Ten (sensible) startup rules
Ev Williams, co-founder of Blogger and Odeo, has posted ten (really
eleven) eminently sensible rules for startups. I think these are
great -- they're the kind of thing I wish I'd known back when I was
starting a company.
#3: Be Casual
We're moving into what I call the era of the "Casual Web" (and casual
content creation). This is much bigger than the hobbyist web or the
professional web. Why? Because people have lives. And now, people
with lives also have broadband. If you want to hit the really big
home runs, create services that fit in with—and, indeed, help—
people's everyday lives without requiring lots of commitment or
identity change. Flickr enables personal publishing among millions of
folks who would never consider themselves personal publishers—
they're just sharing pictures with friends and family, a casual
activity. Casual games are huge. Skype enables casual conversations.
Link
http://tinyurl.com/ctuyt
Boiling the Ocean vs. JSTDT
One of the more interesting aspects of the VC business is meeting
with all kinds of folks that have ideas of all types. We see things
like a business plan for communicating with the dead via wireless
technology or putting RFID tags on gold fish for ease of inventory
and health management. Every idea gets a hearing in our office
because, well, you never know and listening is what it is all about.
My partners, associates, and Carla, the glue that keeps the place
together, all know that ideas are about passion, looking at things
from all kinds of angles and, well, you just never know about
stuff. It pays to be nice, listen, offer advice and show a little
respect. The other part of the job that is fun is when a JSI (Just
Ship It) walks in the door. You see something that just begs to be
out there collecting users yet lies waiting for the entrepreneur to
complete the grand vision, the master plan, the complete
transformation of all that he (or she) surveys, or putting it
bluntly, completing the rather large task of attempting to boil the
ocean. Having a conversation with such a passionate lad can be quite
the experience because you walk the fine line between coming off as
some know it all suit and missing the big picture in the rush to get
something out the door. Meet Albert. Albert is my kind of young,
aggressive, (aka cocky) entrepreneur who is doing some interesting
work on a software product he thinks will change the world. It is a
true labor of love and, to his credit, he managed to get some angels
to view the power point, drink the kool-aid, and toss some coin his
way. Way to go, Albert. Albert gives me a call and wants to
essentially do the no harm, no foul meeting. As you might have read
before, I make it a practice to give anybody a change to come by the
office for a 30 minute, no harm, no foul meeting that basically
doesn’t count toward anything formal when it comes to funding.
It’s great fun and, I hope, is a more relaxing way for new start ups
to get to know the world of Venture Capital. After going through the
first chunk -o– slides, we hit the demo of the product. Not bad. Not
killer, but not bad. The business problem he is trying to solve is
real but not sure if what he is showing me is going to nail it. As
I’m about to launch into the feedback loop, Albert says “oh,
lemmie show you one other thing” and proceeds to show me this little
desktop gizmo that is, well, killer (in my opinion, which is free and
worth every penny). “Ship that” are the words I uttered. Well
even tho it could be ready, it’s really only a small part of this
massive, change the world, yadda yadda yadda, says Albert. Right.
Albert, buddy, Just Ship The Damn Thing (JSTDT) and let the user
community tell you what’s really needed. And of course, it was here
that Albert and I launch into this massive debate over what the
‘right’ thing to do is. Does he ‘knee jerk’ and ship what I
suggest because it might/probably get him funded. Does he play nice
with me because he wants to get funded? Does he stick to his guns and
make me understand that his strategy is not one that amounts to a
boil the ocean plan rather a smart way to grow a long term business.
It goes on well past the 30 minutes and spills into some of the
better “flame mail” I’ve had since the days gone by at
Microsoft. I wonder if they still have flame mail at Microsoft or
have the corporate types taken over. I digress..
http://tinyurl.com/cedhd
Sky Spy Spots Energy-Wasting Homes
November 28, 2005 07:19 AM - Collin Dunn, Durham, North Carolina

British company BlueSky is helping improve energy efficiency in UK
homes. They're using aerial thermal imaging to pinpoint areas and
homes that are leaking too much energy. Local energy authorities can
then use this information to help advise homeowners to improve their
energy efficiency in accord with the mandated 30 percent increase in
domestic efficiency by 2006. BlueSky combines aerial thermal imaging
with digital mapping and geographical information systems to produce
a thermographic map that indicates the properties emitting the most
heat. BlueSky uses a modified military-use scanner mounted on the
underside of a twin-engine aircraft to record the infrared
images. ::BlueSky via ::We Make Money Not Art
http://tinyurl.com/77wk3
Some tips from experts on selecting right toys
Monday, November 28, 2005
By Karen MacPherson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Parents face a tough balancing act in choosing toys for their children.
