sleepy dino

San Francisco Symphony, 50% Off

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:32:20 -0800

My co-workers were encouraging me to write a value blog. I realize that it’s something I think about alot. So, when I come across good deals, I’ll share them. Here is one I found on Travelzoo. It’s the San Francisco Symphony, 50% off. My wife loves the symphony, and I love good deals. Should be fun.

NYTimes: Rebranding America

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 20:42:46 -0700

From The New York Times: OP-ED GUEST COLUMNIST: Rebranding America President Obama reminds us that America is not just a country but an idea, a great idea about opportunity for all and responsibility to your fellow man. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/opinion/18bono.html Get The New York Times on your iPhone for free by visiting http://itunes.com/apps/nytimes

Photo

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 12:25:58 -0700

This is pretty entertaining (via BBCWorldwide)

Sat, 22 Aug 2009 14:27:41 -0700

This is pretty entertaining (via BBCWorldwide)

Check this out. Facebook & Twitter icons. Oddly similiar. ...

Wed, 13 May 2009 14:38:40 -0700

Check this out. Facebook & Twitter icons. Oddly similiar. Where has all the creativity gone?

Video

Sat, 09 May 2009 08:58:48 -0700

"We are pegging out in a very comfortless spot… . We are in a desperate state—feet..."

Wed, 06 May 2009 07:57:04 -0700

“We are pegging out in a very comfortless spot… . We are in a desperate state—feet frozen, etc., no fuel, and a long way from food, but it would do your heart good to be in our tent, to hear our songs and our cheery conversation”

- Captain Scott of the Antarctic

How swine flu jumped the species barrier from pig to man….

Sun, 03 May 2009 15:15:00 -0700

How swine flu jumped the species barrier from pig to man….

I like singing in the car...

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:42:59 -0700

…as much as the next guy. But somewhere between my senior year in high school, I lost the love. I think it mostly was because I spent some hard years in Boston, when my 1959 Wagon (see http://www.hotrodhotline.com/feature/2005show/05firecracker/assets/images/db_images/db_nuGene_Ewankiw_47_Willys_wagon.jpg for an example) was taken from me and I was forced to take the subway in the freezing cold, walking in the rain against wind, sleet, and snow.

When I finally started driving again when I moved back West, I found myself listing to NPR. Don’t get me wrong, I love NPR. But it doesn’t quite have the same effect as singing to your favorite tune as you ride to work or school.

This morning, I sang on the way to work. And I loved it. Tomorrow, I hope to do it again.

Thanks to my buddy Reid who shared this. I love this video.

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 22:51:53 -0700

Thanks to my buddy Reid who shared this. I love this video.

My favorite is when the kid yells.

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 09:54:00 -0800

My favorite is when the kid yells.

The Bacon Explosion - Take Bacon. Add Sausage. Blog. - NYTimes.com

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:39:29 -0800

The Bacon Explosion - Take Bacon. Add Sausage. Blog. - NYTimes.com:

Wow….talk about a dream food.

Oboma keeps the blackberry. Nice. The Sectera Edge demo’d via...

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 17:39:05 -0800

Oboma keeps the blackberry. Nice.

The Sectera Edge demo’d via CNN

A Scary Line Has Been Crossed For VCs This is an interesting...

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:34:03 -0800

A Scary Line Has Been Crossed For VCs

This is an interesting chart. I have been thinking how this relates to the internet space. Creating significant 20x “VC type” value on $10M is hard to do on the internet anymore. The space is so competitive because it’s so easy to create products. But, it’s relatively easy to create 5x value on $300K. I have to wonder if the new model is having 3-5 person companies and raising VC money.

12 Steps to Practical Problem Solving by Paul Polak

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 17:52:24 -0700

The 12 Steps to Practical Problem Solving:

1. Go where the action is. “Spend significant time with your customers. This is how you learn what they need,” he says. Not hours, days. Polak lived with his farmers for 6 months.

2. Interview at least 100 customers a year. You do it. Not an employee. Listen to what they have to say. “Too many entrepreneurs build the product they want to build — not the one that’s needed.”

3. Context matters. If your solution isn’t right for the context, for example, if it costs too much for the customers you’re trying to serve, you won’t succeed.

4. Think big. Act big.

5. Think like a child.

6. See and do the obvious. Others won’t, which is opportunity for you.

7. Leverage precedents. If somebody has already invented it, don’t do it again.

8. Scale. Your business must have potential to scale. Remember, your market must include at least 1 million customers.

9. Design to specific cost and price targets. Not the other way around. (Celeste: it means — Do not price to your design, design to the price you need to hit to make your product appropriate to your customer.).

10. Follow practical three-year plans. Two years is too short. Ten is too long.

11. Visit your customers again. And again. “Any successful business in this country is based on talking to your customers all the time. A good CEO spends half his time ‘in the field.’”

12. Stay positive. Don’t be distracted by what other people think.

A Missed Opportunity - Britney On Twitter

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 21:21:16 -0700

A Missed Opportunity - Britney On Twitter:

I have been thinking about what a good business model for twitter might be for some time, and couldn’t quite articulate it. I think this guy nailed it. If a famous movie star was regularly sending out messages to their adoring fans, they might pay a small fee. Especially if you had some special “only for my best fans” content. It really seems as if twitter has missed the ball on this one, and it will be interesting to see how quickly they pick up on this.

This graph is the “TED Spread”. In the short run,...

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 23:06:38 -0700

This graph is the “TED Spread”. In the short run, we’ll know if the bail out works by looking at the “TED Spread” — the difference between the most commonly used interest rate for inter-bank lending and the interest rate on short-term government debt. This spread is essentially a measure of credit risk: because short-term government debt is considered almost risk free, the difference between the rate for government debt and the rate for bank lending is a good indicator of how risky it is for banks to lend to one another. The higher the spread, the greater the fear of default on inter-bank loans. It was when the TED spread spiked near an unheard of four percent that Treasury proposed the massive bailout in the first place, a bailout that will hopefully soothe the rattled nerves of banks and so they can resume lending to each other in confidence. If the TED comes down, we’ll know that this has happened.

Hulu - Saturday Night Live: VP Debate Open: Palin /...

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:59:06 -0700

Hulu - Saturday Night Live: VP Debate Open: Palin / Biden

You’ve all seen this one too, but it is worth watching again.

Hulu - Saturday Night Live: Couric / Palin Open I’m sure...

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:45:54 -0700

Hulu - Saturday Night Live: Couric / Palin Open

I’m sure everyone has seen this by now, but it is too classic not to put on here. Really made me smile.

We are all going to suffer now...

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:32:21 -0700

OK, I am pretty ticked now. Raise your hand if you are one of the angry Americans that told your law maker to vote know on the bailout plan. Come on, admit it. Was it you? Don’t be shy. Because if it was you, I think you have made a grave, grave mistake. Lawmakers listened to you, and voted no on the bailout bill. And for the time being, we are all going to suffer for it.

So yes, bankers were greedy. Yes, they would suffer more if we didn’t have a bailout bill. But…if we don’t have a bailout bill, we ALL SUFFER. This isn’t just those with stocks suffer. This isn’t just those with mortgages that are too big. This is unemployment in the 15 - 20% range. This is not being able to get loans to start small businesses. This is people with good credit not getting loans to by a house. This is money market funds being liquidated. This is all really bad stuff.

OK, this is just my opinion. I may be way off here…which I am willing to recognize. But it seems to be that people are trying to make a point…a point which they will really regret making over the next 1-2 years if things don’t change soon. If your congress representative voted no, write them a letter. I thankfully have a congress woman that voted yes very sensibly - but there are many that did not.