The 5.4 magnitude earthquake that struck near Los Angeles is old news now. However, after reading articles about twitter’s ability to break news fast, I realized the importance of having multiple communication mediums. Sometimes, it seems like having a phone, blog, AIM, Twitter, and Facebook seem overly redundant, but redundancy is all too important in times of crisis.
As you probably know from my previous post, my cell phone broke yesterday, thus, losing my entire phonebook in the process. Being the great son that I am, I did not memorize my parent’s cell phone numbers. So, after I heard about the earthquake, I wanted to call them. I called the home phone (the only number I memorized); no one picked up. I could not reach them. Even though the earthquake was only 5.4, I started to worry.
So, I turned to my next sources. Email. I tried searching through if I recorded a cell phone number, nope. AIM. My parents don’t use instant messaging, so that was useless. Facebook. Again, parents don’t use facebook; however, I messaged my brother to ask for the number. If he’s anything like me, then he probably won’t receive or respond to my message for a few hours. Skype. I rarely use. Twitter and blogs. Yea right. Eventually, I was able to contact my aunt, who told me everything was alright.
Good thing I had all those sources to turn to. However, most these communication mediums are mutually exclusive. While this isn’t bad, things would have been a lot different if some of these communication devices were directly intertwined. For example, what if my mom had her cell phone stored at some central location, and I can contact her through many services, such as AIM, Facebook, or VOIP. Okay, some of these services already support that. For example, you can send some a text message through email. However, it’s such a hassle! No one uses it because it’s not easy to use. It does not make sense; it’s broken.
I want a solution that makes communication portability dead simple. Easy enough for my parents (very computer illiterate) to use. Any ideas?
I seem to be having a string of bad luck this summer. The latest victim is my 2+ year cell phone. I believe someone stepped on it while I was playing basketball.
Amazingly, it can still make phone calls with just the bottom half! That’s pretty awesome. The bad part is that I have lost everyone’s phone number. Also, I can’t tell who is calling me or read any text messages. I can only talk to people on speakerphone; it does make me feel geeky. Maybe i’ll find some way to hook things back together. Please email me your numbers!
Also, I really want an iPhone 3G but just can’t afford one right now. Dang it!
Qik is soon going to support the iPhone. Wow, I want the 3G now! I’m actually pretty excited for this company, and I haven’t felt this excited about any company for a while.
There are TV doctors, lawyers, and businessmen. What about all the engineers? Well here’s a funny clip from CSI New York. Either the writers had no idea what they are talking about or they put in for some laughs.
“I’ll create a GUI interface using Visual Basic. See if I can track an IP out of this.” ORLY? Using VB GUI to track an IP? Try hammering the backside of a nail into wood.
Efficient Algorithms and Intractable Problems (CS170) was by far one of my favorite classes at UC Berkeley. Every computer science student should be a solid foundation in basic algorithms. Do you know your Big O? Big Theta? Also, do you ever wonder why the Facebook calls its network a social graph? Graph theory is one of the basic and most practical idea in computer science. This is what separates the average coder from a computer scientist with a good understanding in design and theory.
Browsing around on Scribd, I was able to find the exact textbook we used for the class. The authors, Papadimitriou and Varizani, were actually my professors for the course. The book was surprisingly easy to read, clear and concise. Take a peak; I think you’ll appreciate the resource.
Microsoft released the following statement regarding Yahoo:
“In light of developments since the withdrawal of the Microsoft proposal to acquire Yahoo! Inc., Microsoft announced that it is continuing to explore and pursue its alternatives to improve and expand its online services and advertising business. Microsoft is considering and has raised with Yahoo! an alternative that would involve a transaction with Yahoo! but not an acquisition of all of Yahoo! Microsoft is not proposing to make a new bid to acquire all of Yahoo! at this time, but reserves the right to reconsider that alternative depending on future developments and discussions that may take place with Yahoo! or discussions with shareholders of Yahoo! or Microsoft or with other third parties.
“There of course can be no assurance that any transaction will result from these discussions.”
What is Microsoft trying to pull?!?! Aside from the obvious grammatical errors (where is the closing parenthesis?), this statement has got to be one of the worst bluffs I have ever seen. I CAN SEE RIGHT THROUGH YOU STEVE BALLMER.
Let’s break down the statement, shall we?
“Microsoft is considering and has raised with Yahoo! an alternative that would involve a transaction with Yahoo! but not an acquisition of all of Yahoo!”
Wait, let me get this straight, not ALL of Yahoo!? Is Microsoft attempting to buy a portion of Yahoo at an overvalued price? (Facebook, ahem ahem) I highly doubt it. If they do, it’s time for me to cash out. Maybe Microsoft wants Yahoo’s price to plummet so they can pick up the rest of the shares on the cheap… just maybe.
“Microsoft is not proposing to make a new bid to acquire all of Yahoo! at this time, but reserves the right to reconsider that alternative depending on future developments and discussions that may take place with Yahoo! or discussions with shareholders of Yahoo! or Microsoft or with other third parties.”
I’ve always liked the word “but” - it always adds flavor to something as dull as a press release issued by Microsoft. It’s interesting that Microsoft comes out swinging by reasserting the fact that they are NOT interested in the acquisition of Yahoo, BUTRESERVE THE RIGHT to reconsider. Sorry Steve, your poker face isn’t doing too well at hiding the truth; it actually makes you seem more desperate.
If Carl Icahn is as shrewd as he seems, he probably saw right through this statement. My guess is that Microsoft is trying to look less needy for Yahoo in hopes of acquiring Yahoo for lower than $33 a share.
