Hola Charlie, A 50K Opportunity

Fred, How About Some Money?

Charlie, here's what I believe an opportunity of a lifetime for you and your firm. This is First Round Capital's chance to step into FinTech.

FinTech: I Am Loving The Term

This is not the first time I am feeling like Fred Wilson stole my idea.

Fred Wilson: Calling All Fintech Entrepreneurs

What Got Me Started With FoodSpotting

It was this comment by Amy. This comment is what got me started with FoodSpotting. I felt compelled to respond to the comment, and the only way you could leave a comment was by creating an account, which was easy to do, took less than 10 seconds, and next thing you know I am on FoodSpotting.

But once I got my account I spent over an hour creating my profile, uploading a picture, browsing around. I discovered I really like dumplings. I can already see why FoodSpotting would make for an intense eating experience.

Future Of The Internet: Easy, Says Dixon

Chris Dixon: Predicting The Future Of The Internet Is Easy: Anything It Hasn't Yet Dramatically Transformed, It Will.: Facebook’s “private” IPO with Goldman Sachs ..... the dot com crash of 2000 disillusioned many .... Already transformed: music, news, advertising, telecom. Being transformed: finance, commerce, TV & movies, real estate, politics & government. Soon to be transformed (among many others): healthcare, education, energy. .... The modern economy runs primarily on information, and the Internet is by orders of magnitude the greatest information mechanism ever invented. ..... People, companies, investors and even countries can’t stop this transformation.

I have ready many blog posts by Chris Dixon, and the content of most of them have been super, but the title of this blog post stands out. This is the best title to a Chris Dixon blog post yet of all I have read yet. It is bold, it is obvious. There is no beating around the bush. It is simple. Simple enough that makes you feel as to why you yourself did not push out that blog post title. You could have had it to your name.

This is Chris Dixon's best blog post of all I have ever read, and I have read a few.

Penises For Sale: The Russian Mafia Is On It

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

General Assembly: Singing Praises

Charlie O'Donnell tricked me into it. After the snowball fight ended, he lead a group of us to the General Assembly. I had never heard of the place before.

"Is this your office, Charlie?" I asked.

Pretending To Be Dead

On Saturday I went for a four hour plus walk in the blizzard. It was tremendous fun. I was pretty aimless in where I was going. So far so good. Then I got back and drank some water that was colder than it needed to be. That precipitated a cold.

Turmeric powder works. Garlic works. Ginger works. Tylenol works.

500 Followers on Quora

Not long back I blogged saying I was astounded I had 300 followers on Quora. I had not been active. How did they find me?

Cosmic Love: Florence And The Machine

(Via Charlie O'Donnell)

The Nigerian Dictator Has Mutated

As For Quora: Blogging Still Rules

This is Fred Wilson at Quora. And this is Fred Wilson's blog. Some of you might have visited. I visit near daily. The days I miss - rare - I catch up later.

Now that I am active at Quora, I don't feel like, thank God Fred Wilson is on Quora, now I no longer have to visit his blog.

Quora: A Satellite Company To Twitter

There is this urge to label some new company the next Twitter, or the next FourSquare. For one, you sound like a visionary when you do, and so people jump to do it.

Quora Tip: Follow 25 Topics, 50 People To Get Started

That is my number one tip for you at Quora. If you don't follow enough topics or people, Quora is not about to become a part of your life.

Nate Says There Is Hope

Only Nate could write a manifesto like this and call it a manifesto.

I Am On Facebook Messages Now

Facebook Messaging Event: My Favorite Question
The Twins Were Rowing Boats

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeI just got a prompt from Facebook to activate Facebook Messages for me and I promptly did. I am exhilarated.

I have been ranting and raving about the inbox for a long time now. Google might have navigated the web, but no one had tried navigating the inbox. And now I think Facebook has taken a great step in that direction. This is as fundamental a departure as Gmail was from email services before that. This is huge.

Apple Is A Cultural Phenomenon

Image via Wikipedia

Fortune: Apple's market cap tops $300 billion: Giving ExxonMobil a run for its money in the race to be the world's most valuable company ..... Apple has been the most valuable tech stock and the world's second most valuable publicly traded company -- after ExxonMobil (XOM) -- since it passed Microsoft (MSFT) last May.

