A Week In San Diego: Apps, Yoga, and Food

Posted on 1/26/2012 by Elliot Lee


My lunch at Rubio’s in San Diego

Earlier this month, I went to San Diego for a week. The main purpose of my trip was to attend The App Code seminar. I met some awesome people there, especially Mike and Quoc. I’m also really glad I met Vince. Though he’s not making apps yet, he’s a pretty rad guy.

I also joined a mastermind group, and we have a new forum going. It’s pretty active because we created one simple rule: all members must post at least once per day. If you’re an appreneur and are interested in joining our exclusive online forum, let me know. It’s pretty exclusive, but if you read my blog, you might be a good candidate for admission. It is free. I don’t really like all the mastermind groups that require members to pay. We’re peers here.

I took a yoga class and met a guy there who told me about his idea for a yoga iPhone app. I still haven’t looked into the other yoga iPhone apps, but I should. He also went to USC– but he graduated a LONG time ago. Perhaps I will encourage him to outsource the app. I’m so busy as it is.

I stayed at Quoc’s place for most of the week. One evening, I brought some sides from Smashburger for him and his girlfriend, Thu. They are awesome– both Quoc and Thu, and the sides. I was glad to do something nice for them. I feel that I should have done more, but they didn’t need much. If there’s ever anything I can do to help them, I’d be happy to do it.

I once had a pretty good sandwich at a place called The Sandwich Club. I mostly used Yelp to find restaurants. At The Sandwich Club, I had a grilled eggplant sandwich, which included avocado. It was quite good, but at $7.50+tax, a little pricey. Everything in San Diego is a bit more expensive than average, though.

I drove along the beach and napped in my car. I have almost figured out how to remove the seats, but it involves removing a few more bolts. I’ll bring tape into my car so I can keep the bolts together with the holes that they came out of.

I went to Walmart and returned the jumbo sunshade. When I came back to LA, I went to a Toyota dealer and got a custom-fit one. It fits a lot better in my new Prius v. The Walmart one hardly fit at all, with the edges sticking out and preventing the sunshade from going flat against the windshield. I also bought a pair of sandals and a shaver.

Quoc used to build his own computers, somewhat like I did. However, he got into it even deeper: overclocking, custom case mods, bright lights, and so forth. He’s a gamer. Interestingly, games are also the way that I got into programming. They’ve gone on medical missions in Viet Nam.

I told them about my belief in Jesus. They seemed only mildly interested, but I wanted to make it clear that if they have any interest, or any questions, I’m always happy to talk about Jesus. Vince has a pretty good attitude about it. He suggested that I make a Jesus-related iPhone app. Later that week, I talked with someone who wants me to make a Bible-related app. So perhaps I’ll do it.

When writing posts about my personal life– like this one– I’m constantly debating whether I’m divulging too much personal info. I think what I’ve said here is pretty safe. I’ve kept secret anything covered by an NDA :)

Well, that’s a good rundown of some random highlights during my trip. I may write more about it later.

Posted in Networking, Travel | Leave a comment

How the US pushes Iran to develop a nuclear weapon

Posted on 1/20/2012 by Elliot Lee

In all likelihood, Iran currently does not have a nuclear weapon. The CIA and the UN agree: they do not have a nuclear weapon, and there is no conclusive evidence that they are developing one.

But if they do feel a need to develop a nuclear weapon, it makes perfect sense. It’s a rational response: they feel a need to defend themselves. The US has been provoking Iran for a long time, and recent threats of sanctions only make the situation worse.

It’s warmongering, plain and simple. It’s much like the big fuss everyone made over the WMDs in Iraq. The WMDs did not exist. There was never much evidence that they did. Furthermore, Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.

We were already bombing Iraq long before 2003. Watch Ron Paul talking about the impeachment of President Clinton.

And a significant portion of the Middle East’s resentment towards America is due to the huge number of innocent people that were killed under the Clinton Administration (and earlier).

Here Ron Paul explains his opposition to the war in 1999:

Again, it’s a fact that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. President Bush even admitted that, though he continued to subliminally draw a connection between the two.

10+ years of undeclared war is not making the US military stronger. On the contrary, it’s causing major problems.

