Lessons Learned From Youthful Transgressions
This is in response to the TechCrunch article: An Apology To Our Readers. If you haven't read it, I suggest that you read it. I've only quoted a bit of it below, and it'll make much more sense if you read the article in its entirety.
On Monday evening I received a phone call from someone I trust who told me that one of our interns had asked for compensation in exchange for a blog post. Specifically, this intern had allegedly asked for a Macbook Air in exchange for a post about a startup.
After an investigation we determined that the allegation was true. In fact, on at least one other occasion this intern was almost certainly given a computer in exchange for a post.
The intern in question has admitted to some of the allegations, and has denied others. We suspended this person while we were sorting through exactly what happened. When it became clear yesterday that there was no question that this person had requested, and in one case taken, compensation for a post, the intern was terminated.
First off, I am not posting the name of the person here because I do not think it's relevant to what I'm going to say. If you would like to find out, it should be pretty clear by the comments of the quoted article which can be found here. I do not know this person personally, but do know many people who are close to him/her. I'm going to break this post up into three parts: what I think about TechCrunch's actions, the behavior of the said person, and my personal opinion of the effect on teens involved in technology as a whole. I am not an ombudsman or claim to have any authority on this issue, but feel that what I have to say is relevant and would love to hear your input as well. Here I go; sorry for the long preface.
TechCrunch's actions - I believe that TechCrunch (TC) in this case has done what any credible news outlet would have done and was legally required of them. I do believe that TC has increasingly become an outlet of news that I question on it's journalistic objectivity. I have seen posts reviewing products that may or may not have been influenced by an outside source. This irks me: I have even gone as far as to poll my friends' thoughts. All in all, I do not believe in good conscience could they have kept this quiet nor could they have kept the employee. It is important that they keep their journalistic integrity and I applaud them for that. They also omitted the person's name--which I believe was a legal issue, but was what I would have done regardless.
The actions in question - It was stupid. Really, really, stupid. And If I ever do that, please shoot me first. Yet, how many of you have honestly never done a really stupid thing in your youth? None, if you haven't you haven't lived, or more likely, are lying. I think the visual picture most of you are getting are of the said person demanding a bribe--that's what was--in return for a positive review. Magazines do it all the time with their advertisers, but journalists should be unencumbered and objective. Journalists should disclose all connections with companies they review and avoid reviewing them if they can not be completely unbiased. I know that is a pretty high standard and I expect bloggers to adhere to it too. Now is a good time to say that I own shares in Apple, Fannie Mae, and Cisco--I'll post that disclosure prominently on my blog later, and on every post regarding those three companies.
The truth of the matter is that he/she is 17 years old. As a friend said, "[said person] has so much power, yet so little power:" a writer at a respected blog with a wide audience yet being the lowest on the totem pole there. I'm not sure if he came up with the idea him/herself, but it was likely a situation of him/her testing their power. I might have even been half-jokingly and he/she will regret it for a long time. I don't think it was a huge financial incentive--I can say that on several good sources. This person does not need a Macbook Air and could afford to buy many of them if they wanted.
The effect on teens and credibility of teens as a whole - I believe that this is probably the most relevant part. As a teen, I can say that many adults don't take you seriously already and after incidents like this, why should they? I truly believe that people learn more from their mistakes and failures than their successes. The person in question has had much success in the past yet might not have reached any limits and kept going. I admire that, just not in this case. I am very much a believer in what many people have told me and which is quoted on one of my favorite t-shirts:
There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. — Bruce Lee (1940-1973)
The realist in me says that it's important to be prepared with the tools of success and those tools are gained through struggles and failures. I can only hope that this person has gained some "tools" from this experience. I hope that we can all learn from this experience and never repeat it. As my ex-theater teacher says:
"If you're going to make a mistake, be the first one to do it." - Phillip Rayher, Actor, Director, Teacher.
To all the adults out there, please don't let this one transgression affect your entire outlook on today's youth, and we won't let your continuing transgressions define you.
Thank you for reading this, and I will post an update as soon as there is a response to the article by the subject.
Justin
Update (1:40am February 5, 2010): I just read Daniel's response. I am glad that he came out with it. It shows his professionalism. It is still yet to be seen if we have learned as a whole from this experience, but I respect him for his achievements and hope that good things continue to come his way - in college and in life. As I am going through that process as well. It is very much a learning stage for him. As for the whole story, I'm not sure if we'll ever know - just like the CrunchPadJoojoo. I would love to hear everyone's opinion about this and how you think I covered the story.
Six Word Memoirs
Once asked to write a full story in six words, legend has it that novelist Ernest Hemingway responded: "For Sale: baby shoes, never worn."
NPR Talk of The Nation
I was listening to NPR Talk of The Nation today and I came across a this story about six word memoirs. Here's the link to the NPR story. What can you say about you life with six words? Here are some famous ones from the book It All Changed In An Instant and the website to submit your own:
Alzheimer's: meeting new people every day.
Phil SkverskyMet wife at her bachelorette party.
Eddie MatzFamily portrait: everyone smiles but me.
Ian BaaskeNormal person becomes psychotic on Twitter.
Robin SlickSo would you believe me anyway?
James Frey
Mine is constantly changing, but here's one that I can think of now.
Rejected from college; attending life everyday
Share yours in the comments section below.
