The impending Age Of Abundance was prophecied in the scriptures thousands of years ago.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Happy New Year
Via Deborah Lilly Weddington
My idea of New Year was to go for a long walk in Queens. And soon I am headed to Times Square. After midnight I might be headed to a party in the East Village.
Happy New Year everyone! It is going to be exciting.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Texting While Driving Asks For Driverless Cars
Image via WikipediaSome people are referring to it as an epidemic. People who text while they drive are more likely to get into an accident. That sounds like common sense. But the real solution is not to ban texting, although it might make short term sense. The real solution is to speed up and end up with driverless cars. Self Driving Google Car
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Is Tech Blogging Dying?
Image via CrunchBaseMy short answer is no, not at all. But there is a minor storm on the topic going on. It was, I believe, started by Jeremiah Owyang.
End of an Era: The Golden Age of Tech Blogging is Over
Many people have pitched in with their own reply blog posts. Notables like Pete Cashmore, Fred Wilson, and Loic Le Meur - founder of Le Web conference in Paris - have participated in Jeremiah's comments sections. Pete Cashmore's comment is particularly interesting.
Sarah Lacy: Golden Age of Tech Blogging Done? I Couldn't Disagree More
Brian Solis: Is the Golden Age of tech blogging over?
Marshall Kirkpatrick: The Next Era of Tech Blogging: 3 Things That Could Make it Better
Hugh MacLeod: Oh No! Blogging is REALLY, REALLY dead this time!!!!!! :D
TechCrunch Predicts The Year Ahead
Image via CrunchBaseTechCrunch: "No one knows what the future holds, but I can guarantee you the world will look be different – again – at the end of next year." This statement is almost irresponsible. It is more fitting for The Onion than for TechCrunch.
It is funny. Who would have thought?
Could Google+ End Up Bigger Than Gmail?
Image via CrunchBaseLooks like Facebook has some real competition on its hands. The numbers are looking really good for Google+ right now and they keep getting better. Finally after Wave and Buzz and Orkut and a few other attempts Google seems to have nailed social. But I think Google+ is different from Facebook. In terms of the social graph it resides somewhere between Twitter and Facebook, although Facebook's new subscribe feature brings it more into the Google+ realm.
Image via CrunchBaseIf Google+ ends up with something like 400 million users by the end of 2012, that will be remarkable. The news will not be that it has become half the size of Facebook. The news will be that it has become bigger than Gmail.
Image via CrunchBaseGoogle+ might many people's solution to the inbox problem. Don't clutter people's inboxes, instead send out a Google+ post. That is the message. Whats' the difference between an email that never got read a Google+ post that never got seen? Not much.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Monday, December 26, 2011
White Space Revolution
Image via WikipediaThe real question is why does broadcast television have a-n-y spectrum? Why is it not all going to wireless broadband? But until we get there, this small development is small solace. This development taken to its logical conclusion will finally turn the smartphone and the tablet into the laptop. In that I mean connectivity will cease to be an issue. For a flat monthly fee you can have as much of it as you want. Business Insider: The Next Billion Dollar Wireless Industry Has Officially Launched
White Spaces has been called "WiFi on steroids" and has been championed by the likes of Google and Microsoft...... White spaces brings with it tons of potential for new devices and applications. It is faster than WiFi so it can handle more data. It can bring (nearly) free Internet access to the most remote areas of the country, places that can't get WiFi. ......... Because it uses broadcast television signals, any place that can pick up a broadcast TV signal should be able to tap into White Spaces. A large range of wireless frequencies have always been reserved for broadcast television, much of it unused
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Don't Count Out Microsoft
People like to ask if Google has become Microsoft. They don't mean that as a compliment. But you only have to watch this video to realize not only is Microsoft in the lead on the next big thing - 3D - but it also now has a really sleep smartphone. And if Windows on your laptop/PC is going to have keyboard, mice a-n-d touch, that is big leagues.
Microsoft is very well positioned right now.
Could Skype Be Microsoft's YouTube?
Microsoft's Alliances And Acquisitions
Microsoft's Second Act?
Microsoft's Gesture
Microsoft: Smartphone, Tablet, Bar Code
A Man Who Needs No Introduction
Paris Action (3)
Paris Action (2)
Paris Action
A Man Who Needs No Introduction
I have been going through the videos from Paris. And this one struck me because it was put right next to the Eric Schmidt video, and I am like, who is this guy? I have never seem him before. Well, I still don't know who he is. But he got introduced as "a man who needs no introduction."
