The signal to noise...

Strong Opinions @marksbirch: Yahoo for the Tumblr Community

Sun, 19 May 2013 12:05:07 -0400

Strong Opinions @marksbirch: Yahoo for the Tumblr Community:

toddwickersty:

But I’m a user first and that’s the main reason why I care what happens to it. I’m skeptical if Yahoo! does take it over. It’s super easy to be skeptical for obvious reasons, but I think it’s a good time for Tumblr to sell. I know if it does happen, I’ll continue to use it…

Good perspective here on Tumblr community and being mindful of product and customer/community culture. I do not disagree.

HOWEVER let’s be real and clear about the essential truth of the matter: no one person, not any single person (regardless of whether a seasoned VC or fellow tried and true entrepreneur) can truly understand the perspective or mindset of the founder(s) of this (or any) particular start-up company. There are ups and downs in any startup life, but there is also the personal history and dynamic that NO ONE can relate to except THE PERSON (PEOPLE) in THOSE shoes at THAT time.

I love social media (and Tumblr obviously) in that it amplifies good and bad in this world and in particular it gives a voice and platform to anyone who wants to share an opinion.

But let’s be mindful of that - they are individual people’s opinions. The founders of Tumblr or any startup at the end of the day don’t owe anything to their community, their customers, their colleagues or their investors. They owe it to themselves and what they see in the mirror each morning and to their families who have been through the journey with them, supporting them through highs and lows. IF the founders decide (for themselves without outside pressure) that this is the right time to sell and this is the right acquirer and this is the right price…. then let’s cheer and applaud them for a successful journey to date and outcome and wish them well for the future; let’s not second judge or criticize them from afar for timing, for whichever company they sold to, or the price.

-cch

miketrap: Wisdom, from the great George Carlin. Great quote....

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:36:12 -0400

miketrap:

Wisdom, from the great George Carlin.

Great quote. Always be curious and think for yourself.

-cch

Charles Ramsey, who rescued Cleveland women held captive, visits the District - The Washington Post

Sun, 12 May 2013 06:31:52 -0400

Charles Ramsey, who rescued Cleveland women held captive, visits the District - The Washington Post:

A profile of Mr. Ramsey, who is refreshingly humble, down-to-earth and has a grounded and pragmatic opinion on most things.

Example?

“What I’ve learned from the human race this week is we still ain’t got it right.”

Amen to that. Here’s hoping for more Charles Ramseys out there in this world and that they stay humbled and grounded despite what life throws at them.

-cch

Stop Optimizing For Social and Learn SEO

Thu, 02 May 2013 10:55:28 -0400

scottbritton:

When I first started blogging, I didn’t use keywords and paid no attention to SEO. I WANTED FOLLOWERS BABY!

Eventually I learned basic SEO and started employing it on everything I created.

Now organic search from long tail keywords make up more than half of my traffic. Twitter makes up a little more than 5%.

Learn SEO. Then get good at it.

Nice succinct post and fair argument in terms of balance between social and SEO.

-cch

neaato: Linsanity: the Movie For those in LA we are bringing...

Wed, 01 May 2013 00:40:35 -0400

neaato:

Linsanity: the Movie

For those in LA we are bringing the film to you for the VC Film Festival next Thursday 5/2. Tickets are almost sold out so secure yours now! This is our only planned LA screening until our distribution. For those not in LA signup for our street team to help us bring Linsanity to your town: http://bit.ly/XsMYrp

Yes please.

-cch

"Every dollar spent at a locally owned business generates two-to-four times the economic development..."

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:31:31 -0400

“Every dollar spent at a locally owned business generates two-to-four times the economic development impacts as a dollar spent on an equivalent non-local business.”

- Forbes piece on the amazing power of spending locally. (via poptech)

It’s not only healthy for you to eat fresh and local food, it’s healthy for your neighborhood’s economy.

