Determining the ultimate champion from the year that was - Grantland

I think this is my favorite article of the year.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7403367/who-won-2011

Poems in the doctor's waiting room: you'll never have to flip through an out-of-date Reader's Digest again – Telegraph Blogs

Ben's Friends made the London Daily Telegraph. Very cool. This is starting to happen a lot more often and it's a good sign for 2012!

"I must just mention one other charity called Bens Friends, which does stirling work as an international network of online communities that provide support for people struggling with rare diseases.

 Ben's Friends has 12,600 members globally – more than 38 million people are affected by a rare illness (3.5 million in the UK alone) – and the mission of Ben's Friends is to ensure everyone with a rare disease has a safe place to go everyday and connect with people like them. As we know, communicating with someone who is experiencing the same illness or condition as you are can be very comforting.Ben's Friends was founded in 2006 by Ben Munoz – hence "Ben's Friends" – who suffered from a rare condition called an AVM and realised that a support network would be extremely beneficial.

Like Poems in the Waiting Room, Bensfriends.org runs on a shoe-string budget and is fully supported by donors, sponsors, and advertisers. An army of volunteers helps out, no one is paid a salary, and all donations go directly to funding the networks."

This is really funny

Incredibly funny

Kumail Nanjiani on new drug called cheese - YouTube:

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

(see full image)

Saturday Brunch

Since it's a holiday weekend, I thought I would put together an extra long list of reading material this week. I don't want to overload you though, so I'll break them up over today and Sunday. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

• The Best Data Visualization Projects of 2011 - I've become really interested in the way data is presented and worked. There is a concept in startup world called Big Data - managing and mining huge datasets - that is making these types of visualizations possible. I think it's the next phase of the web which is heavy on text, video and sound (music) right now. Data visualizations are the next step.
• Wilco in Chicago at the Civic Opera House - incredible setlist and performance streaming from from one of my favorite bands. 
• Year End Position Updates - from one of my favorite investing blogs. He's heavy on natural resources and gold, which are big investing themes for me too, so I like to read his opinion.
• Elephants and Human Evolution - fascinating. I guess it's a case of "whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger."
• Amazon's 7 Year View - I've heard great stories from friends on Amazon's approach to new markets. The mantra, "you aren't losing enough money" is controversial, but it's proven effective.
• One Acre Fund's Semi-Annual Report - one of the best social impact ventures in the world, started by a Kellogg 06' grad. Many of my friends are on the advisory board. I was blown away by their report. It's detailed, quantitative and proves the money is spent very well. I hope to emulate this with Ben's Friends in 2012.
• How Fab Raised $40M - another highly quantitative approach to raising money, this time venture capital. This is the playbook for raising money.
• One Week in Japan - always beautiful photography from Mike Matas. Alex Bain turned me onto him. I believe he was an early designer on the ipod and iphone.
• The Battle for Control - a wonderful post by Kati of Living With Ataxia, a Ben's Friends network, on her battle to slow down ataxia and remain self sufficient. Kati is an inspiration to me.
• The Year in Volcanoes - beautiful

Sunday Morning 14

I'm fired up to post my annual Sunday Morning sensitive music playlist. This year it's Sunday Morning 14!

I've posted it through Spotify and I'll try to make it available through CD next week. This year's version is a little faster than past years. Thanks to all the people like Bryan Kenna, Beth Stevens, Matt Ziser and John Hamilton who tipped me off to great, new music in 2012!

I hope you enjoy the new tunes and have a Happy Holidays!

2011, Buh-Bye | Funny Video Animation by JibJab

Always awesome.

2011, Buh-Bye | Funny Video Animation by JibJab: "
"

I'll be there on opening night...

THE HOBBIT Trailer HD - YouTube:

Sunday Brunch - December 18, 2011

The links are back!

• Vocal Frey - I had never heard of this before but once I watched the video, it made perfect sense. Very interesting. Wondering if a vocal tic like this spread because of widespread media consumption or are we just noticing it now.
• Amazon Kindle Redirects to Amazon's Version of Android - brilliant move by Amazon. They're trying to make their branch of Android, the only one that matters. Worth paying attention to.
• UC Berkeley to Offer Financial Aid to Middle Class Families - awesome to see my alma mater react to changing economic realities. Of course, I (and many others) believe that widespread student loan availability has resulted in skyrocketing education costs. On balance though, I still think loans are good though because it makes education accessible.
• Playing with Pigs - Lisanti found another amazing link and video.
• Dividend Paying Funds Rock - great article by Kathryn on the importance of dividends in financial performance. I've owned a bunch of high dividend paying stocks for this reason. However, you have to be careful, because some dividend paying companies are really value traps. The dividend is all they really have going for them and Management clings to it while the business degrades.
• Give Me Something to Read 2011 - This blog consistently surfaces the best articles. This is their best of 2011.
• Whatever Happened to the Triangle Offense - the Triangle Offense is a basketball offense that is a little unorthodox but it gets players to move the ball, which creates easy scoring opportunities. 
• Why Quantum Solace Wasn't Any Good - funny story from the making of James Bond movie.
• A Softer World - excellent photo blog with snappy commentary.
• The Day I Saw Van Gogh's Genius in a New Light - fascinating that he had a problem seeing color the way most people do.
• Louis CK's Big Video Experiment - He cut out the middle men, big media companies, and the results have been great. I bought it and it's hilarious. 
• Don't be a Free User - good advice for people who love a service that doesn't charge. It's really hard to stay in business this way. Give them a few bucks.
• Seth Godin on Organizational Acquisitions - great way of looking at why big companies buy small ones. From the outside, it looks like Facebook does a terrific job of this.
• The Trap of Social Media Noise - social media can be so powerful, just look at how we're using it to help raise money for Ben's Friends, but it has a big downside if used incorrectly.
• Why Google is Bending to Verizon on the Google Wallet - Google's version of Android really needs Verizon to be successful.
• Hello Moon - really pretty

