Caterpillar Cowboy

milkmadeicecream: Variations on a Swirl… It is time to bring...

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:49:28 -0500

Variations on a Swirl… It is time to bring out the peanut butter! Thanks to Heidi’s Frogen Yozurt, an old yogurt shop in my hometown, I am a peanut butter ice cream fiend. While we’re still working on our peanut butter ‘scream recipe, we’ve got a good thing going with our peanut butter swirl. The question is - what’s the right kind of swirl? A sauce, a strip, a patty, a dollop? Salty, sugary, vanilla-y, cinnamon-y? We have four iterations chillin’ in the freezer, so the verdict will be in soon.

<00, Diana

Ahhhhh I’ve been waiting for this day. Yes, more Peanut Butter!

rillawafers: (via gregrutter)

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:39:27 -0500

rillawafers:

(via gregrutter)

thegongshow: Ethan Kurzweil has a presentation posted on his...

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:21:57 -0500

thegongshow:

Ethan Kurzweil has a presentation posted on his blog from 8 months ago that I just saw for the first time today. This is my favorite slide in it. I would love to see the fit curve on this slide proved out with empirical hosting/development costs data from startups over time. Considering how long Bessemer has been in the business, I’m sure they could do this if interested.

This graph feels intuitively right to me… but what does it mean when it costs pennies to build and host a high-scale web service? As costs approach zero, I’ll bet there will be an explosion in the number of vertical-specific services that serve small niche audiences. By explosion, I mean increasing by orders of magnitude. I can already feel the reverberations of that explosion today echoing backwards in time as the number of web services launching everyday is accelerating.

Very few of these services will be businesses, but that doesn’t matter because they’ll cost nothing. That’s the point… businesses are hard to create, web services will be trivially easy and cost zero.

None of the startups I speak with (which is far fewer in number than you, I assume) cite time or money as an obstacle for building a web application. It’s always customer acquisition and occasionally monetization strategy. Launching is the easiest part.

"The economy will bounce back. Ignore the bloggers (who obviously are trying in vain to steal our..."

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:27:15 -0500

“The economy will bounce back. Ignore the bloggers (who obviously are trying in vain to steal our readers and our advertisers), ignore the obits for Old Media, ignore the negatives and the craziness that this economy has created. The people in the Depression bounced back, and so will all of us who are going through this crisis. I cannot repeat this often enough: Variety is in profit, which means we’re here to stay.”

- Tim Gray, in an internal memo to Variety staff (via soupsoup)

Wow, the only thing you’re missing, Tim, is the necessity of your business model (and the business model of all of traditional media) which is absolute control over distribution. It doesn’t exist anymore when you are dealing with digital assets.

(via tanya77)

iwasframed: (via banksystreetart) the new KFC..

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:02:39 -0500

iwasframed:

(via banksystreetart)

the new KFC..

Why Are 80% of Harvard Students First-Borns? « Thinking About Thinking

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 10:26:00 -0500

Why Are 80% of Harvard Students First-Borns? « Thinking About Thinking:

Note - the above statistic was made up by the blog author.

Because birth order matters according to Dr. Kevin Leman, author of The Birth Order Book – Why You Are the Way You Are. I’ve been reading it – here’s his framework on how the different orders generally are (noting that not every characteristic applies to every child):

First Child: perfectionist, reliable, conscientious, a list maker, well organized, hard driving, a natural leader, critical, serious, scholarly, logical, doesn’t like surprises, a techie.

Middle Child: mediator, compromising, diplomatic, avoids conflict, independent, loyal to peers, has many friends, a maverick, secretive, used to not having attention.

Youngest Child: manipulative, charming, blames others, attention seeker, tenacious, people person, natural salesperson, precocious, engaging, affectionate, loves surprises.

Only Child: little adult by age seven, very thorough, deliberate, high achiever, self-motivated, fearful, cautious, voracious reader, black-and-white thinker, talks in extremes, can’t bear to fail, has very high expectations for self, more comfortable with people who are older or younger.

jonsteinberg: (via soupsoup) Some of the more interesting...

