Archive for September 21st, 2008
Citibunk
I had the fun experience of having to call Citibank this evening to moan that I couldn’t set up an online payment. Their website was rejecting the sort code of the account I was trying to send a payment to, even though I have the recipient’s checkbook in front of me, and know it is correct. Their splendid new IVR system allows you to do voice recognition. You have no idea how much fun it is trying to navigate this system with two over-excited screamy kids in the background. “Fo...
A First-timer’s Tips for Networking in Silicon Valley
Five months ago I became a founder for the first time. I am not a total novice to the Valley; I’ve been fortunate to work with and befriend some very smart (and now influential) people from companies like Google and Powerset. But I am also a Midwesterner who migrated to the Valley in the late ’90s, and my resume includes staid institutions like NASA, which while innovative is not exactly a go-go Silicon Valley company. I tend to think of myself as a member of the Valley “digernati” ...
Sometimes you need to Listen to Yourself (and NOT your friends)
After losing my job on Wall Street, pulver.com became my full time focus during the summer of 1996. For a number of years after starting pulver.com, whenever I had an idea, I would bounce my ideas off of certain people. What I didn’t realize until years later was that my profile for taking risks was just different than many of my friends. What I’m getting to is that your friends are not YOU. And this obvious observation took me a long time to appreciate. There are times when you ask...
The Perils of Multi-Tasking
Fascinating read in the New York Times that text-messaging can be dangerous because some people can get distracted if they do it while driving or walking down the street. It’s amazing people think they can do a variety of things at the same time rather than focusing on the task at hand. (Apologies for the dripping sarcasm). The amazing thing about multi-tasking phenomena is most people think can they pull it off without skipping a beat. The reality is few of us can successfully pull it of...
Sometimes you need to Listen to Yourself (and NOT your friend.)
After losing my job on Wall Street, pulver.com became my full time focus during the summer of 1996. For a number of years after starting pulver.com, whenever I had an idea, I would bounce my ideas off of certain people. What I didn’t realize until years later was that my profile for taking risks was just different than many of my friends. What I’m getting to is that your friends are not YOU. And this obvious observation took me a long time to appreciate. There are times when you ask...
Bailout equals Bankruptcy
Let’s assume there really are toxic weapons of mass economic destruction in the portfolios of the world’s banks which need to be seized before they destroy us all. I’m not there, BTW, but there’s gonna be a bailout so let’s think about the rules. They ought to be similar in pain to what bankruptcy would entail. Rule #1: Cut salaries now Part of the bailout bill ought to be that any organization which proffers securities for government purchase must agree not to p...
Skype shuts down Skypecasts
Skype quietly closed its popular Skypecast personal broadcasting service late last month. The decision is setting off howls of protest from loyal users, who are ready to bolt to competitive services. In a brief missive on Aug. 26 entitled “Goodnight Skypecasts,” Skype announced it was closing the service as of Sept. 1. The program allowed anyone to broadcast to up 100 people, all of whom could join in and comment. Full story @ NewTeeVee ...
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News, opinions and announcements about fast changing communication tools and technologies, from various blogs and ezine.