Saturday, April 12, 2003

Venture Capital Model When we see presentations (needless to say, a daily occurence), we are looking for a many things: a good idea and a team that can convince us of its ability to execute on the idea; an interestingly big market; a hard technical problem and the right engineers to solve it; a nice revenue model with a defendable sales channel. We are not looking for brilliance in PowerPoint design. 11:00:28 AM  Google It!  comment  []

Monday, March 10, 2003

"To resist the frigidity of old age one must combine the body, the mind and the heart - and to keep them in parallel vigor one must exercise, study and love." --Karl von Bonstetten 1:44:44 PM    comment  []

Monday, February 03, 2003

"What others think of us would be of little moment did it not, when known, so deeply tinge what we think of ourselves." --Paul Valery (1871 - 1945) 11:49:31 AM    comment  []

Tuesday, October 15, 2002

Sibling rivalry our personalities differ in five major ways. We are to varying degrees introverted or extroverted, neurotic or stable, incurious or open to experience, agreeable or antagonistic, and conscientious or undirected. 2:04:39 PM  Google It!  comment  []

Wednesday, August 21, 2002

"Never spend your money before you have it." --Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826) 8:55:43 AM    comment  []

Friday, August 16, 2002

"Subdue your appetites, my dears, and you've conquered human nature." --Charles Dickens 10:43:18 AM    comment  []

Tuesday, July 09, 2002

"Remember, that if thou marry for beauty (or seek other false goals [jrr]), thou bindest thyself all thy life for that which perchance will neither last nor please thee one year; and when thou hast it, it will be to thee of no price at all; for the desire dieth when it is attained, and the affection perisheth when it is satisfied." --Sir Walter Raleigh 1:06:16 PM    comment  []

Wednesday, June 12, 2002

Defensive pessimism "Defensive pessimism can be reduced to a three-step mental rehearsal. First, approach the anxiety-producing task with lowered expectations, certain that it will go badly. (Take, for example, public speaking, a common fear: commit yourself to the idea that your next speech will be a disaster.) Then, imagine in detail all the ways in which it will go awry. (You will lose your notes at the 11th hour, you will trip on the way to the podium, you will be pilloried by your colleagues.) Finally, map out ways to avert each catastrophe." "For strategic optimists, the sorts of people who like to psych themselves up for a challenge, this routine would produce more anxiety, not less. But for anxious people, Norem's findings show that this unusual method can offer a sense of control, however limited, over uncomfortable circumstances." —David Rakoff, The Year in Ideas, The New York Times Magazine, December 9, 2001 11:19:49 AM  Google It!  comment  []

Tuesday, June 11, 2002

garrulous GAIR-uh-lus; GAIR-yuh-, adjective: 1. Talking much, especially about commonplace or trivial things; talkative. 2. Wordy. 10:14:03 AM    comment  []

Tuesday, May 28, 2002

"Our houses are such unwieldy property that we are often imprisoned rather than housed in them." --Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862), Walden: Economy, 1854 9:48:55 AM    comment  []

Thursday, May 23, 2002

"The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don't define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them." --Denis Watley 9:26:31 AM    comment  []

Monday, May 20, 2002

"Creativity can solve almost any problem. The creative act, the defeat of habit by orginality, overcomes everything." --George Lois 12:20:26 PM    comment  []

Saturday, May 18, 2002

Reflections on Stephen Wolfram's "A New Kind of Science" "Fredkin is quoted by Robert Wright in the 1980s as saying 'There are three great philosophical questions. What is life? What is consciousness and thinking and memory and all that? And how does the Universe work? The informational viewpoint encompasses all three.'" 2:15:29 PM  Google It!  comment  []

Reflections on Stephen Wolfram's "A New Kind of Science" "It is patterns (e.g., people, ideas) that persist, and in my view constitute the foundation of what fundamentally exists. The view of the Universe as a cellular automaton provides the same perspective, i.e., that reality ultimately is a pattern of information. The information is not embedded as properties of some other substrate (as in the case of conventional computer memory) but rather information is the ultimate reality. What we perceive as matter and energy are simply abstractions, i.e., properties of patterns. As a further motivation for this perspective, it is useful to point out that, based on my research, the vast majority of processes underlying human intelligence are based on the recognition of patterns." 2:12:56 PM  Google It!  comment  []

