Dick Costolo Was A Standup Comedian

But you knew that.

A Master of Improv, Writing Twitter’s Script

Mr. Dorsey’s role has since been reduced after employees complained that he was difficult to work with and repeatedly changed his mind about product directions. He no longer has anyone directly reporting to him, although he is still involved in strategic decisions.

Mr. Dorsey declined to comment on how people feel about working with him. But, in a statement, he said he considered Mr. Costolo to be one of Twitter’s founders. “He’s had a dramatic impact on the company and the culture,” Mr. Dorsey said. “He’s questioned everything we started with and made it better.”

Mr. Costolo says he looks to Mr. Dorsey for ideas and sometimes has to pull them out of him. Although Mr. Dorsey is a regular on the media circuit, appearing on CNN, as well as “Charlie Rose” and other programs, he tends to be quiet in meetings.

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Himalayan Yak Restaurant: Jackson Heights

Yelp: Himalayan Yak Restaurant
Zagat: Himalayan Yak Restaurant
OpenTable: Himalayan Yak Restaurant
Chowhound: Himalayan Yak Restaurant
About.com: Himalayan Yak Restaurant

Website
Facebook Page
MoMo At Yak: Photos

Paan In Jackson Heights
Number One Reason I Dig Jackson Heights
Jackson Heights: My Neighborhood
Jackson Heights
Jackson Heights
Jackson Heights

Joe's Shanghai: Dumplings Nazi









TimeOut: Himalayan Yak Restaurant
New York Times: Himalayan Yak Restaurant
American Nepali (Blog): Himalayan Yak Restaurant

Adding to my list of foods I've never had... (@ Himalayan Yak Restaurant w/ @omaryousif) 4sq.com/RGTkUR
— leland rechis (@leland) August 11, 2012

Jennifer 8 Lee: New York Times: Where Nepalese Is Spoken, and Yak Is Served

Does the subway bother you? Sometimes, but it has now become a habit. Mustang — we have wind, crazy wind. It’s a cold desert. It’s very loud. Around 12 midday, it stops everything. People stop to walk in the day...... The breakdown of your customers: Nepalese, Tibetan, Himalayan are 75 percent, 25 percent are foreigners.

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• Jackson Heights: My Neighborhood
• In pictures: Nepal's 'hidden kingdom'
• Everest Yaks
• Yaks, Buddhism and the soul
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Bouncing Dead Cats

Nick Bilton: New York Times: How to Make a Dead Cat Bounce on Twitter

If you’re sharing a link on Twitter, it’s best to share it between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. East Coast time..... On Facebook .. just sharing a link is not that effective. Instead, I often post a large, alluring photo from the article and then attach a link to the image. This can generate four or five times as many clicks on an article. ..... On Google Plus, although photos work well, videos get a lot of interaction, especially YouTube clips that are playable within the feed. .... On a weekend, I will actually go to weather sites before sharing an article. If it’s raining, most people are cooped up inside, so I can post away. If it’s sunny, people are enjoying the day at the beach or park — and not looking at their smartphones in the glaring sun, or at least we can hope so — and I will wait until later in the evening to share. .... Getting on the home page of Reddit is like winning the links lottery. .... In stock market investing, a dead cat bounce is often the last fleeting bump when suckers buy, before a stock hits bottom for good. .... By Monday morning, when the sharing began to slow on Twitter, I shared it again there. That acted as a trampoline for the story and sent it back into the Twittersphere. It was temporarily visible for people who had not seen it on Sunday

It is amazing how even an established writer like Nick Bilton diligently shares and promotes what he writes. Building is not enough. You also got to sell. It is like the tree that fell in the forest. Did you hear it?

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Wikileaks And SOPA

Image via CrunchBase

I see a connection between the two. In both cases the traditional nation state felt threatened, or still does.

The NYT’s Bill Keller on why we should defend WikiLeaks

Internet technology is bringing about a fundamental rethink on the relationship between the individual and the state. And state actors often times act defensive. The embrace part is when politicians use social media.

