DISQUS

Taking this concept five minutes into the future - I want a cell phone that automatically connects to a personalized virtual desktop whenever it detects an authorized connection (wi-fi, wimax, even a bluetooth connected PC).

This means that all of my digital identity and logins - basically a digital wallet - could be used at home, at the office, on a laptop and at starbucks with the identical look and feel across all of the screens and input combinations you would normally encounter. I can do this now with MS Remote Desktop, but my files and programs are on a specific machine - not living in the cloud where they can be accessed, tagged and shared like they should be.

This is an interesting question that I have discussed myself recently. The length, portability and content not to mention the 'discoverability' and consistent frequency of podcasts have made adoption as a regular form of media quite slow relatively speaking. I usually listen to tech related casts streamed through my browser. I'll only download them to a portable device if I'm travelling. I also agree the the Tivo podcast interface and controls make it unusable. I think that podcasts are best consumed as 'highlights' in a short format - not long rambling radio style shows. Once a podcast gets stale - more than a few weeks old, not including interviews - they have a lot less value. I just don't think the tail is that long for most of these podcasts we heat now.

I spoke with NaturallyCurly a few months ago at the beginning of their Angel raise and they claimed to have over 54,000 unique registered users and 800K/year in affiliate and advertising revenue. These numbers make the 'over $1m in revenue' seem plausible and I know that the newly reformed Central Texas Angel Network participated in the round. Funding a niche site that addresses 50% of the population (curly haired people, not just women) has a likely return on investment once they build more traction - and start getting buy out offers from consumer product manufacturers. (I did not invest, but I wish them luck).

I have been a big believer of 37Signals since their book and thought that their keynote speech at SXSW last year was excellent. That said, I thought that I was the only one who found Basecamp less than perfect. I still use it every day but I'm starting to dread it instead of feeling relieved that I've broken the shackles of my desktop apps. As far as the tone of their blog goes, I can't really comment since I'm only a semi-regular reader, but I strongly feel that anyone who curses in a "professional" setting is trying to hard to play with the cool kids.

dammit - no edit button - you know I meant: "extraordinaire"

Erica certainly knows her stuff in the Web 2.0 space. She's also a BarCamper and social networker extrodinare.

Back in high school, a bunch of my friends and I "rediscovered" monopoly and played somewhat competively over a summer. Much later, after college we sometimes incorporated it into our Poker Nights. We indeed reread the real rules (after the fifth or so time as a matter of fact), but opted to use the "universal" house rules that you mentioned. Even with new people joining us from other cities, they instinctively knew these rules. One of the charitable organizations I'm involved with has an annual Monopoly tournament that plays by the strict rules, but when we get together at the same table we make a pact to play by the "regular" house rules.

I just saw this advertised on TV last night - a Monopoly update called "Here and Now". This is a flash site of their new board: http://www.hasbro.com/monopoly/default.cfm?page... and I'm very curious if they have updated the rules accordingly.

I have been a huge fan of this team since I met them at SXSW a couple of years ago. On the business side, the market is absolutely enormous and on top of that, Ted is fanatical about putting his community first. My only issue with this investment is that I didn't get the call to participate on this round. On a personal note, I had actually signed up my dog before I met them and they were kind enough to make him the "dog of the day", which has become a fairly significant deal within the community in the last few years.

I don't think that I'd ever want to go into business with Trump, but he does have some very good points - and more importantly, he has enough money that people listen (or watch his show as the case may be). I stole this from someones blog whom I unfortunately failed to credit, but I kept it because it made a lot of sense to me:

"(My notes from attending a speech given by Mr. Trump at The Learning Annex in NYC on 2/11/2002)

Donald Trump’s Rules For Success

1. Think Big – The effort for projects with big payoffs is usually equal to the effort of projects with small payoffs, so you might as well go for the projects with the big payoffs.
2. Stay Focused – Get your ass in gear. Do not let distractions trip you up.
3. Be Paranoid – People are vicious, people are jealous, as the boxers say “keep your left up”. Your friends may not be your friends. It’s very hard to determine when someone is loyal to you, because when you’re on top they all appear loyal, but when you have problems or need sacrifices from them, you’ll find out who is really loyal and who’s a rat.
4. Follow The Momentum – Don’t lose your momentum. People who retire and “come back”, usually don’t succeed the second time around.
5. Be Passionate – Love and enjoy what you’re doing. One cannot succeed if one does not absolutely love what he’s doing.
6. Go Against The Tide – Be a contrarian. Buy when all others are selling. Sell when all others are buying.
7. Go With Your Gut – You know what is best. Opinions of others, especially those not as successful as you, are almost worthless.
8. Hire The Best People – but: (a) you have to like working with them, (b) you have to watch them like a hawk (see rule 3)
9. Get Even – Sometimes you need to show everyone that you’re not somebody they can fuck with. Instill a bit of fear into the environment to help prevent others from trying to screw you over.
10. Lawyers Are The Worst Scum – Be extra-careful when dealing with these guys.
11. Think Like A Winner – To be a winner, you have to think like a winner. Be self-confident, but not self-centered.
12. Discipline – You need to be disciplined as well as focused (see rule 2).
13. Make It As Much Fun As Possible – When you wake up each morning, you cannot cringe at the day ahead (see rule 5). You have to think to yourself, “how can I make this day as fun and as rewarding as possible?”
14. Be Tough – Don’t take shit from anyone. If someone is trying to take advantage of you, don’t let them do it. In a market economy, there are always alternatives to paying or working with these people. The best solution is to drop them quick and find someone else to replace them."