General Yip Yap | Ali Allage (SPT) - Online Marketer, Serial Entrepreneur, Writer, Automotive Enthusiast, Web Developer

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Jun 15th, 10

Mood Based Blog

Calvin-bad-mood
In my attempt to create something different, I decided to have fun and turn my blog into a “mood” based blog. Why? Well one of the issues that many people have while communicating on the internet is determining emotion of the individual doing the writing online. So I asked the question, “why can’t emotions be represented via design?”.

Welcome to what I believe is the first step to understanding a person’s mood surrounding a blog post or communication online in general.

How it works
Basically when you hit the homepage, the design of the blog will be determined by the first (or latest) blog post I post up. This also applies when viewing a specific post. If I’m calm while writing the post, then a watery image appears as my logo and background. If I’m all “fired up” while writing post, then a fire type logo and background will appear. It’s as simple as that.

Future Enhancements: Create image representations for more emotions to truly get the full spectrum.

Try It Out
Calm: If you are reading this post, then you should see all the watery images.

Fired Up: Click here to see how the design changes to a “fire” theme.

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May 24th, 10

Book Review: “Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans”

Go Like Hell

Being a car guy, I felt that I needed to take my passion to another level by learning more about the automobile’s past as well as the history of motorsports. My first book into this journey is A.J. Baime’s book, Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans.

Every car enthusiast knows or should know about the heated battle between Ferrari and Ford. The book starts by talking about the background story of each man behind the name of the manufacture, Enzo Ferrari and Henry Ford II. Both were determined men and set out amazing goals for their company to accomplish to be best in the world. Ferrari’s story is one of extreme hardship and dedication that seems to be a rarity in today’s world and Ford’s is a story of perseverance and innovation that led the car company to success in that time.

The book also talks about Carol Shelby, John Surtees, Phil Hill, Bruce McLaren, Ken Miles, and Iacocca, and how each of them played vital roles in the history of motorsports. I found myself never wanting to put the book down and was always engaged with interesting facts that were never known to me.

As a car enthusiast, I would say this book gets a thumbs up and should be on your read list

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May 3rd, 10

Really Cool Video

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Mar 3rd, 10

Old vs New – Porsche 911

Porsche 997

Being a diehard porschefile, I’ve always questioned if the 996 or 997 could really be called a true 911. By now all you 996/997 owners have let out a big grown, but don’t judge this post as a bash. Being a previous owner of the 996 myself, I have to admit my experience wasn’t the greatest. It could be the model year (2001), but things like the interior falling apart, front end wander at high speed, and many other problems really killed the experience. On the pro side, the car had power. But is power everything?

After I sold my 996, I was a bit disappointed that my experience wasn’t fulfilling enough. Based on that, I decided to start a quest on finding the ultimate 911 because I didn’t want the 996 to be my last memory of a 911. Fortunately I was able to gain access to a 993 and a 997 to really figure out if newer is better or tried and true was the way to go.
993 vs 997

I have to say the 997 is far better than the 996 in many different ways. Performance, quality, and looks are much improved on the 997. The one issue I have with the 997 is the overall size and weight of the car. Rather than a nimble sports car, I felt like I was in a heavy powerful tank that could get around corners very fast. Overall the 997 felt much like I would imagine a 911 would , especially over the 996. With all the modern conveniences it did at times feel more like a GT car rather than a true sports car. I would images the GT3 and RS would be much different, but since we are only comparing standard models, the upper range models don’t apply.

The 993 on the other hand is a completely different story. Much smaller in size and weight, the 993 feels like the 911 I dreamt of in my head. Very simple interior, quality construction, awesome handling, and reasonable power made me feel that I was in a true sports car. Compared to the 997, the 993 left it to the driver to get it around obstacles and rewarded you if you did it right. Unfortunately it did have an ugly side if you got it wrong, but don’t all 911′s in some way have this problem?

Okay so fast forwarding to the point of this post, are the older 911′s better than the newer generations? My answer after driving a 993, is yes, but you may feel different. What are your thoughts?

Porsche 993

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Mar 1st, 10

I’m a IPad Believer

As I’m sure most would agree, when the announcement was made about a “Apple Tablet” coming out the first thought was, why? Even after watching the keynote presentation, I still wondered if this product was actually needed or was it another nicely packaged Apple product that looked more pretty than functional.

I finally see the light. I think what changed my mind was the sea of developers creating specific apps to work not only on the IPhone, but also on the IPad that got me saying “Wow I would use that”. One application that sold me in particular was Wired Magazine’s demo of their new IPad app.

Wired’s new application is what I believe is the last nail in the coffin for print media. Here’s why: One of the main reasons I still read print media is because the mobility and having something in my hand to flip through, possibly write in (I know I’m old school). This new app, looks to promise the same print experience, but with more interactivity. So now when I read an article in AutoWeek or any other publication that asks me to “visit our url to watch videos, etc”, it can be visited with just a touch of a finger. Even cooler is the option for advertisers to showcase their product by allowing the user to rotate it on a page, almost giving the user the ability to “touch” the product.

With Wired’s new app, the possibility of translating my need for print onto the IPad doesn’t give me any more excuses to hold on to print anymore. Here’s to a bright interactive future.

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Feb 26th, 10

The Naked Entrepreneur – Book Review

First let me say I’m pretty proud that I actually committed to reading each book in my collection and not doom them to a life of dust collection. My first choice: “The Naked Entrepreneur“, written by Troy Hazard and Maria Elita. Being an entrepreneur myself, I love reading about experiences that others go through when starting a business, running a business, or just running themselves in general. It makes me feel that I’m not alone in the world. The focus of this book is to look into yourself and to be more real.

