Sunday, September 26, 2010
Atlanta Falcons Defeat New Orleans Saints In Overtime
The Falcons overcame Saints Quaterback Drew Brees' 30 of 38 for 365 yards passing and Falcons Quarterback Matt Ryan was hot when behind, posting a 147.5 ratings according to ESPN.com. Finally, Falcons' Kicker Matt Bryant hit from 46 yards out to give Atlanta the win.
What's more impressive about the Falcons win is it came at the New Orleans Superdome. The Saints at-home record now stands at .500 with three games completed in the season as of this writing.
The difference? Turnovers and offense. New Orleans has three of them; Atlanta had just one. Moreover, the Falcons gained 417 total yards versus 398 for the Saints.
This was a key early game for the NFC South; the winner would gain the upper hand in the 2010 playoff race. Now, New Orleans has to win at Atlanta if it expects to win the division.
Yahoo's Carol Bartz With Twitter's Ev Williams, Biz Stone
In this photo from Twitter on Flickr, we have Yahoo's CEO Carol Bartz With Twitter's Founders Ev Williams and Biz Stone.
Now, judging from the fact that Ev's holding a mic and crossing his right leg, can we conclude he's imitating TechCrunch Editor Michael Arrington's infamous interview of Bartz at TechCrunch Disrupt, New York?
At any rate, there's no word of what the three talked about while at Twitter Headquarters. But Bartz was reported to have said this :
"Failure is good - it gets you scared enough to change."
True. But won wonders in what context the sentence was made? Since Bartz' visit was around the time the Tech World crapped on her via Twitter, one can make some assumptions.
As a related aside, Yahoo has so many freaking users, it should reform itself into a Facebook-style social network as a way of tying together all of that content flotsam it's got. That would end the crits about Yahoo not knowing what it is.
ESPN's Lou Holtz Has Picked Against Notre Dame, Darren Rovell
Wondering if any1 can come up with this piece of data: Has Lou Holtz EVER picked against ND?
6:33 PM Sep 24th via web
Coach Lou Holtz, the last Notre Dame coach to lead the Fighting Irish to a national championship in college football, has been an ESPN homer for Golden Domers, even picking Notre Dame to win the BCS title last year. (Of course, that didn't happen.)
In fact Holtz makes ND a pick so much and has sparred with fellow ESPN Analyst Mark May so often that you'd be shocked to know there was one time he went against them.
Yep. It was last year, when Coach Lou Holtz picked Connecticut to beat Notre Dame.
According to College Football Talk's John Tamanaha, it was a forced decision. Holtz reportedly said he would pick Connecticut if the Irish lost to Pittsburgh the week before.
That happened, so he did. At least you can say Coach Lou's a man of integrity. Something to celebrate in the sometimes untrustworthy world of the 21st Century.
Coach Lou's logic was that the Irish would lose because it was the last game at Notre Dame and the Irish seniors would "have tears in their eyes, they have so many great memories, they can't see who to block and tackle."
He was almost wrong. Connecticut did win the game, but 33 to 30 in double overtime to end the Charlie Weis era at Notre Dame.
So, there's your answer, Darren. Now what does this corner win?
Changing The Ratio Of Women And Minorities In Tech? Kids Are Key
The idea for this blog post started because this blogger happened on TechCrunch Editor Michael Arrington's post called Too Few Women In Tech? Stop Blaming The Men.
After consuming his text, it must be said that Michael is just plain wrong - the reasons why, we'll get into later. Moreover, his post mentioned Rachel Sklar, who's a friend and who's work I respect a lot, as "a perennial TechCrunch critic," and quotes her in the Wall Street Journal, as saying:
Part of changing the ratio is just changing awareness, so that the next time Techcrunch is planning a Techcrunch Disrupt, they won’t be able to not see the overwhelming maleness of it,” said Ms. Sklar, referring to the influential tech conference
It was disappointing to read that because in planning for the trip to New York for TechCrunch Disrupt, New York City, I informed Rachel of the conference via email and asked if she was going to attend. Rachel had made other plans.
It was too bad Rachel didn't go, because while TechCrunch Disrupt New York was mostly male, it wasn't overwhelmingly so - she would have been somewhat pleased. I'm certain, as she's a speaker, she will be happy with what she sees at TechCrunch Disrupt SF.
What the official gender count at TechCrunch Disrupt New York was is not known here, but by observation, the mix was better than expected. There were women entrepreneurs competing in the "VC speed dating" contest, like my friend Jennifer O'Neil's startup firm Tripping.com.
