A Facebook For Strangers

Image via WikipediaFred Wilson: Turntable
The Color Social Graph Might Work Better For Books, Movies, Music

My current Facebook is my second Facebook account. They booted me out the first time because I was oh so busy saying hello to strangers.

I like Twitter a lot, because on Twitter everyone has a phone number. And if someone is not on Twitter, that person is not relevant, at least not relevant to the world of tech. And the transparency and the 140 character limit makes managing communication easy. It is scalable.

The first phase of web social has been about connecting with people you already know. The far phase has to be about strangers. Utter, complete strangers, people you have absolutely no hopes of meeting in person.

Talking Across Time Zones

When your engineers are in India, and you are Indian, getting on Skype is Homecoming. My name gives it away to them. By now there is what I call a global class in every country. The team leader of the top team that is part of my tech consulting network is currently on vacation in Florida.

Teri Meri

My Dream: A Netflix For Books

Image via Wikipedia

The Next Web: Amazon reportedly in talks to launch a Netflix for books: charging a fixed monthly fee for access to a library of books. Amazon will reportedly offer book publishers a substantial fee for their involvement in the program. ..... With Amazon’s Kindle platform and intimate relationships with every premium publisher on the planet, this is a unique new space only the likes of Amazon and Apple are likely to be able to cater to. ..... my bet is on Amazon to dominate thanks to its first mover advantage and a name synonymous with books. Let’s face it, iBooks hasn’t had quite the impact we would have expected to see from a digital giant like Apple. I’d argue this is because of its lacking selection of books

Your Local Library On Kindle
A Netflix For Books Needed (October 2009)

AllThingsD: Amazon in Talks to Launch Digital-Book Library: Several publishing executives said they aren’t enthusiastic about the idea because they believe it could lower the value of books and because it could strain their relationships with other retailers that sell their books

CNet: Amazon eyes Netflix-style service for e-books: publishers are wary and the latest titles may be excluded--just like with Netflix's streaming service.

Business Insider: Amazon Is Trying To Launch A Netflix Style eBook Subscription Service: the subscription service could take some time to launch since Amazon is busy trying to woo publishers and get them on board.

Events: Week Of September 12

Monthly Metro Pass

Monday, September 12
AppsBidder.com Launch Party
07:00 PM - 11:30 PM, Galapagos Art Space, 16 Main St, Brooklyn, NY
F train to York St

Tuesday, September 13
Scenios presents: How the cloud will transform production as we know it
06:30 PM - 08:30 PM, Showbiz Store & Cafe - NY, 19 W. 21st St. , Ground Floor
F/M 23rd St

Event Of The Week: TechStars NYC on Bloomberg TV Premiere Party (Free, but all seats long taken)
07:00 PM - 11:00 PM

Wednesday, September 14
Expert Speaker Night, Cisco VXI Virtulization Experience Infrustructure (Event cancelled by Organizer)
06:30 PM - 08:30 PM Cisco New York Office One Penn Plaza 34th Street ,
between 7th and 8th Avenues 9th floor
E train 34 St

Plan B: Comedy School Dropout Presents: September is Greek for "Hilarious"
8:00 PM - 9:30 PM Beauty Bar 231 E 14th St Frnt 1
L train 3rd Ave

Fashion Week Websdays with Internet Week New York
7:00 PM 200 Orchard Street
F train to 2nd Ave

Thursday, September 15
Jumping Ship - How to leave your Day Job
07:00 PM - 09:00 PM New Work City 412 Broadway, Floor 2
6 train to Canal St

Data, Design, Diabetes Innovation Challenge DEMO DAY
06:00 PM - 09:00 PM AOL HQ 770 Broadway, 6th Floor
N/R 8 St/NYU

September NYC Tech BD Breakfast (No spots left)
08:30 AM - 09:30 AM

Friday, September 16
New Work City Third Anniversary Party
08:00 PM - 11:00 PM

Saturday, September 17
Jazz Brunch at Garage Saturday: Elli Fordyce Quartet Back by Popular Demand at Garage
12-4 PM Garage Restaurant & Cafe 99 7th Ave S
1/2 Christopher St

Sunday, September 18
New York City Apple Day Festival
02:00 PM - 4:30 AM Orchard, between Grand and Broome Streets
F train to Delancey

My 9/11 Story

My personal 9/11 story. I was in a small town in Kentucky. The locals called the cops on me. :-) ... Going to the World Trade Center site.less than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet ReplyParamendra Bhagat
paramendra

Monthly Metro Pass

Bought my first monthly metro pass today.less than a minute ago via txt Favorite Retweet ReplyParamendra Bhagat
paramendra

Icecream Sandwich --> Jelly Bean --> Kulfi

TechCrunch: After Ice Cream Sandwich Comes… Jelly Bean
CNet: Android's next version to be Jelly Bean?

Google, Zagat And Content

Image via CrunchBaseGoogle was not, is not a content company. Yahoo yes, AOL yes, but not Google. So I was a little surprised that Google went ahead and bought Zagat. But then Google pays entities like the Associated Press to get news stories directly on to the Google News platform. That's getting into content.

Goes on to show how unformed the mobile space is. The mobile space, the local space. Marissa Mayer might not have been able to buy GroupOn, but she sure did buy Zagat, did she not?

I was surprised and still don't fully understand, but that is not to say it is not a good move. And the price tag - undisclosed, I believe - is not outrageous.
Image via Wikipedia

Related articles

• 4 Ways Google's Acquisition of Zagat Will Affect Search Marketing (greatfinds.icrossing.com)
• Google's price for Zagat $125 million, says WSJ (news.cnet.com)
• Marissa buys Nina: Google's Buys Zagat (thenextwomen.com)
• Google Acquires Zagat (mashable.com)
• Google gobbles up Zagat (marketwatch.com)
• Bloggers Cheer Google's Zagat Acquisition (blogher.com)
• Google Buys Zagat: a Marriage between Old and New Media (searchenginejournal.com)
• Google buys Zagat in push for local market (money.cnn.com)
• A Chat With the Zagats and Google on the Future of Online Reviews (dailyfinance.com)
• Google Buys Zagat, Gives Itself Extraordinary Rating (searchenginewatch.com)

MoMo With WiFi

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My Secret Sauce

Why I Liked The Charity Water Party

I think last night I went to the best party ever, like ever ever. They should do this every month. (Be There, Or Be Square: The FourSquare Day Party At Sidebar) Why did I like the party so?

Charity Water Dress Code
Charity: Water
Happy World Water Day
Image via Wikipedia
(1) Great Cause

If you had to describe me in three words, you would call me a Third World Guy. Charity: Water to me feels like a pilot project to something grand, something that needs to be 1,000 times bigger and goes beyond charity, impacts large scale global policy. But what a pilot!

"Do You Have An Email Address?"
"Can You Understand This?"
"Bring Home An African Next Time"
Padgurum
Hawai Chappal

(2) Amazing People

With or without the cause it was just a great assembly of people. It was a large, crowded space, and you already knew you had something in common when you approached a stranger to say hello. I wish the party had started three hours earlier and lasted an hour longer. There were more people to meet.

A Mind Blowing Party

(3) Amazing Space

The space was big, huge. I have a thing for big, empty spaces. You start empty and fill it up with people. There were huge indoor plants. Parts of the roof were leaking, so it is not like they made you miss the rain outside. Curiously the place is not listed on FourSquare.

I had pineapple juice. Drinks were free the first hour. (No More Beer, No More Soda)