“The More I Find Out, The Less I Know”
A Day on the Show Floor
"We really need a new sign for our booth," I announced. "One which says, 'We Are Not Seeking Financing At This Time.'"
"Don't bother," David, my VP of Development, replied. "The sign would only encourage them."
How Authoritative is Wikipedia?
Wikipedia is a free, collaborative online encyclopedia written and edited through the volunteer efforts of literally thousands of people. The unique feature of Wikipedia (or any wiki) is that anyone can contribute or edit the content. Software features make it easy to identify gross acts of vandalism and revert articles to earlier, known good, states. The result is an amazing resource, in the depth and breadth of the content.
But how authoritative is it? In other words, how sure can you be that information in the Wikipedia is true and complete?
What’s Up with Waldorf?
Last year, when we were trying to decide where to send Scooter for Kindergarden, I happened to chat with my cousin on this topic. We were close as kids, but she now lives clear on the other side of the country, so we don't get to talk all that often.
"Why don't you look at a Waldorf school?" she suggested.
"A Wal-Mart school?"
Gracious Loser? Not!
The Twin Cities recently inaugurated its first rail transit system in decades with the opening of the Hiawatha line, currently connecting downtown Minneapolis and Ft. Snelling, and soon to connect Downtown with the airport and the Mall of America. By any measure, the line is a hit. They've been far exceeding daily traffic projections for 2005 despite the fact that a quarter of the line and several high traffic stations have yet to open.
Apparently Rep. Phil Krinkie, a state legislator from the western suburbs, hasn't gotten the memo yet, since he continues to fight a quixotic battle against the light rail system despite having lost in the legislature five years ago. On opening weekend, Krinkie posed for a photo-op with a luxury SUV, claiming that the cost of the line would have bought a fancy new truck for every new transit rider. The "truth" of this claim depended on a somewhat creative interpretation of a "new transit rider," on ridership being at the low end of projections (already far exceeded), and ignoring the fact that the rail line can be expected to last 20+ years whereas a new car would need to be replaced much sooner. Whatever.
Video iPod?
Early this year, I wrote an article about why I don't think Microsoft's Portable Media Center is likely to succeed. Now that products have been announced (even if you can't actually buy one yet), it begs the question of how to make a product which would be the same runaway success in video as the iPod was in music.
The reason the iPod has been so successful isn't that Apple came up with something truly innovative. Rather, they took an existing idea (the portable MP3 player) and essentially perfected it with something close to the ideal combination of price, features, usability, and style. Then, they marketed the beejeebuz out of it. Replicating this success in video will mean starting over from scratch, not refining the existing iPod.
Air Bus?
We've already got low-fare airlines dispensing with reserved seats, meals, etc. on many flights. What about the ultimate in no-frills air transport, the airborne equivalent of a city bus?
Instead of buying a ticket for a particular flight on a particular day, you buy a coupon for any flight between a given pair of cities. The coupon isn't tied to a given date or time (though it might have an expiration date): you simply arrive at the airport, and get on the next flight departing for your destination city. Coupons could be sold in ATM-style kiosks at the airport, eliminating the need to plan ahead, or in 10-packs for frequent travelers.
Leppik’s Laws of Marketing
Nobody really understands marketing.
Anybody who claims to understand marketing is trying to sell you something.
We’re Living in the Hollywood Future
"Why aren't we living in Hollywood's vision of the Year 2000?"
Except that....we are. But people who ask that question are just thinking of the wrong genre. The Hollywood vision of the Year 2000 we're living isn't the Buck Rogers genre. We're living the Science Fiction/Comedy genre.
Blackout Barbecue
Saturday began much like any other Saturday. After breakfast, I left the kids in the talented care of She Who Puts Up With Me, and went to the grocery store. Once there, I discovered--amazingly enough!--bratwurst, chicken drumsticks, hot dogs, buns, and all sorts of other barbecue goodies were featured sale items. It was almost as though they expected people to fire up the grill on Memorial Day weekend.
The sale had its intended effect. Ignoring the fact that it has been raining almost nonstop since quitting time on Friday (we've gotten about 2.5" of rain at our house since Friday evening, with more expected before the long weekend is over), I succumbed to the siren call and loaded up on stuff to grill.
Thinking Big
Seth Godin writes in a recent article about the difference between a seminar for local CPA's and one for high-powered banking executives: "The snacks didn't seem as good. The booklets weren't that interesting either, apparently. But what occurred to me is that the folks in the second room were just as smart and just as talented as the execs in the first room....it's sad to see someone choosing to be stuck."
Now, I know that Seth meant this as an inspirational message to try to achieve your dreams, and he acknowledges that "not everyone should be a banking executive," but this really rubbed me the wrong way.