It's astounding as to how far Steve Jobs has brought Apple in a dozen years or so. Apple could very well end up the world's most valuable company. That is just mind boggling.

The iPhone swept the scene. Before that it was the iPod. Wait, Steve first started with the Mac itself. Computers could actually be good looking. He did that. There was a Time or Newsweek cover I remember from years ago that said, iPod, therefore I am.

The iPad has created a whole new class in computing. And the Macbook Air has brought the price point to more achievable levels. The guy creates sleek.

Do You Qro?

Qro is a verb I came up with. I think I am the first person.

If you are active on Quora, you qro. If you are not active, you don't qro.

2011: Quora's Year?

Quora is up to something. I can't ignore it no more.

Getting Popular At PlanCast

Image via CrunchBaseIf the CEO of a hot startup himself emails you without any prompt, I think you have a right to feel a little popular. So I got an email from the PlanCast CEO a few days back. It almost felt like the emails I got from Mark Pincus in early 2009. Pincus has become big since, and he does not respond to my emails no more.

I came across PlanCast through Charlie O'Donnell's events newsletter that he sends out every Monday morning. One event linked to its page on PlanCast, so I RSVPd, and ended up discovering the site. I have been hooked since. It is a great place to find events.

I have not added any events myself yet, but that is about to change.

Getting Popular At Quora

Image via WikipediaI don't "get" Quora yet.

I mean, I get it. I see its importance. I see why it is hot. I see why it needs to survive and thrive. But I don't "get" it in that I am not an avid user yet.

It feels more like a way to rub shoulders with some top names in tech than anything else. But after a few years in New York City, you kind of get past that celebrity thing. Accomplished people make for interesting conversations, sure, but that is not true of all famous people. And there are famous people in all sorts of domains.

I have never owned a TV. I don't watch TV. So I routinely miss out on hit shows. I have been to a few parties where you get introduced to people who are apparently on some kind of a show, and you are like, you know, I am sorry, but we are just going to have to start with names. My name is. I mean, I don't know you, you come across as a pleasant person, so tell me more about your show, what is it about?

Fred, How About Some Money?

Image by Randy Stewart via FlickrCharlie O'Donnell At His Inspiring Best

Hi Fred. Looks like you are back from your Middle East Peace Tour, aka vacation. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26) And so this might be a great time to bother you. Chances are you are not cranky.

I am writing this at three in the afternoon but shall schedule post it for four in the morning when people are asleep, and no one quite sees it. That is how JFK first wanted to announce that it was Bobby for Attorney General: around midnight. He feared accusations of nepotism. If you do give me money, people might think it is because I am a member of the AVC community. Accusations of nepotism might fly.

100 Things To Watch In 2011

JWT: 100 Things to Watch in 2011

View more presentations from JWTIntelligence.

(Via Fred Wilson)

This slideshow is best viewed in full screen mode.

Following/Worshipping

(Via TechCrunch)

FoodSpotting's Social Graph: FoodSpotting Day: January 15

I came across this Facebook update in my Facebook stream when I logged onto Facebook Monday evening. The screen image I took later when I started work on this post. Update spotted! I took a screen shot.

FoodSpotting's Social Graph: FoodSpotting Day: January 15
Going Backwards: FoodSpotting, FourSquare, Twitter, Facebook
Fractals And FoodSpotting
FoodSpotting Is The Next FourSquare
Instagram Magic
Checking In, Tweeting, Spotting, Updating
StartUp Anxiety For FourSquare?
Self-Serve Makes Sense For GroupOn, Also FourSquare
Fractals: Mandelbrot
Making Dick Costolo An Offer He Can't Refuse
Congrats Zuck
Jai Ho
Gender Talks
Soraya Darabi
Should FourSquare Be Scared Of Facebook?

I worked on my blog post about Facebook going into search in a big way after that, scheduled to be posted Tuesday at 8:00 AM. And I sent out this tweet. The tweet is to Amy who left a comment at my last post about FoodSpotting. She does social media for FoodSpotting, and has a great foodie blog of her own.

