doink   (it's one of those things about nothing)
homus || backlog || elsewhere || huh?
 

Friday, March 31, 2000
from today's VentureWire:
"Outlook Sports Technology Changes Name, Becomes Incubator
NEW YORK -- Outlook Sports Technology, a publicly traded golf accessories and goods manufacturer, said it changed its name to Fusion Fund. The company also said it will change its mission to focus on incubating Internet companies... The fund will look to invest in companies internationally and is not focusing on certain industries at this time..."
hello? is anybody out there? stop the world, i wanna get off.
(10:33:23 AM)

file early, and often! *sigh*. more patent madness.
(9:52:09 AM)

overheard at dinner: "i challenge your fruitstand metaphor!"
(12:35:38 AM)

Thursday, March 30, 2000
b2cipo extinction time? you mean "sure, we lose money on every transaction, but we'll make up for it on volume" isn't going to cut it any more?
(2:30:10 PM)

after reading tons of articles like this one on nervewire's staffing woes, i'm becoming more and more convinced that the wisest strategy for a start-up is to offer juicy referral incentives from the start. too often they plod along for months, frustrated that they can't find good people, and after abortively pursuing numerous options, they resort to bribing their employees for referrals. and that turns out to be their most successful recruiting engine. always start with your best option when time is short!!!
(11:03:35 AM)

finished the volunteer makeover of the site for the sharehouse the other day. many thanks to james t. for doing up the art!
(9:31:22 AM)

Wednesday, March 29, 2000
blind drunk intelligence agent mislays laptop packed with priceless state secrets.
(6:02:57 PM)

now that i'm writing little blurbs every day which i occasionally re-read, i'm finding that i make WAY more typos that i thought possible. time to start using one of those newfangled "spell-checkers", perhaps?
(2:17:02 PM)

well, there's one that i won't be shedding any tears over, i guess...
(10:55:33 AM)

realnetworks is toast, and good riddance. they're going to lose the battle because for the past 2 years they've insisted on using only their own proprietary codec, which isn't as good many of the codecs you can use with windows media player. they've also made their product and acquisition process increasingly user-hostile. most users are totally confused by the options thrust forth when a site refers them there to pick up a player.
(10:40:54 AM)

are megafunds changing the nature of venture capital? it will be interesting to see how the "industry" stratifies over the next 2 years. it looks like we'll end up with only angels and incubators at the sub $5m range, then some small and mid-sized vc's at $5-15m, then a few big hitters hoping to drop $50m+ into single deals.
(10:23:32 AM)

Tuesday, March 28, 2000
the war is on!
(11:53:15 AM)

can anyone get to portera.com? how bummed must they be? they're running full-page ads in most of the trade mags, and nobody can get to their site. i've been trying for the past 6 days...
(11:12:59 AM)

Monday, March 27, 2000
if i'm not the slightest bit interested in human interest stories, does that mean i'm not human?
(7:05:05 PM)

delivery costs aren't budging. you mean i can't just print out my new stereo receiver? i thought the web was going to change everything? stupid laws of physics....
(3:42:16 PM)

yet another horrible new name change: accompany becomes mobshop.
(10:19:26 AM)

Friday, March 24, 2000
neat.
(1:54:01 PM)

marchFIRST? they're kidding, right? wow, that's a horrible name. it's almost as bad as reinvent communications.

what kind of image is marchfirst supposed to conjur? for me, it creates an image of a herd of troops, blindly marching first, thinking second. and, based on my previous impression of uswebsucks, it's a perfect fit. on their site, they list a few quasi-significant events that have happend on march 1, but it's not a date anyone would automatically associate with "revolution" or "innovation".

who are the ad geniuses who came up with this one? unfortunately, someone has already (and just recently) registered thinkfirst.com, which could be a great parody url.
(12:29:34 PM)

Thursday, March 23, 2000
YAY!!! my new stuff arrived!
(2:42:33 PM)

anton maiden: baaaaad covers of iron maiden songs, done over midi. rock on!
(10:24:19 AM)

Wednesday, March 22, 2000
next time, set it on vibrate. or better yet, let the lion keep it.
(1:30:51 PM)

the people need their twinkies!
(12:41:32 PM)

here we go with the whole feature/business model patent madness again. accompany received notification that they're going to get their patent on group-buying and volume-based pricing technology.

isn't this supposed to be a market economy? doesn't that mean that you win or lose based on the strength of your creativity and execution? why, if the uspto let microsoft make its living by "embracing and extending" other people's more original ideas, are they now issuing patents on very obvious concepts and executions?