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 21:48:15 -0500

jonsteinberg:

(via soupsoup)

Some of the more interesting breeding grounds in the city are
technology incubators that nurture and mentor young companies. One
example is the new Manhattan arm of Dogpatch Labs, which is backed by
Polaris Venture Partners, an investment firm in the Boston area.

Dogpatch, which opened in January, offers start-ups a place to work,
rent-free, for several months, along with the possibility of securing
an investment down the line.

Socks, crumpled pieces of paper, scribbled-upon white boards and empty
beef jerky packages are scattered around Dogpatch’s roomy office.
“It’s been called a frat house for geeks,” says Peter Flint, a partner
at Polaris who spends several days each week in the New York office.

“There is a lot of excitement and interest budding in New York,” he
says. “And if we can help convince entrepreneurs to think about
staying in New York versus going to Silicon Valley, then that’s a huge
win.”

Currently, 13 companies are housed in the space, including Postling,
the newest spawn of the founders and early employees of Etsy. Locals
cite Etsy, an online shopping bazaar specializing in handmade crafts,
as one of New York’s shining start-up success stories, along with
DoubleClick; TheLadders, a jobs search site; and the Gilt Groupe.

“There wasn’t anything like this in New York when Etsy started,” said
Chris Maguire, a co-founder of both Postling and Etsy. “We worked out
of our apartments for the first few years.”

Wow, what an amazing feeling, to see your baby written in the NY Times (I’m a 7-day-a-week home delivery subscriber). The first time I felt this way was when we got written up in our first “big” blog (ReadWriteWeb, back in August).

Thinking about how much further we have to go makes me anxious to get back to work.

thephenthouse: From “Haikus for Jews.” Yessss.

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:37:40 -0500

thephenthouse:

From “Haikus for Jews.”

Yessss.

"And suddenly I was 12 and back on West 7th Street and Avenue T, playing stick ball with Paulie, Ugo,..."

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 14:19:25 -0500

“And suddenly I was 12 and back on West 7th Street and Avenue T, playing stick ball with Paulie, Ugo, and Pino. And we were arguing about whether Paulie’s shot was a hit or a foul and to stop the fighting, Ugo yells “Do over!” and just like that, all is forgiven, all is forgotten. It’s not an out. It’s not a foul. It’s not a hit. Do over.”

- The Monster In Your Head

Jerry Colonna talking about the power of the “Do Over” in life.

(via bijan)

thephenthouse: caterpillarcowboy: gluttonyisabliss: Uni (via annamatic3000) [For...

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 13:07:37 -0500

thephenthouse:

caterpillarcowboy:

gluttonyisabliss:

Uni (via annamatic3000)

[For thebirdswereflown]

Somehow, seeing it like this makes it seem more disgusting, not less. It’s like eating brains.

Fun Fact: the edible part of uni is actually the gonads, not brains. Delicious, creamy gonads.

I think uni is now completely ruined for me. Damn you.

gluttonyisabliss: Nutella (via sìladeth) [For...

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 13:03:31 -0500

gluttonyisabliss:

Nutella (via sìladeth)

[For magelbagel]

GTFO. Does eating Nutella with a smiling spoon make it better for you?

gluttonyisabliss: Uni (via annamatic3000) [For...

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 12:44:40 -0500

gluttonyisabliss:

Uni (via annamatic3000)

[For thebirdswereflown]

Somehow, seeing it like this makes it seem more disgusting, not less. It’s like eating brains.

Did you know 4/20 is my birthday?

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 12:31:29 -0500

Did you know 4/20 is my birthday?

evangotlib: peckinpah: jayparkinsonmd: The Farm Bill, a...

