February 2, 2011
ROUND UP OF SPACE TRAVEL NEWS: Some good links here. Posted at 10:25 am by Brian Kenny 
MS AND GOOGLE BATTLES: Heavy weight fights are always the most entertaining.
Posted at 9:15 am by Brian Kenny
VC NEWS: "A report released this morning from the Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist Confidence Index says that venture capitalists were more confident in the fourth quarter, based on the opinions of professional venture capitalists in the San Francisco Bay Area."
Posted at 8:10 am by Brian Kenny
APPLYING GAME MECHANICS TO BUSINESS: Interesting post on using game mechanics for developing customer loyalty.
Posted at 7:02 am by Brian Kenny
DELEGATION ADVICE: Sound advice for getting yourself out of the loop.
Posted at 6:57 am by Brian Kenny
FINALLY BACK: Long trip, but I hope to get back to blogging this week!
Posted at 4:48 am by Brian Kenny
January 25, 2011
NOT HOLDING MY BREATH ON COLD FUSION CLAIM: I've not once seen a plausible cold fusion "discovery" come to fruition. I'm not saying it can't be done, but please, you need to have independently reproducible results before I or anyone in the scientific community takes you seriously. Posted at 12:22 pm by Brian Kenny
GAMES IN THE CLOUD: Playcast has raised $10 million to continue work on games in the cloud. They seem to only be in Portugal at the moment though.
Posted at 11:15 am by Brian Kenny
AGE OF EMPIRES ONLINE NEWS: "Robot Entertainment and Microsoft Game Studios have announced that the upcoming Age of Empires Online will adopt a slew of social features and persistent systems, as well as a free-to-play business model." I like the thought process and the original game wasn't bad. I'll be curious to see how this turns out.
Posted at 10:09 am by Brian Kenny
FILM SCIENCE OF 3D: And why it just doesn't work in the long run.
Posted at 9:05 am by Brian Kenny
RENT OR BUY?: Very cool graphic that combines my love of real estate with a slick technical presentation.
Posted at 8:00 am by Brian Kenny
BUSY IN JAPAN: I think I have some time to post a little tonight before my next round of meetings.
Posted at 6:56 am by Brian Kenny
January 22, 2011
LINKEDIN PLANNING IPO: I actually rarely use LinkedIn these days, though many colleagues still do. Posted at 10:47 pm by Brian Kenny
iPAD GROWTH MUCH LARGER THAN PREDICTED: "The iPad sold three times as much as the average tech blogger predictions, and five times as much as the average Wall Street analyst prediction. Think about that the next time you see a prediction for anything in tech. The newer it is, the less anybody knows."
Posted at 9:45 pm by Brian Kenny
MOST IMPORTANT COMMODITY IN A STARTUP…TIME: I particularly like the third point in this article about "automating yourself out of a job". As an former manager of mine would say, QA has done their job when they've automated themselves into a 4 hour manual test day.
Posted at 8:40 pm by Brian Kenny
NO ONE REALLY WORKS 80-HOURS: This too has been my experience. I've tried to slowly take a more balanced approach to work.
Posted at 7:33 pm by Brian Kenny
January 19, 2011
FLYING CAR PROTOTYPE: I think it's a bit of a ways off still. Then again, who doesn't want a flying car? Posted at 9:18 pm by Brian Kenny
FLEXIBLE SCREENS UP AND COMING: Pretty interesting tech with a wide variety of applications.
Though it will be spartan by design, researchers say HP's prototype could be one of the first in a new wave of products incorporating flexible electronic displays. Freed from the constraints of a rigid glass screen, designers could one day build flexible plastic displays into clothing, wall coverings and perhaps even e-readers or tablets that can roll up like a newspaper.
Posted at 8:13 pm by Brian Kenny
CHEMISTRY GEEKS REJOICE!: The dynamic periodic table is now online! Actually it's pretty cool.
Posted at 7:09 pm by Brian Kenny
THAT’S A LOTTA MONEY: "In the quarter ended December 25, 2010, Apple posted revenue of $26.74 billion, a growth of 71 percent compared to the same quarter a year ago. Quarterly profits rose 78 percent to $6 billion."
