Sunday, February 24, 2013

Check out the Qwiki "Scott" sent you!

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"February 2013 Weekend @ Donner Lake"

Play the Qwiki

One tap turns memories into movies with Qwiki for iPhone. What will Qwiki create for you? Download the iPhone app now!

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Pearl Jam - Immagine in Cornice

Chilling at the cabin this weekend and watching this Pearl Jam DVD, Immagine in Cornice. It's such a great concert video. It mixes the music and energy of Pearl Jam with the beautiful backdrops of Italy.



Here is my favorite scene from the DVD.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

How Forks Gave Us Overbites and Pots Saved the Toothless - Atlantic Mobile

I love random, interesting things like this.

How Forks Gave Us Overbites and Pots Saved the Toothless - Atlantic Mobile:

"Until around 250 years ago in the West, archaeological evidence suggests that most human beings had an edge-to-edge bite, similar to apes. In other words, our teeth were aligned liked a guillotine, with the top layer clashing against the bottom layer. Then, quite suddenly, this alignment of the jaw changed: We developed an overbite, which is still normal today. The top layer of teeth fits over the bottom layer like a lid on a box.

This change is far too recent for any evolutionary explanation. Rather, it seems to be a question of usage. An American anthropologist, C. Loring Brace, put forward the thesis that the overbite results from the way we use cutlery, from childhood onwards."

Monday, February 18, 2013

China’s Army Is Seen as Tied to Hacking Against U.S

Getting scary...

david carr (@carr2n)
China's Army Is Seen as Tied to Hacking Against U.S. nyti.ms/VCAUbH A very scary story. The next phase is here.


Sunday, February 17, 2013

Sunday Links

Things slowed down this weekend and I caught up on some reading. Here are some links to articles I liked:

83% of the Radiologists Missed the Gorilla - What are you missing?

Taxis and the Shortest Route - The second paragraph is good. Interesting advice on who to call first if your car is stolen. Makes sense.

The Indiepocalypse - "We're at the beginning of an indiepocalypse — a global shift in how culture is made, from a traditional publisher model to independently produced and distributed works.

Artists that were royally screwed over in the past now have an alternative."


Inverse Paranoia - "Great entrepreneurs have a sense of "inevitability" in the belief in their idea and mission. Jim Clark refers to it as "willing a company into existence"."

Profile on the CEO of Evernote - An app I use everyday. I had never heard of this guy before, but he has built a great app and a great company.

Why I Just Joined Boundless - my buddy, Healy Jones, joined a promising startup as VP of Marketing. 

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Alex White and Moneyball for Music



I've been friends with Alex White for 5+ years. He was a Northwestern Undergrad when I was at Kellogg and John Hamilton introduced me. Now he is being profiled in magazine articles. - Moneyball for Music

About four years ago he called me and wanted to discuss what to do with his music startup, The Next Big Sound (NBS). It wasn't working and he wasn't sure what to do. He put the NBS into a holding period and was flying into SFO to hook up with a band and be their road manager for 3 months. To say I was envious was an understatement.

I picked him up at SFO, we drove to the city and hashed things out on the way and at Happy Hour. I dropped him off at his friends house that night wondering what would happen to him. One thing was sure, he was super talented and mature beyond his years.

A year later he had finished his band gig, entered the TechStars incubator for startups and completely retooled The Next Big Sound. He raised a couple rounds of venture capital and has built a great business.

What a great story. Congrats Alex!

Between Two Ferns - Oscar Preview

Zach Galifianakis is a comedic genius. Loved Jennifer Lawrence too.



Thursday, February 14, 2013

My Crab Louie Valentine!



Tesla vs. The New York Times: Everyone’s A Media Company Now - SplatF

First, Frommer is a great blogger. Highly recommend his site.

Second, the balance of power really has shifted. what a great observation from this whole Tesla thing.

Tesla vs. The New York Times: Everyone’s A Media Company Now - SplatF:

"Tesla CEO Elon Musk shreds* the New York Times review of his Model S, using data to argue the writer is telling the wrong story.

I won’t pretend to know who’s actually right or wrong here — Tesla certainly only has an interest in telling its side of the story — but the fact that a company has the tools and distribution to quickly publish something like this today is pretty amazing. (See also, OXO’s wonderful takedown of rival Quirky.)

Even a few years ago, something like this probably would have required finding a rival newspaper — the Wall Street Journal, perhaps — to collaborate on a takedown. Or maybe an expensive full-page ad campaign in the top five papers, which would have looked defensive and seemed less convincing.

But now that every smart company has a regularly updated blog, Elon Musk has 136,000 Twitter followers, etc., brands can speak for themselves very powerfully. And if the tone is right, they don’t even look lame: Tesla actually looks pretty great right now*. The balance of power has shifted."