On the one side, there's the highly coveted high-tech toys, those
flashy, animated playthings. On the other side, there are the
traditional construction sets, board games, arts and crafts kits that
inspire kid-powered creativity.
The balancing act is particularly challenging this year because some
of the new electronic toys offer more play value than their
predecessors, experts say.
http://tinyurl.com/ab3mn
The first United Nations climate conference since the Kyoto agreement
came into force in February is due to begin in the Canadian city of
Montreal.
Delegates will discuss how targets on cutting greenhouse gas
emissions over the next seven years will be met.
Talks over the next fortnight will also focus on what further action
to take after 2012 but the US says it will resist attempts to be
drawn in.
A no-confidence vote being held in Canada may disrupt proceedings.
The minority Liberal government looks set to lose, and its defeat
would trigger an election campaign.
http://tinyurl.com/al4mc
Woman charged for refusing to show ID on a public bus
Bill Scannell says: "On the 9th of December 2005, a Denver woman is
scheduled to be arraigned in U.S. District Court. Her crime: refusing
to show ID on a public bus. At stake is nothing less than the right
of Americans to travel freely in their own country.
"The woman who is fighting the good fight is named Deborah Davis.
She's a 50 year-old mother of four who lives and works in Denver,
Colorado. Her kids are all grown-up: her middle son is a soldier
fighting in Iraq.
"One morning in late September 2005, Deb was riding the public bus to
work. She was minding her own business, reading a book and planning
for work, when a security guard got on this public bus and demanded
that every passenger show their ID. Deb, having done nothing wrong,
declined. The guard called in federal cops, and she was arrested and
charged with federal criminal misdemeanors after refusing to show ID
on demand.
"She hasn't commuted by public bus since that day."
Link
http://tinyurl.com/b3f8w
Free 1200-page physics textbook
Motionmountain has a free, 1,200-page physics textbook that loads of
great examples. I haven't had a chance to do more than skim, but this
looks like a great basic text, and it's fully searchable, which makes
it perfect to dip into when you have a particular subject you want to
get up to speed on. Link (via Digg)
http://tinyurl.com/dgwy7
Body hacks
Men's Health has a great selection of 14 little body-hacks that use
little-known relationships between different parts of your body to
cause it to bend to your will.
11. Stanch blood with a single finger!
Pinching your nose and leaning back is a great way to stop a
nosebleed -- if you don't mind choking on your own O positive. A more
civil approach: Put some cotton on your upper gums -- just behind
that small dent below your nose -- and press against it, hard. "Most
bleeds come from the front of the septum, the cartilage wall that
divides the nose," says Peter Desmarais, M.D., an ear, nose, and
throat specialist at Entabeni Hospital, in Durban, South Africa.
"Pressing here helps stop them."
12. Make your heart stand still!
Trying to quell first-date jitters? Blow on your thumb. The vagus
nerve, which governs heart rate, can be controlled through breathing,
says Ben Abo, an emergency medical- services specialist at the
University of Pittsburgh. It'll get your heart rate back to normal.
Link (via Digg)
http://tinyurl.com/9exnn
Bosnian town unveils Bruce Lee statue of peace
A Bosnian city has erected a statue of Bruce Lee to commemorate his
65th birthday, as a symbol of universal peace -- Bruce was apparently
equally popular on all sides of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia.

"We will always be Muslims, Serbs or Croats," said Veselin Gatalo of
the youth group Urban Movement Mostar.
"But one thing we all have in common is Bruce Lee."
Link (Thanks, Dave!)
