September 2009
38 posts
Watch“The BS is over…” Traffic w/o a business model is just smoke and mirrors.
August 2009
77 posts
This year, though, Apple and Microsoft both... →
They are finally getting that speed and simplicity rules in the new brave world. We don’t want more of the same feature creeps. We want simplicity in solving the right problems.
“The thing is, it’s very easy to be different, but very difficult to be better.”
– Jonathan Ive (via esquareda)
This Guy is Going to Eat It
“With WLI growth continuing to surge through late summer, a double dip back into recession in the fourth quarter is simply out of the question,” said ECRI Managing Director Lakshman Achuthan.
I remember the folks at Realtor made the equivalent statement in 2007 about how solid the real estate market was…
Government to Ban Robocalls →
Finally - anyone using these to drive business are basically scum. One of the reason we cancelled our AT&T phone subscription.
Watch“Ideas That Spread Win”, “Marketing Needs to be Built Into Your Software”, “Average Products for Average People”, “You Are Solving A Problem Your Clients Don’t Know They Have”, “Clutter is Not Your Friend”, “Don’t Push Stuff to The Web But Build Stuff That Works”
An absolute awesome video about the death of...
Getting Worse More Slowly
The fact that the fall of the knife (as in never try to catch one) is decelerating doesn’t mean that it won’t cut you. Most financial numbers are starting to decrease less, some even flatten out or growing slightly.
But it still doesn’t answer the question: Are we out of the woods or will we see another leg down? I’m personally doubtful that decades of over-consumption can...
“You see things; and you say, “Why?” But I dream things that never...”
– George Bernard Shaw
Mr. Market is not feeling that well... →
After 48 Years, Julia Child Has a Big Best Seller,... →
If this movie could ignite more healthy and traditional home cooking in combination with eating smaller portions, stop watching TV and stay physically active it would not just deserve an Oscar but a Nobel Price.
WatchSanity rules!
“Market broken” is an understatement. Let’s try with the whole economy broken and about to drop another shoe this fall. Few people understand the triple whammy that hit the US market economy in 2007: financials, housing and credit bubbles all exploded simultaneously.
2 tags
“One reason programmers dislike meetings so much is that they’re on a...”
– From Paul Graham’s Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule
There is a distinct difference between people that are getting things done and people that are managing things getting done, i.e. makers and managers. I’ve always ended up in the managers camp with a day cut up in...
1 tag
“I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must...”
– By Leonardo da Vinci, found on Minimal Mac
“Social media used to be this cute project for 25-year-old consultants, now top...”
– A classic grown-up media sound bite by Margaret Francis at Scout Labs. It’s ridiculing the early adopters and innovators while it screams age = experience.
I think *top executives* have understood the power all along. It’s about delivering real knowledge and services that helps them...
3 tags
When Transparency Makes Hiding Impossible
The outrage over the rejection of Google’s iPhone Voice App has hit Apple and AT&T right in the face. Who was the clever dude at either of these companies that thought that they could fly under the radar with declining Google one of their most sought after apps?
The spin is now in full effect as AT&T is denying any involvement and Apple coming up with a very lame excuse: “GV...
“It’s never been a free market; it’s never gonna be a free market....”
– General Electric’s CEO and Chairman, Mr. Immelt on free markets.
Dough for Dumps
The “Cash-for-Clunkers” program is an insult to any responsible human being. Why give cash to the folks that had such a bad taste to buy clunkers in the first place? Isn’t it enough that their actions have destroyed the environment, driven up the gas prices and created havoc on our freeways? What the government is doing is promoting reckless and bad behavior using tax payers...
“Without the leisure class, mankind would never have emerged from barbarism.”
– Bertrand Russell - one of my favorite philosophers … quote from “In Praise of Idleness”
2 tags
Personal Control for Your Apple Remote →
A very cool application that turns the Apple Remote into an Universal Remote for all your applications. The trial version allows for up to 6 apps during 30 days.
4 tags
The Art of Working Smarter and Faster
Gina Trapini, of Lifehacker.com fame, has written en excellent blog post on The Art of Working Remotely. I think it’s great that more and more people are discovering how to improve their personal productivity and liberate themselves from the office and the 9-to-5 mentality.
But working from home or remotely is the wrong way of describing this 15+ year phenomena. It’s all about working...
WatchResearching web video conferencing and collaboration tools for my company. I’d like to improve the collaboration beyond emails and phones… Ran into this video about FuzeBox.com. How can you not like this app? Kids or dogs, rt!
2 tags
“The internet is becoming this thing where it’s just people trying to become...”
– Merlin Mann (via tmblg)
I had the exact same though yesterday as I was venturing out on my daily walk. It’s all about doing and getting things done to emerge stronger out of this Great Recession. GTD will become even more important as the web is very much do-it-yourself. If you don’t...
Watch“There could be another housing bubble but most likely staying flat over the next 5 years.”
Sure, it’s on the cheerleading CNBC network but Schiller is respected.
Unexpectedly
News media has started to use a word for anything that is contrarian to the very bullish view that we are back to happy days again. The word is unexpectedly.
There is one hypothesis I will always remember from my studies in literature: language determine our experience in life (linguistic relativity). This little word unexpectedly is added to indicate two things: that market is doing something...
WatchNot just a great musician but also a car connoisseur.
Sunday Thought: Do you find stuff repulsive or...
As we started our mini-retirement (a.k.a hiatus, sabbatical…) back in 2006 I was convinced that the world was going to hell in a hand basket. Everything seemed so overly excessive: the receptionist speculating in real estate, the soccer-mom buying $5,000 hand bags, newly graduates driving sports cars et cetera.
I think my innovative brain (see Roger’s Bell Curve) just got repulsed...
“It isn’t that they can’t see the solution. It is that they...”
– G.K. Chesterton
WatchHilarious!
WatchAll Airwolf seasons are available on Hulu.com. A classic must-see cult show from the mid-80s.
How healthy is Mr. Market?
The S&P has appreciated with 50% - from 666 to 1,018 - since March 9 which is historic. Some pundits are arguing that we have entered a new bull market but they are wrong. This is just a unprecedented bear market rally on crack or HAL 9000 if you will.
The downfall will be brutal and based on last weeks market performance it has already started. Look at any chart for any major index and we...
How free is the US free market?
I believe in free markets and limited regulations. But the markets we have today are neither free or with the right regulations. Just look at the mobile prices we are paying in the US. According to an OECD report from August 11, 2009 the US - together with Canada and Spain - has the highest mobile phone prices in the world. The same goes for the broadband prices.
The US is lagging behind 15+...