James McManus on Full Tilt poker and Black Friday - Grantland

James McManus on Full Tilt poker and Black Friday - Grantland:

Terrific article on online poker and what happened withe the federal crackdown. His book, Positively Fifth Street is a must read. It's such a page turner, I think I read it in two days, which never happens with me.

'via Blog this'

Friday Bonus Music - December 16, 2011

The National feat. Bon Iver - Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks Video by Myspace - Myspace Video:


Myspace | Myspace Music Videos

33forever's December 2011 mix | 33forever

Another great playlist by John Hamilton!

Will Ferrell Asks If He Can Star In Ads For Old Milwaukee Beer Free Of Charge - The Consumerist

Sometimes you need a reminder on where the rest of the world is on technology and the Internet. Poor Old Milwaukee...

Will Ferrell Asks If He Can Star In Ads For Old Milwaukee Beer Free Of Charge - The Consumerist: "The ads are funny, and would most likely go viral — if Old Milwaukee had a YouTube page."

Hanging in Boston w. Addy

Note the Clippers hat.

Louis CK - "Buy The Thing"

My favorite comic, Louis CK, put up a show on the Internet for $5. Love his message - "Buy The Thing."

I did, and I'm saving it for my plane ride home.

Saturday Night Live - Weekend Update: Capt. Steve Rogers - Video - http://www.nbc.com

Baldwin is amazing here. And yes, I play Words With Friends.

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/weekend-update-capt-steve-rogers/1372901/?__cid=thefilter

iTunes Session by My Morning Jacket

This is a great Holiday album by My Morning Jacket. My favorite song is Christmas Must Be Tonight

iTunes - Music - iTunes Session by My Morning Jacket

Friday Chill Music - December 9, 2011

It's late in the day but this is still a great mix. Happy Birthday John!

Here is the 8Tracks playlist. the embed function is not working.

Jeremy Grantham's Latest Newsletter

Eye opening opinion in Jeremy Grantham's latest letter to investor. He lays it out pretty well and it's a little scary. I wish I could write as succinctly as he does. He's one of my favorite financial people to follow and I put a lot of weight into what he says. Here's a quick quote.

• "Separate from the “seven lean years” syndrome, the U.S. and the developed world have permanently slowed in their GDP growth. This is mostly the result of slowing population growth, an aging profi le, and an overcommitment to the old, which leaves inadequate resources for growth. Also contributing to the slowdown, particularly in the U.S. and the U.K., is inadequate long-term savings. As I write, the U.S. personal savings rate has fallen once again below 4%.
• In addition, and sorry to harp on this, the U.S. in particular has rapidly acquired relative deficiencies over the last 20 years that will hamper the effective functioning and growth of its economy. Relative to other developed countries, and an increasing number of developing countries, we are sliding in some key areas that threaten loss of competitiveness:

• Notably depleted infrastructure
• Marked fall-off in the effectiveness of education and training
• Much decreased effectiveness of government, particularly in its ability or even willingness to concern itself with long-term issues."

Amazon.com: Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption (9781400064168): Laura Hillenbrand: Books

This book is incredible. It's one of those books where you stay up way too late at night because you can't put it down. I highly recommend it.

Amazon.com: Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption: By Laura Hillenbrand: 

JP Auclair Street Segment (from All.I.Can.) on Vimeo

via Alex Bain Favorites
JP Auclair Street Segment (from All.I.Can.) from Sherpas Cinema on Vimeo.

JP Auclair Street Segment (from All.I.Can.) from Sherpas Cinema on Vimeo.

Sunday Brunch - December 4, 2011

The links:

• Yoga Mat for Sale. Used Once. - hilarious. I've been there. Hot yoga should be illegal.
• When you Grow Up... - great steve jobs quote. couldn't agree more.
• Erosion in the Paid Media Pyramid - great observations by Seth Godin
• The Enterprise: Buyers vs. Users - why cloud computing is such a great idea for business users.
• Smiley Installation Shows Mood of the City - neat idea. We'll see more of this in the future as it becomes easier to mine social media.
• Big Changes for Cable & Wireless Operators - good in the short term, less choice in the long term.
• Ben's Friends Forever - we're doing our annual Ben's Friends fundraiser. I'd be grateful for donations. We're working on some cool perks too.
• How Ikea Would Build Stonehenge - funny
• Man Shoots Video of Great White on iPhone - incredible footage. Also, I'm reading a book called Unbroken and this makes their issues with sharks even more incredible.
• Secret Fed Loans Not Disclosed to Congress - never a good idea to forget to tell Congress what you are doing if you are the Fed.
• Gorgeous Orders Shipping Out the Door - the ladies of Sugar Paper make the best stuff.
• Opening Quotes from the Wire - so good. the writing on that show was incredible.
• The Types of People You Meet in a Homebrewing Class - Lisanti is always funny. And he's right.
• Faces and Places of Instanbul - terrific photo. I remember being right there 5 years ago.
• Right Side Down - incredible picture of the Golden Gate

Ben's Friends Forever

Loved this photo by JC - a superstar Ben's Friends Moderator. It made my day.

