Company Outing -- Sailing in Santa Cruz Bay (07/01/2010)

暌違四年，我們又出海了，像我們這種普通人要享受有錢人的這種娛樂，也就只有這種機會了，
也表示，四年了，我們還沒發財，還在苦哈哈地工作，望著遙遠的未來....
公司的老闆似乎瞭解我們的心情，公司沒賺大錢，這種小錢至少還花得起,
至少，體恤一下我們的辛勞，讓我們能放風一天。
有了上次的經驗，這次我可是全副裝備，帽子，墨鏡，Power Stretch保暖上衣，短褲，跟涼鞋
自備Mug ，GPS 手錶，當然還有我的20D相機. 穿短褲是為了讓我的小腿曬黑一點，
穿涼鞋則是為了能夠光腳在船上跑來跑去，自備的Mug當然是為了能隨時把杯子放下，
而不用怕飲料灑出來，GPS 則是看看到底船開多快，開了哪些地方...
一切就緒之後，才忘了，我沒吃暈船藥..應該不會有事吧，我想。

早上一來公司，根本無心工作，我很佩服其他的同事還能若無其事地討論事情，寫程式，
我早就上網亂逛，等著集合時間到，準備出發了。

車子在彎彎曲曲得17號公路上開了大概一個小時，終於抵達Santa Cruz. 一個依山傍海的小鎮

雖然離我們住的地方不遠，說真的我們還真的很少來，
這種不近不遠的地方最容易讓我們忽略，上次來好像也是4-5年前的事情了，
下了Highway 到了市區整條街突然變得很小，原本單調的辦公大樓變成了餐廳跟民房，
每戶家門口都種了很多色彩鮮豔的花，來往的行人都穿著T-Shirt 短褲，配著脫鞋或涼鞋，
一副完全的度假勝地的氣氛， 感覺很像是瞬間被人從公司轉移到夏威夷的海邊一樣，
讓人整個心情突然開朗了起來... 
車子穿過一個漂亮海邊的住宅區之後，就來到了一個小港口，排滿了大大小小不同的船，
有帆船，汽艇，遊艇等等，怎麼有這麼多有錢有閒的人阿...
在一旁有一群小朋友等著要上帆船課，有幾個男生已經耐不住熱跳到海裡去游泳了，
還有一些小朋友拿著線在旁邊釣螃蟹....
美國的小孩真的是幸福阿。想當年我們暑假不是在補習，就是在上輔導課,
人還真的是生而不平等 ...是誰說人生而平等的，叫他去撞牆吧。








Chardonnary II 是船的名字，這是一艘70 foot 長的 sailing yacht
剛好我們公司27個人全都上的去，而且都能坐得很舒服，每個人上船之後都找了一個讓自己最舒服的位置，很多人一下子馬上跑到船頭去，佔個好位置，而我也把我的相機準備好，把背包跟鞋子一起放在
船的角落，等著船長開船囉。


上船前拍一張


大家都坐好了嗎？


帥氣的船長開船囉。

一出航，可愛的水手小姐就來幫我們倒酒，紅酒，白酒，還有啤酒任你選，
她非常厲害，可以拿著4瓶酒，光著腳在甲板上走來走去，穿梭在人群跟船上的裝備之間，
今年我們訂了更高級的package,所以不像上次，每個人只有兩片pizza可以吃，
這次還有牛肉捲跟雞肉三明治, 不知道是否是因為我跟CEO抱怨過的關係....





船一開始發動引擎，用自己的動力慢慢地開出海港，等到出了港口，
船長就升起大帆，開始讓風帶著我們出海了，我們的心情就像眼前的海一樣，
隨著船慢慢地駛出狹長的海港，把陸上的一切拋在後頭，在前面就只有藍天跟大海。









 
海的另一頭就是夏威夷囉，哈哈。

這時候，船長放起了墨西哥的海邊音樂，吹著海風，喝著酒，吃著肉捲，所有人的表情都變了,夏天不就是要到海上玩才對嗎？


Kenneth


美麗的Charel 小姐


 Steve





CEO 興致來了，不知道又在講些什麼有的沒的。

 
Contractor ， 名字我不太會打

大家有的聊著小孩，聊著上次假期去玩的地方，連平常很少交談的HR小姐
也跟我聊起來了，我才知道她還沒有男朋友，而且很喜歡跳夏威夷的Hula Dance.
平常大家在公司都繃得太緊，尤其是跟一些不是講中文的同事，幾乎都沒啥交情，
趁著這次在海上，總算有個機會能多瞭解彼此。


岸上的遊樂園

結果，兩個小時之後，風浪越來越大（以我們的程度），整艘船已經開始乘風破浪了，
坐在船前頭的人衣服都濕了，有一兩個人已經不支倒地，不知道是喝醉還是暈船，
有些人也開始覺得不太舒服，我因為在船頭晃得太厲害，跑到後面去，逃過了一劫，
不然我現在可能得換相機了，在跟大家商量之後，船長決定提前返航，
不然剛剛吃的那些東西可能會還給大海了。
這個決定是對的，因為連我的胃也都開始怪怪的，再下去可能會變成嘔吐之旅了....


