Three friends, two days, ouch!!
I know NYC is a transient city but this is ridiculous. Three of my closest friends in the city are moving away this week – two today, one tomorrow. When one member of your inner circle leaves, it bums you out. When two friends leave, it’s very sad. When three leave, it knocks you on your ass. I guess I should be happy that I have such great friends in the first place, but for the moment, I’m focused on recreating my new New York. NYC2.0 here we come!!
Oh, by the way, I helped two of them create a blog for their long voyage on the way home.
The Algorithm Constantly Finds Jesus
So says the billboards that are part of the new Ask.com campaign that launched over the past few weeks. They’ve been spotted in the Bay Area and here in NYC. Other billboards proclaim "The Algorithm Killed Jeeves". The campaign comes from Crispin Porter + Bogusky, who also did the aggressive "Truth" anti-smoking campaign. I hated this billboard when I first saw it, but its grown on me since. It definitely makes you think – an effect not necessarily conducive to driving use of a search engine. I think what they are saying is the search algorithm is so good, it finds jesus…an attempt at a funny play on words. But it took me a little while to figure this one out and I work in the industry.
Eric Schmidt says it’s about “mobile” and “local”
Eric Schmidt just told the audience here that mobile and local represent two of the biggest areas in the next wave of technology growth. Just as the words left his mouth, 2,000 pens went to paper and the typing on keyboards echoed around the room. I have a sneaking suspicion that tomorrow, there will be lots of people here connecting local communities via mobile devices with a product that’s in private beta:)
Bringing it local and “we’re in private beta”
After 24 hrs at Web2.0 Expo, these two themes have emerged as leaders. At least 50% of the people I’ve spoken to here are working on something "in private beta" (ooh, mysterious). It’s the new buzzword of Web2.0. Many of them are doing something with social networking, participatory commerce, collaboration tools or mirroring one of the apps that have exploded over the past year. There’s also a focus on connecting local communities, an area that has been simmering for a few years.
Some interesting tidbits from the keynote session today….
- Farsi is the 10th largest blogging language, mostly from Iranian bloggers
- Participation/View Rates: YouTube – 0.16% Flickr – 0.2% Wikipedia – 4.6%
- Blog posts now using tags – 30%
- 230mm objects have been tagged on web in past two years
Look around, smell the flowers and cheer up
I landed in San Francisco at 10:15 this morning, a bit groggy after waking at 4:30 for an early flight. I’m in SF for Web2.0 Expo, one of the premier internet conferences of the year. There’s something about arriving in northern California that always puts me in a good mood – the fresh air, the beaming sun and the fond memories of the years I spent living here. On this occasion though, I’m a little under the weather, so the mood is tempered by congestion and a runny nose. I sat down for lunch on a park bench outside the Metreon a few minutes ago, enjoying the gorgeous day, and a few minutes later, an elderly Irish-American woman sat down next to me. Quickly striking up a conversation, she discussed the plight of American education in light of the Va Tech tragedy, the 2008 election and then, after discovering I lived in NY, she shared how the best years of her life were spent there, gushing at the creative energy the city exudes. Then, just as she arrived, she said, “I better be on my way,” stood up, gazed in wonder at the pink and purple flowers behind us and walked away. Now, it’s my turn to get up. And I’m walking into the afternoon session, much happier and excited about the opportunity to be here.
This is the coolest gadget ever….
I hooked up my Sonos system yesterday, and haven’t left the couch in 38 hours. Okay, I left a few times, but only for absolute emergencies. This is the coolest gadget I’ve used in a long time. Not only does it connect my stereo with my digital music library and stream the music seamlessly, it also gives me access to Rhapsody, which has completely blown me away. Rhapsody gives me access to any album from any band in any genre I could ever be in the mood for. In a day and a half, I’ve listened to 15 new bands. I control everything from my laptop anywhere in my apartment. Here is a picture of the interface. This is true music on demand. I was also a relatively late adopter on the iPod, but I can’t believe I waited this long to get my hands on this.
Q&A services as discussion forums and evolving answers
Yesterday, I posted the following question on Yahoo! Answers "Did we have any real proof that man landed on the moon?" In the past 24 hours, the question has solicited 10 responses and comments, provoking a compelling discussion on the subject. Some observations: (a) two sides were clearly established (which impeded totally objective and thoughtful inquiry), (b) several responses express anger or resentment which take away from the value of the content, (c) the ratings of the answers don’t seem objective – though these three qualities may be related to the political nature of the question – and (d) this level of discussion and debate makes my most provocative blog post look like child’s play. Also, when an answer is given "best answer" status, the question is locked to further updates. This seems counter-intuitive. At WikiAnswers – soon to relaunch (self-plug) – answers evolve and are perpetually open, as is the nature of a wiki. This is both good and bad. We also don’t currently have a rating system. Sometimes there is a satisfactory best answer and maybe the answer should be closed, sometimes not. I’m curious to hear your opinions on this. What’s the most valuable approach for the user?
Google gourmet
I had lunch with a friend at Google’s NYC offices on Friday. Many of us have heard about the food in their cafeteria by now, but it’s one of those things that’s hard to believe until you see it for yourself. For lunch, I enjoyed glazed cod, teriyaki salmon sashimi, crusted artichoke balls with aioli mayonnaise dressing, shaved zucchini chips, hearts of palm and kidney bean salad and freshly-made sun-dried tomato focaccia. I passed on the buffalo burger, raw food bar, sushi bar and salad bar, my plate already piling over. For dessert, we returned for a fresh plate of Oreo fudge, chocolate brioche arborio custard, pineapple cinnamon pudding and fresh strawberries and blackberries. And it’s all free!! (there are several security guards patrolling the cafeteria in case you had any ideas). Working at Google would be a culinary delight, but one that would likely add a few extra pounds to the ol’ frame.
