Of Consciousness: Hats off @WhatsApp -
The last time my family members and other “normals” introduced ME to a technology was ICQ. This time its WhatsApp. Literally everybody, NOT in my tech circles, is using it on their phone for, well, IM’ing. How could a Sequoia-backed app built by ex-Yahoo’s in the valley with 10’s of…
“Do things that have never been done before! :-)” —
(Photo by Joel Runyon, licensed CC-BY-3.0)
See the full article about this great encounter: http://joelrunyon.com/two3/an-unexpected-ass-kicking
Don't be famous, be useful!: Gartner Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies 2012 -
It’s a tradition since I’m blogging. Every year in august, I’m waiting for the new edition of the Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, edited by Gartner. Here is the 2012 one that has just been published.
After all these years looking at it, I’ve come to the conclusion that we do not have to see…
Supernova may have triggered formation of our solar system
Finger-like indentations in a solar nebula’s clouds injected radioactive isotopes that would become the building blocks of the solar system.We love a good supernova!
[video]
cycloid
Here is an essay version of my class notes from Class 13 of CS183: Startup. Errors and omissions are mine. Credit for good stuff is Peter’s entirely.
Class 13 Notes Essay— You Are Not A Lottery Ticket
I. The Question of Luck
A. Nature of the Problem
The biggest philosophical question underlying startups is how much luck is involved when they succeed. As important as the luck vs. skill question is, however, it’s very hard to get a good handle on. Statistical tools are meaningless if you have a sample size of one. It would be great if you could run experiments. Start Facebook 1,000 times under identical conditions. If it works 1,000 out of 1,000 times, you’d conclude it was skill. If it worked just 1 time, you’d conclude it was just luck. But obviously these experiments are impossible.
The first cut at the luck vs. skill question is thus almost just a bias that one can have. Some people gravitate toward explaining things as lucky. Others are inclined to find a greater degree of skill. It depends on which narrative you buy. The internal narrative is that talented people got together, worked hard, and made things work. The external narrative chalks things up to right place, right time. You can change your mind about all this, but it’s tough to have a really principled, well-reasoned view on way or the other.
(Source: blakemasters)