Paris Action (3)
Paris Action (2)
Paris Action
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Friday, December 23, 2011
My Take On AirTime (4)
Image via WikipediaGoogle Hangouts is not it, not by a wide margin. And Chatroulette was more like Lycos. AirTime might end up the Google of the random connections space. But there is no given, even if the founder is Sean Parker. But I think this team has a shot. Happy Holidays
You see a big screen, a full screen, a near full screen. And in there you see a random person on the service. Could be anybody from anywhere. That randomness has got to be the starting point. I mean, we are talking world peace. The social graph that Facebook has mapped is like the solar system. The random connections space is the size of the Milky Way. But it has to be done right. There is enough broadband globally that this application could fly.
So you start with that random person, and the option to click next and move on to the next random person. But you also want the users to have the flag option to not end up with Chatroulette like penis problem. If you got flagged by 100 users, chances are you have been flashing. The flag option, the block option. You block when you don't want to see that person ever again, you flag when you think that person should not be on the service.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Dave Morin Talks to Calacanis
Source: Jason Calacanis
Calacanis, as usual, does half the talking.
The money quote has got to be Morin talking about the "hard conversations" you are supposed to have. The more of them you have the better you get at them.
Another quote. "Stop going to conferences, stay at the office, do the work, listen to your users."
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
The NYU ITP Show Was Amazing
Image by Getty Images via @daylifeI meant to show up last year but for some reason the event fell through the crack of things. I am so glad I got to show up this year. If you could go to just one event in December, it would be this one. And there are some great Holiday parties in town this month. December Events
I showed up early and stayed the entire time. I went from stall to stall. And when I was done I made repeat visits to some stalls. It was a mind blowing experience.
FourSquare Should Rent A Stadium
NYU is accessible like Columbia is not. NYU has a great location. And the ITP has the distinction of having had Dennis Crowley there a few years back. He probably is its most famous alum.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
The Significance Of Eating An Apple
I'd like to believe I am health conscious. And I wish the same upon others. I weigh the same that I did when I showed up in this country. That is no small achievement. Exercise, food and sleep are the basics you have to stay cognizant of. I am capable of going for long walks. And the primary motivator for me there is what I see, not the muscles I exercise, although those walks always lead to good nights of sleep. Similarly the apple for me is the good taste. I don't think of it as a prescription drug. As in, it is good for me, so I should eat it. I do freehand exercise. Long walks are for when I feel the strong urge to see. And the vastness of Queens speaks to that urge. Used to be The Bronx, but I took care of that weeks ago. I camped out at a friend's for a few weeks and walked all over The Bronx. Now Queens is the borough I have seen the least. And the borough is just so big, and most parts are far far away from train stations. I sleep plenty. I think that is key. For the past few weeks I have been eating a lot of uncooked food. There are people who eat out, they don't cook, they eat out. I have been experimenting with the cook as little as possible thing. But for me the fill in the blank has meant a lot of uncooked food. Like apples, for example. No, I don't eat it every day, not several times a day, not for meals. No. But the dependence on uncooked food means the apple has to be a ready snack. An apple can be a great snack. For one, it tastes so good. For me it is about the taste. It also is good for you. That's there. There must be something in the apple that you get an immediate boost, you get uplifted, you feel fresh. Maybe it reminds you of cold climates or something. You end up feeling fresh. Oranges are good too, as are carrots. And I grab cooked, packed vegetable dumplings from a nearby Chinese store. You put it in boiling water for a few minutes and they are ready to eat like instant noodles. And I get to put hot sauce all over it. There is no limit to how hot I can eat. Recently I cooked chicken curry into which I put a whole bunch of green chili, the Indian, hot kind. I have not cooked rice at home in months. There's a food cart a block away where I get some lamb over rice when I feel the urge, which might happen every few weeks. But rice has been displaced by whole wheat pita bread. When you eat it you feel like an Afghan.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
New Business Cards
"Don't Throw Your Business Card At Me"
New Business Card On The Way
Another card designed by my friend Jackson Lin. This is two sides. He did it in five minutes while I watched. At the Whole Foods in Union Square. This might be headed to some local printer.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Blip.TV Did Rent A Stadium Looks Like
At the party I am going to say a founder of Blip.TV personally invited me, that is why I am here. As for these other six people with me, if you want, I don't know who they are, feel free to kick them out.
