Gaia Gold and Taxes?
I recently had occasion to learn all about a really cool MMORPG ("massively multi player online role playing game") called Gaia Online. Yes, I am not in its demographic, but it was fascinating to learn about how the world of gaming has developed a whole economic model in the form of "XP" or "Experience Points". Different worlds use different terms but generically, these are points earned within the game and then spent on game artifacts or items or abilities. Things get interesting when players decide to cross over between the gaming world and the 'real' world and use real money to buy or trade artifacts. Here's a fascinating and amusing article on that very topic:
"IF YOU HAVEN'T MISSPENT HOURS battling an Arctic Ogre Lord near an Ice Dungeon or been equally profligate spending time reading the published works of the Internal Revenue Service, you probably haven't wondered whether the United States government will someday tax your virtual winnings from games played over the Internet. The real question is, Why hasn't it happened already? " (from "Dragon Slayers or Tax Evaders?")
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src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> Technorati Tags: gaiaonline, mmorpg
What Venture Capitalists say
Guy Kawasaki writes a nice little bit about VCs (some of my best friends are VCs) and about entrepreneurs. It rings very true to me. Here's some of what he says:
"Venture capitalists are simple people: we've either decided to invest, and we are convincing ourselves that our gut is right (aka, "due diligence") or there's not a chance in hell. While we may be simple, we're not necessarily forthcoming, so if you think it's hard to get a "yes" out of venture capitalist, you should try to get a conclusive "no."" "Alas, entrepreneurs are also simple people: If they don't hear a conclusive "no," they assume the answer is yes." (From "Let the good times roll by Guy Kawasaki"
Read the whole thing. It's well written, humorous and contains some really good advice! Technorati Tags: vc
Did the NSA “break the law”?
I know that this blog (Power Line) is pretty hard-core conservative, but I found their analysis of the legal questions around the NSA electronic intercept program fairly convincing.
"The only constitutional limitation on the President's power to intercept communications by Americans for national security purposes is that such intercepts be "reasonable." Is it reasonable for the administration to do all it can to identify the people who are communicating with known terrorists overseas, via the terrorists' cell phones and computers, and to learn what terrorist plots are being hatched by those persons? Is it reasonable to do so even when--rather, especially when-some portion of those communications come from people inside the United States? I don't find it difficult to answer those questions; nor, if called upon to do so, would the Supreme Court." (from Powerline)
This in contrast with a highly speculative article in the Boston Phoenix that purposely confuses some facts with lots of more or less random prediction and speculation:
"Fearful that his presidency could be swept into the same historical dustbin as Richard Nixon's, an unrepentant President George W. Bush seems intent on prosecuting the sources who leaked to the New York Times the details of his administration's warrantless domestic spying. But does Bush have the chutzpah to go after the Times itself?" (from the Boston Phoenix)
Did you notice that? "Bush seems intent on … " _and "… does Bush have the chtuzpah to …_" Stating some speculative questions and then writing a whole article assuming that the answer is "yes" but with no evidence other than, "that's the kind of thing he would do." But the more direct connection between the Phoenix bit and the Powerline bit is this:
"Many believe that the Times performed an incalculably valuable service when it reported last month on a top-secret National Security Agency program -- almost certainly unlawful -- involving presidentially (but not court-) approved electronic surveillance of message traffic between people in this country and locations abroad." (from Boston Phoenix again.)
Notice the "almost certainly unlawful" - I don't think it's anything like that clear. Anyway, I am no Bush apologist, by a long shot, but both these articles were very thought provoking, for different reasons. Technorati Tags: puppy
Another funny geek video for your enjoyment
"Every OS Crashes because Every OS Sucks" Technorati Tags: funny
Does anyone actually think this is for real?
Did you see this clever site? Million Dollar Home Page?
"The idea is simple: to try and make $1m (US) by selling 1,000,000 pixels for $1 each. Hence, 'The Million Dollar Homepage". The main motivation for doing this is to pay for my degree studies, because I don't like the idea of graduating with a huge student debt. I know people who are paying off student loans 15-20 years after they graduated. Not a nice thought!" (from Million Dollar Home Page)
Recently I came across the news that the last 1000 pixels were being auctioned off on eBay, meaning, if you believe it, that this enterprising fellow has already made $999,000.00 from this site. Oh, and lots of people have written about it 🙂 Come on, it's gotta be a hoax!
Technorati Tags: hoax
Adam Green’s Podcasts
I came across a cool series of podcasts, done by Adam Green , on the history of the personal computer software industry. Actually Adam told me about them 🙂 You can find them here as well as directly under the iTunes podcast section. I just listened to the first episode, about software naming with some good stories about how Visicalc was named and the fact that Ashton-Tate was not named after a parrot called Ashton, and of course that Jeff Tarter is not retired. p.s. Adam has a really interesting blog called"Darwinian Web" __Also follow his escapades with Ruby
Back from away
Happy New Year, friends! Sorry for the radio silence -- I was away for a short
vacation at Punta Cana, Dominican
Republic. A beautiful spot.
Technorati Tags:
domincanrepublic,
puntacana