 學小帆船的小朋友們


還有划獨木舟的


看起來很舒服的樣子

船一開回港口，人馬上變得好多了，精神一來，肚子又餓了，所以我們又趨車
前往附近的餐廳吃東西，度假，就是要吃些垃圾食物，調酒，炸雞，Nacho 都上桌了
提前一個小時回來還賺到一餐，真的是太棒了。


港口旁邊的餐廳


GPS Tracking


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
明年再來一次嗎？如果公司到時候還在的話.....

Company BBQ (05/14/2010)

This weekend will be very busy for me, the first thing comes up is this: Company BBQ !! Yeah!!

followed by my weekend training run and ING Bay to Breaker on Sunday!!
What a nice way to welcome the summer.

It's been a long time since our CEO promised us the company BBQ.  You might think, BBQ, what's the big deal, everyone could do it whenever they want. However, in a start up company, it has another deeper indication. It sort of represents the financial status of the company.
Working in a start up under global economy crisis forced everyone sitting on the edge of their seat. Any tiny little rumor will cause panic and raise a lot of questions in all-hands meeting.
For example, the other day, the upper management asked us to hand over part of our design to China team.
As you could imagine, the "company is going to outsource design team" was spreading out like plague.
Someone even tried to update his resume already..no kidding..
In the end, the manager called everyone in and explained the reason, the company plan, tried to calm everyone down by saying, company has no such plan at all...etc...
Well..okay, we believed you ...for now.. So, everyone is happy again..for now....
Anyway...back to the BBQ...

There is a small BBQ place next to our office building. It is a very lovely area with a small basketball court
, a stone BBQ oven, and some patio chair and umbrella.  Somehow we rarely come down here for lunch, most of the people have their own lunch box in the kitchen or in their own cubic.
It seems a little bit too trouble to come all the way down here, just to have a lunch.

As far as I know, there was a time that our company's future was so blurring that some people would
come down here to play basketball everyday around 5:00pm. Thank God, that moment was passed.




people are chatting


Our IT is the big cook.


Our lovely HR




IT's helper


Andrew, I bet you know where he is from.


This is home-made Indian ice cream. very tasty...



all you can drink basket.








Look at all the beef !! mouth watering...you could take home as well.


















So far, year 2010 to us is mixing with some good and bad news, people come and go, but we are still holding on.

With small revenue keep coming in through the end of the year, we could see a glimmer in our future.

To IPO? , not in the near future, to survive? yes, we will ..

Okay, let's throw these reality behind, enjoy this precious 2 hrs BBQ

I have to get more protein for my busy weekend !!! More meat please !!

報告班長

寫在頭前
還記得很早的時候有一部大爛片叫做報告班長的，
裡頭的天兵到哪裡，做什麼事情都要報告班長，
報告班長，我叫做XXX，
報告班長，我要OOO，我要xxx的
當年的這種無俚頭的搞笑似乎很得觀眾的喜愛，
現在想起來，真的是覺得很無聊。
沒想到，這種無聊的把戲，
竟然會在公元2007年的美國重新上演，
而且就在我們公司。
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
話說最近公司好消息不斷，
大家工作的氣氛明顯的不同，
加上我們新來的CEO，新官上任採用不關門政策(open door policy)
意思就是，有啥問題，隨時可以去他的辦公室，(講是這樣啦，誰敢去阿)
當然，反過來，一旦他有什麼消息，
他也會馬上召集大家讓大家知道，
於是就在去年底的時候，就因為有太多好消息，
因此開了幾次臨時會議，
說要喝香檳，吃蛋糕小小地慶祝一下，
問題是，每次都是臨時發email通知，
結果，有些人沒收到通知，就沒去開會，
有些人則聽完消息之後，不想吃那種超甜的美國蛋糕，
所以就直接回座位工作了，
一共開了兩次香檳，
沒想到，這樣子竟然也能在管理階層年度會議上，
不知道是哪隻豬頭在開會的時候提出意見，
說什麼去年年底好像很多人沒來上班，而且沒請假...
我們這些庶民工程師真的是招誰惹誰了.....

