Giving in to temptation

I finally gave in to temptation and created a MySpace profile. Although Facebook is a lot more user-friendly, I can see the appeal in MySpace.

Facebook out Google’s Google

Google has long been one of Silicon Valley’s most attractive work places for young professionals with it’s free lunches, 20% time, stock options, etc. Apparently, Facebook is enticing Google’s best employees. Not only did Google receive a negative TechCrunch write up (ouch), but they were also compared to a PC (double ouch):

Introducing ASMEA

I recently spoke with an acquaintance who is involved with a new Middle East studies organization called ASMEA. They have an impressive group of scholars involved including Bernard Lewis and Fouad Ajami.

Here is a brief description of the organization:

Through its forthcoming annual conference, journal, newsletter, and new website, the Association hopes to become the professional association of choice for discerning scholars and interested members of the public, and will strive for excellence in all of its many pursuits. Please join us in creating a community that will serve as the bedrock for the next generation of scholars and teachers upon which our collective future depends.

Be sure to take a look at the ASMEA website for further information.

SF weather sucks

Scoble’s unrelated post reminds me how much I can’t stand San Francisco’s climate. Call me a Silicon Valley weather snob, but San Francisco’s fog, rain, cold, and wind is not in the slightest appealing.

Do any other Bay Area residents dislike San Francisco’s weather?

Keri Hilson, ambitious young entrepreneur

Every heard of a song writer and singer named Keri Hilson?

Recently, I heard Timbaland’s single featuring Hilson called, “The Way I Are.” To an outsider not paying close attention, Keri looks like a typical overnight hip hop success. She has a great voice and is making music with big shot producer and rapper, Timbaland.

Check out the music video:

Reality is different from perception, the 25 year old “overnight success” has been writing music for A-List singers since she was 19 years old. According to her Wikipedia profile:

Keri Hilson has been writing music for individual artists since 2001. She has written music for Chris Brown, Britney Spears, Lil Wayne, Fat Joe, Toni Braxton, Mary J. Blige, Usher, Ciara, the Pussycat Dolls, Avant, Ruben Studdard, B5, Diddy, Chingy, LeToya, Ludacris, Rich Boy, Shawn Desman, Kelly Rowland, Nicole Scherzinger, Lloyd Banks, and Timbaland. With many of the songs Hilson takes part in writing she also does background vocals, such as in “Runaway Love” and “Wait A Minute”.

It’s great to see a talented singer and writer, as opposed to just another pretty face, rising to the top. Ever since I’ve been watching the show Entourage, the fast paced world of entertainment seems to have a lot of parallels to the tech start-up experience.

Bloomberg is no Giuliani

Michael Bloomberg is going to let Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s chief Holocaust denier (and President) visit ground zero.

This guy is no Rudy Giuliani, that’s for sure. Remember when Rudy kicked Arafat out of a concert for world leaders in NYC?

But the Mayor, explaining his decision yesterday, called Mr. Arafat a murderer and terrorist, and said he was not impressed by the fact that Mr. Arafat had twice been invited to the White House to sign the Middle East peace accords, or that he shared the Nobel Peace Prize.

“I would not invite Yasir Arafat to anything, anywhere, anytime, anyplace,” Mr. Giuliani said at a news conference yesterday. “I don’t forget.”

“…When we’re having a party and a celebration, I would rather not have someone who has been implicated in the murders of Americans there, if I have the discretion not to have him there.”"

Giuliani was criticized for his decision by the White House and others at the time, but looking back now, most people would agree with his decision 100%. Arafat was a cold blooded killer who had no business in any peace process.

With Ahmadinejad, Mayor Bloomberg has an even easier decision, NOBODY likes this guy. Persians living in the US & elsewhere don’t like him, sane Americans don’t like him, the world thinks he’s a clown. The only person who seems to embrace Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is my fellow Jew and Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

UPDATE: Rudy takes a stand

“Under no circumstances should the NYPD or any other American authority assist President Ahmadinejad in visiting Ground Zero. This is a man who has made threats against America and Israel, is harboring Bin Laden’s son and other al-Qaeda leaders, is shipping arms to Iraqi insurgents and is pursuing the development of nuclear weapons. Assisting Ahmadinejad in touring Ground Zero – hallowed ground for all Americans – is outrageous.”

UPDATE2: The New York Observer blog linked to this post

UPDATE3: Ahmadinejad’s Ground Zero visit rejected

Why is everyone obsessed with TechCrunch?

People seem to think that a TechCrunch write up will make or break a company. For example, PodTech is peeing in their pants over a bad TechCrunch write up. Frankly, I couldn’t give a crap if TechCrunch writes about my company or not. Since we’re exclusively in the college space, a campus newspaper write up would matter more than a TechCrunch mention.

