June 2012
“Sometimes you see a parent walking with a child in the park, the parent talking...”
– Dave Winer
People tagging
One of the most successful online social drugs is people tagging in Facebook photos. I can’t recall when this feature was first introduced but getting a message saying “you’ve been tagged in a photo” followed by a link was incredibly seductive. It still is.
And it isn’t link bait as the content typically is quite good on the other side of that link.
Twitter’s...
“we are wading through a see of uninspired activity…searching…endlessly for that...”
– Rise Strange Thinkers, We Need You - Jordan Cooper
Is it harder for a first-time entrepreneur to... →
Last week @goldman started a Branch about whether it’s harder or easier to start a company today or 5 years ago.
What do you think?
Three thoughts about Microsoft Surface
After reading yesterdays NYT piece about Surface, I’m still left with a bunch of thoughts and questions.
Timing
Why didn’t they wait for the big reveal until after they were ready to actually let people touch it? The keyboard is clearly a big new thing with the Surface but I’m told by folks at the event that users were never allowed to try to the keyboard attached to the...
“On the advertising side of our business, we deliver solutions for clients based...”
– The Economist Group’s digital strategy | Lean Back 2.0
1 tag
“Dennis is in the business of giving people superpowers. You use Foursquare to...”
– Clay Shirky (via brycedotvc)
VC as a second career (vs a first)
It’s not easy but there a number of ways to get into the venture capital business. Some grow up in it, paying their dues in an almost apprenticeship model then over the years they take on more and more responsibility at the firm as their experience grows.
Some are were experienced entrepreneurs or operators and then make the switch to venture capital.
Some start their own firms - while...
“YouTube users upload 48 hours of video, Facebook users share 684,478 pieces of...”
– How Much Data is Created Every Minute?
(It’s actually 46,732)
The Gong Show: Hiring an Analyst at Spark Capital →
We are hiring an analyst at Spark Capital. My colleague Andrew has all the details on his post!
Wellness starts with better information
Last week I had some tests done on my foot. An x-ray and some other stuff.
I have a small thing my primary doctor wanted me to check out with a specialist.
So on Friday I went to see a specialist at MGH. He did some more tests.
Each time I met with someone, I gave them my name and I filled out a form. At this point, I’ve filled out at least 6 forms with 99% of the same information.
And...
Mobile optimized sites
According to Google Analytics about 18% of the folks that visit my Tumblr at bijansabet.com are using a mobile device (phone or tablet). Google Analytics only sees a small subset of the traffic because most people that check out this site follow me on Tumblr and view the content via the Dashboard.
Regardless, I’m guessing the ratio is about the same of mobile vs desktop traffic.
Anyway,...
“No one has gone to school to be a CEO—you don’t learn this except by...”
– Jerry Colonna
Can the Bulldog Be Saved? - NYTimes.com →
via NYT:
The main problem with this breed is its basic, fundamental design,” said Nancy Laste, a veterinary cardiologist who helped care for Uga V and VI when she was an intern at the University of Georgia in the early ’90s. “It’s a defective and unworkable design.”
I’m so fascinated with English Bulldogs. That face and character is incredible. But health issues and risk seem awful.
Is...
What are your favorite non-tech blogs?
I noticed that much of my daily reading is about technology and startups lately. I’m way off balance.
So I’ve been reading books more at night before crashing. I just started Hunger Games (better late than never)
And I’m trying to find more non-tech blogs to follow.
I’ve been enjoying Jonathan Flemming’s photo blog. He’s an extraordinary photographer in SF....
2 tags
WWDC and Operation Gray Mode
I’m back in San Francisco this week which isn’t a strange thing.
After living here for ten years, I get back for work about once or twice a month. I’ve been keeping this routine (ritual?) for about 7 years now and while it can be taxing on the body at times, I thoroughly enjoy it too.
I love this city, it’s people and it’s beauty. Lauren and I fell in love in this...
Thinking through the switch from the Air to the...
The new retina MacBook Pro looks sweet. Thinner, faster, more storage and oh boy all of those pixels.
But my 13” MacBook Air has served me and my back very well. Its light and fits neatly on a the coach tray when I’m flying back and forth across the country. The biggest limitation of the MBA is when I use Lightroom. The screen size and resolution isn’t ideal for photo editing. (wonder how long...
#nascar
This is so incredibly cool
in case you missed, here is @Twitter’s first ever TV spot during today’s #NASCAR race youtube.com/watch?v=nYz76M…
— Omid Ashtari (@omid) June 10, 2012
1 tag
Gorillaz - Crystalised (The xx cover)
ooh. i like...
“They asked me to make a toast — the one thing I said that I hope hope hope...”
– Dennis Crowley
Obsession with detail
Earlier today, Foursquare announced and released the #allnew4sq. You can read all about the many and vast improvements on their blog post.
Short version: It’s awesome.
The thing about this release is that it’s been in the works for a significant amount of time. A lot of thinking, hardwork, sweat, determination and pain went into this release. There was talk at one point about whether...
“As I walked around the middle school with the principal, we were looking at...”
– Maker Faire and Science Education: American kids should be building rockets and robots, not taking standardized tests. - Slate Magazine
This whole piece is worth reading. This is why we are so excited about our investment in @DIY 