tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91040312024-03-12T20:52:31.104-07:00where's freemanUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger205125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104031.post-63417427519984935332010-08-27T03:11:00.001-07:002010-08-27T03:11:58.961-07:00Indian VPS from E2ENetworksI've been hard at work getting the <a href="http://jaaga.in/">Jaaga.in</a> website up and running. We migrated over from the old<a href="http://jaaga.wikidot.com/">wikidot site</a> to the new one running Drupal on my MediaTemple account. For the most part its been a fairly painless process. Now that we're up tho we're finding that its extremely slow, and after surfing around the interweb for awhile it appears that its a fairly common complaint of low traffic cms based sites on MediaTemple.<div><br /></div><div>My friend <a href="http://tarundua.net/">Tarun Dua</a> runs a hosting company here in India <a href="http://e2enetworks.com/">E2ENetworks</a> offering VPS servers. He's been promoting local hosting to Indian startups as a way of reducing latency / improving response times for companies targeting an Indian audience. I moved the Jaaga website over to an inexpensive plan on E2ENetworks and the response time on simple page requests reduced by more than half. So now I'm a believer.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104031.post-68249506817493783182010-05-06T16:45:00.002-07:002010-05-06T17:41:35.998-07:00china electronicsA few weeks ago I visited a bunch of electronics trade shows in Hong Kong and China.<div><br /></div><div><a href="http://tradeshow.globalsources.com/TRADESHOW/CSF/INDEX.HTM">http://tradeshow.globalsources.com/TRADESHOW/CSF/INDEX.HTM</a></div><div><a href="http://hkelectronicsfairae.hktdc.com/">http://hkelectronicsfairae.hktdc.com/</a></div><div><a href="http://www.cantonfair.org.cn/en/index.asp">http://www.cantonfair.org.cn/en/index.asp</a></div><div><br /></div><div>I was sort of expecting something like an Asian Comdex where manufacturers would show off their latest gadgets. I was a bit disappointed at the lack of new stuff there. In conversation people said that <a href="http://www.computextaipei.com.tw/">Computex</a> in Taiwan showcased more innovation. The fairs I went to were 'sourceing' fairs aimed at connecting manufacturers with regional distributors who could move large volumes of product. As such there was very little technical staff, and the products on display were much more oriented around volume distribution rather than newness.</div><div><br /></div><div>Poking around I had a few casual observations:</div><div>- generic ebooks were readily available, but expensive at about $120 for a small kindle sized device that had wifi but no Edge. The sales people didn't seem to be pushing them very much.</div><div>- netbooks were also on display, but the unit costs when ordering in bulk was basically the same as just buying them from Costco retail. So, I'm going to order a few more netbooks from Costco before returning to India on this trip.</div><div>- projectors i would expect to pay $400+ for at Fry's were going for $150</div><div>- lots of pico-projectors on the market</div><div><br /></div><div>The biggest surprise for me was the almost universal ignorance about Android. I imagined that Android running on cheap Chinese phones would be India's answer to the $850 iPhone. Almost no one I spoke to at any of the sourcing fairs had heard of it though. Apparently <a href="http://www.mediatek.com/en/index.php">MTK</a> dominates this space. I had never heard of them...</div><div><br /></div><div>After the fair a friend sent me this link to an Android tablet that was at the show for $100. </div><div><a href="http://www.shanzai.com/index.php/bandit-gadgets/31-featured/951-video-eken-m001-100-android-tablet">http://www.shanzai.com/index.php/bandit-gadgets/31-featured/951-video-eken-m001-100-android-tablet</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104031.post-58114268936636337462010-03-03T20:47:00.002-08:002010-03-03T21:08:19.725-08:00Cafe Thoughts<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><div class="entry" style="line-height: 1.4em; "><p>I'm trying to write more on the <a href="http://blog.jaaga.in/">Jaaga blog</a>. For now I'm going to cross post here as well.</p><p>***</p><p>I spent sometime in Auroville last week and got my farm-on at<a href="http://solitudefarm.blogspot.com/"> Solitude Farm</a>. Periodically, I need to do this to remember that sustainability and how we live and what we eat is important and shouldn’t get lost in the practical details of how we’re going to deal with water proofing.</p><p>Several people volunteering there were associated with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community-supported_agriculture">CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) </a>projects around the world. CSA is great because it creates a tighter bond between food growers and food eaters. I’d really like to explore how the Jaaga cafe could facilitated this connection to local farmers as well. It could be a simple matter of doing research and sourcing our veggies from local farms we really like. We could also be a CSA drop off point, or have an organic food coop. …</p></div></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104031.post-32820637841971809242010-02-28T00:09:00.001-08:002010-02-28T00:11:07.755-08:00Jaaga Media Center<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; "><div style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font: normal normal normal 13px/19px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; padding-top: 0.6em; padding-right: 0.6em; padding-bottom: 0.6em; padding-left: 0.6em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span mce_style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span mce_style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif;" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; "><span mce_style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span mce_style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span mce_style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span mce_style="font-weight: normal;" style="font-weight: normal; "><span mce_style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span mce_style="font-weight: normal;" style="font-weight: normal; "><span mce_style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">We've received a small grant to set up a media & education center at Jaaga. Check out the description of the media center below and let us know your thoughts in the comments. We're looking for people who can help us develop and implement this vision. Let us know if thats you !! email: <i>info@jaaga.in</i> </div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><br /></div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Mission</span>:</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">The Jaaga Media Center helps local people use (consume and produce) digital media to become better informed and more effective in supporting themselves and affecting positive change in the world.</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Definition:</span></div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">Online Media includes Video, Audio, Blogs, Twitter, Social Media, online advocacy, web design and all other mediums for online communication.</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Goals:</span></div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- develop and initiate the media based education program at Jaaga</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- develop useful and interesting media content</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- educate people on media production and distribution</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- promote the use of media in social service</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- support the community media movement in India</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- help students create rich online</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Programs</span></div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- workshops</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- online channels</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- media lab</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Workshops</span></div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- targeted at students conversant in english and familiar with computers & the internet.</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- students work in small teams on tasks given by their advisors</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- regular meetups at Jaaga where students share what they have found, show their own work, and discuss.