It's apropos too because we're kicking off our annual Ben's Friends Fundraiser using IndieGoGo. Last year we raised $10k and we're shooting for $15k this year. We're 3x bigger since last December - we served 31,000+ patients last month and we have 29 communities now. 

If you're considering a donation, think about it this way - we spent $15k in 2011 ($10k from fundraiser + $5k of our own money) and we're now helping 30k people a month. That's 50 cents per patient.

It's a really good feeling knowing we are making a different. It would be great if you can help us out with a donation. :)

Friday Chill Music (December 2, 2011)

Awesome playlist from Hamilton. He's back in the mix!

Monthly Music Fix - Indie Rock | 33Forever:

Video: Frisbee speedboat catch goes viral - Telegraph

Incredible Frisbee Trick - via the Walm

Video: Frisbee speedboat catch goes viral - Telegraph:

Dawes - That Western Skyline (Live in HD) - YouTube

Kenna turned me onto this song.

Europe is Getting Scary

Adventures in Capitalism on Europe Financial Markets

"Lately, I’ve been less focused on the global markets because I’m so focused on Mongolia. However, it’s hard to ignore what’s going on in Europe as it affects all of us. Let me put it bluntly, they have about a week to figure this out, or they’re going back into the Dark Ages. They really have three choices; let the banks fail and destroy their currency, print massively and destroy their currency or find a leprechaun that can conjure up a better solution. I don’t see how this can go on much longer. Unfortunately, the Europeans seem to still favor the leprechaun approach. That didn’t work for Ireland, and they’re the country of leprechauns. Does Germany have a chance?"

a softer world: 727

a softer world: 727:

Sunday Brunch - November 27, 2011

Enjoy the links.

• What I Learned Building the Apple Store - Ron Johnson - Harvard Business Review - Great post on retail.
• On a rainy Sunday morning, I sent Lisa off to get... | The Youngest Bain EVER! - Cute video of my buddy and his little boy.
• Bezos Gone Wild! Amazon Selling Every Non-iPhone Smartphone for One Penny - Amazon taking aim at Apple, and making a little cash from the Mobile Operators in the process. No doubt they are getting a cut of the consumer/phone subscription revenue.
• Amazon will take over Android app distribution - seems like Amazon has a real shot here.
• Anxious Revolution - Kedrosky - interesting glimpse into America's psyche.
• When Google comes calling... - terrific advice from Seth Godin
• FT Alphaville » Randomness and the lost lesson of Bill Miller - He beat the S&P 500 stock index 15 years in a row and was a living legend. Interesting way to think about probability as the article explores the odds that someone should have beat the index 15 years in a row.
• Octopus Crawls Out of Water and Begins Walking on Land [Video] : TreeHugger - pretty neat. Can't you imagine our ancestors crawling out of the water hundreds of thousands of years ago?
• Who owes what to whom in Europe - Flowing Data
• The newsonomics of Amazon’s Prime moves » Nieman Journalism Lab - Amazon Prime is one of the reasons I spent hundreds of dollars on Black Friday at Amazon. Brilliant business move. Amazon is a fixed cost business and is all about pushing volume. Prime helps that immensely.
• The genesis of Virgin Atlantic - Great story.
• The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Pornographer - Lisanti is the best.
• Walmart’s Healthcare Opportunity - Wal-Mart could make amazing things happen to healthcare in U.S.
• Red Solo Cup: How Solo’s disposable drink vessel became an American party staple. - Slate Magazine - I always wondered why red, plastic cups were the container of choice at frat parties.
• The Last Time I Saw Steve Jobs - Great little story.
• Safety First | Mystical Photography by Frederic Larson - breathtaking photo of the bridge
• Polaris behind Trees - beautiful photo

Address is Approximate

One of the best short films I've ever seen. Via Flowing Data

Google Streetview stop motion:

Address Is Approximate from The Theory on Vimeo.


'via Blog this'

Umbrella Man Video

Terrific New York Times video on the "Umbrella Man" who was near the site of JFK's assassination. I had never heard of this guy and had to look him up on Wikipedia.

I found the story through Kedrosky's Blog.

I'm Thankful for Ben's Friends & This Wonderful Message

I posted the note below about Ben's Friends on my twitter & facebook today. Then a member named Janice left me a really touching message. It made my Thanksgiving!

