April 2008

2008-04-30 05:31:23

Like many (but not all) of you, I've been attracted to Barack Obama's message of unity and inclusion. I didn't vote for Barack because I was afraid of what has now transpired. I went for the devil we know over...

Community: From Little Things, Big Things Grow

2008-04-30 05:21:24

Q. What technology do you need to build the next Flickr? A. Trick question. What you need to build the next Flickr is people. George Oates, a key member of the core team that shaped the Flickr community, shares lessons that can help you grow yours.

Hide Your Shame: The A List Apart Store and T-Shirt Emporium is back. Hot new designs! Old favorites remixed! S, M, L, XL. Come shop with us!

Do You Ever Want To Temporarily Unfollow On Twitter?

2008-04-29 10:34:35

I know that I have that urge all the time. I will not reveal the guilty parties. In fact, I may be guilty myself of over twittering. In any case, here's a cool twitter app built by Union Square Ventures'...

Zebra Striping: Does it Really Help?

2008-04-29 05:55:52

Just because a design convention exists doesn't mean it works. Our field runneth over with design patterns, but is low on evidence of their utility. Jessica Enders drops some science on the widespread belief that zebra stripes aid the reader by guiding the eye along a table row.

Hide Your Shame: The A List Apart Store and T-Shirt Emporium is back. Hot new designs! Old favorites remixed! S, M, L, XL. Come shop with us!

Is "Social Enterprise Software" An Oxymoron?

2008-04-29 03:40:36

I've been thinking about this since I saw the news on Monday morning that Jeff Dachis, one of the more successful NYC entrepreneurs in the first Internet wave, has partnered with Austin Ventures to "create an industry leading strategic consulting...

Organizations and Scaling

2008-04-28 07:22:46

My partner Albert has some good (and brief) thoughts on the relationship between organizational dynamics and scaling issues. He posted them on his tumblog this morning. Here's the lead in to his post: There is a lot of information out...

Aggregation Wins - Not So Fast

2008-04-27 19:54:33

I was thinking about the twin techs tonight while I was doing the dishes. That being Techcrunch and Techmeme. I was thinking about the chart that shows how Techmeme has overtaken Techcrunch because it's better to read a link heavy...

Design And The Elastic Mind

2008-04-27 14:26:10

If you love design and technology and either live in NYC or nearby or plan to visit in the next three weeks, you should go see this exhibit at the MOMA. We went today and loved it. Here are some...

Cleaning House - Step One

2008-04-27 05:21:11

I've cut out most of the widgets on this blog. There may be a few more to go, but I've tried to limit to the ones people mentioned as worthy of keeping. But the page is still slow as hell....

We haz a sad.

2008-04-26 18:24:19

The blog shall be silent for a little while as Chez Hehu has a big ole sad. Something important was taken away from someone we love (but someone you don't know, so we won't go into it), and it makes...

Cleaning House

2008-04-26 16:12:59

I've decided to take off many, if not most, of the widgets on the left and right rails of this blog. I'll probably keep the banner ad and one music player for sure. Everything else is up for deletion. I'd...

Anatomy Of A Twitter Bot

2008-04-25 15:20:15

I've come up with two ideas for Twitter bots, Lyric of the Day (@lotd), and Shake Shack Flash Mob (@shakeshack). They both work the same way. People follow the twitter account (click on the links to do that) and then...

Bale out/bail out

2008-04-25 05:00:00

Bale? Bail? Which is which?

Well, hello!

2008-04-23 12:08:04

What's shaking? I'm at work, and it's one of those amusing days. You know, one of those days where banter is light and coworkers are funny. Things are rolling easily. I've done some writing already, and I seem to be...

Sunday

2008-04-20 13:59:59

I'm at home, for my one day off in nine. I'm having an unofficial pajama day -- it wasn't planned like this, but now my main goal for today is DOING NOTHING I don't want to do. Except for laundry....

Not Broken

2008-04-18 12:04:33

I can smell things! Just a little, but it IS coming back, o joy. My house does not smell unclean, I am happy to report. Feliway is working SO well. I am tired. Worked today for the first time in...

Blown to smithereens

2008-04-18 05:00:00

Blown where?

Paulson: Food price controls don't work, but bank and housing price controls do

2008-04-14 21:45:00

Army Times: McCain confused over Petraeus' role

2008-04-14 21:20:29

In Michigan, Obama wins and Clinton loses against McCain

2008-04-14 20:01:14

Conservative Berlusconi wins in Italy

2008-04-14 19:26:10

Bill Clinton caught lying for Hillary, again

2008-04-14 18:30:00

It's good to be the king

2008-04-14 17:55:00

GOP House Member calls Obama "boy." That's southern for n-gger.