</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- projects include creating their own videos, finding / analyzing videos from the web and doing projects for ngo clients</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- all projects go towards developing the users online profile.</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Online Channels:</span></div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">Online media channels consist of originally produced content, and curated material found on the web. We select topics for these channels to tie in with the courses being taught in the education program. We promote these channels actively and measure success by the number of viewers we get for these videos and the amount of user engagement we generate. Additionally we maintain a video blog on activities and events surrounding jaaga adding one new video for it every other week.</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Screenings:</span></div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">Constantly screen videos at Jaaga. These include:</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- originally produced work</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- internet videos</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- documentaries</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- other material of interest for its educational or entertainment value.</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Media Lab:</span></div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">The media lab is an area in Jaaga which has gear which can be used by the community to create their videos. It includes:</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- 5 terabyte file server with media uploaded by participants or downloaded from the web.</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- 2 video editing stations (laptops)</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- 2 low cost (canon FS200 style) cameras</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- 2 mics & headsets</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Website</span></div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- our course catalog</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- the media channels we are involved with</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- profiles for our staff & students</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">People</span></div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- Director (full time), who can oversee and facilitate the development and operation of the Media Center</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- Workshop instructors / facilitators (part time)</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- Mentors (part time) who can work with students in different areas (video, web design, dj/vjing, english writing, ...)</div><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">- Instructional Designer (part time)</div></div></span></span></span></div></span></span></span></div></span></div></span></span></span></div></span></div></div></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104031.post-51306693665553470042009-12-22T21:36:00.002-08:002009-12-22T22:00:35.893-08:00Reimagining Learning<div>I'm developing ideas for a proposal to the dmlcompetition on 21st century learning labs. <a href="http://dmlcompetition.net/learning_labs.php">http://dmlcompetition.net/learning_labs.php</a> is very much in progress, but I thought I'd share ...</div><div><br /></div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(43, 70, 100); "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>Summary:</b></span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We propose to create learning environment which integrates the strengths of the Internet - limitless information, and strategic access to experts, with the strengths of a local teaching staff - personal interaction, encouragement, social pressure, ... </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;"><b>Concept:</b> </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">small staff of facilitators (not subject matter experts). </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">online subject matter experts focus on digital technologies which can be done online and where there is a clear path to online income opportunities to individuals who demonstrate mastery. </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">leverage internet video, wikis, message boards, search, etc. </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">agile development (work in pairs) </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">online portfolio development </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">contribute to the internet </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">public awards for people who achieve milestones / accomplishments </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;"><b>Target Students</b>: </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">English speaking with some computer exposure. </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;"><b>Desired Outcome for Students:</b> </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">responsible citizens of the Internet cognizant of the 'netiquette' surrounding online human interactions </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">respectable online profile of accomplishments </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">demonstrated ability to earn money online </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">significant real world friendships with peers and mentors </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;"><b>Methodology:</b></span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">projects at increasing levels of complexity which contribute to the internet. </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">merit badge system for achievement at different levels </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">local award ceremony to recognize attainment of new badges </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">online subject matter expert mentors work with teams to develop milestones and answer technical questions </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">local facilitators push students to keep to the milestones and help with personal issues. </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">students primarily work in small teams. </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;"><b>Subjects</b>: </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">VIDEO </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">AUDIO </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">WEBSITES </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">DESIGN </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">WRITING </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">ADVOCACY / ONLINE MARKETING </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">PROGRAMMING </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">FINANCE </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">PLANNING </span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-size:85%;">E-LEARNING</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104031.post-12776140209877499202009-10-23T23:46:00.001-07:002009-10-23T23:46:40.558-07:00JAAGA !!! Pallet Rack Building in Bangalore<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(100, 95, 94); white-space: pre-wrap; "><object width="400" height="220"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=7224551&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1"><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=7224551&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="220"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/7224551">CitySignals@Jaaga</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user2018352">Saurabh Agarwal</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104031.post-12416350085209440832009-07-21T03:03:00.003-07:002009-07-21T03:10:22.748-07:00Social Entrepreneurship<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman';"><p>I originally wrote this article for <a href="http://managmentnext.com/">ManagmentNext.com</a>. Since its not available online tho, I am reposting it here.</p><br /><hr /><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;">Thru a combination of hard work, good fortune and a curious predisposition towards a very low cost standard of living I have been blessed with a significant amount of freedom relatively early in my life.