TEDTalk: John La Grou Plugs Smart Power Outlets

"John La Grou unveils an ingenious new technology that will smarten up the electrical outlets in our homes, using microprocessors and RFID tags. The invention, Safeplug, promises to prevent deadly accidents like house fires -- and to conserve energy."

"5 Pathetic Groups That People Think Rule the World"

HatTip to Dave M. Whacky post from the guys at Cracked:

5 Pathetic Groups That People Think Rule the World

Oh, look, they made another Dan Brown movie at some point. Angels & Demons deals with the deep dark secret organization, The Illuminati, and their attempts to control the world, which means you're probably going to be hearing a lot about that in the next few months on certain, paranoid websites.

Yes, wide-ranging conspiracy theories aren't limited to pulp novels reenacted by a terrible Tom Hanks haircut. YouTube and Digg comments and countless blogs are full of people ranting about the secret elite who are out to enslave all of us.

They have a lot of reasons for believing the following groups are the guilty parties behind everything wrong with the world, and most of those reasons are very, very retarded... (full post)


I remember living in Springfield, IL and talking with some retired state employees who were ushers at the IL State Capitol. It was amusing because a couple of them believe in "those black helicopters from the U.N." and the "seven gnomes of Switzerland" who ruled the world.

Also the first conspiracy theory is more amusing since my uncle is part of the Trilateral Commission. Where do people come up with these ideas? And I don't believe Cracked left the "seven gnomes of Switzerland" out who are supposedly seven Jewish bankers that rule the world.

News & Links List

"Coolest Massively Multiplayer Games" Forbes

"Cisco: Google Wave Completes Us" BNET

"Report: Hulu Owns 10 Percent Of The Online Video Ad Market" paidContent.org

"Great Wall of Facebook: The Social Network's Plan to Dominate the Internet — and Keep Google Out" Wired Magazine
HatTip to Patrick P.

"Secret of Googlenomics: Data-Fueled Recipe Brews Profitability" Wired Magazine

"Marten Mickos on effective teams
The former CEO of MySQL weighs on in the principles of building an effective executive team" InfoWorld

"Small Businesses Might Not Be the Key to Economic Recovery" BNET

"Think Again: Asia's Rise
Don't believe the hype about the decline of America and the dawn of a new Asian age. It will be many decades before China, India, and the rest of the region take over the world, if they ever do." Foreign Policy

"Is Barack Obama’s Realism Better than George W. Bush’s Idealism?" by Ivan Eland
'Obama’s pragmatism in foreign policy is more reassuring than the messianic meddling overseas of George W. Bush.'

"Priced to Sell: Is free the future?" by Malcolm Gladwell

"Why I Believe God Loves Commerce" InsideWork, Donald McGilchrist

"Steve Martin: My Attempt at Moonwalking" The New Yorker

Central YMCA in San Francisco Closes After 99 Years

Christine and I have been serving on the Shih Yu-Lang Central YMCA's Board of Managers since 2005. This YMCA is different than the YMCA that was in my hometown of Northbrook, IL, a suburb of Chicago, which primarily provided a fitness facility and youth summer camps. The Central YMCA is located in the heart of the Tenderloin in San Francisco, which is its poorest district. It provided health and fitness facilities like most YMCAs, but more importantly to us it provided youth programs for at-risk children and effective programs for seniors in the area. This Y also provided a stable element in a neighborhood where instability and chaos was the norm.

Tonight I attended an event honoring the 99 years of this location's existence and the closing of this facility. It's amazing to hear and listen to the stories of this Y's impact on its members and the community. People that have been attending for decades with loyalty, youth who found refuge in its walls, and the support and care that was provided over the past years. This chapter of history is closed.

The building will be converted into an affordable housing complex for homeless and low-income residents. The youth and senior programs will continue and all fitness members will be able to continue their membership at any other YMCA in San Francisco.

During this transitional period, we will be seeking to build a new facility in the Tenderloin. It's early so there is a lot more work do to before any real progress is stated, but our parent organization, the YMCA of San Francisco, has committed to building a new Y in the Tenderloin with us.

