Friday, February 04, 2011

A Rationale Or Two For Blogging

Photographer: Frank C. MüllerImage via WikipediaFred Wilson: Do You Ever Get Bored Of Blogging?

I left this paragraph as a comment in reply to this blog post by Fred.
You have said a few times that you could not do your work without your blog. That is the best rationale I have seen for your daily blogging. True for me as well. My blogging is integral to my work. I am early stage, so I am even more dependent. Blogging is also like working out for the mind. It feels like doing push ups and is great fun. Blogging is one of my favorite things to do online. I would be a less intense consumer of content if I had not been an avid blogger.

Smartphones: Cheap Is Good

Image representing Android as depicted in Crun...Image via CrunchBaseThe idea is to get the phone out to as many people as possible. If almost everybody has a smartphone then we are talking. Then we got critical mass. And the way to get there is through super cheap smartphones. I am glad we are headed that way.

GigaOm: The Future of Cheap Androids Begins Now
we’ll need to see unsubsidized handsets priced at or under $100 that can be used on a month-to-month basis ..... in Europe and elsewhere, it’s not uncommon to buy a phone, then purchase a SIM card from whichever carrier is currently offering the cheapest voice and data rates ..... By 2013, we expect 1 GHz smartphones to be available for $100. ..... By the end of this year, I expect to see no-contract Android devices costing $99 or less, paired with reasonably priced pre-paid plans.
The worst idea the smartphone industry ever came up with has been the two year contract. Phones go stale in six months, a year max.

Do You Use Hashtags In Emails?


I found myself using a hashtag in an email recently. First time. But I liked doing it. I wrote a few lines of email, and then I put down the hashtag at the end which captured the entire email in one word. I felt good doing it.

Thursday, February 03, 2011

Honeycomb: Looks Like Finally Google "Gets" The Tablet

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - FEBRUARY 02:  The Google A...Image by Getty Images via @daylifeGoogle likes to iterate. They will put out something lousy. And finally on the fifth attempt they will get it right. The iPad had no real competition for an entire year. But now looks like that is about to change.

TechCrunch: First Impressions Using Android Honeycomb, Google’s iPad Rival

I am someone who has never bought an Apple product. I love Google like some people love Apple. It is the web thing. I like Google's thing for the web.

Metallica: Seek And Destroy

Looking For A Super Bowl Watch Party To Go To

Al Pacino attending the Venice Film Festival i...Image via WikipediaI am not all that into football. I am more a World Cup Soccer kind of guy. I don't even know who is playing who on Sunday. But I end up liking the commercials. And I am on a lookout for a Super Bowl Watch Party to go to.



Almost every thing I know about football comes from one Al Pacino movie. I get it. Alright, I get it.

Atmosphere: Freefallin'

The Phoenix Foundation: Buffalo

Peter Bjorn And John: Second Chance

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Bright Eyes: One For You, One For Me



(Via Fred Wilson)

A MeetUp Pivot


Image representing Meetup as depicted in Crunc...Image via CrunchBase
New York Observer: Screw Meetup: Organizers Up In Arms Over Redesign: In the new redesign, ordinary users can arrange for events, leading some to declare that organizers have been downgraded to moderators..... less than 1 percent of organizers active on Meetup have complained or commented on the redesign .... a simple solution. “If they don’t like users organizing events, they can just turn it off. It's a feature organizers have full control over.” .... "As we see how people are using the new tools we will keep iterating to simplify and improve the experience."
People love the Facebook newsfeed today. It is central to the Facebook experience. But when Facebook first introduced it, there was major ruckus. It is inertia. People dislike change. They are used to doing things one way. They would like to keep doing things the same way.