Facebook Could Do Well In Search

Image via CrunchBaseSearch is the core of what Google does. Search is where Google makes almost all its money. Google gives away Android for free because, well, it will make money off of search. And I don't doubt Google will keep innovating. When blogs first burst onto the scene, and Google search results were being seriously skewed in favor of blog posts, Google tweaked its algorithms. Google will similarly respond to the content farms and the SEOed to the hilt sites.

Baratunde Thurston: The Brain Behind The Onion

Baratunde Thurston is the brain behind The Onion.

If onions had brains.

Swallow, Sparrow

Swallow is a bird. Wait, no. Sparrow is a bird. Swallow is a Mashable writer: Erica Swallow.

The Twins Were Rowing Boats

Image via WikipediaThe twins were rowing boats and I want the money back. What these guys have been able to do already is a travesty to the spirit of entrepreneurship.

They have this attitude that since they were born into money - not money by Zuckerberg standards obviously - and Zuckerberg was merely a dentist's son, they could hire this guy to build them a billion dollar company.

Fontana Bar: The Action Was On The Dance Floor

I have no plans for tonight. I had my New Year celebration last night. Unless something shows up.

The Browser Will Rule The Mobile Web As Well

Image via WikipediaApps are makeshift. It's like when the bridge collapses, the army puts in place a temporary suspension bridge until the bridge is rebuilt, or at least that is what I saw done in Nepal. Wireless broadband is not where it needs to be, which is everywhere. HTML5 is not here yet.

Microlending Film At Kickstarter

Go donate: Microlending Film: A Documentary About Enterprising Women

Pardes

Go Easy On Charlie Now

CNN: Tech startups duke it out in snowball fight
Village Voice: Dorky Tech Snowball Fight Today at Madison Square Park

I was passing by Madison Square Park earlier today. It was around 2:30 PM. And guess what I saw on this first big snow day in NYC this winter.

Charlie O'Donnell was being hit by a barrage of snowballs by what looked like a crowd of would be tech entrepreneurs. Charlie fought gallantly like a snow gladiator, until he was turned into a snow man by the mob. The final shot was taken by Shane Snow, real name. (Adam Ostrow, Mashable)

A $50 Smartphone Running On Free WiFi

Image via WikipediaThis is what I am waiting for: a $50 smartphone running on free wifi. You pay for the hardware, you of course keep it charged up, it comes with a charger, and there is no monthly fee to any carrier after that. In a big city like New York, there is free wifi everywhere. And where there is no wifi, you say hello to people. You actually value face time. Hi, my smartphone is not working, let me just have a moment with you.

Bruce Willis tried that on two young women fans in an elevator when they asked for his autograph, and they ran away. As in, forget the autograph, let me just have a moment with you. Let me just say hello.

So careful how you do it though.

Kaante (2002)

Bollywood Over The Decades (6)

Merry Christmas (2)

Bollywood Over The Decades (5)

Bollywood Over The Decades (4)

Bollywood Over The Decades (3)

Bollywood Over The Decades (2)

Bollywood Over The Decades (1)

Merry Christmas

Instagram Magic

Instagram has taken off like anything. There is an artist inside all of us, and Instagram is quickie art work. You give that little tinge to a snap shot, and make it your own. Many many flavors are possible. There is more to come. Instagram has taken a lead of sorts.

Google Bought The Building

Wired one way to think about 111 Eighth Avenue is like the Empire State Building on its side. It’s worth noting that the Empire State Building has just over 2 million square feet of office space — about 1 million less than 111 Eighth Avenue ..... the structure sits almost directly on top of where the Hudson Street/Ninth Avenue fiber highway makes a dog-leg to the right before heading north-east toward the Upper West Side. ..... 111 Eighth Avenue has become known as one of the most important so-called telecom carrier hotels on the Eastern seaboard, if not the entire United States..... The city of New York netted $46 million in transaction taxes on the deal. ..... by far the largest U.S. real estate transaction of the year. ..... Google clearly loves New York, as well
Google Blog

There Is No Cloud OS

Image via Wikipedia

Paul Buchheit: The Cloud OS: The basic idea is that apps and data all live on the Internet .... Apple is lame for not allowing a native Gmail app on the iPhone -- email is the one place where Android really outshines the iPhone for me ...... One way of understanding this new architecture is to view the entire Internet as a single computer. This computer is a massively distributed system with billions of processors, billions of displays, exabytes of storage, and it's spread across the entire planet. Your phone or laptop is just one part of this global computer, and its primarily purpose is to provide a convenient interface. The actual computation and data storage is distributed in surprisingly complex and dynamic ways, but that complexity is mostly hidden from the end user. ..... the development of this global super-computer is one of the most important technological advances in history. ..... the design target of ChromeOS. They are building laptops that run the Chrome web browser and approximately nothing else. ..... ChromeOS assumes a mouse/track-pad while Android currently assumes a touch interface ... and ultimately everything may end up with a touch screen anyway.

