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 mnm United States. August 27 2009 12:52. Posts 4420 | Profile Blog |
We finally launched the MTV Europe Music Awards Website today! Check it out at http://www.mtvema.com. This sucker launches with 25 regions. I've been working my butt off everyday, getting to work early and staying late (sometimes until 11pm!) ever since I've been on this project late July. I've been serving double duty as part of both the production team and tech team.
I finally got a taste of some freedom outside of work when we launched virtually bug free! It was a great accomplishment for MTV International. I was so happy that I could leave before 8pm today. I know it won't last long though since tomorrow, we will immediately start working on Phase 3 launch.
The EMAs is the biggest project my team produces every year and work continues until the show goes live November 5, 2009. The cool part of the job is that we do get to go to the event location to do live updates on the website. My team should be going to Berlin, Germany the week of the event. It's always fun to throw myself into completely unfamiliar territory once in a while and soaking in the experience. The unfortunate part is that I will be busy for a while.
On July 15 2009 12:35 Manifesto7 wrote:Wow awesome! Happy Birthday  Update us on your amazing adventures some time soon please
Not exactly amazing adventures but here's a recap of how the year 2009 has been for me so far...
I ended 2008 with a trip to London for work (EMA 2008) and a trip to Germany for World Cyber Games 2008. After four years of serving the StarCraft community, I decided to take a break from it all and just be a regular gamer.
I thought I was done by 2007 but during my family vacation in Denmark, MYM ended up snatching me up and sending me to BlizzCon. How could I say no? And after I realized I was going to be in Europe already when WCG was going to be there, I decided to hop on over and go for the sake of going, this time representing nobody else but myself. I realized it might be my last hurrah so instead of just documenting the event from an outside perspective, I wanted to be part of the event, taking pictures among people and talking to people more so I could at least say that I was there and I met some good people.
Taking a break from the community meant being able to take a step back and looking at the bigger picture, having more time to focus on other goals and progressing in other aspects of life. According to Stephen R. Covey's "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," it's called "taking time to sharpen the saw". That is exactly what I did:
- Physical - Exercise, Nutrition, Stress Management
- I went snowboarding in Colorado.
- I was part of a group dance/skit performance that took four months to prepare for.
- I took Breakdancing Classes from Ms. Vee and Lyrical Classes from Derek Mitchell at Broadway Dance Center. This is where I get most of my flexibility training.
- I've been going to the gym before work three times a week. This is where I get my strength training.
- I've been playing Ultimate as part of an organized group once or twice every week. This is where I get my cardio.
- I've managed to stay pretty consistent with my physical training. Because of my regular routine, I would say I am in the best shape I've ever been in my life.
- Spiritual - Value Clarification & Commitment, Study & Meditation
- I've been learning from Tim Keller's sermons at Redeemer every Sunday morning.
- I discuss the messages with Henry and note applications of what we learn.
- Mental - Reading, Visualizing, Planning, Writing
- I've opened up recently to opportunities to learn how to be more successful in life through reading books/magazines and going to work sponsored workshops.
- I took a month long Advanced Flash Programming class at work.
- I've been learning web development techniques and enterprise solutions through self-teaching and exposure to the tech team and I've been getting a lot of practice programming.
- I've also been writing a lot more blog entries. I'm trying to expand outside of just writing about the daily grind to writing more thought provoked entries.
- Planning is just something I do on an almost daily basis. It's a part of me. I can't help but plan and organize or else I will feel overwhelmed by chaos.
- Taking Chinese classes not only helps me communicate and understand Henry and his family more but it also trains my memory.
- Social/Emotional - Service, Empathy, Synergy, Intrinsic Security.
- Back in 2005, I struggled to break out of the shy/quiet shell I had built around myself. I have since learned so much about interacting with others. I open myself up to opportunities to meet people once in a while through work, through sports, through friends. I see people as interesting beings that have a lot to share about their lives, their interests and their knowledge now. Although I am still introverted by nature, I am no longer bound by that nature.
- Even though I am half a world away from my family, they are still a big part of my life. I went back to Asia at the beginning of the year and intend to go back early next year.
- I have expanded way beyond my team at work. I work very closely with other teams, so much so that they can consider me to be part of their groups as well. I put a lot more effort in talking to people and to be quite honest, it has become something I enjoy now rather than dread.
- Watching TV and Movies isn't exactly a social activity but just this very act gives me a lot to choose from in terms of topics to talk about with others. I've gotten sucked into Battle Star Galactica, How I Met Your Mother, Lost, Dancing With The Stars, America's Best Dance Crew, So You Think You Can Dance, America's Got Talent, Deadliest Warrior, Two and a Half Men and WSOP. I also got hooked on a few games on the Xbox 360 - Fable 2, Gears of War 2, Call of Duty 4/5, Guitar Hero World Tour - but this is less of a topic to discuss among people I encounter.
StarCraft doesn't exactly fit into the above categories but I do still play. I did take a break for a few months (unfortunately, this also deleted my account and my record and my friends list on USWest) but I'm back to my old 3v3 BGHing ways. I do miss playing 1v1 though. I don't have enough time to dedicate myself to training my 1v1 game. I wonder if I would be able to find anyone my level anymore out there. That may just be a goal for another time.
For now, my sights are set upon pushing myself further in life, going to the next level at work while keeping everything else in life balanced. I want to improve. I want to achieve. I want to succeed. As I mentioned in my blog before, I just want to level up.