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• First they came for WikiLeaks, then the New York Times

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Blogger Khosla

Image via WikipediaVinod Khosla: TechCrunch: The “Unhyped” New Areas in Internet and Mobile

a whole new world of platforms, a post-PC era, which I’d more aptly describe as the always/everywhere era, finally, and that means a whole new set of opportunities ..... the cost of experimentation has gone down dramatically ..... raw computing power is taken for granted. ..... What else new has the potential (nothing is certain!) to be truly disruptive or establish a new category in the domain of consumer Internet/mobile/services (which to me are fast becoming interchangeable)? ...... AirBnB and Instagram would be examples of companies whose categories existed prior to their entry, but they are meaningfully different. ...... I call them the “unhyped dozen” (to go with my energy investing activities, which I call the “clean dozen”) ...... (1) Data Reduction or Filters (Siri) (2) Big data or Analytics ... There will be countless new types of data streams .... Much has been written about big data and it and may be getting past the unhyped label! (3) Emotion (Foodspotting, Ness, Instagram) (4) Education 2.0 (Khan Academy) ... “Education models that dramatically reduce the cost and increase the availability of quality learning.” The puzzling question is why education has not already changed. (5) TV 2.0 (6) Social Next (7) Interest-based networks (Twitter) (8) Health 2.0 (9) Internet of Things/Universal ID/NFC/Smart sensors.... The network of things is supposedly growing faster than any other network, social or otherwise. (10) Personal Collaborative Publishing (Pinterest, Tumblr) ... Self-publishing on Amazon is becoming real, removing the gateway of traditional editors and the tax of traditional business models. Where will this lead? Books, especially non-fiction, can become more interactive, crowdsourced (ck12.org), social and collaborative. (11) Utility Apps (Siri) (12) Marketplaces & Disintermediation (Etsy) .... Why does Tom Freidman need The New York Times to get readers ................. We as investors have seen Square take off at an unprecedented rate (so far) for a payments startup, but in terms of relative scale, even Square is dwarfed by Mpesa — it is 20% of Kenya’s GDP already (using a totally different model than Square). Meanwhile in India, their UID system could remake the concept of “cash”....... Tools and services that used to be inaccessible to all but large manufacturers are now available to everyone. Foreign factories that were impenetrable before are now an email away. Design software costing thousands of dollars per seat is freely available (or very cheap). Hackers are mixing all of these elements together and re-imagining entire industries from the ground up. ..... the next industrial revolution ...... “The under 25” who don’t know what they don’t know, mostly have not worked at what traditionalists would call a “real job” and are not afraid to try new things ..... the rate of change is accelerating and the possibilities are endless!

The Clean Dozen
Artificial Intelligence
Teachers Or Algorithms

Why the Interest Graph Will Reshape Social Networks (and the Next Generation of Internet Business)

Vinod Khosla At MIT
When Vinod Khosla Took A Break From Tweeting
Vinod Khosla's Entry Into New York City
Vinod Khosla: For Profit Poverty Alleviation
Vinod Khosla's Green Tech Sweep
The Microfinance Fishing Net

