"My Generation"

Good to see that the Who re-formed and are going strong. "Rock is dead; long live rock."

Review of: Founders At Work: Stories of Startups’ Early Days, Livingston, Jessica. Apress, Berkeley, CA: 2007, Computing Reviews.

Founders features thirty two interviews from the past twenty five years with the founders of startups and key employees of tech companies. The work is chockfull of interesting tidbits and practical lessons for would be or current entrepreneurs. Often overly technical people are not thought of as socially adept but most of these people are likable or interesting tech types. Hardly any of them characterize a cut-throat--though they are extremely competitive--mentality but many of them make decisions based on, somewhat surprisingly, a personal understanding of ethos.

The founder’s ethos is rooted in providing a needed service for themselves, users, or customers. They listened closely to user preferences and built something of value for them, and sometimes unwittingly, a profitable company ensues. Evan Williams relates how Blogger was the second idea for Pyra, and how the founders focused on their pet project, leaving their original product behind. Paul Graham, Co-founder of Viaweb, relates how he initially did not set out to found a company but inadvertently stumbled on a great product. Mitchell Kapor, Co-founder of Lotus Development, only pestered Personal Software with his ideas but ended up with “the killer app killer (p. 89)” by developing Lotus 1-2-3 and crushing VisiCalc, the leading application of its day.

Products evolved and the founders adjusted quickly, as in the case of PayPal and TiVo, and for Flickr and Blogger, the authoritative idea got in the way of the eventual product. For several founders, a good idea that helped themselves solved problems of their users so there already was a ready and willing client base, e.g., Hotmail, Del.ici.ous, Craigslist, and Firefox.

However, the book does not relate simple business common sense, pay attention to your customers. The devil, as they say, is in the details, and the execution of startup success is not a simple track to easily follow. The `as told to’ nature of the interviewees, actual stories of their challenges and strategies is captivating.

The founders share certain characteristics in common: hard-working, bright, responsive, innovative, and efficient. The startups' founders created value for their customers and in this, there is a major lesson here to learn for technologists in companies large and small. These founders demonstrate how to take a great idea and how these ideas evolve to fruition.

The book is valuable then for understanding the process of taking a key technical insight to completion. All of their methods may not work at larger companies, since these are startups, but in the course of the work larger companies passed on ideas that proved to be advantageous and money-making. Larger companies could learn a great deal about programmers and how to take their ideas respectfully to profit from them.

Several founders were unsure about starting a startup--Mitch Kapor, Steve Wozniak, and Mena Trott--or, were unsure about what their product should be: Joe Kraus and Max Levchin. Charles Geschke, while working at Xerox PARC, could never convince Xerox that PostScript was useful, thus, he started Adobe Systems. Critically though, these founders were quick studies, learned quickly, and moved to their own startups. The bottom line is that the founders came out ahead. Wozniak, most well-known of all, worked for HP while developing both Apple I and Apple II.

There are numerous points where the stories are charming. One of the best is offered by Ann Winblad of Open Systems who related her story of chutzpah:

So I get in front of these 60 or 70 guys and these guys are probably all in their 50s and I’m in my 20s, and we had a ‘blue light special,’ where we said, ‘If you give me a check today for $10,000, you can have unlimited rights to one of our modules.’ . . . . I went home with, I think, like 12 or 15 of these $10,000 checks in my purse (p. 301).

Livingston interviews the tedious as well, as in the case of one of the thorniest and most difficult stories: Phil Greenspun’s detailed description on the rise and fall of ArsDigita.

A final instructive lesson is the process of angel and venture capital funding: particularly in the case of ArsDigita. You will not find an in-depth analysis of venture capital but funding for ArsDigita led to its demise, oddly enough. The experience of the founder, Greenspun, among the other founders, offer insights on when to not accept, to be open to, or to garnish venture funding.