2008-04-14 17:17:53

McCain reportedly tells staff to leave Hillary alone - prefers her as opponent in the fall, she'll be easier to beat

2008-04-14 17:09:19

Paley Center NY screening Buffy Reunion Panel on April 25.

2008-04-14 16:52:22

http://www.paleycenter.org/enewsletter/2008/enews-buffy-buffett-mem.htm

A chance for those on the East Coast to see the entire Q&A on video. Paley members can reserve now, general public seats on sale Wednesday.

Perhaps this is why they don't yet have the whole thing streaming on line...

Obama: McCain is out of touch

2008-04-14 16:39:18

Smelling Salts

2008-04-14 16:32:29

I have lost my sense of smell. It's the weirdest thing. I mean, I've lost some smelling ability before, when stuffed up. But right now, between stuffed up sessions, I'm completely clear and can't smell ANYTHING. And my superpower is...

The myth of meritocracy, education edition

2008-04-14 14:42:00

Asian markets dive on Monday

2008-04-14 13:43:00

Fred Hiatt Strikes Again. Attacks Obama on campaign finance while McCain is breaking the law.

2008-04-14 12:49:46

Benedict blows off Bush

2008-04-14 11:43:00

"Captain Mal (Aiming to Misbehave)" by Possible Oscar.

2008-04-14 11:26:14

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=21402924

A wonderfully fab tribute to Serenity. Interestingly enough the song ended up getting used in an awesome furry Captain Mal video which in turn leads rather neatly to the sheer bizarreness of QMx's first Serenity Spirit Animal aka the Mal Fox.

White women begin to turn away from Clinton

2008-04-14 10:59:01

98% of historians surveyed view Bush presidency as a failure

2008-04-14 10:39:07

(SPOILER) Dr. Horrible Conjures Up Internet Buzz.

2008-04-14 10:36:52

http://www.alterna-tv.com/articles/drhorrible.htm

Article summarizing what's already known about Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, as well as speculation on what the project could mean for the webseries format.

[ edited by zeitgeist on 2008-04-14 17:42 ]

Bill attacks the middle-class, Hillary attacks Gore and Kerry

2008-04-14 10:03:13

Joss Whedon, Sugarshock! and Buffy Season 8 nominated for 2008 Eisner Awards.

2008-04-14 09:02:37

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=153595

Buffy is nominated for "Best Continuing Series" and "Best New Series", Sugarshock! for "Best Digital Comic" and Joss is up for "Best Writer".

Other relevant nominees include Brian K. Vaughan for "Best Writer", Dave Stewart for "Best Colorist" and John Cassaday for "Best Cover Artist".

DNC files lawsuit against FEC to force action against John McCain's campaign finance crimes

2008-04-14 08:34:01

Sci-Fi Con-artists.

2008-04-14 08:10:11

http://io9.com/378097/weakest-con-artists-of-the-distant-future

Our Mrs. Reynolds is listed as one of the con artists of the future.

[ edited by zeitgeist on 2008-04-14 17:44 ]

Monday Morning Open Thread

2008-04-14 07:29:27

Does This Describe You? (continued)

2008-04-14 05:34:21

One of our portfolio companies, Covestor, is looking for a key senior level hire, responsible for all product management and development of the Covestor.com service. Lead Product Manager - 8+ years online product management experience - Demonstrated success defining and...

(SPOILER) Emma Caulfield passed on 'Battlestar' audition.

2008-04-14 05:01:05

http://www.eonline.com/gossip/kristin/detail/index.jsp?uuid=736e7694-c7dd-40ef-880a-e5009780f4bd

She would have auditioned for Six and/or Starbuck. Video has potential spoilers for Smallvile and other shows.

[ edited by hobnail on 2008-04-14 14:04 ]

Subprime write-down expert RBS talks of "soft landing"

2008-04-14 04:29:47

The One Feature I'd Like From Adobe AIR

2008-04-14 03:47:41

Adobe AIR is a fantastic piece of software that allows you to run web applications on your desktop. You need to down the Adobe AIR client which runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux. Then you need the person or company...

Spain appoints new cabinet, breaks ground

2008-04-14 03:39:30

Open Thread

2008-04-13 23:33:00

Happy Birthday Sarah Michelle Gellar!

