Version 2.0 Communications and Atlas Ventures jointly sponsored a cocktail party and book signing this evening with Dan Lyons (picture left) of Fake Steve Jobs fame. Dan is great writer. IMHO FSJ is a tour de force.
This event was held at Rocca Restaurant on Boston's South End. Great food. It's now on my recommended list for event venues.
Click here for more pictures and the video.
You remember the original tribbles episode of Star Trek: Communications Officer Uhuru brings a new pet on board the Enterprise, forcing Captain Kirk and his crew to do battle (so to speak) with the fuzzy creatures that multiply beyond all reason. (Warning: Plot spoiler ahead.) In the end, Darvin the Klingon has to come to the rescue, doing the dirty work of starving the little buggers to death so they wouldn't cause any more “trouble.”
“The Trouble with Tribbles” aired exactly 40 years ago on December 29, 1967. The famous episode was written by science fiction writer David Gerrold, who penned the script when he was a wet-behind-the-ears 23 year-old. Recently he tried to explain to The New York Times why the episode has been so memorable: “I think [it] worked because it was so coy.”
Or did he mean to say cute?
Tribbles, indigenous to the planet Iota Geminorum IV, are diminutive, mostly gentle creatures that produce a soft purring sound. Most sentient races find these traits to be endearing, but Klingons do not. During this episode Leonard “Bones” McCoy explains that tribbles have only two purposes in life, eating and reproducing, and they perform both of these functions well. McCoy concludes that tribbles use over fifty percent of their metabolism for reproduction.
As a 9 year-old boy, I watched this episode when it first aired. I loved how the tribbles vexed the crew of the seemingly invincible Enterprise. In my preteen mind, tribbles were beguiling and scary -- not cute. I responded to them like in the same way as Spock, who couldn't comprehend them, and the Klingons, who totally rejected their unwanted screeching and deficiency of belligerence. Their sheer volume was also scary to me. Growing up in New York City, I had seen sewers overflow with rainwater and snow banks that stopped everything, so the tribbles were like a natural disaster in my mind. I have seen this episode three or four times since it first aired, but my first impression will last a lifetime.
If you've got some time over the holidays, do yourself a favor and spend some quality time with the tribbles. You won't regret it.
This week the U.S. Education Department released the scores of 4th and 8th graders on national math and reading exams. The results were distinctly underwhelming. Except for the reading scores of Asian students, there was just about no improvement across the board in either math or reading.
Sometimes we knock standardized testing, but when it comes to math, there's only one right answer to a problem, and American kids don't seem to know what it is. As the U.S. struggles to maintain its position as a world superpower in a fiercely competitive global, knowledge-based economy, we need American kids who are getting better and better in math. Can IBM and Microsoft really keep importing scientific and mathematical talent forever?
Look at the Boston Red Sox baseball team. For years they neglected their farm system, only to have to import high-priced (and often overpriced) players from “overseas.” But in this decade the Red Sox have seen the light – they realized they can't be competitive unless they nurtured young talent in their farm system. And look at the results: two World Series titles in four years.
China and India are using the Red Sox formula right now. They're investing billions to train young talent in math and science. When will the United States do the same? Or, according to some, does it even matter?
Seventy-one years ago (November 23, 1936) the first issue of Life Magazine was published, featuring a cover photo of the Fort Peck Dam (see photo on left). This dam became one of the US’s greatest public works projects, a vestige of the 1930’s and an icon of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal.
For most of its existence Life was successful being a sign-of-the-time. I grew up with Life magazine, just like everyone else, and loved flipping its pages and feeling a sense of being connected to current history or with events happening in far and distant places, like Vietnam or the moon. Ultimately, the mission of Life was to show the news, while Time magazine’s mission was to impart the news in an uncomplicated and undemanding way, like a picture in writing.
From History.com: "At its peak, Life had a circulation of over 8 million and it exerted considerable influence on American life" significantly from the 1930’s through the ‘50’s and early '60's but less so in the late 60’s and early ‘70’s.
Time-Warner, however, "stopped bringing out Life as a weekly publication in 1972, when it began losing audience and advertising dollars to television. In 2004, however, it resumed weekly publication as a supplement to U.S. newspapers. At its re-launch, its combined circulation was once again in the millions."
It is no longer published as a hard copy magazine. The inventory of pictures and issues are being placed on the web.
With Brook Shields adorning it's cover, how could Life remain relevant? With cable TV and the Internet offering an incredible array of content, how does Life function other than being a research resource for pictures and news from the 1950's-70's?
