Blog Posts

November 2008

• 2008-11-14

  Garrison Keillor: America is cool!

  A neat article in Salon, by Garrison Keillor – America is cool: “The world expects us to elect pompous yahoos and instead we have us a 47-year-old prince from the prairie who cheerfully ran the race, and when his opponents threw sand at him, he just smiled back.

  He’ll be the first president in history to look really good making a jump shot. He loves his classy wife and his sweet little daughters. He looks good in the kitchen. He can cook Indian or Chinese but for his girls he will do mac and cheese. At the same time, he knows pop music, American lit and constitutional law. I just can’t imagine anybody cooler.

  Look at a photo of the latest pooh-bah conference —...

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  #politics
• 2008-11-13

  It’s even worse than you think

  Michael Lewis writes a great article in Portfolio online about the, let’s say, inevitability, of what’s happened to economy, or wall street, or the markets — take your pick. You can file this under “if you’re so smart why aren’t you rich”, or, my personal favorite, “it seemed like a good idea at the time.” Michael Lewis is the author of two of my favorite non-fiction books, Moneyball and ...

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  #business
• 2008-11-12

  Finally!

  I can’t put my feelings, seriously, into words: http://nytimes-se.com

• 2008-11-11

  Invest in Innovation

  Jim Manzi (of Lotus fame) has an interesting article in “The Nation” about our need, as a nation, to invest just a little bit more in innovation: “But with only a little bit of extra funding, foresight and determination, it may be possible to kick-start an innovation revival. Especially at the federal level, we see an opportunity for a modest investment to create a whole new generation of idea-growing, job-creating technology hubs all across the country–perhaps even an “automotive Silicon Valley” in otherwise moribund Detroit.” (from Invest in Innovation)

  A good article, with several me...

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  #business #politics
• 2008-11-10

  Boston tech scene could be more inviting to students

  Scott Kirsner of the Innovation Economy blog, as well of the Boston Globe says that: “To me, the biggest way to make Boston more competitive and innovative right now is to do a better job connecting students with our innovation economy. Which is why it pains me that our trade associations and networking groups make it so hard for students to get involved.” (from Innovation Economy)

  He goes on to grade a variety of formal and informal groups who put on meetings regularly in the greater Boston area. It’s a ...

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  #boston #technology
• 2008-11-06

  Barack Obama

  On Tuesday, Chris and I volunteered for Barack Obama. I got a very interesting perspective on the election process in the US, and to tell you the truth, it was impressive. We drove up to New Hampshire, and checked into the Plymouth democratic campaign headquarters. They promptly dispatched us to Benton, NH, apparently half an hour from the Canadian border.

  We arrived at around 11:00am...

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  #politics #personal
• 2008-11-03

  Election shenanigans?

  I am not at all sure what to make of this. But a friend of mine pointed me to some of the following postings and reports which are interesting, and if true, highly disturbing.

  Attorney Cliff Arnebeck on how the Ohio Election was/might have been stolen

  Security expert Stephen Spoonamore’s personal legal affidavit on the technical architecture that might have been used to achieve this

  Cliff Arnebeck about his personal experience with election irregularities in Ohio

  If...

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  #politics
• 2008-11-03

  Les Miserables is one of my all time favorite musicals

  [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3ijYVyhnn0&hl=en&fs=1]

  #music
• 2008-11-01

  Interesting article by Mark Cuban about ‘the cause of bubbles’

  Whether you agree or not, it is thoughtful and thought provoking discussion of Bubbles and Financial Engineering (IMO): “Let me get this straight. In 2008, funds trying to squeeze out another basis point or two thought they were being conservative buying insurance on heavily leveraged portfolios of sub prime loans and other debt. Once those loans started to default, it created a cascading deleveraging event which lead to major financial institutions failing and the “smartest” minds on Wall Street being forced to dump everything to raise cash, which in turn lead to a crisis of confidence and deleveraging that created the worst week in the history of the stock markets. Did I get this right ?” (from Blog Maverick)

  #business

October 2008

• 2008-10-28

  The new Comcast mojo

  I am not sure I am reading this right, but it looks like Comcast is giving my home internet connection a nice speed boost!