Natalie Portman's MakingOf, Hollywood's Behind-The-Scenes Site

HatTip to Christine. Natalie Portman recently co-founded MakingOf which seeks to bring a behind-the-scenes look into the various creative processes in movie making. Christine Aylward is her Co-Founder and CEO. More from their site:

"MakingOf is a behind-the-scenes Web destination, founded by Natalie Portman and Christine Aylward, that provides an intimate, fresh look into the process of creating entertainment by the insiders themselves. Our mission is to champion the art and craft of entertainment creation. We started MakingOf because we realized that so much of what goes into entertainment creation is unavailable to the people who love and consume it the most. We wanted to give fans a way to experience that creation and learn from the insiders and thus MakingOf was born. When you visit MakingOf you will experience behind-the-scenes content, exclusive access to industry insiders, and an interactive, entertainment-focused community forum. It is your all-access pass to learn from and interact with actors, directors, producers, writers, and more. Film school for everyone! And film is just the start. Stay posted as we add additional features."

Here's a clip from the site, "Directing 201 with Shawn Levy, NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: BATTLE OF THE SMITHSONIAN | ON-SET"

TEDTalk: Katherine Fulton's "You are the Future of Philanthropy"

"In this uplifting talk, Katherine Fulton sketches the new future of philanthropy -- one where collaboration and innovation allow regular people to do big things, even when money is scarce. Giving five practical examples of crowd-driven philanthropy, she calls for a new generation of citizen leaders."


President of Monitor Institute, Katherine Fulton is also a strategist, author, teacher and speaker working for social change.

News & Links List

"Does a venture capitalist’s size — and network — matter?" VentureBeat, Matt Marshall

"The Top 100 Networked Venture Capitalists" TechCrunch

"Yahoo Kills Maven: From Acquisition To Deadpool In 17 Months" TechCrunch

"Venture Capitalists V. Founders: Battle At Mochi Media" TechCrunch
Yes, lot from TechCrunch today but it's just because they had worthwhile posts :)

"Extending Google services in Africa" Official Google Blog

"Twitter as the Foundation of Your Business" BNET

"Looking into the Future of Digital Marketing" eMarketer


"The True Story of True Ventures" peHUB

"Solidarity With Iran
Reagan's Polish lesson for Obama and the American left." WSJ

"President Obama Defends Right to Choose Best Care" ABC News
Obama's healthcare plan is good for the general public, but not for his family.

"The Climate Change Climate Change
The number of skeptics is swelling everywhere." WSJ

Pickup Basketball and Company Crisis, Lenses Into True Colors

(heads up since this post has religious references)

"An entrepreneur shows his true colors in a period of crisis, not in a period when everybody is having success." — Giorgio Armani on the opening of his new $40 million Manhattan store in the middle of the recession.

When I saw this quote in Fortune magazine a couple of weeks ago, I immediately thought of personal experiences seeing people for who they are under intense, competitive athletic contests, such as pickup basketball. The mild mannered guy in my dorm or the well-liked summer intern became complete morons on the basketball court. One of them was a raving lunatic who prompted me to say outloud, "Who are you?"

In some cases you can excuse rude and unsportsmanlike conduct due to ignorance, especially if the offender rarely played basketball. But for those who knew how to play, there was no excuse or cover from the clear lens that pickup basketball provided into the character of people. On the basketball court, tortoise shells disappear and your character is naked for people to see. If someone you knew was already labeled as a prick, playing a few pickup basketball games confirmed these truths and probably enhanced your perception of their character deficiencies. It’s like bad skin in HDTV, pockmarks look like craters and wrinkles like canyons.

The same goes for crisis situations in a company, especially if you’re an owner or executive. The more at risk you feel, the more your raw emotions and character comes out. Are you going to step up and execute or are you going to fade away from the challenge? Are you going to remain a supportive team member or are you going to succumb, pointing fingers and backstabbing your colleagues?

One company I was advising had an executive with a sterling reputation; The ultimate “nice guy” loved by everyone in his past firms. But he never encountered a downturn in his prior companies. When this company came under financial distress, his true colors were revealed. He became like a man in the desert for 40 days without water. Nothing mattered besides his own reputation and stake in the company. Some of the employees were wondering who Mr. Hyde was that was sitting in Dr. Jekyll’s corner office. He shifted his responsibilities to his colleagues as he looked for his next position, which created more distress on the company. The company needed him to step up instead of trying to step out. He left before the company survived and turned the corner from their crisis.

This reminded me of Peter’s denial of Jesus during the intense episode of his arrest. Peter denied his association with Jesus three times because he was fearful of also being arrested and possibly facing death. Peter denied his greatest responsibility and commitment during this time of crisis.