The conversational style of writing is unfortunately one of the weaknesses of the work as well. The prose could be improved without compromising the actual ideas of the speakers. The interviews seem to have been transcribed directly without editing. The repetitive reading of "yeah" for example proves grating. “Yes” is still accurate but proper as a substitute. Editing is needed: "of" should be off (p. 335).

Court Rules on Alaska Joe & His "Bong Hits 4 Jesus." Banner

“Bong Hits 4 Jesus” is a meaningless expression, idiotic, and was first thought of by an 18-year old high school senior. But that does not mean that a high schooler can say it anymore.

High school senior Joe Frederick held up a banner with the inane words in 2002 but a decision by the Supreme Court limited student free-expression rights in public schools.

The banner with the infamous “Bong” message was held aloft while students and faculty were gathered to watch the Olympic torch pass by his school in Juneau, Alaska.

Unfortunately for Mr. Frederick, the principal, Deborah Morse, asked him to take the banner down, and Frederick refused. Morse believed the message was a promotion of illegal drugs in violation of school policy and the Court has ruled against students advocating drug use. She confiscated the banner and later suspended Frederick for 10 days. Frederick sued.

With this decision, the Court sided with the principal.

In a concurring opinion, Justice Samuel Alito underscores the narrow scope of the decision, claiming as he does, that the ruling does not restrict the right of students to comment on political or social issues, including debates about drug laws.

On the other hand, the dissent, written by Justice John Paul Stevens and joined by Justices David Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, describes the decision as a “ham-handed, categorical approach” that is “deaf to the constitutional imperative to permit unfettered debate, even among high school students, about the wisdom of the war on drugs or of legalizing marijuana for medicinal use.”

This is a bad decision which restricts unfettered, public free speech by juveniles.

In an odd twist, if the banner had stated, "Wine Sips 4 Jesus," Frederick could have been interpreted as promoting an illegal drug (alchohol) for minors, or, he could be advocating imbibing sacramental wine, as in a Roman Catholic Mass. Should he be restricted in discussing another element or, more troubling, have another freedom, the exercise of religion, restricted?

The decision is in very troubling waters for freedom of expression. The Court's ruling more narrowly limits the free-speech decision in Tinker v. Des Moines, the test for virtually all student speech cases since 1969.

Regardless if Frederick was referring to a song, "Bonghits For Jesus" written by a band, Twice Baked in the 1990's, or, as he claimed it was a meaningless statement, I wouldn't want to see artists limited by a Court ruling in any case.

"I'm gonna' find her," "Searchin,'" The Coasters, 1957

I noted the other day about a search that is new to me, Mahalo, that has interesting possibilities. In addition, if you are in the market for new search engines, as a supplement to what most people seem to be using, Google, you may want to consider Kartoo, Kooltorch or Clusty.

My old standby is Dogpile--not Google--but Maholo promises a pleasant new search experience because of its utility in UI (user interface) and most searches. If it can attain the stated 2007 goal of 10,000 data entries, it will be worth another look.

Kartoo has respectable results but I am not a convert to the interface. KoolTorch is a bit awkward to use even after I tried it a few times, and I am not convinced that the results are as good as they could be.

In the meantime, I'll be using Clusty more since it is made for researchers, is handy for my usual deep searching, and the extra feature to customize results is attractive. Finally, Clusty also has a convenient "Clustybar" add-on that is handy for my typical Firefox browsing.

BTW, I checked the lyrics of Searchin' on, you guessed it, good 'ole dogpile. Besides, I really like their dog graphics.

Life is bleaker in Iraq

The BBC World Service is monitoring the extra 30,000 U.S. troops deployed in Iraq since the launch of the "surge" in February. The criteria monitored are the effects, week by week, by looking at military casualty figures, the pressure on hospitals and quality of life for ordinary civilians.

The analysis is based on figures from U.S. and Iraqi authorities, Baghdad's hospitals and three families from different neighbourhoods in the capital.

Their analysis concludes that conditions are generally worse despite the recent efforts of U.S. to improve conditions.