1980-2011 — The U.S. supported Egyptian President Mubarak, a dictator
1982 — The U.S. gets involved with a civil war in Lebanon
1990 — The U.S. stationed troops in Saudi Arabia
1993 — The U.S. stationed troops in Somalia
The 1990s — U.S. sponsored sanctions on Iraq are said to cause the starvation of Iraqi children
2003 — The U.S. war on Iraq based on no evidence (there was no evidence; it was only speculation of WMDs and group think)

The war started in 2003, and now, nearly a decade later, we’re finally bringing the troops home. But even with the war supposedly ended, the US is still leaving thousands of security contractors in the country. [1]

If the US attacks Iran, it would actually strengthen the anti-American sentiment in Iran, unify the terrorists, and enable them to recruit new people into their ranks. [2]

The saddest thing is that it’s not just President Obama who wants to attack Iran. It’s the American public.

It’s your mindset that needs to change.

And you need to vote for the people who are actually going to change US foreign policy.

Why aren’t you listening more closely to this man? Incredible.

Unfortunately, the US will eventually be forced to end these wars, because it will encounter an economic collapse when the dollar fails. In some ways, it’s not terribly unlike the one the Soviet Union experienced  after they were dragged into a war in Afghanistan.

Unlike the Soviets, the Americans will be able to hold out for a lot longer due to a tradition of capitalism, free markets, and an entrepreneurial spirit. In one sense, these assets are liabilities, because they have enabled the US government to wage unjust wars for far too long.

Interestingly, this pattern of causing unintended consequences is not new. It’s quite a common theme to see the very tactics used to gain and maintain power end up causing a country’s downfall. I don’t know whether there’s a technical or historical name for this pattern, but there should be. It’s quite pervasive.

In other words, what government does in order to hold on to power works short-term; but it comes back to bite them in the long term, and rightfully so.

This theme, while often seen in history, is also explored in fiction. Take The Hunger Games. The Hunger Games themselves are used by the Capitol to control the people of the districts. But it is these very games that cause the people to rebel and fight back.

At the end, President Coin tries to have one last Hunger Games. That proved to be her downfall. And blowing up the children to end the war and cause people to turn against the Capitol? It makes perfect sense that she would try to frame the Capitol that way.

[1] QUOTE: Upwards of 17,000 military personnel and private security contractors will remain in Iraq to guard diplomatic personnel, continue training Iraqi forces, maintain “situational awareness” and other functions.  This is still a significant American footprint in the country.  And considering that a private security contractor costs the US taxpayer about three times as much as a soldier, we’re not going to see any real cost savings.  Sadly, these contractors are covered under diplomatic immunity, meaning the Iraqi people will not get the accountability that they were hoping for. Source

[2] QUOTE: Kroenig refers to a government inviting “disaster,” but in the eyes of most Iranians (and most nations around the world) a U.S.-led attack on Iranian nuclear facilities would appear to be an unprovoked act of aggression. Even if Iran’s government could have avoided the attack by yielding to U.S. terms, political dissidents would not be able to make that argument in the months and years following such an attack for fear of being labeled disloyal. Indeed, the more damaging the resulting conflict was, the more difficult criticizing the government would become. In order for the opposition to gain a hearing with most of the public, they might criticize the government for its failure to defend the country adequately, but they would gain nothing by advocating a more accommodating policy. As a rule, political openness does not fare very well during national emergencies and wartime, and this is obviously even more true of authoritarian political systems where there is not much interest in political openness in the first place. Source

Foreign Policy Reading List

Posted in Midnight Messages, Politics | Leave a comment

I support liberty, not Ron Paul

Posted on 1/10/2012 by Elliot Lee

If you’ve seen some of my Facebook status updates, you might know that there are a lot of good reasons to vote for Ron Paul.


Image via Invest It Wisely

You might also think that I’m a strong supporter of Dr. Paul.

While that is true, my true goal is actually not to promote Dr. Paul, but to promote liberty.