Then he began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”

Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.” — Matthew 26: 74-75

Is your company going through a crisis in this downturn? How are you responding? Are you satisfied with your performance? What areas can you improve upon? Are these situations allowing for a period of self-reflection? Would your colleague say these times are bringing out the best in you…or the worst? How do you know that?


Originally posted at InsideWork.

Term Sheets 101 by Justin Fishner-Wolfson

Great overview by Justin Fishner-Wolfson, who is a principal at Founders Fund. Timely too since I'm finishing up my own overview of startup financing due to various requests I get. I can point people to these slides too.

Term Sheets 101 by Justin Fishner-Wolfson, Founders Fund

View more PDF documents from Dave Mcclure.

Jon Stewart & Mike Huckabee Discuss Abortion

Jon Stewart impresses me with a thoughtful discussion on abortion with Mike Huckabee. He's better than Larry King and many other "journalists" in interviewing, discussing and capturing the core points of a hot button issue.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Mike Huckabee Extended Interview Pt. 1
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Jason Jones in Iran

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Mike Huckabee Extended Interview Pt. 2
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Jason Jones in Iran

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Mike Huckabee Extended Interview Pt. 3
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Jason Jones in Iran

News & Links List

"Persian Paranoia: Iranian leaders will always believe Anglo-Saxons are plotting against them." by Christopher Hitchens

"The Koran and the Ballot Box" NYTimes, Reuel Marc Gerecht

"The June 12 Revolution: Whatever happens in Tehran, there's no going back to the Ayatollah Khomeini's Islamic Republic." The Weekly Standard, Reuel Marc Gerecht

"Iranian protester pleads for U.S., world to intervene" CNN

"The Power Of Not Being Positive" Forbes Entrepreneurs

"Chris Anderson’s Free Contains Apparent Plagiarism" Virginia Quarterly Review, Waldo Jaquith

"Wired Editor Steals Content for Book About How Content Should be Free" Valleywag

"Chris Anderson Lifted Wikipedia Passages for 'Free'" Fast Company

"The Real Lessons From Twitter" Stubbleblog

"Big fine could be big trouble in downloading case" AP

"Attacks continue on Romanians in Northern Ireland" AP

"Walpin Speaks, Obama Administration Clams Up" Power Line

Comments Are Back... Hopefully

After almost of month of my comments being down, they are back. I'm still not sure if they will work properly though. Blogger/Google did something with their templates, so my Haloscan comment system was not showing up. After several back and forths with the Haloscan team, they couldn't help me. I was resolved to use Blogger's commenting system, turned on the switch and then Haloscan's commenting system shows up. Weird.

Anyway, my blog doesn't have a culture of commenting, so this really isn't a big deal, but it's nice to have the option :)

Enquisite Seeks to Change the SEO Market

Enquisite seeks to increase the organic search traffic of a website. It fills the gap of the SEO market that lacks good metrics. I've recently seen a sprouting of SEO technology solutions whether analytics or automating optimization, so this is another entrant into this growing space. Here is a description of their solution:

"We offer an unprecedented level of rich, deep, automated keyword potential analysis and detailed segmentation that allows SEO practitioners to achieve orders of magnitude higher degree of organic search optimization. Algorithms take into account multi-variable optimization potential, not just query volume.

Bounce rate. Time on site. Actions. Conversions. And a host of other variables are woven into our optimization technology. It ensures that you spend your time and energy on optimizing the high potential keywords, not the ones that don’t matter."

Richard Zwicky is the Founder and President. He came up with the idea to create an algorithm that predicts consumer search behavior. Enquisite's technology seeks to predict who is most likely to buy a product, and then aggregates this data in a formula for pricing organic search results.

Mark Hoffman is the Chairman and CEO, who I assume Enquisite's investors brought in and a big catch for the company. As you may know, he was the Founder and CEO of Sybase and Commerce One, which were both billion dollar companies. Most recently he was CEO and President of Everdream, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) desktop management provider, which was acquired by Dell.

It will be interesting to see how effective their technology and analytics are, and how it will affect the SEO market. While their literature states it's for SEO practitioners, I assume it will be a threat to traditional SEO agencies and consultants. If you have the tools in-house with a decent marketing team, why would you need to outsource out your SEO effort? Enquisite is one of a few new companies that seeks to open the curtain behind the wizards of SEO. Let's see how this plays out.

Donald Fehr Stepping Down as Head of MLBPA

Good riddance. Fehr was part of the steroid problem along with Bud and others. Story from ESPN here.

