Jmarcafella, aka: Nocturnal State.

I Would Like: A New Operating System

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 16:07:00 -0400

Now seems like a good time for Google to release a new PC operating system. Search within the OS has improved, but Vista barely works. Microsoft’s only remaining strengths are desktop versions of Word and Excel; though Excel 2007 has some severe designs flaws. At this point, a desktop spreadsheet program remains a requirement for me. Gmail and Reader are superb. And as much as I love many Apple products, I still prefer the PC platform.

Are there flaws in my perspective? If so, comment :)

"I created the site because what I wasn’t getting, is the stuff that I, as a product developer,..."

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 15:16:51 -0400

“I created the site because what I wasn’t getting, is the stuff that I, as a product developer, care the most about — news about products. And the interesting new products I’d find wouldn’t make it onto the bus. I like to find out when things are small, before other people invest.”

- Announcing Tech.NewsJunk.Com (Scripting News)

"Lexico is now part of the Ask.com family, as IAC’s portal completes its purported $100 million cash..."

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 14:17:08 -0400

“Lexico is now part of the Ask.com family, as IAC’s portal completes its purported $100 million cash acquisition of the Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com and Reference.com operator. Jim Safka: “The combination… significantly expands our audience reach, and aligns perfectly with our customers’ needs.””

- paidContent.org
Seems like a terrific acquisition. After owning and even traveling with hard copies of a dictionary and thesaurus for years, I finally threw them into the trash last year. I have been a regular Lexico user for years. And its basically a blank canvas for modest, but effective integration. Ask has many opportunities to build gentle hooks into the Lexico products for high-quality traffic leverage.

USA TODAY: Why Vimeo is better than YouTube

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:18:39 -0400

USA TODAY: Why Vimeo is better than YouTube:

“Vimeo showcases video clips in large bright windows that make your work come to life…There are a handful of sites on the web to showcase your high-def videos…SmugMug and Vimeo are among the best.”

I didnt say it, the USA Today did though!

(via pile)

"Digg, a launch partner of Gnip, sees the benefit - they are giving unfettered access to Gnip to..."

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:47:32 -0400

“Digg, a launch partner of Gnip, sees the benefit - they are giving unfettered access to Gnip to their API in the hope that some 3rd party services will stop using it altogether and move to Gnip instead. Other launch partners include Plaxo, Delicious, Discus, Flickr, Get Satisfaction, MyBlogLog, Six Apart, Iminta, Lijit, Social Thing and Spokeo. Notably absent from the list of partners is Twitter.”

- Gnip Launches To Ease The Strain On Web Services

Holy shit. And two stories on the home page of Valleywag are...

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:26:00 -0400

Holy shit. And two stories on the home page of Valleywag are using the Vimeo embed right now.

pile:

hot4discourse:
We’re #1
WE’RE #1
(back to #2)
WE’LL BE BACK!

1,000,000 Unique Visitors This Month At Bleacher Report

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:56:22 -0400

Congrats!

williamcotton:

I love working for this company. We’re all young and very ambitious. We’re combining a unique approach to citizen journalism with start-of-the-art innovations in web application design and it is definately paying off.

Laserlike

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:10:00 -0400

Laserlike: Strongly recommended reading for any web entrepreneur.

"I have no interest in working for companies whose sole existence is, and always will be, dependent..."

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:39:06 -0400

“I have no interest in working for companies whose sole existence is, and always will be, dependent on outside funding and other people’s platforms…not to mention those without any real business plans or actual use value.”

- A good way to tell RockYou you don’t want to work there

"Google’s founding philosophy is that we don’t know why this page is better than that..."

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:29:17 -0400

“Google’s founding philosophy is that we don’t know why this page is better than that one: If the statistics of incoming links say it is, that’s good enough. No semantic or causal analysis is required. That’s why it can match ads to content without any knowledge or assumptions about the ads or the content.”

- The End of Theory: The Data Deluge Makes the Scientific Method Obsolete

"Yahoo director of video strategy Rebecca Paoletti told BMO Emerging Media Conference-goers that..."

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:47:00 -0400

“Yahoo director of video strategy Rebecca Paoletti told BMO Emerging Media Conference-goers that ad-buyers don’t plan to increase their online video advertising budgets for 2009. Despite stagnant demand, online video ad inventory supply will continue growing in 2009 and Paoletti said it’ll show in declining rates publishers will be able to charge advertisers.”

- Valleywag
Online video is transformative, but online video advertising isnt compelling (in the current incarnation). Video hosting sites will need alternative revenue streams if they want to reach scale in the next 2 - 4 years.

"Longtime Facebook exec Matt Cohler will be leaving the social networking site to become a general..."