My Message:

"I'm thankful for everyone involved with Ben's Friends Patient Support Networks (www.bensfriends.org) - the 90 volunteer moderators, the 100+ donors, and the patients that make all 29 networks a magical place. The chart shows we are breaking new traffic. Thanks!"

Message from Janice:

"Happy thanksgiving!I haven't told you lately, but I really really really appreciate you!You have added so much beauty and order and wonder to my life through though the good work you do; even though we don't talk personally very often, I know you are behind the scenes to make sure our experience at Life with Lupus stays beautiful.Thank you."

Reblog - 'The Next Steve Jobs Will Totally Be a Chick'

I'm reblogging a Daring Fireball post (which was reblogged version of Jim Dairympie). I'm trying to do a better job of referencing the stuff I blog about.

On the subject below, I agree with Louis CK on how amazing woman entrepreneurs are. I'm surrounded by so many of them. They have their own approach and that is what makes them special.

Daring Fireball Linked List: 'The Next Steve Jobs Will Totally Be a Chick':

Louis C.K., talking to Fast Company:

The next Steve Jobs will totally be a chick, because girls are No. 2 — and No. 2 always wins in America. Apple was a No. 2 company for years, and Apple embodies a lot of what have been defined as feminine traits: an emphasis on intuitive design, intellect, a strong sense of creativity, and that striving to always make the greatest version of something. Traditionally, men are more like Microsoft, where they’ll just make a fake version of what that chick made, then beat the shit out of her and try to intimidate everybody into using their product.

(Via Jim Dalrymple.)

Derek Sivers on the Co-Op Business Model

Another incredible post by Sivers. It's about doing little favors for the world, your ecosystem and your friends. So many great examples in the post. Here's my favorite:

"In 1997, I got a credit card merchant account to sell my own CD at live shows. It cost $1000 in set-up fees and took three months of red-tape paperwork. Then I built a little online shopping cart, which also took months of work, just to sell my own CD. Musician friends asked if they could use mine instead of having to go through all of that work, so I said OK. At first, I did this for free, as a favor, until it was taking up all of my time. Because it took me 45 minutes of work to digitize, stock, set up a new album in my system, I charged $35 per new album. Because it took 10 minutes of work to pick, pack, and ship a purchased CD, I charged $4 per CD sold. Over the next 12 years, this made me about $20 million."

Sunday Brunch - November 20, 2011

Links are a little late today. Lazy day in Donner. :)

• Siri Argument by College Humor - Amazing
• A History of the Sky - Kottke.org - Watched this last night. Mesmerizing and it's from one of my favorite places in SF.
• My New Nest Thermostat - Blogging Barretts - my buddy wrote a great review of the Nest. I've been waiting to see how my friends like it and it looks like a big yes.
• All Hail the Freshman - Grantland - An article on Rookies in the NFL, but it seems like everywhere you look, young people are doing terrific things. 
• Tournament of Muppets - They're the best
• This 28 Year Old is Making Sure Credit Crards Won't Exist in the Future - Huge trend here and lot's of people going after it. Everywhere I go it seems I'm paying through an iPad POS systems and soon my iphone will be my credit card. Will I still get miles?
• Designing a Product is... - via Signals vs. Noise - great quote from the Steve Jobs book.
• Understanding the Emotion of Loss - Kellogg School of Management - People hate losing things, I mean really hate it. The pain of losing greatly outweighs winning and this is what keeps most people on the sidelines. If you know this is your (everyone's) natural tendency, then it's a lot easier to overcome.
• When Minimum Viable Product Doesn't Work - Seth's Blog - MVP is one of the cornerstones of a new wave of product development, and it's incredibly valuable. But sometimes it doesn't work and Seth points out exactly why.
• Togrog - Adventures in Capitalism - Mongolia is an interesting investment opportunity. Incredibly risky, but a fascinating emerging market because of its resources and proximity to China.
• Drinkify - genius idea. You type in the song you are listening to, and it recommends the appropriate drink.
• How Does Sony Make Money? Insurance - another sign that the financial services industry has become too big.
• Grass Walkers - Daily Dose of Imagery - Cool

lonelysandwich - Human-computer-human interaction

http://lonelysandwich.com/post/12952975549/human-siri-interaction

"From Siri's acceptance or rejection of our commands or requests, comes a feedback loop that trains us to constrain our thoughts to the crucial data.

As we learn to speak to Siri, we'll learn more about how we formulate ideas into words, how to express those so that they may be understood with less margin of error, ultimately shortening the gap between intention and comprehension.

It's safe to assume that as we learn to talk to Siri, Siri learns to listen to us. So we're not simply assimilating with the robot culture, we're fostering a new understanding between our vastly different types of intelligence.

Which is to say, Siri will teach us how to talk to Siri but maybe more importantly, how to talk to each other."

Friday Chill Music - November 18, 2011

Some good old Friday Chill Music for you on this Spotify playlist. There's some Wilco, M. Ward, My Morning Jacket and a bunch of newer bands. Plus you get a Pearl Jam lullaby song. :)

Self truth (and the best violinist in the world)

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/sethsmainblog/~3/7dGX0fU2ysw/self-truth-and-the-best-violinist-in-the-world.html

Feels like I've been quoting Seth Godin a lot lately, but this was too good not to do it again. This is one of the most important lessons I learned from Ben's Friends. 