"Danger! Danger! Will Robinson"

A news story by Computerworld announces the realization of what was only a dream in the '60s TV Show, Lost in Space, by reporting that IRobot Corporation debuts a prototype of a remote-controlled robot armed with a Taser electroshock weapon for military or law enforcement.

This release is in line with the increasingly sophisticated use of robotics such as the Predator which has developed tremendously in the conflict in Iraq after the rather bumbling attempts to nab or eliminate Osama Bin-Laden in Afghanistan. Richard Clarke, former White House anti-terror advisor, testified before the 9/11 Commission about the efforts to use the Predator drone effectively.

Visibility by the remote operator is key which proved to be a liability in early deployments of the Predator.

The new device carries a camera mounted on a 12-inch mast. The camera is capable of tilting and rotating to provide greater visibility to its operator during scouting missions.

This new small hybrid machine is based on Burlington, Massachusetts based iRobot's Pentium-based PackBot Explorer robot. The innovation here is to add a Taser X26 stun gun to the robot, that was developed jointly by iRobot and Taser International Inc.

If an IED is going to blow up in Iraq, better one of these babies than a soldier: language warning.

The Predator is effectively deployed in Iraq.

Why Johnny Can't Shoot

Johnny can shoot who he wants to in the Insurgency game. He can mow down Americans at will if he (or she) chooses as illustrated (click on it for a better look) in one of the screenshots for the game.

The game manual states:

If your play style is more geared towards using real tactics, teamwork, communication, and personal skill, then the Conventional teams will likely be your favorite. If you just want to get into the action and have some fun, grab your AK47 or RPG and let loose as a Guerrilla or Paramilitary fighter. . . .

Engage in urban warfare where every window, doorway or road block is a potential ambush point and every object on the street needs to be watched with care. Fight against the occupation from behind windows and burned cars, with your finger on the trigger and an unsuspecting patrol down the street getting ever closer. Whatever you choose to do, Insurgency is sure to get your pulse racing and make your breathing feel heavy while you engage in such a unique and original combat experience.

Re-up!

Graph showing the percentage of and where foreign born soldiers come from to serve in the U.S. military.

600 soldiers re-enlisted in the United States military and were naturalized on the 4th of July at Camp Victory in Baghdad. Currently, the number of foreign born in the military is consistent with historical precedent. According to Emilio T. González, director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the foreign born composed half of all military recruits by the 1840s and constituted 20 percent of the 1.5 million servicemen in the Union Army during the Civil War.

Even more revealing is considering that of these 600 soldiers re-enlisting, they come from 54 nations, they are aged 19 - 51 years old, and they include at least one Palestinian refugee.

The re-enlistees are sounding like a coalition force.

Hawaii 10,000

Mahalo expects to obtain 10,000 query results for search terms by the end of this year. How? By using results hand-picked by humans according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Unity & Freedom: Terrorist? Sunni? Shi'i? Iraqi?

In the video an Iraqi is kidnapped by terrorists and asked at gunpoint if he is Sunni or Shi'i. "I am Iraqi" he finally answers.

N.B: This anti-terrorist video from Al Arabiya is funded by the Saudi government: this is not for the faint of heart.

Thought Experiment: Imagine a World Without America

The world without America is something to think about. Let's think a bit more on the 4th of July.

Made in China

China is the number one place for malicious software and spam.

"In June, some 40% of malicious software worldwide originated from Beijing, nearly doubling from 21% in May," said Simon Heron, managing director for security vendor Network Box Corp.

Beijing retained the number one spot for malware, followed by Wattleup, Australia, at 3.7%, and Madrid, at 2.5%, according to Network Box.

I wonder what else there is in Wattleup?

Pandemic Planning Runs Afowl in the U.S.

Update: "Power companies include IT in disaster planning: Experts confer at this week's World Conference on Disaster Management

July 11, 2007 (Computerworld Canada) -- Given the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2002, the idea that companies should prepare their IT systems for what health officials have warned will be an influenza pandemic isn't so far-reaching.