</span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;">Extreme freedom is more complex than most people realize and begs the question. “What do I really want”. After traveling and some soul searching I came to the high level conclusion, that I’d like a happy, healthy, sustainable lifestyle, and would like to use my skills, time, energy and money to make happy, healthy, sustainable lifestyles more readily available.</span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;">Looking inward at the gifts I carry, perhaps the most important is an almost religious personal identification with the internet. I believe education, security thru government recourse, money and meaningful membership in the international community are widely available via the internet to those with the access and understanding of how to engage it properly.</span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;">My particular mission is to make that statement more real and less rhetorical. </span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;">When I dream about a realistic perfect future it looks like some combination of the Solitude farm at Auroville, the dreams of Paolo Soleri and his experiments at Arcosanti, the Silicon Valley and Dharavi. </span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;">Put another way, I would like to see us move :</span></p><ul type="DISC"><li><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;">away from large scale commercial agriculture towards more local consumption of organically grown food.</span></li><li><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;">away from the mega-cities towards a much larger number of smaller, higher density urban centers</span></li><li><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;">away from a ‘teacher as information repository’ model of education with memorization as the primary metric of student understanding towards a model where information is freely available on the internet, teachers are guides and coaches, and success is measured by a portfolio of meaningful projects.</span></li><li><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;">Towards an internet representative of the global population with thoughtful online public discourse between all the worlds peoples.</span></li></ul><br /><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;">I’ll quickly describe the work of a number of projects & organizations I have been involved with with these goals in mind:</span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><b><a href="http://airjaldi.org">AirJaldi.org</a></b> – Empowering Communities Through Wireless Networks</span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;">Based in Himachal Pradesh, Air Jaldi </span><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;color:#404040;">develops, deploys and demonstrates technology based on affordable equipment and open-source software tools suitable to the needs and conditions of rural areas. They have deployed a large mesh network connecting over 80 villages, and have set up a network academy for training people in the art of low cost wireless networking.</span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><b><a href="http://dsh.cs.washington.edu">The Digital Study Hall</a> (DSH)</b> </span><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"> –</span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;">DSH </span><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;color:#333333;">seeks to improve education for the poor children in India. They digitally record live classes by the best grassroots teachers and distribute them on DVDs to rural and slum schools. Education experts and teachers use the system to explore pedagogical approaches involving local teachers actively "mediating" the video lessons. </span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;color:#333333;"><b><a href="http://curriki.org">Curriki.org</a> –</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;color:#3F3F3F;">Curriki is an online environment created to support the development and free distribution of world-class educational materials to anyone who needs them. The name is a play on the combination of 'curriculum' and 'wiki' which is the technology they're using to make education universally accessible.</span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;color:#3F3F3F;"><b><a href="http://videovolunteers.org">VideoVolunteers.org</a> –</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;color:#333333;">VideoVolunteer’s vision is to create a global social media network of by and for marginalized and poor communities around the world. They work with local NGOs to donate filmmaking equipment and train local teams in video production about issues of local interest. These videos are then shown via projector to the local communities and are followed up by a discussion about the issues raised and in many cases a call to action. </span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;color:#333333;"><b><a href="http://iaccelerator.org">iAccelerator.org</a> –</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;color:#333333;">This is a technology startup incubation program I am running in conjunction with CIIE at IIM Ahmedabad. While we hope to earn money by taking a small equity stake in the companies we work with, we have a higher objective of stimulating the local (Indian) economy by establishing profitable high-tech businesses.</span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;">I heartily advocate this strategy of taking the time to come up with a clear picture of what to do and why, and then engaging with people doing interesting projects in these areas while looking for where to devote one’s full energies. Understanding and aligning with deeply personal goals has helped keep me focused and energized in my work, and exploring these different organizations has introduced to me to a wide range of great people, new environments, and ideas.</span></p></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104031.post-16233363382841332052009-06-05T00:27:00.004-07:002009-06-21T23:32:53.301-07:00The New ShulI'm a fan of Fred Wilson's blog <a href="http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2009/06/the-leap-of-faith.html">AVC</a>. His latest post mentions a synagogue he and his family are a part of in New York <a href="http://www.newshul.org/">The New Shul</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"Our style of religious observance is eclectic and defies easy categorization. In some ways, our services (Kabbalat Shabbat, for example) are more on the traditional wing of the liberal spectrum -- lots of Hebrew, lots of singing. In other ways, some of our ritual events (such as our Sukkot Rain Dance) are more experimental, utilizing new approaches and modes. In terms of our liturgical language, we are egalitarian. We are also creative, intellectual, and independent. One of our defining characteristics is our "come as you are" attitude. Everyone is welcome, irrespective of their background or beliefs."<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /></span></span></span><br />I dig it.<br /><br />Atheists generally refute the claim that morality is in someway connected to a belief in 'God'.<br /><br />The modern refrain on such topics tends to be, "I'm spiritual, but not religious". Which is exactly the opposite of what Fred Wilson says, <span style="font-style: italic;">"I'm not much for religion to be honest. It's something I participate in but not something I believe in."</span> <br /><br />On the New Shul <a href="http://www.newshulblog.blogspot.com/">blog </a>there's a <a href="http://newshulblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/donate-book-or-two-this-saturday.html">post </a>by a girl coming up on her Bat Mitsvah.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"Part of the tradition at The New Shul, when becoming a Bat/Bar Mitzvah, is to give back to the community by doing a community service project."</span> She goes onto describe a book donation project she wants to do for hers.<br /><br />Its not clear to me whether this is a tradition they made up, or whether this is an ancient Jewish tradition, or a modern interpretation of something very old.<br /><br />Honestly, I don't believe much in the impact of planetary gravitational fields on our day to day lives. At burningman someone told me that Saturn had about the same gravitational affect on me as he (this other person) did. I do like the notion of clocks with longer rotations than minutes, seconds or hours. And I like the idea of associating certain events (traditions, festivals, etc) that should be practiced regularly, but maybe not every day, with the motion of these larger bodies.<br /><br />So, there's a time for focusing on creativity, a time for generosity, a time for respecting the old, and caring for the new...