Friday, February 18, 2011

MacBook: First Impressions

White MacBook laptopImage via WikipediaIt is cute. The aesthetics are obvious. Somebody put some love into making this thing.

It does not crash. It holds steady.

How do you do right click on this thing? I had to google that up.

How do you take a screen shot? I had to google that up. You actually get to hear the camera click sound.

And the speaker is great. This is a huge differential.

Toshiba Satellite To Macbook To Chrome Notebook

City Bakery After PaperlessPost

Feel good foods: Harbord Bakery 1kg Sweet Rais...Image by Sifu Renka via FlickrLarry Ellison

I am dropping by the PaperlessPost offices this afternoon. I will be there for about two hours, maybe two and a half. The idea is to talk to Alexa for about 60 to 90 minutes, then talk to some of her key people for 10 to 15 minutes each.

Then I am hoping to walk over to City Bakery to tidy up my papers and collect my thoughts, jot down some additional notes on my own. 3 West 18th Street.

Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge

I think I might end up doing a half dozen posts on this gang. This is the fourth post on Alexa already. I think I will have done 10 or more by the time I am through.

Dumbo And Union Square

Location of Manhattan on New York City.Image via WikipediaI am headed to Union Square Friday afternoon to spend a few hours with the PaperlessPost team and its fearless leader Alexa Herschfeld. I had a voice mail from her Wednesday and Google Voice had transcribed her name as Celexa Ourselves. Not good, Google Voice, not good.

And to me it is feeling like I am headed to Dumbo. Dumbo and Union Square are two places in town that have tech clusters. There are a whole bunch of tech startups congregated in those two locales.

If there are other such clusters in the city, I am not aware of them as of yet. I am surprised there are not similar clusters in Williamsburg and Chinatown. I know of at least one major tech company that is based out of Chinatown, but I don't think you would call that a cluster.

Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge

Rangeela

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Toshiba Satellite To Macbook To Chrome Notebook

White MacBook laptopImage via WikipediaOn my grand journey to the Chrome Notebook, I have decided to give the Macbook a try for a few days. Then it is Chrome Notebook all the time for me. The switch is going to be total. There is just something about the Chrome browser.

I am on a Macbook right now. But not for long. My Chrome Notebook is on the way. I have an email directly from Google.

I have a message for you MacBook users. The thing about the Chrome Notebook is you can't buy it out there in the market. It just does not exist. It is too futuristic to hit the ground right now. It is too cutting edge.

You are going to have to wait for about, ummm, six months. Sorry. Life is unfair. You are just going to have to wait. There are some things money can't buy. Right now a Chrome Notebook is one of them.

Barack Is Going To Need Me All Over Again

HONOLULU - DECEMBER 23:   U.S. President-elect...Image by Getty Images via @daylifeBarack is going to need me all over again during his re-election bid, and I am going to be there for him. Barack needed me in his run for the presidency. And he is going to need me all over again. I will be there for him in his hour of need.

I maintain the hunger of someone who was forced to skip the victory parties of June 2008 and November 2008, and felt Inauguration 2009 simply pass him by. I missed the celebrations. I stayed hungry.

I am going to bring that hunger to the table for Barack all over again.

Having Kenya And Chinatown Thoughts

Coat of arms of KenyaImage via WikipediaMy startup is not even officially launched yet, and we already just went through a major reorganization. Some early people parted ways. I am blaming it on too much partying. A lot of early Facebook people left saying it is not easy to have a friend for boss.

I am now in touch with a major social media talent.

"The best people you can recruit are already working for someone else."
- Sam Walton

I started out with India thoughts. I got nudged towards Latin America. You have to start out in a middle income country first was the suggestion. I said okay. But now, with the reorganization, I got a clean slate all over again. And I find myself thinking Kenya.

Revolutionary Poverty Alleviation

Developing 0.750–0.799 0.700–0.749 0.650–0.699...Image via WikipediaThere are natural lakes, and there are man made lakes. Well, all poverty is man made. Poverty does not have to exist.

I once heard a billionaire say there is enough marble just in West Virginia to build a mansion for every family on earth, but we have not reached that organization level yet as humanity. We keep getting in each other's way.

My industry - microfinance - has been a failure to date. Every year that the industry has existed, the number of poor people on the planet has gone up. That is failure.

Friday 2 PM On: PaperlessPost.com


Alexa's PaperlessPost

151 West 25th Street
Between 6th and 7th
9th Floor

What's The Fuss About Justin Bieber?

What's the fuss? I have decided to go on YouTube and listen to a Bieber tune or two. For the first time.