Around 7-800 people attended TechCrunch Boston on Friday night. It was the best party of the year in the 128 startup-land. There was an army of entrepreneurs in attendance who offered great convo’s, lubricated by lots of beer, martinis, other drinks and great food.
I think it is important to note that IDG Ventures sponsored it and Mike Arrington and the TechCrunch folks organized it. With parties like this one, we can stem the tide of university grads seeking employment and a social life in the Silicon Valley. There was a strong consumer Internet presence, thanks in part to the IDG folks, who recognized the importance of addressing this area of historical weakness in Boston venture funding. Among the IDGers there, I talked with Michael Greeley, Chip Hazard, Jon Karlen and bloggers Jeff Bussgang and David Aronoff.
Others from the finance community in attendance included Michael Skok from North Bridge Venture Partners, Lucy McQuilken from Intel Capital, and Charley Lax from Grandbanks Capital, and John Prendergast from Jefferies Broadview. Also, there were a lot of PR people in attendance, including Ross Levanto, Maura Fitzgerald, and others.
From the blogosphere and related spheres Steven Woit, Pito Salas (his company is BlogBridge and blog), Chris Herot (his company is Zingdom and blog), Scott Kirsner (Boston Globe), Doc Searls, and my good friend, Don Dodge from Microsoft. These guys are heroic bloggers because of the fresh, original content they bring to their blogs.
Kudos to the party givers.
Colts vs. Pats: The ref'ing was awful but the game was the best of pairing of NFL teams this season.
Randy Moss is the best WR in the NFL. He and Brady got the game back on track for the Pats. As my good friend DT says: "They are the truth."
Still the Colts' looked pretty good. Their D was surprisingly fast. Only reason why the Pats won in the end: The Colts' D just wore down in the fourth.
Halloween on Beacon Hill is an annual event for us. This year my wife and daughter are carrying on the tradition while I'm in London wrapping up some business. (Click here for more pictures appearing on Webshots.)
While dining at my favorite Indian restaurant, Hot Stuff, in London tonight with our partner Sean Egan from CM-Logic, kids came by the restaurant gathering candy. Traditions are the same. I would prefer to be home, on Beacon Hill, so I include a couple of pictures (above) taken by Ariel.
Saw Doc Searls at a corporate event in London. I love his blog and he's a first class guy.
Attending the OSiM conference in Madrid gave me the opportunity to find out more about the open source community that has developed in Spain.
Turns out that there is small open source community in Spain. One person I talked to ascribed it to lock-hold that Microsoft, especially Windows, has over the market. Another person said that, in general, Spanish developers and IT personnel are not early adopters. Spain is a country populated by a people and culture in the late majority (in Geoffrey Moore – Crossing the Chasm terminology).
The way open source is leaching into Spain is through municipalities who are adopting Linux in their data centers. They then branch out into other open source applications, projects and solutions such as jBoss, Apache and others projects. It is not yet a large market for open source vendors like MySQL, SugarCRM and other commercial solutions according to several people although they have certainly found some early adopters. Bit is the leading Spanish company and open source vendor offering a stack which has found customers in both Spain and the US.
Turns out that in most schools (both primary and secondary) in many regions (such as Extremadura, Andalucia, Valencia and Galicia) teach computing using exclusively Linux-based platforms. According to Paul Brown, editor Linux Magazine Spain, “this will lead in the near future to a generation of users, developers and administrators who will be very familiar with open source solutions which will impact the market to some degree.”
In addition to Paul, several people I talked to believe that open source will “take off” as soon as the systems integrators and developers who symbiotically are tied to the municipalities learn more about OSS and adopt it in solutions. They have strong relationships with medium and large sized corporate clients.
At OSiM, I learned that several telecommunications and mobile companies have open source solutions including Telefonica – the Spanish phone company.
Last Saturday morning I went to the tenth annual Great Tomato Taste Off at Quail Hill Community Farm at the junction of Side Lane and Deep Hill in Amagansett, New York on Long Island. It attracts tomato connoisseurs from around the country, including yours truly.
The purpose of the event was to taste and rate different 50 varieties of cherry, paste, and standard varieties of organically grown tomatoes of all shapes, sizes, and colors: red, pink, orange, yellow, purple, and green.
With pen and clipboard in hand, participants taste and rate displayed on large picnic tables lined with plates of tomatoes cut into bite-sized pieces. To clear my palate, the good people at the Taste Off provided cubes of country bread and distilled water.