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104031.post-79606353657646296762009-04-23T02:45:00.003-07:002009-04-23T02:50:18.786-07:00Pick Teams, Place Bets<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); line-height: 19px; font-family:verdana;font-size:13px;"><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5385em; margin-left: 0px; background-position: initial initial; ">I posted this first on <a href="http://iacclerator.org/">iAccelerator.org</a>. </p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5385em; margin-left: 0px; background-position: initial initial; "><em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; background-position: initial initial; ">“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”</em> <a href="http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Antoine_de_Saint-Exupery#Attributed" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 112, 197); font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline; background-position: initial initial; ">Antoine de Saint-Exupéry</a> via <a href="http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2006/12/engineering-man.html" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 112, 197); font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline; background-position: initial initial; ">Marc Hedlund</a></p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5385em; margin-left: 0px; background-position: initial initial; ">That has been a favorite quote of mine since I read it on <a href="http://radar.oreilly.com/marc/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 112, 197); font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline; background-position: initial initial; ">Marc’s blog</a> a couple of years ago. I’ve known Marc since his days with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_Power" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 112, 197); font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline; background-position: initial initial; ">Popular Power</a>. When he and my college friend Jason Knight founded <a href="http://wesabe.com/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 112, 197); font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline; background-position: initial initial; ">WeSabe</a> I came in as a small angel investor.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5385em; margin-left: 0px; background-position: initial initial; ">Marc has also been a guest speaker at the YCombinator weekly meetings, and as I’m preparing for the teams coming in to the iAccelerator, I called him this morning to ask for some advice on how he has dealt with startups, and his recommendations for me.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5385em; margin-left: 0px; background-position: initial initial; ">Some VC running a venture training program at Stanford said that most of what he does is pick teams and place bets. They add value by making connections, and getting involved a bit. But, they’re very explicitly not trying to run the companies. Marc told me this when I asked how to train teams to run board meetings. Marc’s main point was that the information founders share with investors at a board meeting should be the same information they already collect just to run their company. “What do we really need to know about our business to know if we’re succeeding or failing”</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5385em; margin-left: 0px; background-position: initial initial; ">Much of Marc’s advice felt like this. When I asked whether he recommended having teams give tech talks he said that he had tried it a couple of times at different startups with varying results. The first time an engineer suggested it and the culture embraced it. Another time he mandated it, and the team rejected it. Asked whether I should train people in a specific development methodology such as Agile, he recommended that instead I bring people in to talk about their experience with different development practices and help teams evolve one that fits them. On whether there were standard tools all teams should use he mentioned that at WeSabe they use CampFire extensively for company collaboration, but they’ve tried BaseCamp a few times and hadn’t really got traction with it until recently.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5385em; margin-left: 0px; background-position: initial initial; ">Ultimately, Marc’s advice comes down to ‘listen’ understand whats actually happening, collect and present information. Advocate rather than mandate the changes you want to see.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5385em; margin-left: 0px; background-position: initial initial; ">Sometimes I describe my vision for the iAccelerator as a ‘Startup Factory’ where all the companies coming thru abide by ’standard’ processes and use common tools. I imagine multi-colored <a href="http://www.agilemodeling.com/artifacts/userStory.htm" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 112, 197); font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline; background-position: initial initial; ">story cards</a> marching accross <a href="http://www.infoq.com/articles/agile-kanban-boards" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 112, 197); font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline; background-position: initial initial; ">Kanban boards </a>behind each of our teams. And that we’re all using Salesforce, Basecamp, Trac, Git / SVN, etc. which allows teams to track their own progress, and us as external stakeholders to quickly and uniformly monitor the different companies we’re engaged with. The combination of all these things gives us a consistent brand of what it means to be an iAccelerator team.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5385em; margin-left: 0px; background-position: initial initial; ">And honestly, I feel there maybe times when this is appropriate. But, Marc and the VC seem to argue heavily in the direction of picking really great people and then giving them the latitude to express their brilliance in the ways which are comfortable for them.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5385em; margin-left: 0px; background-position: initial initial; ">From this quote on the YCombinator ‘<a href="http://ycombinator.com/about.html" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 112, 197); font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline; background-position: initial initial; ">about</a>‘ page, it seems <a href="http://paulgraham.com/articles.html" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 112, 197); font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline; background-position: initial initial; ">Paul Graham</a> takes this position too.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5385em; margin-left: 0px; background-position: initial initial; "><em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; background-position: initial initial; ">We try to interfere as little as possible in the startups we fund. We don’t want board seats, rights to participate in future rounds, vetoes over strategic decisions, or any of the other powers investors sometimes require. We offer lots of advice, but we can’t force anyone to take it. We realize that independence is one of the reasons people want to start startups in the first place. And frankly, it’s also one of the reasons startups succeed. Investors who try to control the companies they fund often end up destroying them.</em></p></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104031.post-39447010115405283992009-04-09T04:34:00.003-07:002009-04-09T04:56:20.258-07:00LA Community Space ReduxI'm collaborating with Archana down in Bangalore about the idea of creating a large temporary structure as community exhibition space for the artists there. She asked me to write about my experiences with community spaces in Los Angeles.<br /><p><br /><img src=http://farm1.static.flickr.com/26/56496503_69d4e5486c.jpg?v=0><br /><p><br />In 2003 I became interested in helping the independent film community in Los Angeles take advantage of internet distribution to introduce their work to the world at Large. At Burningman I had seen a large school bus with 'The Los Angeles Filmmakers Coop' spray painted across its side in full Graffiti style. Tao Ruspoli, the owner of the bus, had been operating a mobile film studio and training center out of the bus in Venice Beach, but was eager to move into a larger fixed space.