Lest anyone doubt the Pirillo's geekness, check out the video from last night's party. When you walk you're greeted by the the centerpiece of their home: three computers (two PCs and one Mac). Of course, 802.11 was on. Plus video cameras and my son was totally focused on their Xbox system. Don't bother looking for me in the video. My wife and son are there. Patrick was talking about his school nemesis: Daniel. Too bad they didn't catch him counting how many of Carlin's famous "bad words" he knows (five, by his count). Ahh, the food was excellent. We got handed a plate when we were leaving and gained another three pounds today.

You know, the nice thing about writing a weblog is you can throw ideas out there and you can help change the world. I really believe that. So far since Maryam got laid off, I've written a bit, and she's already had a couple of interviews due mostly to this weblog. But, that's only changing my world, not yours. Today someone from a major newspaper wrote me and said that he's pushing to start a "job blog" for his city and wanted my feedback. I said that's an awesome idea. I know a few people who've been laid off and who don't have the connections I do. They feel quite lost and having a place to go every morning with all sorts of links and ideas of where to find jobs would be very welcome. This is the kind of thing that makes me think there is a future for newspaper publishers. I hope to share more soon.

Joi Ito talks about moblogging New Years Eve. Hey, in one of the newsgroups on 2000 we drank a beer as New Years went around the globe. You know, in Sydney Australia they get the New Years way ahead of us. So, every hour we'd drink a beer as another time zone joined 2000. It was quite fun and people would post their experiences. We had folks from all over posting. This year I'll be in New York at the China Club. I gotta figure out how to do the moblogging thing.

Scott Mace tells me he really didn't have a journalism degree at SJSU. Oh. Well, what the heck, I didn't have a typical j-school experience either. I extended my major to fit my needs and the school hasn't been the same since. My minor was economics. The few semesters I spent there continue to effect my life in great ways. My editor, Brooke Shelby Biggs, once remarked that I owed my entire career to her. She was right since she got me my first job.

Thanks to Mark Canter for linking to this and letting me know more about Scott's career.

John Robb says he'd pay $60 a flight for pilots. Yeah, I don't want a computer in control of my jet. Humans have their weaknesses, but one thing we do pretty well is deal with the unexpected and/or new conditions. As 9/11 proved, what worked yesterday may not work today. Computers are great when it comes to things that can be repeated over and over with no variability (like running a welder on an automobile line) but when it comes to putting an aircraft into the air, there still are variables that can't be filtered out.

You know, it's really nice to be at a Christmas party where most people are geeks and technology enthusiasts instead of folks trying to plunder the valley's technological resources. The Pirillos rock.

I haven't read Joshua Allen lately. I gotta add him to my blogroll. His comments today on the Chinese automarket are very interesting. When I was in Shanghai it was very apparent that you better not move into the Chinese market without understanding the culture and knowing how to get things done. Most of the business over there is done based on personal relationships (and bribes, but bribes alone won't do it). Rumor was that GM spent billions on a factory but it was located in a flood plain that the Chinese didn't tell us Americans about. Well, duh. We go into other countries and expect to push people around like we do here. I would only go into China if I had employees who have good connections over there and know their way around (and who's family is well connected too). Not easy to find.

The Pirillos rock. We had a wonderful time in their wonderful house with their wonderful friends. I ate way too much fudge. My wife had just enough jello shots. Thanks Gnome Girl!

Phil Weber is reminding me of the time when we went to a RuPaul concert together in Las Vegas. Oh, and another time we went to a transvestite bar together in New York. True stories, both of them. What can I say? Phil and I lead interesting lives that take us interesting places.