And, the original post is:

A Gartner Inc. analyst, Ken McGee, stated that despite a bird-flu threat most IT companies "simply would not be ready" for disruptions according to a ComputerWorld report.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported statistics on confirmed human cases of the Avian flu (H5N1) virus since 2003. The WHO recorded in 2006 that 79 people died from avian flu. This year, there have been 33 deaths.

If an avian influenza virus combines with a human influenza virus the new subtype created could be both highly contagious and highly lethal in humans. A likely scenario is a global influenza pandemic, similar to the Spanish Flu, or the lower mortality pandemics such as the Asian Flu and the Hong Kong Flu.

In May 2005, scientists urgently call nations to prepare for a global influenza pandemic that could strike as much as 20% of the world's population but this warning has largely been ignored.

To be clear, the avian flu cannot yet be categorized as a "pandemic" because the virus cannot yet cause sustained and efficient human-to-human transmission; the reported cases are recognized to have been transmitted from bird to human, but as of December 2006 there have been very few (if any) cases of proven human-to-human transmission.

On the other hand, if the avian flu imitates the "Spanish flu" of 1918–1919, it could spread to become a world-wide pandemic on all continents, unusually deadly and virulent as the 1918-19 event. Within 18 months the pandemic petered out but before doing so, in six months, 25 million people died: some estimates put the total of those killed worldwide at over twice that number. An estimated 500,000 died in the United States alone.

We are not ready for another 1918-19 event.

The French Want to "Berry" the Canadians

You have to hand it to the French. They are right on top of every international threat to their way of life. The Washington Post and Le Monde reported--I wouldn't make this up--carried a story dated 21 June 2007 that the French General Secretariat for National Defense has banned the use of BlackBerrys inside the presidential palace and government ministries.

Why?

BlackBerry data passes through servers in the United States and Britain.

Uhh, France, although the data may pass through those troublesome countries such as the U.S. and Britain, keep in mind that Research In Motion Limited (RIM) (TSX: RIM, NASDAQ: RIMM) is a Canadian wireless device company: RIM is headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario.

Once the lovely Canadians are suspected as international threats it is time to pack it in.

Rock on RIM!

The French seem to epitomize untruths as a part of their national character and they suspect anyone who is straightforward.

"Truths!" Charles de Gaulle is supposed to have shouted. "Did you think I could have created a (Free French) government against the English and the Americans with truths? You make History with ambition, not with truths," quoted in Thierry Pfister, "Lettre Ouverte aux Gardiens du Mensonge" (Open Letter to the Keepers of the Lie), Albin Michel, 1999.

Lugar Senate Floor Speech Calls for Course Change in Iraq

Richard Lugar (R-Indiana) is basically correct on one point: Iraqis Don’t Want to Be Iraqis.

To make the point more directly I would argue that there is no Iraq. There never was. The world is still paying the price of the October 3rd 1932 decision to create Iraq under King Faisal.

The historical fiction that is Iraq is common to newer nations:

Common Themes in New Nations

Borders drawn by European colonial powers left nations with diverse religions and ethnic groups.

Ethnic and religious conflicts brought instability.

Military coups, one-party systems, and dictatorships kept some countries from achieving democracy.

Citizens and foreign lenders have forced former dictatorships to hold elections and transition to democracy.

Natural resources such as oil have been a source of wealth for some nations but have fueled conflicts.

Is the Internet Replacing TV?

In a significant development the Internet is on the cusp of surpassing TV as an "essential medium" for Americans according to a poll announced on 28 June 2007 by the Edison Media Research Inc. 33% of Americans selected the Internet as crucial for news and entertainment while TV elicited 36%. Radio could garner only a 17% loyalty and newspapers a distant 10%, according to the Internet and Multimedia 2007 report by the Somerville, N.J.-based market research firm. In 2002, only 20% of U.S. consumers said they preferred the Internet, compared to 39% for TV. The Internet has made significant gains in the intervening time. The survey polled 1,853 telephone interviews conducted in January and February with respondents age 12 and older who were chosen at random. Those polled were representative of the American population.