yay for big, dumb government!!!
(12:06:31 PM)

Tuesday, March 21, 2000
most of the folks at the office are moving up a floor this weekend. to allow us to stay connected, we've got a crew of guys running around the office doing all sorts of cabling. right now, there's a guy fully up in the ceiling in my office. and yes, we have one of those cardboard suspended by clothes-hangers type ceilings.

seems dangerous to me, but what do i know? other than i'm glad i'm not a cablemonkey, not much...
(4:33:05 PM)

my new exercise regimen: trade mag toting.
(11:13:06 AM)

just take a little off around the edges, thanks. can i pay you in funny money?
(10:14:25 AM)

woo is a funny word.
(1:02:30 AM)

Monday, March 20, 2000
*beeeeeeeeow*
(10:35:00 PM)

ummmm, duh.
(10:13:34 PM)

sometimes i think about the things i'd like to do if i wasn't doing the whole web thang. usually, it's something that i've got some natural talent for, like architect (i was always a wiz with legos), massuer (i've received at least 3 marriage requests based on my back-rub skills), or baseball player (i was a decent pitcher and i'm a lefty, but i didn't have enough heat to make it big).

lately though, i've been wantonly checking out another tech profession, game design. but for now, i'll stick to playing and window shopping, thanks.
(9:52:16 PM)

working on an "annual department plan" for the r&d department that i'm temporarily running. doing these types of plans are exactly the kind of things that drove me out of a single company position.

management, maintenance, and cost planning. blech. give me ideation and proof-of-concepting any day!
(7:42:35 PM)

Sunday, March 19, 2000
oh man, just got back from dinner with felix. we hit bourbon street shrimp, a cajun place that just rocks. i'm overstuft. must lie down.
(7:50:22 PM)

lazy day today. watching/listening to march madness, and weeding through stacks of unread magazines.

saw a friend's two person play last night. it was a hilarious modern interpretation of the story of oedipus rex. oded's one talented dude.
(2:59:44 PM)

Saturday, March 18, 2000
oops.
(6:33:45 PM)

Friday, March 17, 2000
ronald's a freakdaddy baby! (warning: 300k wmp stream. but hilarious.)
(3:39:00 PM)

wow, that's pretty broad range of services. great name, too.
(3:03:22 PM)

Thursday, March 16, 2000
spring training looks like a lot of fun. i think i'm going to head to phoenix next weekend to take in a few games. i'm going to steer well clear of the HoHoKams though.
(2:37:16 PM)

Wednesday, March 15, 2000
i was a bit bummed to find 100 Monkeys last night. i've been planning a site very similar to that for a while, and i own the domain emonkeys.com. oh well, there's still room to play with the idea, and many more toys that can go on my site (if/when i ever get around to building it). monkeys are fun.
(10:48:21 PM)

go nameboy go! a good new service that oughta save me quite a bit of time...
(10:43:39 AM)

eColi what?
(10:29:19 AM)

Tuesday, March 14, 2000
what's up with the new mcdonald's sizings? now, when you say "super-size", you get a whole bucket of coke. this family-sized bucket barely fits in most cars, let alone in any car cupholders. only in america...
(10:36:45 PM)

gotta love a 9 hour meeting!
(10:34:31 PM)

Monday, March 13, 2000
i must have the world's smallest hippocampus.

also: can you imagine being a taxi driver for 40+ years?
(3:24:31 PM)

Sunday, March 12, 2000
oh, and one more shot from atlanta: puddin'!
(12:53:42 PM)

a few shots from my day in the park in atlanta. as you can see, the park was packed with people doin' stuff, and playing with doggies. we brought along our own doggie, jake the wonderdog. he's the world's cutest dog. unfortunately, i didn't get really great shot of him. pretty much everyone we passed stopped us to ask what kind of dog he is (chihuahua/terrier mix). it was a good day.
(12:49:36 PM)

Saturday, March 11, 2000
for all of you folks around the country who're excited by the blossoming of quick-delivery markets like kozmo (which rocks, btw), get ready for the spread of pink dot.

made famous in "swingers", pink dot has been a westside la staple for years. they're now going nationwide.

i miss their little bugs with the hats, though...
(5:46:05 PM)

stuff smells really good on the first real day of spring.
(5:34:04 PM)

fukui-san! i caught an episode of "iron chef" for the first time last night. there's just something about the frenetic culinary battle, dubbed into english that mesmorized me. i hope to break free form the evil spell some day.
(5:30:04 PM)