"The quest for technical best is a form of hiding. You can hide from the marketplace because you're still practicing your technique. And you can hide from the hard work of real art and real connection because you decide that success lies in being the best technically, at getting a 99 instead of a 98 on an exam.

What we can become the best at is being an idiosyncratic exception to the standard. Joshua Bell is often mentioned (when violinists are mentioned at all) not because he is technically better than every other violinst, but because of his charisma and willingness to cross categories. He's the best in the world at being Josh Bell, not the best in the world at playing the violin."

232 sand dollars | Derek Sivers

232 sand dollars | Derek Sivers:

Great story by Derek Sivers. I don't want to spoil it for you.

McRibonomics: You’ll NEVER guess what’s in the McRib

Great quote by my friend Kathryn from the following article.

"Life is so much easier when we don’t know how the sausage gets made. If we know too much about something gross that we’re eating, we feel forced to do something about it, like not eat it."

McRibonomics: You’ll NEVER guess what’s in the McRib:

Willy Staley over at “The Awl, “Be Less Stupid” just made a nifty little chart to show us that McDonald’s not-so-coincidentally introduces the McRib when pork prices are low. The lines below are the periods that McDonald’s reintroduced the McRib, the blue line is the price of hogs in America over the last 10 years.

Low pork prices = higher profit for McDonald’s. Check out his article, here, when you have a second, it’s really interesting. But it gets better.

Photo by Feltron

Feltron is one of my web heroes. Here he takes a bunch of different photos and overlays them to create one image.

Photo:

Friday Chill Music - November 11, 2011

Times a little short today so I'm posting a great playlist by Ziser. It's through Spotify, which pretty much everyone is on anyways. Hope you enjoy.

this is better than the last one

marklisanti (@marklisanti) 11/9/11 11:08 AM The Academy would like us to welcome its new, improved, drama-free Oscar team, producer Roman Polanski and host Mel Gibson!

@HitFixDaniel, 11/9/11 11:16 AM

Daniel Fienberg (@HitFixDaniel) 11/9/11 11:16 AM At this point, the Greek government is pointing and laughing at the instability of the Oscars.

World's Greatest Travel Snack

Seth's Blog: How to get a job with a small company

Good advice. Worth reading the whole thing. Working at smaller companies seems so much more exciting to me, but you need to know how to talk to the people who are hiring at those companies.

Seth's Blog: How to get a job with a small company:

"Most advice about job seeking is oriented around big companies. The notion of a standard resume, of mass mailings, of dealing with the HR department--even the idea of interviews--is all built around the Fortune 500.

Alas, the Fortune 500 has been responsible for a net loss in jobs over the last twenty years. All the growth (and your best chance to get hired) is from companies you’ve probably never heard of. And when the hirer is also the owner, the rules are very different."

Just Because...

Bryan Adams - Heaven (Unplugged)

Thank me later.

Sunday Brunch - November 6, 2011

Hope you enjoy the links.

• Dam Breached, Reservoir Drained - Don't mess with mother nature and gravity.
• Computer Science Majors By Year - I wonder why this chart isn't up and to the right. The country has a massive unemployment problem but you cannot hire a developer in Silicon Valley right now. The market for computer science majors has never been tighter.
• Birth of Europe: Full Circle - pretty funny 
• 2Houses - Software so divorced families can manage the little things. This would have made my life a lot easier when I was a kid.
• How to Find Cups at Someone's House - So true
• What Good Interview Questions are Trying to Discover - this posts benefits people who are interviewing to fill jobs just as much as those interviewing for jobs. If you are asking people interview questions that don't give you this insight, you should re-evaluate.
• Favorite Pitches from TechStars Seattle - I went to this tech incubator event on Thursday. I had a blast and met a lot of great people. So much energy in the room.
• Day Care Sick Day Incentives - I love thinking about little incentive programs like the one Alex outlined. My favorite example is the b-school case study where a day care center was tired of parents picking up their kids late, so they instituted a $10 fee for being late. After the fee was instituted, late pickups doubled or tripled. All that had been keeping late pickups to a minimum was the sense of guilt parents felt about being late. Once there was a fee associated with it, being late became a transaction and acceptable to the parents.
• Another 100 Day Event - Kedrosky - Italy is getting scary.
• Boxer Briefs - informative article on men's underwear. :)
• Nap in Such a Way That Your Cheerios Are Safe - very cute, and true.
• Road & Trees - I always like to end with a picture.

Friday Chill Music - November 4, 2011

I'm traveling today so apologies for the URL links instead of embedded playlist. :)

The National - Sin-Eaters - I'm already getting excited for their concert in SF in early December.

M. Ward - Carolina - He's the best. I like everything he puts out.

Lonely Boys - Black Keys - Rock music.

The War on Drugs - Come to the City - Been listening to these guys like crazy since Hamilton & Kenna turned me onto them.

