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Trouble Cooking for the GYM

Posted on August 5, 2005 ·

Jeff Clavier ponders about startups’ hiring difficulties in the face of competition from the “Big 3”: Talent grabbing war at the GYM

“Did you also have this feeling that the “Big 3” (Google, Yahoo and Microsoft – let’s refer to them as the GYM) were not only deploying new features on an accelerated “tit for tat” basis, but they are also on a wide ranging talent grab ? I bet you did…”

Well, it would appear there’s one talent in even shorter supply then engineering, and this one is not even high-tech.  Google is having trouble filling two Executive Chef positions.   It must be a VIP position, a Google VP heads up the Selection Committee.

 “It’s been a challenge to get someone who has the scale and quality (to live up to the company’s expectations),” said Susan Wojcicki, a Google vice president on the hiring committee. “
(LA Times via SFGate)

 Google plans to invite the top applicants for a cook-off, preparing meals for several dozen members of a tasting committee that probably will include co- founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.

I’ll be happy to volunteer my services on the Tasting Committee

 
Update (8/5): I thought it might be appropriate  to link to a Google Lunch Menu.  (Baileys Irish Cream Cheesecake.. ahh).  Notice where it  is posted: on Google’s Job Opportunities! 🙂

Update (8/15): (G)oops, now they can’t even throw a party! 🙂

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Mystery Tree Planter Strikes Again

Posted on July 29, 2005 ·

“Authorities are baffled over a mystery tree planter who struck again in the rural Oak Park section of east Ventura County.
…Two more oak trees were added this month to the 20 planted in open space since early 2004 and no one knows who put them there.
…The Mystery Tree Planter first struck in January 2004, when 15 valley, coastal live and holly oaks suddenly appeared in an open area in Medea Creek Park.Park District officials went door-to-door in the neighborhood bordering the planting site in an effort to find out who was planting the trees.
…We want to talk to him and give him some recognition…We’re not looking at punishment. We all want more trees.”

Well, I don’t get it .. The guy is obviously a do-gooder, everyone’s happy, nobody wants to “punish” him .. why spend taxpayer money investigating him?

local6.com – News – Mystery Tree Planter Strikes Again

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Magazine Ads down, Blogs Up

Posted on July 28, 2005 ·

Newsweek Drops Issue, Cites Poor Ad Sales

Due to low ad pages during late summer, Newsweek is trimming the number of issues it publishes by one, opting for a double issue dated Aug. 29-Sept. 5, Mediaweek reports.


Through July 19, Newsweek’s ad pages have fallen 15.6 percent this year, to 970. It’s not alone. A lack of spending in the technology and automotive sectors has hurt the whole newsweekly category with ad pages falling 10.5 percent, to 6,332 through July 19.

Source: MediaBuyerPlanner

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New Private Space Craft

Posted on July 28, 2005 ·
Jeff Nolan ponders about why taxpayer $ is spent on trying to send tired old vehicles up in space, instead of creating new ones.  Btw, for all I know the Russian Progress and Soyuz flights are just as aging as ours, an they had their fair share of problems, too.  Anyway while NASA is spending OUR money on band-aid solutions, private capital gets into building new space vehicles, albeit sub-orbital ones:
 

Richard Branson and Burt Rutan Form Spacecraft Building Company
By Leonard David
Senior Space Writer
posted: 27 July 2005
03:09 pm ET

British entrepreneur, Sir Richard Branson, has teamed up with aerospace designer, Burt Rutan of Scaled Composites to form a new aerospace production company. The new firm will build a fleet of commercial suborbital spaceships and launch aircraft.

Full article here.


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Work Life Balance

Posted on July 26, 2005 ·
I’ve read several posts on Work Life Balance recently by Fred Wilson,  Brad Feld and Steve Shu.  What a co-incidence that I received a relevant email today… it’s one of those chain-mails, I don’t even know who to credit as original author, but it’s good enough that I felt compelled to share here.
 