The rating system ranges from 1 (tasteless) to 5 (great). Results are tabulated, and the winners for each type of tomato bask in the sweet taste of victory.
All in all, I loved every tasty moment of the Great Tomato Taste Off. Lewis Grizzard was right when he said, "It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato."
For one night I choose to ignore the Balco-related issues and joined San Franciscans in Barry Bonds’ great achievement. As part of this year's LinuxWorld San Francisco, our headquarters and San Mateo sales office crew attended the Giants vs. Nationals baseball game at AT&T Park. We had great seats overlooking left field, where Bonds roamed for six innings. (Thank you, Laura. Nicely done!)
Barry almost hit for the cycle –- missing only a triple -– prior to dinging his 756th career home run. Willie Mays, Barry's godfather, met Bonds on the field after his triumphant run around the bases. Hank Aaron, who had been baseball's home run king for the past 33 years, appeared via video on the scoreboard and magnanimously praised Bonds.
It was a wonderful evening that was made even better because I was able to share it with my fellow Ducks.
Another example of open source going mainstream: Scott Adams open sourced the storyline of his Dilbert cartoon in April 2006. He also worked it into the theme of a recent strip. (See above)
Most of the company went out to see The Simpsons Movie yesterday. It is a very funny movie, full of dumb jokes. But it is not better than most of the "Best of the Simpsons" TV episodes. The movie is different. The colors of the animated characters and scenes, for example, have been greatly enhanced in the wide-screen format. It featured more of good ole Ned Flanders and his sweet family versus acerbic Krusty jokes. Bart's nude scene on a skate board and Homer and Marge's bedroom scene made the movie definitely different but in the end, it was an average TV episode on steroids.
We stopped off at Chilis afterwards to discuss the movie. It was a really nice day.
Trinity: I know why you're here, Neo. I know what you've been doing... why you hardly sleep, why you live alone, and why night after night, you sit by your computer. You're looking for him. I know because I was once looking for the same thing. And when he found me, he told me I wasn't really looking for him. I was looking for an answer. It's the question that drives us, Neo. It's the question that brought you here. You know the question, just as I did.
Neo: What is the Matrix?
Trinity: The answer is out there, Neo, and it's looking for you, and it will find you if you want it to.
Memorable quotes for The Matrix (1999)
I love The Matrix for Xbox.
There has been a big fuss generated around the the final episode of "The Sopranos," which concluded with a cut to black. Washington Post TV columnist Lisa de Moraes referred to the show's final moments as "a 10-second-long simulation of a nationwide TiVo recording error."
In my humble opinion, the ending was appropriately symbolic. I think it fulfilled the series' reason for being. Here's why:
No, the ending to "The Sopranos" was different. Now let it rest in peace.
The train I took from Moscow to St. Petersburg was something like the Orient Express. The train is a late-1950s Soviet model that is well maintained and appointed with an elaborate dining room, bar (obligatory), and sleeping cars. My compartment ― #4 in Car 3 of 19 ― had a satellite TV and wireless Internet access. The compartment was comfortable, complete with a shower and toilet ― perfect for an eight-hour overnight trip.
I can sleep deeply in beds, planes, ships, cars, on a park bench and all manner of trains – anywhere, anytime. I easily fell asleep shortly after boarding and slept soundly in my bunk for two hours. Then the train came to an abrupt stop in the Russian wilderness, and I was suddenly wide awake.
Even after the train got underway, I simply could not get back to sleep. I read, wrote and sent emails, blogged and suddenly it was 5:30 am. I needed a couple of hours of sleep in order to have a productive day in St. Petersburg.
The real drama occurred a few hours later. At 8:45 a.m. the porter overseeing my car pounded on my door, barking at me to wake up and leave. Springing into action, I stuffed my computer, shirt, pants, etc. into my bags. I threw on my khaki shorts, Black Duck polo shirt, and my loafers (I could not find my socks). Before you could say dasvidanya, I was standing on the train platform, blinking in the intense St. Petersburg sunlight.
The train car door slammed behind me, and I could hear the female porters seized in a round of laugher about me: the ridiculous American. Then I noticed the train was at the station and would leave in an hour for the return trip to Moscow.
As I walked towards the train station and the awaiting IBM town car, I checked my wallet and found it, but quickly determined my passport was missing. Dropping my bags, I ran back to Car 3’s door and starting slamming it in a panic. The door opened and I found the gaggle of female porters laughing uproariously in the first compartment. They had watched everything and had something additional to laugh about.