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

It's all who you know? | Derek Sivers

Read the whole post, it's a great story.

"He walked into the classroom just before class began, and I heard him ask the teacher, “Oh, I thought we were going to have food.”The teacher said, “Oh, no, sorry, I thought you ate already! Didn't you have lunch?”Mark said, “Damn. No. And it's a two hour class. Oh well.”Hearing this, I quickly ran out of the room and called Supreme's Pizza, asking them to deliver three large pizzas to classroom #115.45 minutes later, the pizzas showed up. I gave one to Mark and shared two with the class.He smiled at me and said, “Good move. I owe you one. Here's my card. Call me any time, and let me know how I can help. When you come to New York City, I'll be happy to meet up.”For the next two years, I took him up on that, sending him my new songs for feedback, and he'd tell me his insights and advice about the music industry."

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Inside the Battle of Hoth

Loved this analytical breakdown of the Battle of Hoth in Star Wars. 

www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/02/battle-of-hoth

"How did the Galactic Empire ever cement its hold on the Star Wars Universe? The war machine built by Emperor Palpatine and run by Darth Vader is a spectacularly bad fighting force, as evidenced by all of the pieces of Death Star littering space. But of all the Empire's failures, none is a more spectacular military fiasco than the Battle of Hoth at the beginning ofThe Empire Strikes Back.

From a military perspective, Hoth should have been a total debacle for the Rebel Alliance. Overconfident that they can evade Imperial surveillance, they hole up on unforgiving frigid terrain at the far end of the cosmos. Huddled into the lone Echo Base are all their major players: politically crucial Princess Leia; ace pilot Han Solo; and their game-changer, Luke Skywalker, who isn't even a Jedi yet."

Monday, February 11, 2013

The Man Who Killed Osama bin Laden... Is Screwed

Dave Pell (@davepell)
Print - The Man Who Killed Osama bin Laden... Is Screwed - Esquire esquire.com/print-this/man… via Nextdraft.com

Download the official Twitter app here

Playing with Good Garbage (From Bags to Riches):Akbar Khan, TEDxYouth@BommerCanyon - YouTube

I've been advising Akbar a little. He's a really incredible kid. I didn't realize it until a couple days ago that he had already done a TED talk. Pretty neat for a 16 year old kid.

Playing with Good Garbage (From Bags to Riches):Akbar Khan, TEDxYouth@BommerCanyon - YouTube:


Monday, February 4, 2013

Kellogg Super Bowl Advertising Review: 2013 Results « Building Strong Brands

It's always fun to re-live the Super Bowl commercials. This Kellogg panel evaluates all the ads every year. Good stuff.

Kellogg Super Bowl Advertising Review: 2013 Results « Building Strong Brands:

"...social media reached a new level. Most Super Bowl advertisers had elaborate campaigns before the game and several were active during the game itself. Oreo, Tide and other brands tweeted about the blackout, demonstrating an ability to react quickly to developments in the world. One of our favorite tweets was from SodaStream, which signed off after the game with this comment:  “Hope you all enjoyed the game! We’re signing off before we have to see that Go Daddy commercial again.”"

Sunday, February 3, 2013

3 February 2013, baked by Leah Culver

The Pastry Box Project

"I hope you don't buy into the idea that people are naturally good at something or are born talented. Instead, I hope you will find what you love to do. I hope you find your passion."

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Watch this: Aether builds a sleek San Francisco boutique from three shipping containers


This is fantastic.

The Verge - All Posts
"If you think this is cool, then you're gonna think the things that we make are cool."


Auntie Vanessa



Friday, February 1, 2013

Craigslist Joe - Official Trailer HD - YouTube

I watched Craigslist Joe on Netflix this week and it was really heartwarming and inspirational. It makes you realize there are a lot of kind, wonderful people out there in the world. People are generally good.

Also, Joe, or "Joey" as I know him, is the friend of one of my best's friends younger brothers. I've met Joey a couple times over the years and he's a great guy. Just like how he comes across in the movie. He put this movie together himself and it's really well done. It's wonderful to see a young man produce something he's been dreaming about. Congrats Joey!

Craigslist Joe - Official Trailer HD - YouTube:

People Shop on Tablets More Than You Think

Healy Jones (@HealyHoops)
22% of tablet users spending $50 or more per month and 9% spending $100 or more ON THEIR DEVICES! bit.ly/YkxwPl


Binge Watching on Netflix

I do this a lot mits my favorite way to watch a show. 

www.nytimes.com/2013/02/01/business/media/netflix-to-deliver-all-13-episodes-of-house-of-cards-on-one-day.html?hp&_r=2&

"Binge-viewing, empowered by DVD box sets and Netflix subscriptions, has become such a popular way for Americans to watch TV that it is beginning to influence the ways the stories are told — particularly one-hour dramas — and how they are distributed."