Henry Lubong's Journal » Work

You Can Say No To CEO

Henry Lubong — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 07:53:12 +0000

I am not aware of any rules or company policy that you can not say NO to your CEO. I am not discounting the fact that they are the most powerful person in a company but it doesn’t mean they can’t be wrong. They may have this grandeur idea (which they are always good at) but it is someone’s job to question it because it may not fit with the current plans or may pose an expensive decision that could have been avoided. Some employees may be hesitant to object or argue with their superior specially the CEO in the fear of getting fired. But some or may I say a lot are always nodding head because they are just trying to climb the corporate ladder by kissing ass. These parasites may seem to care about the company but they don’t. The only thing they care about is themseleves and their careers. Be careful with these type of people because they will do anything to reach their dreams even to the point of ruining other people. Just my .02.

Two Weeks Of Dev Effort Is Actually Two Hours

Henry Lubong — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 23:38:08 +0000

It took two long weeks when I first setup my development environment at work with Eclipse, Tomcat, Velocity, et al. Aside from transitioning from PHP to Java world, there were some other network and server issues too. It definetely was a learning experience and was worth the time. Today, since I’m working from home and tired of remotely connecting to my machine at work, I did the same setup on my laptop and in two hours I have a fully working dev environment.

Reunion.com And Wink Merger Announced

Henry Lubong — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:38:50 +0000

Congratulations to Reunion.com and Wink! I’m looking forward to working with the Reunion folks down in LA. Here is a press release in Yahoo!’s site – http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/081103/20081103005409.html.

Some pictures I took during our merger dinner party:

2 Years With Wink.com Today

Henry Lubong — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 17:40:19 +0000

Wow, I can’t believe I have been working for Wink for exactly 2 years today. With all the dramas and many changes, I survived the tides. When I was in Yahoo, there’s a tradition that every 2 years, you are given an option to look for a job in another business unit. They believe that employees fall into boredom after that period of time. Whether it be at what they do or they get sick and tired of working with the same people every day. So instead of loosing a valuable employee, they encourage them to look for a new opportunity within the company. Anyway, that’s definitely not gonna work with Wink because we are just a 9 employee company. Oh no, so what do I do now? I’m fine right now and most likely to keep my job. There is really no such thing as a perfect job so you just have to learn to cope or you will be looking for a job as often as you change your underwear. I think I’m old enough to know on how to deal with people and politics at work. Been there, done that! Here are my little random secrets that I developed to stay upbeat at work.

Always stay positive in life
Always have a goal and stick to it
Start your morning with a smile and keep it for the rest of the work day
Always do something productive even if the work is slow (doesn’t have to be work related, at least you are doing something)
Be nice to everyone at work (smile, smile, and smile…)
Don’t let your coworkers affect your life. Remember, it’s just work!
Don’t take your work personal, they don’t go well together.
If someone is putting you down, smile and just walk away
Keep arguments to a minimum (can’t avoid it at work). Don’t make it a habit.
Do something else outside of work. Dude, get a life!
This helps too… exercise. It doesn’t matter what kind, it is a stress reliever

I know there’s more, but i gotta go back to work before I get fired… lol.

I Maybe Too Harsh On Words

Henry Lubong — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:32:28 +0000

Calling someone a backstabber maybe too harsh but still I don’t regret what I said. I don’t like having enemies and I am not the type of person that holds grudges. I’ll leave that to past but I don’t condone that person’s actions.

Wink.com Mobile

Henry Lubong — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 17:49:21 +0000

We just launched the mobile version of Wink. It’s the same url – http://wink.com. All you need is your iPhone, Pocket PC, Treo, Blackberry, or anything that uses Mozilla browser on their phone.

Now you can search for people anywhere you go. Met someone at a party and can’t wait to find more information about them? Step outside, use your phone, and go to wink.com. Having a business meeting and an unfamiliar name came up? Look ‘em up at wink.com. What if your out with your girlfriends and want to check out the latest with Katie Holmes? Go to wink.com on your blinged phone because Wink provides latest news for her as well while viewing Katie’s profile.

Lots of uses for Wink Mobile while your unplugged. If you have a Wink profile, while not show it off to your friends now that you can do it over the air. Don’t have a Wink profile? It’s easy to create one but you’ll need your PC or Mac to do this. Don’t forget to stop by and check my profile at http://wink.com/p/henrylubong.

People Search by Wink

Henry Lubong — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 09:22:55 +0000

Check this new feature that we’ve been working on at Wink and send us your feedback…

Go to http://people.wink.com and start searching for your friends, old colleagues or other people that you are interested in.

… wow and I’ve only been at Wink for 3 weeks!