View of Seattle From Matt's Market

(see full image)

Note from a Friend in Vancouver on the Housing Bubble There

A good buddy of mine lives in Vancouver and we've been exchanging messages about the housing bubble there. I keep sending him posts like this showing the Vancouver market is going crazy. His latest response:

"Renting--rent hasn't changed in the 3.5 yrs we've been here...the house buying money is all asian cash (obviously), the rest of the economy is fine, relatively flat, and mostly based on tourism and commodities (mining, electricity).  The biggest implications of all of this in my eyes is what it is doing to the community...you walk around at night and only a third of the houses have residents in them and lights on.  No one who lives in those houses are contributing income or sales taxes to canada so what's going to happen to social services over time? An interesting social experiment that I would rather not be surrounded by.

I've actually been thinking about it a bit more and was thinking about what it will do to all the local businesses in addition to the social services.  How does a neighborhood restaurant and market stay in business when there's 50% occupancy around (even with 100% ownership)?  I feel OK about our business b/c it draws people from reasonable distances, but small companies that rely on short-distance "locals" are going to have their number of potential customers cut in half.  It's all kind of fine now that it's a new thing and all these problems are offset by rising property prices...but time will take it's toll on the businesses at this rate and the problem will compound when and if property prices start dropping to boot."

Colbert Super PAC - Occupy Wall Street Co-Optportunity - Stephen On Location - The Colbert Report - 2011-31-10 - Video Clip | Comedy Central

Colbert Super PAC - Occupy Wall Street Co-Optportunity - Stephen On Location - The Colbert Report - 2011-31-10 - Video Clip | Comedy Central:

This is quite possible the funniest thing I've seen on TV in years. Colbert was amazing in this. Everything about this is genius.

A Sister’s Eulogy for Steve Jobs - NYTimes.com

One of the best eulogies I've ever read. Read the whole thing.

A Sister’s Eulogy for Steve Jobs - NYTimes.com:

"Steve worked at what he loved. He worked really hard. Every day.

That’s incredibly simple, but true.

He was the opposite of absent-minded.
He was never embarrassed about working hard, even if the results were failures. If someone as smart as Steve wasn’t ashamed to admit trying, maybe I didn’t have to be."

Sunday Brunch - October 30, 2011

It's another spectacular weekend in San Francisco but my NFL survivor teams are playing this morning, so I'm watching some football. Hope you enjoy the links.

• Occupy Everything - Nevver - my kind of Occupy movement.
• Questions for a New Entrepreneur - Seth Godin - great set of questions for people evaluating a new idea. People ask me about their new ideas all the time - which is a total blast. I usually end up asking them these kinds of questions. It helps them figure out their direction.
• When A Friend Calls Me From the Road... - 37 Signals - Robert Frost is one of my favorite poets. Friendship and Community are so important.
• The Best Statistics Question Ever - Flowing Data - This is hilarious and somehow true. A few years ago I passed the CFA III despite having to blindly guess on about 15 (out of 120) questions. I'm convinced that I passed because I got lucky on a couple guesses.
• Platypus Playing Keytar - Flowing Data - made me laugh. What can I say?
• Madonna on Magazine Covers - Kottke - She's probably the best marketer of the 80's.
• Trolling ZocDoc - Meaghano - This made me laugh out loud. ZocDoc is Open Table for Doctors (disclosure - Lighthouse is an investor in ZocDoc).
• The Next Disruptive iPhone Feature - Makes a ton of sense.
• Sincerely Raises $3M - Postagram, made by Sincerely, is one of my top 5 iphone apps, because it allows me to send a picture postcard so simply. It's great for Thank You's and remembering a special moment with friends.
• Eye Candy for Tourists - Mystical Photography - Beautiful
• Netflix's Plan to Kill the DVD is Working - SplatF - Not sure this is their real goal. It's actually to build the digital subscriber base. However, I think after this massive period of self induced customer churn is over, the market will realize they have still have a massively valuable subscriber base. (disclosure - I bought some stock this week for my personal account. please make your own investment decisions :))

Band of Horses - The Great Salt Lake (OFFICIAL VIDEO) - YouTube

Love the song and the video is perfect for a day like today.

Band of Horses - The Great Salt Lake (OFFICIAL VIDEO) - YouTube:

"

Friday Chill Music - October 28, 2011

may you one day carry me home (Ryan Adams in Denver) | Fuel/Friends Music Blog:

Going with a little Ryan Adams for Friday Chill Music this week. Terrific live concert. My favorites are always Desire, Firecracker, English Girls Approximately, and Come Pick Me Up.

Link: Aaron Rodgers – Photobomber

Everyone has a love that got away. Aaron Rodgers is in the discussion. What could have been Niners...

Link: Aaron Rodgers – Photobomber

One Foot Tsunami

If his stellar play on the field wasn't enough to make you love him, nor his excellent American Mustache Institute interview, how about Aaron Rodgers photobombing?

This post shows years worth of stellar photobombing work by Rodgers, though the ridiculous picture below actually comes from a site dedicated to the practice.

Aaron Rodgers: Better QB or Photobomber?

Permalink

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Eddie Vedder - Bridge School Benefit 2011 - YouTube

Eddie Vedder - Bridge School Benefit 2011 - YouTube:
I'll be traveling the next few days so wanted to leave you a terrific set from Eddie Vedder at Bridge School. Thanks to Kyle Bunch for sending over.

