Last night Susan and I met up with friends of ours for dinner at Atera. The idea of spending several hundred dollars a person for dinner seemed more than a bit crazy to me but I was proven wrong: it was completely worth it and I rank it among a small group of magical experiences that money can buy (right up there with say scuba diving). This is not a regular meal in any form. We had close to 30 different dishes and each of them was a uniquely enchanting combination of flavors and textures. Ev...

Last night Susan and I met up with friends of ours for dinner at Atera. The idea of spending several hundred dollars a person for dinner seemed more than a bit crazy to me but I was proven wrong: it was completely worth it and I rank it among a small group of magical experiences that money can buy (right up there with say scuba diving). This is not a regular meal in any form. We had close to 30 different dishes and each of them was a uniquely enchanting combination of flavors and textures. Ev...

Twitter is going public today. This is something many startups aspire to yet very few succeed in doing. My congratulations to everyone who has contributed to Twitter’s growth over the years. There are many people whose names will not be in the news today who at varying moments made this possible. It is also a good point to remind oneself just why these successes are so improbable: because every startup goes on an Odyssean journey in which failure is generally closer than success. I often talk...

Twitter is going public today. This is something many startups aspire to yet very few succeed in doing. My congratulations to everyone who has contributed to Twitter’s growth over the years. There are many people whose names will not be in the news today who at varying moments made this possible. It is also a good point to remind oneself just why these successes are so improbable: because every startup goes on an Odyssean journey in which failure is generally closer than success. I often talk...

When we invested in Shapeways at USV, one of the trends we liked was that 3D design tools were getting cheaper and more accessible. I am happy to report that Tinkercad is now an amazing entry level and free tool that runs right in your browser. This Sunday afternoon from a standing start all five of us (Susan, myself and our three kids), each took the excellent Tinkercad tutorials and then designed a model, uploaded it to Shapeways and ordered it. All of that in under two hours and you could ...

When we invested in Shapeways at USV, one of the trends we liked was that 3D design tools were getting cheaper and more accessible. I am happy to report that Tinkercad is now an amazing entry level and free tool that runs right in your browser. This Sunday afternoon from a standing start all five of us (Susan, myself and our three kids), each took the excellent Tinkercad tutorials and then designed a model, uploaded it to Shapeways and ordered it. All of that in under two hours and you could ...

In the last two Tech Tuesdays, I introduced Finite State Machines (FSM) and showed examples of both their usefulness and their limitation. Just as a reminder, we study computer science theory to get a handle on two fundamental questions: what can be computed at all (computability)? And, how hard is it to compute something that can be computed (complexity)? The upshot on FSM is that they cannot compute a whole lot but what they can they do very efficiently. Let me flush both parts of that asse...

In the last two Tech Tuesdays, I introduced Finite State Machines (FSM) and showed examples of both their usefulness and their limitation. Just as a reminder, we study computer science theory to get a handle on two fundamental questions: what can be computed at all (computability)? And, how hard is it to compute something that can be computed (complexity)? The upshot on FSM is that they cannot compute a whole lot but what they can they do very efficiently. Let me flush both parts of that asse...

This morning I am talking to a group of consumer banking folks who have come together to talk about all things digital. The primary focus for them during the day will be on such things as “omni channel” marketing (which sounds a bit ominous) but my role will be to draw a broader picture of the future. I asked yesterday on Twitter what I should talk about and got lots of terrific replies – thanks! Here is how I am planning to frame up my talk. Banking today still largely seems to be in the “re...

This morning I am talking to a group of consumer banking folks who have come together to talk about all things digital. The primary focus for them during the day will be on such things as “omni channel” marketing (which sounds a bit ominous) but my role will be to draw a broader picture of the future. I asked yesterday on Twitter what I should talk about and got lots of terrific replies – thanks! Here is how I am planning to frame up my talk. Banking today still largely seems to be in the “re...

Today’s post is over at USV. It describes why bitcoin is a potentially important protocol that could enable a lot of innovation.

Today’s post is over at USV. It describes why bitcoin is a potentially important protocol that could enable a lot of innovation.

One of the many things I love about homeschooling is the ability to use current affairs to motivate the study of history and civics and more. And it is hard to imagine a richer quarry than NSA surveillance and spying. It has everything! Civil rights. Government balance of power. International relations. Computer security. Data analysis. History of spying. And so much more. We took the kids to see the Fifth Estate and have We Steal Secrets and Mediastan on the to watch list. Our son is in a de...

One of the many things I love about homeschooling is the ability to use current affairs to motivate the study of history and civics and more. And it is hard to imagine a richer quarry than NSA surveillance and spying. It has everything! Civil rights. Government balance of power. International relations. Computer security. Data analysis. History of spying. And so much more. We took the kids to see the Fifth Estate and have We Steal Secrets and Mediastan on the to watch list. Our son is in a de...

Last Tech Tuesday, I presented the idea of a Finite State Machine (FSM) using a Nespresso machine as an example. We saw that what makes an FSM attractive is that we can easily analyze it using formal methods and answer such questions as to whether a particular state is ever reached or how long a computation by the machine will take. I also suggested though that this ability came at a price and today I want to explain that further. To do that let’s start by looking at a common computer problem...

Last Tech Tuesday, I presented the idea of a Finite State Machine (FSM) using a Nespresso machine as an example. We saw that what makes an FSM attractive is that we can easily analyze it using formal methods and answer such questions as to whether a particular state is ever reached or how long a computation by the machine will take. I also suggested though that this ability came at a price and today I want to explain that further. To do that let’s start by looking at a common computer problem...

I wrote about Russell Brand’s call for an unspecified revolution this past Friday. I liked his eloquent and indignant dismissal of the current political and economic system but he did not provide a vision of what a revolution should aim for. I have been struggling to wrestle down my own ideas on this and while I am still not quite there I feel like an outline is emerging. Let me start by describing the goal. It is nothing short of humanity coming together on a global scale to eradicate povert...

I wrote about Russell Brand’s call for an unspecified revolution this past Friday. I liked his eloquent and indignant dismissal of the current political and economic system but he did not provide a vision of what a revolution should aim for. I have been struggling to wrestle down my own ideas on this and while I am still not quite there I feel like an outline is emerging. Let me start by describing the goal. It is nothing short of humanity coming together on a global scale to eradicate povert...

Russell Brand helped edit the latest issue of New Statesman. He leads off the magazine with an epic rant that is worth reading in its entirety. If you need some motivation, watch this 10 minute clip of him. Essentially, Brand is calling for a revolution. It would be easy to dismiss Brand as a slightly lunatic comedian who lives a very comfortable life. But I think that would be a mistake. Aside from having a wonderful way with words, I find that Brand gives expression to a sentiment that seem...

Russell Brand helped edit the latest issue of New Statesman. He leads off the magazine with an epic rant that is worth reading in its entirety. If you need some motivation, watch this 10 minute clip of him. Essentially, Brand is calling for a revolution. It would be easy to dismiss Brand as a slightly lunatic comedian who lives a very comfortable life. But I think that would be a mistake. Aside from having a wonderful way with words, I find that Brand gives expression to a sentiment that seem...