Monday, December 31, 2007

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Glow in the dark cats from South Korea

My first thoughts after reading this story about glowing cats...

Pros for doing this to humans glomans:
  1. Easier to pick things up in the dark
  2. Raves would be much cooler
  3. Halloween is year round!


Cons:

  1. Glomans will never win at hide and seek
  2. A gloacist society will most likely emerge…pitting greens against pinks against the oranges
How do you feel about this research and where it could lead?

IFTF's latest report: A Model World: Simulation Literacy and the Future of Virtuality

IFTF's Technology Horizons members will get to read this report in its entirety. Non-members will be able to read it in December of 2008. Congratulations to the authors, David Pescovitz and Alex Pang.

From the Introduction:
A new language is emerging that will transform how we conduct business, make life decisions, and interact with our world over the next decade: it is the language of simulation. At the most basic level, a simulation is an imitation of a real thing, experience, or process. But in recent years, it’s become possible to create computer simulations that are much higher fidelity and more accurate than ever before. In the next decade, the best simulations won't be judged by how realistic they are but how real they are. They will become real in the way that the Internet has become real over the last decade—not only as a platform for learning or academic science, but also as a platform for providing human social interaction and commerce; as a platform for designing the world in real time; and as a platform for inventing and reinventing our individual lives. With some simulations, we will twist the knobs, press "go," and see what happens. In others, we will be key players, interacting in digital space with virtual artifacts, phenomena, and each other. Some simulations will even play out at the intersection of the virtual and real worlds, enabling us to bring a sense of physicality to our digital data.

STIRR's 2nd Annual Statup Holiday Soiree (Dec 19) is almost sold out!

Announcing the STIRR Holiday Soiree: An upscale holiday gathering for entrepreneurs, their teams, loved ones, investors, social media moguls and more. We've secured one of the most beautiful venues in SF (the Julia Morgan Ballroom at the Merchants Exchange Building) and will fill it with free flowing wine, a Champagne Welcome, the culinary delights of Chef Paul, Live music + DJ + dance floor, and a great crowd of entrepreneurs and those that support them. If your startup hasn't had a holiday party yet (or wants a second), feel free to bring the team. We're partnering with our friends at Women2.0 and Girls in Tech to make this a night to remember. Ticket prices will start ratcheting up as we get closer to the date so please purchase before
the prices go up
!

Monday, December 10, 2007

Wikipedia "occasional" word of the day: Retrodiction

I received an email today from someone who mentioned the ability to predict the past and called it retrodiction. I laughed...shared it with others, then was dumbfounded when I found out that it is a real word...well...at least according to Wikipedia.

So...who would like to leave a comment with some retrodictions?

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Blind tasting night with friends

We spent Saturday evening hosting a blind wine tasting with some friends. The rules were simple...bring a somewhat pricey wine (>$75). My thinking is that a Napa cab would be the default selection brought by guest (my personal bias running rampant?). I was surprised that only two were Napa cabs. Here is how they rated, along with a link to CellarTracker (the best wine site for tracking your personal collection):
  1. 2001 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Napa Valley Merlot
  2. 2003 Cliff Lede Poetry Napa Valley Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
  3. 1997 Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
  4. 2004 Tenuta Sette Ponti Oreno Tuscana IGT
  5. 1994 Lyeth North Coast Cabernet Sauvignon
In the end, we were all winners as each of us had the opportunity to enjoy great wine with great food (lamb, ribs, salad, rosemary potatoes, sausage fried rice, several cheeses and a variety of desserts) with great friends. We decided to have a blind tasting every three months and to select themes around a specific varietal. We also realized mid-tasting that we should have planted a wine in the mix for fun...either something more reasonably priced or just all together different. Next time!