這下好了，消息一出來，CTO馬上召開大頭會議，
大頭們出來之後，馬上又召開小頭會議，
小頭們出來之後，傳下來的指令就是，
每個人要寫出平常一天之內是早上幾點到公司，晚上幾點走，
如果要離開座位超過15分鐘，必須跟直屬老闆報告，
不然就要讓隔壁的人知道。
挖哩咧，這是啥米碗糕的規定？
CTO還特別說，這只是為了應付上頭而已，
這樣說，就更讓人頭痛了，
只是應付的意思是可以不用鳥它，
還是，雖然很鳥，但是還是要鳥他一下的規定？


命令下來，大家開始議論紛紛，
如果按照正常一天8個小時，那麼當然就是10：00am到6：00pm囉
咦？，這不是反而比平常的工作時間還少了快2個小時，
本來還很高興的，結果沒想到另一組的大陸人，
居然全部都寫10:00AM ~ 7:00PM ，一天9個小時，
厚，那我們不來個9:00AM~7:00PM, 還是10:00pm~8:00pm的話，
不就表示我們不認真工作了嗎？
死大陸仔，真的是打壞行情....
最後商量的結果，我們也就是跟著一天寫9個小時，就這樣報了上去.....

結果，我本來每天大概都是9：00AM～9：30AM到公司，晚上大概就是7：00多一點回家,
現在這樣一搞，讓我發現，好像越來越多人都會剛好早上10：00左右才到，
然後晚上7：00一到，就有人開始準備回家了.......

到了第二個禮拜，早上我就算早起，似乎也不急著去公司，
工作到晚上6:30，就已經自動進入準備下班模式，
開始東摸摸，西晃晃，
時間一到就好像有著絕對足夠的理由可以回家，
反正我也是照規定來做而已....


後記
------------------------------------------------------
跟上次台灣的X發公司票選模範生的活動比起來，
我們公司似乎略勝一籌，
這些老中工作上的創意沒有，控制員工的小手段倒是不少，
看來下次如果便秘的話，還得先讓老闆知道才行，
因為上廁所時間過久，可能就不太好，
其實現在也有所謂RFID，乾脆每個人身上放一個，
這樣老闆就能確實掌握每個人的行蹤了，
這樣子這種公司大概沒人敢來吧，
說來諷刺，至於那個X發公司選出來的第一屆，也是最後一屆的模範生，
在這個月跟著他的小老闆，一整個團隊7個人全都離職了，
還真的是做了一個好"模範"阿.....

Comcast Makes the Switch

星期五(1/26/2007)我們公司的CEO 丹尼爾又很興奮地把正要去倒水的我攔下來,
接著要我跟著他，一路上把看到的人都叫了出來，就在公司的走道上開了一個臨時會議，
原來，他是要跟我們報告這個好消息，Cablevision已經正式宣佈要採用我們的晶片，
而Comcast也正式跟我們簽約，進入晶片測試階段...
生性多疑的我（因為就是覺得公司的老闆都只會劃大餅)馬上就來google一下，
沒想到，果然，真的找到了新聞稿，在這裡讓大家分享一下囉。

附註：Cablevision 是全美第五大cable公司，Comcast 是美國第一大的cable公司


Comcast Makes the Switch

Cable TV giant follows Cablevision and a band of startups in freeing up bandwidth for HDTV.
January 26, 2007

By Cassimir Medford

Comcast confirmed Friday that it is testing the real-world reliability of switched digital video, a TV service delivery technique that could delay the need for heavy expenditure on overall network upgrades.

The technology promises to breathe new life into the cable operator’s fiber-optic/copper hybrid networks. Those networks are beginning to wilt under the immense bandwidth demands of HDTV.

Comcast, the largest cable TV operator in the United States, is at least the second major cable carrier to test the technology. Shares of Comcast fell $0.10 to $43.39 in recent trading.

Cablevision, the fifth largest cable operator in the U.S., said this week it has successfully completed the biggest-ever deployment of switched digital video in the country. The rollout occurred in the New York area.

The testing and deployment of switched digital video is extremely good news for a small clique of privately held firms such as BroadLogic, of San Jose, California, and BigBand Networks, of Redwood City, California.

BigBand’s life as a private company is on life support since the six-year-old company filed for an IPO in December.

BigBand, which is in a quiet period, counts nine of the top 10 largest cable operators as its customers. The company provided the key pieces of technology in Cablevision’s deployment of switched video.

Analog to Digital Switch

In November, BroadLogic said it began marketing a video processor technology that promises to triple cable operators’ network capacity. The company’s TeraPIX technology increases the bandwidth to the home by digitizing the video streams (see BroadLogic Boosts Cable).

Analog transmission eats up 500 megahertz of a typical 750 MHz connection, while digital transmission makes much more effective use of bandwidth. By freeing up bandwidth, cable operators can better serve their HDTV customers.

Cablevision announced nine international packages on foreign language channels that will be delivered via its switching technology. The channels will be presented in Spanish, Russian, Italian, Chinese, Korean, Hindi, and other languages.

With BigBand’s switched broadcast system, only digital TV programs currently being requested by customers will be delivered on the network.