The setup of the book is different than most other books I’ve read. The story is about Troy’s journey in finding himself through a hectic life and how Maria guides him to truly find himself.. Each chapter is setup to document Troy’s self journey from his point of view with a wrap up of Maria’s point of view as she interacts with Troy and manages her own life. Two worlds colliding. Like many entrepreneurs Troy got to the point where he worked himself to near meltdown . The stress not only cost him his relationships with others but also impacted who he was as a person.

This was a story I could relate to. It’s very easy to get caught up in business and life issues. One thing I did notice was how much I stressed over situations I had no control over. An example would be signing on new clients. As a growing business all I want are new clients to grow the company. One thing that always stressed me out was towards the end of any new business deal, whether the client will go with us or someone else. After reading this book, I realized that certain situations like my example are totally out of my control and should learn to surrender to that. By surrendering, I learn to move on to the next deal. The other nugget I learned was how I put such importance on money and materials, instead of enjoying life and people around me. I was ingrained to define success by meaningless possessions and of course cash, instead of counting quality of family, friends, and the simple things in life.

For any entrepreneur looking to be more real with themselves instead of living in fear (stress), pick up a copy of the “The Naked Entrepreneur“.

DISCLAIMER: You have to be ready to accept the fact you need help and open your mind before you read this book, otherwise you will think it is BS.

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Feb 12th, 10

One Book a Week

This past snow storm in Maryland kept me caged up in the house and when you have time on your hands, the wheels of thought start to turn. My home office is in our basement/dungeon and in it, I have a nice set of bookshelves that not only house books, but other little odds and ends. Sitting back one crisp cold snowy morning in my office chair, I gazed over at this fairly large collection of unread books that seemed to occupy most of the real estate on both shelves. Surprised at this enormous collection that obviously was left to collect dust, I stirred up the motivation to see what my purchase whims left me with. Looking over titles such as: “Idiots Guide To Creative Writing” to “The Answer” and best of all “10 Hour Work Week”, I wonder if I actually read any of these and if I did, have I learned anything.

The point of all this is I’m pledging my commitment to reading each book in my inventory and posting a summary about it. My hope is you “the reader” will read my summary of each book, possibly buy it, read it, and improve your life in some way. Benefit for me: I learn something, feel really important, and best of all do something that can help someone else. Yes I know Amazon reviews work just as well, but can you have a direct dialog with the reviewer publically and ask more questions? No? Well there you go.

As far as schedule goes, I’ll try to knock a book a week (+/-) and put my official report. Check back soon.

P.S. – I know I still have sections of the site not populated… I’m getting to it.

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Feb 4th, 10

Life Lessons on Your Birthday

Life lessons are an invaluable emotional tool that can set you up on a path of being successful, only if you stop to notice them. So how do you pick up on the lesson itself when sometimes you are too busy to notice it? Even worst, you are too proud to acknowledge it. For someone like me who is still an adolescent not only in heart, but also mind, my barrier has been my pride. In my eagerness to succeed at a very young age, I sometimes forget the meaning of my actions and the consequences of those actions.

Turning 30 today has brought on a new wave of thinking for me, almost like a discovery mode. Starting a new decade in my life, I believe a promise I need to make myself and to others in my life is to reduce the exaggeration mindset and come down to more reality. Not something most see as an issue, but for someone who uses it to gain respect, it can get carried away.

I think everyone entering a new decade in age should do an audit of themselves over the past decade and try to improve over the next 10 years. Pretty heavy stuff I know, but hey it’s my blog…

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Nov 1st, 09

The Sound of Turning Wrenches

It’s been a while since my last post and since i have a few moments…

Today was an unusually warm day for November, so I decided to wash my M3 before its winter hibernation. For every car enthusiast, there is a certain amount of car wash gear needed to correctly wash your pride and joy. After hauling out everything on the front lawn, I pulled the car up to position and got to work.

In the distance I heard faint noise… it sounded like a wrench turning. As a car guy, a wrench turning is music to our ears and being curious I looked around to find the source. Low and behold, it’s a neighbor changing the oil on his wife’s Toyota. Doesn’t sound like anything strange, but my neighborhood is filled with full time professionals who don’t seem to do any manual labor. It got me to think why would this guy be changing his own oil?

With a manual in one hand and a set of what looked like a brand new Sears “mechanic’s tool” set, the neighbor looked seemed to try his best to finish the task at hand. I never thought this deep before when it came to oil changes, let alone someone else doing their own oil changes. But I guess I started to think, is this the result of a bad economy? Or was this the birth of a new car enthusiast joining our population?

In any case, probably too deep of a thought to stop washing my car. Back to work…

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Sep 14th, 09

Video of 2010 Porsche 911 GTR RS

I just love this car…

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Porsche Press Release: 2010 911 GT3 RS

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AFC Asset Management Services – Investment Management
Boost Labs – Web Marketing
EvolutionM – Mitsubishi Lancer and Evolution Community
GTRForums – Nissan GTR Community
GURU, Inc. – Business IT Support
i-Club – Subaru Impreza Community
Norman Lockshin & Ben Lockshin – DermAssociates
Norman Lockshin – Lockshin.com
Norman Lockshin – Mohs Surgery
Norman Lockshin Bio – Lockshin.com
S-Chassis – Nissan 240 Community
SurgeonHouseCall.com – Plastic Surgeon Consultation