Monday, June 21, 2010
E3 2010
E3 2010
The 2010 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California on June 15-17.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Fault Lines- In Deep Water: A Way of Life in Peril
In the two months since the Deepwater Horizon explosion, millions of litres of oil have gushed out of BP's well into the water each day, slowly encroaching on the coastline. Fault Lines' Avi Lewis travels to the drill zone, and learns about the erosion in the wetlands from industry canals and pipelines, the health problems blamed on contaminated air and water from petrochemical refineries.
Audio Podcast:What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20
Description
Tina Seelig, Executive Director for the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, provides insights on life, leadership, and the little things that make a big difference in an entrepreneurial setting.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Vegetarian dolmas - The Hairy Bikers - BBC
The Hairy Bikers teach you how to make a delicious vegetarian mezze platter. This clip concentrates on the best way to make dolmas, or stuffed vine leaves. Great recipe idea from BBC cooking show Hairy Bikers Cook Book
Crispy Vietnamese beef - The Hairy Bikers - BBC
Simon King, one of the Hairy Bikers falls off the dock in Vietnam during filming leaving Dave Myers alone to cook a delicious crispy beef recipe. Great idea for dinner from BBC cooking show Hairy Bikers Cook Book.
Crab and fish vermicelli Soup - The Hairy Bikers - BBC
The Hairy Bikers explain how to make a delicious crab and fish vermicelli soup. Great recipe idea from the popular BBC show. Watch more high quality videos on the new BBC Worldwide YouTube channel here
鳳山生明社區關懷據點交流-
高雄縣鳳山市生明社區關懷照顧據點，為讓社區志工具更多視野，見習其它社區營造之優點，供自己社區更具競爭，與做更好的社區老人照顧，來關懷社區老人福址，特地與頂菜園社區老人照顧關懷站，做跨社區交流與分享營造經驗。
阿吉嫂旅行團農村踏賾
高雄市左營區新庒地區的阿吉哥與阿吉嫂，一個月前在網路搜尋到，嘉義新港板頭頂菜園，這景點蠻不錯的地方，可回味坐山寨版五分仔小火車走大路新體驗，看著頂菜園鄉土館陳列早期農村古物、台灣農村諺語、詼諧俏語的導覽人員解說，感受到一趟知性之旅的樂趣。
成大醫學院多媒體走訪農村
成功大學醫學院多媒體資訊課程，走訪農村之行，來到了板頭社區參訪，捕捉最原始的農村風味之景，學員快門拍攝農村美景，坐著公舊縣營公車欣賞，全國最大跤趾陶剪黏大壁畫，感受農村生活氣息。
2010 Oyster Jubilee (New Orleans, LA)
2010 Oyster Jubilee (New Orleans, LA)
Yearly, along Bourbon Street.
You can’t visit New Orleans without feasting on the bread bound mainstay: The Po’ Boy. Historically the sandwich is a mashup of whatever scraps you could find, thrown into a classic Leidehiemer roll. Today, Po’ Boy’s can be found jam packed with roast beef, crisp catfish, plump shrimp or my favorite: OYSTERS!
In this episode of VendrTV we visited the 2010 Oyster Jubilee, a celebration of seafood and creole cookin’ at it’s best. And not only did we feast on Po’ Boy, we witnessed a world record: The Creation of the World’s Longest Po’ Boy Sandwich! Yum.
El Palacio de los Jugos (Miami, FL)
El Palacio de los Jugos (Miami, FL)
5721 West Flagler Street
Not all street food’s on wheels – in fact, for centuries cultures have eaten their version of street food in open air outdoor markets and bazaars. In Miami, part of that tradition lives on at El Palacio de los Jugos – The Juice Palace. The name first came from their original business – creating delicious fresh juices from classic Cuban fruits and veggies. However, today the Palace in Palacio certainly shines strong! The place is a mecca of classic Cuban culture and cuisine. From Cafe Cubana (Cuban Coffee) to Chicharon (friend pork rinds), El Palacio offers some of the most amazing Cuban cuisine I’ve had here in The States.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Y Combinator Gives A Crash Course On What It’s Like To ‘Work At A Startup’
Y Combinator Gives A Crash Course On What It’s Like To ‘Work At A Startup’
Posted: 17 Jun 2010 08:31 PM PDT
Watch live video from Y Combinator on Justin.tv
Tonight at its headquarters in Mountain View, California, Y Combinator invited dozens of programmers to a new event called Work at a Startup. The event, which was announced last month, is meant to help expose programmers to what they should expect when they go about joining a startup (YC’s Paul Graham thinks that a lot of them tend to join more established companies like Microsoft simply because startup life seems so nebulous). The event is complementary to Y Combinator’s Startup School, which is meant to help entrepreneurs start a company from scratch. My notes from the event are below, and you can watch an archived video of the event here.
The event kicked off with a talk from Graham, who detailed what programmers should think about when they’re debating whether or not to join a startup.