VC investments on the up

According to a TechCrunch post:

Investment in information services companies, including Web 2.0 startups, hit $979 million in the second quarter of 2007.

The figure is 52% up on the same period last year and the highest figure recorded since the 2001.

In laymen’s terms, we are now officially in a boom; not that we’d probably need figures to prove this.

There maybe more money circulating, but let’s not pretend that securing venture capital is an easy thing. Statistically, the majority of start-ups pursuing VC money will not be successful.

Good to be home

I’ve been briefly back in the Bay Area. There hasn’t been any blogging in the past few days because I’ve been busy catching up with family & running errands. Hope the 10 or so readers of this site are having a great week

Waitress gets $10,000 tip

Good news to start the weekend:

A waitress got more than a $5 tip for her friendly service. She also got a $10,000 gift.

Jessica Osborne was so overcome by the gift she cried so hard she could barely breathe….Now that she has the money, Osborne is starting to consider her options for when and where she will go to study photography and journalism. “I don’t know what I’m going to do yet,” she said. “I haven’t had time to figure it out.” She and her fiance flew to New York today and were scheduled Friday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

Write blog postings, not articles

Both Daily Blog Tips and Scoble are pointing to a piece called Write Articles, Not Blog Postings. According to its own summary:

To demonstrate world-class expertise, avoid quickly written, shallow postings.

The piece is dead wrong. The blogosphere is a series of conversations. What if I simply want to contribute to the dialog? Why should every blogger strive to ‘demonstrate world-class expertise’?

Tech cocktail: young entrepreneurs need not apply

A mixer event called Tech cocktail is going on tonight. It sounds like a fun way to meet other techies & entrepreneurs here in Chicago.

1 tiny problem, they’re holding the event at a 21 and over bar. 3 of my co-workers won’t be able to attend because they are under 21.

There are plenty of combination restaurant/bar spots in Chicago that card at the bar rather than at the door Many entrepreneurial minded people are under 21, it’s pretty lame to exclude them.

UPDATE: Check out Frank Gruber’s response. We’ll come out to Tech cocktail tonight, if they don’t let our group in because of my co-workers’ age (20), we’ll just hang out in Wrigleyville.

UPDATE2: We didn’t go. The idea of getting turned away didn’t sound terribly appealing.

Fox News launching pro-business tv October 15th

According to Drudge, Fox News is going to be launching a business network called Fox Business Network (FBN). Rupert Murdoch says that the network is going to be pro-business in a Forbes article says:

“We have long considered the business television market to be underserved,” Murdoch said. “Having built Fox News into a cable news leader and a cultural phenomenon against all expectations, I’m confident Roger Ailes can do the same in business news.”

Murdoch indicated that Fox Business Channel will follow the FNC template in the way it reflects his philosophical outlook and the way it differentiates itself in tone and attitude.

“It will have a more pro-business stance … CNBC leaps on every scandal. It’s a negative attitude,” he said. “I won’t announce too much detail on the programming, because everything we say, CNBC will immediately copy.”

Fox News has dominated dominated 24 hour news by making it entertaining and pro-American. They have been a platform for people who would have never been invited on CNN. It’ll be interesting to see if Fox Business Network has similar success.

JetBlue to allow mobile txt messaging and e-mail

 

Sweet. Check out this blog post by Ben Mutzabaugh:

JetBlue “will detail plans by year’s end to let passengers send free e-mail or text messages from wireless handheld devices. No U.S. airline (currently) offers such a service.

Chicago young professionals evening entrepreneurial event tomorrow

Event: Evening Entrepreneurial Event
Date: Weds. Jul. 11th; 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Location: Metropolitan Club;
233 S Wacker 67th Fl ( map )
Cost: $10 for Members
$20 for Non-Members
Who: Everyone is Welcome!
RSVP: professional@ypchicago.org by 7/10

This should be a fun event. The last one was.

I’m sick of bad news

This is the final straw: 2 teens accused of raping woman, forcing her to have sex with son

I’m sick and tired of hearing about bad news all the time. The story above is terrible, but the criminals will be charged and served justice. It’s an unfortunate one-off case which only makes the rest of us paranoid. Which is why I am creating a new topic on this blog ‘good news’.

Anyone else enjoying the heat?

It’s 80 degrees today with 38% humidity in Chicago and I love it!

California: an LA perspective

Check out the video below. It has little to do with the California, but it’s definitely amusing. The girl who made the video is from LA and clearly doesn’t leave there very much. Still an amusing look at California.

Chicago suburb driving sucks

If you’ve ever been to the SF Bay Area, can you imagine driving for 45 minutes along El Camino? It’s unheard of. Who in their right mind would drive along that 35 mile per hour road (with all of its traffic lights) when the 101 and 280 surround El Camino?