More Than Money Conference, July 17th-19th

One of our companies, InsideWork, is a niche media company focused on the intersection of faith and business and is hosting an event called More Than Money in San Francisco July 17th-19th. A summary is here:

"More Than Money is a major professional finance event focused on the global economy. The keynote presentations feature top flight private fund managers, economists and experts in international finance with first rate insights into the impact of current global economics on your business and investments and your intentions to transfer those assets and responsibilities to your business successors and heirs.

InsideWork® has constructed the More Than Money conference on a robust platform of spiritually enlivened business intelligence—the Financial Times in one hand; the ancient wisdom of the Bible in the other. That’s the context in which More Than Money presents a rich understanding of strategic risk management that encompasses the whole range of capital issues, including the multigenerational relationship of capital with our emergent company leaders and children."

We have an excellent line up of speakers that includes:

- Ted Lucas, Founder & Managing Partner at Lattice Capital.

- Os Guinness, Senior Fellow at EastWest Institute, who is an excellent commentator on culture, public policy and how it intersects with faith.

- Jay Richards, Director of Media, Acton Institute & Author of Money, Greed, and God

The event is crafted to be intimate and limited to 120 attendees. It's open to all and ideally targets boomers dealing with various issues around wealth management. If you're interested in attending, register here.

2010 Sir John M. Templeton Fellowships Essay Contest

From the Independent Institute...

The Independent Institute is pleased to announce the 2010 Sir John M. Templeton Fellowships Essay Contest. The Independent Institute, in cooperation with the John M. Templeton Foundation, will award a total of $26,500 in prize money to the contest winners.

The Templeton Fellowships Essay Contest is open to college students (undergrads and grad students) and untenured college teachers from around the world. All entrants must be under 36 years old on the May 3, 2010, contest deadline.

The essay topic for the 2010 contest pertains to a quotation from the French political economist Frederic Bastiat:

"Everyone wants to live at the expense of the state. They forget that the state wants to live at the expense of everyone." --Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850)

Assuming Bastiat is correct, what ideas or reforms could be developed to make people better aware that government wants to live at their expense?

Junior Faculty Division:
1st Prize: $10,000
2nd Prize: $7,500
3rd Prize: $4,000

Student Division:
1st Prize: $2,500
2nd Prize: $1,500
3rd Prize: $1,000

In addition to the cash prizes, winners will receive assistance in getting their papers published and two-year subscriptions to The Independent Review. Selected winners will be given assistance to present their paper at a professional meeting or other public forum. The winners will be announced in October, 2010. (Winners of the 2009 Templeton Fellowships Essay Contest will be announced in October, 2009.)

More information about the 2010 Templeton Fellowships Essay Contest, including rules, bibliography, and winning essays from previous years here.

Google Fusion Tables

Out of Google Labs is Fusion Tables where you can share and discuss data that you upload here. Very cool.

They started with a table of Country GDPs in the world, Global Climate Change Projections, and some others. Check it out.

Guy Kawasaki's 10 Ways to Use Linkedin

Good overview by Guy.

Linkedin

View more Microsoft Word documents from Guy Kawasaki.

"Lines That Divide" Documentary Preview Clips

Some great clips from the "Lines That Divide" documentary.

Chuck Colson, Founder of Prison Fellowship:
"Lines that Divide is a much needed tool for equipping concerned citizens with a comprehensive view of the science and ethics shaping the stem-cell debate today. The film spotlights the breakthroughs being made by adult stem-cell therapy — breakthroughs which are not receiving equal funding or equal media coverage. All of us who believe in supporting life should see this film and recommend it to others."

Leading experts, William Hurlbut (Stanford University), Philip Schwartz, Wesley J. Smith, and Samuel Wood on the use of human embryos for research.


Christopher Reeve on Charlie Rose discussing human cloning. William Hurlbut on arguments made from suffering and the "greatest good for the greatest number".

Q&A with Clay Shirky on Twitter and Iran

TED's Chris Anderson interviews Clay Shirky:

NYU professor Clay Shirky gave a fantastic talk on new media during our TED@State event earlier this month. He revealed how cellphones, the web, Facebook and Twitter had changed the rules of the game, allowing ordinary citizens extraordinary new powers to impact real-world events. As protests in Iran exploded over the weekend, we decided to rush out his talk, because it could hardly be more relevant. I caught up with Clay this afternoon to get his take on the significance of what is happening. HIs excitement was palpable.

