Some videos are just too good to not share here. This is a real business and a great ad. Well done sirs.
Roger Ebert’s “Life Itself”
I recently finished Roger Ebert’s memoir, called “Life Itself.” I really liked it. I’ve always liked Ebert and his movie reviews. He claims he writes every review with the thought of “be honest of what you saw and how you felt when you saw it.” Somehow, in the process of doing so, his reviews were more than just a barometer of whether or not a film was good, but an interesting article itself. To this day, I always read the first and last paragraph of Ebert’s review before I see a film, and the rest of it after I see it. He’s the only must-read critic that I know of.
His book is a full reflection of his life. He covers everything – his childhood in Illinois, his job as a newspaperman, alcoholism, being a film critic, education, his romances, his relationships with actors and directors, and his views on religion and the greater cosmos. Lots of thoughts are shared in a very frank and honest way, and it makes for an interesting read. Ebert and I come from different generations but we share a passion for film and for pondering “the truth” and I appreciated leaning about how he’s developed his perspective as I could see a little bit of myself in him.
Fixing WiFi
I normally don’t just repost stuff, but my cousin Sara sent me this story and I found it amazingly awesome. Enjoy:
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IN WHICH I FIX MY GIRLFRIEND’S GRANDPARENTS’ WIFI AND AM HAILED AS A CONQUERING HERO.
BY MIKE LACHER
Lo, in the twilight days of the second year of the second decade of the third millennium did a great darkness descend over the wireless internet connectivity of the people of 276 Ferndale Street in the North-Central lands of Iowa. For many years, the gentlefolk of these lands basked in a wireless network overflowing with speed and ample internet, flowing like a river into their Compaq Presario. Many happy days did the people spend checking Hotmail and reading USAToday.com.
But then one gray morning did Internet Explorer 6 no longer load The Google. Refresh was clicked, again and again, but still did Internet Explorer 6 not load The Google. Perhaps The Google was broken, the people thought, but then The Yahoo too did not load. Nor did Hotmail. Nor USAToday.com. The land was thrown into panic. Internet Explorer 6 was minimized then maximized. The Compaq Presario was unplugged then plugged back in. The old mouse was brought out and plugged in beside the new mouse. Still, The Google did not load. Continue reading “Fixing WiFi”
Best SuperBowl Commercial Not Playing in the SuperBowl
This is a Budweiser ad created for Canada to play during the SuperBowl, but only in Canada. I’m not sure why it’s on there, but it’s one of my favorite ads i’ve seen in a while. I love it.
It’s a recreational hockey game where Budweiser organizes a flash mod to surprise the players. It’s pretty great:
Some Predictions
With a new year (i know we’re a month old already) I’ve been wondering more about what the future holds. I have a few thoughts i’d like to share and get your thoughts. They are some prediction of the technology space. Here they go:
More and More Social Networks.
I wrote in 2007 when Facebook released “The Platform” that they would take over the web. Their product updates since then have great and as a result, they’ve been killing it for years and been gobbling up users (approaching 1 Billion now). However, this year I saw more and more social networks emerge. You have Path, Instagram, Foursquare, FoodSpotting and others. It’s easy for me to see now that in the future everyone will be on Facebook but that’s not where everyone will share. It will be fragmented. Depending on what you share (Food, Books, Photos, etc.), you may be someplace else and sharing with a smaller group. Facebook will continue to be a huge company but their days of being the only game in town are numbered. Social is now not a facebook-only feature. Everyone has it. The future is more about what your social activity revolves around. I’ve started to tell people that “facebook is a fad” and it’s old news. That’s not entirely true but it’s more true now than ever.
The Future of Local Publishing
More and more people are trying to get into local publishing. The local newspaper has seen its classifieds, sports, world news and national news all get marginalized by other outlets (TV, internet, twitter, etc.). All that’s left is local. I used to be bullish on Patch, but that’s waning as i don’t see them innovating and it seems to be too big and too expensive an operation at each location. That may change though. With that said, here’s my prediction for what wins in a local community:
You have a site, this could be a WordPress site or Tumblr or whatever. It’s managed by one to three super-engaged people who are not pulling a salary (or a minimal one). They do two things. First, they curate all the news from papers, blogs and other local sites that are reporting in their community. Second, they accept via twitter and their site submissions of links and news. They curate both of them and then spit it out back to their followers on their site and on Facebook and Twitter. This becomes the best real-time source of news.
This works because it is impossible for one source to aggregate all the information themselves (what newspapers used to do) but it is all being covered by other people who are willing to share. The new local publisher is a connector of local interests to other web sites. I could see this being just a twitter feed or a Tumblr blog. Whatever the destination is, it’s heavily conversational and constantly curated.
Just some predictions i have. Would love to hear your thoughts.
Some things i’m changing in 2012
With the new year, i’m going to try to do some more things. Here’s what i have in mind:
Read More. I hit a reading rut in 2011 where i went a few months without finishing a book. This was for good reasons (i was pretty busy doing actual work), but I want to get back to reading a book a month. I’m already on a good path as i’m busting out Ebert’s memoir and also Lean Startup and i’m really enjoying both.
