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Is Evil More Readable than Good?

Posted on June 15, 2006 ·

Dennis Howlett recently ran a readability test on some blogs he follows. The Gunning Fog index is a rough measure of how many years of schooling it would take someone to understand the content. The lower the number, the more understandable the content is.

This reminded me of another test I wrote about, the Gematriculator, which calculates the Evil / Good ratio of a website.

Now for the shocking result: I took a sample of blogs I read, and ran them through both test. Blogs with a higher Evil ratio appear to be more readable! Wow! But of course the sample was too small, to really see if there is strong correlation we’d need a larger sample. So, in the name of science (?) please fill in the form below, using the results from the Readability test and the Gematriculator:

If the form does not work in your feed, please click through to my blog to complete it. When I have a large enough sample, I will publish the statistics.

Thanks for your participation!

Update (6/15): The form I created is fairly basic, but there is a lot more you can do with Zoho Creator, as this animated tour demonstrates.

Filed Under: Blogging, Humor, Misc, Personal Productivity ·
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What do MommyBuzz and Ziki Have in Common

Posted on June 15, 2006 ·

(Updated)
MommyBuzzMommyBuzz launched today announces Steve Rubel.

Business model? The same that Ziki started with: commission-based deals with sunglass-manufacturers. If you visit the site, you’ll see it yourself – but not for long, your eyes will burn (sans shades).

Ziki toned down there colors in a few days – let’s see how soon Mommy gets the buzz ….

Btw, in my usual Johnny-come-lately fashion I thought I would register Toddlerbuzz … too late.

Update (1029):  Mommybuzz does not seem to care.. apparently they think the eye-burning colors work. See VentureBeat on this and other Mom-sites.

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Filed Under: Humor, Marketing / PR, Social Networking, Startups ·
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Betting on Ben’s Gap Year Travel Blog

Posted on June 14, 2006 ·

Too bad Alexadex is not for real money… otherwise I’d be buying shares in Ben Casnocha‘s so far dormant, but soon higly read Gap Year Travel Blog. A safe bet …

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Filed Under: Bay Area, Blogging, Misc ·
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Youtube Brings Back Memories – Queen in Budapest

Posted on June 13, 2006 ·

I recently said in my Tiananmen post that Youtube allowed me to see parts of history that I missed in original, back in 1989. Well, here’s another one that has nostalgic value to me from 1986 in Budapest, Hungary:


(Watch the video on Youtube should the embedded player not work)The “weird” language is Hungarian, and Freddie Mercury is singing a Hungarian Folklore song. In 1986 the Queen performed in front of 80,000 people in a crowded stadium in Budapest. They also shot a full feature movie, “Queen Live in Budapest” featured the band members taking day trips into the country, including race-car driving, hot-air balloons, visits to the Royal Castle, Freddie buying up half the inventory in all the city’s antique shops…

I was a student then, moonlighting as translator for several bands visiting “behind the iron curtain”. Too bad my assignment was John Deacon who spent most of his time in his room… My friend, Gabor had a lot more fun taking Freddie to all those places, and teaching him “Tavaszi Szel”, the folklore song in the clip above. He had the English pronunciation of the lyrics scribed on his palm.Here’s another 6-minute video providing some background on the Queens tour in Budapest. (Hm, it says 72k people … all I know is the stadium’s capacity was 80k, tickets sold out long in advance, and lots of people got in with guest passes .. or without).

Update (9/27/07): For whatever reason this lil’ post got picked up by Queenzone.com and is now getting hundreds of readers. Funny… readers are asking “where’s John?”. Here’s a little piece of the video showing him in Budapest, outside Hotel Intercontinental ( I think it’s a Marriott today).

The guy sitting at the table, facing John, with his back to the camera is yours truly … my 3 seconds of fame smile_wink

Filed Under: Misc · Tagged: , , , ,
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Techdirt Greenhouse: It’s all about the Participation

Posted on June 13, 2006 ·

Techdirt GreenhouseThe success of traditional conferences largely depends on the quality of the presentations: that’s not the case with the Techdirt Greenhouse. Techdirt’s secret sauce is to minimize “presentation” time, and get everyone involved in lively discussions/debates. Add to this an innovative scheme of randomly rotating participants through different groups, and you get maximum networking effect. A perfect mix for a great unconference.