My advice to Steve: stop playing games and just put the deal back on the table already. If anything, you should thank Icahn and Yahoo shareholders by upping the bid to $34 a share - just a thought.
For more coverage, follow the discussion on Techmeme
Jerry Lao is today’s contributing writer. He’s an aspiring entrepreneur, about to graduate from UC Berkeley. He sure has more to say than I did.
Impacted catchphrase
Recently, I’ve noticed the media has been maniacally throwing around the catchphrase, “social responsibility,” as if it were the solution to an impending apocalypse. A recent keyword search on Digg.com for social responsibility garnered 69 pages of results; Google returned a little over 20 million results. The media has inadvertently – or stupidly – jumbled a bunch of ideas on human ethics into one impacted catchphrase. Am I going to untangle this word and determine the value of every single one of its subcategories? No, I don’t have that much spare time on my hands. On the other hand, I will add to the mayhem and estimate the economic value of the phrase in its entirety.
So why is it relevant to us?
The idea of social responsibility has been around since the beginning of civilization, but few gave notice as it carried little economic value. It did carry ethical value, but ethics meant squat when daily conversations covered pillaging and plundering. We have come a long way since then as a society. We are finally beginning to realize the potential economic value of social responsibility – at least, some of us have. Once we surpass the physiological and safety levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, we begin placing value on our relationships with others, and subsequently, on the monetization of social responsibility.
How much is it worth?
There are many statistics and formulas out there that attempt to value social responsibility in the US. I find most of them intriguing, but ultimately find myself more confused than before. KLD Research, Analytics, Inc. takes an interesting approach to looking at this question by measuring the performance of socially responsible corporations in the form of the Domini 400 Social Index. They came up with the following relationship to the S&P 500 Index:
DS400 Cumulative Performance as of March 31, 2008
The Domini 400 Social Index has been consistently outpacing the growth of the S&P 500 since 1990. Could this difference be the value of social responsibility to investors? Maybe, but I was out to seek an all-encompassing dollar amount. You could probably break apart that graph to find that number, but I neither have the energy nor desire to do so. Instead, I came up with my own formula:
(Total US Disposable Income) x (% of Socially Responsible Americans) x (Social Responsibility Premium %)
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, I’ll try to explain…
Total US Disposable Income: I decided to use disposable income as an initial starting point because I made the assumption that individuals would only practice socially responsible, economic behavior if they have the means to do so. If someone is barely affording staple foods, it is highly unlikely this individual would pay the extra few for fair trade coffee. In a recent Bureau of Economic Analysis news release, disposable personal income increased $29.6 billion, or 0.3 percent. This puts American disposable personal income at $9,896,266,666,667.
% of Socially Responsible Americans: In a recent survey by Fleishman Hillard, the results reveal that “More than two-thirds of consumers (67 percent) feel that knowing that a company meets global standards for being socially responsible would be either extremely or very influential if they wanted to buy a particular product or service from that company”. I will trust the American people; that they will hold true to their words.
Social Responsibility Premium %: In order to find out how much more people are willing to spend on socially responsible goods, I compared some basic commodity prices with its fair trade counterparts.
The price premium the market is willing to pay for socially responsible products seems to be around 10%. For the sake of not overestimating, I will use 8% as the conservative premium percentage.
So therefore:
$9,896,266,666,667 x 67% x 8% = $530,439,893,333.35
VALUE OF “SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY” IN THE US: $530 billion. we estimate 530billion of those asset classes that doesnt all exist belong here in the US.
I heard this song Handlebars (by Flobots) a few weeks ago, but I just came across it again online. This song can mean whatever you interpret it as. However, it begins with a childhood dream that they could do anything you want. It starts with easy concepts such as riding a bike and writing in comic books. Then, as a teenager, one starts thinking he can change the world, and starts thinking about important career moves. However, as the “do anything you want” mentality continues, factors such as politics, social responsibility and power start playing in.
Though this video is too cynical to be related to startups, I started to realize what great responsibilities entrepreneurs have. Founders are free to do whatever they feel is right in order to change the world.
Silicon Valley is the place to be for technology companies. More importantly, it is a great place for startups and new ventures. Many places in the world have tried to replicate the what we have in the Bay Area, but not as successful. The reason I like Bay Area is its community.
1. Community drives excitement. When you get a bunch of similar people together, it is naturally motivates them to get excited about common interests. One example is through the rise of technology blogging. Blogging, whether one is praising or criticizing, forces people to think about trends and innovation. Also, it helps people promote good products that may not have been known before. Another example of a close-knit community is Twitter, which is still relatively dominated by geeks. Silicon Valley is always one of the early adopters of new ways to stay connected.
2. Entrepreneurs are naturally insecure people. Let’s face it; Co-founders lead relatively lonely lives. One day, everything seems to be going fine; another day, your startup might seem like it’s about to blow up. There is no one to tell you if what you are doing is right or wrong. Also, starting a new venture a risky business altogether. However, you can find meetup’s every month where entrepreneurs come together and support one another. Often, it’s difficult for even your friends or family to understand why doing a startup even makes sense. It’s great talking to people pursuing the same journey as you are.
3. Working with passionate people. It’s possible to find smart people anywhere, but it’s hard to find people as excited about engineering as you are. Moreover, being passionate for technology is not something you can train someone to do. Building a strong team is one of the most important things in a company. I don’t believe grades and “smartness” are as important as being excited and having good character. I believe having passion will naturally translate to hard-work and willingness to learn new things.
I’m always excited to meet new people. Feel free to contact me.
Writer: Jeff Wang. I just graduated from UC Berkeley, majoring in Computer Science. Most posts will be dedicated to young entreprenuers.
