I caught a glimpse of Guy Kawasaki’s book “The Art of the Start” at my local Barnes and Noble today and decided to give it a quick lookover.
On the cover, Pierre Omidyar, one of the founders of EBay, is quoted as saying “please, read the last chapter first.” So the last chapter is called “The Art of Being a Mensch” which is basically Guy’s advice on how to be ethical, decent and admirable.
It’s a pretty short chapter (3 pages) so the basic idea is:
Help Many People
Do What’s Right
Keep your Word, Value the Spirit not the Technicality of an Agreement
Pay for What you Get
Focus on What’s Important
Pay Back Society
Pretty pratical advice if you ask me. I can probably work on the first point, and the last point more but I think I’m pretty good about doing what’s right most of the time. The most important part of this chapter is probably the exercise you’re supposed to do:
“It’s the end of your life. Write down the three things you want people to remember about you”
1. To be remembered as a close and trusted friend to those who were kind enough to have shared a friendship with me.
2. To raise a strong loving family (when the time comes)
3. To have lived with no regrets and lived life to the fullest.
And here’s a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson which I find unwavering inspiration in:
“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”
That is what I would like to be remembered as.
I would like to invite everyone reading to submit their list of 3 things they would like to remembered for and I’ll post them here.
Can You Dig It?These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
First off, I’m writing this review primarily because I have been a reader of JohnChow.com for a while now and I truly find his posts entertaining (and often educational) and secondly, because he’s offering to link back to this review and hopefully bring me some new readers.
Who is John Chow?
In a nutshell, John is a self-described “dot-com mogul” and he really is. He started the highly popoular TechZone and then went on work on several other online content ventures. John Chow calls his writings “ramblings”, but it’s really not. His posts are coherent, clear, and most of all authentic. John hails from Vancouver, British Columbia (that’s in Canada) and from what I can tell, he’s in his mid-30s, loves cars, food, and life.
JohnChow.com in a Nutshell
John’s first post on his new blog was on December 1st, 2005 so JohnChow.com has been in existence for little over 2 years now. JohnChow.com includes posts about his work, dot-com news, as well as details from his personal life including restaurant reviews, cars, and blogonomics (the economics of running a blog).
In many ways, John is a great example of way the internet has elminated the barriers to entry and has allowed almost anyone who has common sense, smarts, and most of all heart to be successful.
Seth Godin wonders why people continue to blog even when outsiders will hardly ever get a chance to read it. That’s a very critical question for InteractiveDaily which has only recently begun to be updated regularly. Despite my efforts at submitting stories to Digg and Reddit, I haven’t gotten a single comment yet. I’m getting somewhat compulsive at tracking visitors though, I think I visit Google Analytics every hour.
She quotes Danah Boyd’s essay that “Jenny Sundén (2003) argues that, in order to exist online, we must write ourselves into being. From the flow of text in chatrooms to the creation of Profiles, people are regularly projecting themselves into the Internet so that others may view their presence and interact directly with them. Social network sites take this to the next level because participants there write their community into being through the process of Friending”.
I guess at the end of the day, I’m just looking to validate my existence online through befriending others.
I’m also very excited about the online advertising industry which is experiencing phenomenal growth. Being situated in one of the top agencies in this field helps as well as I’m right in the thick of it, working on campaigns for some major advertisers, thinking about online marketing strategy and actually being able to measure its effectiveness.
So I think the answer to Seth’s question is: Yes, this blog exists even if no one is reading if just for the sake of validating my own existence.
Can You Dig It?These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
February 22, 2007 at 12:22 am · Filed under Business News
In case you didn’t see this posted yesterday, JetBlue Airlines, one of my favorite up until last week’s disaster, has posted a public apology from CEO David Neeleham posted on JetBlue’s website and as a video on YouTube.
JetBlue has also introduced a Customer’s Bill of Rights in which the company outlines specific steps it’s taking towards ensuring that customers are compenstated fairly due to delays that are JetBlue’s fault.
Key Highlights from the Customer Bill of Rights (expected to be incorporated into the airline’s contract with the passsenger
Ground Delays and Departure delays means at least $25 for customers once it hits the 30 minute mark. The longer you wait, the more in vouchers you get until you get a maximum of a free roundtrip ticket.
Anytime delays hit 5 hours, JetBlue promises to do everything possible to deplane passengers.