I care about the issues: foreign policy, monetary policy, freedom, due process, debt, the proper role of government… and, whether you’ve noticed or not, the issues are always the focus of my status updates and tweets. I virtually never attack or analyze a candidate’s looks, personality, or reputation. Instead, I incessantly research and distribute information about their positions on these issues and, even more importantly, why they hold those positions. I debate the issues and policies, trying to determine which are best for this country and this world as a whole.

So the reality is that I support liberty, not specific candidates. That said, there’s no overstating the importance of Ron Paul in educating citizens about the freedom movement. Indeed, Ron Paul is the candidate who woke me up to the idea of liberty– prior to discovering him in 2007, I was a big-government interventionist without even realizing it. I supported George Bush in 2000 and 2004, and I thought the War in Iraq was a good idea.

How naive I was! I bought into the war propaganda of the mainstream media and the “popular” candidates.

Liberty is a grand experiment that, historically, has only been tried in very few places. We had more liberty here, in the United States, than any other country in the world. You could argue that we still do. What Ron and I are trying to do is educate people about what liberty is, and what it means to preserve it. And point out to them that we are starting to go backwards: In the past decade or two, we have lost a lot of the liberties that we used to have in this country.

Sometimes I wonder which places in the world have come close to matching the degree of liberty that we have here in the US. Well, two examples that Ron Paul has given in the past are Hong Kong and Switzerland. Indeed, while certainly not perfect, these two places, in addition to the USA of the early-to-mid-20th century, have done a pretty good job. What we need to do now is make sure that we stay on top by continuing to promote liberty in this country.

I used to worry that, at age 76, Ron Paul won’t be around for much longer. The world’s oldest man living today is 114 years old. Though Dr. Paul is extraordinarily healthy, it’s not very likely that he will match that record.

However, because the ideas of liberty are so clear, concise, and revolutionary, I no longer worry about that. If he dies, we’ll certainly be sad, and we’ll feel the impact; but it will not be disastrous. The liberty movement is about the ideas that Ron has championed for a long time. They are not completely new ideas; Ron didn’t invent them. Most of them were first articulated by the Founding Fathers of this country!

What is liberty?

Quite simply, it is freedom from oppressive restrictions and control. Protecting liberty should be the government’s #1 priority.

What are some specific ways in which we’ve lost liberty?

Unfortunately, there is no shortage of these. Just take a look at Guantanamo. Read these true stories:

Romney is a big supporter of Guantanamo. Paul wants to shut it down.

Another issue that’s going to have a huge impact on our future is SOPA/PIPA, which seeks to regulate and censor the Internet.

On the civil liberties front, take a look at the PATRIOT Act, and the recently-enacted NDAA.

So, the test for determining a true liberty-minded candidate is pretty simple.

  1. Does the candidate oppose secret prisons?
  2. Does the candidate oppose censoring the Internet?
  3. Does the candidate oppose spying on American citizens?
  4. Does the candidate oppose the indefinite detention of American citizens without trial?

Based on these specific points, no other presidential candidate, Republican or Democrat, comes close.

If one of them changed their positions so as to comply with the above test, I would seriously consider supporting him or her.

Sadly, it does not look like that’s going to happen.

If you don’t yet support Ron Paul, please take the time to educate yourself. I have every confidence that you’ll come to discover the truth, as I did.

Ron Paul has many supporters not because of his charisma, speaking ability, or “presidential” look. Rather, he has many supporters because of his ideas, policies, and deep understanding of what makes this country great.

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Questions asked by US immigration at airport

Posted on 12/22/2011 by Elliot Lee

Three days ago, I landed at LAX– Los Angeles International Airport. It’s nice to be back. Sometimes I call it home. Sometimes Vietnam is still home. I suppose my home changes depending on the context. But, for now, it’s always “Earth”.

I noticed a few interesting new things since the last time I was here. On one wall, there’s text that reads “welcome to the united states” above a photo of Barack Obama. While in line at immigration, we get to watch a video on a large screen TV, in which individuals and groups of people mouth “welcome”, one after another. There are speakers on the TVs, but they weren’t turned on, so it was a silent video.