Traveling Portfolio | Mystical Photography by Frederic Larson | an SFGate.com blog

Traveling Portfolio | Mystical Photography by Frederic Larson | an SFGate.com blog:

reblog: Today in Not Being Bullish Enough

I agree with Kedrosky below. I see so many cool Cleantech companies that I'm pretty confident the U.S. will overcome the high cost (& pollution) of fossil fuels. It's the classic economic situation where the price of a commodity got so high it created a big enough market for entrepreneurs to get funded and change the world (for the better). This won't solve all of our problems, and I'm not sure how close the labor gap with China will really be, but I think the U.S. has a bright future in front of it.

Today in Not Being Bullish Enough:
I have a regular conversation with a hedge fund friend wherein I try to convince him (and me) that, bears that we usually are, we aren’t nearly bullish enough. While Evans-Pritchard is often off the mark, these are more or less my arguments for the bullish side.

World power swings back to America.

The American phoenix is slowly rising again. Within five years or so, the US will be well on its way to self-sufficiency in fuel and energy. Manufacturing will have closed the labour gap with China in a clutch of key industries. The current account might even be in surplus.

via World power swings back to America – Telegraph.

Sunday Brunch - October 23, 2011

Hope you enjoy the links:

• What Talent Wants - Seth Godin - Terrific summary of what great people are looking for. If you can provide a few of these, you'll get great people.
• How to Dominate Your Bank - Kathryn - I didn't realize that Rents were now approaching Mortgage Payments. This is the equilibrium point where it starts making sense to buy. Great job Kathryn.
• The Venn Piagram - Data nerd humor
• Michael Winslow Get's the Led Out - Sent in by the Walm. This is the guy from the old Police Academy movies. Incredible.
• Molly Mutt's New 'What the Dog is Thinking' Promotion - Molly Mutt is probably the best small business digital marketer I've ever met. So creative.
• Ben's Friends October Newsletter - we send out a newsletter every month, helps you stay up to date.
• Bon Iver's Homepage - One of my favorite bands is turning their website homepage into a video showcase. Forget the info, you land on the site and are watching their video instantly. Very smart.
• The Mixed Race Project - Maile's Blog - My friends, the Koidin's, are participating in a cool photo project for mixed race couples and their children.
• Occupy Wall Street The Cover - Kedrosky - Pitch perfect
• All The Single Ladies - Vanity Fair - I saw this all over my facebook feed. It seems to have resonated with a lot of my lady friends.
• Nice Guys - I Love Chart - Loved this Chart. Speaks for itself.

Vanessa at Her Sister's Wedding

Reblog: Cities don't die (but corporations do)

Great perspective

Cities don't die (but corporations do)

Seth's Blog

In modern times, it's almost unheard of for a city to run out of steam, to disappear or to become obsolete. It happens to companies all the time. They go out of business, fail, merge, get bought and disappear.

What's the difference?

It's about control and the fringes.

Corporations have CEOs, investors and a disdain for failure. Because they fear failure, they legislate behavior that they believe will avoid it.

Cities, on the other hand, don't regulate what their citizens do all day (they might prohibit certain activities, but generally, market economies permit their citizens to fail all they like).

This failure at the fringes, this deviant behavior, almost always leads to failure. Except when it doesn't.

Ecosystems outlast organisms.

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Friday Chill Music - October 21, 2011

Monthly Music Fix September Indie Rock | 33Forever:

We're taking a big assist from John Hamilton this week. He has terrific taste in music so I'm reblogging his latest post. Click through to read his reviews of the songs and bands!

Siri did the best she could trying to help me make... • Lisanti Quarterly

Classic Mark Lisanti. Loved it.

Siri did the best she could trying to help me make... • Lisanti Quarterly:

Siri did the best she could trying to help me make sense of the Red Sox mess, but there’s only so much she can wrap her dual-core brain around.

Let’s Ask iPhone’s Siri Some Questions About Baseball and the Boston Red Sox - Grantland

Jimmy Fallon - Eddie Vedder BP Protest Song "(Tar) Balls In Your Mouth" - YouTube

Jimmy Fallon - Eddie Vedder BP Protest Song "(Tar) Balls In Your Mouth" - YouTube:

thanks Scotty for sending.

Typewritten - A Really Cool App

via a terrific new app called The Amazing Type-Writer

PC Market Sales Data

This is really interesting to me. A few months ago I heard a stat that microsoft's market share of Internet enabled devices was down to 55% (approximation), down from 90% five years ago. iPads and Smartphones are taking a serious dent out of Microsoft market share. I see it all the time on our patent networks. I get so many notes from members that they only use their phones to access the sites. 

Microsoft's financial performance is incredible, but this declining market share in Internet enabled devices scares me. 

PC Market Sales Data

Paul Kedrosky

I'm biased horribly given my Microsoft position, but I can't help bfeel reinforced by Gartner's continuing revisions downward to PC sales.

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Ben's Friends Started As A...

One of our Moderators on Ben's Friends, the wonderful Jackie, sent me a really nice note. It made me feel good. She said:

"The group grows so fast, it started as a magic Scott/Ben bean!!"