FourSquare Should Rent A Stadium
December Events
paramendraParamendra Bhagat
Are there @foursquare and @bliptv holiday parties this year? Or are they going cheap? There seems to be no public info. @dens@dinakaplan
Dina Kaplan@paramendra@foursquare@bliptv there is - send angelaATblipDOTtv an email!
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FourSquare Should Rent A Stadium
December Events
Following 2700 People On Google Plus
Image via WikipediaA few weeks back I discovered this list. That gave me a start of sorts on Google Plus, even though I still don't show up daily like I do on Facebook and Twitter and Gmail of course. It is like I signed up for Tumblr early, not long after it was launched, because I read about it in the news. And then I forgot about it. When someone convinced me to "get on Tumblr" I believe in February 2010, when I went to sign up, there already was a user by that name, and that was me. But Tumblr for me took off when I came across a list by David Noel. I ended up following most people on the list. These were tech entrepreneurs and VCs.
I have gone passive on Tumblr since summer. I still reblog once in a while, but I probably came across the tumblog post somewhere else. My primary blogs hosted on Blogger still feed into my Tumblr, so I still provide fresh content.
When I show up on Google Plus, my stream always surprises me. I follow so many great quality people. If I want some intellectual company, Google Plus is that place. Google Plus has displaced Tumblr for me for now. Even though I got inactive on Tumblr before Google Plus came along, and I am not doing the daily thing yet on Google Plus that I used to do on Tumblr.
Google Plus does not compete with Facebook, just like Twitter does not, Tumblr does not. They occupy different spaces. It is like when I got active on Quora I realized the FourSquare guys were on there, active. On Google Plus that person has been Alexis Ohanian. I see him often in my NY Tech circle. He is there, and he responds. I think he circled me back.
I mean, there is the MIT Media Lab circle, for instance. Joi Ito is really something. And it is an honor to be able to follow his crew.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
FourSquare Should Rent A Stadium
Paramendra Bhagat Are there @foursquare and @bliptv holiday parties this year? Or are they going cheap? There seems to be no public info. @dens@dinakaplan
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paramendraParamendra Bhagat
Are there @foursquare and @bliptv holiday parties this year? Or are they going cheap? There seems to be no public info. @dens@dinakaplan
Dennis Crowley@paramendra We did an employees and +1s only party this year. We getting big!
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paramendraParamendra Bhagat
Are there @foursquare and @bliptv holiday parties this year? Or are they going cheap? There seems to be no public info. @dens@dinakaplan
densDennis Crowley
@paramendra We did an employees and +1s only party this year. We getting big!
Paramendra Bhagat@dens Rent a stadium. I heard you raised some money. I want my party. There's still time! ;-)
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December Events
Dennis Crowley: Role Model For Kids?
Blip.TV: How Do They Ever Get Anything Done?
Saturday, December 10, 2011
PlanCast's Facebook, Twitter, EventBrite, MeetUp Integrations
Image via CrunchBaseI have stayed on a lookout for Holiday parties and today I was looking around PlanCast and I just so happened by the Settings page. And I got impressed. This might not be a new thing, but it is new to me. Now my MeetUp RSVPs and EventBrite RSVPs and my Facebook Events automatically show up in my PlanCast timeline. I dig that. PlanCast is now going to be more useful to me. The page now also lets me automatically follow my Twitter and Facebook friends who might also be on PlanCast, and when I saw that I was a little hesitant because I have lots of Twitter friends. But then I decided to go for it. Because if you are on Twitter, and if you either follow me or are followed by me, and if you are also signed up for PlanCast, that is a lot of filters. That is like saying if you are at a tech event and you come across someone who does not have a Twitter handle that person is probably not worth networking with.
And my connections on PlanCast ballooned by about 700 people right away. And that's okay. Now I might have more events to choose from. And it's nice to show up at some event and know that there are at least five people there you already know or can quickly know ("Hey, I think you follow me on Twitter!"). You are more likely to pounce on the 200 in the room you don't know that way.
Right now I almost feel about PlanCast the way I felt about Twitter when I first heard of the embed tweet option. Although it is fair to say the two are in two very different leagues. Like Dick Costolo once said of Eric Schmidt: "We are not on the same plane, and I mean in the Gulfstream sense."
But then my blog itself is not a bad place to look to find events: December Events.