The point to take away from this survey is to conclude that the Internet has become just as important as television as a source of information and entertainment. While TV has limitations, the Internet may be even more of a handicap. The Net has an advantage in speed and is even more immediate of a medium than TV but the notion of balance, fairness, and depth of thought is even less.

In einer bedeutenden Entwicklung ist das Internet auf der Spitze des Übertreffens von von Fernsehapparat als "wesentliches Mittel" für Amerikaner entsprechend einer Abstimmung, die am Juni 28 2007 durch die Edison Mittel-Forschung Inc. verkündet wird. 33% von Amerikanern wählte das Internet vor, das für Nachrichten und Unterhaltung, während Fernsehapparat, entscheidend ist 36% herausbekam. Radio konnte nur 17% und Zeitungen 10%, entsprechend dem Internet- und Multimedia2007 Report durch das Somerville ansammeln, N.J.-based Marktforschungsunternehmen. 2002 sagte nur 20% von VEREINIGTE STAATEN Verbrauchern, daß sie das Internet bevorzugten, verglichen bis 39% für Fernsehapparat. Das Internet hat bedeutende Gewinne in der intervenierenden Zeit gebildet. Die Übersicht stimmten 1.853 Telefoninterviews ab, die im Januar geleitet wurden und Februar mit Antwortendalter 12 und älteres, wer zufällig gewählt wurden. Abgestimmte die waren Repräsentant der amerikanischen Bevölkerung. Der Punkt, zum von dieser Übersicht wegzunehmen soll feststellen, daß das Internet gerade so wichtig wie Fernsehen als Quelle der Informationen und der Unterhaltung geworden ist. Während Fernsehapparat Beschränkungen hat, kann das Internet sogar mehr eines Handikaps sein. Das Netz hat einen Vorteil in der Geschwindigkeit und ist von einem Mittel als Fernsehapparat sogar sofortiger, aber der Begriff der Balance, der Gerechtigkeit und der Tiefe des Gedankens ist sogar kleiner.

Blogs

Blogs are a new way to communicate although many are not read or are dying at the same time. The format is easy to use and not at all like the old days where everything was hard coded. I enjoy participating.

Review of: Establishing and Maintaining Long-Term Human-Computer Relationships

Date: Tue 26-07-2005 02:05 PM

Review Number: 38526

Establishing and maintaining long-term human-computer relationships

Establishing and maintaining long-term human-computer relationships Bickmore T., Picard R. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction 12(2): 293-327, 2005. Type: Article

The authors investigate the meaning of “human-computer relationship” and present techniques for “constructing, maintaining, and evaluating such relationships.” Their primary conclusion is that they “have motivated the development of relational agents as a new field of research.”

Two particular relational benefits motivate their research: trust and task outcomes (like improved learning) known to be associated with relationship quality. The authors are concerned with evaluating whether agents “establish and maintain long-term social-emotional relationships with their users.” Their experiment with 101 users interacted daily with an exercise adoption system for a month. Compared to an equivalent task-oriented agent the computer based relational agent was trusted
more.

Placing agents on mobile devices could provide a potent combination of relationship building (an ever-present “buddy”) and for behavior change (providing timely and appropriate interventions).

Work should be done regarding the nature of the buddy. Examples of conversational systems such as R2D2 in StarWars and Microsoft Office Assistant (“Clippit”) engendered mixed results: the former was cute and helpful, the latter intrusive and grating. And, there are political and ethical considerations in designing a buddy. Should the buddy be a thing or a neutered object as the two examples above, or perhaps a male, or as in the authors study a female? And, finally as the authors note, in these proactive buddy scenarios, which are monitoring us, raise issues
of privacy and security: with whom do you let it share which pieces of relational or personal information, and how does it earn your trust to do so?

