52 weeks, 52 books

Too little time, too much to read. My aim this year, as it is every year, is to read 100 books. It doesn't matter if the book is fiction or nonfiction, thick or thin, dead-tree (i.e. physical paper) or ebook -- I try to make time to read anything I can get my hands on. 2006 wasn't such as good year for me. I only managed to finish 53 books, which averages out to one a week. Here's my reading list for 2006. The dates are the day that I finished reading that particular book. 1. The fortune at the bottom of the pyramid - C.K. Prahalad 20060102 2. Ringworld - Larry Niven 20060108 3. Red Alert - Peter George 20060113 4. How to Be Good - Nick Hornby 20060120 5. Dante’s Equation - Jane Jensen 20060204 6. The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic - Sophie Kinsella 20060205 7. The Bear Trap (Afghanistan’s Untold Story) Mohammad Yousaf 20060222 8. Excavation by James Rollins 20060305 9. Bolo by David Weber 150306 10. The Road to Damascus by John Ringo & Linda Evans 270306 11. Retief! by Keith Laumer 070406 12. Cell by Stephen King 210406 13. The Syndrome by John Case 060506 14. Warrior Soul by CHUCK PFARRER 150506 15. Empire from the Ashes by David Weber 290506 16. The Hero by John Ringo & Michael Z. Williamson 010606 17. The Curse of Chalion Lois McMaster Bujold 100606 18. Diamond Age or a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer by Neal Stephenson 070606 19. Paladin of Souls Lois by McMaster Bujold 120606 20. The Hallowed Hunt Lois by McMaster Bujold 200606 21. Camouflage by Joe William Haldeman 240606 22. Star Wars: Republic Commando: Hard Contact by Karen Traviss 260606 23. Star Wars: Republic Commando: Triple Zero by Karen Traviss 050706 24. Archangel Protocol by Lyda Morehouse 100706 25. The Willies Hamish MacDonald 150706 26. The stars at war by David Weber & Steve White 040806 27. The stars at war II by David Weber & Steve White 170806 28. Bones of the Earth Michael Swanwick 200806 29. On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins 210806 30. 1632 by Eric Flint 250806 31. 1633 by David Weber & Eric Flint 310806 32. Trading in Danger by Elizabeth Moon 050906 33. Marque and Reprisal by Elizabeth Moon 110906 34. The art of keeping your ass alive by Cory Lundin 160906 35. The Game by Neil Strauss 200906 36. The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman 20061001 37. Alas, Babylon by Harry Hart Frank 20061006 38. the worst-case scenario survival handbook by joshua priven and david borgenicht. 20061006 39. Infinity Beach by Jack McDevitt 20061014 40. Dreamsnake by Vonda Neel McIntyre 20061021 41. Second Contact by Harry Turtledove 20061028 42. Down to Earth by Harry Turtledove 20061031 43. Aftershocks by Harry Turtledove 20061110 44. Homeward Bound by Harry Turtledove 20061123 45. Making Comics by Scott McCloud 20061126 46. The Commitments by Roddy Doyle 20061126 47. In the balance by Harry Turtledove 20061126 47. The Snapper by Roddy Doyle 20061128 48. The Mckinsey Way by Ethan M. Rasiel 20061129 49. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin 20061206 50. Freakonomics - SD Levitt & SJ Dubner 20061207 51. The Onuissance Cells by Steve Jordan 20061210 52. Time’s Eye by Arthur Charles Clarke & Stephen Baxter 20061226 53. Worldwar : tilting the balance by Harry Turtledove 20061228 You can get these books and many others at Amazon.com. Oh, and Happy New Year. reading, books, ebooks

I'm a finalist for the Comic Design Competition 2006!

A couple of weeks ago, I found out about the Malaysian Digital Comic Design Competition, organized by MDEC (Multimedia Development Corporation). Participants were invited to submit their project proposals on a comics project -- either an ongoing series, a mini series or a graphic novel. There will be 10 winners, each of whom will get a grant of RM15,000 (US$4100) to produce the final comic. The deadline was last Friday (December 8), so I had to hustle to finish up my entry. This afternoon, I received a call from MDEC saying that I'm a finalist! Plus, my submission will be part of an exhibition called Fantasy Fest, to be held this weekend in Cineleisure at Mutiara Damansara. If you're around the area, do drop by. My entry is called Project Ethergy. It's about an International Humanitarian Rapid Deployment Force based in Malaysia. If I get the grant, I'll be setting up a website for Project Ethergy. Each episode of the 12-issue mini series will be made available for free, and will be licenced under Creative Commons. I'll update with more details soon. There are 20 finalists vying for the 10 grant slots -- that's a 50% chance of success. Wish me luck! Comics

Starting a bricks and mortar business at Internet speed

How long does it take to start a business? Orange Katz is now in third month of operation. We managed to launch within our self-imposed deadline, which means we created a business from scratch in 3 months. That's how long it takes to start an Internet business, right? Apparently, that's also how long it takes to start any business, as long as you know what you're doing. Here's what we (i.e., me and the wife) did over the past few months, fast-forwarded since the last blog entry on 20th July. It's not necessarily in order. - signed a lease on our business premises. - came up with a company (Orange Katz) and a concept (Katz Gallery, a classroom within an art gallery). - incorporated the company. - opened bank accounts. - registered with the relevant authorities (local council, Inland Revenue, etc). - bought equipment and supplies for renovation. - hired people to do the renovation. - we weren't satisfied with the quality of work by the contractors, so we did it over ourselves. My wife did most of the painting herself. Our friends helped out. - signed up for electricity, water and telephone services. - interviewed candidates for art teachers, and chose one. We're very with how our choice turned out. - went for art training. - finished the business plan. - looked at funding sources, then abandoned the idea. We used our own money and borrowed a little from family and friends, along with credit cards. We spent a lot less money than we originally thought would -- we bootstrapped like mad. - we bought most of the furniture from IKEA, mainly because of their 12-months, 0% installment plan. - sourced for arts and crafts suppliers, and bought our opening of inventory. - personally delivered over 2,000 flyers to homes around Katz Gallery. That's a lot of walking. Especially in the middle of hazy weather. - got the website done. - held a promotional workshop at one of the local shopping centres. - held an Open Day. - held an Open House in conjunction with the Eid celebrations. As of this week, we have signed up 51 students. That's enough to pay our rent, utilities, and teacher's salaries. We're still a long way from profitability, but the day when we become cash-flow positive isn't that far off. Obviously we won't make millions in the first few years (real-life, bricks and mortar business don't scale as well as Internet ones), but hopefully we'll have enough to live on. I have to say that most of the effort and the energy came from my wife, who was (and still is) doing her MBA at the same time. This has been a fantastic experience, and we have both learnt a lot. It's not as easy as we thought -- but if we can do it, then anyone can. If you have an idea for a business, I'd encourage you to go for it. Entrepreneurship Start Up