Category: links and ideas

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geek links and ideas

a tale of linguine (and startups)

roasted pumpkin pasta

i stumbled upon a brilliant comparison between cooking pasta and launching a startup a while ago, and it’s been on my mind since then. here it is:

How do you cook linguine? Yesterday, I made linguine. I cooked the pasta while my wife made a delicious lemon basil sauce. After about eight minutes, I tasted the linguine to see if it was done. It wasn’t, so I cooked it for a couple more minutes. Now some people don’t taste pasta to see when it is done. Some people throw it all around the kitchen to see if it sticks on the walls. That seems odd to me. The point of cooking pasta is to make it edible, not sticky.

Attitudes about starting companies, especially web companies, are not unlike methods of cooking linguine. Some people think that you “throw something out there” and see if it sticks. If it sticks, it’s done and you’ve cooked up a startup success. Figuratively speaking, there are a lot of awful-tasking starchy strands of uncooked linguine sticking all over the web.

The best way to get a startup right is to cook it for a reasonable amount of time and then taste it to see if it’s done.

All metaphors break down if you push them too far. So I’m not going to keep stirring the pot here. Startups that make news and make people happy are cooked to taste. The founders are personally interested in the product. They don’t throw the idea out to see if it sticks (i.e. see if millions of people happen to think it’s done). Founders of successful startups know that if it tastes good, people are going to like it.

Here’s a lesson learned. Entrepreneurs need to learn how to cook.

these days of instant startups, it seems to be all about “sticking”, and much less about doing something remarkable, or being the best at something.

sigh. fatigue 2.0, anyone?

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links and ideas

panties for peace!

panties 2

Canadian human rights groups are calling on women to take part in a unique protest against Burma’s military junta.

The Quebec Women’s Federation and the activist group Rights and Democracy are coordinating the Canadian edition of “Panties for Peace!” — an international campaign to pressure the Burmese government towards democratic reforms.

Organizers say the idea began after the Burmese government cracked down on pro-democracy activists. Last fall, pro-reform demonstrations led by monks garnered international attention after the military attacked protesters and arrested their leaders.

The idea behind the campaign has to do with the superstitious beliefs of Burma’s military leaders. Human rights activists say the leaders believe that contact with women’s underwear will sap them of their power. Women — and by extension their clothing — are considered inferior by powerful men in Burma, say campaign organizers.

what an unusual protest! ladies, if you don’t feel like doing the underwear – send it in!
if it works, it will definitely be worth it! :)

the full story, here.

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links and ideas

when obama wins

whenobamawins.jpg

a very entertaining meme that started on twitter and can now be shuffled on a microsite by kottke.

(seen on tcritic.com)

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links and ideas photography

red(dish) tins

boxes

these have been piling on my shelves, coming from random places and addictions. i like the fact that only the red ones made it to shanghai. very china-like.

more organized collections.

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links and ideas

“frank sent this”: a talk on children, education and creativity

i said it before, i don’t usually link to videos. in fact, i rarely watch them on other people’s blogs too. but this is presentation is just too important not to. here’s what ted says about sir robinson presentation:

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining (and profoundly moving) case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than undermining it. With ample anecdotes and witty asides, Robinson points out the many ways our schools fail to recognize — much less cultivate — the talents of many brilliant people. “We are educating people out of their creativity,” Robinson says. The universality of his message is evidenced by its rampant popularity online. A typical review: “If you have not yet seen Sir Ken Robinson’s TED talk, please stop whatever you’re doing and watch it now.“

do that. several times.