European Angst On GAFA

English: Google Logo officially released on May 2010 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

GAFA is apparently what Europe calls Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple.

My first reaction (years ago) was Europeans are sore losers. Instead of innovating they are hammering. They are just jealous of Google.

Now I think differently. Instead of Silicon Valley sucking money in from all over the world like the British Empire stole gold from India, these Internet behemoths should pay taxes in each jurisdiction they generate revenues in.

There should be a global regime. So there is an upper limit. Maybe you should not have to pay more than 10% in sales taxes in total at all levels of government put together.

Google is cashing on the infrastructure built by these countries. And I don't mean just broadband. Google thrives on educated populations. And Google should give back as a matter of business decision.

Such negotiations have to be global. That might also push us towards a world government (which both Bill Gates and I think would be a good thing).

The simple formula is, every Internet company should track as to where a sale got generated, and they should pay sales taxes in those jurisdictions, up to a maximum 10%.

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The Next Next Thing

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.

Musk Wisdom

Elon Musk: Internet Satellites

This is what $100 billion of the 2009 stimulus should have gone to. It is still not too late. If the US government were to buy a 33% stake in Musk's Internet Satellite Network company to speed this work up, once we have gigabit internet for every man, woman and child, that would make room for major shavings in the US defense budget. Democracy would spread on its own. The ISIS would look like clowns, because they will get drowned in the hundreds of millions of Muslims sharing cat videos, so much good would happen. And that $100 billion would grow enough that the US government will be able to actually pay off some of its debt. Who says governments can not angel invest? Break the rules.

Thumbs up to @ElonMusk's Internet Satellite Network company. http://t.co/EXKSTFLpKB #elonmusk #ironman #mars

— Paramendra Bhagat (@paramendra) April 19, 2015

Fundraising For Tech Entrepreneurs: Various Styles

Breakfast Time

Breakfast Time. (No, I didn't just wake up!) pic.twitter.com/45gzQ8XeRz

— Paramendra Bhagat (@paramendra) April 16, 2015

Times Square

One World

Logo of Comcast Latina: Insigne Comcast (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bill Gates went on record a few weeks back saying, he is doing good work with his foundation, but the scales of the problems are so enormous, what you truly need is a world government. That is the only way you can tackle the biggest problems of poverty and disease. And I agree.

There is poverty, there is disease, and then there is that number one invention of the new millennium: your smartphone. Why can't you pay your monthly phone bill and have the phone work no matter where you go in the world? To most people who might be in a position to give a push to the idea of a world government, poverty and disease might be abstract concepts, but the phone is not, it is in your hand, it knows you better than your family.

Comcast has come out saying it will roll out a 2 GBPS internet service across the US. That was the kind of result Google wanted to see with its own roll out. But I think the ball moved only after Google threatened to do to TV ads what it had done to classifieds.

Google might now be taking the lead on the global phone plan. You pay one place and go anywhere.

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Hello

The 7 Train

What Could Be A New Product Line For Tesla?

Major new Tesla product line -- not a car -- will be unveiled at our Hawthorne Design Studio on Thurs 8pm, April 30

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 30, 2015

Elon Musk created nearly $1B in value today with a single tweet



What could it be? My first reaction is, it will be something 100% electric. Something green and clean. What?

@elonmusk motorcycle? Plane?

— Jimmy Johenning (@jimmyjohenning) March 30, 2015

@elonmusk home battery pack!

— Gabriel Phillips (@gabzqc) March 30, 2015

@elonmusk Elon Musk Cologne?

— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) March 30, 2015

@elonmusk unless it's a Iron Mask suit we don't want it.

— 8Figures (@AkeelCaffrey) March 30, 2015

@elonmusk Tesla Vibrator. #wishlist

— Kat (@Kat_Olenska) March 30, 2015

@elonmusk home battery pack with solar city. Right?!

— Alex McRoberts (@webtwozero) March 30, 2015

@chriseyin @elonmusk battery-powered home

— Sunny Manivannan (@voteforsunny) March 30, 2015

They're building an MP3 player. “@elonmusk: Major new Tesla product line -- not a car -- will be unveiled at our Hawthorne Design Studio"

— Chris F. Nicholson (@chrisFnicholson) March 30, 2015

@elonmusk Electric scooter I always wanted one... Car, bike, rail and space craft.. You have covered it all :)

— Ramanath Bhat (@ramnathbhat) March 30, 2015

EV Unicycle! “@elonmusk: Major new Tesla product line --not a car --will be unveiled at our Hawthorne Design Studio Thurs 8pm, April 30

— jason (@Jason) March 30, 2015

@elonmusk Tesla is a transportation company, right? It will be a people mover of some sort.