What do you make of what's going on in Iran right now.
I'm always a little reticent to draw lessons from things still unfolding, but it seems pretty clear that ... this is it. The big one. This is the first revolution that has been catapulted onto a global stage and transformed by social media. I've been thinking a lot about the Chicago demonstrations of 1968 where they chanted "the whole world is watching." Really, that wasn't true then. But this time it's true ... and people throughout the world are not only listening but responding. They're engaging with individual participants, they're passing on their messages to their friends, and they're even providing detailed instructions to enable web proxies allowing Internet access that the authorities can't immediately censor. That kind of participation is reallly extraordinary... (full post)

New & Links List

"Private Equity and Venture Capital To Be Regulated" PEHub

"The Young Entrepreneur Myth" by Paul Kedrosky

Very cool demo of the new Xbox gaming technology.


"'#CNNFail': Twitterverse slams network's Iran absence" CNET's Webware

"The Greatest Company in the History of the World" The Motley Fool

"Durbin cashed out during big stock collapse" Chicago Sun-Times

"Why I went on 'The O'Reilly Factor'" Salon's Joan Walsh

"“Conservatives” Are Single-Largest Ideological Group" Gallup

Things A Venture Capitalist and Startup Founder Will Never Say

Two very amusing slide decks were posted at TechCrunch.

"Things A Venture Capitalist Will Never Say"

VC Non Admissions

View more Microsoft Word documents from vcobserver.

"Things A Startup Founder Will Never Say"

Founder Non-Admissions

View more OpenOffice presentations from Chris Yeh.

"Lines That Divide": A Documentary on the Stem Cell Debate

The "Lines That Divide" website is up, so that you can get a preview of the documentary and considering purchasing the DVD.

About the Film
Stem cell research: A potential miracle cure for diseases or a form of biological colonialism? The debate still rages over this controversial science. Supporters argue that it is our moral duty to pursue scientific progress that provides healing hope for humanity. Detractors argue that the ends don't justify the means in harvesting some human life to save others. This documentary seeks to educate the public on the scientific basics of stem cell research and the moral issues surrounding it as we enter the 21st century.

First, the viewer is introduced to the basic science of stem cells and how they are gathered for medical use. Embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells are both explained along with their similarities, differences and methods of procurement. Scientific issues are examined, such as the benefits, drawbacks, and scientific and medical results of both.

The documentary also introduces the moral issues being argued in the public square ñ issues of human life and the medical utilization of embryos, as well as womenís health issues that arise from the procurement of eggs used in much of the research. Scientists, doctors and ethicists on both sides weigh in with their views.

One of the solutions to achieving the mass amount of stem cell lines needed for this burgeoning stem cell industry is cloning. The documentary examines cloning, what it is, what it isnít, as well as the current scientific, moral and political issues surrounding this volatile issue in the debate.

Lastly, the film looks at the horizon of scientific and medical research in stem cells. New and alternate forms of creating or accumulating stem cells seem to be making breakthroughs monthly around the world as scientists explore the vistas of possibilities, while seeking to address the ethical issues surrounding the lines that divide.

Twitter Spam: 3 Ways Scammers are Filling Twitter With Junk

My op-ed at Mashable is up, "Twitter Spam: 3 Ways Scammers are Filling Twitter With Junk"

My first tech op-ed in 6 months! This correlates with our newborn girls sleeping through the night :) One of my hobbies had to give over these past six months.

Anyway, there were some minor edits to my piece, but one that I was sad that was taken out was my second poke at "joint venture marketing":

(Mashable post)
Do they even realize a joint venture is just a type of partnership a company might form with another company? That it isn’t a concept that deserves a whole category within marketing or corporate development? I was thinking of some equivalents to “joint venture marketing” in other fields. It would be like a chef trying to sell “deep fried cooking” or “charbroiled cooking” in an infomercial.

(original draft)
Do they even realize a joint venture is just a type of partnership a company might form with another company? That it isn’t a concept that deserves a whole category within marketing or corporate development? I was thinking of some equivalents to “joint venture marketing” in other fields. It would be like a chef trying to sell “deep fried cooking” or “charbroiled cooking” in an infomercial. Or claiming a “new” concept such as “foreplay sex.”

:)

Twitter Bubble?

Last week there was some buzz on Twitter hitting a plateau. Maybe Twitter has hit its peak?

"Has Twitter (Gasp) Hit a Ceiling?" BNET

"Twitter hype punctured by study
Micro-blogging service Twitter remains the preserve of a few, despite the hype surrounding it, according to research." BBC