see all the advertising, “You can get an Apple iPhone for FREE*” (With that huge asterisk over the word Free because a contract is always necessary”
The iPhone 4S. (S is for Speed) New chip (A5, dual core?), slightly better cameras (maybe), and better antennas. Not a whole lot new. The other concern with the iPhone 5 now is that people have learnt to wait 2-3 months on a NEW model. And that doesn’t appeal to the true Christmas, “BUY NOW NOW NOW!” spirit.
I also do not believe the iPhone4S will come in multi-carrier flavor. Too much of a board and phone redesign. Expect that in the 5.
What else will motivate people to those 3GS, 4, and maybe new 4S?
The death of the iPod Classic. People don’t need 120G of music on their phone immediately. Especially if they can genius from the cloud. (Ignoring the fact that the Cloud is in direct opposition to the Providers throttling over usage) Now I’ve never been a huge iPod nut, so beyond that. Will there be shake up on the rest of the iPod line? Dunno (Actually, don’t really care 😉
iPod Touch… Honestly… I think that will just sort of sit until the next major update.
Other New Stuff:
Sprint – Yes, already. Blazingly obvious
T-Mobile, USA – No (Sound the cloister bells on this company)
There’s been a lot of talk about the Siri Assistant thingie. Voice to text. A continual dream. If Apple releases that with iOS 5.0 this month that will cause a little eden backlash (which Apple really doesn’t put a lot into). The Siri will obviously need an API for devs. But, Apple as the advance on that. So will they release Apps with a competitive edge that devs don’t have access to immediately? Seems suspect; but they’ve done it before. It could also be the reason that there hasn’t been a “use this version for submittal” yet.
Updated: I’m going to take half credit here. Siri is being released with iOS 5 only for the iPhone 4S as a beta. Further it is only listed as available (at the current time) for Native OS apps. So theoretically, iWork apps and the like won’t have Siri on their next release. The problem occurs when Apple sells an app that someone may compete with that has access to proprietary services or APIs that are otherwise unavailable.
Rentals, Movies, Music, Media…
A little of this a little of that.
Something long overdue for the international folks.
The future:
I think the things you want to see: iPhone5 (iOS 5.1 or 5.5; will not support the 3GS), iPad3, Apple TV 3, etc
January. In competition with CES; “Like they do.”
SUMMARY:
The last word: I am wrong more than I am right on these things. Apple has a history for pulling products at not merely the 11th hour but at 12:02 with a five minute delay in the presentation. I know many of my fellow third party developers really wanted to see C.B. at WWDC and still do. Apple is also very good at keeping certain things under DEEP wraps. So I fully will be happy to be entirely wrong on my predictions.
Check back in a day or so when I grade myself.
Today has been a non-stop ride. Both figuratively and literally. This post is going to try in vain to not be entirely stream of consciousness as it was the result of a series of realizations. The realization was the result of what was a split second of panic that lasted about 10 minutes.
Today I am flying from Pittsburgh to San Jose. Tomorrow I visit “[NICKNAME]”, “[NICKNAME]”, “[NICKNAME]”, “[OLD-NICKNAME]. I am traveling to [REDACTED]. Before you wonder if I’ve already said too much…[REDACTED]. However, that’s all I’m saying about that. The trip however, is one of those trips you only get when trying to get the cheapest flight on short notice. This is a THREE leg flight. I started in Pgh, Flew to DC. Had a 3 hour layover. Discovered my flight from DC to Phoenix would be late. And then knew I had a VERY SHORT change between Phoenix and San Jose. As it turned out; the way things were supposed to play out was that I would be landing at A2 in Phoenix. Would have 20 minutes to get to A28, which was one terminal corridor over. It wouldn’t be fun; but I’d make it.
The DC-Phoenix flight was the long leg. 4hrs. At first my single serving friend was a mid to late 20’s woman named Justine. She was interviewing in DC and had flown out yesterday from SF and was flying back today. And I thought my 3 day flight was bad. We commented that she had the window, I had the aisle and maybe we’d luck out. Justine and I chatted a little. i’m an extravert; she was very nice and I hate spending 4 hrs staring at an iDevice. The Chris arrived. Chris was a 25 yr old Korean grad student. T-Shirt, Jeans, Sandals. I commented to Justine that inevitably someone would have to come between us. You can fly 10-15 times. A Single-Serving-Friend like Chris is about 1 in 100. There was endless talking, accidental footsies only one or two awkward moments. (I was 18 when she was born, and my limit is 28) But she was great fun to kill 4 hrs with and I hope to chat again at sometime.
4 hours later… It was obvious my delayed flight was not making up time. I set a timer for 10 minutes before the flight time. That’s when US Airways closes the door unless there’s been an actual delay. We hit the tarmac with 12 minutes on my timer. I checked my flight tracker. We were pulling into gate A29 not A2. Hey that’s the next gate over! Yay. And my flight… has been.. moved… to … B28. Picture 4 equally spaced columns. Each of those is a terminal hallway. Picture a line connecting the base of those columns and each column is one column height apart. I now had to run down the length of column 1, across to column 4 and up its length. I had 7 minutes to do this. I pushed thru first class saying, “Sorry, 6 minute connection far end of the airport.” One guy in 1st class blocked my exit and said, “So, what?” I pushed by him saying, “Really?” and then “You know first class isn’t supposed to turn you into an asshole” and started my run.