Another Ode To Big Data

New York Times: The Age of Big Data

an explosion of data — Web traffic and social network comments, as well as software and sensors that monitor shipments, suppliers and customers — to guide decisions, trim costs and lift sales ...... the United States needs 140,000 to 190,000 more workers with “deep analytical” expertise and 1.5 million more data-literate managers, whether retrained or hired ...... The story is similar in fields as varied as science and sports, advertising and public health — a drift toward data-driven discovery and decision-making. “It’s a revolution” ...... the march of quantification, made possible by enormous new sources of data, will sweep through academia, business and government. There is no area that is going to be untouched ...... Welcome to the Age of Big Data. ...... data a new class of economic asset, like currency or gold ...... Big Data has the potential to be “humanity’s dashboard,” an intelligent tool that can help combat poverty, crime and pollution. Privacy advocates take a dim view, warning that Big Data is Big Brother, in corporate clothing. ........ a lot more data, all the time, growing at 50 percent a year, or more than doubling every two years ....... It’s not just more streams of data, but entirely new ones. ....... there are now countless digital sensors worldwide in industrial equipment, automobiles, electrical meters and shipping crates. They can measure and communicate location, movement, vibration, temperature, humidity, even chemical changes in the air. ........ the Internet of Things or the Industrial Internet. ....... Data is not only becoming more available but also more understandable to computers. Most of the Big Data surge is data in the wild — unruly stuff like words, images and video on the Web and those streams of sensor data. It is called unstructured data and is not typically grist for traditional databases. ........ the computer tools for gleaning knowledge and insights from the Internet era’s vast trove of unstructured data are fast gaining ground. At the forefront are the rapidly advancing techniques of artificial intelligence like natural-language processing, pattern recognition and machine learning ....... The wealth of new data, in turn, accelerates advances in computing — a virtuous circle of Big Data. Machine-learning algorithms, for example, learn on data, and the more data, the more the machines learn. Take Siri ....... The microscope, invented four centuries ago, allowed people to see and measure things as never before — at the cellular level. It was a revolution in measurement. ....... Data measurement.... is the modern equivalent of the microscope. Google searches, Facebook posts and Twitter messages, for example, make it possible to measure behavior and sentiment in fine detail and as it happens. ....... decisions will increasingly be based on data and analysis rather than on experience and intuition. “We can start being a lot more scientific” ........ the low-budget Oakland A’s massaged data and arcane baseball statistics to spot undervalued players. Heavy data analysis had become standard not only in baseball but also in other sports, including English soccer, well before last year’s movie version of “Moneyball,” starring Brad Pitt. ...... Walmart and Kohl’s, analyze sales, pricing and economic, demographic and weather data to tailor product selections at particular stores and determine the timing of price markdowns. Shipping companies, like U.P.S., mine data on truck delivery times and traffic patterns to fine-tune routing. ....... Police departments across the country, led by New York’s, use computerized mapping and analysis of variables like historical arrest patterns, paydays, sporting events, rainfall and holidays to try to predict likely crime “hot spots” and deploy officers there in advance. ....... data-guided management is spreading across corporate America and starting to pay off. ...... studied 179 large companies and found that those adopting “data-driven decision making” achieved productivity gains that were 5 percent to 6 percent higher than other factors could explain. ...... The predictive power of Big Data is being explored — and shows promise — in fields like public health, economic development and economic forecasting. Researchers have found a spike in Google search requests for terms like “flu symptoms” and “flu treatments” a couple of weeks before there is an increase in flu patients coming to hospital emergency rooms in a region (and emergency room reports usually lag behind visits by two weeks or so). ....... sentiment analysis of messages in social networks and text messages — using natural-language deciphering software — to help predict job losses, spending reductions or disease outbreaks in a given region. The goal is to use digital early-warning signals to guide assistance programs in advance to, for example, prevent a region from slipping back into poverty. ...... trends in increasing or decreasing volumes of housing-related search queries in Google are a more accurate predictor of house sales in the next quarter than the forecasts of real estate economists ....... social-network research involves mining huge digital data sets of collective behavior online. Among the findings: people whom you know but don’t communicate with often — “weak ties,” in sociology — are the best sources of tips about job openings. They travel in slightly different social worlds than close friends, so they see opportunities you and your best friends do not. ...... Researchers can see patterns of influence and peaks in communication on a subject — by following trending hashtags on Twitter, for example. The online fishbowl is a window into the real-time behavior of huge numbers of people. ...... Big Data has its perils, to be sure. With huge data sets and fine-grained measurement, statisticians and computer scientists note, there is increased risk of “false discoveries.” ...... “many bits of straw look like needles.” ...... Big Data also supplies more raw material for statistical shenanigans and biased fact-finding excursions. It offers a high-tech twist on an old trick: I know the facts, now let’s find ’em. ..... Data is tamed and understood using computer and mathematical models. These models, like metaphors in literature, are explanatory simplifications. They are useful for understanding, but they have their limits. A model might spot a correlation and draw a statistical inference that is unfair or discriminatory, based on online searches, affecting the products, bank loans and health insurance a person is offered ...... Veteran data analysts tell of friends who were long bored by discussions of their work but now are suddenly curious. .... “The culture has changed” .... “There is this idea that numbers and statistics are interesting and fun. It’s cool now.”

Big Data Democratization By Wolfram Alpha
Big Data
Facebook And Big Data
Big Data + Smartphone = New Generation Smartphone
Big Data: Big News

Big Data Democratization By Wolfram Alpha

Image via WikipediaThe Verge: Wolfram Alpha Pro democratizes data analysis: an in-depth look at the $4.99 a month service

... the ability to use images, files, and even your own data as inputs instead of simple text entry. The "reports" that Wolfram Alpha kicks out as a result of these (or any) query are also beefed up for Pro users, some will actually become interactive charts and all of them can be more easily exported in a variety of formats...... Wolfram Alpha presents a different way of interacting with knowledge and data than anything else out there on the web ..... Wolfram Alpha is excellent at returning answers to mathematical queries and scientific queries, but it also can provide results based on its structured data. Most people know it now as one of the sources for Apple's Siri feature on the iPhone 4S. ..... in many cases the service can provide better results from Siri than from text queries because there is "more structure to what they're saying" than what most people have trained themselves to type into search fields. ..... provide "reports" instead of just "answers." ..... The first and most obvious feature is that users will get an account at Wolfram Alpha with a complete history of their queries, uploads, and downloads. ...... any number of export options — including a basic Excel spreadsheet, vector graphics, and JSON data if you'd like to integrate the data into your own web app. ...... the Computable Document Format (CDF). CDF is a browser plug-in that enables interactivity with charts, graphs, and other data. ..... an "extended keyboard" which is similar to the larger keyboard available on its mobile apps. This makes it easier to enter mathematical symbols without having to remember obscure keyboard combinations ...... Users will also be able to use images as inputs ...... if you uploaded a set of dates and prices, Wolfram Alpha will actually try to determine exactly what those prices represent. ...... put yourself in the mindset of a small business owner. Instead of trying to hassle with interpreting a spreadsheet of website traffic and sales data, he or she could upload it to Wolfram Alpha Pro ...... not just for the realm of academics and research. Regular users may not have had much reason to dig into the service before now, but the ability to bring the entire brunt of Wolfram Alpha's computational engine on any arbitrary piece of data democratizes the idea of statistical analysis.

