Saturday, April 28, 2012

Scott Orn shared an Instagram photo with you

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Scott Orn just shared an Instagram photo with you:


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"A Little Place I Like to Call Allende"
(taken at Allende Restaurante)

Thanks,
The Instagram Team

Thursday, April 26, 2012

The Solar system: Explore Your Backyard -- Indiegogo

Terrific project from my friends at IndieGoGo. Watch the demo.

How cool would this have been to the 12 year old you? Even cooler is the back story on the project from Flowing Data. This was done by an out of work programmer who just wanted to do something he loved for a while. Isn't that the key to life?

The Solar system: Explore Your Backyard -- Indiegogo:

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

reblog: Derek Sivers - Advice on moving to Los Angeles

Great post by Derek Sivers. My favorite quote is below. I think he truly taps into what makes California great.

Advice on moving to Los Angeles:

"Not just LA but California is the most optimistic place on earth. The side-effects of this can confuse outsiders. When you say, “Will you come to my event?” or, “Want to help with this project?” - they will almost always say yes, full of enthusiasm, and actually 100% sincere, fully intending to be there, to help, whatever. They honestly and optimistically think that they will be there and do it. They have the best of intentions. But when it actually comes to that time, and they’ve optimistically said “yes!” to a dozen other things too, or perhaps they’re just nestled in the comfort of their California home, then... well... they reluctantly “flake” - and won’t follow through. Don’t get bitter and write them off as fake, or backstabbers. Just understand that it’s a side-effect of sincere optimism, and adjust your expectations accordingly."


Sivers doesn't mention that a lot of time the people that "flake" in the example end up being a new ideas biggest supporters. Successful ideas get made despite the "flake" because the founders are just that dedicated. Then they show the idea to all the optimistic flakes and they jump on board and spread the idea. There are different degrees of this and it happens most at early stage things. But it happens on a bigger scale too. Think of all the Google, Apple and eBay employees that rushed over to Facebook when it started to get traction. They waited just long enough to get a "sure thing," - although it wouldn't look like a sure thing to someone less optimistic. For that optimism, and their willingness to jump on the bandwagon, they are richly rewarded.



Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Monday, April 23, 2012

FIRST VIDEO! The #1 Thing You Forget To Ask When Buying A Condo

Awesome video by my friend Kathryn explaining home owner association dues and how buildings typically under reserve. 

KATHRYN'S CONVERSATIONS

The #1 Thing You Forget To Ask When Buying A Condo from Kathryn C on Vimeo.


Sunday, April 22, 2012

The Top of My Todo List

Great advice. 

Paul Graham: Essays
"I would like to avoid making these mistakes. But how do you avoid mistakes you make by default? Ideally you transform your life so it has other defaults. But it may not be possible to do that completely. As long as these mistakes happen by default, you probably have to be reminded not to make them. So I inverted the 5 regrets, yielding a list of 5 commands

Don't ignore your dreams; don't work too much; say what you think; cultivate friendships; be happy.

which I then put at the top of the file I use as a todo list."

Saturday, April 21, 2012

"Just keep playing, no matter how weird it gets."

bijan sabet
"Just keep playing, no matter how weird it gets."

-

kind of a great life lesson too, no?

Bob Dylan, to Levon Helm and The Band before their first concert together. (via davehyndman)

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Photo

 
 

Sent to you by Scott via Google Reader:

 
 

via Lisanti Quarterly on 4/16/12




 
 

Things you can do from here:

 
 

Instarchive, by Recollect

A terrific service that lets you download all of your Instagram photos to your Desktop for safe keeping.

Instarchive, by Recollect:

Monday, April 16, 2012

Food for 9 Billion: Business Fund Puts African Farmers on Road to Market | PBS NewsHour | April 3, 2012 | PBS

Thanks to Chris Addy for passing on this wonderful story about the One Acre Fund and its successes. Andrew was 1 year ahead of me at Kellogg. This is one of the best ideas (and execution) to come out of an American MBA school in the last 10 years.