I am out of shape. I will be honest about this. I think I could stand to lose 50#. In my graduate school years (circa age 25) I was 141 pounds. (Not healthy).. nearly 20 years later I am 240. That’s about 5 pounds a year of not fit. I often feel like the shame of my company. We work in fitness and I look like I don’t even use the product. (Mind you.. I do. Just not as well as I could)… in the airport…Yes.. there was moving walkways. I had several out of breath conversations with them. The gate staff where I got off my late flight tried to call ahead to the gate staff at my departing flight. I hit B16 (The last column) and heard that my flight had been moved… to B-24. Okay… 1/4 corridor closer. A 43 year old, nigh 250# man, with a backpack and a CPAP running up a hallway. At B18 I heard. Flight 285 for San Jose, Gate B24 – Final Boarding call” My timer clicked off and played the “Amen Break” I asked a worker if he could run and tell them I was coming and he just sort of looked at me and walked on. I hit B20 and stopped. In probably my strongest Radio voice (which was amazing considering the wheezing by this point) I boomed, “Attention: B24, Passenger currently running at B20, HOLD THE DOOR.” The looks from everyone at the B20 Gordon Biersch will be long remembered. 5 minutes after the doors should have been closed. I was on the jetway.
I felt like I was going to die. My legs were on fire. Every breath was pained. I was dizzy and stumbling in the jetway. I think my knees almost buckled once. The Flight attendant looked at me and said, “Are you okay?” I looked at him and honestly said, “No” He made me stay at the front of the plane while he got me water. He said, “We really don’t want you passing out.” I said, “Too much paperwork.” He said, “No, I really would hate to see someone pass out.” They helped me to my seat. I was so shaky that I spilled some of my water on the nice English woman in the seat in front of me and her iPad. She was very gracious. (We’re English. That’s what we do) The other flight attendant brought me a wet paper town and a dry one. I just sat there trying to get my breath.
The occasional uncomfortable cough, the tightness of the lungs. The legs wanting to be removed. I logged in long enough to tell the universe I made the flight and comment that I wanted to die. (Figurative) There was a message from the person I know in Phoenix who I’d put a “If I don’t make my flight can you help” message out to. She wasn’t going to be able to help. Fortunately, I didn’t need to call on her. My mind swam around that. I really thought about this person and our history. How our lives had been, the friendship/relationship we’d had. The way our lives drifted apart. I found myself really missing her as a friend in my life. I hope at some point I can sit down even by phone and just have a good long talk with her. I hope that time and some of the unfortunate things that have happened in our past have not ruined what was a great friendship.
I gasped some more thinking about the things I would change in my history. Not necessarily with this friend but in general. I got myself thinking about the idea of one phone call that could completely change my life. And that was easy. Calling my dad in 1973. He’d left the army, was a prominent doctor at a hospital, clinic, prison, and private practice. If I could call him and tell him everything he would lose within 5 years when he’d have a stroke before the age of 40. Everything he’d worked for would be lost. Entirely. I thought about telling him how I was his 5 yr old son, calling from the future. Telling him how he’d never be able to play the banjo again, or do card and coin magic. How his job and license would be lost. Because he didn’t prepare. He didn’t think ahead.
And the more I thought about change. The more a voice said to me… what would you change? And I saw my family. The people I see everyday now. I thought of my wife who I love more every day. I thought of my girlfriend who I care for more deeply than I’ve been able to show of late. Several long and short term lovers around the country. Being Poly (in my mind) means you don’t just kick feelings away. I realize that I still love the people I’ve loved; Even the unrequited ones who never loved me back. They are my feelings and they don’t lessen just because you don’t reciprocate. I just don’t act on them. It doesn’t make me love the people close to me any less. And there was one person who stood above the rest. The only person of my own gender that I’ve ever truly loved.
My five year old. Aiden. He drives me insane, He makes me laugh, He makes me want to put my head thru a wall. He makes me proud. He makes me feel like I’ve already failed as a father and I’ve screwed him up for life. And I would not change one bad moment in my history at all if it had any chance of undoing the cosmic miracle that my wife and I created by making him.
I was still on the imaginary time-traveling phone with my father when the voice changed. It wasn’t me saying Dad anymore. It was Aiden. “All these things you’re saying to him. It’s me. I’m saying them to you. Don’t make the same mistake. There’s still time.” I was still trying to catch my breath. I’m sitting here contemplating my history, my future, and I’m feeling like I’m looking at my life. “I am not dying.” I don’t want to die. I don’t want to get sick. I want to be healthy. I want to see my great-grandchildren the same way my wife’s grandmother has.
I’ve had this thought many times. I have to get healthy. I got a membership to a gym about 7 months ago. Which I have yet to actually go to. I try exercises in the morning for a day or two about once every year and a half. I need to make it right. I have no clue how. I haven’t had a lot of success trying. But I can’t keep living like this waiting to get to unhealthy that it is too late. I choose to believe that my future-Aiden’s voice in my head is right and it ‘s not too late.
I have been touched by so many lives. I hope to have touched many lives (hopefully it was a good touch)…
I made my flight. I want to make my life again.
The best words in a film from the past 5 years are from “Wall-E”
“I don’t want to survive. I want to live.”
Dedicated to (In order)
KMMAHJDBRHMLLEJCJASBTHBDCJNCCC
My wonderful “K” and my loving partner Heather and the most important thing in the world to me: Aiden.