If you are denied boarding due to overbooking, you “shall receive” $1000 - This is one that’s had the people talking. I’m still looking for details on this to find out if you get $1000 plus you get on the next available flight or you get $1000 and you get to book a new flight. If anyone knows, please post a link in the comments.
I think the gesture is sincere and I’ve read “Blue Streak”, a look at David and how he built JetBlue and I believe the company is smart and knows why they messed up and are taking positive steps towards solving those problems.
Why Another Search Engine?
We use Google everyday and to a large degree, we’ve come to the conclusion that the results Google returns for our searches are “best in class”. Thousands of engineers high on unlimited caffeine and red bull at the Googleplex are refining that algorithm as we speak, thrwarting spammers, getting rid of phising sites, and improving the relevancy of the results overall. But imagine if we added in a social component that would allow for democratic participation in the rating of results based on human-perceived qualities that machines cannot determine easily — factors like quality of content, grammar and syntax, writing style, and even presentation and design.
Overview of Current Social-Ranking Search Engines
I’ve looked at 2 of the most similar search engines out there - Kratia.com and Wink.com. To a large degree, most people have not heard of either although Wink.com does have good coverage and have recently begun to focus more on the People search aspect of their engine and less on the “thumbs up, thumbs down” ranking system.
However, I think there are some shortcomings to both of these engines which hamper their ability to make socially rated search engine results a success.
Both of these engine’s ranking system is not persistent as you navigate through the search engine results. Once you leave Wink.com, you have to return to Wink to provide a rating. On Kratia.com, the toolbar is persistent but in my testing on IE7 (it doesn’t work with on FF above 1.5), the toolbar was not aware that I was navigating search results for my search for “cat food” as I moved from site to site.
There is no apparent effective spam/abuse system built-in. On Wink.com, that may not be as big of a problem because they determine results from a combination of both algorithm score + user ratings. On Kratia.com, their philosophy of “Equality: In Kratia every vote has the same value. There are no distinctions, no classes, no authorities” means that webmasters and spammers have the potential to upvote their own site rankings without penalty.
One size fits all for voting - In the case of Wink.com, it’s a thumbs up or thumbs down and on Kratia it’s a “Like or Not Like”. Users value different aspects of websites which means that any rating system should consider some broader but logical aspects of a website to rank on such as content, quality of writing, presentation & style (quality of images, videos, etc.).
Key Ideas in this New Search Engine
Leverage existing Google search results for best-of-breed algorithm base.
Ratings toolbar should be a no-install to ensure maximum adoption. Can be achieved through “Netscape-like” persistent frame w/ AJAX/Flex UI for seamless unintrusive integration into surfing experience.
Toolbar must be connected to the search engine to provide for navigation across search results even when a user leaves the main search site. This will ensure that users can provide feedback on the spot and move to the next search result w/o having to return to the search site.
Votes should not be created equal - Merit based system would reward users who consistently rate close to averages to have their scores weighted more heavily. Spammers and those who abuse the system will have their rating’s relevance weighted downwards across ALL of their ratings, eventually diminishing their influence on the search results.
Why would Users do Something for Nothing?
People are inherently good.
Contributing to a more human search and web experience is truly something that can be achieved easily through the power of social networks.
Everyone wants their voice to be heard.
Everyone wants to be recognized. (We’ll have a Top Users board)
People hate BAD Search Results.
Finally, this would force web designers, businesses and individuals to focus on optimizing for People and not for Bots in creating their web experiences. Concepts such as keyword density, hidden text, black hat, white hat, etc. would become irrelevant. What becomes critical to success is relevant, well-written content that that is presented in a clear, easy-to-read, easy to understand format, with great supporting materials such as photos and videos when appropriate.
the Idea in Graphical Format
Can You Dig It?These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
Every man should have a respectable wristwatch that speaks to the type of person they are. A watch adds a touch of class, shows that you’re someone who is attentive to timeliness. This is especially useful for interviews where a watch can be that little “detail” that makes the interviewer think, “this young man must pay attention to time and has a classic sense of style”.
Avoid the bling and go for this season’s classic but stylish black leather strap with a silver face. Make sure your first watch can be worn in different situations and save up to buy 2-3 more for different occasions. Don’t worry about the brand for now if you’re on a budget, I found a great Swatch Irony series watch for $129. If you want something a bit classier and have the means, Breitlings, Omegas, and Oris watches are my picks for initial investments.
Can You Dig It?These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
I caught a glimpse of Guy Kawasaki’s book “The Art of the Start” at my local Barnes and Noble today and decided to give it a quick lookover. 