And speaking of a healthy community, I’m speaking tonight at an event in Williamsburg that’s raising awareness about asbestos removal at the Domino Sugar Factory. It looks like there are some very shady removal tactics happening at the site putting the community at risk of breathing more asbestos fibers than we should be. The local issues in your immediate neighborhood where you work and play are by far the most important issues to get involved in.
(via jayparkinsonmd)
Yes! The (positive) economics behind supporting local businesses.
-cch

amprog: Healthcare costs are growing slower now than any point...

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 13:50:25 -0400

amprog:

Healthcare costs are growing slower now than any point in past 5 decades. via The Washington Post

Interesting data on healthcare spending. I’m betting there will be an uptick though in the next 3-5 years though as the economy stabilizes and consumer confidence increases.

-cch

miketrap: Cover of today’s Chicago Tribune Sports section....

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:35:54 -0400

miketrap:

Cover of today’s Chicago Tribune Sports section. THANK YOU CHICAGO!!! Pure class.

Couldn’t agree more. Still a lot of drama to unfold but appreciate sister city empathy and support.

-cch

marksbirch: Historical Views of Mott Street, Chinatown, New...

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 07:21:27 -0400

marksbirch:

Historical Views of Mott Street, Chinatown, New York City

Got to thinking about how Chinatown has evolved over the decades after my recent visit to MOCA.

Great pictures and reminders of the past. Was just in the neighborhood yesterday for an early birthday dim sum brunch. Thanks Mark for sharing. And for those who have not been to MOCA - take time to visit and get more deeply immersed in Asian culture and history here in America.

-cch

We Presume to Believe That Eventually, We Will Know Everything

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 13:47:00 -0400

We Presume to Believe That Eventually, We Will Know Everything:

rudolphmd:

From the March 26th, 2013 The New Republic article by Leon Wiesletier (link to full article below):

“’With the help of big data,’ Mayer-Schönberger and Cukier continue, ‘we will no longer regard our world as a string of happenings that we explain as natural and social phenomena, but as a universe comprised essentially of information.’ … The religion of information is another distorting totalism, another counterfeit deliverance. In some ways the technology is transforming us into brilliant fools… in which we presume to believe that eventually we will know everything and longing will come to seem obsolete and merely ignorant…”

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/112734/what-big-data-will-never-explain

Great read in terms of our society, generating more and more data, and the collection, synthesis and application of it all.

-cch

A little social media & tech humor. Although I wonder if...

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:46:16 -0400

A little social media & tech humor. Although I wonder if this transaction should be updated to be shown virtually or via Entelo, BranchOut or TalentBin instead of IRL. Might be reality in the not-too-distant future!

-cch

jayparkinsonmd: Moves is disrupting Fitbit, the Fuelband, and...

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 11:57:13 -0500

jayparkinsonmd:

Moves is disrupting Fitbit, the Fuelband, and all those other nonsensical gadgets.

I’ve been using Moves for about 2 weeks now and I really, really love it. It’s an app that essentially functions as a pedometer and runs in the background tracing where you’ve been throughout the day and measuring your steps.

It is not some goofy thing I have to wear on my wrist or on your bra. It’s not something I have to remember to charge. Fire it up once, and it’s on for as long as you have an iPhone. It may not be as “good” as a Fitbit or Fuelband, but it works just fine, it’s available to everyone with an iPhone for free, and it runs in the background of your life. And, most importantly, I haven’t noticed an impact on my iPhone’s battery.

It’s a classic disruptive innovation.

I bought a Fuelband a few months ago, synced it with my iPhone, and connected it to Facebook. Facebook said “You have 37 friends with a Fuelband. Click here to see how many people have live data in the past week.” I clicked and saw 2 people. I immediately returned it to the Nike Store. I knew that goofy thing would be in some drawer in a month after the novelty wore off. And I don’t like to throw away money for gimmicks.

My iPhone is not a novelty. And Moves now runs in the background of my life letting me know how active or inactive I’ve been that day. Interesting, motivating, and exciting stuff. Congrats to the Moves team. Y’all are killin’ it.

Disruptive innovation in #mhealth quantified self tracking? Definitely will check it out since Jay is one sharp guy in technology and health, but I’m not 100% certain the sector is mature enough at this point to declare entrenched dominant winners who are at risk of disruptive innovation (see HBS Prof Clay Christensen’s work on disruptive innovation at his site: www.claytonchristensen.com). In another 3-5 years? Perhaps. But onward and upward for available and affordable technology to improve health and fitness.