Thursday, May 16, 2002

"I value my garden more for being full of blackbirds than of cherries, and very frankly give them fruit for their songs." --Joseph Addison, 'The Spectator' 10:21:06 AM    comment  []

Saturday, May 11, 2002

"The best way to realize the pleasure of feeling rich is to live in a smaller house than your means would entitle you to have." --Edward Clarke 9:36:54 AM    comment  []

Friday, May 10, 2002

"fauxhemian (FOH.hee.mee.un) adj. Relating to something that is bohemian in a fake or pretentious manner. —n. A middle class or wealthy person who affects a countercultural lifestyle." 12:25:22 PM    comment  []

Sunday, May 05, 2002

"The Long Boom" is back! "The Sept. 11 terrorist attack was the closest thing to jeopardizing the long boom." "The key issue in the next 10 years is whether we can avoid a weapon of mass destruction going off on U.S. soil. If a suitcase nuke or a rogue nuke goes off in the downtown of a major U.S. city, that could be a shock to the psyche of the American people in a way that would make 9/11 just a small beginning." 2005.01.01 12:54:28 PM  Google It!  comment  []

Friday, May 03, 2002

What’s the purpose of life? Nanotechnology might provide the answer. "The first two decades of the 21st century will be the golden age of biotechnology, featuring tissue engineering, the immortalization of cells and organs using telomeres, rational drug design, simulations replacing animal testing, and the repair of genetic defects." "The third and fourth decades will be the golden age of bionanotechnology, in which biology and nanotechnology will meld. 'Nanotech is behind biotech, but consider the law of accelerating returns. We will make progress equivalent to that of the whole 20th century in the next 15 years,' Kurzweil predicts." "'Progress in the 21st century will be equivalent to 20,000 years of progress at today’s rate of progress." "Because it is the nature of the nonbiological intelligence to grow exponentially, it will eventually dominate." 2005/01/01 2:48:11 PM  Google It!  comment  []

Tuesday, April 23, 2002

Japanese Fiscal Year "It is an old ritual here by now. As the fiscal year nears its close on March 31, fears of a financial meltdown reach fever pitch. Alarmed investors head for the exits, raising even more worries that the nation's banks will collapse after losing billions of dollars on their stock and bond holdings. Then, seemingly on cue, the government cobbles together a spending package, extends a deadline or rejiggers a regulation. Relieved that Armageddon has been kept at bay, investors return to the markets, leaving the nail biting for another year." 2002.03.01 2:54:29 PM  Google It!  comment  []

Saturday, April 20, 2002

Jane reflexively accommodates my fears and desires, as I do hers; together, man and wife, we collude in a mutual conspiracy to shelter and protect one another from our own and each other's inevitable and final abandonment. --Donald Antrim, The Verificationist 10:25:58 AM    comment  []

Friday, April 19, 2002

Republican Principles: " . . . we actually believe in the principles of small government, a free society, market economics, and a strong defense." Democratic Principles: " . . . their view that government knows best, that bigger government is better government, that terror should be appeased not opposed, and that higher taxes - not tax reductions - are the wave of the future." [via Andrew Sullivan] 1:46:36 PM    comment  []

Friday, April 12, 2002

05/13/2002 O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference 3:01:05 PM    comment  []

Thursday, April 11, 2002

But since I knew now that I could hope for nothing of greater value than frivolous  pleasures, what point was there in denying myself of them? -- Marcel Proust 10:47:00 AM    comment  []

Wednesday, April 10, 2002

For Kristine: The Results Are In; End of Discussion 7:43:40 AM  Google It!  comment  []

Chari's Birthday:  March 10 Randy's Birthday: August 16 Derek's Birthday: May 5 Tommy's Birthday: January 6 4:38:51 AM    comment  []

Wednesday, March 20, 2002

Van Gogh and Gauguin at the Van Gogh Museum 2002/09/01 4:05:00 PM  Google It!  comment  []

Queen of Sheba: Treasures From Ancient Yemen at the British Museum 2002/06/09 4:02:08 PM  Google It!  comment  []

Matisse Picasso at the Tate Modern 2002/05/11 3:57:08 PM  Google It!  comment  []

Saturday, March 16, 2002

Premier Defends China's Economic Policies but Notes Rural Poverty "Prime Minister Zhu Rongji, entering the final year of his term, touted his record of economic achievement today but called the low incomes of 800 million rural citizens a 'big headache.'" "He is almost certain to step down next March along with several other high officials." ... [more] 2003/01/01 11:41:13 AM  Google It!  comment  []