When did the U.S. first commit ground troops to the Middle East?

When did the United States commit to placing ground troops in the Middle East? Did George Bush, Sr., or Jr., invent the doctrine? No.

The Eisenhower Doctrine, a message to Congress on 5 January 1957, was the foreign policy of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The doctrine stated that the United States would use armed forces upon request in response to imminent or actual aggression to the United States. The doctrine made it clear that the U.S. would intervene in the Middle East against aggression. George Bush did not invent the doctrine; the Eisenhower Doctrine was U.S. policy for years before Bush.

The military action provisions of the Doctrine were applied in the Lebanon Crisis the following year,
in 1958, when America intervened in response to a request by that country's president.

The more things change, the more things stay the same.

American Hijab: non-American Hijab

Men don't cover themselves in Islam. Men do enforce women covering themselves. Guess who has the problem? Male Muslims. A Bahraini cleric even provides the guidelines on how to properly beat your wife. Or, a girl's actions may result in an "honor" killing.

Women pursued higher education and the professions for well over a hundred years in the West. Isn't it about time for Islam as well? Is there to be a Reformation in Islam? A French Revolution? I suppose if you never had the equivalent of a French Revolution you would tend to be backward: e.g., Olympe de Gouges.

Muslim women are oppressed. I hope there is no need to mention clitorectomies is there? This is exclusively a Muslim phenomenon: Christians, Jews, Buddhists, and Hindus do not practice this in any appreciable numbers. If human beings scar themselves or harm themselves is it any less oppressive because free will and choice is involved? Western law will still intervene in cases of attempted suicide or the harming of one's own person. The discussion of human rights is Western, not Islamist.

In Brasil street children are shot in the struggle for food and basic existence. An unpleasant, although based on a real story is the Brazilian film, City of God (Portuguese: Cidade de Deus), in which this brutal struggle for subsistence occurs. As it happens, City of God is a four-time Academy Award-nominated 2002 Brazilian film. Most of the actors had never acted before, and were, in fact, residents of favelas such as Vidigal and the Cidade de Deus itself. If I had any opportunity at all I would impose my own values, my own culture, and my own Western way of life on behalf of Third World children. Western culture is superior; the Third World values here are inferior.

The U.S. has imposed American values in the Afghan and Iraqi constitutions to require that a specific number of representatives be women. Progress comes slow to Islamism and is in response to Western American pressure. American feminists have not done tangibly as much to liberate women elsewhere.

As diplomats come to the U.S. they should respect American values so as not to offend any of us and wear American flag pins, and Africans and Arabs should remove their own traditional style of dress, in favor of Western attire. American male Muslims adopt Western dress easily, but contradictorily, the removal of the Hijab may be considered an invitation to rape according to Zakir Naik, a male Muslim apologist who often speaks in the U.S. But who would require, and agree, with a ridiculous proposition such as non-Westeners should be required to adopt American dress as an example of `when in Rome, do as the Romans do.' But this is precisely the thinking of a Pelosi who as American politician adopts non-Western dress: gutless.

There is no Arabic equivalent for citizen or democracy. Japan and Germany learned about how democracy really worked following their destruction in a World War. Likewise, some cultures may have to learn how to prosper economically and politically, like Japan and Germany following their defeat, at the hands of Western conquerors.

Please note:
Palestinian Female Suicide Bombers who are heavily covered (not to mention heavily armed).

And, if this is not enough to turn your stomach you can always watch how the children are raised. Small Palestinian children perform while dressed as suicide bombers and terrorists, heavily armed waving guns and knives. The crowd of approving parents waves and applauds the kids. I guess they never heard of baseball. I liked the kid with a doll: and, an assault rifle. All the girls are well-covered though and I suppose that is the important thing. An Islamist generation is coming.