2008-04-13 23:10:39

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001264/

Thirty-one years ago today the essence of acting talent was plucked from the heavens and bestowed upon a newborn babe. And I mean babe.

From the recent Buffy reunion:

WHEDON: David [Greenwalt] and I used to crow when we realized what Sarah could do. We used to call her Jimmy Stewart, because he was the greatest American in pain in the history of film.

GELLAR: I never knew that. You called me Jimmy Stewart?

ETA: Artist JayneLovesVera captures the essence of acting greatness.

[ edited by Pointy on 2008-04-14 12:39 ]

Import prices rise

2008-04-13 22:20:00

Well looky thar! Favorite pirates of How Stuff Works.

2008-04-13 21:20:29

http://people.howstuffworks.com/pirate3.htm

Doing some reading on "how pirates work" and came across this most delightful surprise where I had no reason to suspect it. I love little life touches like this!

Scroll down the page, 'bout half way, to "Our Ten Favorite Pirates"

It Takes Real Chutzpah for a Guy Who Owns Eight Houses (McCain) to Call Barack Obama an "Elitist"

2008-04-13 21:03:01

(SPOILER) Bones returns Monday with an all new episode.

2008-04-13 20:48:35

http://www.fox.com/bones/

This links to the official FOX site where there be videos of the upcoming episode. Bones is moving to Mondays at 8:00 just before House.

Hillary refuses to say when she last went to church or fired a gun - after touting her faith and saying how pro-gun she is compared to Obama

2008-04-13 19:28:22

What foreign government hasn't donated to or paid Bill Clinton?

2008-04-13 18:35:00

Grand Slam in photos.

2008-04-13 14:05:42

http://people.monstersandcritics.com/features/article_1399705.php/In_photos_16th_Annual_Grand_Slam_Sci-Fi_Summit?page=3

Photographs from the Creation Grand Slam event in Burbank featuring James Marsters ( pages 3 and 4) and Camden Toy ( Gnarl demon and the Gentlemen: pages 20 and 21).

Here's a link with additional pictures of Camden Toy and Tom Lenk.

http://www.exposay.com/salome-jens-16th-annual-grand-slam-sci-fi-summit-day-one/v/19295/

Nathan Fillion on *New* Desperate Housewives tonight!

2008-04-13 10:54:08

http://tv.yahoo.com/episode/166937/castcrew;_ylt=AjdSAu0QPk3EJ5oUWkdLFHmvo9EF

According to Yahoo! TV.

We know from Nathan at Cut 2008, that he will be back in 7 or 8 episodes.

Of Course They Are Bitter

2008-04-13 05:06:36

We Need A New Path To Liquidity - The Video Version

2008-04-13 05:01:14

Diplomacy By Humor

2008-04-13 04:57:28

Mike Doughty - I Wrote A Song About You Car

2008-04-13 04:48:12

My Thoughts On Yahoo! and Microsoft

2008-04-13 04:44:03

Video Day On AVC

2008-04-13 04:40:49

I am going to try something new. The only thing that will be on this blog today is video. If a picture is worth a thousand words, maybe video is worth 10x that. We'll see.

Once More with Feeling Karaoke CDG released in the UK.

2008-04-12 22:06:48

http://shopuk.sunflymusic.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=764&osCsid=7eb9e3161b220b78c1447303023be57a

Songs from OMWF and about 10 other Buffy songs in karaoke versions, for your home singing pleasure.

Don't know what the visuals are like for this one, but I sure hope it's cheesy shots of people walking along the beach, like most karaoke discs.

Plugin Functionality - In the browser or on the page?

2008-04-12 09:20:54

I love firefox extensions and use a bunch of them. The plugin architecture has made the browser much more powerful. There are many things that you can do with a browser plugin, but the two most obvious things are add...

Shine A Light

2008-04-12 04:16:02

Keith and Buddy KM?079.jpg Kevin Mazur / Paramount Classics Originally uploaded by Doctor Noe. The Gotham Gal and I went to see Shine A Light last night. I've been wanting to see this Scorsese concert film of the Rolling Stones'...

Still Sick

2008-04-11 11:02:00

This flu is kicking my ass. And I've found a new thing I like to do: lie in bed with the computer, planning new projects. Like rejoining the CSA and freezing/canning/dehydrating the leftover veggies. I'm pretty bad at using leftovers....