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 12:00:56 -0500

evangotlib:

peckinpah:

jayparkinsonmd:

The Farm Bill, a massive piece of federal legislation making its way through Congress, governs what children are fed in schools and what food assistance programs can distribute to recipients. The bill provides billions of dollars in subsidies, much of which goes to huge agribusinesses producing feed crops, such as corn and soy, which are then fed to animals. By funding these crops, the government supports the production of meat and dairy products—the same products that contribute to our growing rates of obesity and chronic disease. Fruit and vegetable farmers, on the other hand, receive less than 1 percent of government subsidies. The government also purchases surplus foods like cheese, milk, pork, and beef for distribution to food assistance programs—including school lunches. The government is not required to purchase nutritious foods. (via PCRM)

Man this is frustrating.

At the office on a Saturday.

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 11:58:53 -0500

Gotta nail down this presentation, because Monday and Tuesday are nuts:

Monday, 10am - SVP at NBC Universal
Monday, 1pm - Dir. at AT&T Interactive
Tuesday 1pm - EVP at AOL
Tuesday 3pm - 30 VCs are coming to Dogpatch Labs

If you are interested in looking at my slides - to provide feedback or curiosity - drop me your email address.

Cheese or font?

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:48:21 -0500

Cheese or font?:

krankmills:

Pretty self-explanitory…

"The go-go days of the internet are over."

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:08:56 -0500

dpstyles:

Randy is giving a talk at George Washington Univ and was half-jokingly asking me for advice on what to say to The Kids Today. My very first thought was to repeat, word-for-word, this quote Jason Calacanis gave the New Yorker back in October 1999…

“Last winter, I spoke to the Harvard Business School,” Calacanis recalls. “Now, I would never get admitted to that school, except maybe to work in the cafeteria-I got 1150 on my S.A.T.s. But I got to speak to the whole class here in New York, and I told them, ‘I have one piece of advice for you: quit. Leave school tomorrow, take whatever money you have left that you would have spent on tuition, and start an Internet company. Because if you stay in school for the next two years-if, when everybody else is dreaming and innovating, you spend time on the bench, watching the game go by-you’ll miss the greatest land grab, the greatest gold rush of all time, and you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.’ You should have seen the look on their faces: they were terrified. And you know why? Because they knew I was right.”

… I was totally drinking this kool-aid back in 1999. I actually ripped this quote out and taped it to the bedroom wall in my West Village apt. (I was working at Jupiter at the time - I think we just IPO’ed. My math told me that if I stuck around 3 years and the stock hit $300 I’d be worth dot com millions! And of course, that worked out.)

Anyway, a few months later me and Andy Krucoff tried to sell the IM name “SmartestChild” for $30,000. (For an IM name! Not even a domain name!) The potential buyer wrote me back immediately…

“Tell your friend that the go-go days of the internet are over. I’ll give him $500”.

…. annnnddd SOLD! (ha!)

Oh, moral the story? I told Randy he should tell the kids the things we wish we knew in college… skip the business degree. Become a famous photographer, professional poker player or superstar chef! (we such suckers!)

kmaverick: dpstyles: mattlehrer: Stop What You Are Doing...

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:38:34 -0500

kmaverick:

dpstyles:

mattlehrer:

Stop What You Are Doing & Install This Plug-In: Rapportive:

Cambridge UK startup Rapportive has released a Firefox and Chrome extension that will replace the ads in your Gmail with photos, biographic data and social media links, including a live display of recent Tweets, for whoever you’re corresponding with by email. It’s fantastic and takes about 2 minutes to set up.

SOLD. This this is pretty badass. Download here. (takes 10 seconds)

Wow. Might make me stop using Mail.app.

Just had a bite of Milkmade's maple pancake walnut ice cream.

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:48:26 -0500

vneckandacardigan:

My heart just melted.

Truth. It’s incredible. If you want some, you have to come visit us.

To the Shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.:

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:21:04 -0500

giantrobotlasers:

Our gain in net worth during 2009 was $21.8 billion, which increased the per-share book value of both our Class A and Class B stock by 19.8%. Over the last 45 years (that is, since present management took over) book value has grown from $19 to $84,487, a rate of 20.3% compounded annually.*

Holy Mother of Jesus

What he said.