Jennifer O'Neil Started At StubHub.com
I first met Jennifer in 2003 when she was the affiliate manager at then-new StubHub.com. Sports Business Simulations, the firm I started that year, was became one of StubHub.com's most successful affiliates, and Jennifer and I became friends. Ms. O'Neil did everything for StubHub, from managing affiliates, to radio spots, and even the phone greetings. I said over and over again to Jen that she should be on the StubHub board and also to take what she's learning there and start her own company.
Well, at TechCrunch Disrupt New York City, Jen told me she remembered my constant badgering and that played a small role in the development of the confidence she had to start Tripping.com. The point is, women and minorities must be encouraged to start tech firms.
Encouraging Women and Minorities
Michael's really wrong: men should be blamed for the lack of women in tech. There's nothing at all wrong with having the idea that a person should be picked because they're women or minority or white male, as long as the end objective is diversity.
Moreover, in order to "change the ratio," we have to start by encouraging girls and boys who are minority to go into tech fields. Just saying "You should think about being a programmer" to a ten-year-older's a great start. Having the tech equivalent of Junior Achievement is another much needed effort.
In fact, that there's not such an organization active in the San Francisco Bay Area underscores the problem. Imagine if Google executives like CEO Eric Schmidt took one evening a week to work at advising an imaginary start-up at an East Palo Alto school? Planting the idea of starting a tech company in the minds of girls and minority youth will, over time, change the ratio.
But to do that, and to be frank, it's Silicon Valley's men both white and Asian, who have to lead the charge. The only way to change the culture, is to change the behavior of the people within it.
In fact, just because Arrington said the poor ratio of women in tech is not the fault of men, he should be the very person that starts the kind of Junior Achievement-style non-profit organization called for here. Michael must understand that you can't say there's a cultural problem but it's not the fault of the people who are part of the culture. Men are the problem, but men can be the solution, too.
TechCrunch Disrupt SF: Wall Street Journal Takes AngelGate Bait
Trouble is, WSJ Blogger Russell Garland didn't realize the meeting was fake:
AngelGate, as it’s become known, just won’t go away. The brouhaha erupted after TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington uncovered a meeting of top angel investors in a San Francisco restaurant, Bin 38. Arrington blogged about it, alleging angel collusion. Now angel Ron Conway, who wasn’t at the meeting but whose SV Angel partner David Lee apparently was,...
With AngelGate, Michael Arrington has managed to shine the light on TechCrunch Disrupt SF. But for all of this, nothing that happens this week will match the fireworks that happened after Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz famously told Michael to fuck off:
Well, that's not going to happen this time. A man telling Michael what to do just doesn't have the same impact as a woman blasting him. Even though it wasn't the intent, it made for good video.
Especially for Zennie62 on YouTube.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Stanford Destroys Notre Dame, Goes 4 and 0, First TIme Since 1986
Stanford spanked Notre Dame 37 to 16, causing the Irish to lose their third straight game under new coach Brian Kelly and causing Irish fans to worry.
Over at Irish Envy forum, ND die-hards picked Stanford as a team the Irish could beat. It didn't happen. Later, the same Irish Envy Forum followers said Stanford was "for real" while licking their wounds over the butt kicking their team took.
Indeed, it's the same one Wake Forest, UCLA, and Sacrament State got.
Stanford has an average of 51.7 points per game scored, versus 13.7 points given up. Moreover, they've done it through the air and on the ground, and not in spectacular fashion ranking 47th and 15th in passing and rushing respectively. It's the Stanford Defense that's the difference.
Before the Notre Dame game, Stanford ranked third in the Pac-10 in total defense and second in pass defense. The difference is new Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio. His version of the 3-4 is less "pure" in its format than the standard 34 defensive alignment, and gets more pressure on the offensive line both against runs and passes.
Can Stanford Go Undefeated?
The question on the minds of college football fans now is can Stanford go undefeated? As long as there's Cal and the Big Game, the answer is no.
GroupMe.com : TechCrunch Disrupt NY HackDay Creation Launches
GroupMe.com is the home of a very cool platform that allows you to form a mobile text group. While that may not seem like much at first, when you consider the vast number of service and retail organization that can make use of it, then its vast potential becomes apparent. (Yep, this blogger uses it.)
GroupMe was born at the 2010 TechCrunch Disrupt NY HackDay, and immediately caught fire. The New York based company that grew around the platform scored an $850,000 angel round of funding in August. It's really a super simple application.