— Adam M. Girod (@amg503) March 30, 2015

@elonmusk This would be home storage battery that would be used along with @solarcity's solar panel installation. It'll STILL be disruptive!

— Just A. Tinker (@John_Gardi) March 30, 2015

Nobody seems to be saying trucks!

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.

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Elon Musk And Larry Page

Elon Musk wants to go to Mars. Larry Page acts like he is already on Mars. You can't see him anywhere.

Jack Ma And Elon Musk

Jack Ma and Elon Musk are the two most exciting entrepreneurs on the planet right now. They come from two different ends. Jack Ma is coming from the China end, the Third World end, the Global South end. Elon Musk is coming from the rich country end where he is going to beat the bullet train and go to Mars, and what have you.

Elon Musk is more exciting than Larry Page right now. As to why Larry Page will not sink 20 billion into taking every human being online TODAY beats me! Google's search advantage will not last forever. And so it needs to cash it now, today.

If the smartwatch takes off, Tim Cook will have proven himself. And Steve Jobs will have proven himself. Jobs liked to say the most important thing he built is the company Apple itself, not the Mac, not the iPhone. Although I am not convinced the smartwatch alone can take Apple to being a trillion dollar company. I am on record saying that company is Google. But Larry Page has been a partially absent CEO. A CEO needs to be seen, needs to be heard, like Marissa Mayer was visible when she was with Google. Most of your talk is consumed internally, even when they are publicly made. People inside your company are watching.

But then I was not excited about the iPad when it came along. I am an active user. I don't passively read. I was like, no keyboard? Get out of here. But the iPad has been a monumental product. Right now I feel like the smartwatch is not for me. Just give me a phone with a battery that lasts twice as long. And I am happy. I actually like not having something around my wrist. I like that sense of freedom. My phone is my watch. And it is a smart one too. It is not for me, that does not mean it is not for other people. I will wait and watch.

Right now I am thinking the smartwatch is Apple's Google Glass. It will not die, but it will not go mainstream.

Ganymede Is Habitable

If you can travel, and if you can land, and if you can have a localized power source, maybe nuclear, you would have enough energy to melt the ice for water, and break that water into hydrogen and oxygen, for the oxygen. And you could live. The localized power source is key. Mining the asteroid belt for building material should be the new normal in a more sophisticated space travel era.

Gary Of Gary's Guide

Indian Alibabas On The Way

The Four Horsemen: Amazon/Apple/Facebook/Google

5 Million Views On Google Plus

I have five million views on Google+. How do you explain that? Is it because my photos on Google+ are being shown on Google maps and those views are being counted? Or the articles that I read and share are being circulated beyond the 500 people that follow me?

Google Plus is my favorite photo sharing service. So it scares me when I read articles that say Google might sunset Google Plus. It is working for me!

I most definitely wouldn't want to lose all the pictures I have shared on Google Plus. I have shared tens of thousands.

Sahara And Amazon And Solar

A few days back I came across this video. And it is fascinating. It is showing that the Amazon forest (full of life) is totally dependent on the Sahara (lifeless) for its very survival. This is mind blowing. Mother Nature.

Another thing I see is, the Sahara could also meet all of Africa's energy needs. Used to be solar was expensive and complex. Not any more.

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Unlimited Free Solar Power?

Solar Energy Revolution: A Massive Opportunity http://t.co/bblDqsqC53 by @peterdiamandis -- 100% solar energy within 20 years amazing
— Vivek Wadhwa (@wadhwa) September 3, 2014

The Sahara alone could meet all of Africa's energy needs. The Sahara probably is the best place on earth to harness solar energy. And, guess what, the Sun is not going anywhere. The oil fields of Saudi Arabia will run dry, but the earth will evaporate before the sun will disappear. I think the Sahara could generate 1,000 GW easy. Imagine a solar panel - one panel - the size of Texas.

Africa could become the leading continent on earth based just on Sahara's solar energy. It truly is the central continent. It is closer to every other continent than any other. Which means, it could end up the manufacturing hub of the world.

Africa so deserves a political union. It only makes sense that Africa should become one country. Because political leadership is what has been in the way. Or rather, lack of it. The continent that deserves to be the richest is the poorest.

The Sahara is in need of a serious image makeover. It is not lifeless. It is the opposite. It is life-sustaining.

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