Graham says that the two main things that prospective employees should be gauging are fun and money. You obviously want to maximize both, and the startup end of the job market is the “bargain”, because you can have fun and make a lot of money. Assuming, of course, you pick the right startup.
The second thing you need to figure out, Graham says, is whether or not the startup lifestyle is really for you. In general, he’s found that startup founders who join a large company after being acquired aren’t as happy in their new home as they were when they were running the show. The reason? Bureaucracy. There are meetings and you have to ask for permission to get things done — things that aren’t issues at most startups.
Graham says that some people (and all founders) are like that. But others aren’t. The way to tell, he says, is to ask yourself if you like the prospect of having (and implementing) many ideas at work, in which case a startup is probably the place for you. If you don’t think having ideas are a part of the job, then he says you’re probably better suited for corporate culture.
The next step is figuring out which startup you want to work at. Graham says this is actually a lot like being an investor, the difference being that investors are giving startups their time and money, while you’re giving them your work. So how do you tell which startups are promising? The secret, Graham says, is to look at the founders — even if they have an unsexy company or domain, if you have great founders, the company is more likely to go on to great things.
Alright, so you’ve found a great startup — can you expect to make a lot of money? This varies a lot, depending on how early you’re joining. Graham says that if you’ve found a startup that you want to join, you should do it quickly, because things can change fast (and the amount of equity you can expect can drop precipitously). He relayed an anecdote about a company Yahoo was thinking about acquiring for $1 billion a few years ago. After mulling it over for a few months, Yahoo agreed to pay $1 billion, at which point the company told them they’d grown and now wanted $2 billion (the unnamed company sounds a whole lot like Facebook). Moral of the story: don’t sit around thinking about things too long when startups are involved.
As for how much equity you can expect, Graham says that at the high-end, for a one-founder company with no employees, you may be able to get 50%. From there, things drop quickly — if you’re talking to a company with two founders and angel funding, you may be able to get 5-10%. Post series A, it’s hard to get more than 1%. The trade-off here is risk — most companies never get to their Series A.
Ultimately, Graham says that when you’re joining a startup, you’re looking for a company that is undervalued for the stage it is at, and that’s most likely to eventually IPO. Of course, that’s all easier said than done.
The event then switched to pitch mode, when over thirty startups gave a whirlwind series of presentations telling the audience why they should join them (it was like a speed dating job fair for startups).
CrunchBase Information
Y Combinator
Posted: 17 Jun 2010 08:31 PM PDT
Watch live video from Y Combinator on Justin.tv
Tonight at its headquarters in Mountain View, California, Y Combinator invited dozens of programmers to a new event called Work at a Startup. The event, which was announced last month, is meant to help expose programmers to what they should expect when they go about joining a startup (YC’s Paul Graham thinks that a lot of them tend to join more established companies like Microsoft simply because startup life seems so nebulous). The event is complementary to Y Combinator’s Startup School, which is meant to help entrepreneurs start a company from scratch. My notes from the event are below, and you can watch an archived video of the event here.
The event kicked off with a talk from Graham, who detailed what programmers should think about when they’re debating whether or not to join a startup.
Graham says that the two main things that prospective employees should be gauging are fun and money. You obviously want to maximize both, and the startup end of the job market is the “bargain”, because you can have fun and make a lot of money. Assuming, of course, you pick the right startup.
The second thing you need to figure out, Graham says, is whether or not the startup lifestyle is really for you. In general, he’s found that startup founders who join a large company after being acquired aren’t as happy in their new home as they were when they were running the show. The reason? Bureaucracy. There are meetings and you have to ask for permission to get things done — things that aren’t issues at most startups.
Graham says that some people (and all founders) are like that. But others aren’t. The way to tell, he says, is to ask yourself if you like the prospect of having (and implementing) many ideas at work, in which case a startup is probably the place for you. If you don’t think having ideas are a part of the job, then he says you’re probably better suited for corporate culture.
The next step is figuring out which startup you want to work at. Graham says this is actually a lot like being an investor, the difference being that investors are giving startups their time and money, while you’re giving them your work. So how do you tell which startups are promising? The secret, Graham says, is to look at the founders — even if they have an unsexy company or domain, if you have great founders, the company is more likely to go on to great things.
Alright, so you’ve found a great startup — can you expect to make a lot of money? This varies a lot, depending on how early you’re joining. Graham says that if you’ve found a startup that you want to join, you should do it quickly, because things can change fast (and the amount of equity you can expect can drop precipitously). He relayed an anecdote about a company Yahoo was thinking about acquiring for $1 billion a few years ago. After mulling it over for a few months, Yahoo agreed to pay $1 billion, at which point the company told them they’d grown and now wanted $2 billion (the unnamed company sounds a whole lot like Facebook). Moral of the story: don’t sit around thinking about things too long when startups are involved.