PS. Let me know if you are an awesome GM 3v3 player and you're up for BGH anytime.Last edit: 2009-08-27 12:55:18
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 Ack1027 United States. August 27 2009 13:10. Posts 4670 | Profile Blog |
Hi
Nice to see someone who contributed so much to our community doing so well. Of course this can't be the whole picture but it sounds good^^ |
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 NeverGG  Korea (South). August 27 2009 13:12. Posts 3798 | Profile Blog |
| Wow you have a really diverse and active life. Congratulations on the success of the recent projects |
| | 우리 행운의 모양은 여러개지만 행복의 모양은 하나 |
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 p4NDemik United States. August 27 2009 13:33. Posts 2905 | Profile Blog |
| It's always a pleasure to read a blog like this - it makes me want to get up and do more as well. Thanks for sharing how things are going, and it's good to see you drop by! |
| | Let me introduce you to: "A Man Who Doesn't Care." -‾-_-‾-_-‾-_-‾-_-‾-_-‾-_-‾-_-‾-_- ✭ 김정우 fighting! ✭ |
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 Bill307  Canada. August 27 2009 13:44. Posts 8583 | Profile Blog |
Sounds like it's been a very good, very productive half-a-year for you.
While I appreciate the usefulness of being well-rounded, personally I prefer being almost the opposite. I aim to excel really well in a small handful of areas, have a larger handful of good-but-not-excellent areas, and then be not-rock-bottom in everything else.
I guess it's because I find it more rewarding to have a small set of highly-developed skills. Probably because of how much I enjoy competition.
Also, while I like the idea of being well-rounded, and can take pride in improving myself in pretty much any way, at the same time I lack the motivation to do things that I don't really need to do. Which I think is a positive trait, overall, since it helps me avoid wasting time on unimportant things. Even if it sometimes holds me back.
This is why my level of exercise is so low: I like the ideas of having a high stamina, or being very fit, or having bigger arms. And I'll gladly exercise if it helps me get something else done at the same time. But exercising solely to have more strength/stamina/whatever... when I ask myself "how is that useful?", I draw a blank.
The way I see it, our bodies naturally tend to shape themselves to make us best at what we do, at the expense of what we don't do. Is it necessarily a good idea to fight it? E.g. if my strength is low, it's because I don't need a lot of strength to do what I do in life. Why should I spend time solely to improve my strength if I'm essentially never going to use it? And like most things, I'd have to devote time to it on a regular basis in order to keep it. So it's like paying for a WoW account that I never play with.
Anyway, our bodies have evolved to be very good at specializing. So I think that as long as I'm not pushing it past a destructive limit (like getting too little exercise and suffering health problems as a result), it's normal -- even advantageous -- to be bad at a lot of things. ... I'm actually starting to forget why I think well-rounded is good now, lol.
But enough rambling. You're obviously benefitting a lot from putting your time into a lot of different areas, so there's no question that you're doing a great thing for yourself. (Just don't... uhh... overdo it, I guess?  ) |
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 decafchicken United States. August 27 2009 13:54. Posts 10392 | Profile Blog |
I think you've done more in half a year than i've done in 18 
Great to hear. Sounds really busy but at the same time amazing. |
| | how reasonable is it to eat off wood instead of your tummy? |
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 lilsusie August 27 2009 15:58. Posts 2578 | Profile Blog |
| 'CHELLLE~ Miss you. Been helping in keeping the boys in check since you've been gone. Tag team. (but please do come back.) |
| | "and in the mind of a woman for whom no place is home the thought of an end to all flight is unbearable." |
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 Manifesto7 Osaka. August 27 2009 16:22. Posts 17680 | Profile Blog |
| Thanks for the update mnm, I've been wondering what you have been up to ^^ |
| | Fuck that. Terran is the race of big dicked Vikings who rampage across the galaxies in huge battleships, rip up the ground with artillery spawned from the forges of hell, and send waves of valiant warriors to fight the freaks of science. |
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| mnm United States. August 27 2009 23:02. Posts 4420 | Profile Blog |
@Bill - I agree that its good to focus efforts on whatever helps us progress to meet our goals. I suppose I'm more of a generalist (as the Director of Technology here likes to say) since my wealth of knowledge spans a broad spectrum rather than specific areas.
However, everything I'm working on matches with my goals. Plus, I enjoy learning and doing it all. For example, working out not only keeps me in good physical condition (which saves on potential medical bills, increases lifespan and prepares me better for emergency situations), it also gives me energy (which helps me become more productive at work, helps encourage me to talk to people since I feel less lazy, and helps fuel my thinking).
Plus, I love learning how to dance and I have fallen in love with the competitive sport aspect of Ultimate. Oh and some of the skills are transferable. Last weekend, my company had an "International Fun Day" where we learned how to play cricket. The coach was surprised that it was my first time playing because I did really well at pitching/bowling the ball and I had my cleats ready for the sprinting. I believe every little bit helps and it probably helps networking within my company that I tried my best and did successfully at something like that (among other things).
Speaking of competitive, it is that competitive nature that makes me want to do better at so many things. I hate being a noob. Instead of just complaining about my noobiness, I try to do something about it. I work on it so I'm less noob than I started with. And even though I'm a noob among my more experienced peers, whenever I am among another set of peers, there is a chance I would be less noob than them. Along the same lines, even if I am noob among Teamliquid in StarCraft, I've rocked everyone at every workplace I've been part of ever since college (UC Berkeley Computer Labs, LucasArts, Ubisoft, and probably MTV too although this hasn't been tested). Note that I haven't worked at Blizzard yet though.
Oh and as for my goals, I want to work my way up from being a web developer to senior web developer/producer/technical producer to director of technology to vp to president. That is the main thing that's been on my mind recently anyway.
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