Assets: Old Cameras Hold Memories, Value "As idiot cameras have made photography a popular pursuit, older, mechanical cameras are being prized by collectors for their beauty and precision in capturing images on film." ... [more] 11:38:06 AM  Google It!  comment  []

Tuesday, March 12, 2002

" ... focus on the tradeoffs investors make as they balance risk, return and liquidity." --James Tobin 8:39:44 AM    comment  []

Monday, March 11, 2002

In war, grownups can't play silly games March 10, 2002 BY MARK STEYN SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST "Six months on, it's clear that, in the ops room, the grown-ups are in charge: Bush, Rummy, Condi. The downside, alas, is that on the non-war fronts the Bush presidency has died. The education bill is a joke, and last week's steel tariffs are a disgrace. They've caused particular outrage among the only two allies who matter, Britain and Russia." "But most presidents get to pick their priorities. Bush has no choice in his. If Byrd wants to know the "end game," here's a few signs of how things will look when it's over: *Regime changes in Iraq and Iran. *The liquidation of Saudi Arabia, with the territory partitioned between Jordan and the less unenlightened Gulf emirs. *The dissolution of NATO: America needs to stop overguaranteeing European security. For one thing, it allows EU governments to fritter their revenues on lavish welfare programs that allow young Arab immigrants to sit around plotting terrorism at the taxpayer's expense. *The embrace by the Middle East of the same reforms Turkey embarked on 80 years ago." "In other words, these are early days, and there are plenty of horrors to come. It's war, there's more, get used to it." ... [more] 2002/09/11 12:24:23 PM    comment  []

Friday, March 08, 2002

Luxury car makers on their marques Mar 8th 2002 "Could the rush to the luxury end of the market produce the same kind of disenchantment among consumers? This is a real danger. Because luxury brands are based on their high prices and exclusivity as much as their fine engineering or styling, their proliferation could yet undermine their appeal. The time may come when there is only one way to stand out from the crowd: by driving a standard four-door sedan of the type once made by the millions." ... [more] 2003/03/08 1:18:30 PM    comment  []

Monday, March 04, 2002

March 3, 2002 STRATEGIES An Out-of-Favor Theory Starts Showing Gains, Again "The Dogs of the Dow strategy has been out of favor, but it has performed far better recently than in the mid-1990's, when its popularity was at its peak. Its fall from grace and subsequent recovery can teach us a lesson about the virtues of patience and discipline." "The strategy favors stocks within the Dow Jones industrial average that have the highest dividend yields. The yield is calculated by dividing a stock's annual dividend rate by its current price, and there is more than one way for yield to grow. If a stock's price is constant, the yield grows when its dividend rises. Far more commonly, yield grows because a stock's price declines while the dividend remains constant. High-yielding stocks tend to be out of favor, which is why they are often called 'dogs.'" ... [more] 8:26:13 AM    comment  []

Friday, February 22, 2002

Dot.con: the Greatest Story Ever Sold by John Cassidy [Review] Greater fool theory "It was always so. One of the most striking features of these bubbles is how they tend to be associated with revolutionary innovations. The opening up of the world to trade through sea travel brought the South Sea Bubble (which cost Sir Isaac Newton £20,000 - a very great deal of money in 1720); the invention of railways brought the railway-share mania of the 1840s; the arrival of aeroplanes and the radio brought the great stock-market crash of 1929. In all these cases, people followed a false syllogism: this thing is going to change the world, therefore I can make money by investing in it. Speculators were right about the first part of the proposition and wrong about the second." " ... Alan Greenspan ... does come in for a severely sceptical reappraisal." " ... the book is mistitled, since Cassidy doesn't really regard the boom-and-bust as a con so much as an episode of mass hysteria, fuelled principally by greed." ... [more] The Old New Thing " ... start-up firms that promised to Change Everything. ... conventional wisdom built up. The Internet ... would overturn so many established ways of doing things that it would inevitably create vast new fortunes ... but the collapse took so long to occur that many of the pessimists were out of their jobs by the time it happened." " ... [the author] scoffs at journalists, business analysts, and politicians who 'helped create a populist investing culture in which adulation of the stock market was the norm.' In the height of financial euphoria, he intones, 'all prior reasoning, sentiment, and knowledge count for naught. Only the twisted logic of the market matters.'" "What was unusual about the dot-com era was not that many new businesses sprang up but that they went public. ... in January 1995 ... the Dow Jones Industrial Average was about 3,800. In January 2002 ... it was a little under 10,000. In other words, the Dow more than doubled in seven years -- not bad for a story of greed and gullibility. ... Yet the shallowness (to date) of the recession inaugurated by the Internet collapse suggests that the U.S. economy was simply too large and complex to be thrown for a loop by a noisy techno-cabal in Silicon Valley." ... [more] 3:47:29 PM    comment  []