Here in the Northwest suburbs, it’s common to drive along local roads to get from one destination to another. Today, for example, I drove from Palatine to Evanston along a bunch of local roads. The 20 mile trip took 45 minutes! A comparable Bay Area trip takes 26 minutes.

43 Famous people who should run for President

The 2008 election is wide open, everybody and their cousin is running for President. Below are a few celebrities you probably haven’t considered voting for (and who haven’t considered running…yet).

Vote for your favorite candidate

1) Mr. T for President

2) Larry King for President

3) Steve Urkel for President

4) Officer Carl Winslow for President

5) Andy Griffith & Don Knotts for President

6) The Wale from Free Willy for President

7) Sue Johanson for President

The Berenstain Bears for President

9) Oscar the Grouch for President

10) Steve Carell for President

11) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for President

12) Golda Meir for President

13) The bailiff on Nigh Court for President

14) Frank Lambert and Carol Foster for President

15) Paris Hilton for President

16) Mel Gibson for President

17) Donald Trump for President

18) Alf for President

19) Larry Elison for President

20) Ronald McDonald for President

21) Barney for President

22) Pee Wee Herman for President

23) Chuck Norris for President

24)Woody Allen for President

25) Warf for President

26) Bob Saget for President

27) Captain Picard for President

28) The Golden Girls for President

29) Bob Barker for President

30) Al Bundy for President

31) Knight Ridder for President

32) Genie and Aladdin for President

33) Tigger for President

34) The Agro Crag for President

35) The Chief (from where in the world is carmen san diego?) for President

36) The Bee Gees for President

37) Village People for President

38) Alice (from The Brady Bunch) for President

39) Pinocchio for President

40) 50 Cent for President

41) Beyonce for President

42) Harry Potter for President

43) iPhone for President

Europeans stick together in China

According to my friend Marc (who’s living in China):

think I’ve figured out what bothers me about most Europeans I meet traveling; they tend to put a fair amount of effort in trying to find or recreate the Europe they left behind. Despite being in a very foreign country they expect the same standards of clean, language, privacy, public behavior and what not that’s found in Europe. The shock of not finding this familiarity seems to be more than most Europeans can handle. Thus, the communities of people who have nothing more in common other than their place of birth arise out of a smoke of disappointment and dissatisfaction.

That’s really interesting. Considering that Europe has so many different languages and cultures, I would’ve thought that travelers from the continent would be more comfortable traveling beyond Europe.

I’ve heard and seen similar things happen when people travel to the US. My cousin from Israel occasionally goes to synagogue when he’s out here in the US. Back home he would never do that, it’s as though the synagogue gives him a taste of home he was never knew he missed.

According to my uncle, a taxi driver in San Francisco, the first place Japanese tourists ask to go after arriving is Sushi restaurants. Go figure

Tips for marketing effectively at parades

Based on recent experience, below are some tips on how to
promote your business or organization effectively at the local parade.

5 parade musts haves:

1) Signage
-Signage is a very effective way to communicate with people watching the parade. If your group is walking bring a large banner. If you are driving, make sure that your car is covered with signage.

2) Matching t-shirts
-This is makes your group look more professional too. If you can’t afford t-shirts, encourage people to wear similar colored clothing.

3) Flyers
-Flyers are a great way to provide people in the audience (who express interest) with additional information. A 1/4 page handout works best as it can easily fit in the pocket. Plus it’s 25% cheaper than full-page flyers. Kinkos (and other copy shops) can slice flyers in to 4ths. Make sure to print them on colored paper and keep them to the point.

4) Candy
-Unless it’s a diabetics parade,the audience will love candy. This is a great way to please children and parents alike.

5) Logistics
-In order to be effective, your group needs to be organized well. This means e-mailing out driving directions and other relevant details ahead of time. Ideally a brief prep 5-10 minutes before the group begins marching.

Is Carlos Slim Jewish?

Ever since I wrote about Carlos Slim, people have been running in to this blog by searching for: ‘carlos slim jewish origin’, ‘carlos slim jewish’, etc. I’m assuming that he’s not because only a tiny segment of Mexico is.

Does anyone know if Carlos Slim is Jewish?

Bill Gates no longer richest man

Ever heard of Carlos Slim? Recently, he took over Bill Gates’ spot as the world’s richest man:

Microsoft founder Bill Gates looks to have lost his title as the world’s richest man, toppled from top spot by the Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim.

Guess hookah

I’m relaxing at Guess Hookah Lounge in Chicago. Fun place to chill out. I’ll add more to this post if there’s time (and interest) later.