 |
 |
burn this office to the ground
all it takes is horrible writing
Published at Intrepid Media
5.2.12
|
|
I can't understand how something could go so bad in such a short amount of time.
Don't get me wrong. I've been in relationships with seemingly unpsychotic women, I've had an eighth or ninth drink that I felt pretty good about before it delivered poison into my bloodstream, I've left milk out on the kitchen counter on a hot day. So I know how something can go from dream to nightmare within an extremely small window.
But what the shark has happened to The Office?
The Office wasn't always a great show, but it was the most consistently funny show from its second season until Steve Carrell left, with an incredible amount of realism that was never overshadowed by the comedy or the brief moments of excellent drama, most of which had to do with Jim and Pam and their non-romance.
Within the space of half-a-season, The Office has devolved from an honestly funny and relatable workplace comedy to a ridiculous circus of unbelievable setups and dick jokes, including a five minute conference room discussion on impotence.
My point is this never should have happened. And here's why:
read the rest at: http://www.intrepidmedia.com/content/burn-this-office-to-the-ground.asp
|
 |
|
East Coast Game Conference 2012: Immobile and Antisocial?
Published at TechJournal
4.26.12
|
|
First of all, in my day, we didn't have fancy conferences that celebrated game development. Game development was done in lonely cubicles in single-story faceless, Soviet-era buildings with three or four other developers.
 | | There weren't designers, there certainly wasn't any marketing, and the future pretty much always looked bleak – your career was the equivalent of maxing out your points until your last guy got eaten by what sort of looked like a dragon. Or gorilla.
Life Imitating 8-bit Art |
In my day, there was only the console, and by “console” I mean a wood cabinet which housed a Zenith and a disturbingly warm number of motherboards and transistors.
It wasn't until years later that the PC allowed us to be social and mobile with our gaming, and by “mobile” I mean hauling a monitor the size of an industrial clothes dryer over to your friend's crappy apartment, and by “social” I mean someone brought bean dip and a bag of Fritos.
Today, as I take in day 2 of the fourth East Coast Game Conference (and this is my fourth so I get a wicked sweet badge), in Raleigh's Convention Center, it's clear that mobile and social games can no longer rely on being mobile and/or social to be successful.
read the rest at: http://www.techjournal.org/2012/04/east-coast-game-conference-2012-immobile-and-antisocial/
|
 |
|
Nearly 200 at the April ExitEvent Startup Social
That and the Great Name Tag Debate
Blog
4.18.12
|
|
jproco: That. Was. Ridiculous. Nearly 200 at @ExitEvent tonight. Killed 2 kegs in 1:15. Thanks to all who showed.
So Erik from Mystery Brewing called me at 5:30 Monday night and told he he was running right up to the ExitEvent start time of 6:00 and would I go get some ice.
Yeah sure. On it.
TriangleSF: Both Chris & Dave went to @exitevent & raving about it this morning! Lots of great conversation, beer & #entrepreneurs!
 | | So as it is I didn't even get to the venue until 5:55. No worries, considering the Social takes about five minutes of setup on my part. Once all the invites are out, my job is to provide the non-beer, the music, and whatever crazy idea I cook up to distract the entrepreneurs, like a ping-pong tournament, in my stated goal of bringing productivity in the RTP to a screeching halt for 3 hours.
I took about six or seven minutes to carry in Diet Cokes and regular Pepsis (which were on sale, the budget for your average ExitEvent Social is right around $0), and when I looked up, there were entrepreneurs everywhere.
At 6:05. |
So I did a count. There were 51.
read the rest
|
|
|
girls rock
an open letter to my daughters as they approach their tweens
Published at Intrepid Media
4.2.12
|
|
Mighty Mites,
I know you're only seven and I know you've got plenty going on what with the first grade and the Jonas Brothers and the constant barrage of Barbies and unicorns trying to pry away your hard earned lemonade profits. I get that.
Not that I relate perfectly. When I was seven it was all Star Wars. It was easy. I had Han Solo as my guide. But it isn't just the nostalgia for the olden days that makes my upbringing seem so radically different from yours. Let's face it. I'm a boy. And that in and of itself lowered the expectation bar.
You've got a different path to walk.
So as you start to put away the baby dolls and the pocket pets and start wondering why my mobile phone gets Angry Birds and yours only lets you talk to an obviously over-medicated Cinderella, I'm going to give you your first primer on becoming a tween.
read the rest at: http://www.intrepidmedia.com/content/girls-rock.asp
|
|
|
Triangle Startup Factory Names Inaugural Class
Durham Accelerator Proves Nothing is Automatic
Published at TechJournal
3.19.12
|
|
There really is no such thing as overnight success is the startup universe.
Just as it's been a long road for Triangle Startup Factory, going back to the conversations I first had with Chris Heivly some three years ago, when the idea of an accelerator in the Triangle seemed so crazy that it just might work, it's been a haul for the five companies that make up its inaugural class.
ExactByte makes Archive Social, a software-as-a-service solution for automatically keeping business-compliant records of an organization';s social communication (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn). I first started following CEO Anil Chawla's entrepreneurial exploits while he was still with IBM a couple years ago, and finally wound up covering him, ExactByte, and Archive Social when he presented at Launch Days back in January.