Update Erik sez, "Someone stole Bruce Lee's nunchucks! Apparently it
happened a few hours after the statue was unveiled in Mostar.
According to this article, several dozen citizens gathered in the
park where the statue was unveiled to 'express their disgust.' 'Once
again we've shown what Balkan savageness is!,' says one." (Thanks,
Erik, Marion and Sinisa!)
http://tinyurl.com/dpqhk
More mammoth hard drives set to arrive
Hardware Roundup DFI launches another ace motherboard
By Désiré Athow: Monday 28 November 2005, 05:32
TECH POWERUP does us a favour by reviewing the DFI Lanparty NF4 SL-DR
Expert, which is certainly on my Yule yodel list. Why DFI launched a
third SLI motherboard is anyone guess but the fact that it is priced
around $200 gives you a hint. It has two GbE ports, fabulous BIOS and
overclocking options, SLI, the ability to run 2GB of RAM etc.
Techpowerup gives it top gongs with a 97% approval rate and considers
it as the best enthusiast motherboard available, especially after
listening to that particular community.
http://tinyurl.com/9ueb5
AMD annihilates Intel in dual core benchmark tests
It's no contest
By INQUIRER staff: Monday 28 November 2005, 09:29
A SO-CALLED "prizefight" set of benchmarks run by news.com has pitted
a heavyweight champion against a dead lightweight failure, if the
results are to be believed. News.com pitted AMD versus Intel dual
core CPUs and tested areas including day to day computing, gaming,
multitasking, photo editing, MP3 encoding, video encoding and bangs
per buck, or price performance as others call it. That's seven
rounds of the "prizefight".
http://tinyurl.com/77gkj
99 useful Run commands
If you're like me, you probably use Windows' Run box more often than
you use the Start menu. To that end, FixMyXP.com has a list of 99
Useful Run Commands, i.e. stuff you can type into the Run box to get
stuff done faster. Chances are you won't find all 99 useful, and you
probably already use some of them daily (e.g. I couldn't live without
"cmd" and "calc"), but there are a few gems nonetheless. And in case
you're still using the mouse to open the Run box, try pressing the
Windows key and R.
http://tinyurl.com/92kjj
Flat panel prices in free-fall
We already sort of expect electronics prices to just keep falling and
falling, but PC World has the goods on just how much prices on flat
panel displays have plummeted this year. In case you haven’t been
paying close attention, it turns out that prices have dropped a
ridiculous amount over the past 12 months, mainly because of firece
competition from budget labels like Syntax and Westinghouse.
According to Displaysearch, the price of a 32-inch LCD TV will hit
almost $1500 this quarter, down from $3000 a year ago, with the price
of a 42-inch plasma sliding from just north of $4000 down to about
$2500 over the same time period. Prices will continue to go down next
year, but not quite as quickly as they did in 2005. Translation: if
you’ve been holding out on buying a new flat panel, it’s finally a
good time to buy.
http://tinyurl.com/9dzm7
3-in-1 Magic Joy Box puts old controllers to use
Now you can do more with your old video game consoles than just gut
the electronics for some Ben Heckendorn-style fun; the 3-in-1 Magic
Joy Box allows you to use old Xbox, Playstation, PS2, and GameCube
controllers with your PC games. Up to three controllers (or dance
pads) can be hooked up simulataneously, with all buttons and
vibration types supposedly supported. The Magic Joy Box is avaialable
to rescue your old controllers for about $30.
NBC might sue TiVo over PSP and iPod support
Posted Nov 28, 2005, 7:50 AM ET by Peter Rojas
Related entries: Home Entertainment
NBC is none too pleased with TiVo’s plans to make it easy for users
to use TiVoToGo to snag TV shows from their TiVo box and load them up
on their PSP or video-enabled iPod and are thinking about filing suit
to stop them. They’re being totally silly, of course. All TiVoToGo
does is let users copy a show that they’ve legally recorded and
watch it on another device (with loads of DRM to prevent file-
sharing). Up until now that other device was (usually) a PC, which
didn’t seem to bother the networks so much before, so why are they
all put out now? Because they want to own that relationship with the
viewer and charge money for people to watch shows on a portable
device, like how ABC charges $1.99 to download an episode of Lost.
