Zoli's Blog

TeleFlip – Cool Email to SMS Service

Posted on March 25, 2006 ·

If you’re like me, struggling to switch from the QWERTY keyboard of your old Treo … etc, and hate trying to SMS using the T9 input of the smaller cell-phones, you’ll appreciate this service: TeleFlip allows you to send a SMS to any North-American cell-phone by entering the address as phoneno@teleflip.com.

Try it, you’ll love it (well, as long as you’re close to a QWERTY keayboard).

Update (3/25): Google also has a text-to-SMS service but you have to know the carrier, which today, in the age of number portability makes it quite useless.

Tags: teleflip, sms, qwerty, t9, cellular, cellphones, mobile, google

Filed Under: Personal Productivity ·

Bush’s Candid Moment

Posted on March 24, 2006 ·

Several posts (Steve Rubel, BL Ochman ..etc) picked on how President Bush acknowledged Blogs as increasingly powerful media. The video is available here.

The story is already widely discussed, I don’t want to echo it, rather pick a un unusually candid moment – or just a slip of the tounge? – when the Pres. acknowledges he’s just rambling:

“WOMAN: … and I’m sorry I’m rambling on like I have –
BUSH: So was I though, for like an hour –
[laughter]”

Bush Encourages New Media (youtube vid here)
Bush Asks Americans to Blog!
Bush: Use Blogs to Spread the Truth About Iraq
Let It Shine
Dubya Digs the Blogoshpere

Tags: bush, politics, iraq, media, blogs, blogging, humor

Filed Under: Humor, Politics ·

How to Spot a Baby Conservative – or Liberal

Posted on March 22, 2006 ·

“Remember the whiny, insecure kid in nursery school, the one who always thought everyone was out to get him, and was always running to the teacher with complaints? Chances are he grew up to be a conservative…The confident kids turned out liberal and were still hanging loose, turning into bright, non-conforming adults with wide interests“

Read the full story at the Toronto Star. It’s an interesting piece, my only comment is that I don’t think a sample of 95 kids, especially from one area is representative enough.

Others on the subject:

Tags: politics, conservatives, liberals

Filed Under: Politics ·

Would You Buy a $500 Bottle of Wine at Wal-Mart?

Posted on March 22, 2006 ·

Wal-Mart is trying to be Costco. It is targeting upscale shoppers in a new, experimental store in Plano, Texas with an expanded selection of high-end electronics, more fine jewelry, hundreds of types of wine ranging up to $500 a bottle, and even a sushi bar.

Wal-Mart says it won’t duplicate this format anywhere else. But if plasma TVs, microbrewery beer and fancy balsamic vinegar sell in Plano, those items could be added to stores in other affluent communities. (full article here).

No wonder Wal-Mart is desparate: since the beginning of 2005 it’s stock dropped 6%, while Costco climbed 16.2%. “Costco’s stock is starting to get pricey, but I think it definitely deserves a premium over Wal-Mart since it’s one of the few retailers out there that competes head-on with them and, quite frankly, beats the pants off them,” says Morningstar analyst Anthony Chukumba. “They’re incredible merchants. Their customer service is pretty much the best out there in all of retail. They treat their employees better. They pay them more. Their benefits are better, and the company still has room to grow both at home and abroad.” (via “Wake Up Walmart”)

Tags: retail, wholesale, wharehouse, shopping club, wal-mart, costco

Filed Under: Business ·

SVASE VC Breakfast Club Event with the Mayfield Fund

Posted on March 21, 2006 ·

Another SVASE VC Breakfast Club session is coming up on Thursday, March 23rd in San Jose. 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 John Stockton, Venture Partner, Mayfield Fund. The Zvents post has all the info and a map, but please remember to click through to register either from zvents or directly here.

These sessions are an incredible opportunity for Entrepreneurs, most of whom would probably have a hard time getting through the door to a 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, be ready to deliver a compelling story in 5 minutes. You will have more time, 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.
Last, but not least, please be on time! I am not kidding… some of you know why I have to even bring this up.

See you on Thursday!

Tags: Venture Capital, VC Breakfast, Funding, VC Funding, Startups, Entrepreneurship, SVASE

Filed Under: Bay Area, Business, Social Networking, Startups ·

The Lawyers Caught Up With US :-(

Posted on March 20, 2006 ·

Oh, this is bad: the lawyers reached the Blogosphere. I received an invitation to the “The First Comprehensive Conference On Blog Law & Blogging for Lawyers”.

Is it time to look for “malblogging insurance”?

Update (3/30): Vinnie coined the term of Blawging

Tags: Blog Law, blogs, blogging, blogosphere, lawyers, blawging

Filed Under: Blogging, Misc ·

Gates 2.0

Posted on March 20, 2006 ·

The Scobleizer leaked photos of a supersecret meeting between Bill Gates and Michael Arrington.

According to sources close to Bill he was seeking advice on how to leave the Big Bad Corporation behind and launch an exciting Web 2.0 startup.

Michael agreed to help him launch on TechCrunch.

Tags: scoble, scobleizer, techcrunch, microsoft, Bill Gates, web 2.0, startup, humor

Filed Under: Humor ·

Pulling the plug on standby power

Posted on March 19, 2006 ·

STRANGE though it seems, a typical microwave oven consumes more electricity powering its digital clock than it does heating food.

Leaving our appliances – DVDs, computers, etc, – in stand-bye mode costs energy worth $3 billion and causes pollution equivalent to 18 million cars.

Read the Economist article for details.

digg story

Filed Under: Business, Misc, Technology ·

The Speech Accent Archive

Posted on March 18, 2006 ·

Everyone who speaks a language, speaks it with an accent. When people listen to someone speak with a different accent from their own, they notice the difference, and they may even make certain biased social judgments about the speaker.

Browse 500+ sound clips from all over the world. Released under a Creative Commons License.

digg story

Filed Under: Misc ·

Business and Humor – a Bad Mix?

Posted on March 18, 2006 ·

I suppose I can now officially declare my test a failure. My “Zoli 3.0 Launched” post resulted in a spike of traffic, but few responses, and some of those were quite surprising.

Inspired by a Scoble post and a few cases where I’ve seen it work, I wanted to test how effectively I can find a job by posting it on my blog, vs. the traditional route of sending out resumes. (More then just a test, I am actually looking for a job or consulting gig). Trying to stand out, I announced my availability as a mock product launch. I thought it was a humorous approach, that still left my intent clear – especially since the detailed product specs pointed to my professional profile.

Apparently some (many?) of my readers took it literally. Imagine my surprise receiving responses like these:

“Would like to get invitation” signed by X.Y,, VP Business Development of and ERP/CRM type Consulting firm based in the US and China. For the sake of US Business, I hope these guys stay with technical work and don’t get into a lot of business process consulting.
“Would like to know more regarding your ERP software and I am interested to implement it for organization.” Nice, I’ve just sold an ERP system I don’t even have.