The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Cups of Coffee . .

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “yes.”

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor as the laughter subsided, “I want you to
recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the
important things–God, your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions–and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car. The sand is everything else–the small stuff.”

“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you. “Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first–the things that really matter. Set your priorities.
The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee
represented. The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”

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Debris Falling from Discovery

Posted on July 26, 2005 ·
 CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA officials are analyzing video of a portion of Tuesday’s shuttle launch “frame-by-frame” after one of several cameras aboard the craft captured what appeared to be pieces of debris separating from Discovery, according to Local 6 News.

  • “The question was asked whether this was a danger to the orbiter?,” Forbes said. “Officials said they did not think so but they are still going to analyze the video.”

    Local 6 News aired video showing the pieces apparently coming loose while the shuttle’s solid rocket boosters separated (pictured, left).

    SLIDESHOW: Cam Catches Debris Falling Off Shuttle
    VIDEO: Video Shows Pieces Coming Loose
    IMAGES: See The Launch

    There also appears to have been a large piece of debris coming off the external fuel tank two minutes into the flight — but it doesn’t appear to have hit the orbiter, Associated Press reported.

    Watch the video here.

    Update:  NASA now reports Discovery hit a bird seconds after launch. Full coverage here.

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    Google Maps now Include the Moon :-)

    Posted on July 20, 2005 ·

    First there was Google Maps, then Google Earth,  and now here’s Google Moon.  

    Now we have proof that the Moon is really made of Cheese!  You’ll need to zoom to the max … is that Emmenthaler?

    Can’t wait for the first wine & cheese tasting tour to the Moon…

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    Senator McCain in Raunchy Movie (???)

    Posted on July 13, 2005 ·

    WTF!  This has to be a joke! (???) … or so I hope.  According to the Drudge Report,  "Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. -- who once held hearings chastising Hollywood studios for producing R- rated films and marketing them to teens -- is now playing a part in one!"

    Opening this weekend, WEDDING CRASHERS, a movie packed with raunchy moments and bare-breasted beauties bedding down with the guys."

    I guess if actors can turn into politicians, it has to work the other way around, too... (???)

    What's next?  Howard Stern to the Senate?

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    “Midwest” Discovered between East and West Coasts

    Posted on July 10, 2005 ·

      “NEW YORK—A U.S. Geological Survey expeditionary force announced Tuesday that it has discovered a previously unknown and unexplored land mass between the New York and California coasts known as the “Midwest….

    … Thus far we have discovered places known as Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin,” said Randall Zachary, chief navigator for the expedition. “When translated from the local dialect into English, these words seem to mean ‘summer camp….

    … surprised to learn that the Midwest, whose inhospitable environment was long believed to be incapable of supporting human life, is indeed populated, albeit sparsely…

    …Though the Midwest territory is still largely unexplored, early reports describe a region as backwards as it is vast. “Many of the basic aspects of a civilized culture appear to be entirely absent,” said Gina Strauch, a Los Angeles-based anthropologist…

    …We must remember that these people are not at all like us,” Conde Nast publisher and Manhattan socialite Lucille Randolph Snowdon said. “They are crude and provincial, bewildered by our tall buildings and our art galleries, our books and our coffee shops. For an L.A. resident to attempt to interact with one of them as he or she would with, say, a Bostonian is ludicrous. It appears unlikely that we will ever be able to conduct a genuine exchange of ideas with them about anything, save perhaps television or ‘the big game.'”

    source:  the ONION:    

    Interesting … reminds me of another map we’ve all seen in 2004 and 2000:

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    Accidental President

    Posted on July 6, 2005 ·

     Our Accidental President (remember Florida!)  proves to be Accidental in more then one way; he seems to be having a lot of accidents:

     
     – fell off a Segway (isn’t that almost impossible) in Maine
     – fell off a mountain bike in Texas
     – and now fell off a bike at the G8 summit, hitting a local cop.
     
    Isn’t it time he gets on  training wheels?
     

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