In the current state of the art, all programs are sent to all homes on the network simultaneously even if no one is watching a majority of the programs. In the switched system, only programs that are being watched will be sent, freeing up bandwidth.

Comcast is currently testing switching technology in two undisclosed markets. The carrier said it plans to implement the technology later this year, but refused to disclose which vendor’s technology is being used.

BroadLogic Boosts Cable

去年11月，公司正式在各大媒體發表我們的產品，開始增加我們的曝光率，
當然，我們也開始興奮起來，畢竟，這事關公司生死，未來會如何就看這一次了，
這裡我大概解釋一下我們到底做的是啥碗糕好了，
基本上我們的產品是把數位的電視訊號轉成類比訊號，
或許你會說，這個不是到處都有了嗎？
沒錯，但是，要把80個頻道的數位電視節目，同時轉成類比訊號，
這就是需要一點技巧了。

在美國，電視節目主要是來自有線電視跟衛星電視,
最近竟然連電話公司也想加入這個戰場，
而且他們是直接把光纖鋪到你家門口，
於是這個舉動震撼了長久以來獨大的有線電視公司，
目前美國的電視族群大概是 21％是有線數位電視，
20％看衛星數位電視，45％看傳統有線電視
各大家爭食的大餅當然就是那些45％看傳統電視的族群，
電話公司跟衛星電視公司都想引誘
這些人來看數位電視節目，你沒有數位電視，
他就然後免費送機上盒(STB)，
而有線電視公司為了因應數位化的需求，
(因為全面數位化不但是趨勢，更能節省成本)，
但是又為了保住他原本45％的顧客群，
也不得不在全面更新他的系統之前，尋找適合的方案，
而目前似乎也只有贈送機上盒給簽約的顧客，才能解決。
問題是FCC今年宣布，機上盒裡頭的 cablecard 必須用third party，
讓原本STB的成本反而增加....
這些機上盒的維修，回收等等又是另一個頭痛的問題。
目前看來，我們的產品似乎解決了他們的問題，
對於電話公司來說，這是一個進攻傳統有線電視族群的利器，
對於有線電視公司，卻又是讓他們保住原本客戶，
然後安心地全面系統數位化的解決方案，
讓他們可以安心地全面把系統數位化，
於是在這個全面電視數位化的轉型期，我們找到了一個生存的空間....



BroadLogic Boosts Cable

Startup wants to triple cable TV bandwidth by reclaiming analog capacity with digital efficiencies.
November 6, 2006

On the eve of the United States mid-term elections, BroadLogic, a startup focused on the cable industry, rolled out on Monday its “November Surprise,” a video processor technology that promises to triple cable operators’ network capacity at a time when bandwidth is in massive demand.

It is BroadLogic’s second November Surprise in two years. In November 2004, the company announced that it had received a $20-million third round of investment led by the U.S.’s second largest cable operator, Time Warner, and another New York City investor, Rho Ventures (see Time Warner's Expensive Upgrade).

San Jose, California-based BroadLogic announced the availability of TeraPIX, a processor that will be the key component in a gateway device that could be installed at each subscriber’s residence.

Analog to Digital

Because of the popularity of cable-ready devices, many subscribers today receive roughly about 80 channels without the benefit of set-top boxes. But analog delivery of 80 channels eats up a significant amount of bandwidth: 500 megahertz of a typical 750MHz network.

By switching to digital delivery, cable operators can get back a lot of that bandwidth because of the efficiencies inherent in digital delivery. But that would require the distribution and installation of a set-top box and a remote control for each TV in each home—an expensive proposition.

The BroadLogic gateway allows the cable companies to apply the efficiencies of digital delivery without installing set-top boxes at each TV set. However it does involve the installation of a gateway either inside or outside the customer’s premise, an expensive but longer-term solution.

If the TeraPIX technology works in the field and can be installed at a reasonable cost, it will allow cable operators to gain significant bandwidth without having to invest billions of dollars on an overall network upgrade.

Winning Ticket

For eight-year-old BroadLogic, this could be a winning ticket in a very expensive lottery that started more than two years ago when the cable operators invaded the turf of the phone companies by offering voice service.

The two largest phone companies responded by investing billions in fiber-optic upgrades of their networks, to offer pay TV service.

The demands of high-definition TV and on-demand TV, both of which consume additional bandwidth, have placed additional stress on the cable TV networks.

Cable operators have been casting about for novel ways to make the delivery of these new services less bandwidth-consuming. BroadLogic’s new processors offer an option—an option that has been pending for some time.

In August 2002, BroadLogic received a $12-million cash infusion from a team of investors led by Cisco Systems, Intel Capital, August Capital, CDIB Venture, and Walden International.

In November 2004 the company got a $20-million investment from Time Warner and Rho Ventures.