Venture Fund Disclosure
An article in today's Wall Street Journal (sorry, paid subscription required) brings to mind the simmering issue of venture fund disclosure. Venture capitalists have always had the freedom to operate in nearly total secrecy, and have sometimes provided their investors with mind-boggling returns (though nobody knows what VCs return overall, thanks to said secrecy).
The past few years, there has been an effort by some to pry the lid off the VC community, largely through open records laws which cover public institutions (university endowments, pension funds, etc.) which invest in VC funds. This basically pits the VC's desire to invest in secret against the public's right to know how public investments are managed.
Happy Mothers’ Day!
What could be more traditional on Mother's Day than Daddy convincing the kids to serve Mom breakfast in bed? When the oldest is five, and the twins are two, there's a limit to what the kids can do. Besides, Scooter (the five-year-old) was sleeping in, just like mom. With the twins pacified via a DVD of Bugs Bunny cartoons, I assembled a breakfast of fruit crepes, then woke Scooter to help deliver it.
We carried the tray upstairs to a delighted and not-very-surprised She Who Puts Up With My Kids. [Note to longtime readers: I am referring to her this way just for today, and you shall soon see why.] [Note to not-so-longtime readers: The kids are actually ours, except when they're misbehaving, at which time they're mine.]
This was when the metaphorical wheels came off the metaphorical bus.
A Sad Day for Me, A Sad Day for Minnesota Republicans
I had been planning to write an article laying out what Bush could do to win my vote back, now that I've decided to vote for Kerry. After all, there's still half a year before the election, and a lot can change.
Then I read an article in today's Minneapolis Star Tribune, which is basically a roundup of activity at the state capitol yesterday. Our state legislators are spending taxpayer dollars arguing about basically two issues: state-funded construction projects (aka The Bonding Bill), and gay marriage. But the thing which struck me was the part about Sen. Sheila Kiscaden of Rochester being kicked out of the Republican caucus.
Fragile Software
I was reminded again today of just how fragile software is. For some reason, a piece of code which had been working reliably for months suddenly stopped working, because a standard library refused to link properly. Nothing had changed in months. We eventually traced the problem to a corrupted cache, which we fixed by removing completely.
We would never tolerate this kind of behavior in many other kinds of systems. Contrary to what Hollywood would have you believe, shooting a hole in a car doesn't cause it to explode. Despite the enormous energy contained in a spinning jet engine, a bird flying into it won't cause pieces of turbine to go into low-Earth orbit (though it won't be good for the bird, either). Skyscrapers don't tumble to the ground every time a toilet overflows.
Was this really the plan?
The stomach flu continues to ravage the Frozen North household, with She Who Puts Up With Me and Skeeter still down today. Thursdays are usually Scooter's Special Night, so I decided to take him and Scamper to Chuck E. Cheese.
Scooter is five, and the twins Skeeter and Scamper are two. When we planned our second child, of course we didn't expect to have twins. In fact, I don't think the idea even crossed our minds until the routine ultrasound at 22 weeks gestational age, when the technician remarked that there were two heads inside mommy's tummy. We captured this moment on videotape, and Her reaction is one to treasure forever.
AWAMAYAAWAA!
Since Friday, a nasty bug has been going around the Frozen North household. This germ takes parent and child alike and transforms them into fragile balls of gastrointestinal distress wrapped in a veneer of grumpiness.
Patents and Copyrights: Use ‘Em or Lose ‘Em?
The problems with our current copyright and patent systems have been well documented. In many ways, they boil down to three problems: (1) It is too easy to get a copyright or a patent relative to the level of legal protection it provides; (2) There is no incentive for the owner of the copyright or patent to place commercially worthless rights in the public domain--thus littering the intellectual property landscape with protected stuff which the owner has no interest in selling; and (3) The time of the protection is far longer than reasonable (with some exceptions for things like drug patents, where the FDA approval process can chew up much of the patent life).
A Better Social Networking Algorithm
Those who have been reading my scribblings for a while know that I'm a declared skeptic of Social Networking Software. The main reason is that it seems to provide relatively little benefit for the effort to sign up and maintain the network, and that what benefits it does provide are often already being provided elsewhere.
That said, there is a better way. Most Social Networking Software today works by tracking Friend-of-a-Friend (FOAF) links. This works on the principle that "a friend of my friend is also my friend." So, if I declare all my friends, and all my friends do the same, then I've uncovered an exponentially larger number of friends-of-friends.
Feed the World with Amish Friendship Bread
She Who Puts Up With Me made Amish Friendship Bread last week. For those of you who not familiar with the concept, this is a bread which starts with a cup of starter which ferments for ten days. After ten days, it makes about a pound of very dense, sweet bread plus four more cups of starter. The "Friendship" part comes when you give four of your closest friends one cup of new starter each, and the process starts over.
The Paradox of Email Support
Back when the Internet was still a novelty, the conventional wisdom was that customer service through E-mail would save companies a bundle. It hasn't worked that way. Not by a long shot.