As for how much equity you can expect, Graham says that at the high-end, for a one-founder company with no employees, you may be able to get 50%. From there, things drop quickly — if you’re talking to a company with two founders and angel funding, you may be able to get 5-10%. Post series A, it’s hard to get more than 1%. The trade-off here is risk — most companies never get to their Series A.
Ultimately, Graham says that when you’re joining a startup, you’re looking for a company that is undervalued for the stage it is at, and that’s most likely to eventually IPO. Of course, that’s all easier said than done.
The event then switched to pitch mode, when over thirty startups gave a whirlwind series of presentations telling the audience why they should join them (it was like a speed dating job fair for startups).
CrunchBase Information
Y Combinator
The problem with game consoles
BERKELEY, Calif. (MarketWatch) -- There is a confluence of events taking place that has the potential to ruin or radically change the game console business.
This business is dominated by Microsoft Corp. (MSFT 26.40, -0.04, -0.15%) , Sony Corp. (SNE 27.83, -0.06, -0.21%) and Nintendo Ltd. (NTDOY 39.23, +1.18, +3.10%) . These companies are adjusting their models as fast as they can, but may be doomed by the rise of the tablet computer and HDMI.
The problem for the game consoles is simple, the new machine refresh rate is too slow. In other words new game consoles that are completely backward-compatible with older game consoles seems to take an eternity to be developed when compared to the constant improvement in speed, lower cost and capabilities of computers themselves.
The problem with game consoles
JOHN DVORAK'S SECOND OPINION
Commentary: Industry giants need to speed up the pace of development
digits: Nintendo focus on 3-D without the glasses
A 3-D experience without special glasses is a challenge that has foiled television makers. But portable devices may be a different story, as Nintendo hopes to prove with a high-profile game system unveiled this week. Daisuke Wakabayashi explains.
When you consider the fact that a game console is just a specialized computer, you have to wonder why these companies cannot pick up the pace.
I've often thought about this and determined that it is because these companies are not computer companies and are not used to the faster pace. But Sony is a computer company and Microsoft knows the ropes.
So what's wrong? In the process they are making their entire industry obsolete.
Take, for example, the Xbox line from Microsoft. The original console was released in 2001 and the system was upgraded and re-released in 2005. In four years one generation of console was managed. This, at the time this was considered phenomenal.
And it was phenomenal by the standards of game consoles.
Look at Sony. It showed its original Playstation console in 1992 and couldn't ship it until 1994. It was six years later in 2000 that it managed to release its upgraded and new PS2 which became a runaway best seller. Another six years passed and the PS3 was released.
If Microsoft could keep up a seemingly mild pace of upgrades every four years it would be on to new generation of machines already. We'd be waiting two more years to get anything from Sony.
Microsoft is following the slow pace of Sony.
This would all be fine if nothing else in the universe was going on. Enter the iPad (AAPL 273.96, -0.11, -0.04%) .
The iPad was never designed to be a replacement for a game console, but it is already showing signs of being a replacement for the Nintendo DS-type of handheld gaming device.
Computers show generational shifts every 18 months, not every six years. Within the next two years the iPad-type device using a modern HDMI connector will be shown with game controllers and games that will easily top the capability of the game console. If they just get close, add another 18 months to the timeline and the consoles will be toast for sure.
And what you are going to see is another trend, the universality of top games. During the console wars, certain games could only be played on certain consoles. These exclusive deals are falling by the wayside because the market is so large that exclusive deals cannot make up for lost sales on competing platforms.
This marketing math will worsen when the iPad, Android Pad and others reach a critical mass of users. This will mean selling pads at a 5-million-per quarter rate, about the same sales as consoles. This sales rate could be achieved by this time next year.
It will take another year before the potential for these devices is fully realized.
This can all be thwarted by a concerted effort by Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo to up the ante and pick up the pace of new console releases.
Because the entire industry is perceived as a razor-blade business whereby you lose money on the consoles and make money on proprietary games, picking up the pace is an expensive proposition that these companies will not do.
That model will be the end of them eventually.
Decades of high unemployment likely
Decades of high unemployment likely
Baker: Current policies more concerned with deficit than solving unemployment crisis
Bio
Dean Baker is co-director of The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR). He is the author of several books including, The United States Since 1980; Social Security: The Phony Crisis (with Mark Weisbrot); and The Benefits of Full Employment (with Jared Bernstein). He appears frequently on TV and radio programs, including CNN, CBS News, PBS NewsHour, and National Public Radio.
Baker: Current policies more concerned with deficit than solving unemployment crisis
Bio
Dean Baker is co-director of The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR). He is the author of several books including, The United States Since 1980; Social Security: The Phony Crisis (with Mark Weisbrot); and The Benefits of Full Employment (with Jared Bernstein). He appears frequently on TV and radio programs, including CNN, CBS News, PBS NewsHour, and National Public Radio.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
100 top toxic air polluters in USA
100 top toxic air polluters in USA
Michael Ash: The EPA needs more regulation, not just "inform the public"
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