You just got to the website GroupMe.com and punch in your mobile number. The system sets up a group phone number and asks for your name for the group. It will then send a confirmation text. All you have to do is add the people you want to be in your group.
Once done, you can set up an instant conference call, such that the GroupMe system calls everyone in your group.
Or, if you're, say, an airline like United Airlines, you can send a group text to everyone in the UAL group that gives important travel information.
It's a very interesting and exciting platform. Just wonder if Michael Arrington gets a cut of the angel money?
ESPN's Picabo Street Right, Alabama Beat Arkansas
Just shows you that it's never a good idea to walk away from the television set with a game like that.
According to ESPN.com, Alabama rallied to win on the power and speed of Running Back Mark Ingram and an interception thrown by Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett.
ESPN.com Still Fails On Picabo Street
While Picabo Street was right after all for ESPN television, the ESPN.com website still failed to do anything to capture the Internet buzz started by ESPN itself!
As much as ESPN may want to dominate the Internet for sports, this proves it has no idea what it's doing.
TechCrunch Disrupt SF: AngelGate Is Talk Regardless Of Arrington's Claims
UPDATE: WSJ takes the bait!
TechCrunch Disrupt SF is this week, and while this blogger will be out of the San Francisco Bay Area for personal reasons, what happens there will not escape Zennie62.com. So far the talk of Pre-TechCrunch Disrupt SF news isn't that Barry Diller's coming, or that MC Hammer's the entertainment, but that news item called AngelGate.
AngelGate is a meeting between Angel Investors that took place in an alternative universe, at a popular San Francisco Marina District restaurant called Bin 38, and that this blogger was on the PlanCast list to attend as per invitation. No, I'm not an angel investor at all, for now. My objective was food, wine, and friends.
OK, really it was, at first, a joke on TechCrunch Founder and Editor Michael Arrington (pictured above giving one of his favorite gestures) - a fake plan. But ever the brilliant showman, Arrington turned AngelGate into something real. Now, the story's of AngelGate's making it's way around the Internet, and some publications are treating it as if it's real.
Moreover, Michael doesn't want anyone to talk about AngelGate, thereby assuring that it will be the talk of TechCrunch Disrupt SF.
The idea is that Angel Investors were meeting to collude and work against entrepreneurs, who have been asking for more money and more control over the companies that are formed around their creations. While AngelGate itself is an alternative universe creation, the tug-and-pull between entrepreneurs and investors is very real.
The idea was an Angel Investor wanted the majority of your company. But the problem is and has been that many investors don't get what the entrepreneurs is trying to do or what the intent of the creation was. Logical, because they didn't create the product.
Still, hungry for investment, many entrepreneurs knuckled under to the terms presented to them, and then eventually got stuck in a bad situation with little control. Enter Facebook.
Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg now has control of three seats on his five-member board of directors after Sean Parker left the board due to a drug-related arrest. That means he can't be fired by his board and they can't successfully conspire against him.
Now, you may say "that's Facebook," but it's an objective many entrepreneurs now seek, more than ever. Full corporate control.
Can Angel Investors actually conspire against entrepreneurs and regain control? Effectively, no, because if you look at it, almost anyone can be an investor. AngelGate is a Silicon Valley story; as we saw at TechCrunch Disrupt New York, the idea of Silicon Valley, along with the culture tech entrepreneurs and investors, has effectively spread out of the Bay Area.
As for AngelGate, it's all in fun, even it's it's resulted in some rather vile comments directed toward Michael Arrington over at TechCrunch. Tisk. Tisk.
Stay tuned for more.
FBI Martin Luther King Informant Was Ernest C Withers - Davey D
In recent days damning information has surfaced about the role a pioneering Civil Rights photographer named Ernest C.Withers played in the murder of Dr Martin Luther King. Withers who died in 2007 had long been rumored to be an informant for J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI even though he was very popular figure in Civil Rights circles.
It’s been reported that under his guise as a photographer he was reporting on King’s movement up to the moment of his assassination and in the days that followed.
The Withers case should not be seen through the window of the past. It is a warning to us in the present and a reminder that the police state apparatus is ever present.
ESPN's Picabo Street Wrong, Arkansas Beating Alabama - ESPN's Error
So far, Picabo's wrong. 10th ranked Arkansas is beating Alabama 10 to 7 in the 2nd quarter and as of this writing is in scoring position again. ESPN's wrong too.
