July 2009
3 posts
Jason Lytle - Yours Truly, The Commuter →
good (new) stuff
Why Google is making an operating system →
right on max!
June 2009
14 posts
1 tag
Diane Birch
Rare talent. Great stuff. Thanks Fred.
Check out some Diane Birch songs & videos here
Caipirinha
Could this be our cocktail for the summer of 2009?
Caipirinha
INGREDIENTS:
1 lime quartered
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 shot of cachaça
1/2 Cup of ice cubes with water
PREPARE:
Place the lime and sugar in the bottom of a glass.
Using the handle of a wooden spoon, crush and mash
the limes. Pour the liqueur and ice. Stir well.
In praise of Evernote
I have a healthy addiction to evernote - a huge productivity gainer for me. How often does a truly useful piece of productivity software ever launch these days?
Interesting new data on the mobile ad market
From the Kelsey Group blog: AdMob/comScore study w/ interesting takeaways that are (not surprisingly) positive for the mobile media/advertising sector. Among other things, the study found that 40 percent of iPhone and iPod Touch users access the Internet more frequently from these devices than from their home computers. Click here for more data findings.
WatchThe opening cinematic in the recently released The Beatles: Rock Band game rocks. Check it out…
U.S. Study Projects How 'Unequivocal Warming' Will... →
we can do our part, but for impactful change our leaders need to act NOW on these issues
2 tags
Twitter now trumps ESPN w/ breaking sports news →
Kevin Love tweets that McHale out as Wolves coach - ESPN
Killer Facebook Fan Pages: 5 Inspiring Case... →
I’m watching how companies will utilize platforms like facebook, and how platforms like facebook will evolve to embrace companies - this article is a nice intro on some early adopters
A must see in the timeline of the Internet
February 2009
5 posts
A Boost in Online Money Courses - WSJ.com... →
This is an interesting article on the surge in participation in online courses related to personal finance topics. Curious to learn more, I discovered an interesting site where you can watch lectures online from some of university’s top scholars/professors - visit www.academicearth.org
Dakar Rally pictures
Competing in the Dakar Rally or something similar is definitely on my bucket list. You’ve got to check out these images from Boston.com’s The Big Picture…
The Dakar Rally was traditionally an off-road multi-stage race from Paris to Dakar, Senegal. However, due to fears of terrorist attacks, the Rally was cancelled last year - and this year moved to an entirely different...
Marshall Kirkpatrick » Three Useful Research... →
Good blog entry about how to conduct research on the Internet
Google's Checkout Still Usually Left Out →
This IBD story on Rosetta’s recent survey concerning Google Checkout highlights the challenges Google has faced in growing adoption of the online payment service. I hear from online retailers and others that it’s the sharing of customer data (i.e., auto inclusion of Analytics) that’s the major issue, and points to conflict of interest issues Google could continue to face in...
January 2009
17 posts
1 tag
1 tag
terminal 4
I’m in terminal 4 at JFK waiting to board a NWA flight to detroit. Half the people are on their laptops playing solataire. I’m tempted to put 50cents into the galaga arcade game next to me (my all-time favorite). Will be closely covering the Yahoo and VistaPrint earnings reports tonight. How much can Bartz really say at this stage? That, and the difficult ad environment, are not an...
2 tags
More job cuts
This is why we are far from the bottom. Job cuts continue as year-end decisions get executed. The unemployment rate will continue to edge closer to 8-9%. This morning, major reductions announced by Sprint Nextel (8000), Catepillar (20000!), ING (7000) and Home Depot (7000).
Lotus 1-2-3 →
I work on spreadsheets all the time, have ever since entering the workplace. Today is the 26th anniversary of the release of Lotus 123, the first “killer app” for IBM’s PC.
2 tags
WatchI poured a glass of red wine (seriously) after watching this segment on tonight’s 60 Minutes. It’s about science being conducted at Sirtris, a Cambridge, MA-based pharma company recently acquired by GSK for $750mm. The comments online from people that have tried supplements based on Resveratrol (many people cited purchasing from Biotivia.com) are almost eerily positive.
Scientists have...
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1 tag
comscore panel quality
I’ve follow comscore for many years. For those of you who don’t know comscore, they are a publicly-trade company that provides measurement of the Web. They function much like Nielsen in TV or arbitron in radio have for decades. There has been debate for a long time about the use of panels for online measurement. I hear it from investors about 75% of the time this stock/company is...
2 tags
Barron's Picks This Week
I make it a point to read Barron’s every weekend. It’s undeniably the best mass-market publication on investing. This week’s cover is a bullish piece on Oil-related stocks. I think it’s a good call, but would weight to go long until after the 4Q08 earnings season - this will be the first time these companies provide 2009 guidance, and it’s certain to be disappointing....
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A tune that brings back memories of good 'ol...