But instead of me describing the “secret”, get it right from the source: Mike Masnick, Techdirt’s Founder & CEO was interviewed on CNET/News.com.

The crowd was a mix of startup-types, service providers to them (consultant, lawyer..etc), venture capitalists, media types…a good mix. For example at one of the breakout-groups tackling the issue of “What is the place for traditional media in an environment where the public is making their own entertainment” we mostly had entrepreneurs, but there were 2 participants representing “old media’, which provided a good balance.

The quality of the presentations or simply their relevance to the predefined, more generic question is always the unknown factor, and this event was no exception.

Jeff Nolan does a good job of explaining what went wrong with the first presentation. Before we knew what was going on, we were deep into looking at features, the presenter typing away live, when all she had was 5 minutes. I would have spent that 5 minutes describing the business, the problem I am solving – basically focus on the what and why, rather than the how.

I few other presenters insisted on using their Powerpoint slides, despite Techdirt’s explicit request not to. Mike, if you don’t mind me giving unsolicited advice, these are issues you can handle in advance: guide your speakers whether you expect a product demo or overall intro, and most importantly, stick to your own rule: No Powerpoint means exactly that, No Powerpoint. If someone cannot speak for 5 minutes without the slide, they are likely not the right presenters, so move on.

Initially I was baffled at some of the selected presenters/subjects, for example Alignent, a company developing a process management/control product around innovation at large corporations. Now, in my world, innovation and structure, process, control do not belong in one sentence. (see Jackie’s comments here). But it turned out to be a good choice, after all, the key tenet of the Greenhouse is that it’s not about the presentations: we spend most of our time on the breakout groups, and this presentation provoked quite a lively discussion.

I will write separately about some of the discussion topic I lead or participated in .

While on the subject of discussion I’d like to believe it’s not over .. in fact we just started something that will live on. The intensity level of the debates, the energy level in the rooms was fantastic, and we often felt we were just warming up by the time we had to wrap up… so why lose that energy? In fact why not widen the group of people and involve many others who could not make it California last Saturday? Everybody, please feel invited to participate: the Techdirt Greenhouse Wiki is open, waiting for you. There are two ways to contribute: adding comments to the relevant pages, which is like using a typical discussion forum, or clicking on “Edit” which allows you to modify the original entry. Yes, there are no controls – it’s an open social experiment. (Thanks to WetPaint, whose easy-to-use platform will launch in the very near future)

Summing it up: I enjoyed the the second Techdirt Greenhouse just as much as the first one: Mike, when is the third one?

Update (6/14): Special thanks to Sean Murphy, who keeps on updating the wiki with valuable information, and is doing a lot of mundane background work, to include all attendee’s URL’s, links to presenting companies sites, as well as related ones.

Related posts:

Filed Under: Business, Collaboration, Technology ·
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SVASE VC Breakfast Club with Ken Elefant, Opus Capital

Posted on June 13, 2006 ·

The next SVASE VC Breakfast Club meeting is on Thursday, June 15th in Menlo Park – the VC Mecca, Sand Hill Road. As usual, it’s an informal round-table where up to 10 entrepreneurs get to deliver a pitch, then answer questions and get critiqued by a VC Partner. We’ve had VC’s from Draper Fisher, Hummer Winblad, Kleiner Perkins, Mayfield, Mohr Davidow, Emergence Capital …etc.

Thursday’s featured VC is Ken Elefant, General Partner, Opus Capital. The Zvents post has all the info and a map, and if you plan to attend, please register here.

These sessions are an incredible opportunity for Entrepreneurs, most of whom would probably have a hard time getting through the door to VC Partners. Since I’ve been through quite a few of these sessions, both as Entrepreneur and Moderator, let me share a few thoughts:

  • It’s a pressure-free environment, with no Powerpoint presentations, Business Plans…etc, just casual conversation, but it does not mean you should come unprepared!
  • Bring an Executive Summary, some VC’s like it, others don’t.
  • Follow a structure, don’t just talk freely about what you would like to do, or even worse, spend all your time describing the problem, without addressing what your solution is.
  • Don’t forget “small things” like the Team, Product, Market..etc.
  • It would not hurt to mention how much you are looking for, and how you would use the funds…
  • Write down and practice your pitch, and prepare to deliver a compelling story in 3 minutes. You will have about 5, but believe me, whatever your practice time was, when you are on the spot, you will likely take twice as long to deliver your story. The second half of your time-slot is Q&A with the VC.
  • Last, but not least, please be on time! I am not kidding… some of you know why I even have to bring this up.