It's a shame that Steve Jobs is leaving Apple, but they have some serious momentum these days.
It's a shame that Steve Jobs is leaving Apple, but they have some serious momentum these days.
Posted at 6:06 pm by Brian Kenny
TOP APPS OF ALL TIME: "According to the company, Doodle Jump is the most popular paid iPhone app of all time. The game is followed up by Tap Tap Revenge 3 and Pocket God. Surprisingly, Angry Birds, which has 50 million active users across several different platforms, took the fourth spot. Tap Tap Revenge 2.6 captured the fifth spot in Apple's list. Out of the top 10 paid iPhone apps of all time, 9 are games."
Posted at 5:02 pm by Brian Kenny
3D iPOD TOUCH?: This could be interesting if true, especially the no glasses part.
Posted at 4:00 pm by Brian Kenny
January 18, 2011
FINALLY!: "In a breakthrough with vast implications for both chiles and Chili’s, the New Mexico State University chile pepper breeding program has bred a wholly new, extra large, medium-hot jalapeno pepper precisely optimized for jalapeno poppers..."In other news, the end of civilization is just around the corner.
Posted at 8:50 pm by Brian Kenny
STUXNET NEWS: "Researchers at the Idaho National Laboratory, which is overseen by the U.S. Department of Energy, may have passed critical information to Israel about vulnerabilities in a system that controls Iran’s enrichment plant at Natanz. That information was then used to create and test the so-called Stuxnet worm that was unleashed in a joint cyberattack on Natanz, according to The New York Times."
Posted at 6:47 pm by Brian Kenny
WHY IS THIS EVEN NEEDED?: "The UK government's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will no longer be involved in the region's game industry, leaving the industry the province solely of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport."
Ok, I read things like this and think, why is this even needed in any industry let alone the hyper-important gaming industry?
Ok, I read things like this and think, why is this even needed in any industry let alone the hyper-important gaming industry?
Posted at 5:42 pm by Brian Kenny
QUESTIONS FOR A CO-FOUNDER: As always, be wise in choosing your business partners.
Posted at 4:40 pm by Brian Kenny
January 17, 2011
CONSUMER REPORTS NOT A FAN OF THE iPHONE FOR VERIZON: They lay out most of the points I've made before about the Verizon iPhone limitations. Posted at 8:56 pm by Brian Kenny
MANAGING THE NERD HERD: A little primer for all you non-nerd management types.
Posted at 7:14 pm by Brian Kenny
HOW TO PICK A NAME: Some interesting thoughts, but the key line is at the end, "I’ve never heard a founder of a successful company say the name of the company was an important factor in its success; similarly I’ve not heard of a name being the fatal blow." So don't sweat it!
Posted at 6:09 pm by Brian Kenny
THOSE PESKY VC QUESTIONS: and what they mean.
Posted at 5:07 pm by Brian Kenny
EFFECT OF VERIZON AND iPHONE: "About 26 percent of AT&T Inc. iPhone owners said in a survey that they plan to switch to Verizon Wireless this year."
Posted at 4:01 pm by Brian Kenny
January 16, 2011
NEW BOSTON BASED BANK STARTUP: "There is no other bank account in the country that will give you as much cash back just for using it. There is no other Visa or MasterCard in the world — whether we are talking debit cards or credit cards — that will give you unlimited 2 percent cash back." Posted at 8:37 pm by Brian Kenny
FACEBOOK AT $50B A STEAL?: "I don’t have any inside information about Facebook’s finances, and I’m not a Goldman client. But I’m convinced that when we look back at this investment, it will rank as one of the best stock opportunities available today — akin to buying Apple stock just before the release of the iPod."
If you're a speculator this is a great stock to take a shot at. If you're a true investor, I'd hold off. As the author of this article points out, numerous times, there's plenty of unknown with Facebook's accounting. I don't think it'll go the way of an AOL, but I'm still not sold on it being worth $50B.
If you're a speculator this is a great stock to take a shot at. If you're a true investor, I'd hold off. As the author of this article points out, numerous times, there's plenty of unknown with Facebook's accounting. I don't think it'll go the way of an AOL, but I'm still not sold on it being worth $50B.
