Thursday, October 28, 2010

Vinod Khosla's Green Tech Sweep

TechCrunch: Khosla Completes The VC Triumvirate At Disrupt: In 2004, he created Khosla Ventures to invest his own money and began to dive deep into greentech, while still keeping his hand in infotech. Always known for being a risk junkie and identifying big opportunities early, he started to build one of the deepest portfolios of greentech investments in the Valley. Last year, he finally took outside money, raising $1.1 billion for two new funds, including a seed fund.... His greentech portfolio covers everything from power generation, batteries, and advanced hydrocarbons to water, plastics, and chemicals.

VCs Have To Raise Money Too


Intellectually they know, but at an emotional level a ton of tech entrepreneurs end up feeling VCs were just born with the cash to dispense with, if they will just open up the wallet and dole out the money, don't they realize the world needs to be changed?

Cyber Warlordism


States are going to do what states are going to do. With Russia it was nuclear weapons technology, with China it might be cyber. There will be no casualties, but there will be losses. The elements that have to be factored in are the non state actors, the criminal gangs, and the terrorist groups and even the occasional misguided teenager. What is the extent of havoc those non state actors could create?

Nexus Two, Take One

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - JANUARY 5:  A screen shot ...Image by Getty Images via @daylifeGoogle doing Nexus One early this year - or was it late last year - was a big departure for the software giant. It does not feel that way any more because the company by now is into wind farms and cars and monorails. But back then hardware, any hardware, felt like a big departure.

Google Car, Google Monorail
Offshoring The Wind Harvesting: Google Wind

Other than that the Nexus Two would have the newest version of Android, what would be the rest of the features? Will it just have the best of the best phones now? What additional features could there be?

Phones Not Tied To Carriers

I took this photo of my iPhone and its SIM slot.Image via WikipediaLaptops don't come tied to cable internet companies. Why do phones come tied to phone companies? You should be able to buy a phone, and it should be wi-fi enabled, and you should not have to pay anything in addition to what you pay for your internet access, and you should have Skype on your phone, and that is it. Smartphones are app heavy in the first place. All they need is internet access. What they need is wi-fi.

Is Brazil The Microsoft Of Soccer?

Fans celebrating the upcoming 2010 FIFA World ...Image via WikipediaBrazil is supposed to be one of the eternal powerhouses of soccer. Or so I thought. This year a lot of the old powers were gone by the wayside. Italy was nowhere in the picture. England was out fast. France, did they even qualify? This year saw a new world order in soccer.

Facebook Photo Album: Brasil

Social Is A Pendulum Swing

Young Boy in Kathmandu, Nepal.Image via WikipediaThis tumblog post got me thinking about a theme I have thought about for a while now and have been meaning to blog about.

Social that is all the rage is a pendulum swing. The pendulum will inevitably swing the other way. That does not mean we will all go back to doing Google searches, if we ever stopped doing that. The pendulum swing is going to mean that there is going to be a renewed focus on the individual at some point down the line.

Ageism And Entrepreneurship


I believe you can start a company at any age. I believe you can join a startup team at any age. I don't believe a startup has to do with coding and coding alone. There is always room for startups in every industry, in every sector of the economy.

Does Robert Scoble Know Me?

Scoble, Longhorn EvangelistImage via WikipediaMaybe he does. Likely he does not. I have left a few comments at his blog. I have retweeted a few of his tweets. I have a Direct Message from him on Twitter, and I know enough about him to know that does not make me special. I mean, that guy has thousands of "friends" on FourSquare. He asks to be stalked. I don't think he has self esteem issues. I think he is a social media guinea pig to himself. He wants to go out there and try it out. He once retweeted one of my tweets. He has replied to one or more of my comments at his blog.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Larry Is Not Done Yet

Larry Elllison on stage.Image via WikipediaLarry Ellison is not done, if he is ever done.
Reuters: Oracle CEO claims can prove wrongdoing by new HP CEO: Hewlett-Packard Co's incoming CEO oversaw a scheme to steal Oracle's software by rival SAP AG..... Oracle seeking some $2 billion in damages ..... Then HP hired SAP's former CEO, Leo Apotheker, to replace Hurd and named former Oracle COO Ray Lane as its chairman. ..... Ellison said in a statement that Oracle intends to subpoena Apotheker, but it could not do so because the executive has been living outside the jurisdiction of the San Francisco area court that will try the case..... Apotheker is due to start work on Monday at HP ..... "A few weeks ago I accused HP's new CEO, Leo Apotheker, of overseeing an industrial espionage scheme centering on the repeated theft of massive amounts of Oracle's software. A major portion of this theft occurred while Mr. Apotheker was CEO of SAP," Ellison said .... "HP's Chairman, Ray Lane, immediately came to Mr. Apotheker's defense by writing a letter stating, 'Oracle has been litigating this case for years and has never offered any evidence that Mr. Apotheker was involved.' Well, that's what we are planning to do during the trial that starts next Monday."

Microsoft: Smartphone, Tablet, Bar Code

Image representing Microsoft as depicted in Cr...Image via CrunchBase
TechFlash: Microsoft Tag claims front-runner status among next-gen barcodes: Microsoft this morning claimed new momentum for its Microsoft Tag technology, which lets people scan color barcodes with their phones to automatically connect to online sites, phone numbers and other corners of the digital world. According to Microsoft, more than 1 billion Tags have been printed in the past four months, fueled by heavy usage in magazines and other print campaigns.