There is the cloud. But the OS resides firmly on your laptop. It is thin. It only runs a browser, and that browser takes you to the cloud, but the OS is not in the cloud. So the term cloud OS is misleading.

JP Rangaswami: Chief Scientist: Salesforce.com

Image via CrunchBase

ZDNet: JP Rangaswami and the future of Salesforce.com: The appointment of JP Rangaswami as Salesforce.com’s first chief scientist could push the company in an even more radical direction than we’ve already seen if he’s given any say in product strategy.

This is the first I am learning of JP's move from British Telecom to Salesforce.com. JP, of course, is the guy who introduced me to Twitter. According to WeFollow.com, I am number 52 in NYC on Twitter.

Congrats JP. Keep making bold moves.

Whining Is Not The Word

Image via Wikipedia

ZDNet: 2010: The Year of Whining About Women In Tech: Whining about the inequality of women in tech has been big for page views this year..... Arrington said women in tech have more “equal opportunity” advantages handed to them than men. He delivered cracked-out lines about “the nurturing and risk tolerance needs of women,” and in closing he called us “you people.” ...... Arrington framed his argument with the opening set-up that the tech arena is a meritocracy. ..... And every person in tech knows that nothing could be further from the truth. ..... Kara Swisher .... blasted Twitter, Facebook, Zynga, Groupon and Foursquare for not having any women as directors ..... the top quarter of Fortune 500 companies with gender diversity outperformed those in the bottom quarter with a 53% higher return on equity. And that firm outperformance seems to happen once there are at least three female directors in the boardroom ..... Tech is not a meritocracy, and it does not run on the right thing to do.

What you are saying is so absolutely ridiculous. So you think the best way to make progress on gender is by NOT talking about gender? How come you don’t apply that same logic to rocket science and software and what have you? The best way to make progress on a software project is by NOT talking about the software project. How about that? How do you like them apples?

Even Little Children Could Speak English

Image via CrunchBase

Om Malik: Chrome OS: What Is It Good For?: The boot-up is extremely fast, and the log-on process is smooth and speedy ..... what you see is essentially the Chrome web browser. ...... The user experience expects us to come to the idea of using browser tabs instead of apps ..... The biggest challenge for Google’s Chrome OS is going to be fighting against many life-long habits of using a desktop OS. ..... there’s one thing the device does very well: let you use Google apps, especially Google Docs, Gmail and other cloud services (from Google) without a problem...... My more portable, 2.13 GHz MacBook Air is the machine I like, and even as I spend a lot of time inside the browser, I prefer a desktop with the Chrome browser and raw power..... As a consumer, one is going to find Chrome OS very limiting, especially since have some pre-conceived notions about what a personal computer is supposed to do. .... Google will be best suited to focus Chrome OS and all its energies on business buyers — call centers, retail outlets and airlines to start with — and forget about the consumers.

I am reading this review of the Chrome OS by Om Malik and I am reminded of a joke about Jung Bahadur Rana. So this guy was Prime Minister of Nepal several hundred years back, probably the most colorful character in Nepal's political history.

Google: Best Company Its Size

Image by Robert Scoble via Flickr

Paul Buchheit: Four reasons Google is still Awesome: Google is probably still the best company of its size, and I really enjoyed my time there. ..... They take big risks ..... Google has enough big successes, such as Chrome and Android ..... Google's weapon of choice is more often open source and open standards. ..... Cultures that don't laugh at themselves are cults.

I am a Google fanboy. So I really liked this post by Paul Buchheit. Google really is the best company its size. And Paul points out Android and Chrome. I have said at this blog before that those two alone are two separate Google size companies. They are big.