January 2010
26 posts
“The central fact of the speech was the contradiction at its heart. It repeatedly...”
– The Obama Contradiction - WSJ.com
“By the way, the evidence is growing that much of much of the IPCC report did not...”
– More “Settled Science” | Climate Skeptic
What if in the end, AGW (aka Anthropogenic Global Warming) turns out to be as real as the geocentric theory? The “science” to date is looking less and less reliable and subject to the many foibles of human-kind.
Again, my point is that we have...
On the lack of iPad Euphoria →
rafer:
heyitsnoah:
The Awl has the best comment yet on the iPad:
Still, I’m a little taken aback by the immediate and vocal lack of enthusiasm for the product. What does it lack? What was everyone hoping for that did not materialize? This is a very rough thought that I may or may not refine, so take it as such, but the iPad is a lot like Barack Obama: Everyone was able to project their own...
No, we can't
rafer:
marco:
Thomas Friedman:
The most striking feature of Barack Obama’s campaign for the presidency was the amazing, young, Internet-enabled, grass-roots movement he mobilized to get elected. The most striking feature of Obama’s presidency a year later is how thoroughly that movement has disappeared.
In part, it disappeared because the Obama team let it disappear, as Obama moved to pass...
“Dr Lal’s admission will only add to the mounting furore over the melting...”
– Glacier scientists says he knew data had not been verified | Mail Online
Sawickipedia: So glad the “science” is so good, that they don’t have to lie to make their case for AGW. Oh wait, they did lie. What a mess.
[Again my skepticism has nothing to do with whether there is...
“Calacanis’s crusade-mongering seems to have gained at least one supporter: Gil...”
– Calacanis Takes on comScore — and Fred Wilson – GigaOM
Rafer sez: @fredwilson When the world works best, only people with pure motives and a leg to stand on make valid points. Jason is clearly not that person, but I find his Call to Action compelling. I re-blogged Jason’s boycott points yesterday,...
“Few blogging VCs choose the responsible path of educating founders about the...”
– Comment by Rafer
Sawickipedia: When raising money, buyer beware. VC’s aren’t evil people, their job just isn’t to make money for the common, it’s to make money for their LP’s. Knowing that, you will do much better for yourself.
My Blood Runs Cold: Where Was the Outrage Over... →
caterpillarcowboy:
caro:
Hearing about the MA-Sen race last night was just tiresome for me, given how cynical I’ve gotten about the health care controversy and Congress’ ability to get anything done whatsoever.
But this Mediaite piece, while a little bit indignant, makes a real point about the fact that Senator-elect Scott Brown took off all his clothes for a Cosmo centerfold-hottie...
“And what did we find in our research? When it comes to salmon, the questions of...”
– Op-Ed Contributors - Catch of the Freezer - NYTimes.com
Sawickipedia: I’m seeing more and more of the frozen is good message especially with dealing w/ out of season foods. Definitely worth thinking about it.
“Non-Stop News
Ken Auletta: “The news cycle is getting shorter — to...”
– Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire
Sawickipedia: News is officially entertainment in this country (the UK tabloids figured this out years ago). Fox News figured it out first, MSNBC has followed suit. CNN has lost (also because it went down a path of local news quality anchors w/ no gravitas but...
“Much of these conversations are being sparked by the reports of the NY Times...”
– Opening My Wallet For Media Consumption | Darren Herman
Sawickipedia:
Time is money so I tend to agree that immediate access is usually worth something. 12 hours is likely too long (likely 4 or less would work better).
What I like about the current debate around paywalls is its not about paying...
“When you think of the idea of “checking-in” at a venture in a mobile app, you...”
– Yelp Enables Check-Ins On Its iPhone App; Foursquare, Gowalla Ousted As Mayors
Sawickipedia: As anyone who has worked in the casual gaming space already knows - game mechanics can’t be copyrighted and are quickly imitated. Just ask Popcap about the gazillion Bejeweled/Match-3 knock offs...
The Reality of Freemium in SaaS →
rafer:
Rafer sez: I was about rail on these guys for TSAitis (screwing up correlation and causation), but their two PDFs are really quite good. The source of my initial frustration persists, but it’s a marginal error relative the merits of their overall pitch.
@16v Marginal Correction: Freemiums for SaaS vendors work well only where network effects are robust. Slide 29 of the otherwise...
What will happen when "health reform" goes into... →
rahmin:
jayparkinsonmd:
via Vijay Goel, MD:
If “Health Reform” as presently constructed gets passed, what happens? Would love to hear what you think. Here are my predictions:
The actual calculation of “Cadillac” plans will create a new audit function that will increase the cost of all plans
Community Rating approaches will dramatically drive up premiums in individual-rated states. This...
1 tag
“The U.S. Justice Department has opened a formal antitrust investigation into...”
– U.S. Opens Antitrust Probe of Monsanto - WSJ.com
Sawickipedia: Awesome - couldn’t have happened to a more evil company. Now if only the DOJ would get off its ass about Google (or Gevil as @rafer refers to them)….
“Among the most prominent of the scientists is Professor Mojib Latif, a leading...”
– DAVID ROSE: The mini ice age starts here | Mail Online
Sawickipedia: More uncertainty as to what the heck is going on with the climate. Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be pursuing renewable, sustainable energy like a bat out of hell, but it does mean using climate as the means to the end...
THE EMPLOYMENT RATE IS NOW AT 58.2% — LOWEST RATE... →
Sawickipedia: This really shows the reality of the Great Recession.
“It looks like Goldman Sachs was starting to worry about all those stories...”
– Goldman To Clients: We May Be Front-Running You
Sawickipedia: Why would anyone work w/ Goldman Sachs? Seriously could these guys be any more anti-customer, pro-themselves? And to think Tim Geithner talks to Goldman Sachs execs more often then anyone else… Egads.
Why oh why did we bail out...
“Facebook easily has the brand equity to launch their own phone (most likely with...”
– The Steve Rubel Lifestream - Insights on emerging technologies and trends. (via hiten)
Rafer sez: Facebook’s obvious partner here would be Microsoft, but an aggressive move by Motorola or Nokia here could be a real market changer.
(via rafer)
Sawickipedia: Brilliant observation - phones are...
Google Faces Deluge of Nexus One Complaints →
caterpillarcowboy:
azspot:
Google support forums are awash with people looking for help for problems with their Nexus One phones — and unable to find it.
The volume of complaints points to a problem that Google faces now that it has decided to try to push a new cell-phone-buying model in the U.S. Since most people buy subsidized phones from a mobile operator, they turn to the operator when...
Ask me (anything) on Tumblr
rafer:
Image by Julia Roy via Flickr
bijan:
Earlier today, the folks at Tumblr launched a new feature called Ask.
Since Tumblr powers this blog I just turned it on.
So if you care to, you can ask me a question here.
Let’s see how this goes. Be nice :)
Update: for now i will probably answer one or two a day. This is an example of what it looks like. Here’s my friend Andy asking me a...
“18. A Half-Hearted Effort
The last point is one I cannot argue with from the...”
– What constitutes a startup mistake? « HighContrast
Sawickipedia:
Don’t ever underestimate the value of opportunity when you’re an entrepreneur trying to put money into your own pocket (vs. your investors pockets instead). Making someone else rich while doing nothing for yourself...