97 Things Every Software Architect Should Know

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Despite his mistaking equity for revenue, he essentially summarizes decision you make any time you take any money, which is that you give up something for it. With Y Combinator, you do it at a lower price than you would a normal angel or VC round, but you also do it at an earlier stage and you get more value add for it. That’s clearly the standard in investing. Earlier stage = higher risk = lower valuations.

So it’s an exercise for the startup to determine if it’s worth it. What shocks me about a lot of the coverage about Y Combinator is that people seem to think that this is any different than any other investment round. It isn’t. It’s the same decision a startup essentially makes every day. They also seem to think the 6% average for the somewhere over $15k they get on average (making the valuation in excess of a quarter million) is a noteworthy amount. Maybe it’s my own naivety, but when I was in that position, my thought was something like “these guys are giving me a valuation of over $300k and we didn’t even have a PowerPoint to show them.”

Matt’s Homepage » Blog Archive » 6% Ain’t Really That Much

Neat calculator for calculating costs for Amazon's cloud.

JavaScript-based Amazon Web Services Simple Monthly Calculator

So the amphetamine-assisted, physician-abetted social adjustment of yore is back as a mass phenomenon. But it does not, at first glance, represent as severe a problem proportionally. There are fewer than 10 million medical and nonmedical amphetamine users today, whereas the population has increased from 200 million to 300 million since 1969. Amphetamine use is therefore less than two-thirds as prevalent as it was in 1969. But we might expand our purview beyond simple statistics to ask a broader sociological question: Has the medical demand that amphetamines once filled abated? Apparently not. Counting all the medicines used now for conditions that amphetamine once treated — depression, obesity, and "fatigue," or inadequate working attention — we can estimate that, proportional to population, each year roughly twice as many Americans now take a drug that would, in 1969, have very likely been an amphetamine.

That calculus suggests that if the amphetamine epidemic of the 1960s was symptomatic of a deep-rooted social disease — drug use to meet unwholesome expectations of incessant cheeriness, unnatural productivity, and extreme slimness, and to boost the postwar consumerist ethos that the sociologist David Riesman once called the "fun morality" — then America is now twice as sick. When Allen Ginsberg helped open the counterculture's own anti-amphetamine campaign in 1965 under the slogan "speed kills," he wasn't referring just to the drug that so many Americans relied on to keep up. He was also thinking of the demand that amphetamine satisfies. It might be time to think again about heeding his call.

Right. Or, maybe Amphetamine was being abused then as it was not well understood. Now that it is better understood, it is being used to help millions of people lead better lives. Methamphetamine and Benzedrine on the other hand were/are a scourge and aren't used in psychiatry. Different chemicals, different properties. Imagine that!

Clearly the author doesn't require treatment for any malady Amphetamine is used for, and has little sympathy for those of us that do.

This smacks of 'moral weakness' wrapped in pseudo-intellectual bullshit. That being said, I did enjoy the review of history.

Life in the Fast Lane - ChronicleReview.com

Star Caller provides a fun and fresh way to promote an assortment of products ranging from entertainment to hard goods. Star Caller utilizes celebrity fan bases to promote our clients products. Our marketing is successful because it not only reaches the target demographic, it also provides leads for our clients that would normally be unattainable.

What is it? Fun, dynamic phone calls, in the voice of stars and customized to the individual characteristics of each fan. Our technology allows you to speak directly to your fans - and have your brand go viral so that fans market you to others.

My new startup, Star Caller.

Star Caller - Home Page

Vinnie is this summer's blockbuster from Acme Pictures, detailing the life and times of one of America's most notorious gangsters. Come see the film, or Vinnie will be VERY upset.

How upset? To find out, fill out the form. See, somebody ratted Vinnie out. Tell us who, and we'll cut you in on the box office. Tell us a little about the rat, and Vinnie will go after him. Vinnie likes em to know he's coming, so give us the rat's number and we'll let him know his days are numbered.

My new startup's demo - let there be dynamic audio and fun telephony that does not annoy but entertains. Push is dead, all hail pull.

Star Caller - Vinnie Demo

Just had some of the $8 Bohemian Highway California Merlot with some steak. Dunno if that is a good pairing, but the wine is the bomb. Quite a value.

Bohemian Highway

FUN game that illustrates the difficulties faced by 3rd world farmers. I won in 15 turns.

Stupid kids... always want to go to school instead of work my fields.

Play 3rd World Farmer Game Online - Arcade Town .com

I went to an unusual place this evening...Independents Hall...not to be confused with the tourist-encrusted Independence Hall. A senior AI programmer, Chris Jurney, with Relic was giving an impromptu presentation on his involvement with Company of Heroes...game of the year 2006.

Indy Hall seemed like a proto-business incubator for tech-saavy individualists. The offices were located on the 2nd floor of an apartment in Old City. The room with high-vaulted ceilings, contained a scattered melange of stylish office furniture covered over in power-strips and CAT-5 cables. I was settled in amongst a dozen or so visiting video game enthusiasts and about the same number of Indy Hall regulars.

Chris Blaug: Gamer's Forum - Q&A with AI Programmer

Russell Jurney suggested yesterday via Skribit that I write an article about "ATDC Sponsored Coworking Space" and it was quickly voted up as a popular topic. So I gotta say something.

But before I do I need to point out something else. This is my personal blog. As it clearly states in the disclaimer in the lower right, the opinions expressed here are mine, not those of my employer. You want the official ATDC word venture over to PeachSeedz. Everything I say here does adhere to my personal values, which can be summed up in two words. Be good.

So with that out of the way, here goes.null

Man, I need to update my linkedin.

ATDC & Coworking: Force of Good: a blog by Lance Weatherby