Food for 9 Billion: Business Fund Puts African Farmers on Road to Market | PBS NewsHour | April 3, 2012 | PBS:

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Coldplay - Paradise on Vimeo

Coldplay - Paradise on Vimeo:

Why Netflix Never Implemented The Algorithm That Won The Netflix $1 Million Challenge | Techdirt

Hegarty passed this on and I found it fascinating.
Why Netflix Never Implemented The Algorithm That Won The Netflix $1 Million Challenge | Techdirt:
"The viewing data obviously makes a huge difference, but I also find it interesting that there's a clear distinction in the kinds of recommendations people that work if people are going to "watch now" vs. "watch in the future." I think this is an issue that Netflix probably has faced on the DVD side for years: when people rent a movie that won't arrive for a few days, they're making a bet on what they want at some future point. And, people tend to have a more... optimistic viewpoint of their future selves. That is, they may be willing to rent, say, an "artsy" movie that won't show up for a few days, feeling that they'll be in the mood to watch it a few days (weeks?) in the future, knowing they're not in the mood immediately. But when the choice is immediate, they deal with their present selves, and that choice can be quite different."

Friday, April 13, 2012

Scott Orn shared an Instagram photo with you

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Scott Orn just shared an Instagram photo with you:


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"Youth Lagoon at the Independent"

Thanks,
The Instagram Team

Friday Chill Music - April 13, 2012

The new Counting Crows album is out and I'm loving it. Sounds like old school Crows. Good to have them back. My favorite couple songs are the last ones on the album.


Thursday, April 12, 2012

How iPads are made

So interesting. 

Reporting for Marketplace, Rob Schmitz shows how iPads are made by Foxconn workers in Shenzhen.

(via daring fireball)

Tags: Apple   iPad   Rob Schmitz   video
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Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Jennifer Post on Crowdfunding Capital for Startups

My firm's corporate attourney, Jennifer Post, does an excellent job for us and she has written a terrific summary of the new Jobs Act, which covers Crowdfounding Capital for Startups. There is a lot jam-packed into the new legislation so Jennifer's summary is really useful. Thanks a bunch Jennifer!

Monday, April 9, 2012

Peter Thiel's class notes

Peter Thiel's class notes are unbelievable. Here is one gem that never occurred to me. Absolutely worth a full read. 

"One way to think about the tech mania from March 1998 to September 2000, then, comes from this insight that pretty much everything else was going insanely wrong before that time. The technology bubble was an indirect proof; the old economy was proven not to work, as we could no longer compete with Mexico or China. Emerging markets were proven failures, rife with cronyism and mismanagement. Europe offered little hope. And no one wanted to invest with leverage after the LTCM disaster. So, by the late '90s, a process of elimination left only one good place to put money: in tech."

http://blakemasters.tumblr.com/

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Metal bands per capita

Goofy and funny.

 
 

Sent to you by Scott via Google Reader:

 
 

via FlowingData by Nathan Yau on 4/9/12

Metal bands revised

By Reddit user depo_, this map showing metal bands per capita around the world is making the rounds. Clear dominance in Sweden and Finland.


 
 

Things you can do from here:

 
 

Saturday, April 7, 2012

The Bay is Still

Can't remember seeing the bay this still.

@hoverbird, 4/6/11 11:47 AM

Patrick Ewing (@hoverbird)
4/6/11 11:47 AM
Everybody thinks "The Social Network" is the best movie about forming a new startup, but they are wrong. The best movie is "Ghostbusters".



Friday, April 6, 2012

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Alan & JC are two of the most amazing people in the world....

Alan & JC are two of the most amazing people in the world. When we see a picture of them meeting in real life, years after they met on Living With Ataxia, it’s deeply inspiring.


Alan & JC are two of the most amazing people in the world....:

jccolyer:
Global Meeting of 2 Ataxians, Alan Thomas and John “JC” Colyer, at the “Empty Skies” 9/11 memorial at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, NJ in March, 2012.
Alan hold a trabasack leaflet up, what a good chap!

Reblog: Why Nobody Is Happy With The Fed Meeting Minutes

My friend Kathryn puts it perfectly.

Why Nobody Is Happy With The Fed Meeting Minutes:

We should be happy that the economy doesn’t need anymore bond buying in the near term since that’s like an emergency lever. But we’re not. We’re not happy because it’s the drug that has kept the economy going for the last 5+ years. Yep, without the quantitative easing in the pipeline, who knows what will happen to the economy. And we know Bernake doesn’t know

Monday, April 2, 2012

Reblog: Dave Matthews Band, A Short Play in One Act

Lisanti Quarterly

Nordstrom Salesgirl: Oh, I grew up with Dave Matthews band.

Nordstrom Salesgirl 2: Yeah, my dad is really into them!

Nearby Thirtysomething Shopper: [drops dead from old age]

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