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:10:00 -0400

“Longtime Facebook exec Matt Cohler will be leaving the social networking site to become a general partner at Benchmark Capital. Cohler, 31, who is currently Facebook’s VP of Product Management, was one of Facebook’s earliest hires and, as I wrote once, seemed like “the Yoda figure at Facebook to me.” In another interesting move, Cohler will continue as a “special advisor”–is that like special guest star on television?–to Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and to its senior management team.”

- Facebook’s Matt Cohler to Benchmark | Kara Swisher | BoomTown
At 31, thats quite an impressive resume. PIMP.

"Cofounders (and husband/wife team) Caterina Fake and Stewart Butterfield won’t be around to keep..."

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:39:09 -0400

“Cofounders (and husband/wife team) Caterina Fake and Stewart Butterfield won’t be around to keep driving the product forward. They are both joining the mass exodus of executives from the company.”

- Flickr Co-founders Join Mass Exodus From Yahoo
Flickr was the only company that ever concerned me about competing with Vimeo. Ever.

Good Engineer or Two.

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:10:00 -0400

I am looking for a good engineer or two to help me build a new web service (in the areas of search and blogs). In the past 4 years, I have helped start Pronto.com and run Vimeo.com. And, I have learned quite a bit.

I would like the service to be heavily based on cloud computing infrastructure (e.g. Amazon Web Services). PHP or Python + database expertise is required.

Work from anywhere in the US. Flexible hours. Competitive salary, medical and early equity. Plus, a fun challenge!

Please contact me if you are interested: jonathan underscore marcus @msn plus the regular. I would appreciate referrals as well.

More About Me: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jmarcus

Thanks – Jonathan.

"Boomdizzle.com is something I started. Boom like an explosion, boom! Its obviously International,..."

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 23:43:56 -0400

“Boomdizzle.com is something I started. Boom like an explosion, boom! Its obviously International, because its online. I partnered with the guys that did Stamps.com and sold that years back. Its more than just a website - its a place for struggling artists.”

- LL Cool J on Sirius Satellite Radio

Apple vs. Everyone

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 23:02:00 -0400

pile:

What I do have is a Gmail, GCal, Plaxo, Flickr and Mozy account. MobileMe is 5 web apps that do all those tasks, transparently, instantly and automatically across every device I own and with every piece of desktop software I already have.
MobileMe is the next iTunes. iTunes sold a lot of Macs.

"Then I got lucky. The Internet came along. I didn’t know anything about the business of the..."

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:54:32 -0400

“Then I got lucky. The Internet came along. I didn’t know anything about the business of the Internet. But then nobody else did either. I was 10 years into my career which wasn’t going anywhere as far as I could tell, I was antsy to do something big, and here was something that sure looked big to me. I convinced Euclid to invest in a few early Internet deals and became friends with the crazy entrepreneurs who ran them. It was a blast and in the span of two years, 1994 and 1995, I had found my calling.”

- A VC: Fred Wilson

"I am an employee at Ticketmaster and there is one major reason that we are counting the days until..."

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:55:26 -0400

“I am an employee at Ticketmaster and there is one major reason that we are counting the days until we are spun off from Barry Diller’s IAC. Alex von Furstenberg. Barry Diller’s stepson demands front row seats to every Laker Game in LA. His request trumphs all other Laker ticket requests from our President, CEO, celebrities, or valuable clients. His sense of entitlement is far worse than people”

- Nepotism: Diller’s Stepson May Lose His Front-Row Lakers Seats

Introducing my first muxtape: jonathanmarcus.muxtape.com.Phew,...

Tue, 27 May 2008 03:08:00 -0400

Introducing my first muxtape: jonathanmarcus.muxtape.com.

Phew, feels like I just finished a marathon.

Enough with the upfront equity extortion, byzantine licensing structures and monopolistic practices that only serve to stifle progress. We just wanna dance.

The year is 2008 and the music industry is still making life impossible for the most passionate and talented of music lovers and web developers. That’s just bad for everyone.

I really enjoyed the experience of choosing each song, and constantly refining the order. Congratulations Justin!

Welcome to Firefox 3 (Release Candidate)

Sun, 25 May 2008 01:29:00 -0400

Welcome to Firefox 3 (Release Candidate):

“Type in the Location Bar to search your bookmarks and history. It adapts and learns as you use it.”

and

“Fastest Firefox ever — 2x to 3x times faster on today’s complex web applications.”

Hot fire! Appears to be a significant, and well-needed upgrade. Hopefully, this will deliver some real performance improvements.

The combination of Firefox, Java, Flash and Java has been ever so unstable.