March 2009
WWGD: The PowerPoint - checking in →
I decided that when writing a book filled with aphorisms (aka blog or PowerPoint lines), I might as well skip a step and make it into a PowerPoint. It provides a gag at the start of talks — we have…
Speaking at Google DC Friday →
I’ll be speaking in a Q&A about What Would Google Do? at Google’s offices in Washington at 10a Friday.
The AP Daily without the AP →
Amazing that even the free Metro papers - which were pretty much the Associated Press freeze-dried onto paper - are dropping the AP. Even though they’re nothing but a bus-read, they don’t want -…
A taxonomy of Computer Science researchers →
As a kid, you are told that scientists follow the scientific method. They come up with an hypothesis, and they try to falsify it. You also learn about engineers who solve practical problems using…
Slices of a new journalism pie →
The AP reports that Huffington Post is going to announce tomorrow the creation of a $1.75 million fund with various donors to pay for investigative reporting. First target: the economy.
This,…
All roads lead to a cul-de-sac →
I was hopeful for Jeff Greenfield’s segment on newspapers’ fate on CBS’ Sunday Morning today because I heard that they’d interviewed the team behind Baristanet and saw that they’d included Newser….
A taxonomy of Computer Science researchers →
As a kid, you are told that scientists follow the scientific method. They come up with a hypothesis, and they try to falsify it. You also learn about engineers who solve practical problems using…
Semantic interpretation and the effectiveness of... →
Googlers Alon Halevy, Peter Norvig, and Fernando Pereira have an article, “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Data” (PDF), in the April 2009 IEEE Intelligent Systems on semantic interpretation using…
Visiting yesterday’s innovators in Toronto →
I was thrilled to be in the storefront studio of CityTV yesterday because I’ve long admired its innovations in local TV and news. Back in 1993, I worked on a plan for a local cable news channel (it…
Newspaper with and for breakfast →
That’s it: Newspapers’ salvation! Make them edible! More value! No recycling! Fiber for everyone!
No really: An ink company is trying to push newspapers to distribute ads you can taste.
Links for 2009 03 25 →
Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business
Where there is no scarsity and a real free market, the denominator is infinite and the price is naturally 0.
“…the trend lines that determine the…
Links for 2009 03 25 →
Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business
Where there is no scarsity and a real free market, the denominator is infinite and the price is naturally 0.
“…the trend lines that determine the…
Links for 2009 03 25 →
Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business
Where there is no scarsity and a real free market, the denominator is infinite and the price is naturally 0.
“…the trend lines that determine the…
Links for 2009 03 25 →
Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business
Where there is no scarsity and a real free market, the denominator is infinite and the price is naturally 0.
“…the trend lines that determine the…
Startups and being relentlessly resourceful →
Paul Graham wrote an insightful article, “Be Relentlessly Resourceful”, that captures what I think is the most important characteristic for the founders of a startup. Some excerpts:
A couple days…
Reinvention, not rescue →
I doubt it will get very far, but there’s another well-meaning but ultimately dangerous attempt to provide a government rescue for newspapers: a bill to enable papers to switch to not-for-profit,…
One identity (system) to rule them all →
Lots of competition and activities for becoming the defacto identity system for the future Web.
Facebook pushes Facebook connect
Google pushes Google Friend Connect
While …
One identity (system) to rule them all →
Lots of competition and activities for becoming the defacto identity system for the future Web.
Facebook pushes Facebook connect
Google pushes Google Friend Connect
While …
One identity (system) to rule them all →
Lots of competition and activities for becoming the defacto identity system for the future Web.
Facebook pushes Facebook connect
Google pushes Google Friend Connect
While …
One identity (system) to rule them all →
Lots of competition and activities for becoming the defacto identity system for the future Web.
Facebook pushes Facebook connect
Google pushes Google Friend Connect
While …
moneyStrands goes mobile - twice! →
Used to be your financial data was sentenced to solitary confinement in many hard to navigate web sites each singing a different tune and sporting a different look. Well, would you care to say “No…
Abooot Google →
Reminder: I’ll be speaking at the Rotman business school in Toronto - a favorite city of mine - tomorrow, March 25, starting at 5p. The fee includes a copy of What Would Google Do?. Autographs…
What is a good recommendation algorithm? →
I have an article on the new Communications of the ACM blog, blog@CACM, titled “What is a good recommendation algorithm?” The post picks on the root mean squared error (RMSE) measure used for…
Social Software… toys or productivity? →
A colleague of mine, Sébastien Paquet, wrote his Computer Science Ph.D. thesis on the benefits of social software for scientists. Sébastien determined through self-experimentation that using…
Ann Arbor News to close, replaced by AnnArbor.com →
The Ann Arbor News announced today that it will close in July and will be replaced by a new company and site, AnnArbor.com. (Disclosures: I have been advising the project and used to work for…
Research productivity: some paths less travelled →
Universities, research centers and grant agencies often make the implicit assumption that research productivity depends on the innate abilities of a few key individuals. These people are research…
Data mining for judging the values of employees... →
BusinessWeek publishes an interesting article on how data mining and social network analysys (SNA) are starting to be used by human resources department in order to automatically determine the…
Flickr was a game but users drove it into a photo... →
The typical example of a socio-technical system heavily influenced by its user (prosumer!) is Flickr. Maybe not too many people know that in the beginning Flickr was a Web-based game, called Game…
International politics 2.0 and … Obama is a... →
Obama left a message on YouTube for all Iranians!