<br /><br />After some search we rented a beautiful old powerhouse in Venice beach which was just one large 1500 sq ft. space with 20 ft ceilings. We needed a way to separate the space into studios where people could work on their projects, while leaving the space open for exhibitions, parties, performances, trainings, etc. Since we had a short term lease on the space we could not make fixed changes to the space. The solution we found was to build a second story out of warehouse shelving called pallet racks. This way we installed 6 elevated studio areas and one chill-out section while leaving the ground floor open for more public gatherings. <br /><br />We operated the space for 6 months and a vital community of artists, performers and filmmakers came to spend alot of time there. While individuals had personal areas to work from there was no visual or sound barriers separating the different sections of the space. So, everyone got sucked into any drama happening anywhere. Looking back on it, we all felt like it was a wonderful space for socializing and connecting with people, but not particularly conducive to work.<br /><p><br /><img src=http://farm1.static.flickr.com/25/56491705_b153a95c54.jpg?v=0><br /><img src=http://farm1.static.flickr.com/25/56491702_3504b37eb3.jpg?v=0><p><br />Determined to fix the shortcomings of the Lafco space in 2004 I rented a large loft in The Brewery, a large colony of artist lofts in downtown Los Angeles. Here I built a large 3 story structure out of pallet racks which provided 20 private areas with internet and power which people could work from. I deemphasized the role of events in this space, and restricted the units to people actively working on projects. Unfortunately, it seemed that people who were functional enough to meet my criteria, had no interest in moving their work onto a large jungle gym. <br /><br />After some time I recognized that the experiment wasn't working, so rather than waste the opportunity, I opened it up to the more fringe artist community and allowed people to live there as well. The remaining months were fun, but predictably chaotic, and in the fall of 2004 I shut the place down and moved to India.<br /><br /><p><br /><img src=http://farm1.static.flickr.com/30/56491700_6f7234f7ce.jpg?v=0><br /><p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104031.post-29430489682960521602009-02-09T19:21:00.004-08:002009-02-12T09:03:52.547-08:00Conversations with Scott BeibinI've got like 20 tabs open after hanging out with <a href="http://www.eviltwinbooking.org/events.cfm?view=Speakers&artist_id=9">Scott </a>for a couple hours. He's running <a href="http://www.eviltwinbooking.org/">Evil Twin Booking Agency</a> for a bunch of super interesting people in the modern progressive radical activist scene.<br /><br />I was telling him about my idea for Radical Change 2012. He pointed me to the <a href="http://realitysandwich.com/">reality sandwich website</a> and told me to watch for <a href="http://evolver.net/">evolver</a><br /><br />He told me a bit about each of the artists he represents. <a href="http://www.terreform.org/people_mj.html">Mitchell Joachim</a> designed these awesome <a href="http://www.terreform.org/projects_mobility_stackable.html">stackable cars</a> and has a bunch of cool designs for <a href="http://www.terreform.org/projects_habitat_fab.html">green buildings</a><br /><br />We talked about a bunch of festivals that got me excited about that scene again.<br /><a href="http://www.gadgetoff.com/weblog/">Gadget Off</a> is a hacker festival with some connection to the <a href="http://www.2600.com/">2600 zine</a> community.<br /><br />Creative Capital<a href="http://creative-capital.org/"></a> finances a variety of art projects and performances.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.thelasthope.org/">The Last Hope</a> another hacker conference. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.rothburyfestival.com">Rothbury Festival</a> in Michigan.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bonnaroo.com/">Bonaroo</a> in Tenessee.<br /><br /><a href="http://lightninginabottle.org/">Lightning in a bottle</a> festival in Santa Barbara. This came up in a bunch of conversations. These people appear to be awesome -<a href="http://www.thedolab.com/blog/">Do Lab</a>. I saw them rehearsing for a dance performance this weekend. It looked amazing and fun.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.thesolarsaucer.com/Home.html">Solar Saucer</a> solar powered dj boothe.<br /><br />On a completely different note, Scott does marketing for a variety of 'green' companies and was talking about how great these <a href="http://www.icelenergy.com/">Icel battery</a> guys were.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104031.post-70184969670342486612009-02-07T07:27:00.003-08:002009-02-07T08:01:13.042-08:00TEDIts 7am and I'm early for events today. Every morning so far there have been a variety of unpublished breakfasts on a wide variety of topics that you were supposed to RSVP for. <br /><br />Lunch operates the same way. There's one 'community lunch' and then a number of sponsored public lunches, and other unpublished ones. It gives me the sense that within TED there remain layers of exclusivity.<br /><br />I'm cool with it, and happy to be invited to the party at all.<br /><br />The vertical lunches and breakfasts serve a nice purpose getting people interested in specific areas together for extended social interaction.<br /><br />I love the diversity of the presentations at TED. Having a mix of live music, dance performances, technology demonstrations and permaculture presentations brings together a wide range of people and encourages cross disciplinary thinking. The breakfast and lunches provide a more focused counter point to that.<br /><br />The organizers put effort into facilitating connections between participants. Before the confernce they send a bunch of emails encouraging people to fill out their profiles. They suggest people you might want to interact with at the event, and provide a book with pictures of all the attendees and their profiles as part of the bag of schwag they hand out during registration. As much as connecting me with specific people, reading thru the profiles helped convince me of the power of the community and to take the interactions seriously. <br /><br />Its definitely been a great conference, and there's alot to learn from it in how to conduct events.<br /><br />I'm looking forward to TED India Nov 5-7 in Mysore.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104031.post-69894468747558371432009-02-02T19:07:00.007-08:002009-02-09T12:33:33.470-08:00DIY ChurchI just spent a day with my mom up in Paso Robles. My mom has been a dedicated Christian for 30+ years. On a very practical level she spends at least an hour a day in prayer and often much more. Sometimes she'll get the guitar out and sing praise and worship songs by herself.<br /><br />My personal belief is that God is neither Christian, Hindu, Buddhist or Muslim. But that each tradition has something to offer. I grew up going to church with my mom, so I learned to sing and pray with the Christians. All else being the same I might even call myself a Christian. But most of my conversations with Christians get disagreeable when we start talking about Jesus as the only way to know God, the nature of sin, and hell, and a bunch of other stuff. In the end I figure the Christian moniker doesn't win me friends with Christians or non-Christians, so I don't use it.<br /><br />Hanging out with my mom is always good though, because I have so much respect for her spiritual path that I can't just write off the entire Christian community.<br /><br />In Goa talking to a fellow who had been traveling the better part of the last decade. He described his experience interacting with Missionaries in different communities around the world. He said that they try to fit in, but then they start talking about the devil and stuff whenever they can, and everyone gets weirded out and wonders why they can't just be normal.<br /><br />I remember this aspect of children's church when I was a kid. The youth pastor used to tell us how if we didn't tell our friends about Jesus they would go to hell, and when they were burning in hell they would know that we could have saved them if we had had the courage to tell them about Jesus in school. It's like using fear and guilt to train people to be unnatural, to not pay attention to the situation but to plow through and give a pitch even if ones whole body was screaming not to. <br /><br />My mom used to run a church with her second husband. He was a preacher and she pretty much did everything else. My whole life she has been totally dedicated to ministry. And while it hasn't all been fun, I've definitely seen miracles play out in her life that make me believe in some magic that goes beyond physics and statistics.