Couldn’t resist an attention grabbing headline here after spending yesterday morning with my daughter on the kind of homework that just completely takes the fun out of learning. In geography her class is learning about latitude and longitude. As homework they got a work sheet that made them look up about 15 cities in the US based on Lat/Long and write down the Lat/Long for another 15 based on a map in their social studies book (a ridiculously heavy tome by Pearson). It was an incredibly dull ...

Couldn’t resist an attention grabbing headline here after spending yesterday morning with my daughter on the kind of homework that just completely takes the fun out of learning. In geography her class is learning about latitude and longitude. As homework they got a work sheet that made them look up about 15 cities in the US based on Lat/Long and write down the Lat/Long for another 15 based on a map in their social studies book (a ridiculously heavy tome by Pearson). It was an incredibly dull ...

Mark Birch has a great post today about using LinkedIn correctly when asking for introductions. Very timely as I was planning to write about introductions today and now need to write only a fraction because Mark covers everything else (he links to some prior posts which are also worth reading). And now for my two small additions that may be specific to me but probably will work fairly well for others also. First, I only make opt-in introductions. So if you contact me about an introduction, pl...

Mark Birch has a great post today about using LinkedIn correctly when asking for introductions. Very timely as I was planning to write about introductions today and now need to write only a fraction because Mark covers everything else (he links to some prior posts which are also worth reading). And now for my two small additions that may be specific to me but probably will work fairly well for others also. First, I only make opt-in introductions. So if you contact me about an introduction, pl...

Google’s announcement of the initial availability of Google Wallet was interesting but not because of any immediate impact. Initially, this will be the equivalent of a large field trial as it will be available only on Nexus S phones and only on Sprint. Much of the coverage has focused on using Wallet to pay merchants in the real world (e.g. in a Cab or at Macy’s), but Google Wallet has far reaching implications for apps and in-app transactions. If Google Wallet offers APIs that can be accesse...

Google’s announcement of the initial availability of Google Wallet was interesting but not because of any immediate impact. Initially, this will be the equivalent of a large field trial as it will be available only on Nexus S phones and only on Sprint. Much of the coverage has focused on using Wallet to pay merchants in the real world (e.g. in a Cab or at Macy’s), but Google Wallet has far reaching implications for apps and in-app transactions. If Google Wallet offers APIs that can be accesse...

While on family vacation in Scotland at the end of August, I read James Gleick’s “The Information.” If you have limited reading time and are looking for something practical or applied this is not for you. But if you have an interest in some of the foundations of not just computer science, but also physics and really all of life, “The Information” provides an excellent overview. I would also recommend the book to people who already have a a fairly in-depth knowledge but enjoy getting more hist...

While on family vacation in Scotland at the end of August, I read James Gleick’s “The Information.” If you have limited reading time and are looking for something practical or applied this is not for you. But if you have an interest in some of the foundations of not just computer science, but also physics and really all of life, “The Information” provides an excellent overview. I would also recommend the book to people who already have a a fairly in-depth knowledge but enjoy getting more hist...

When Larry Page became CEO, I set out my hopes for how Google might evolve its role in the Internet marketplace under his leadership. In particular, I was hoping that Larry would be:Supporting independent third party services instead of either trying to acquire them or competing head on with them. Figure out how to succeed by making others succeed.While the purchase of Zagat is a rounding error for Google it still shows that Google is going in the exact opposite direction. As I tweeted yester...

When Larry Page became CEO, I set out my hopes for how Google might evolve its role in the Internet marketplace under his leadership. In particular, I was hoping that Larry would be:Supporting independent third party services instead of either trying to acquire them or competing head on with them. Figure out how to succeed by making others succeed.While the purchase of Zagat is a rounding error for Google it still shows that Google is going in the exact opposite direction. As I tweeted yester...

Yesterday, Yahoo fired CEO Carol Bartz. Whether or not you agree with that, one thing is clear: firing someone over the phone is wrong. Much as it may be difficult this is a message that should be delivered in person if at all possible (for a remote contractor might have to use Skype). Hearing that Bartz was fired over the phone reminded me not just of “Up In the Air” but also of struggles with firing that I have encountered myself. Firing is probably the hardest thing to do and I was terribl...

Yesterday, Yahoo fired CEO Carol Bartz. Whether or not you agree with that, one thing is clear: firing someone over the phone is wrong. Much as it may be difficult this is a message that should be delivered in person if at all possible (for a remote contractor might have to use Skype). Hearing that Bartz was fired over the phone reminded me not just of “Up In the Air” but also of struggles with firing that I have encountered myself. Firing is probably the hardest thing to do and I was terribl...

Comments and forums seem like an odd place for spam especially when they don’t permit HTML. What could a spammer gain? The only thing I can think of is possibly a link to their profile. Yet, last week a company I know was hit by a massive spam attack on its forums. Based on volume and frequency and the inclusion of HTML (even though it clearly didn’t render) it appears that the attack was fully automated, including the creation of user profiles. User profile creation required an email account...

Comments and forums seem like an odd place for spam especially when they don’t permit HTML. What could a spammer gain? The only thing I can think of is possibly a link to their profile. Yet, last week a company I know was hit by a massive spam attack on its forums. Based on volume and frequency and the inclusion of HTML (even though it clearly didn’t render) it appears that the attack was fully automated, including the creation of user profiles. User profile creation required an email account...

Today’s post is over at the USV blog, announcing our investment in Wattpad. Wattpad is an amazing community for sharing and reading stories. Go read the blog post or watch their video.

Today’s post is over at the USV blog, announcing our investment in Wattpad. Wattpad is an amazing community for sharing and reading stories. Go read the blog post or watch their video.

The GOP debate brought more talk of a “wet blanket of regulation” weighing on economic activity. Apparently even President Obama thinks that environmental regulation is at issue here and has sadly rolled back some clean air standards. That’s quite ironic at a time when the Chinese are tightening their air quality standards and when we should be looking at creating (clean) tech jobs (as opposed to smoke stack ones) is biting. Instead we should be looking at the cost of financial regulation tha...

The GOP debate brought more talk of a “wet blanket of regulation” weighing on economic activity. Apparently even President Obama thinks that environmental regulation is at issue here and has sadly rolled back some clean air standards. That’s quite ironic at a time when the Chinese are tightening their air quality standards and when we should be looking at creating (clean) tech jobs (as opposed to smoke stack ones) is biting. Instead we should be looking at the cost of financial regulation tha...

Blog post today is over at the USV blog where I talk about jig, the service launched by the TastyLabs team. It is a way of formalizing the #lazyweb and getting help from friends, followers and strangers. I have a couple of needs posted there, so if you have suggestions please post them there!

Blog post today is over at the USV blog where I talk about jig, the service launched by the TastyLabs team. It is a way of formalizing the #lazyweb and getting help from friends, followers and strangers. I have a couple of needs posted there, so if you have suggestions please post them there!