Archive for January, 2007

The Apotheosis of Web 2.0

Lefty January 28th, 2007

Yes, you can finally watch clips from My Breakfast with Blassie on YouTube!

Green Business

Lefty January 25th, 2007

On the plane ride to Vegas on Sunday I picked up a copy of a magazine I almost never read: Business Week. The cover story was on “The Green Corporation”, with a tag line of “Imagine a world in which eco-friendly and socially responsible practices actually help a company’s bottom line. It’s closer than you think.” I thought the subject matter was pretty relevant to the project I’m working on for the NYU Business Plan Contest, so I figured it was worth a couple of bucks. The article focused on how business across industries are focusing on operating in a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly way, and how more and more business leaders see sustainable practices as tied to their bottom line. Definitely interesting stuff.

And in a related article, today’s VentureBeat has a story about how green technology startups raised insane amounts of cash in 2006 , with no end in site. Sounds encouraging…

Las Vegas

Lefty January 25th, 2007

vegas!

This past Sunday through Tuesday I had the pleasure of flying out to Las Vegas for a bizarre, 9,00 person-strong hairdresser’s convention put together by Redken (for whom I’m building several new websites at work). The scale of the thing was incredible, with a huge, dancer-filled opening night show featuring confetti, strobe lights, and superstar hairdressers applauded like heros by the audience. The second night Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas played, and the assembled hairdressers went ballistic for her. My reaction was a bit more subdued, but I did gamble a little bit and managed to win $200 on the blackjack table. I wanted to find a baccarat table so I could do my James Bond impression, but it wasn’t meant to be.

I had a good time, but it’s hard to believe anybody could spend more than 48 hours in Las Vegas without going abolutely crazy. The place is so synthetic and goofy, and really pretty depressing. And whoever books the entertainment for the hotels is scarily into Carrot Top and Louie Anderson. But I’ve enjoyed myself the two times that I’ve been regardless.

Back from Exuma

Lefty January 18th, 2007

exuma

We just got back from the Bahamas on Tuesday night, where we snorkeled, sea kayaked, and infiltrated the Four Seasons hotel. Pictures are up at my Flickr account.

Reading List

Lefty January 10th, 2007

Since I’ve got a nice six week break between semesters, I’ve been trying to catch up on some reading of the non-textbook variety. I recently went out and bought three books:

The first book, which I just finished reading. is Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion. Dawkins is a British evolutionary biologist who has written a number of highly regarded books on science in the past. The God Delusion, which is currently #6 on the NY Times bestseller list, is Dawkins’ argument for logic, reason, and enlightenment values and against religion and fundamentalism. More than that, it is an impassioned argument for atheism and science versus faith and all manner of superstition. It is also quite a page turner, as Dawkins is a witty and engaging writer. The book was based on a BBC documentary called “The Root of All Evil?”, which I found posted on Google Video. Check it out:

I just started The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth by Benjamin Friedman, which challenges the popular idea that economic growth and morality are two conflicting forces that always need to be carefully balanced. Instead, he argues, there is clear evidence that a society’s level of economic growth is a key driver of tolerance, democracy, openness, and other key values of a free (and moral) society. I haven’t gotten very far yet, but I’m hoping to make some serious progress on the plane tomorrow.

Lastly, The Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil is a book I’ve been hearing about for awhile, but I haven’t yet had a chance to crack open. Kurzweil is an entrepreneur and scientist who has become known for his advocacy of an idea he calls the “singularity.” As best I can tell, he believes that the rate of technological change is progressing so rapidly, that burgeoning fields like nanotechnology, robotics, and genetics will soon make human life almost unrecognizable. These technologies will allow humankind to merge with computers to become not only immortal, but almost limitless in our intelligence and capabilities. A friend told me that Kurzweil takes 250 vitamins a day in the hope of living another 20 years, at which point mortality will become a thing of the past and we’ll all merge with our computers. It sound incredibly far-out, but I’ve read a number of people say his arguments are quite compelling.

So with any luck I’ll have an enjoyable few days of reading on vacation and before my new classes start on February 2nd.

Goodbye 2006. Hello 2007.

Lefty January 2nd, 2007

As the calendar turns to a new year, it’s a natural time to reflect upon the year that’s past as well as to new goals and resolutions for 2007. Highlights of 2006 for me included:

  • Our winter trip to Costa Rica, including lots of surfing, canopy touring, and monkey viewing
  • Another great year of successful GGRD bouts
  • Quitting my old job and starting at my new company
  • A year of learning at NYU, and entering the business plan competition with students from ITP
  • Hundreds of walks around the Prospect Park lake with my dog Champ
  • Two trips to upstate New York, including snowtubing, a visit to the Catskills Animal Sanctuary, and lots of exploring of small towns
  • Hockey at Lasker Rink
  • The Prince Lefty and his Ramblin’ Kings grand finale at Great Lakes in Park Slope
  • Going to Austin for DJ Saturn’s wedding

Things I’m looking forward to in 2007:

  • Going to Great Exuma next week with Emily
  • A productive work year at my new company
  • Deeper involvement in the tech and entrepreneurship scenes in NYC
  • Planned trips to Portland, OR, upstate NY, Las Vegas, and possibly Mexico or Austin
  • Fixing up the Windsor Terrace apartment
  • Developing a few other business ideas I have, and continuing deeper into the NYU biz plan contest
  • Hundreds more walks around Prospect Park lake with Champ, more announcing GGRD bouts, more Stern classes, and more hockey!