As I mention in that column, Anil has been on the startup scene for years, he's been a fixture at ExitEvent since the first one (he even let me beat him at ping pong back in December), and he was at Startup Happy Hour Wednesday night looking all smiley and what not.
read the rest at: http://www.techjournalsouth.com/2012/03/triangle-startup-factory-names-inaugural-class/
|
|
|
Startups: Introduce Yourself
A Day In The Life Becomes a Learning Experience
Published at TechJournal
3.15.12
|
|
Not every startup gets the lottery ticket launch. For every accelerator or grant program with a five-figure pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, there are hundreds of hungry startups vying for that same prize. Many of them will be better positioned and more savvy than you, and let's face it, at least a few of them are more deserving.
You can't win, but there are alternatives to fighting.
Last night, I attended three local events that allowed startups to make noise, get seen, and get introduced to people who can help them. Actually I attended two. They were all on the same night and even though I have thinking robots at my disposal, none of them are good conversationalists and, frankly, they're all kind of lazy.
But if you have time and intestinal fortitude, here are three ways to get noticed.
read the rest at: http://www.techjournalsouth.com/2012/03/startups-introduce-yourself/
|
 |
|
StatSeed Selection Sunday Spectacular
Live-Blogging the Robot Selection Process
Published at StatSheet
3.11.12
|
|
So here's the deal. As we count down to the field of 68, it's my plan to offer continuous updates of which teams our robots think will go dancing. Last year we got very close. Here's the link to the (gorgeous) StatSeed page, but keep in mind this will be continuously updated, and at times I may be behind or ahead of that page as it updates.
As of Sunday morning before any of the games:
Top Four Seeds: Kentucky, UNC, Syracuse, Kansas
Last Four In: Miami, Virginia, Ole Miss, Northwestern
First Four Out: Seton Hall, Oregon, BYU, Marshall
Next Four Out: Iona, LSU, Washington Mississippi State
read the rest at: http://statsheet.com/blog/statseed-selection-sunday-spectacular
|
|
|
Crimsanity
StatSheet Put Harvard into the NCAA Tournament back in April
Published at StatSheet
3.9.12
|
|
Last year, right before Selection Sunday, which by the way is an official StatSheet holiday, along with First Round Thursday, MLB Opening Day, and Superbowl Hangover Monday, I came up with about a dozen algorithms that our robots used to successfully pick a competitively close amount of brackets as compared to ESPN's Bracketologist Joe Lunardi, whose DNA we swiped in order to power our StatSeed calculations.
So right after that, on April 5th, 2011, USA Today called and asked us to pick the 2012 NCAA Tournament (this year's tournament) as soon as humanly robotically possible.
Three days later, we delivered. But seriously, we were sandbagging. We just waited three days to run the calculations because we knew that any sooner than that would blow too many minds. I mean, we want to be successful and all, but there's no reason to scare the crap out of people.
Anyhow, I love the fact that we picked Harvard.
We had actually already picked Harvard (incorrectly) to make the 2011 Tournament as well, and I still feel like they got robbed by a committee that couldn't bring itself to put two deserving Ivy League teams into the field of 68. And sure, we got flack for putting Harvard in last year.
But man, did we get flack for putting Harvard in for the following year.
read the rest at: http://statsheet.com/blog/crimsanity
|
|
|
van halen: a different kind of review
ranking the tracks from super incredibly awesome to not as awesome
Published at Intrepid Media
3.2.12
|
|
Very quickly. This is not Van Hagar. There is no Love Walks In. If you had been waiting for that to happen, it is safe to buy this album and you totally should.
 | | There. I just gave you the sum total of every navel-gazing "where-does-this-fit-in-the-history-of-Van-Halen" review I've read about this album. No one cares about the feud anymore. It's been too long. I wish Sammy and Michael the best, even though I never really cared for the direction, especially after the first three songs on OU812.
And I won't say anything bad about Van Halen III except that the only song I can remember from the era is that irritating ballad "More Than Words."
|
Done. Now, let's talk about this record.
It's brilliant.
read the rest at: http://www.intrepidmedia.com/content/van-halen-a-different-kind-of-review.asp
|
|
|
What You Missed at Southeast Venture Conference
Published at Tech
3.1.12
|
|
Last night at dinner, Windsor Circle's Matt Williamson was a busy man. In between bites and drinks, he filled pages in a notebook with research on a number of investors who introduced themselves after his pitch. The beautiful thing was there was a veritable cornucopia of information to be had among the six of us at dinner, and by the time it was over, he was armed.
Williamson says, “It's been an incredible experience being in such a tight concentration of venture capitalists. The overwhelming response is that we're a compelling story for such a short amount of time that Windsor Circle has been around. I've been pleasantly surprised at how helpful the VCs are.”
He said a lot more than that, but I blacked out. It was late.
He's not alone. Several startups are making that upward swing from the pitches into meetings, and if yesterday was an explosion of activity, then this morning and afternoon should be buzzing with follow up.
read the rest at: http://www.techjournalsouth.com/2012/03/what-you-missed-at-southeast-venture-conference-wednesday/
|
Showing 1 to 10 of 135 posts
older->
|
|
|
|
Punch in your email address and I'll email you whenever I do something stupid (usually once a week).
ExitEvent Startup Social
5.14.12 :: Durham
RTP New Tech ReLaunch
5.15.12 :: RTP
Innovate Raleigh Meetup
5.16.12 :: Raleigh
Bull City Forward Meetup
5.17.12 :: Durham
Triangle Startup Factory Pitch Day
6.7.12 :: Durham
TechCrunch Mini-Meetup Raleigh
7.7.12 :: Raleigh
|
