May 2006 – Fiat Lux

Isn’t It Ironic…

Philip Kaplan, who ran the controversial Web site FuckedCompany.com during the dot-com bust, has stepped aside as CEO of a small, profitless start-up he founded in 2004.

Kaplan, 30, told CNET News.com on Wednesday that he made the decision to turn AdBrite, which sells online advertising, over to “professional management.” While he said he wasn’t forced out, he acknowledged that his board of directors didn’t try to dissuade him from stepping down.

Karma? Only a little bit. AdBrite’s not fucked — it is still in business, even if he’s not running the show anymore. And given Pud’s habit of serial entrepreneurship, I suspect there will be other ventures in his future.

Memorial Day iPod Blogging

Apparently the new music meme is to post your iTunes list of “most played” rather than a randomized list or the list of things you consider your favorites. So here’s what my home PC thinks are my most-played tunes:

1) Let’s Get It Started – Black Eyed Peas
2) Where Is the Love? – Black Eyed Peas & Justin Timberlake
3) Pavement Cracks – Annie Lennox
4) Desperado – Eagles
5) In the Shadows – The Rasmus
6) Shape of My Heart – Backstreet Boys
7) Get Up Stand Up – Bob Marley
8) Banu Hoshch Legaresh – Subliminal
9) Vertigo – U2
10) Peaceful Easy Feeling – Eagles
11) Sky Blue – Peter Gabriel
12) If I Had a Hammer – Peter, Paul & Mary
13) Send Your Love (Dave Aude Remix) – Sting
14) The Journey Home – Bombay Dreams (London Cast)
15) Chimes of Freedom (live) – Bruce Springsteen

I’m a bit embarrassed by having not one, but two, Justin Timberlake appearences on the list. As for the rest, I’m not really surprised by the rest of the artists (although what The Rasmus is doing there I’m not sure). I’d have though different tracks would be on the list, though.

People Are Idiots Sometimes

Sorry for the blurry shot. We spotted this sweet white calico wandering around in the courtyard of our building this afternoon; apparently she’s been hanging out there for at least a day, if not more. She was clean and very social, and was wearing an obviously homemade beaded collar, but no ID tag. We fed her and then brought her down the the local shelter, where we discovered she was not microchipped. She’s at the Peninsula SPCA for a 4-day stray hold, and we’re hoping her owners will find her there.

Even if her family doesn’t find her, I’m quite sure she’ll get adpoted, because she’s young, cute, and social. But her original family may never see her again, and some poor kid, who made this kitty’s collar, is going to wonder where kitty went and never know for sure what happened to her.

PUT ID ON YOUR PETS DAMNIT PEOPLE!

A Trip To The Movies

For a lot of reasons, Scott and I haven’t been to the movies in a long time. Last night, though, we finally got over to the theater in downtown San Mateo to catch X-Men: The Last Stand (don’t worry, no spoilers to follow).

It was OK. Not as bad as I’d been lead to expect from the reviews, but not OMG awesome either. Some of the ‘continuity’ issues bothered me more than others. I’m fine with the fact that some changes need to be made to turn a comic book into a movie. But others just didn’t make sense. Argh. I really don’t want to give spoilers, so I’ll just leave it at that for now.

On the bright side, Kelsey Grammer turned out to be a hoot as the Beast. And what’s not to like about Hugh Jackman and Halle Berre?

As a bit of a bonus, there was also a tiny “DaVinci Code” protest going on outside the theater. Four people and two signs, plus a couple of bored-looking cops to make sure nothing got out of hand.

Nice juxtaposition of the US flag in there. *Sigh* I guess some people just don’t understand the concept of movies being fictional entertainment.

What About Blogging’s Upside?

Ezra’s got a blog post about the pros / cons of blogging anonymously or under a pseudonym. It’s an issue that comes up periodically.

It did get me thinking, though — it’s easy to talk about blogging’s potential downsides. What are some of the positive things that have come out of having a blog?

Everyone’s answer will be different, I think. For me, it’s definitely helped my writing — I’ve always been a decent writer, but I’m a faster one now, more confident in my ‘voice’ and hopefully a bit more polished.

The Power of Positive Thinking

Tonight was the second class meeting for my Social Entrepreneurship course. We had four guest speakers from the Digital Vision Program over at Stanford come by to talk to us — three were program fellows and the 4th was a staff member.

We got to hear about each person’s project and plans, how they arrived at their decisions to start social ventures, and the challenges they were facing. It was fascinating. And the thing that struck me the most was how optimistic they all were. You have to have a pretty high degree of self-confidence in order to commit to doing a startup, but this was a different kind of optimism — these people felt that they could not only start a successful venture, but also that what they were doing would make a real difference in the world’s problems. By the end of class, the room had a distinct buzz as people swapped business cards, ideas, and networking plans.

I left class feeling really great, and am hoping that the rest of the course will be as inspiring and informative as tonight was.