ESPN failed to capitalize on the Internet interest caused by the appearance of the sexy female athlete that is Picabo Street by having a webpage blog post at ESPN.com. The result? ESPN essentially gives other websites and blogs, including Zennie62.com, the chance to gain from what they put on television.
Thanks, ESPN!
An update: Alabama intercepted Arkansas in the end zone. Somewhere, Picabo Street is cheering.
99ers take heat for the NOVO - but looks like it worked
Many 99ers took a great deal heat for their position on NOVO - but looks like it may have worked. When brave 99er souls began to speak out publicly about voting only for those in Congress come November, who actually were willing to help with our Tier 5 bill, they took a great deal angry grief from many Americans. Even the 99er Nation was somewhat divided on this NOVO issue. A small group of 99ers were quite vocal in their opposition to the idea of not voting.
99er Advocate Mignon Veasley-Fields, when she appeared on the Ed Schultz show, took the lion’s share of the public outcry against the NOVOs. There were others like Connie Kaplan and Cindy Paoletti (even though neither spoke of the NOVO movement on their Ed Show appearances) who also took some public criticism, especially Cindy for her outspoken blogging on the various 99er support sites.
Fact is, to vote or not and who you vote for are your own personal business. Many patriots died over the years to preserve the right of every American to freely choose whether to vote or not and who they wish to vote for or against.
It is not easy to hold to your convictions, especially when those positions face vocal opposition from many of your peers. It speaks well of the character of those who were willing to go out on a limb to stand up for what they believe in so strongly. Applause to all those who did so and exposed themselves to the ire of opposition to their stance.
The NOVO idea was conceived by 99er leader Rob C. and came to fruition in the PalTalk chat room, Tier 5 to Survive - unemployed unite. The idea was actually voted down by the members of that group about 1 month ago. Nobody liked the idea that this very well could hurt the Democrats in November.
Once it was confirmed by Senate Finance Committee staffers, that S3706 would likely not come out of committee before the election, drastic measures were warranted. So in a bold move designed to inspire the Democrats to move on this bill before they go home yet again, the 99er NOVO movement was born. It took off like wildfire and seemed everyone had an opinion about this one way or another.
When the news broke yesterday, the Jobless Talk radio show was all ready to announce the news, with special guests Mike Thornton (from Examiner.com) and Rob C. himself. Unfortunately the Blog Talk Radio servers were down and it was not possible for Jobless Talk to air yesterday. My apologies to all faithful listeners.
One thing I do not hear being discussed much in the national dialog is the benefits that a Tier 5 for all states would bring to the American economy.
The population of US unemployment exhaustees has grown immensely since June. In June there were 3.8 million, but the ranks have grown by about 1 million since the retroactive extension in July, via HR 4213.
So at about 5 million exhaustees using the average weekly benefit of $300.00 would put 1.5 billion dollars into the economy every week once our Tier 5 is passed. Factor in the stimulative effect of every UI dollar spent and you have 2.6 billion, which would provide the demand required to keep the recovery going in the right direction, prevent further layoffs and stimulate the creation of jobs within the individual communities throughout America right where they are hurting most.
Passing a Tier 5 for all states is good for employed Americans as well. Injecting demand into the local economy at a community level, keeps struggling businesses within those communities open for business. It justifies an employer keeping that employee, who now isn’t as so busy because the demand is not there. Employers would have to hire in many communities to handle the increased demand created by that 1.5 billion per week.
Many think not voting is un-American. Isn’t it far more un-American letting 5 million of your constituents starve to death? I cannot condone that with my vote and if S3706 is brought to the floor for a fighting chance at least, the 99ers can see the Democrats might be worth saving after all. The alternative is an excruciating step backward.
In the end, you are alone in the voting booth and must vote your heart. If Stabenow’s commitment to Ed Schultz is indeed fulfilled this week, the threat of the 99er NOVO movement will have done the job it was designed to do: motivate the Democrats to bring the Americans Want to Work Act to the floor, where - if it is voted down by Republicans - that will expose the GOP for the heartless, uncaring party that it truly has become, making the choice crystal clear come November 2, 2010.
Many 99ers are dismayed about giving up the NOVO movement on just the promise of our bill coming to the Senate floor. It is true that there is no guarantee S3706 will pass before the election. But it is a certainty that without the bill even coming to the floor, we had no chance whatsoever for our Tier 5 bill becoming law. At least now there is a slim chance the bill could pass this week.