<br /><br />I love the praise and worship part of church. If we could just sing for an hour or two I would give gladly, hug everyone warmly, come with anticipation and leave feeling high. Occasionally I still go to church, get elevated during worship and then become depressed when the pastor starts talking about how Mary had to have a virgin birth because if she had had sex then Jesus would have been born in sin like the rest of us.<br /><br />My mom gets antsy in church too. Sometimes she finds these super out-there movements within the church that feel totally tapped into the spirit. I went to a couple of services with her where there was no sermon just people spontaneously singing, and praying in tounges. I think there's a whole 'spirit' movement for people like this. But, its hard to scale a 'spirit' movement if being in the spirit means having a very personal direct experience of god. <br /><br />My mom is excited about home churches right now. I sense its something of a movement, possibly a reaction away from the mega churches that grew up in the last decade. From my point of view much of the evil perpetrated on the world during the Bush administration drew power by communicating very effectively with the established Christian leadership network. <br /><br />Talking with progressive friends with no particular spiritual views other than a uniform dismay at much of the rhetoric that comes from the Christian Right, we bemoan the fact that we don't have any similar community gathering. Wherever you go across this whole country, the expectation is that you can show up as a total stranger at the local church and people will shake your hand, smile and welcome you into their community. How precious is that ? Its almost worth nodding along with the pastor while he talks about whatever, just to feel the human warmth of sitting next to other people.<br /><br />Home churches seem like a DIY way of getting this. Without the ambition that comes from striving for more members or a larger building there is the simple joy of hanging out with other people searching for God's presence. It requires a personal faith in ones direct connection though. Regular church has an expert who can channel Gods word. It's easier to hear a man speak than to put in the time in prayer, worship and studying that genuine direct connection requires. But with the home church, maybe there's no man, there's just a group of people who like to hang out together while they pray, worship, study and seek god.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104031.post-67549865391371896412009-01-30T06:33:00.002-08:002009-01-30T06:40:32.218-08:00iAccelerator.orgIts pretty much official. Together with people at the <a href="http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/">IIM Ahmedabad</a> incubation center (<a href="http://ciieindia.org">CIIE</a>) I'll be running this years <a href="http://iAccelerator.org">iAccelerator </a>program. I'm stoked ! Last year we all had a great time and learned alot. This year we're going to blow it out :) To make it even better my friend <a href="http://www.zimbra.com/about/management_team.html">Satish Dharmaraj</a> is helping me out with the program as both an advisor and co-investor. <br /><br />Program is May thru to September. Check out the <a href="http://iaccelerator.org">website </a>for more info.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104031.post-2984671111269262182009-01-27T04:12:00.003-08:002009-01-29T05:02:04.628-08:00goa restaurant suggestionsI had some amazing food in Goa while I was there.<br />Thought I'd write down some of my favorites.<br /><br /><a href="http://thejamconnection.com/default.aspx">jam connection</a><br />This is just next to the Anjuna side of the Anjuna Baga shortcut. At first I thought it was a dance studio, but was stoked to find it a very relaxed very good restaurant.<br /><br />German Bakery - I spent Christmas eve at a party here. Its a super large place that makes me appreciate the spaciousness of goa. You can get a table with maybe 200 sq. ft. <br /><br />KU - Someone from my yoga class recommended this restaurnt. Its a pretty amazing place up in Asvem with giant sorta japanese zen architecture and nice views of the area.<br /><br />Bean Me Up - In Vagator, this place has nice ambient music, good juices, and healthy food.<br /><br />Tahasa - I had a wonderful evening here before leaving. Its on the cliffs in lower Vagator just south of 9 bar. We had wonderful food and enjoyed the general atmosphere.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104031.post-73094630382065845392008-12-15T18:50:00.002-08:002008-12-15T18:52:42.610-08:00SantaBush.com<object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7B4y5sZKdI4&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7B4y5sZKdI4&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object><br /><br />I really like these videos by brave new films. I feel he gets the internet video medium more than anyone else I've seen to make short, funny, to the point videos that have the potential to really spread.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104031.post-24334704185949172552008-12-12T22:22:00.002-08:002008-12-12T22:29:30.410-08:00India Travel SceneThis came out of an email to a friend<br />considering coming out to India.<br /><br />---<br /><br />im in goa right now<br />digging the yoga scene here (<a href="http://www.brahmaniyoga.com/schedule.shtml">Brahmani, <a href="http://www.dunesgoa.com/">Dunes</a></a><br />also doing some volunteer work with<br /><a href="http://videovolunteers.org">videovolunteers.org</a><br /><br />ive spent most of the last 4 years in pune<br />the <a href="http://osho.com">osho</a> ashram / resort is there<br />is a good albeit somewhat expensive scene<br />lots of meditation, swimming and dancing.<br /><br />i haven't spent so much time in the north yet<br />but alittle bit in Dharmasala and Leh, Ladakh.<br />Everyone I met in Leh was either into trekking<br />or meditation. All the time I've spent in Dharmasala<br />has been with <a href="http://airjaldi.org">airjaldi</a> so I dont have as good<br />a feel for the traveller scene there, tho it seems<br />to be pretty active with yoga, meditation, hiking <br />stuff as well.<br /><br />Everyone I met in Varanasi is studying classical <br />Indian instraments, vedic astrology, kriya yoga, etc.<br />i dig that vibe, and its the most overtly spiritual of<br />the places in India I have spent time.<br /><br />The traveler scene in Calcutta is oriented around<br />hardcore service. Hardcore service in Calcutta is<br />working with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Teresa">Mother Theresa</a>'s <a href="http://www.motherteresa.org/">mission </a>to take care<br />of the truly destitute. Sutter st. is down town and<br />has a good traveler scene. In the evening sipping<br />tea with random strangers, I find that people who<br />spend their days cleaning shit and feeding the very<br />weak and needy have a special glow about them.<br /><br />Another place I really enjoy spending time is <br />Krishna McKenzie's <a href="http://www.auroville.org/environment/agri_farms.htm#solitude">Solitude Farm</a> in Auroville,<br />Auroville has alot going on, and working at Solitude<br />is very grounding.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104031.post-32553273954686629982008-12-06T00:54:00.000-08:002008-12-06T00:56:12.474-08:00Blog DemoShowing off blogger at the internet advocacy workshop in goaUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104031.post-44948414234163894362008-12-02T00:43:00.000-08:002008-12-02T00:44:52.963-08:00TechStart.inWe're starting a series of technology clubs to help create a supportive environment<br />for people to develop their technical skills and connect with other people people in<br />the community in a meaningful way.<br /><br />The basic idea is to find people with practical industry experience<br />willing to spend some time each month creating or identifying useful exercises <br />people interested in their field could do to develop their skills and posting them<br />on a blog or mailing list. Additionally they spend time each week facilitating a <br />discussion of the participants on a mailing list. <br /><br />The intension is not to compete with existing online resources for technical<br />training and support, but to provide some more human support and mentorship<br />for people on the path. Mentors can and should encourage participants to <br />engage in the existing online communities surrounding their technologies.<br />Their guidance as to what communities to engage, and how to engage could<br />still be invaluable.<br /><br />In this way, over time people can develop significant skills in fields where they<br />don't have formal training while they continue their studies or working full time.