Posted at 7:31 pm by Brian Kenny
OLD COMPUTER ADS: There's a sweet Shatner ad on the list. What's incredible is the price on some of these ads. One lists the PC at about $3k for a 10MB drive!
Posted at 6:24 pm by Brian Kenny
MORE COMPUTER HISTORY: I finally made it to Japan. While I get back in synch, enjoy some computer history museum photos!
Posted at 5:18 pm by Brian Kenny
January 15, 2011
SEED STAGE VALUATION: Pretty good guide on realistic startup seed stage expectations. Posted at 8:23 am by Brian Kenny
January 14, 2011
DO YOUR OWN THING: "You aren’t going to get promoted to founder by spending a lot of time working for founders. You become a founder by starting your own company." Like anything else in life, if you want to do something you generally have to jump in and do it. However, a little startup experience doesn't hurt. Posted at 3:36 pm by Brian Kenny
STARBURST GALAXY PICS: A moment of Astronomy porn for a Friday afternoon.
Posted at 3:28 pm by Brian Kenny
TO HIRE OR NOT TO HIRE: Good post on when not to hire. I tend to end up in companies that go to extremes with hiring. Too little or too many, though the general trend is no hiring, burn out sets in, key players start leaving, hire like mad!
Posted at 1:29 pm by Brian Kenny
YET ANOTHER KIDS AND GAMING STUDY: You can guess the bottom line analysis.
These studies are as old as the hills. They raise a lot of alarm bells, yet somehow millions of children around the world who play video games somehow manage to grow up and be productive adults.
The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has issued a warning over a "flawed" soon-to-be-published study that alleges a link between video games and mental health problems in children.
These studies are as old as the hills. They raise a lot of alarm bells, yet somehow millions of children around the world who play video games somehow manage to grow up and be productive adults.
Posted at 11:01 am by Brian Kenny
DON’T LIKE ANY OS OUT THERE?: Write your own!
Posted at 10:42 am by Brian Kenny
SPACE BABIES IN ZERO G AT YOUR OWN PERIL: It seems kind of obvious that changing normal birthing conditions would produce abnormal offspring, but I guess this study confirms it.
Posted at 9:27 am by Brian Kenny
NEXT GEN OF iOS: Some nice features coming up.
Posted at 8:45 am by Brian Kenny
GROUPON VALUE $15B?: Seriously? Is this bubble 2.0 forming? For the record I'm also skeptical of Facebook being valued at $50B.
Posted at 7:51 am by Brian Kenny
LIQUID SPRAY-ON GLASS: "The liquid glass spray produces a water-resistant coating only around 100 nanometers (15-30 molecules) thick. On this nanoscale the glass is highly flexible and breathable. The coating is environmentally harmless and non-toxic, and easy to clean using only water or a simple wipe with a damp cloth. It repels bacteria, water and dirt, and resists heat, UV light and even acids."
Posted at 6:32 am by Brian Kenny
January 13, 2011
T-MOBILE US ATTACKS THE BIG DOGS: T-Mobile seems to remind of a scrappy little kid always trying to get attention. Of course he's shorter, doesn't have as many friends and has no money. But he still takes a swing now and then! Posted at 11:02 pm by Brian Kenny
WOZ AT COMPUTER MUSEUM OPENING: Frankly if there is a Hacker Hall of Fame he should be top on the list.
Posted at 9:41 pm by Brian Kenny
UPGRADED COMPUTER HISTORY MUSEUM: We need a Hackers Hall of Fame as well.
Posted at 8:36 pm by Brian Kenny
SOME ADVANCES IN QUANTUM COMPUTING: "Quantum communication offers myriad advantages over conventional fiber optic networking, but manipulating electrons or photons to behave in the proper fashion has long kept quantum networking a “theoretical” pursuit. But University of Calgary researchers working with German colleagues at the University of Paderborn have pushed quantum networks a big step closer to reality by demonstrating that specially doped crystals can store and retrieve information encoded in entangled photons. In other words, they’ve created a form of quantum memory."
Posted at 7:28 pm by Brian Kenny
SPEAKING OF NEW HOBBIES…: I've always wanted to try and make my own brew. Here's a good starter guide from Popular Mechanics.
Posted at 6:23 pm by Brian Kenny