Photo by friedmanarchives.com

At the front of the line, there’s a lady announcing the number of the desk that the next person should go to. When she stated my number– 27, I think– I hesitated, not knowing which direction I should go: is that desk to my right, or to my left? I remembered the situation I was in when leaving China: they have a man directing people to different security screening booths, and he stated the number in Chinese. When I asked to confirm the number, he restated it in English. But this time, of course, the officer at LAX only states the number in English.

I know some travelers who are annoyed or confused that people in a foreign country speak a foreign language. It wouldn’t make sense any other way. If things were the same, and people spoke English, then why bother traveling? I thrive on “annoyances”.

When I reached the immigration officer and handed him my documents, I was glad to see that he was a genial-looking gentleman. He fit the stereotype of a good police officer, middle-age, mature, gray hair, a sense of humor.

As a US Citizen, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would I be asked anything? How long would it take?

He began a series of questions (O = Officer, M = Me):

O: China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Germany, France, UK, Netherlands. So you visited all of those countries? What did you do there?

M: Just traveling, mostly.

O: What did you go there for?

M: I also attended a conference.

O: What do you do for work?

M: I’m making mobile apps.

O: Do you work for yourself?

M: I work for my own company.

O: Okay, so you can afford to go to  all those places.

M: Yup.

O: Bringing anything back with you?

M: I bought this jacket. [I tug on the jacket as a gesture to show him it's the one I'm wearing.]

O: [Laughs.] Alright. Welcome home.

M: Thanks.

The entire exchange took only a minute, but it covered a decent amount of ground.

This seemed appropriate to me. It was a reasonable and understandable amount of questioning.

Does my recent experience jibe with yours? When was the last time you landed at an American airport after an international trip?

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Persistence and ingenuity

Posted on 12/5/2011 by Elliot Lee

When I went to the Apple Store in Shanghai, I had one objective in mind: swap out a broken power adapter for a new one. And I wanted Apple to do it for free.

Was that too much to ask?

Once inside the store, my friend and I went up to an Apple guy and inquired about our situation.

The Apple Store employee nicely informed us that we would probably need to get a new power adapter. Basically, he turned us down.

So he showed my friend the power adapters, sold new, at high prices. And at the Apple Store in Shanghai, they seemed to be particularly expensive. About $100 USD expensive.

I went up to the Genius Bar and asked again. Another Apple Store employee refused my request, saying that the adapter was out of warranty– which it probably is. I sat there for a while, taking advantage of the free Wi-Fi in the Apple Store to check my email and wander around on the web, ostensibly getting some work done.

Eventually, I worked up the courage to ask yet another lady behind the counter about my problem. “I have this charger,” I said, holding it up so she could see what I was talking about. “It doesn’t work, so I would like to have it repaired or replaced.”

“That’s a 60W adapter, and doesn’t go with that MacBook Air you’re using.”

“I know. I believe it’s from a 13-inch MacBook.”

She needed the computer’s serial number to check the warranty status. Understandable, of course.

“Do you have an appointment?”

“Nope.”

She signed me up for an appointment, and I waited for about 20 minutes.

Finally, my appointment came up, and I approached the Genius Bar to talk with “Amy”. She initially pointed out that the adapter was out-of-warranty, and that I had 2 options: get a refurbished one at the Genius Bar, or buy a new one. She claimed that the new one was only “slightly” more expensive, and would come with a 1-year warranty, instead of the 3-month warranty provided with the refurb. For a while, I went along with this train of thought.

Then, eager to push my case forward, I pointed out a web page on Apple’s website, showing the adapter strain relief problem, and the fact that they are replacing these types of adapters, even when they are out of warranty. (In fact, there was a class action lawsuit that resulted in Apple replacing all of these adapters.)

The web page says U.S.-only, and she probably saw that– but she was willing to try anyway. It required entering some kind of code from Apple’s site to check whether the store had the item in stock. They did.

From there, it was a straightforward process of getting out the replacement and swapping it for the broken one. The replacement didn’t come with the plug tip, which she moved from the old one to the new one. We tested the new adapter with my MBA, and it worked great.

Persistence pays off. A lesser man would have given up too early, never knowing just how close he was.

Many Apple employees told me multiple times that I would have to pay for the adapter.

In the end, I got it for free.

