Code. Design. Explore.

I’m not sure what to expect. Actually, when I really think about it, this is the first time that I will be traveling without any expectations. Before heading to Europe, I had several pictures of what it would be like before I got there. Whether from movies, pictures, or just my imagination, I knew what the streets of Paris would look like. I knew what the canals of Venice looked like. And I surely knew what Greece would look like. Even when I Jungles of Borneo and summiting Mt. Kinabalu last year, I had a good idea of what to expect.

In my opinion it’s a good idea not to know exactly what you are getting into. That’s part of the fun. But I do like to have a little background before getting on the plane.

That said… I’m going to Israel! I will be getting on the plane tonight without expectations. More to come…

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In the last investment post I wrote a checklist to stock investing. I described how I do my homework to see if there are growth prospects for a particular stock in the future. Once the answer to that question is yes, the next thing I look at is the current stock price.

Although a company may have solid performance, there stock may be overvalued and might be expected to fall again. Just as there are methods to evaluate a company, so are there methods to evaluate when to buy. After all, the price you are paying ultimately determines the rate of return that you’ll be earning.

I was deeply touched by the talk from Jehane Noujaim, a filmmaker and winner of the 2006 TED Prize, who created a documentary about Al Jazeera’s coverage of the Iraq war. It is interesting to see, first hand, the perspectives of those on the other side of the fence.

For so long I have watched mainstream media and [unfortunately] it was not until I read 3 Cups of Tea, did I truly see how much knowledge I was missing. To read the account of one man on the ground in northern Pakistan, before the tradegies of 9/11, tell readers what he saw. It was astonishing to see how different the perspectives were. On one hand you have mainstream media using the word WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) more than the word “The”! And from Greg Mortenson’s perspective the issue stems from the lack of education. PBS actually did a special on how mainstream media become the White House’s second voice in a special titled, Buying the War.

So here is Jehane Noujaim’s wish: to bring the world together for one day a year through the power of film. That day was today — May 10, 2008 — Pangea Day. A day where we think of this world as one body of mass, one mind with many cultures, one people living in this world to leave better than we came, one family helping each other and bridging the inequalities of the world.