• 2008-10-27

  In Defense of Raising Money: a Manifesto for NonProfit CEOs

  Check out this post In Defense of Raising Money: a Manifesto for NonProfit CEOs: "How about this instead: “You are incredibly good at making money. I’m incredibly good at making change. The change I want to make in the world, unfortunately, does not itself generate much money. But man oh man does it make change. It’s a hugely important change. And what I know about making this change is as good and as important as what you know about making money. So let’s divide and conquer – you keep on making money, I’ll keep on making change. And if you can lend some of your smarts to the change I’m trying to make, ...

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  #business
• 2008-10-27

  I’m a neat person, but, THIS, is ridiculous

  Check out this weird new practice called 5S: “5S is a key concept of the lean manufacturing techniques that have made makers of everything from cars to candy bars more efficient. The S’s stand for sort, straighten, shine, standardize and sustain. Lately, 5S has been moving from the plant floor to the cubicle at hundreds of offices around the country, adding desk cleaning to the growing list of demands on employees.” from Wall Street Journal

  I am so happy that I don’t have to work in such an environment!

  http://s.wsj.net/media/swf/main.swf

  #business
• 2008-10-27

  Peggy Noonan columns are a pleasure to read

  I’ve been a Peggy Noonan fan for a while. Yes she is politically more conservative than I am, but she is such a literate writer it is always a pleasure to read her stuff. Here are some recent good ones: Palin’s Failin’ – “At any rate, come and get me, copper.”

  ...

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  #politics
• 2008-10-25

  Field notes from a Nature Conservancy meeting

  Check out this post Field notes from a Nature Conservancy meeting: “First, the Nature Conservancy has a strongly science-based policy for making land-purchasing decisions. They take into account things like the minimum viable ecosystem size in determining which acquisitions will actually have lasting impact.

  Trouble is, for many areas, the conditions those decisions are based on may change.

  Areas near sea level are an obvious example. But so are the more than 10,000 acres of native tallgrass prairie that they have protected in Kansas. How much will that ecosystem change with the projecte...

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  #science
• 2008-10-25

  Evidence of a Global SuperOrganism

  Check out this post Evidence of a Global SuperOrganism: “So far the proposition that a global superorganism is forming along the internet power lines has been treated as a lyrical metaphor at best, and as a mystical illusion at worst. I’ve decided to treat the idea of a global superorganism seriously, and to see if I could muster a falsifiable claim and evidence for its emergence.” (from: from The Technium)

  Another great essay by Kevin Kelley. He’s such a great writer. Here are some other wonderful passages:

  “This megasupercomputer is the Cloud of all clouds, the largest pos...

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  #technology #science
• 2008-10-23

  Pop!Tech live now!

  This has been my all time favorite conference. Unfortunately I can’t make it this year. However, here it is, streaming LIVE from Camden. Wish I was there! Click here to see the live stream from Pop!Tech

• 2008-10-21

  Good judgement?

  This has been picked up all over the place, so you might have already seen it. I thought it was good. There are many sections that are quotable, I pick just one. You should just read the whole thing, as I said, picked up all over the place. “[snip…]I have no interest in any deals in which anyone would like me to participate. I truly do not have a strong opinion about any market right now, other than to say that things will continue to ge...

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  #business
• 2008-10-15

  Halo: Supposed to be the most unbelievably great Video Conferencing system

  Halo, from HP. Really? Unfortunately it is outrageously expensive. Can’t find the number online but I heard 50-100K.

  “The Halo studio—designed by DreamWorks Animation in partnership with HP—provides life-size, real-time, eye-to-eye conferencing with outstanding audio and no delay. Halo gives the sense of being in the same room together. And best of all, it’s right down the hall.” (from Introducing Halo)

  #technology
• 2008-10-07

  Now I am getting nervous… Cramer wants me to sell everything?

  Check out this post Henry Blodget: Should You Really Panic And Sell Everything Like Cramer Says?: "On the Today Show Monday morning, Jim Cramer told investors to sell everything and get out of the stock market. A Wall Street friend described this as the market’s "Munchian scream moment."" (from: from Huffington Post: Front Page)

  …

  #business
• 2008-10-01

  Esther Dyson on the Coming Ad Revolution

  Esther Dyson wrote this very interesting Wall Street Journal article about how online advertising is changing. This article is very relevant to my new product, SWIFT, which I have hinted about before. She says: “The current online-advertising model will become less effective, even as it gets increasingly sophisticated. New players are emerging to devalue the spaces that the ad giants are currently fighting over. Companies you’ve never heard of called NebuAd, Project Rialto, Phorm, Frontporch and Adzilla are pitching tools to Internet service providers that will enable them to track user...

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  #business #technology