How To Avoid A $600mm Writeoff At Taxpayers' Expense

2008-04-11 06:35:55

My partner Brad has a fun post on the Union Square Ventures weblog talking about the $600mm failure of the Census Bureau's effort to build a handheld census collection device. He suggests that they should think about leveraging the open...

Silver bullet

2008-04-11 05:00:00

Who was that masked man?

Delicious

2008-04-11 04:20:48

I included this chart in my post yesterday. I selected it because it made the point I wanted to make (that delicious was languishing under Yahoo!'s ownership). I did check the chart against several other tracking services and was confident...

Colbert and Donor's Choose

2008-04-10 07:47:48

Everyone probably remembers the Donor's Choose bloggers challenge that I won (sort of) last year. Well Donor's Choose has moved on from tech bloggers to political comedy and I am so pleased to see this. Enjoy. Please go vote for...

We Need A New Path To Liquidity

2008-04-10 04:22:44

Watching all these machinations between Microsoft, Yahoo!, Google, AOL, News Corp/MySpace, and their ilk makes me sick. They are playing around with Internet assets like they are toys. And meanwhile the services we have come to rely on like Flickr,...

Gah

2008-04-09 17:01:35

I have the flu. Fever, aches, all of it. But I did get the chance to read Candy Girl (Amazon link to right) by Diablo Cody, the writer of Juno. I adored Juno (who didn't?), and I loved this book....

Does This Describe You?

2008-04-09 03:41:06

- Python + Django hacker - Experience with PostgreSQL - Very comfortable with JavaScript - Scaling a distributed web application - Uncovering relevance from large data sets - Play a significant role in product and market direction - Love blogs...

Powerpoint vs Working Code?

2008-04-09 03:32:44

My friend Tom Evslin did an unscientific poll of three VCs (including me) and concludes that: PowerPoint presentations won?t get you into the meeting room of most venture capitalists even though you may need a presentation once you get there....

Albert On Google App Engine

2008-04-08 08:11:49

Last September, my partner Albert wrote a post on the USV blog called I Want A New Platform. Albert's a VC but he also builds web apps on the side, most recently dailylit.com. It was the process of building daily...

Can The Y Combinator Idea Turn Into A Movement?

2008-04-08 05:18:16

Most readers of this blog know what Y Combinator is. Hell, last month two of the top five referrers were affiliated with Y Combinator. But for those who don't know, Y Combinator was started by Paul Graham and now runs...

Covestor

2008-04-07 05:22:23

I've written a bunch about Covestor and I have this widget on my right sidebar that shows how my public stock portfolio is doing (not well). As is sometimes the case with things I post about on this blog, our...

A Tale of Two Sweaters

2008-04-06 14:17:53

Surprise! Two done! Finished within a day of each other. My sister Bethany expressed surprise at this, but then I explained it's like books. You may have two or three (or if you're like us, ten to twenty) books in...

The "Hidden Return" Of Online Advertising

2008-04-06 11:51:28

We all know that online advertising benefits from being measurable and that it's returns are often better than offline advertising. But the one thing we have not been able to measure is the offline impact of online advertising. I have...

Take Control of Your Maps

2008-04-04 20:19:02

It is now possible to replicate Google Maps? functionality with open source software and produce high-quality mapping applications tailored to your design goals. Paul Smith shows how.

Hide Your Shame: The A List Apart Store and T-Shirt Emporium is back. Hot new designs! Old favorites remixed! S, M, L, XL. Come shop with us!

On Writing

2008-04-04 12:02:46

"A writing community based on encouragement and cooperation." PoMo Golightly's idea is genius. If interest exists, she'll pair writers up, and we'll encourage each other over the ether, with perhaps a small reward in the end? A yarn swap, perhaps?...

Point blank

2008-04-04 05:00:00

What's the point?

Accessible Data Visualization with Web Standards

2008-04-03 04:54:01

When designing interfaces for browsing data-driven sites, creating navigation elements that are also visualization tools helps the user make better decisions. Wilson Miner demonstrates three techniques for incorporating data visualization into standards-based navigation patterns.

Hide Your Shame: The A List Apart Store and T-Shirt Emporium is back. Hot new designs! Old favorites remixed! S, M, L, XL. Come shop with us!

Two Years, Already?

2008-04-02 21:33:10

That's teh bunnie Rabbitch Herself In Person there on the left, and Lovely Mandy on the right at our wedding in Vancouver. Ahhh. That was good. We spent the last few days in San Simeon, celebrating our second anniversary. I...

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