Was it worth my time? Maybe not. But it was worth it just for the social engineering experience. When I persist and put my mind to it, nothing is impossible.

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libz.1.2.3.dylib and iOS 5 SDK

Posted on 10/26/2011 by Elliot Lee

“libz.1.2.3.dylib” is not included, which is used by ASIHTTPRequest.

Adding libz.1.2.5.dylib corrected this for me.

I haven’t tested whether this change causes the app to break on devices running versions of iOS earlier than 5.0.

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iOS 5 Software Update

Posted on 10/24/2011 by Elliot Lee

This update contains over 200 new features, including the following:

 

  • Notifications
    • Swipe from the top of any screen to view notifications in one place with Notification Center
    • New notifications appear briefly at the top of the screen
    • View notifications from lock screen
    • Slide the notification app icon to the right on the lock screen to go directly to the app
  • iMessage
    • Send and receive unlimited text, photo, and video messages with other iOS 5 users
    • Track messages with delivery and read receipts
    • Group messaging and secure encryption
    • Works over cellular network and Wi-Fi*
  • Newsstand
    • Automatically organizes magazine and newspaper subscriptions on Home Screen
    • Displays the cover of the latest issue
    • Background downloads of new issues
  • Reminders for managing to do lists
    • Syncs with iCloud, iCal and Outlook
    • Location-based reminders when you leave or arrive at a location for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4
  • Built-in support for Twitter
    • Sign-in once in Settings and tweet directly from Camera, Photos, Maps, Safari and YouTube
    • Add location to any tweet
    • View twitter profile pictures and usernames in Contacts
  • Camera improvements for devices with cameras
    • Double click the home button when device is asleep to bring up a camera shortcut on iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod touch (4th generation)
    • Volume Up button to take a picture
    • Optional grid lines to line up shots
    • Pinch to zoom in the preview screen
    • Swipe to camera roll from preview screen
    • Tap and hold to lock focus and exposure, iPad 2 and iPod touch (4th generation) only support exposure lock
  • Photo improvements for devices with cameras
    • Crop and rotate
    • Red eye removal
    • One tap enhance
    • Organize photos into albums
  • Mail improvements
    • Format text using bold, italic, or underlined fonts
    • Indentation control
    • Drag to rearrange names in address fields
    • Flag messages
    • Mass mark messages as flagged, read or unread
    • Customize mail alert sounds
    • S/MIME
  • Calendar improvements
    • Year view on iPad and new Week view for iPhone and iPod touch
    • Tap to create an event
    • View and add event attachments
  • Game Center improvements
    • Use personal photos for your Game Center account
    • Compare your overall achievement scores with your friends
    • Find new Game Center friends with friend recommendations and friends of friends
    • Discover new games with custom game recommendations
  • AirPlay Mirroring for iPad 2 and iPhone 4S
  • Multitasking Gestures for iPad
    • Use four or five fingers to pinch to the Home Screen
    • Swipe up to reveal the multitasking bar
    • Swipe left or right to switch between apps
  • On-device setup, activation and configuration with Setup Assistant
  • Software updates available over the air without tethering
  • iCloud support
    • iTunes in the Cloud
    • Photo Stream
    • Documents in the Cloud
    • Apps and Books automatic download and purchase history
    • Backup
    • Contacts, Calendar, and Mail
    • Find My iPhone
  • Redesigned Music app for iPad
  • Hourly weather forecast
  • Real-time stock quotes
  • Wireless sync to iTunes
  • Keyboard improvements
    • Split keyboard for iPad
    • Improved autocorrection accuracy
    • Improved Chinese and Japanese input
    • New Emoji keyboard
    • Personal dictionary for autocorrection
    • Optionally create keyboard short cuts for frequently used words
  • Accessibility improvements
    • Option to light LED flash on incoming calls and alerts for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4
    • Custom vibration patterns for incoming calls on iPhone
    • New interface for using iOS with mobility-impairment input devices
    • Option to speak a selection of text
    • Custom element labeling for VoiceOver
  • Exchange ActiveSync improvements
    • Wirelessly sync tasks
    • Mark messages as flagged, read or unread
    • Improved offline support
    • Save a new contact from a GAL service
  • More than 1,500 new developer APIs
  • Bug fixes

 

Products compatible with this software update:

  • iPhone 4S
  • iPhone 4
  • iPhone 3GS
  • iPad 2
  • iPad
  • iPod touch (4th generation)
  • iPod touch (3rd generation)

 

* Normal carrier data rates may apply. Messages will be sent as SMS when iMessage is unavailable, carrier messaging fees apply.