Another Day Older; Another Year Older
Some of my birthday cakes
Today I'm 19. I can hardly believe it. Over this year I've grown immensely as a person done things that I never thought about doing and started on some great new adventures, but I'd be nowhere without my friends new and old. So I'd like to take my time to thank each and every one of you for being in my life. Even when you tell me to stop posting my twitter on my Facebook because it fills up your feed (you know who you are!) And I've missed the dinner parties that we have or the random 3am walks or donut runs and drives. This year I've also made a lot of new and amazing friends who have been there for me, taught me about being an adult about entrepreneurship, and sharing in my struggles. The ones that I randomly run into at concerts and those of you that call me to tell me that you're coming home. The ones that let me crash on their couches when visiting and introducing me to all their friends. Those of you that work thanklessly to make our team better. You have always been supportive and accepting of my faults, guided me to the right path. I don't believe in God, but from what I've seen in my life so far you are all looking out for me. I am forever indebted to all of you and if there is ever anything that I can do. I'd be glad to.
Thank you! I know I don't say that enough and hope to do that more often.
In case we haven't been keeping in touch I'll just do a recap of what I've been up to for the last year or so.
In January of 2009 I graduated a semester early from School of the Arts in San Francisco, during that same time while working at UCSF, I became involved with Dr. Laura Koth and began to do scientific research with her in her lab. I started on my own project looking into the cellular mediators of alveolar macrophage fusion, I learned about scientific technique, designed an experiment, and I'm no in the process of publishing my results. I applied for a grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 through the NIH and received it to continue my research for two summers. In May I hope to be presenting my research at the American Thoracic Society Meeting in New Orleans.
Here are some of the great people who I've had the opportunity to work with over the past year.
Outside of work, I've gotten involved with a few projects in tech. I have joined the Teens in Tech blogging network and hope to help other teens get involved with the startup and tech community. This Saturday I will be going to their yearly Teens in Tech Conference; my teens in tech blog is here Through one of my new best friends, Adam, I have started blogging more and shaped my social persona. I have worked on a few small projects as a tester and collaborator brainstorming ideas and giving suggestions on improvements. I've joined the team of Eutopia Airlines as COO and will be writing more about this later.
Aside from my intellectual pursuits, I've continued to stay fit. I sailed competitively as part of the Golden Gate Yacht Club High Youth Sailing Team and also participated in Friday night races at South Beach Yacht Club on my friend, Chris' boat.
My friday night sailing buddies
Along with Adam, I have embarked on a six month journey of raising $4k each towards the training of youth outreach workers and teachers to give inner city kids the opportunity to experience the great outdoors. Once we raise the money, we will climbing Mt. Shasta. You can donate and read about our journey here.
Adam and I on our first training hike. Photo courtesey of Adam Jackson http://adam-jackson.net
On the subject of College, I'm not quite there yet. I chose to take a year off and just went through the process of of re-applying to about eighteen of them. I've looked at all of them very closely and will be happy at any one of them. I hope to start a podcast on this topic to help others through that very stressful process. I hope to of help to anyone who needs help with this and welcome any questions.
Finally here are some things that are important to me in the coming year:
- Studying - believe it or not, I actually want to be studying and doing homework. This past year not being in school has really shown me what I still have yet to live and learn and a big part of that might actually be in the classroom. I've gotten really good at learning from the world as my classroom, but I think I need to get back in the classroom and learn to write again, to do math, to over analyze history, and learn about economic and political models.
- Writing - One of the major reasons I started this blog and some others. I feel like the quality of my written work has been going down since my sophomore year, the last time that I took an intense writing course.
- Friends - I want to keep in touch with more friends, this is always one of my goals - I feel like I'm nothing with the amazing people that help me be the best I can be. I know a lot of you have gone off to school and are doing your own thing, but I hope you find time to stay in touch and I will do the same. I'm sure I will meet a lot more of you this year and I'm looking forward to that as well.
- Health - This is something that can be overlooked easily. I hope to cook more, eat out less, and stay fit and healthy.
That's about it folks. I could probably go on, but I thought that it was important to let everyone know how much I care about you. I could not have made it this far if not for you all. It doesn't just take a "village to raise a child" it takes the entire world and you guys are my world.
Thank you all for being here and reading I hope to see more of everyone this year,
Justin Chi Hung Leung
Feeling and Truth
"... through lowered educational standards, declining intellectual competence, diminished zest for substantive debate, and social sanctions against skepticism, our liberties can be slowly eroded and our rights subverted."
"Trends working at least marginally towards the implantation of a very narrow range of attitudes, memories, and opinions include control of major television networks and newspapers by a small number of similarly motivated powerful corporations and individuals, the disappearance of competitive daily newspapers in many cities, the replacement of substantive debate by sleaze in political campaigns, and episodic erosion of the principle of the separation of powers... It's hard to tell how it's going to turn out"
"I have a forboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time -- when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness."
-Carl Sagan, "The Demon Haunted World", copyright 1995
A friend, Marshall, posted this on Facebook and I thought I'd share. This is becoming increasingly true especially in America, being one of the most advanced countries, while also being one of the most religious and illogical. We are increasingly becoming a nation which believes more in popularity than fact, more in what feels good than what is good. Being a scientist and idealist, this really stood out to me. What do you guys think?
Caliber Photowalk – North Beach and Chinatown
Saturday, I went on a photowalk with the folks from Caliber. We started at Montgomery and made our way to North Beach and thou Chinatown and ended at Cathay House. I dusted off my Cannon 400D after having it on the shelf for a few months and got back into shooting manual. I'm still getting the hang of it, but having a camera attached to my hand is growing on me. All in all it was a lot of fun. I met some great people, shared some stories and had a great time shooting. See you guys at the next photowalk!
And heres some photos from the day.
Transamerica
Tobacco Ad
North Beach
We Walk and Life Passes
Also here's the link to the entire set from everyone who took photos with me. Or to view as a slideshow