All Over Coffee - SFGate

All Over Coffee - SFGate:

Friday Chill Music - October 14, 2011

Today is one of those days where you stop and think, "San Francisco is the most beautiful place in the world." I've been gone for a week and I returned to 80 degree whether. Everywhere you look, all you see are smiles.

Wilco - The Art of Almost (my favorite Wilco song in ages. it's the first time I've heard it live.)

Wilco - One Sunday Morning ( I change my mind, this song is better than Art of Almost, but it's completely different. incredible.)

Mark Kozelek - Carry Me Ohio (Sun Kil Moon is one of my favorites)

Metric - Collect Call

Feist - Comfort Me (stripped down and terrific)

 P.S. the Wilco links above might break so click to the whole Wilco show on Captain's Dead and they are the 1st and 7th songs listed. very easy)

Stevie Nicks at the Fillmore

Stevie Nicks is amazing. She's an older lady now so she can't run around the stage, but when she sings, you know it's Stevie Nicks and it stirs something inside you. She's the epitome of star power and it was a pleasure to watch her at the Fillmore on Saturday night.

Skin cell gun

This looks incredible.

Skin cell gun:
Scientists have developed a spray gun that sprays the burn victim's own skin cells onto the affected area heals them within a matter of days, not weeks or months.





The guy doesn't even look like he got burned. (via @delfuego)
Tags: medicine video

Empty Apple

Beautiful photo from Daily Dose of Imagery

Article: Peter Richmond remembers Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis - Grantland

Peter Richmond remembers Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis - Grantland
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7082720/al-raiders-me

Before I could even ask him a question, he started to read from a copy of that Madden induction speech, because he wanted me to know from the start that it was Madden, the man whose winning percentage beat Lombardi's, who should get all the credit. But within a second or two, he realized this was a stupid thing to do, and he slid the speech over to me, so I could read it myself later.

Then he said, "What I was trying to say in the speech is that time never stops for the great ones. That's what I was trying to say."

Sunday Brunch - October 9, 2011

Hope you enjoy the weekly links with a twist. I got some constructive feedback last week that people wanted a little commentary along with the link. I'll do my best to keep it quick and cool.

• Can Yelp Help Independent Restaurants Drive Out the Chains - Loved this article because it shows how Yelp makes the world better for the little guy. Usually, it's big companies that benefit from the economies of scale of technology. Yelp flips that around, and it makes life better for people like me, who enjoy eating at a local, small place that has a story.
• Flick Chicks by Mindy Kaling - a terrific young writer. She's the Indian woman on the Office too.
• Pitch Me Another: Apple's New Yorker Ads - takes me way back. "Think Different" is probably my favorite ad campaign this side of "Where's the Beef?" 
• Joel McHale: Life as a Walk-On - I can kind of relate because I walked onto the CAL lacrosse team my sophomore year. I missed the competition and camaraderie of team sports so I taught myself a new sport. It's one of the best things I ever did and Joel's article brought out a ton of good memories. Plus it's funny. :)
• Building on Fire - an awesome pic at Daily Dose of Imagery, one of my favorite photo blogs.
• Good Golly Molly - Ton's of New Products - everyone's favorite dog bedding company, Molly Mutt, has a ton of great new stuff.
• A Eulogy of Action - Seth Godin's excellent thoughts on Jobs' passing, "Everything is different because of the device you are reading this on."
• Last American Who Knew What He Was Doing - The Onion on Jobs
• Why Startup Hubs Work - This is already clear to people who live in the Bay Area, but it's written for the world's benefit.
• Apple is Quietly Disintermediating Google in Mobile Search- this is really happening, and it's happening very quickly
• Amazon's Amazing Kindle Growth Chart - wow!
• Notes on Groupon from Felix Salmon - Good article on Groupon and the coupon world. Thanks Walm for sending.
• Universe Dented, Grass Underfoot - my favorite Jobs article of the week.

I Scream for Ice Cream

(see full image)

Friday Chill Music - October 7, 2011

I'm linking to Bryan Kenna's excellent new October Mix on Spotify. If you don't have Spotify, it takes about 1 minute to get signed up, and it's probably the future of music, so you're doing yourself a favor anyways.

Here is Kenna's commentary on the bands. I'm really enjoying Cymbals Eat Guitar, cool stuff.

All the Alex Bain you can handle! — This is the email I sent Jobs back in May

All the Alex Bain you can handle! — This is the email I sent Jobs back in May:

"I took your advice*. You said I should come back to Apple after Harvard Business School, and that’s just what I did. But now I’m leaving again.

I rejoined Apple in ‘09 to manage the analytics group for iTunes.

I’ve worked on fun projects like:[redacted]**

I’m starting at Facebook in two weeks, where I’m managing mobile analytics. It’s a great opportunity, but I’ll miss the Apple people/culture tremendously. I’ll also miss the confidence and pride that you are uniquely able to inspire in all of us here.

Thank you so much for everything you’ve taught me and every opportunity you’ve created for me.

With gratitude,
Alex Bain

One more thing: I took your advice on something else, too… I registered to be an organ donor."

RIP Steve Jobs