Here’s a participating Entrepreneur’s feedback about a previous event.

See you on Thursday! Zbutton

Filed Under: Bay Area, Business, Social Networking, Startups ·
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Effective Small Business Owner or Corporate BS-er?

Posted on June 13, 2006 ·

Even after the second reading of 10 Reminders for Effective Management I can’t believe my eyes. I wonder if it’s a serious article or a satirical piece. As if the article wasn’t shocking enough, I really have a hard time believing that it’s posted on Small Business Trends – a site I came to like and even quote from time to time.

Although technically it’s advice to small business owners, it reminds me of the 80’s corporate mid-manager’s survival guides, as in “how to BS your way through your career, looking busy while doing nothing“. I know I have entrepreneurial readers – what do you think?

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Filed Under: Business, Personal Productivity, SMB / SME, Startups ·
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A Tale of Flashdance, Microsoft and IBM

Posted on June 13, 2006 ·

The woman whose life was the inspiration for the hit ’80s movie “Flashdance” lost her bid in court Monday for a copyright interest in the film, which grossed more than $150 million at the box office in the United States.

Maureen Marder, the former construction worker by day and exotic dancer by night depicted onscreen by Jennifer Beals, released her interest in the project for $2,300 shortly before the film hit theaters in 1983. (Full story at the SF Chronicle)

$2,300 out of $150M … too bad. But a deal is a deal. Just like the deal Bill Gates made with Tim Paterson to buy his QDOS operating system for a grand total of $50K in 1980.

The small fact that Gates and company forgot to mention is that they already had a deal with IBM to develop the next generation Operating System, to be later known as MS-DOS. Still, the real loser in this deal is not Paterson, but Gary Kildall, whose CP/M was the foundation for QDOS.

On second thought, I take it back. The real loser in the deal was IBM, that allowed Gates to keep the rights to DOS and licensed it on a per-copy based royalty instead, essentially “creating” Microsoft, the Monopoly. They did not have a Deal Architect to advise them. ( A funny coincidence that on the day I talk about Flashdance, Vinnie quotes the Dire Straits).

Update (6/14): What a timing! Read Scoble’s piece: Oh, and my brother wrote MS-DOS.

This must be Dire Straits week, read Jeff Nolan here.

 

Finally, a flashback to Flashdance (should the embedded player not work, watch the video here)

Filed Under: Business, Misc, Software ·
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Google is so Generous to me

Posted on June 12, 2006 ·

I have no clue how on earth my little post became the second hit Google brings up on a “Duet SAP” search, but I am certainly not complaining. The first one is Microsoft, then comes yours truly, followed by the Gartner group (hey, InformationWeek was right, after all!) and only then comes SAP itself.

Keep up the good work, Google, I like it.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Enterprise Software, ERP / CRM, Marketing / PR ·
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Time to Load up on Flat Panels?

Posted on June 12, 2006 ·

Flat ScreenDisplaySearch reports that “LDC desktop monitor market seasonal decline was greater than had been forecast for the first quarter of 2006….As LCD panel production continued to ramp in the quarter, LCD monitor panel inventories continued to build“

Hm, sounds like a buying opportunity… I want to see hot flat screen deals

Talk about deals, Dell p***ed me off. Not in the personal way they did with Jeff Jarvis, just with their print promotions. The May catalogue arrived in the last days of the month (this is by design, Dell prints delivery date of May 24-26 on it), with travel and everything it took me a little while before checking it, but by now the promo codes are not valid, and the deals online are far worse than in the catalogue.

Now, I understand sometimes “hot online deals” only last hours… but shouldn’t print media promotions last a few weeks? Oh, well, I am not getting a Dell.

Update (6/13): Read Techdirt on Dell.

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Filed Under: Misc, Technology ·
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