Let’s see if they actually waste their time and money on a legal
battle.
http://tinyurl.com/baft4
Asiatotal’s iT: the return of the “free” PC
Every few years, it seems, the idea of a “free” PC resurfaces;
usually, it’s a computer that you pick up via a long-term commitment
to an ISP, like the boxes People PC used to offer. The latest
wrinkle, the iT from Hong Kong’s Asiatotal, is a little different.
The iT is a stripped-down desktop running Windows CE, with a 7-inch
LCD and a 400 MHz processor. Asiatotal plans to give away the iT in
developing markets, via a sponsorship model: the computer includes 10
dedicated hotkeys for sponsors. It’s an interesting concept, and one
that could potentially reach the developing world more rapidly than
the much-heralded $100 PC — the profit motive tends to make things
happen a little more quickly than altruism. However, it remains to be
seen whether Asiatotal can sell enough ads to make this work, and
whether advertisers, once on board, are willing to stick around long
enough to turn this into a mass-market product.
http://tinyurl.com/aall7
Bird flu might have spread to more provinces in Indonesia
Jakarta (dpa) - Government authorities said Monday that avian
influenza might have spread to more provinces in Indonesia as the
country's president appointed a state-run pharmaceutical company to
produce the anti-viral drug Tamiflu to fight the illness.
Authorities have so far confirmed that the deadly H5N1 strain of the
virus has infected fowl through 23 of Indonesia's 33 provinces, but
senior officials said new infections were suspected elsewhere, and
that the outbreaks increase the risk of the virus mutating into a
strain that's more contagious to humans and could lead to a pandemic
that health experts fear could kill millions.
http://tinyurl.com/bsnmh
SEATTLE--There was a time long ago when the word "computer" was a job
description referring to the humans who performed the tedious
mathematical calculations for huge military and engineering projects.
It is in the same sense that Kazushige Goto's business card says
simply "high performance computing." Goto, who is 37, might even be
called the John Henry of the information age. But instead of
competing against a steam drill, Goto, a research associate at the
Texas Advanced Computing Center at the University of Texas at Austin,
has bested the work of a powerful automated system and entire teams
of software developers in producing programs that run the world's
fastest supercomputers. He has done it alone at his keyboard the old-
fashioned way--by writing code that reorders, one at a time, the
instructions given to microprocessor chips. At one point recently,
Goto's software--collections of programs called subroutines--
dominated the rarefied machines competing for the title of the
world's fastest supercomputer. In 2003 his handmade code was used by
seven of the 10 fastest supercomputers. (The Japanese Earth
Simulator, which was then the world's fastest machine, however, did
not use his software.)
http://tinyurl.com/95bsg
Tech firms focus on TV
Ever since Edward R. Murrow and Ed Sullivan were doing their thing in
black and white, the living room television has been the centerpiece
of home entertainment.
Then, somewhere along the way, a lot of folks in the high-tech
industry got it into their heads that families should gather around
the PC to watch their favorite TV programs.
Guess what? The tube still rules. So it's little surprise that the
tech industry, led in a most unlikely way by computer networking
giant Cisco Systems, is looking to the TV to finally, once and for
all, get out of the home office and into the living room.
On Nov. 18, Cisco announced the $7 billion acquisition of video set-
top box maker Scientific-Atlanta. Microsoft has a deep home
entertainment strategy built around the TV. And Apple Computer
watchers speculate that Steve Jobs & Co. are preparing a new TV-
centric product. What exactly that product is, or whether it even
really exists, is still a mystery.
http://tinyurl.com/79boz
Yale engineers make standardized bulk synthesis of nanowires possible
A team of Yale scientists have demonstrated a method to understand
effective synthesis of semiconductor nanowires (NWs) for both their
quality and quantity, according to a report published in the journal
Nanotechnology. This reported technology produces ten-times the
number of NWs as previous technology and sets parameters for
standardization of NWs.
 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Army Research Office,
Air Force Office of Scientific Research, NASA, US Department of
Homeland Security, National Science Foundation
No comments:
Post a Comment