 

For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

Posted in Travel | 1 Comment

Current Prices at FamilyMart Vietnam

Posted on 10/21/2011 by Elliot Lee

www.vinafamilymart.com/vn

38/1Bis Trần Khắc Chân, Quận 1, TP HCM

Snack RBG Cau: 8,500

Tảo biển: 5,000

Pin tiểu Super: 7,000

Ca tam bot 180g: 11,000

Sữa Tươi TT Có: 11,000

SC lợi khuẩn: 6,000

Trà Thảo Mộc: 8,500

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The Day I Talked With Steve Jobs

Posted on 10/19/2011 by Elliot Lee

As far as I can remember, I began following Steve Jobs around 2005, when he announced that Apple would be switching to x86 hardware. He really impressed me in 2006, when he announced the MacBook Pro and iWeb.

My infatuation with the iPhone

In 2007, I was a summer intern at Google Santa Monica when the iPhone was released. At 6pm, I finished my work. I wondered whether the iPhone was going to sell out. I asked a colleague, who had just come back to the office with his amazing new iPhone, whether they still had any left. “Yes, I think so,” he replied.

The new phone had just become available at 5pm, but with all the hype surrounding it, I felt it might disappear quickly. The amazing device was too much for me to resist: it was truly an astoundingly capable computer that fit easily in a pocket. It was everything that I had hoped for when I got a Cybiko handheld computer about six years prior. A snappy processor, a revolutionary mobile OS based on Mac OS X, a touchscreen that actually worked well, a real web browser (Safari), not WAP or any other “baby” internet. It was simply mind-blowingly awesome to me.

So at 6pm, a full hour after the iPhone had officially launched, I literally ran down to the local Apple Store, just a few blocks away from Google’s Santa Monica office.

There was a massive line, but I was assured there would probably be enough phones to go around. I had to wait in line for about an hour; at about 7pm, I had bought my shiny new iPhone, and started heading back to the office. I couldn’t resist using it right away, and it needed to be activated by connecting it to a computer, using iTunes.

I generally have a bad memory, and my recollections of my past are often hazy. But this was a moment that I’ll never forget. It’s as vivid as if it happened yesterday. I plugged in the iPhone, amazed by its beautiful appearance and enormous touchscreen display. This was the first device in the world — phone or not — that had a decent touchscreen. I was enthralled. I remember going through the process, and seeing the activation message in iTunes. I was already using AT&T (previously, I had been a very happy Cingular customer), and the process of switching my number to the iPhone was a breeze.

I read that some other people had some issues, but it went quite smoothly for me.

When I used the iPhone for the first time, I immediately knew this was going to change the world. It was by far the best portable computer I’d ever touched. It was exactly what I’d been imagining for at least six or seven years, especially after the Cybiko sparked my imagination and gave me a glimpse at the future.

Of course, I’d also been following the iPhone closely, ever since Steve Jobs announced it earlier that year, in January 2007.

Again and again, I spot technology trends before they become big. I was reminded of this today, when I remembered how impressed I was by the quality of Burbn, the first (failed) product that was made by the team that later created Instagram. If I had the opportunity, I would definitely have invested in them back then. I saw that they really knew what they were doing, especially when it comes to practical design and development.

But I digress.

All that to say, Steve Jobs was an impressive presenter who was able to get things done. It was not really that innovative to make a touchscreen phone. There were probably touchscreen phones before the iPhone. But the key is that the iPhone’s touchscreen was simply the best. It had the best accuracy, precision, response time, feel, and integration with the software.

It’s not so important to be first. And it’s not so important to have an innovative idea. The important thing is execution: how good is your final product?

Of course, you also can’t be too late, or a mere rehash of what’s already been done. Even a great final product won’t save you from taking too long to get to market. You do you need move fast, and Steve somehow managed that, too.