Friday, December 09, 2011
Thursday, December 08, 2011
Being Able To Embed Tweets Is A Revolution
I have been blaming Evan Williams for this the entire time. He ousted Jack Dorsey, and I can't even freaking embed tweets in my blog posts. I mean, I can. There are services like Embedly. But they generate five hectares of code. A tweet is not more complex than a video clip, and YouTube generates one line of code for you to embed video clips from YouTube. Embedding a tweet should feel as effortless as retweeting. A tweet is a unit, and that unit you should be able to carry with you.
I still don't have it yet. I guess they are going to take their sweet time to roll it. Maybe days. Maybe weeks. But that's okay. I mean, it's not. But what you gonna do?
The Future of Computing
Source: New York Times
Power in Numbers: China Aims for High-Tech Primacy
Creating Artificial Intelligence Based on the Real Thing
Vast and Fertile Ground in Africa for Science to Take Root
With a Leaner Model, Start-Ups Reach Further Afield
A High-Stakes Search Continues for Silicon’s Successor
Out of a Writer’s Imagination Came an Interactive World
Looking Backward to Put New Technologies in Focus
Interactive Map
Taking Faster and Smarter to New Physical Frontiers
Leave the Driving to the Car, and Reap Benefits in Safety and Mobility
Death Knell for the Lecture: Technology as a Passport to Personalized Education
An Evolution Toward a Programmable Universe
In an Open-Source Society, Innovating by the Seat of Our Pants
Computer Scientists May Have What It Takes to Help Cure Cancer
China Is Poised for an I.T. Golden Age
New Tools for New Computing Challenges
Full Speed Ahead, Without a Map, Into New Realms of Possibility
Blueprint For The 21st Century
Image via Wikipedia(1) Wireless, Gigabit Broadband For Seven Billion PeopleThis needed to be the primary focus of the stimulus bill in 2009. Instead a bunch of money got poured into 20th century artifacts like roads and bridges. I don't think this will take more than 100 billion. At most. That is a small price tag if you ask me. Considering how central it is to everything else that needs to get done.
You do this and far fewer people are trying to come into America, into Europe. Educational and economic opportunities would go everywhere.
And it will pay for itself. First you build it, then you operate it, then you go ad supported, and then you sell it off, and end up making money on the whole thing. I am talking satellites, I am talking dark fiber. Do whatever it takes. The goal should be that no matter where you are on the planet, on land or water, we got you covered.
This infrastructure is key to every big problem we face today, starting with global finance. People who are trying to "fix" things are literally flying blind. They don't have the data with which to build a new global financial architecture, the only way out of the current mess.
This infrastructure is needed to fight climate change. You build this infrastructure and nothing can stop the total spread of democracy. All demon regimes wither away.
(2) Seven Billion People Checking In
All airports, all bus terminals, all train stations should have this. All public places. You announce your presence to a mega database. It could be retina stuff. Alongside build a huge database for fingerprints as well. And you do these two things to get rid of the sick immigration laws that exist in every country.
If you live in a city, you should be able to vote in that city. That should be the global law.
(3) Erosion Of The Nation State
This is inevitable.
Wednesday, December 07, 2011
US Ambassador To Nepal On Facebook
It started here. That took me to here. And to here.
This is the US ambassador to Nepal using Facebook to step right into a controversy. If all US ambassadors did this, Wikileaks might go irrelevant, like I said in a comment. By now I have left four comments. My latest comment is as follows.
(1) Biotechnology is like software, like nanotechnology, like green/clean energy. A country that wishes to go into the future can not be saying no to any of those. That is not me saying a big yes to Monsanto. Monsanto is just one company, although a big, influential one, and some might say a little notorious.
(2) Hybrid seeds are not news. Nepal has been using hybrid seeds for a long time now. But I must admit the kind of hybrids Monsanto seems to have in mind are leaps and bounds beyond what Nepal has been using so far.
(3) A new medicine sometimes is not what it was thought to be. But that is no argument against medical progress. Hybrid seeds can have and have had drastic eco consequences. That is an argument for a much more rigorous regimen to how the new hybrids get approved for the market in the first place.
(4) Biotech is going to play a key role in upping Nepal's agricultural production by a factor of something like 10, something dramatic. Again, that is not a vote for Monsanto. That is my positive vibe for biotech as an emerging field in applied science.