-cch

Good infographic here. All companies, big and small, must be...

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 10:23:58 -0500

Good infographic here. All companies, big and small, must be mindful of the customer experience with their product/service offering. Needless to say, when companies lose site of this, it means tough times for the business sooner or later. To a great 2013, -cch

fredericwilliquet:

(via Rethinking the Customer Journey in a Social World - Forbes)

"When robots and automation do our most basic work, making it relatively easy for us to be fed,..."

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 10:53:17 -0500

“When robots and automation do our most basic work, making it relatively easy for us to be fed, clothed, and sheltered, then we are free to ask, “What are humans for?””

- Great Wired article on the future of robots, artificial intelligence, automation and their impact on human workforces. It’s really fun (and necessary) to think about this stuff and how it will change not just our economy but our sense of purpose as a species. We live in some interesting times. (via chriskurdziel)

Great read.

-cch

US #healthcare - broken down into dollars & (non) cents....

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 14:35:32 -0500

US #healthcare - broken down into dollars & (non) cents.

Needless to say, our costs and outcomes per dollar spent are not sustainable.

-cch

Happy holidays to you, your family & friends! -me (circa...

Tue, 25 Dec 2012 13:17:38 -0500

Happy holidays to you, your family & friends! -me (circa 1985) – View on Path.

jayparkinsonmd: Every time a mass shooting happens, I will...

Sat, 15 Dec 2012 14:52:38 -0500

jayparkinsonmd:

Every time a mass shooting happens, I will always post this.

Although not always directly correlated (mental health and gun/shooting tragedies) this is the unfortunate truth in the US health care delivery system - too many barriers to getting behavioral health services, not enough resources (human or otherwise), uncoordinated systems, and insufficient policy/advocacy.

This latter point is a definite (and unfortunate) shared pain between mental health and gun control in the US today. Here’s hoping for a better tomorrow on both fronts.

-cch

jayparkinsonmd: theweekmagazine: Our newest infographic...

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 11:27:00 -0500

jayparkinsonmd:

theweekmagazine:

Our newest infographic features some pretty shocking facts about our plastic surgery obsession. For example, teenage plastic surgery is on the rise. There were 14,000 procedures performed on teens in 1996, compared to 77,000 in 2011.

More…

Super interesting on many levels, especially regarding the cost of these procedures. For example, an appendectomy at an outpatient surgical center costs $47,000 and takes 45 minutes or so to do by a general surgeon. The cost of a facelift, done by a highly skilled plastic surgeon, can take hours.

This is what happens when competition and paying for something with your own money, not an insurance company’s money, infiltrates healthcare. Costs decrease significantly and they mimic the actual cost of a procedure, not some arbitrary, highly inflated number.

* * *

This is evidence that US healthcare costs (prices alone) aren’t spiraling out of control when there isn’t a financial intermediary (health insurance or employer coverage) between the consumer and the provider. The same trend on healthcare prices for lasik eye surgery has been well documented. Unfortunately, total healthcare costs are a function of price times volume. And holistically speaking, plastic surgery costs are increasing markedly in the US due to increased utilization.

-cch

tedr: paxamericana: Here’s what the 2012 electoral map would...

Sat, 10 Nov 2012 11:15:40 -0500

tedr:

paxamericana: Here’s what the 2012 electoral map would have looked like if only white males had voted.

The #election2012 is over, but this info around #voting demographics is quite interesting. Here’s to the melting pot that is America.

-cch

"I write as an Asian, with all the pent-up emotions of my people. What I say will annoy many people..."

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 14:04:53 -0500

“I write as an Asian, with all the pent-up emotions of my people. What I say will annoy many people who prefer the more conventional myths brought back by writers on the Orient. All I can say is that I try to tell the truth. Truth, like surgery, may hurt, but it cures.”

- Han Suyin, doctor and author (Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing), 9/12/1917 - 11/2/2012.