First Day at Wink ;)

Henry Lubong — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 06:29:26 +0000

That’s right, today is my first day at Wink. A lot of you thought I was going to Google but I chose to work for Wink instead. Yes, I was also interviewed by Google but the process of interview was too long and I don’t think it is worth the wait… well at least not for me. Wink is a social search engine and a startup company located in the border of Mountain View and Los Altos.

So yeah, I started winking it today. I came in at 9AM (too early for a typical Yahoo)… hohummm. It’s weird coming to work without my purple badge and I miss the beeping sound from opening the door of the building. My cube is in the same row as David Koblas and David Beach, both ex-Yahoo employees. Somehow, it does feel like I still work for Yahoo I like it that our cubes our facing the window. It’s nice to look at some green things outside instead of looking at modular walls all day. I also love my huge LCD wide-screen monitor, 24″ Dell baby!

Koblas, gave me a brief overview about the codes and a task that was already assigned to me. At 11AM, we had a meeting and I was introduced to everyone in the group. After lunch, I waste no time and got my machine setup to get it ready for my first project. I started working right away and started digesting the code that’s exposed to me for the very first time. Believe me, in a corporate company, typically, they give you at least a week or two to settle in before you get your hands dirty.

Coincidentally, today is also my first wedding anniversary. I stayed until 6PM today at work but I knew this was gonna happen so I already took my wife out last night at Roy’s restaurant in Pebble Beach. We still managed to have a small dinner celebration tonight though in our house with some of our friends. I’m already tired and I need to take some tylenol.

7 paid vacation days… hell yeah!!!

Henry Lubong — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 00:13:33 +0000

I think the secret game had worked out well for me. Although I had no intention of playing it to this extent, I was well rewarded for it. You’re probably wondering what the heck I am talking about. Ok, since Monday when I first gave my verbal resignation, my manager was so eager to know where I am heading to. I didn’t tell him but instead I just said I’m going to another search engine company. I think that ticked him off and told me that if I don’t tell him where I’m going, they might send me home that day because I’m going to a search engine company, which is a competitor. Too bad, I don’t buy that kind of threat. I told him its up to his discretion. The reason why I gave them a two week notice is so that I can at least transition my work to another person and maybe finish the project that I was currently working on. So he talked to his boss to bring them the bad news and discuss to them about a counter offer. When he came back, he told me that they can’t do a counter offer but I was ok’d to stay until the 13th.

So Tuesday went by and then a big surprise today. This morning, my PM was being a bitch and was pushing me to finish my project before I leave. First of all, finishing the project on the 13th was way out of the approved scoping. But honestly, I was planning on getting it done anyway even at the cost of me working on the weekends. It was very unprofessional and they are not doing themselves a favor by doing this to me. So this afternoon, I brought this issue to my manager. Instead of dealing with it, I was told that I might let go off early today because the issue about going to a competitor came up again. He called HR while I was packing up my stuff so I am ready just in case they send me home.

Around 3:30, my manager came back with a good and bad news. I asked for the bad news first. The bad news is they’re letting me go today and the good news is I am getting paid until the 13th. Yeeesss!!!! Actually, there’s no bad news at all. Both are awesome news for me. So there it is, seven days of paid vacation plus two paid floating holidays. Thanks Yahoo!

So what’s the morale of the story… “great reward for those who do good things”… LOL… please don’t do this at home, it doesn’t work all the time

Goodbye Yahoo, Hello “Work 2.0″

Henry Lubong — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 06:13:52 +0000

Today, I officially tendered my resignation from Yahoo, effective on October 13. After 22 1/2 months with Y!, I decided it is time for a change and move on with my career. Yahoo is a great place to work for but another opportunity knocked on my door. I made a mistake once and this is something that I can’t pass up again.

Since I am still working for Yahoo, to protect everybody’s interest, for now, I’m gonna call my new company, “Work 2.0.” When I first met with these guys for an interview, I’ve already sensed a very positive atmosphere.Â� It was almost like I already wanted to start working for them.

Anyway, since they are still anonymous, I don’t want to talk too much about them yet. I’ll keep it in the downlow for now and I’ll write more about them later. In the meantime, I want to say that I really enjoyed working at Yahoo. I gained so much experience and learned a lot of things. I also met a lot of good and smart people that I think are very valuable asset to the company. It’s always sad to part ways but I believe I made the right decision.

Sorry Yahoo, I have to go

Henry Lubong — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 22:37:41 +0000

This morning, I received a very good news from my recruiter. The company that I interviewed with is extending me an offer to work for them. I admit it was a mixed feeling. I really like working for Yahoo but I have to do this for my own benefit.

The package that they offered was very good so I went to their office this afternoon to accept it. At first, I was kind of hesitant to sign the papers today but there ya go, I just signed my life away Well, It’s not like an impulsive decision. I’ve been doing some research on this company and I think it is a good fit for me. Very web2.0-centric and the business goal is very promising. I am very excited and looking forward to be working with these guys.