Tuesday, February 19, 2002

Technology Timeline Forecast of when technological changes will occur. Based on currently known facts and trends. ... [more .pdf] 2003.01.01 2004.01.01 2005.01.01 4:50:56 PM    comment  []

Tuesday, February 12, 2002

"Insurance on time deposits worth more than $75,000 at Japanese banks is supposed to expire at the end of March. A crunch could come at that time if enough money exits the system. A recent drop in savings of 9.5% at smaller financial institutions (in anticipation of the end of these deposit guarantees) is a sign that this may already have begun." ... [more] [update: 2002.10.08] Insurance on time deposits extended for an additional two years at end of mid-year bank reporting date on September 30, 2002. 2002.03.15 2:45:56 PM    comment  []

Digital Sensor Is Said to Match Quality of Film "'It will completely transform the industry,' George Gilder, an economist and an information industry analyst, said of Foveon's sensor.' ... [more] 2003.02.11 2:04:46 PM    comment  []

Is small the next big thing? "Nanotech, biotech and infotech will converge ... " " ... the government, tech titans and venture capitalists are pouring money into the field" " ... the nanotech race is not a sprint; it's a marathon" " ... Is small the next big thing?" "In the next two to three years ... to start creating commercial products" " According to Merrill Lynch, start-ups to watch include Coatue, Molecular Electronics, Nanosphere, ZettaCore and Zyvex." "The downside is that bandwagons tip over"  ... [more] 2004.02.12 1:31:44 PM    comment  []

Hi Pam 9:22:47 AM    comment  []

Wednesday, January 30, 2002

The Great Divide (Paul Krugman, NYT). "One of the great clichés of the last few months was that Sept. 11 changed everything. I never believed that. An event changes everything only if it changes the way you see yourself." "The Enron scandal, on the other hand, clearly was about us. It told us things about ourselves that we probably should have known, but had managed not to see. I predict that in the years ahead Enron, not Sept. 11, will come to be seen as the greater turning point in U.S. society." ... "the most admired company turned out to be a fraud." ... " an object lesson in how appearances can deceive. And I don't think this is just a story about one company." "At the moment, demands for reform seem like unrelated agendas, but I think they have a common theme: They're all about ending an era of laxity, in which nobody asked hard questions as long as everything looked O.K. That era is now over." "Do (politicians) act as if they get it — that they understand that the old laxity is no longer acceptable? ... "Does Tom Daschle get it? Will George W. Bush get it? The answers to those questions may well decide their, and the country's, political future. Enron, I predict, will turn out to have changed everything." ... more. Harvard Business School discussion of same issue. " ... in my view it has shaken one of the pillars that support the American business and financial systems, and indeed our way of life: Confidence." "Will the very underpinnings of the Western capitalism be affected? Do not the relation between shareholders and public companies, their lawyers and accountants...constitute those underpinnings?" "I would love to believe that Enron will make a difference. But I don't. Enhanced ethics? Sounds great. It won't happen. Better corporate governance? Nice theory. History doesn't suggest that much will happen ... " 2003.01.01 1:14:26 PM    comment  []

Monday, January 28, 2002

Nanotechnology industry's real economic petential is likely to be clearly defined in the next three to five years. (quote from article) 2004.01.01 2005.01.01 4:21:51 PM    comment  []

Thursday, January 17, 2002

Don't Forget Started a new category: "don't forget." A new use for categories as a place to help me remember things, near or far. I can delete items when no longer relevant. I will include a date to review/delete each item. Here is the first entry: Interesting article about cellular phone number portability.Under current rules, U.S. mobile phone carriers must have their networks ready to swap numbers by Nov. 24 (2002). More... 2002/11/24 2:13:33 PM    comment  []