(5) Monsanto does seem to have some notoriety. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto A lot of it seems to come from its non biotech moves, in how it lobbies governments, how it influences decision making, how it enters countries. The solution to that is to have a full fledged intelligent discussion. It is for the Nepali people to decide if Monsanto is to be allowed. But at this point my stand is that a pilot project will not hurt. With a pilot project the Nepali people will have something concrete to talk about and debate.
(6) In this day and age of internet and globalization that pilot project local to Nepal can be coupled with global experiences with Monsanto. There's some good and some bad out there. Software programs have bugs. The early ones had even more of them. Windows crashed a lot in the early years. Some of what we blame Monsanto for is the fact that humanity is in its early stages of using biotechnology. And so there are "bugs." The effort has to be to fix the bugs. For that a corporation like Monsanto, a government like that in Nepal, and collectively a people all have to work hand in hand. I think cooperation is possible, and that starts with an open dialogue like this one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biotechnology
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
Monday, December 05, 2011
December Events
Image via WikipediaZaarlys Holiday Party at FontanasThursday, December 8, 6:30 PM
105 Eldridge Street
B/D Grand St
Purpose Holiday Party
Friday, December 9, 2011 from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM
224 Centre Street, 6th Floor
4/6/N/Q/Z Canal St
Young New Yorkers’ Chorus presents “NOVA! – Christmas with YNYC”
Church of Saint Mary the Virgin · Sunday, December 11, 2011, 7:30-10:30pm
Entrepreneurs Roundtable 42
Monday, December 12, 2011 from 6:15 PM to 8:30 PM
Microsoft, 1290 6th Avenue, 6th Floor
B/D/F/M Rockefeller Center
Blacks in Tech Christmas Party
Monday, December 12, 2011 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
2296 Frederick Douglass Blvd
A/B/C/D/1/2/3 125 St
Annual NYC UX Community Holiday Party
FORUM LOUNGE · Tuesday, December 13, 2011, 6:00pm
Holiday Party
Max Fish · Tuesday, December 13, 2011, 7:00pm
Women in Wirelesss Holiday Party
Roger Smith Hotel · Wednesday, December 14, 2011, 6:00pm
501 Lexington Avenue , Starlight Room
NYU ITP Winter Show!
Sunday, Dec 18 2:00 PM
NYU ITP, 721 Broadway 4th Floor, New York
TechDrinks XXIII: Happy Christmahanukwanzivus!
Lunasa Bar · Monday, December 19, 2011, 6:00pm
New Venue: Startup Xmas & TechDrinks
Monday, December 19 at 6:00pm
The Bloomberg Building, 731 Lexington Ave, 28th Floor
Digital Media MBA December '11 Holiday Party
GSTAAD · Monday, December 19, 2011, 6:30-10:00pm
Prof. SD Muni - South Asian Perceptions of Rising China
December 20, 5:30-7:30 PM on Tuesday, December 20, 2011 at 72 Fifth Ave, 7th Floor
(northwest corner of 13th and 5th Ave.)
Ignite NYC Holiday Party
8-11pm, Hotel Chantelle, 92 Ludlow Street (btw Broome and Delancey)
(FREE) Live Jazz at Bar Basque with Mike Cottone
Bar Basque · Wednesday, December 28, 2011, 6:30-9:30pm
DUMBO Startup Lab: Open House + New Year Party Mixer
Thursday, December 29, 2011 at 7:30 PM (ET)
DUMBO Startup Lab
68 Jay st. #415
Naked Holidays!!
Thursday at 8:00pm until Friday, December 30, 2011 at 11:30pm
When Sean Parker Took A Break From Tweeting
Image by Getty Images via @daylifeWhen Vinod Khosla Took A Break From TweetingSean Parker used to tweet near daily after he finally, finally got on the service. Well, that has not been true for weeks now. And I have no idea why. But there is a strange coincidence to my tweeting him around the same time.
My Take On AirTime (3): November 13
Sunday, December 04, 2011
Sunday Tickles
BestAt: The Best @'s RT @ineedaballrub: Name your iPod 'Titanic', plug it into the computer, "Titanic is syncing", press cancel, feel like a hero.
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BestAt: The Best @'s RT @robdelaney: Kill them with kindness! Or a hammer.
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BestAt: The Best @'s RT @FilthyRichmond: Marriage is about the little things, like playfully slapping my husband's elbow when he's using a Q-Tip.
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