Gearbox is Rolling

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The future is already here, it’s just unevenly distributed.   – William Gibson

I did see the future this summer – just in bits and pieces.  Let me explain….

As many of you know, i had an amazing experience at Techstars this summer. Not only did we evolve our company Kapost in a new and better direction, but we got to meet and interact with some incredible mentors and entrepreneurs.

There’s a company i worked right next to this summer called Gearbox.  This is two guys who are hard core robotics nerds – and i mean that in the best way.  They have the only desk i’ve ever seen at a startup that has soldering irons and wrenches.

When they first arrived to Techstars, it was clear that they didn’t really know the best direction to take their company.  They weren’t alone, lots of us had unclear paths.  But they had a passion for robots, gaming and mobile devices and were looking for how best to apply this. As the months passed, they decided on a direction that was well aligned with this passion – which resulted in the Orbbott or the “Gearbox Ball.”

What is it? This is a robotic ball that is controlled by your iPhone or Android device.  Not only is controlled but there are apps on your phone that you can use with the ball.  Apps like Sumo (where you play against another ball) or Golf or, my favorite, “follow me” app. This is an application where you put the phone in your pocket and the Ball just follows you around the room.  It speeds up when you’re far away and backs up if you approach it.  I don’t know why, but i love this idea.  It’s the best version of a robotic dog or cat i’ve heard of.

You can see a video below of them demo’ing their ball.  It’s a great idea. They’ve invented a whole category of toys called “Smart Toys” and i think i’ve just seen the future.  Thankfully, i was lucky enough to see it emerge from the very beginning.

Some Inception Notes

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Discovered two cool things about Inception this week

First, there is some analysis done about when Leo wears his wedding ring. If you pay attention to when he has it on (clue: only in dreams), you can figure out the final scene in the movie.  That link is here

Second, this video below shows how the main score of the movie has a subliminal tune embedded in it.  Which pretty much blew my mind.  Thanks to Gawker for that.

Inception Thoughts

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I saw Inception this week. I’m assuming most of you know that this is a movie written and directed by Chris Nolan. Nolan is the same guy who wrote and directed Memento, The Prestige (with Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale), Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. So, he can both mind screw you (Memento and Prestige) and wow you with effects and spectacle (Batman movies).

I though the film great and here’s why. It was truly original. Sure, there have been dream movies before. But in a world where most of the films are sequels and remakes, this movie was a plot that nobody had come close to. Mental espionage is not a common genre. You could argue this was the classic heist movie where one last job is all they need to accomplish but when you’re not stealing anything but instead placing a thought inside someone’s head – it’s a bit different. So i guess the context was the original bit. I loved the introduction of the plot and explanation of the concept. Similar to how the best part of Batman Begins is when we see how Batman came to be and who is responsible, the best part of Inception is learning how this dream hijacking occurs and who is required within it. Even as hit the third act of the movie, you’re learning the details of being inside dreams.

Also similar to Batman Begins and Dark Knight, the end of the movie is disappointing compared to the beginning and middle. Thousands of people shooting and missing the good guys while they lay people out with one punch is not a clever way to end a movie that relies on thoughtfulness and intricate details. Memento probably has the best ending of a movie of the past 10 years and thus i hold Nolan to a higher standard here. He’s gotten lazy with Batman.

The women in the movie were also great. Ellen Page was a great student and has never looked more girl-like, especially when you place her next to Marion Cotillard (the woman from La Vie en Rose). The scene where the two are next to each other is like a class in the difference between what a girl is compared to a woman. Marion Cotillard was also a phenomenal femme fatal. One last woman that drags the man down, literally.

I could see this film winning a slew of Oscars, but because the idea and execution was the show not the characters, the awards are for Writing, Director and potentially Picture not for actor or actress

Some other notes:

  • Great to see Tom Berenger in there. Haven’t seen him in quite a while. Loved it
  • Note from JT: when cillian murphy opens the safe and there’s a paper windmill in there isn’t that a symbol for green since his father seemed to be an oil tycoon?  Interesting nuance.
  • I’m not the biggest Joseph Gordon-Levitt especially since he overacted his SNL show but i thought he pulled it off.  I would have preferred James Franco who was originally cast for that role
  • I think they could have done without the entire third level (snow level) madness.  It was just too much and the movie still would have been sweet if it was a more tame level or just make level 2 more detailed.

Book: City of Thieves

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After reading Toby’s suggestion, i picked up the novel City of Thieves by David Benioff. Let me tell you, this book is really great – one of the best books i’ve read in a long time. I bought for $4 used on Amazon – do yourself a favor and get it.

The story starts with a screenwriter (the guy who wrote 25th Hour) talking to his grandfather about WWII. It’s his grandfather’s story that takes us to Leningrad in 1942 when he was 17. He gives us the core story but then leaves the interview session telling Benioff, “you’re the writer, make it up.” And he comes up with a fantastic tale

It’s not that long but is still a great story of friends, war, snipers, girls, and a box of eggs. Read it

Further Analysis of Back to the Future

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Some great points are made by the Cracked gang about the beloved Back to the Future.  Points such as

  1. Did Marty trigger the civil rights movement?
  2. Isn’t it weird that George’s and Loraine’s son looks just like the guy Loraine tried to sleep with in high school?
  3. How did Biff go from rapist to butler?

