October 2009
Google Latitude Is A Piece Of Shit
Get an email for a new friend request
Click through to igoogle, where latitude is a widget
Click on the friend request
Taken to a latitude page, with a map, showing me in massachusetts. (I now live in california)
Click approve friend request
Leave
Go to google.com and marvel that it has been reset to igoogle
Reset google.com to not go to igoogle
Write a blog post that includes:...
We Must Research Geo-Engineering
continuations:
If you either follow the Freakonomics blog or any of the global warming / CO2 coverage, you will have by now encountered the tiff over the “climate chapter” (Chapter 5) of Superfreakonomics. If not, you can read Levitt’s most recent defense and compare with an impact summary written from the other side. I don’t want to weigh on the particular chapter, but it does raise the topic...
Prediction: 2010 will be the year of game...
whitneymcn:
I kind of dread this, actually. As with the “now 150% more social!” and “it’s podcast-ic!” trends of yore, hundreds of craptacular “look! It’s a GAME now!” bolt-ons are being designed by committee as I type this.
caterpillarcowboy:
Adding a “foursquare”-like game to your web service is going to be the hot new thing.
It’s already started with Glue; see Fred Wilson’s post.
...
Prognosticating
Prognosticating is dangerous. People look at the world around them and think “here is a pattern that will last”.
If you go out decades into the future, this becomes even more risky. Will we be using post-it notes in 20 years? Some might say “I guarantee it”. Jason Fried did at startup school. I think this is really arrogant, especially for a technologist, because 20 years...
What Startups Are Really Like →
msg:
Paul Graham asks his YC founders what surprised them about starting their startups.
Everyone should read this. There’s so much truth in this post that there’s nothing to excerpt. One wants to excerpt the entire thing. Read it.
via mikehudack:caterpillarcowboy
===
Startups should be called rollercoasters
I suppose you’re on a climb :) ? Congrats on the funding!
“Rumors about Elman’s joining Twitter had been bubbling in the tech backchannels...”
– hmm. no need to send out that obligatory email now. just check the twitter company lists to find out who is changing jobs
louisgray.com: Twitter Snags Platform Manager Josh Elman From Facebook
(via fred-wilson)
I can only hope Fred’s comment is tongue in cheek, else I’d expect some...
“Asymmetrical follow is a key point of danah boyd’s article — it creates a...”
– Caterpillarcowboy Commentary
It’s hard to overstate how huge this tiny change is mindset actually is. Prior to Twitter most explicitly social software required symetrical relationships—in large part, I think, because that symmetry feels more human (humane) and much ESS is implicitly utopian.
A...
Watchslow motion fire breathing. via
Reminder: Press → to go to the next page in your...
tedr:
superamit:
that is all
Umm, don’t you auto scroll? http://www.tumblr.com/settings
“Creating wealth is not a zero-sum game, so you don’t have to stab people in the...”
– Paul Graham is brilliant, as usual, in this essay on:
What Startups Are Really Like
(via davemorin)
The phrase “we’ll make them an offer they can’t refuse” came up in a meeting the other day.
Just because wealth creation is generally positive sum, doesn’t mean...
“Sometimes people don’t want to hear the truth because they don’t want their...”
– Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (via eletheowl) (via hiten)
“[Footnote 4] The question to ask about what you’ve built is not whether it’s...”
– What Startups Are Really Like
Rafer sez: Graham’s other significant footnote sounds like the UX version of something I hold near and dear. Products and technology are just the leverage one needs to build distribution. Distribution holds the enterprise’s sole value. (via rafer)
the footnote is on a...
WatchLadytron - Soft Power
rockin!
“The renowned Mayo Clinic is no longer accepting some Medicare and Medicaid...”
– Mayo Clinic Criticized for Limiting Medicare Patients - washingtonpost.com
Sawickipedia: The current pub/private insurance system is broken and the proposed “reforms” only double down on the current broken system. Why isn’t the loyal opposition not touting plans like this from this Atlantic...