Friday, March 10, 2000
i'm a tired monkey. i was up till 3:30 last night fixing ridiculous bugs in other people's code. gotta love that.

i'm looking forward to tonight, though. going to see my favorite funksters, mojo rib, at the dragonfly.
(4:21:17 PM)

it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, it's a lovely day for a neighbor. would you be mine? could you be mine?
(4:08:07 PM)

Thursday, March 09, 2000
i haven't seen or played "mario party", but it doesn't sound like much of a party to me. i'm a big gaming fan and all, but any game that burns or lacerates my hands is a bit too hard-core for me...
(2:20:57 PM)

when high-stakes slot machines aren't high-stake enough, start an incubator.
(1:12:49 PM)

phone bashing still makes me laugh.
(12:35:14 AM)

Tuesday, March 07, 2000
once again proving that ibm is Big Brother's best friend, now they're making systems to watch you shop at the supermarket and the mall.
(4:53:03 PM)

"Why ask for $3 million when you can get $500 million?"
(4:00:40 PM)

the folks over at artistdirect are amazingly smart. i worked with them to build the infrastructure for their artist stores back in the day, and almost went to work full-time with them 2 years ago. when they go public next month, my wallet will wear a frown for a few days...
(3:31:44 PM)

who could have known that this motley crew would someday rule the world?
(1:52:06 PM)

Monday, March 06, 2000
oh. so. tired. must. sleep. not. used. to. getting. up. at. 5am.

btw, i'm back in la. zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
(11:32:05 PM)

Sunday, March 05, 2000
ok, one issue with atlanta: like many cities, it's nearly impossible to find a place late on a sunday night to get a drink. what's up with that? any real city has to have some sunday night party people, right?
(10:32:53 PM)

atlanta's a pretty decent town, it turns out. and marriott suites are da bomb, too. earthlink, however, ain't so hot. i'm currently having to dial up to our pop in santa monica, because the atlanta pops refuse to recognize our corporate eartlink account login. what up with that???

anyway, i'll post some pictures of my great day in the park today -- replete with photos of jake, the wonderdog -- when i get back to la tomorrow.
(8:39:22 PM)

Friday, March 03, 2000
at lunch today i decided to go home to my parents' place for the weekend to relax. when i got back to the office, i had a message informing me that i'd instead be going to atlanta for an emergency triage mission for one of our clients. joy. oh well, at least i'll get to have dinner with sam.
(10:53:35 PM)

see, joe firmage was right! advanced technology did come from space invaders!
(10:51:28 PM)

Thursday, March 02, 2000
ho hum. the isp that hosts spivens.com is down right now. seems like that's been going around a lot lately...
(8:43:47 PM)

are you an addict? they oughta put warning labels on these things! =)
(8:33:07 PM)

hyperbole of the day: "Don't be surprised if [incubators] usher in changes as profound as those triggered by the assembly lines introduced in Detroit auto factories nearly a century ago." you're kidding, right? ummm, see that thing is called the INTERNET. incubators help speed-to-market somewhat. but the real profound change has already been triggered, by the web and the pervasiveness of personal computers. grrr.
(8:16:32 PM)

i think i'm finally about to kick the cold that i've had since new year's. this year is following the same pattern as the past 2: moderate cold symptoms for 2 weeks, diminished cold symptoms for 2 weeks, moderate cold symptoms with a nasty cough for 3 weeks, 60% deafness and head cold for 3 weeks, better. note to self: next year, more sand!
(7:28:11 PM)

convergence? it's going to happen (duh). but how this will impact conversion -- which really matters -- is an unanswered (and perhaps unanswerable?) question. what do you think?
(12:12:38 PM)

tonight was the vic's "webfest 2000 - spring" schmooze fest. just me and 2,000 of my closest e-buddies from the l.a. area talking biz, jobs, and bs. lots of people there hunting for heads and pontential partners. i didn't have my schmoozey boots on, though, so i mostly drove demos for ivt.

my favorite part of the evening was the "shuttle" ride from the parking lot at the getty over to the skirball (where the event transpired). the "shuttle" was a big yellow school bus, used during the day to ferry grade schoolers around. i don't know that i ever fit well in a school bus, but i can safely say that they're not designed for 6' 3" people. but the cramped quarters made it very easy to strike up conversations, and pretty much everyone was friendly and semi-interesting.

it's frightening how many people want into this whole "internet economy" thing, and how many not-so-smart people have already snuck in. yes, i'm an elitist pig. oink oink. (or is that "doink, doink"? =). ok, clearly time for bed.)
(1:10:27 AM)

 
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