All that and more in the video below:

Open Letter To Bill Simmons – Lebron Can’t Play Soccer

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Bill –

Love the column and the podcast – read/listen religiously.

I used to play soccer in college. I’m just stating so you can see i have some credibility to what i’m about to say.

I had to write because one thing is driving me crazy. You and others keep claiming that Lebron James and other NBA stars like Dwight Howard would be amazing on the soccer field. See your recent podcast with Chris Collinsworth (here). These players are incredible athletes but this is just not the case, and anyone who has played soccer would know that if you see a 6′ 8″ guy playing against you, you would be psyched. There is no way, no matter how athletically talented they are, that would be good players. This is due to 2 main reasons: (1) foot size and (2) quickness.

To shoot or hit a long ball well, you need to hit the soccer ball with your instep, which is the top of your foot. People with big feet are notoriously bad at kicking a ball far and accurately. It’s possible, but if you’re huge (over 6’5″) it would be super tough. Quickness is another issue. Being fast on your first 3 steps is so crucial to a soccer player. You see it all the time at the top of the box, where a player is trying to get just a little bit of space to get a shot off. The bigger you are, the less quick you are. Think of Lebron trying to guard the quickest point guards all day. It wouldn’t go that well.

For both of these reasons, if you’re super small and really quick you can be the best player in the world. See Messi and Maradona (both 5’5″-ish). If you’re gigantic, you probably won’t be.

BUT, i do agree with your general idea that if the best players in America played soccer, we’d dominate. In fact, in 2006 i made up the US starting 11 if we had our pick of the best players and they were super fast, strong and quick dudes (Barry Sanders would have been ideal). That post is here

Anyway, please don’t say anymore how good of a soccer player Lebron would be. It drives me nuts.

Thanks and keep on kicking ass –

Mike Lewis

Big Day for US Soccer

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The score was 0-0.  The ref raised the sign indicating 4 min of extra time.  The US team has wasted chances all day and all tournament. They played both sloppy defense and potent attacking.  But it was all over.  The US had blown its chance.  It was the easiest group in its history.  I could hear all the naysayers talking on ESPN’s PTI  and other radio shows.  We just suck at soccer.  You couldn’t advance ahead of Slovenia – it’s the size of New Jersey!? You couldn’t beat Algeria?.  The ref system is stupid, when’s the NFL start?.  Tim Howard recalls his though when the 90th minute came, saying:

I just thought the crazy thing is we could be on a plane tomorrow. It didn’t mean anything in the game, but I didn’t want to go home. I was kind of apprehensive about losing.

All the progress US Soccer had made over the past 8 to 20 years with the introduction of an MLS team, a quarterfinal finish in 2002 and the beginning of players playing successfully in Europe would all be for naught with a loss and elimination.  It would be the ultimate disappointment and I could tell the American public would once again sour on the sport.  I would dredding hearing Chuck Klosterman and Tony Kornheiser talk about how we suck and will forever suck at the world’s game.

But then the exact opposite happens.  Three minutes from going home, we score.  A fraction from elimination and we become champions setting a record for the fewest total minutes that a World Cup group winner had been leading in its first three games: a grand total of two minutes.

Not only am i happy to watch the US play this Saturday in the 2nd round but i’m happy for soccer in America.  For the first time since i can remember am i hearing people talk about what an exciting and fun sport it is.  People are beginning to understand why the rest of the world loves it.  This game will directly lead to future successes on the pitch in future World Cups.  There’s an 8 year old right now who wants to score the next huge goal in 2032 and because of today’s victory he’s much more likely to stick with soccer than go to football or basketball.  I couldn’t happier about all of it.  As Landon Donvan said after the game,

I used to see this game we play as just a game,” said Donovan, “and I think I’ve realized particularly during this tournament that it’s more than that. It’s an opportunity to inspire. And not only inspire other people but inspire yourself and your teammates. I think tonight is going to do a lot more for me and other people than maybe we’ll realize.

I completely agree.  Congrats guys.  Good luck on Saturday

Facebook’s Fundamental Problem

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I read a great post that opened my eyes to something interesting going on about Facebook’s privacy issue.   The issue has to do with how they position themselves in regard to being either a communications platform or a content platform – and how this impacts how they treat privacy.  If you look at this chart:

You see there are two sections: Communication and Content.  Both are directions that a company can focus on.  What’s interesting is the relationship between virality and revenue potential.   The more focused an application is on Communication, the easier and more quickly it spreads – but it can’t easily sell ads or monetize.  The more Content-centric an application is, the easier it is to monetize (ads are more relevant with higher CTR) but it’s hard to get the app to spread and grow.

Facebook started, of course, as a closed network for college students where they could “connect” and communicate.  As the statement above would suggest, this caused it to spread very quickly.  And it did.  However the site wasn’t making much  money.  Now, they find themselves with a slew (if you can call 500 million people that) of users and a desire to monetize.  It then makes sense for it to move up the scale and become more of a content company.  Thus, you see lots of Like buttons all over the place, a payment platform, and an ad platform to make this as effective as possible

The problem is with privacy.  Users were led to Facebook thinking it was on the Communication side of the fence.  However, it’s ambition is to be more in the middle because that is where it can both spread quickly and make money.  The privacy rules of a Communication web application and Facebook now are longer in agreement .  You can’t ask people to “Friend” and communicate with work people, parents, and close personal acquaintances and then also ask them to make that information public as if it is Content.  That there is a fundamental problem.

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