Points to note: * emphasis on directly (“speak directly to the people and leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran”)! * message posted on…
Flickr was a game but users drove it into a photo... →
The typical example of a socio-technical system heavily influenced by its user (prosumer!) is Flickr. Maybe not too many people know that in the beginning Flickr was a Web-based game, called Game…
Data mining for judging the values of employees... →
BusinessWeek publishes an interesting article on how data mining and social network analysys (SNA) are starting to be used by human resources department in order to automatically determine the…
International politics 2.0 and … Obama is a... →
Obama left a message on YouTube for all Iranians!
Points to note: * emphasis on directly (“speak directly to the people and leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran”)! * message posted on…
Flipping for the Flip →
On Peter Day’s always-informative business show on the BBC, Cisco’s John Chambers said earlier this month that a downturn is a chance to go into new lines of business. Buying the maker of the…
International politics 2.0 and … Obama is a... →
Obama left a message on YouTube for all Iranians!
Points to note: * emphasis on directly (“speak directly to the people and leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran”)! * message posted on…
Nickel-and-dimed to death →
Alan Mutter, advocate of charging for content, debates me on the point in the LA Times. I made my arguments about why pay won’t work; Alan responded; and then, over objections from the paper that…
Research productivity: some paths less travelled →
In Research productivity: some paths less travelled, Martin takes a contrarian viewpoint on research productivity. Universities, research centers and grant agencies often make the implicit…
Google Opens School of Personal Growth →
Google wants to help Googlers grow as human beings on all levels. Emotional, mental, physical and ‘beyond the self’… (This) is why Google University instituted the School of Personal Growth,…
Google Opens School of Personal Growth →
Google wants to help Googlers grow as human beings on all levels. Emotional, mental, physical and ‘beyond the self’… (This) is why Google University instituted the School of Personal Growth,…
Google Opens School of Personal Growth →
Google wants to help Googlers grow as human beings on all levels. Emotional, mental, physical and ‘beyond the self’… (This) is why Google University instituted the School of Personal Growth,…
Google Opens School of Personal Growth →
Google wants to help Googlers grow as human beings on all levels. Emotional, mental, physical and ‘beyond the self’… (This) is why Google University instituted the School of Personal Growth,…
The Great Restructuring II: The next ism →
I continue to muse on the great restructuring I wrote about recently: more than a crisis, a recession, or a depression, what we’re enduring is a millennial shift in the economy and society, the…
What’s a medium? →
At CUNY’s Graduate School of Journalism we just told the students that they no longer need to commit to a media track - print, broadcast, or interactive. We believe this is the next step in…
Pattie Maes unveils “Sixth Sense” at TED →
Pattie Maes’ lab at MIT, spearheaded by Pranav Mistry — was the buzz of TED. “Sixth Sense” is a wearable device with a projector that paves the way for profound interaction with our environment….
Pattie Maes unveils “Sixth Sense” at TED →
Pattie Maes’ lab at MIT, spearheaded by Pranav Mistry — was the buzz of TED. “Sixth Sense” is a wearable device with a projector that paves the way for profound interaction with our environment….
Pattie Maes unveils “Sixth Sense” at TED →
Pattie Maes’ lab at MIT, spearheaded by Pranav Mistry — was the buzz of TED. “Sixth Sense” is a wearable device with a projector that paves the way for profound interaction with our environment….
Pattie Maes unveils “Sixth Sense” at TED →
Pattie Maes’ lab at MIT, spearheaded by Pranav Mistry — was the buzz of TED. “Sixth Sense” is a wearable device with a projector that paves the way for profound interaction with our environment….
Newspaper ashes to ashes, dust to dustup →
Alan Mutter and I duke it out (well, not really) in an LA Times Dustup over the state and fate of newspapers for the next three days. Alan and I agree about a lot - except the wisdom and reality of…
What Would God Do? →
Coming full circle, I’ve seen a fair number of religious folk responding to What Would Google Do? and wondering what its laws and lessons mean for their churches. What would, uh, Jesus do?
Ron…
On Google at Google on Google →
Here’s a video of my book talk at Google HQ:
Not my fault →
“Criticism of CNBC is way out of line,” NBC head Jeff Zucker said at the BusinessWeek media summit at McGraw-Hill’s headquarters just now. “Just because someone who mocks authority says something…