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Headed to the MidWest
I’m headed to the midwest region this week to meet w/ institutional investors. I’ll be in Birmingham, Michigan, a nice suburb of Detroit, then on to St. Louis and Minneapolis. I’ll hit Louisville, Milwaukee, and Chicago on another trip later in the year. These trips are good for buttoning up my thinking on the sector and the thesis on my stock picks, but are also excellent ways...
2 tags
SlideJams.com
excellent new site for music and photo lovers…
joelaz:
SlideJams.com
SlideJams, my concert photo music mashup project, has a new domain name, logo, home page, and site design. Next, I need to fix a minor bug that causes a page load error a tiny percentage of the time. The code is a mess and some of the changes are slow-going, but I’m fairly happy with what I’ve been able to put together...
A look ahead to Week Two at the Australian Open →
There’s been some high level play this year at the Australian Open and several top-ranked players have made it through to the second week. The semi-final and final match-ups could be very good. If you like tennis, stay tuned in…
Google Isn't Froogle Over Issue of Pay - WSJ.com →
Martin makes a good point here, questioning Google’s recent decision to reprice employee options and saying that Google should shift to using restricted stock grants rather than options. I agree. You? Add a comment…
smarthistory.org →
what an incredibly well executed site, nice job
hydeordie:
Ok, this is officially my new favorite website.* You can search for art related posts by Time, Style, Artist, or Themes. It has a super easy layout and really interesting posts, artworks, and podcasts.
This site is being developed by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker as a dynamic enhancement (or even substitute) for the static...
February 2008
6 posts
Tech Exec Leaves Yahoo!
Of course Yahoo! has been experiencing heavy turnover for a couple of years now, but many have correctly said that the uncertainty created by Microsoft’s bid for the company would result in even further departures. Techcrunch is reporting that Brad Horowitz is leaving for Google. This is not only another blow to Yahoo!, but a possible sign of things to come. The MSFT+YHOO deal looks...
Gotta Get Gizmo-Squeezebox Duet
If you like music and use web-based music services (e.g., iTunes, Last.fm, Rhapsody, etc.), like most people today do, you gotta check out Squeezebox Duet from Logitech. CNET did a review of Duet at CES this year (click here). I just pre-ordered the Duet online here. It’s expected to ship later this month. I’m going for just one controller and one receiver for now, but expect...
The Longhorns' Test Against Kansas Tonight
I’m a Texas Longhorn grad. UT is obviously a major college sports school, and highly competitive in a number of sports (basketball, football, baseball, etc.). The UT BBall team started the year w/ 12-straight wins but then went through a shaky period before rebounding of late — they’ve won their last 3 games and 6 of their last 7. The Horns are currently ranked #11 by the...
The Week Ahead 2/11/08
I spent most of last week in the Bay Area meeting w/ several very interesting private and public Internet/digital media companies, VCs and institutional investors. In total, 15 meetings in 3 days. This week includes more earnings reports (GLUU, NILE, TTGT, VCLK, GSIC, BIDU, PCLN), a meeting w/ one of the top NYC-based VCs, an initiation of coverage on a new company, the opening of U2-3D (on...
A lesson for public company CFOs
comScore (SCOR) shares sold off 17% on Friday, and now trade near the low end of their trading range since the IPO, and are 45% below the 52-wk high of $42 (which was reached in large part due to positive comments by Jim Cramer on Mad Money late last year). The reason for the sell-off was confusion over earnings guidance for 2008 (given on the 4Q07 earnings release Thursday evening). I’ve...
Microsoft/Yahoo Is A Bad Deal For Silicon Valley →
I was just speaking to one of the leading M&A bankers in the Valley this morning about this exact issue. Microsoft and Yahoo! have not only been two of the most active acquirers of startups of late, but the competition between them and Google has resulted in healthy auctions and valuations. I suspect Yahoo’s board will ask for more money and get it, but if this deal goes through the...
January 2008
14 posts
The NotchUp/LinkedIn Situation
Two interesting posts on the NotchUp/LinkedIn saga (here and here). It certainly illustrates the value of LinkedIn’s database. This situation also highlights the potential pitfalls of an open social graph. This one decision by the team that runs NotchUp snowballed into an ordeal. Goes to show that every detail matters in a startup…
Best NBA Season Ever?
I like basketball (both playing and watching), but like many people prefer college over pro ball. But after watching some NBA highlights over the weekend and catching up on team records and rankings I began thinking how this might be one of the most competitive seasons some time. Ironically, later that day Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavs, posted this blog entry asking the exact same question....
The Week Ahead
Earnings season is now in full force, and while eBay kicked it off last week for the Internet sector (and Vistaprint was a nice report on Thurs), earnings seasons really gets going this week with Yahoo! on Tuesday, Amazon on Wednesday and Google on Thursday (all after the close). Also reporting Thursday are Digital River and Getty Images, which recently announced that it has hired an investment...
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