Netizen: Facebook

Showing posts with label Facebook. Show all posts

Thursday, April 23, 2015

The Next Next Thing

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Facebook's Hello Just Might Have Killed Brewster

I don't get the impression Facebook was even gunning for it, it was just trying to get a more meaningful presence on your phone, but Brewster now might be dead. (I gave it a try, multiple times, but it sent me one email too many.)

Hello is a great app. An app I have been needing but was not out there. Not only do people make less phone calls these days, but you also want to receive fewer phone calls. And so, for that small time quota you have for phone calls, it is amazingly offensive that that time might get taken by phone calls that are strictly in the unwelcome category. This app solves that huge problem. If Facebook does not know who you are, you are suspect. That is a fair assessment. Much of the world does not have ID, no Social Security number, no credit history, nothing. A Facebook ID is a good start.

Knowing who is calling you is much welcome information. You can run from Facebook, but you can not hide.

Hello is an awesome app. I read about it in the news and installed it not long after. Heck, that is how I signed up for LinkedIn. I read about it in the news. And then I did not use it much for almost a decade. But Hello I am using.

Saturday, March 21, 2015

The TV Industry's Deadtree Newspapers Moment?

If Google Fiber is going to be so profoundly profitable for Google, why is the roll out not much faster?

Google is about to make the sale of TV ads much more like ads on the web ..... "If you're a local business in Kansas City, just as with digital ads, you'll only pay for ads that have been shown, and can limit the number of times an ad is shown to a given TV" ...... Google clearly wants to turn the shotgun approach of broadcast advertising into a sniper's bullet. Which is good for advertisers, but less great for the networks selling airtime. ..... Google's new program will no doubt drive the cost of ads way down.

Monday, March 09, 2015

The Four Horsemen: Amazon/Apple/Facebook/Google

Monday, February 16, 2015

The Vivek Wadhwa I Know Is A Feminist

DAVOS/SWITZERLAND, 28JAN11 - Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer, Facebook, USA; Young Global Leader are captured during the session 'Handling Hyper-connectivity' at the Annual Meeting 2011 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 28, 2011. Copyright by World Economic Forum swiss-image.ch/Photo by Jolanda Flubacher (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am not even aware of the full conversation, but I caught a snippet first on his Facebook page, then on Twitter. Strange things are known to happen in social media. You don't have to be female to be feminist. And for me the term is like saying someone is a civil rights activist. Sheryl Sandberg is a feminist, in my book. And Vivek getting called the opposite --- well, it is fun! Really. I am like, really? He is a rare man who makes intelligent, well thought out, numbers supported cases for why women should get more in tech. Few men cheer women, fewer still make strong, well thought out cases. Vivek is in the rare category. That is the truth. But don't let truth get in your way. Enjoy Twitter! It is the experience.

@ElissaBeth having seen backlash @wadhwa has received, I'm not sure it is worth it for men to stand up for women's rights. I hope I'm wrong.
— Sahil M. Bansal (@SMB06) February 15, 2015

Looks like the spat even got colorful!

.@ncweaver And are you helping women by spreading such slander? When professors meet students, is there a threat to the student?
— Vivek Wadhwa (@wadhwa) February 15, 2015

My response to the podcast that unfairly attacked me

Vivek Wadhwa is not just another dude who writes articles. He is the smartest dude in Silicon Valley. Yes, I did say that. He talks in terms of the trillion dollar industries of tomorrow, in ways only a free thinker can. Top tech CEOs in the Valley can not afford to. They need their horse cart blinders to keep their focus on the narrow stretch that is their company.

The funny thing is, he is not only on the cutting edges of innovation, he is also on the cutting edges of gender in tech. Take his name out and circulate his articles on the topic and compare them to writings on the same topic by top rated feminists. His are more effective. He is outdoing wo-men on gender! That is no small feat.

But a little color on Twitter never hurt.

This is a dude that I want sitting on my company's Board at the earliest possible opportunity. For the record.

The Tragedy of Losing Vivek Wadhwa as an Ally

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

A Like From Sheryl Sandberg

Thursday, January 08, 2015

Are Google's Best Days Behind It?