The day I talked with Steve Jobs

On April 3, 2010, I went to the Apple Store in Palo Alto and lined up to buy an iPad. I had submitted my iPad app, Whiteboard HD: Collaborative Drawing, some time ago, and it had been approved. My app was a launch title for the iPad, even though I’d never touched a real iPad myself. Developers, myself included, were given access to iPad-specific APIs, and the iPad Simulator, but no real devices. So I was eager to see my own work running on a real device.

As soon as I got the iPad, I opened the box, plugged the iPad into my 15″ MacBook Pro, and activated it. I immediately went to developer.apple.com/iphone (yes, iOS was still called iPhone OS back then — it wasn’t renamed until later that year), and added it to my Device List. I generated a new Provisioning Profile to include the iPad, so that I could deploy apps to it.

It was about this time that I noticed Steve Jobs talking on his iPhone, walking around near the back of the store, to the left of the Genius Bar. He was all by himself, with nobody around him. Nobody was even near him. Nobody seemed to notice his presence!

Of course, I recognized him instantly, having watched several of his presentations.. albeit always on video, not live. Even though I knew it was definitely him, part of me wanted to doubt. Could it possibly be a Steve Jobs lookalike? Would I be an idiot for assuming this was the Steve Jobs? He does look much skinnier than usual..

Well, to be fair, he WAS in the middle of a phone call, so perhaps that deterred others from disturbing him. It seems that Steve really loved making phone calls. I suppose it was one of his favorite communication methods.

“Why not show him my iPad app?“, I thought. I hit the button to compile and deploy Whiteboard to my new iPad. A few nervous minutes later, and I had my Whiteboard app running on my new iPad.

My, it was a beauty. I was very excited.

The moment Steve brought his iPhone away from his ear, I confidently walked right up to him with my new iPad, leaving my MacBook Pro unattended on the table, not thinking of anything else except this unique chance to pester Steve Jobs.

“Hey, Steve?” I started off timidly.

I don’t remember exactly what he said. I was petrified, but energized. He looked at me, probably greeted me, but not paying me much attention.

“I’m Elliot. I just want to show you this is my iPad app that I made.”

Steve looked at my iPad. “Cool.” He might have said something more, but I don’t remember exactly.

“See, it’s a drawing app. I can choose a brush color like this. And then draw like this.” I made a scribble that looked like nothing in particular. “I love the iPad, it’s really nice,” I continued.

“That’s great. I need to go. My daughter’s here now.”

I believe that’s what he said to me. Understandably, he wasn’t interested in me.

I could have asked to take a photo with him, or have him autograph something. But at the time, the idea didn’t cross my mind. I was just glad to have a moment face-to-face with Steve.

I didn’t want to annoy him, so when he started to turn and leave, I simply said something like “Okay, bye Steve.”

He walked toward the front of the store, and tended to his daughter.

I believe I saw her too, but I don’t quite remember. I didn’t recognize what she looks like. Frankly, I was a little surprised. I didn’t know anything about his daughter, and didn’t expect her to be there. But she was.

And that was my brief “talk” with Steve Jobs.

Later sightings

The first time I saw Steve Jobs, I just described above.

At WWDC 2010, I could have seen him in person (on stage), but I lined up too late. So I had to watch him give the keynote on a big screen in an overflow room. If you count that — which you might, because it was live — then perhaps I “saw” him three times.

At WWDC 2011, I saw him on stage, in person. That was the time my friend Thuy ran up to the crowd afterward, just to take a quick photo of him :)

So, I actually saw Steve Jobs in person, with my own eyes, just twice.

Of course, despite having only “really” seen him twice, I feel that I knew him pretty well, much like the millions of people who have written about him, many of whom didn’t even meet him once. I watched his presentations with utmost attention. I was impressed by the way he framed his products for average consumers, maintaining tight secrecy, and rarely revealing anything technical (like clock speed or RAM) that normal people should not care about anyway.

Though I’m truly saddened by the loss of Steve Jobs, I’m also glad for what I learned from him. And I fondly remember the time I talked with him, in Palo Alto on iPad launch day.

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