Let's Be Pirates

"Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted."

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:53:29 -0400

“Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.”

- Randy Pausch

"schadenfreude: enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others"

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 21:36:37 -0400

“schadenfreude: enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others”

- Merriam-Webster

"And, Mr. Casesa said, Mr. Wagoner’s finance background might have been a poor fit: “The most..."

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 23:21:23 -0400

“And, Mr. Casesa said, Mr. Wagoner’s finance background might have been a poor fit: “The most successful auto companies are run by people who came out of the revenue-generating functions — manufacturing, design, marketing — making cars and selling cars.” Mr. Wagoner, the analyst said, “skipped the whole apprenticeship that most auto C.E.O.’s experience.””

- From an article about CEO Richard Wagoner leaving GM.

Share My Ride

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 17:44:57 -0400

Share My Ride: Great profile of the super cool car sharing company Zipcar.

Something Wild

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 13:30:45 -0500

Something Wild: An interesting op-ed from The New York Times.

Rename Law? No Wisecrack Is Left Behind

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:29:19 -0500

Rename Law? No Wisecrack Is Left Behind: An interesting (and funny) story about possibly renaming No Child Left Behind.

Sensors Help Keep the Elderly Safe, and at Home

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 08:48:52 -0500

Sensors Help Keep the Elderly Safe, and at Home: This New York Times article is really interesting.

Everything I Know About Business I Learned From Poker

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 16:35:36 -0500

Everything I Know About Business I Learned From Poker: I’m not really a poker player, but this post from Tony Hsieh of Zappos is really spot on.

NY Times: Time to Reboot America

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 15:39:15 -0500

NY Times: Time to Reboot America

NY Times: The Sin in Doing Good Deeds

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 15:35:38 -0500

NY Times: The Sin in Doing Good Deeds

Dan Gilbert researches happiness

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 22:51:03 -0500

Dan Gilbert researches happiness: Great TED talk. The title is a little misleading. It is more about odds and potential benefits and people don’t take the two serious enough.

Let Detroit Go Bankrupt

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:35:31 -0500

Let Detroit Go Bankrupt:

This New York Times Op-Ed Contributor piece is right on in my opinion. Mitt Romney (former governor of Massachusetts and former presidential candidate) makes some valid suggestions:

Get new labor agreements and benefits to become competitive with the competition. Work with the unions to come to an agreement and consider other forms of compensation like profit sharing or stock grants.
Get rid of the the existing management teams and bring in people from other industries who know about marketing, innovation, creativity, and complex labor relations.
Ensure the new management team is down to earth. No fancy planes, no private conference rooms, etc. They should make less money than the current management and talk to the frontline employees more.
Watch cash flow and other financial metrics with long term viability in mind.
Treat the sales force right and respect the best dealers.

The article is well worth a read.

"If Ford or Toyota had innovated at a similar pace, he says, “a car would probably go half the..."

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 18:16:21 -0400

“If Ford or Toyota had innovated at a similar pace, he says, “a car would probably go half the speed of light,” and if you were going to San Francisco for a week, it would be “cheaper to throw out the card and buy a new one” than to feed quarters into the parking meter.”

- Intel executive Mooly Eden telling Fast Company about Intel’s track record of rapid innovation and the chip industry

NY Times Op-Ed: Bringing Pell Grants to My Eyes

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:41:10 -0400

NY Times Op-Ed: Bringing Pell Grants to My Eyes: Extremely well written editorial in the New York Times by author and essayist Sarah Vowel.

"The best way to predict the future is to invent it."

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 15:34:23 -0400

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”

- computer scientist Alan Kay.

My desktop changes each time I logon. 80% of my backgrounds are...

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 22:33:28 -0400

My desktop changes each time I logon. 80% of my backgrounds are from InterfaceLIFT and they are all pretty cool. I think this one is especially nice.

1-800-FREE411

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 00:47:27 -0400

1-800-FREE411 is amazing. I usually use GOOG-411, but Free 411 is infinitely better.

It found the exact listing I was looking for and text messaged me driving directions (easily picking up my address after I said it once). The voice recognition was the best I’ve ever seen/heard on any sort of phone system.

Free 411 has ads, but considering how powerful it is (and how much less I have to yell at it and repeat myself), they’re not at all annoying and well worth it.

BlackBerry Music Player

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 19:46:04 -0400

My new BlackBerry Curve has a pretty good music player. It functions just like iTunes or any other desktop player and is definitely better than the one included with Windows Mobile.

"To cultivate an opposition to change is the currency of the rich and stupid."

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 21:24:33 -0400

“To cultivate an opposition to change is the currency of the rich and stupid.”

- John Steinbeck

This is the dump where King James II was exiled to after the...

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 23:26:00 -0400

This is the dump where King James II was exiled to after the British Civil War. It’s called the Château de saint-Germain-en-Laye and is located about 10 miles from Paris. The life of a despotic British monarch in exile was evidently a tough one.