Wi-Fi Signal logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I love Google like some people love Apple. I have also said before Google is going to be the first trillion dollar company in history. But to get there they need fundamental businesses.

The driverless car could be one such business. Not an almost driverless car, but a completely driverless car. If they can do that, they will have added something as fundamental as search to their hat. And that would be big business.

Another part is connectivity, the business of taking more people online. I was yelling years ago that Twitter should make it possible for people to search through all tweets. I have been yelling that Google should be in a big hurry to take more people online, take all people online. Because Google is better positioned than anyone else to make money off of that. And Google has been moving oh so slowly there. They should be able to say, we are taking all seven billion plus people online, and here, we are willing to spend 50 billion dollars to that end. But no, they have been dragging their feet on this.

And it's not just people in poor countries. Right here in America they are not moving fast enough on Gigabit broadband, and on getting into the TV spectrum of taking WiFi to the masses. People using free or supercheap WiFi is good for Google. But they are moving so slow.

Some of the top stories today ask this question: Are Google's best days behind it? I don't think so, but Google needs to make some moves fast.

Monday, December 08, 2014

My First Taste Of Bitcoin

The bitcoin logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am not that late to the table. I have been excited about Bitcoin for a while now. But I just got my first taste of it. All you have to do is sign up with Coinbase and they give a dollar worth of Bitcoin for free. Go sign up. It's a good feeling.

Sunday, December 07, 2014

The Blockchain Is About Trust

The main chain (black) consists of the longest series of blocks from the genesis block (green) to the current block. Orphan blocks (purple) exist outside of the main chain. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The bitcoin logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

From the get go I have felt the blockchain can handle way more than money. Like identity in general.

Most of humanity does not have internet access. Most of humanity does not have credit rating either, most of humanity does not have Social Security numbers either. And you can't wait and expect governments to patch those holes. They will take forever. I am not saying exclude them, I am saying include them as much as possible, but do not wait for them.

The Bitcoin stands to revolutionize microfinance. ($100 Billion Plan To Save The World)

BitBeat: Blockchain-Based ID App Reimagines Internet Identity

a universal personal ID verified by cyrptocurrency blockchain technology ..... One day, suggests Mr. Ali, you could use your Onename ID to assign rights and powers to do all sorts of things — “to open your garage door, release your medical records or lodge an online vote.”

Feature Friday: Distributed Identity

I predicted that there would emerge a “bitcoin like protocol” for identity. And we’ve been looking for that. ..... One thing we realized along the way is that this could be built on top of bitcoin or another blockchain. And so earlier this year we made a seed investment in a startup called OneName that is building exactly that. ...... a distributed ledger of identity that is open and not controlled by any entity. And that sounds like an application for a blockchain if there ever was one.

https://onename.io/paramendra

Veniam

Fred Wilson (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Bitcoin is all the rage. I do think it is as fundamental as the Internet itself was in 1996. But I have been worried Fred Wilson has become one dimensional and is only thinking about the Bitcoin these days. I guess not.

Here is a super exciting investment he just made, looks like: Veniam.

In my book Veniam is the most exciting move Fred Wilson ever made.

Google's self driving car might never happen. But you pair up an almost self driving car with Uber, and you get magic, much sooner. Singularity might never happen. My bet is it will not happen. But a lot of wonderful things will happen in attempts at singularity. This Veniam deal might be the real thing to Google and Facebook talking satellites and drones and balloons. Although I am big on satellites and drones and balloons.

Innovation has a funny way of upending the big dogs.

My comment to his blog post:

This is HUGELY exciting. I think you should get one on one with De Blasio, like NOW, and make this happen for NYC. They are talking old phone booths, which is great, but this is the real deal. A NYC where there is internet access every inch of the city is safer and is on its way to becoming One City. (Reference: De Blasio's Two Cities theme when he ran.)

The Bitcoin is as fundamental as the Internet was in 1996, I give you that. But for a while I was worried you have become a one track train with a laser focus just on Bitcoins. But I guess not.

Heck, this can be taken to Mumbai, to Kathmandu. What about backpacks? This could be taken to Namche! (Sagarmatha base camp ---- Sagarmatha, the Nepali name for Everest).