I did not have to invent email to be able to use Gmail. There will be Big Data versions of Gmail. I as a user should be able to do Big Data stuff without launching a Big Data company. We will see much more of that happen. If anything Big Data will show up as a hugely democratizing force. We will realize every single human being literally sits atop an oil field. There is money to be made.

What Price A Movie?

Image via WikipediaNew York Times: Dodd Calls for Hollywood and Silicon Valley to Meet

..... no Washington player can safely assume that a well-wired, heavily financed legislative program is safe from a sudden burst of Web-driven populism...... “This is altogether a new effect,” Mr. Dodd said, comparing the online movement to the Arab Spring. He could not remember seeing “an effort that was moving with this degree of support change this dramatically” in the last four decades, he added.

Say it is 10 dollars at the movie theater on release day. Some places it is 13, some 9. But let's say it's 10.

If the movie industry would move such that new releases can be watched on your laptop the day of the release, how much should you be asked to pay for it? It has to be less than 10. They did not build the home you are sitting in. They are not having to pay for the air conditioning, or the chair. The laptop is yours. The Internet is not charging them for the streaming.

The only thing they need is the production cost and the profit.

I think three dollars. Maybe even two.

They will make more money that way than they do now. They will reach a much, much wider audience for one. They could stream it from their own websites. Ads at that site would be the new popcorn.

I don't understand what stops them.

Microsoft Finally Cracked The Phone

Image via WikipediaIt is like Google finally cracked social with Google Plus. Microsoft, long ridiculed, might finally have something to offer in the phone space. And because of its alliance with Nokia, that has global implications. As in, they could scale fast. Watch out. There is a third player in the game now.

The New York Times: The Critics Rave ... for Microsoft?

While the likes of Apple have captured our imaginations with nifty products like the iPhone, Microsoft has produced a long list of flops, from smart wristwatches to the Zune music player to the Kin phones....... Unlike other handset makers creating devices with Microsoft’s software, Nokia is not also developing Android phones. ..... The next major version of software for PC’s, Windows 8, will look a lot like Windows Phone, which Microsoft hopes will help it work better on tablet devices. A Windows Phone-like makeover was also part of the new software update for Xbox, which along with Kinect is one of Microsoft’s few consumer hits. ....... The tale of how Microsoft created Windows Phone starts with the introduction of the iPhone, in 2007...... Windows Mobile had a complex array of on-screen menus, including a start button for applications that was borrowed from Windows PCs. The software ran on sluggish devices that had physical keyboards and, in some cases, styluses. ....... Once the iPhone exploded into the marketplace, Microsoft executives knew that their software, as designed, could never compete. ....... The decision was to start from scratch, a move that had serious consequences. Not only did it delay a Windows phone, it gave Google an opening to woo Microsoft handset partners to Android. ......... the Zune HD came out years too late, well after the iPod had cemented its lead. ...... Microsoft gave its handset partners detailed specifications of the types of technical innards required, including processors with certain amounts of power and screen technologies. Handset makers grumbled about the rules, but the result was phones that ran better. ........ “The company is being somewhat bold and saying what worked for them in 1992 won’t work now.” ....... this year is crucial; it will show whether a respected product is enough to help Microsoft make up for lost time. Even if it feels good to be a favorite of tech critics for a change, Microsoft needs a blockbuster in the mobile business, not a cult hit.

I think Microsoft finally has a mainstream product in the space. That would be a first.

Engadget: Nokia Lumia 900 coming to AT&T, further details expected on Monday
The Nokia Blog: NYT: Nokia Lumia 900 Going Official January 9th, Sleek & Metallic

BusinessWeek: Nokia Said to Announce Plans for First Microsoft Phone for AT&T

..... the device may sell for $249 with a two-year contract ....

The Verge: NYT confirms Nokia Lumia 900, headed to AT&T

..... if the rumors hold, we're looking at a 4.3-inch WVGA display, 512MB of RAM, and 8-megapixel camera, all running Windows Phone 7.5 Mango.

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