Exercise More. I used to exercise every day and lately i’ve been finding myself at only 2 or 3 times a week. I want to give crossfit a go and stay at 4 times a week for the entire year. Some other goals are: biking to and from Boulder from Denver twice a month in the summer. And, possibly, doing a triathlon if I can get back in the pool.
Eating Better. I still have horrible eating habits. I eat portions way too large and i eat stuff that’s just not good for me (ahem, Domino’s pizza). I haven’t been able to do smaller portions. I think cooking will help this (see next).
Cook More. My goal is to cook at least once a month in 2012 (twelve times total). I had the same goal in 2011 and failed miserably with only about 4 or 5 cooking attempts. I’m looking forward to Liz’s blog (one that is going to tell me exactly what to make) helping me out here. Hopefully I’ll be a master chef by the end of the year.
These are my lifestyle goals for 2012. You have any you’re doing that i’m missing?
FourSquare is Pulling Away…
I wrote a post 9 months ago about whether FourSquare or Quora were going to break out as great companies. Many in the office chose Quora and i chose FourSquare. I didn’t know anything at the time, but i just had a hunch.
I’m still not correct. Quora is doing really well still, but more and more people are recognizing Foursquare as a pioneer. In fact, yesterday, Anil Dash wrote a great post about why it’s such a compelling company, stating:
[Foursquare] has blossomed into truly impressive execution: Foursquare is the one startup that’s doing the most remarkable job of any company out there in product strategy and product creation.
He sites these 6 main points as to why:
- Core platform
- Reliable iteration
- Technical competence
- Design innovation
- Thoughtful business model
- Meaningful API’s
It’s a good read, check it out.
Looking back at 2011
Some things i’ll remember about 2011:
Steve Jobs’ Death & Legacy. As Esquire says…
No one ever died the way Steve Jobs died. Other people have died of cancer. Other people have died in the public eye. But no one has ever died with the inexorable logic of their mortality feeding into a logic of expectation that they themselves created and aroused.
Reading about Steve Jobs in 2011 was a terrific experience. He inspired me to take my passion in products to the next level. He was truly a special individual and will be missed.
Mavericks vs. Heat. The stage was set: a team of underdogs who lost to the Heat in 2006 vs. a team of selfish divas. Down 2-1 and nearly 3-1, the scappy Mavs fought back and took the title in the most exciting NBA Finals I’ve ever seen. Continue reading “Looking back at 2011”
“Cable Channel” Presidents
I recently listened to an interesting podcast interview of Chris Rock. One phrase he mentioned was that George W. Bush was the first “Cable-Channel President.” What he meant by this is that you used to have candidates and presidents that attempted to appeal to the entire country – similar to Network television – but now you have presidents and candidates that try to appeal only to their audience – like Cable channels – and don’t care about nationwide approval.
This is an interesting concept, because if you try to appeal to everyone – like a Network show – you tend to appear successful or correct only a fraction of the time to most voters, but if you focus on a niche, you’ll be loved by some and strongly disliked by everyone else. The highs are higher but the lows are lower.
You can definitely see this play out in American politics today. Instead of trying to appeal to everyone and find a middle ground, candidates simply talk to their niche and alienate everyone else. In most categories such as music, film, education, etc. I love this as it allows me to find exactly what resonates with me, but when you’re trying to run a country, i don’t think it works.
Steve Jobs Biography was Great
I just finished the Steve Jobs book and it was probably one of the most enjoyable books i’ve read in a long long time. I might say the past 10 years. Here’s why:
Steve Jobs really cared about his products, deeply. He had an intuitive feel for what the consumer wanted, and what he wanted. He truly wanted his products to be close to art. Even though very few in the industry believed him, even after the Macintosh had been around for over 10 years, he continued to hold on to this belief. Each button, CD tray, color, and line was important to him. There’s a great passage in the book when he found out that the CD-ROM drive of a Mac was a tray instead a slot and it brought him to tears.
It was also fascinating to hear about the infant PC industry. I had no idea how the PC industry started. I knew there was Apple and i knew there were was IBM but i didn’t understand how it emerged. The narrative of the hobbyists building the board in garages makes sense to me, and i now understand.
I also didn’t understand how Jobs could get kicked out of his own company by a CEO and board that he selected. But, after reading the story, i’m surprised he didn’t get kicked out sooner. To hear of his return and his path back towards success was riveting. Just a great story. I highly recommend this book to anyone who’s enjoys Apple even a little bit. Most people didn’t revere Jobs that much when he was alive (except, obviously the fanboys) but looking back at his accomplishments and commitment to excellence and innovation, we have to place him in the pantheon of business and product innovators.
I do think the world is a better place for having him here and i wish more people followed his path and held on to their dreams and reached for the stars. It’s a great thing when it happens and actually works.