[vimeo http://vimeo.com/10510576] Fascinating talk by Fred Wilson (venture capitalist and partner of Flatiron Partners and Union Square Ventures which means he knows what he's talking about) about what he believes are 10 important qualities that make for successful web applications. There are some good takeaways here not only for app developers, but also marketers and brand builders.
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Technology
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAl28d6tbko] Yes. Yes it does. As did a part of my soul which died along with the innocently sacrificed iPad in this video.
In this New York Times article about the resurgent usefulness of the U2 spy plane in Afghanistan, this tidbit about this plane from the 1950s Cold War era made me go "woa."
Marine officers say they relied on photographs from the U-2’s old film cameras, which take panoramic images at such a high resolution they can see insurgent footpaths, while the U-2’s newer digital cameras beamed back frequent updates on 25 spots where the Marines thought they could be vulnerable.
The U2 can also fly at twice the altitude of a commercial airliner. From that height, you know whose footprints a U2 pilot can spot without the aid of its fancy cameras? Yo momma's.
Hurt Locker fans should particularly enjoy this read on bomb-proof suits worn by soldiers in explosive ordnance disposal units.
The hard-armor plates that cover the tech's torso, groin and thighs act as the primary absorbers of fragmentation, but their main function is to deflect the deadly overpressure wave. "The suit in the movie didn't show it, but in the real world, these plates are shaped like flattened boomerangs to literally reflect the pulse energy out and away from the technician," says Borkar. Since techs usually squat or sit on their knees while working, this rigid armor is thickest around the groin and inner thighs (to protect the femoral artery).
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The quad-color branding that Google uses always reminds me of that memory game Simon.
A fascinating op-ed in the New York Times on the failure of Microsoft as an innovator. It's written by a former Microsoft brass, Dick Brass, a vice president at Microsoft from 1997 to 2004.
Internal competition is common at great companies. It can be wisely encouraged to force ideas to compete. The problem comes when the competition becomes uncontrolled and destructive. At Microsoft, it has created a dysfunctional corporate culture in which the big established groups are allowed to prey upon emerging teams, belittle their efforts, compete unfairly against them for resources, and over time hector them out of existence. It’s not an accident that almost all the executives in charge of Microsoft’s music, e-books, phone, online, search and tablet efforts over the past decade have left.
I also like the accompany graphic, seen above, by Maye Webb.
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So you accidentally fall into a time warp and get stuck back in the Dark Ages. Once you get over how much that sucked, you're then unsure how to return. So you try to make the best of your situation, which includes getting some medieval tail from that chambermaid, her lack of dentistry work notwithstanding. You need to impress her. You sure as hell don't want to battle some armored asshole in a jousting match to get her attention. Missing teeth, a lance up your ass, and a horse hoof stamped on your forehead ain't so sexy, even in the Middle Ages. So whats a future player like you gots to do? Easy. Like Martin Lawrence in The Black Knight, unleash your knowledge from The Future! But really, do you know how to do anything without access to a computer and Google? Do you know how to pasteurize milk? Put together an electromagnet? Create electricity? Or even a radio? Do you know how to make a compass? What about a clock?
How do you get rid of that annoying "doctor" trying to c-block you from the chambermaid by casting doubt on your futuristic awesomeness and sex appeal? You drop the I CREATED PENICILLIN BOMB in his face. Imagine if you saved the life of the king's heir with this suff. YOU WOULD RULE THAT SHIT. But, do you know how to make penicillin? Hold up. Lets go one step further: Imagine getting rid of small pox, you know, that thing that only killed your sweet chambermaid's entire family, thanks to your vaccination educating dopeness.
You know what used to be more valuable than gold back in this era when the white man rode the short school bus? ALUMINUM. Did you hear that? That was the sound of knowledge being dropped, son. Imagine being able to know how to make aluminum and then, just because you're bored, creating an aluminum suit and strolling around the village in it. King Midas would be calling YOU KING MIDAS. But you probably don't know the first step towards creating aluminum.
Or explode the collective minds of everyone around you by demonstrating the miracle of FLIGHT. FLYING.
Well, here's a cheat sheet by Ryan North listing the fundamentals on how to do all this stuff. Print it and keep it in your wallet just in case you ever get sent back in time. You'll know if this happened to me because your history books would be educating you about the Great MRod Age of Futuristic Awesomeness.
Bizarre and YMMV: Chat Roulette. [Via]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCjHV63MQ4w&feature=player_embedded] Recently I tweeted wondering what happens to all those Christmas trees that go unsold. Well, these guys offer one possible suggestion: use some differential calculus, then strap 32 rockets to one and then see what happens. The launch is glorious.
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Flickr photoset of Apple mouse (mice?) from past to present. Gawd, that translucent iMac mouse was such an abortion. I hated it.
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Available online at NASA is the operations manual for the badass Lunar Rover from the Apollo missions. "Configuration for Science Stop Departure" in section 2 is particularly thrilling reading.
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An oddly compelling video compilation of last second aborts of Space Shuttle launches. Better safe than sorry is the idea here along with sophomoric jokes. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aoGXb25lsU&fmt=18]
Disguise your twitter as a spreadsheet with the program Spreadtweet.
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