I quickly walked past them, recovered my passport from compartment #4, and headed back to my bags on the train platform, totally relieved and oblivious to the cackling porters.
Ah, travel. So enjoyable.
In my teen years I loved Russian women: Anna Karenina, Natasha Rostova, Catherine the Great, and of course, Julie Christie playing Lara Antipova in Dr. Zhivago. Russian women are more than smart and beautiful. They're extraordinary.
Today Russian women over age 30 outnumber men in the same age range by 3-7 percent. Sociologically, this is related to huge losses of men incurred during the two world wars, during the six to seven decades of Soviet purges, and other factors. Russian women are educated – indeed most are highly educated by American standards. Most Russian doctors are women. But getting married is very challenging, and having children is hard, especially after age 25, when many Russians believe women are too old to get married. Single women, especially in university and getting government funding, cannot visit the United States because they tend to get married to American men and don't come back to Russia.
The competition for men is vicious. The Washington Post reported in 2004 that the battle begins with cosmetics:
Just a generation removed from the time when their mothers and grandmothers resorted to the peasant trick of reddening their cheeks with beets, Russian women today spends twice as much of their income on cosmetics as Western Europeans do -- 12 percent of their entire paychecks on average, according to the research firm Comcon-Pharma.
Since many poor Russian women receive an excellent education, they can at least hope to marry well if they snag the right male. Some give up and succumb to Web-based dating services that promise drooling Western men a 1950s-era housewife complete with pearls and high heels. Even worse, some Russian women get snared by the sex clubs that have sprung up all around Moscow.
The good news is that the gender ratio is slowly balancing out. As far as Russia's women are concerned, it can't come a moment too soon.
I went to the Hermitage Museum last night, the former residence of the Russian Tsars and now one of the largest and oldest art galleries and museums in the world.
From 10 p.m. until just before midnight, I joined 500 other invited guests as part of the Business Leadership Forum on a “white night” tour of the museum courtesy of IBM. The tour took in the collections in five of the six buildings on the Hermitage campus.
The collection was stunning: two paintings of the Madonna and the Christ Child by Leonardo da Vinci (he only did a total of ten paintings in his life), including one done when he was 19 and the other done when he was approximately 50; a room full of Rembrandt's religious scenes and portraits; an extensive collection of smaller Rodin sculptures; several exquisite Monets, Cézannes, van Goghs, and Gauguins; and 29 Picasso paintings, which were mostly from his Blue Period; and one of the deepest collections of Matisses in the world.
We missed several collections, such as the assortment of Fabergé jewelery. Still, it was an amazing, amazing night.
In 1990, on this day, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched by the Space Shuttle Discovery.
Almost every day I point my simple browser at pictures of once-unimaginable celestial phenomena, like Jupiter (at right).
Hubble's technology has given shuttering mankind a front seat on the universe and the derisory feelings that come from observing its incredible size and beauty.
Grindhouse is the name for two back-to-back masterwork films by Quentin Tarantino and
If you don’t know already, grindhouse movie theaters existed in downtown areas of cities that experienced heavy white middle class flight, such as
Grindhouse emulates the grindhouse experience. Grindhouse films were generally traded, shared, or saw limited distribution. One copy often circulated among all the theaters. As a result, the copy accumulated scratches, off-color backgrounds, and thin spots that turned into burnt celluloid. Rodriguez works these “special effects” into his portion of the film, while Tarantino's feature has far fewer.
Planet Terror explores a small town that serves as a test-bed for bioterrorism. Starting with Revolt of the Zombies in 1936, The Blob in 1958 (starring Steve McQueen in his first role), then Night of the Living Dead by George A. Romero in 1968, and including The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies, among others, zombie and flesh-eating-blister movies abandoned conventional norms of movie taste and art, and embarked in other directions. This body of work enables Rodriguez to expertly go to new cinematic extremes in Planet Terror, especially in the gore department. And he accomplishes this without a single throat gag. The cast almost doesn’t matter.
Then Death Proof, Tarantino’s film, comes on, but starts slowly after the Planet Terror gore-hurricane. Tarantino’s dialogue is his main character—girl-talk about sex and pop culture references—and it lulls viewers into a sense of calm. Then you go to the Death Proof-place courtesy of Kurt Russell. In a muscle stunt car, he plays both the inflictor and inflicted.
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