<br /><br />We all crib about the quality of technical education, but with the Internet we <br />have the opportunity to do something about it. We can help eager young and <br />the motivated who want to get into high-tech but are over whelmed at<br />the amount of information available on the internet, or get blocked because<br />of elementary problems.<br /><br />It shouldn't take much time, for mentors just a couple hours<br />a month to research the monthly activities and post links to learning resources<br />participants should look into, and then a couple hours each week responding<br />to questions and facilitating discussion on the mailing list. For participants, <br />activities should take 5 - 10 hours of effort each month, plus some additional <br />time sharing with the community thru the blog and the mailing lists.<br /><br />If there's a field you are passionate about and feel more people should get into,<br />please think about setting up a small club for it on the techstart wiki. If you see<br />a club where people are exploring a technology you've been curious, by all means<br />join the community.<br /><br />The initial clubs we have are in blogging, advanced java and open source technology.<br />Amit is also mentoring a group to write some automatic deployment scripts in php.<br /><br />Find out more on the wiki - <a href="http://techstart.in">http://techstart.in</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104031.post-64111559346527054632008-12-01T23:24:00.002-08:002008-12-01T23:56:49.771-08:00Bloggers ClubI'm launching <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/bloggers-club">The Bloggers Club</a> as part of the <a href="http://techstart.in">techstart.in</a> initiative I announced this weekend at <a href="http://Barcamppune.org">BarcampPune5</a>.<br /><br />The idea here is to create a forum where people who write on the Internet can get and give constructive feedback on the writing that we do. I care far more about the quality of my writing now than I ever did in school when I had professionals reviewing it for me but the product was landfill from the beginning. <br /><br />I figure this can be pretty organic. Who ever is interested can submit writing they would like feedback on, and whoever wants can feedback. Like everything else on the internet the utility will be purely a function of the community that develops and the voluntary effort we put into it.<br /><br />So, If you like the English language, would like to improve your own writing and are willing help other people with their writing please join our club and encourage other like minded souls to do so as well.<br /><br />The Google group: <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/bloggers-club">The Bloggers Club</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104031.post-40586390788993399152008-11-30T07:51:00.002-08:002008-11-30T08:54:55.469-08:00FreedomBy one definition, freedom is the space / ability to do what you want. <br /><br /><a href="http://www6.uniovi.es/java-http/people/orca/my-name.html">Orca Starbuck</a> explained <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldous_Huxley">Aldus Huxley</a> to me saying that he recommended that people do what they want. Apparently people are generally too removed from themselves for this to be practical, so he recommended that if you thought you might want something, go ahead and act on it.<br /><br />It sounds like crazy talk, but in the absence of constraints, doing what you want seems like a better methodology than either of the alternatives 'doing what you don't want' or 'not doing what you want'. In my experience Huxley's warning proves true, and just understanding what I want turns out to be a challenge.<br /><br />One reason for this is that 'wanting' isn't as dimensional one dimensional as your parents like to think when they ask questions like 'don't you want good grades?'. Sure I want good grades. That plus I'd like to be the Paul Graham of India by running a successful hightech incubator, plus I'd really like to come up with an answer to how we're supposed to live on the planet. This list goes on.<br /><br />But, right now I want to respond to the people trying to chat with me in gmail, and later I'm thinking I want to watch <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0411477/">HellBoy 2</a>. I don't particularly want to work on a budget for upstart. Powering over the lower desires in favor of the higher goals may be a sign of discipline and an effective personality. It also seems like a recipe for being miserable. <br /><br />In college I remember my friends studying literature grappling with reading lists which were humanly impossible to get thru in the alotted time. Many were well trained and spent all waking hours doing coursework, thereby developing a profound hatred of literature which lasted many years after their last force fed masterpiece. <br /><br />The question for me is whether I can strategically create mental spaces which are more inclined to 'want' to do the hard work - budgets, marketing plans, presentations, code ... necessary to bring the dreams into being. I have by no means nailed this, but a few things seem apparent. Good health, adequate sleep, adequate preparation, passionate colleagues, quickly achievable objectives and consistency all seem to contribute towards a mental space in which I 'want' to do 'hard' work in the moment.<br /><br />While I'm thinking about how to manage time and priorities effectively I thought I'd plug my cousin <a href="http://www.danarayburn.com/">Dana Rayburn</a>'s <a href="http://www.addsuccessblog.com/">blog </a>on adult ADD.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104031.post-6198554244743016942008-11-28T05:38:00.003-08:002008-11-28T05:54:45.670-08:00Dinner at the 'O'<table style="width:194px;"><tr><td align="center" style="height:194px;background:url(http://picasaweb.google.com/f/img/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat left"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/fcmurray/The0HotelInKoregaonPark#"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_s2pA6EQGcZQ/SS_ytspt7CE/AAAAAAAAA_s/nd_IOkCQyRE/s160-c/The0HotelInKoregaonPark.jpg" width="160" height="160" style="margin:1px 0 0 4px;"></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align:center;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/fcmurray/The0HotelInKoregaonPark#" style="color:#4D4D4D;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;">The 0 Hotel in Koregaon Park</a></td></tr></table><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GnDf676mF0A&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GnDf676mF0A&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />I had dinner with Satish Dharmaraj the other night at the O Hotel in Koregaon Park. I've been wanting to check that place out since it opened, I was suitably impressed - especially the rooftop restaurant.<br /><br />Satish and I worked together at Sun. He was the server lead after Pavni and I took off to work on a labs project called 'Persona' where we were trying to create a cute low cost personal web server that would effectively replace the answering machine.<br /><br />About the Same time Pavni and I did Kendara, Satish left with some heavy hitters and joined onebox.com. And, just before Kendara sold to Excite@Home Onebox sold to Phone.com for $700 million. His comment on our 9 digit price tag was 'why did you sell for so less?'. Those were strange and wonderful times :)<br /><br />Coincidently at Onebox he worked with Adarbad Master the founder and CTO of Mixercast.com which I helped set up and worked with for a year and a half here in Pune. Meanwhile Satish did Zimbra.com which Yahoo acquired last year. <br /><br />We met for Pizza on my last trip in California and he was into the YCombinator for India idea. So, now we're discussing the best way to pull it off.Dinner with SatishUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104031.post-29414360444275333842008-11-26T04:53:00.002-08:002008-11-26T05:19:59.373-08:00Video Volunteers, Goa, etcIts time for a general update.<br /><br />I've started talking with people up at IIMA again about being a part of the next <a href="http://www.ciieindia.org/?page_id=93">iAccelerator</a>, so I'm slowing down alittle on <a href="http://upstart.in">upstart.in</a> until that conversation plays out. <br /><br />In the meantime <a href="http://videovolunteers.org">VideoVolunteers.org </a>moved from Ahmedabad down to Goa and I've been volunteering with them a bit to help with their online strategy, and to teach video and online marketing workshops. I wrote the last couple of posts on their <a href="http://www.videovolunteers.org/category/blog/">blog</a><br /><embed src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Ffcmurray%2Falbumid%2F5270390711610492833%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" width="288" height="192"></embed><br /><br />Hanging out in Goa is a big perk. My high school friend <a href="http://unbrokenwholenessinflowingmovement.blogspot.com/">Kyra</a> is there for awhile after spending the last year traveling around the Middle East and Asia.