Muneeb Ali

"The Internet is the greatest legal creation of wealth in history"

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 14:03:28 -0500

“The Internet is the greatest legal creation of wealth in history”

- John Doerr, Investor in Google, Amazon (~2000, before dot-com crash)

Bell Labs and True Innovation

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 22:00:00 -0500

Bell Labs and True Innovation :

(The Picturephone in 1964 - courtesy AT&T Archives)

NYTimes recently published an opinion piece on “True Innovation” by Jon Gertner who has an upcoming book on Bell Labs. I have mixed feelings about the piece.

I agree that Bell Labs was great and today’s media/entrepreneurs/VCs seem to be obsessed with end-user applications that have nothing to do with “hard sciences” or true innovation (scientific breakthroughs, fundamental advances in technology).

On the other hand, I don’t think it’s possible to create a Bell Labs today. It was funded by a monopoly and the closest thing to it can be a R&D lab of a tech giant with enough money to spare. I think Jon was better off not comparing Bell Labs to the Silicon Valley: a better question could have been that how can national funding agencies, research labs, and universities better enable long-term innovation in “hard sciences” like Bell Labs did. While I completely agree that the term “innovative” has lost its meaning lately with every ~~stupid~~ simple mobile app getting labeled as one, but the fact remains that it’s not the goal of profit-seeking entrepreneurs to enable the kind of innovation that he is talking about.

"I never worry about action, but only inaction."

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 20:39:58 -0400

“I never worry about action, but only inaction.”

- Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister (1874-1965)

The Intuitive Mind

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 13:02:00 -0400

My fascination with the human brain continues. Was watching a TED talk “Iain McGilchrist: The divided brain” yesterday and the above Einstein quote stood out. Finding the right balance between the intuitive and the rational brain might be hard, but definitely worth the effort.

"We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand."

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 07:00:39 -0400

“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.”

- Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture (Sep 2007)

Thank You, Steve Jobs

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 21:21:00 -0400

Today was a different morning. You know one of those days when you actually manage to wake up at 6am, and are the first person to enter the library with a fresh cup of coffee in hand. Had no idea, I’d be writing this post later in the evening. For a few seconds, I was too teary eyed to take a snapshot of Apple’s homepage. Then decided to collect this into a memory.

I remember watching his Stanford Commencement address in 2005. He was telling a story about death, his lessons from coming very close to it, and then said “This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, and I hope it’s the closest I get for a few more decades.” - I remember thinking “God, please. Let him live a few more decades”. A few weeks back when he resigned as CEO, I knew this day was coming. And soon. I thought about the release date of his autobiography and was wondering if he’s holding the book back because he wants it to come out after his death? Crazy thoughts, yes. But it’s OK to worry about someone you admire this much, I guess.

And today it happened. Steve Jobs (1955-2011) is dead at the young age of 56. He packed one hell of a life in these few years. Below are some random Steve Jobs quotes from my notes:

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

- Steve Jobs, 2005

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“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward.”

- Apple Ad (1997)

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“Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?”

- Steve when trying to hire Pepsi executive John Sculley (~1983)

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“We made the buttons on the screen look so good you’ll want to lick them.”

- Steve on Mac OS X (2000)

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“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.”

- Steve Jobs (2005)

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“Beneath it were the words: Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.”

- Steve Jobs (2005)

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Steve is gone, but his mothership is still standing in Cupertino. Thank you, Steve Jobs for living, and for showing others how (not) to live.

"The technical man must not be lost in his own technology. He must be able to appreciate life; and..."

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 17:29:48 -0400

“The technical man must not be lost in his own technology. He must be able to appreciate life; and life is art, drama, music, and most importantly, people.”

- Fazlur Rahman Khan, Architect of Sears Towers (1929-1982)

NYC Goes From Day to Night

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 01:49:00 -0400

NYC Goes From Day to Night:

I love this work by Stephen Wilkes, where you can see the city going from day to night in the same shot. Stephen spent hours taking hundreds of shots to create each one these pieces. The above view of Washington Square is almost what you’d see from the Bobst Library at NYU. You can view more here.

"Leaders are not, as we are often led to think, people who go along with huge crowds following them...."

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 22:22:05 -0400

“Leaders are not, as we are often led to think, people who go along with huge crowds following them. Leaders are people who go their own way without caring, or even looking to see, whether anyone is following them.”

- John Holt, Teach Your Own (2003)

Goodbye twenties @ Vegas

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0400

Goodbye twenties @ Vegas

"A leader is best when people barely know he exists. When his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they..."

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 05:20:00 -0400

“A leader is best when people barely know he exists. When his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.”

- Lao Tzu, Chinese Mystical Philosopher (~600 BC)

Looks magical at 3am (Pisa, Italy)

Sun, 03 Jul 2011 05:15:00 -0400

Looks magical at 3am (Pisa, Italy)

Love this poster in front of the drinking fountain #gotigers...

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 15:05:00 -0400

Love this poster in front of the drinking fountain #gotigers (Taken at Peter B. Lewis Science Library)

iPad just arrived

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 10:56:00 -0400

iPad just arrived

Niece turning three

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 11:20:00 -0500

Niece turning three

Leaving Princeton for the holidays

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 15:37:00 -0500

Leaving Princeton for the holidays

Started using Instagram

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 19:15:00 -0500

Started using Instagram

Omphoy, Palm Beach

Thu, 27 May 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Omphoy, Palm Beach

Marina, San Francisco

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Marina, San Francisco

Shopping @ Diamond District, NYC

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Shopping @ Diamond District, NYC