<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HqEzQLgtCBU&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HqEzQLgtCBU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />She just finished a month long yoga teachers training, so she was able to clue me into the yoga scene down there which is pretty hardcore. So, I spent last week doing Ashtanga with Ken at the <a href="http://www.dunesgoa.com/">Dunes</a>, doing ecstatic dance with this 5 rythms teacher from LA, and generally being healthy and productive.<br /><br />Dec 6 & 7, I'm organizing an <a href="http://www.videovolunteers.org/2008/11/26/online-advocacy-workshop/">online marketing workshop </a> at the media center we are setting up in Baga. <br /><br />Come on by.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104031.post-17603226413877083022008-11-03T06:04:00.002-08:002008-11-03T06:51:59.583-08:00The Startup VillageI initially thought I would live in Calcutta when I first came to India. A guy a friend met on elance met me at the airport and booked me into a hotel with paan stains in the halls (which I thought was dried blood) and a whole coven of crows picking thru a massive pile of garbage outside. It was a hard landing, but when I found Sutter street and the Blue Sky cafe things turned around. <br /><br />In my initial hardcore backbacker tour I experimented with how cheap could survive. In calcutta I got a room in a hotel for 100 rps / night and found several food places where I could get a meal of subji and roti for under 15 rps. Including internet time I figured I could live on $100 / month which validated the $200 my friend was paying developers over here which seemed absurdly low.<br /><br />Downtown Calcutta was great, the people I met there were smart and passionate - "Calcutta is the heart of India" they would say. I still believe if you multiply the two functions of educated work force and low cost of living they may have their minimum in Calcutta.<br /><br />But I got sick. To be fair it wasn't entirely Calcutta's fault. Traveling by Tuk Tuk thru Bangkok probably got me started. But after a few weeks with a chronic cough that would rack my lungs for several hours before I could sleep, I decided that no amount of professional ambition merited destroying my health.<br /><br />I added 'nice lifestyle' to the equation and found my way to Pune which when seen from the tree canopied lanes of Koregoan Park seemed to have the best life style - high tech professional opportunity - low cost of living. Its undeniably an awesome place to live - especially for the urban jet set that can take advantage of the 5 designer bars offering 400 rps martini's that have sprung up less than 1 km from my apartment in the last few years. <br /><br />But, it maybe alittle too Manhattan now for the average Indian bootstrapping startup.<br />A 2 bhk is now in the 25 - 30k range, and worse than just the price is simply that they are hard to find. <br /><br />With the dream of getting upstart.in underway, and some other conversations I'm having about 2bhk training I'm looking around again for where those curves come together but with one more parameter - capacity. As I picture my ideal scenario its a massively over built housing society on the edge of town a few km past Koregoan Park where rent is cheap and there is 20% vacancies in a society of 300 units.<br /><br />Some very new construction fits this description like Sun City and Margapata with rents around 8k, I'm guessing we can find something slightly older at 8k. Assuming we shared a cook I estimate for a startup working from home would cost<br />rent 8k<br />food 8k<br />electricity 1k<br />internet 1k<br />misc. 2k<br />~ 20k / month or 1 lakh ($2000) for a startup of 4 guys to operate for 5 months.<br />How hard would it be for even a very junior team of 4 guys to pull in 20k / mo just bottom feeding on rentacoder ? The exciting thing about this for me isn't that its possible to pull off once, its that if there's a model here that works, if a team of 4 junior engineers earning $500 a month is easy, then I maintain there are an almost infinite number of 4 man teams available, and the 2 bhks to house them, in one medium large housing society on outskirts.<br /><br />The possible drawback to making this move for me is the lack of culture and more importantly Il Fungo Magico green salads that exist further down Nagar Rd. But, if we can make a movement, and coordinate a decent number of cool startup kids all moving together, we can quickly create a new tech center, with a high density of interesting people to support each other and at least one cook who really knows how to make a good salad.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9104031.post-33683223389787574842008-10-30T08:08:00.002-07:002008-10-30T08:11:39.537-07:00Web Services TrackI've been playing with setting up Drupal for a website to manage the cyborg boyscouts - <a href="http://techstart.in">techstart.in</a><br /><br />This was one idea for a series of exercises which would help students develop their online profile and familiarize themselves with web services.<br /><br />Goal:<br />Create familiarity of the different web services freely available. By using web services regularly we can come to understand what the current trends are and what makes a web service useful, easy to use, nice to look at and popular. By systematically using the different publicly available web services we will also develop a rich internet profile.<br /><br />Initial Assignment:<br />- create an account on otherinbox.com<br />- create an account on blogger.com<br />- upload a profile photo to blogger and write a short profile description<br />- create an account on Google Analytics:<br />- add the javascript to your blog template html<br />- create an account on twitter.com<br /><br />Ongoing:<br />- every month we'll all look at a new web service. specific instuctions for what to do with the service will be provided, and we'll have a mailing list / forum which we can use to talk about the service.<br />- when signing up with a new web service give them your otherinbox email id.<br />- when evaluating a new service at least twitter about it with your initial reaction, and if you like it or find it interesting write a longer blog entry about it.<br />- for each web service, on the profile page link back to your blog<br />- when possible and attractive add a badge of the web service to your blog sidebar.<br /><br />YouTube:<br />- favorite 15 videos<br />- comment on 2 videos<br />- subscribe to 2 channels<br />- create a playlist<br /><br />Social Networking:<br />- Create accounts on the major social networks Facebook, Orkut, MySpace, Ryze.<br />- Upload a profile photo into each service<br />- Fill out at least 3 profile questions on each service<br />- Add 5 friends on each service<br />- Upload 5 pictures on one service<br /><br />MicroBlogging twitter & friendfeed:<br />- find 30 people to follow, make sure this includes at least 10 people you know, and 10 people who are famous / popular<br />- twitter twice a week on either what you are doing, some website that looks cool, or some current event<br />- set up the twitter to sms connection and twitter once from your mobile phone<br />- create an account on FriendFeed<br />- add all the services you use to it.<br />- follow 10 people on FriendFeed<br /><br />LinkedIn:<br />- Create your profile on LinkedIn + photo<br />- Enter work history on LinkedIn<br />- Recommend 2 people on LinkedIn<br />- Get 1 recommendation on LinkedIn<br /><br />UpComing.com:<br />- create an account<br />- select 5 events you're 'interested' in<br />- upload 2 events that are happening in your city that aren't yet listed<br /><br />Blogging:<br />- think of what you feel the most serious issue facing the world or your community is and write a short blog entry about it ~300 words. Include links to 3 websites which deal with this issue. Embed a photo which conveys some part of what you are saying.<br />- add a links to 5 of your favorite sites to the permanent side bar of your blog<br /><br />Mailing Lists:<br />- create a mailing list on Google Groups called 'friends-of-myname' make it announce only<br />- add all your friends to it<br />- at the next big holiday send a mail to everyone wishing them a happy Diwali, letting them know how you're doing, and inviting them to look at your blog.<br /><br />more to come ...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com