Master of 500 Hats

yo Fred: i got yer Inspiration right HERE.

Fred Wilson wrote a post a few days back asking his readers where to find inspiration.  I guess he was talking about text, since he mentioned TechMeme, Hacker News, etc.  But i think the solution lies in other medium... especially since Fred is a music geek, i think he probably would get more inspiration from sounds & images & stuff like this:

This video was itself inspired by the work of Jan von Holleben, which i came across earlier this evening via tweet from Jerry Michalski (thx Jerry!).  In particular, his series Dreams of Flying is just amazing, see below:

Dreams of Flying, Jan von Holleben

speaking of musical / video inspirations, i put together some wacky video bumper clips for my recently-concluded Graphing Social Patterns East conference in DC, including favorites both old & new: music videos from Cansei de ser Sexy (CSS), Feist & Facebook, radio & film via typography, wonderful commercials by Fruit of the Loom & Sony Bravia & Honda, fun stuff from Japan, Korea, China, plus other stuff that just brings me sheer joy :)

sometimes the best inspiration comes from switching gears.

change it up, folks.

Iron Mike Tells Stan Lee to Fuck Off... Marvel Lawyers either Stupid or Brilliant. (or Mike = Super Genius)

Un. Be. lievable.

Act I: "Iron Mike" Arrington rents out SF Metreon AMC Theater for private TechCrunch screening of Iron Man for ~500-600 geek / comic fanboys, subsidizes costs so it's only $1 for the Tony Stark faithful to attend (fyi, TC works with AMC & Paramount to buy the tickets legit, so all on the up & up).

Act II: yours truly & others buy up tickets in a matter of hours. w00t ^2!  'nuff said.

Act III: the suits get wind of it, Marvel attorneys -- as in "it's a marvel you're actually an attorney" -- send Iron Mike a Cease & Desist letter.  Mike and the rest of us can't believe how fucking stupid these idiots are.  he checks with AMC/Metreon, and they're standing firm behind Techcrunch (for the moment, anyway).  as of now, the show is still going on.

Act IV: waiting for tomorrow to see WTF happens here... i'm double-booked anyway, but i wouldn't miss this comicbook geekfest shitstorm for all the rice in china.

Iron Man Exclusive Trailer

interpretation #1 via Occam's Razor: these guys are incredibly stupid, and just crapped the bed all over the best possible fan marketing you can get -- that is, user-generated buzz @ full retail markup (albeit subsidized by TechCrunch, but box office still gets paid regardless).  now awaiting most negative fanboy reaction if they continue to send in the clowns (= attorneys).  death by a thousand paper cuts / long tail blog posts awaits ye, Stan Lee!

interpretation #2 via Conspiracy Theory A: these guys are incredibly smart, and are stirring up shit with Arrington knowing full well they'll get massive geekster backlash, which will create even MORE fan buzz / press awareness, which will drive even more sales.  sounds like a truly ingenious & great negative-spin-equals-positive-ROI PR story, but i just don't buy Teh Sharks in Teh Suits are that smart.  if so, then i'm really impressed.  we have all been played, and i mean like a friggin' Stradivarius by Itzhak Perlman.

interpretation #3 via Conspiracy Theory B: the double conspiracy -- a riddle, wrapped in a mystery,  inside an enigma -- this entire charade is being manufactured by Arrington to drive even more attention to TechCrunch.  let's see here: find geek movie, discover legal loophole, rent out movie theater, let slip to Marvel attorneys there's some unauthorized use of movie & see if they take the bait... BINGO! dem Sharks, dey Bite!  now wait for C&D, re-publish on TC as soon as it's received,  and BLAMMO! 

instant BitchMeme-bait.  absolute genius. 

& in this case i DO think Mike could be this smart... still, sounds a bit complicated even for Mr. Arrington. 

but then again: is he Iron Mike, or Mike Hulk?

don't make Mike angry.  you wouldn't like him when he's angry. 

TechCrunch SMASH!

The 4-Hour Workweek, by Tim Ferris

  The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferris 
  photo uploaded by dmc500hats.

I had the pleasure of meeting Tim Ferriss recently and hearing about his tour-de-force book The 4-Hour Workweek.

Both he & the book are pretty amazing. 

Highly recommended :)

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss... and Thanks :)

  Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss 
  Originally uploaded by dmc500hats.

Today is the birthday of Theodor Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss.  He's one of my most favorite childhood icons & cultural heroes, along with Marlo Thomas, and Jim Henson.   I wouldn't be who I am today without them, and the wonderful characters they've brought into my life.  I hope to pass on the tradition to Dante & Layla...

(thanks to Asha Dornfest at ParentHacks.com for the reminder :)

A *very* special Xmas, brought to you by Justin Timberlake, SNL, & YouTube

This is effin' hilarious (listeners under 18, please mute the volume for your tender ears):

Commentary from the NY Times on how SNL & Lorne Michels did an innovative end-around on the FCC and television censorship, by bleeping the word 'dick' from the live broadcast (16 times), but leaving the 'director's cut' version on YouTube uncensored.  other comments here.

(my haven't we come a long way from NBC pulling the Chronic-(what?!?)-les of Narnia clip off YouTube only a year ago...)

Nick Douglas, we hardly knew ye (Valleywag RIP)

  CokeWhore 2.0 
  Originally uploaded by dmc500hats.

Looks like Nick Douglas was either booted out of Valleywag, and/or left for a better paying gig with more editorial freedom... new gig rumors noted here in a recent interview.

on the new Valleywag 2.0, owner/temporary substitute blogger Nick Denton sez Valleywag will "tone down the personal coverage of civilians because... their personal lives aren't that interesting".

hmm... wrong & wrong. 

Nick's take on the valley was different from TechCrunch, VentureBeat, GigaOm, or anyone else in the Geek-o-sphere.  in addition to some real hard tech news reporting & dirt-digging, Nick's coverage of Silicon Valley personalities was fun & addictive.  turns out geek voyeurism has at least as much of an audience as the product & money reporting.  who knew.

Valleywag was refreshingly frank, surprisingly insightful, and very, very unrepentant.  i'm sure wherever Nick ends up next will have a similar rebellious feel.  i'm looking forward to signing up as a daily reader for the new gig, whatever it might be...

web 2.0: future so bright, gotta wear shades.

  web 2.0: future so bright, gotta wear shades. 
  Originally uploaded by dmc500hats.

here's the wrapup on my Web 2.0 pix from the conference.

i love this shot of Tim O'Reilly & John Battelle rocking out at the Lou Reed performance; you could tell they were really enjoying the moment, dancing up at the front of the stage.

the way the flash from someone else's camera captured their silhouettes on the sides is just perfect... two digerati in the Web 2.0 limelight :)

other pix include Barry Diller, Jack Ma, Jonathan Miller, Ross Levinsohn, David Filo & Bradley Horowitz, Safa Rashtchy, Launch Pad demos, the IAC party, the Lou Reed concert, Web 2.2, and numerous other geeks & fun folks.

The Vloggies

  The Vloggies 
  Originally uploaded by Laughing Squid.

damn, looks like i missed a fun time at the Vloggies last night -- nice pix scott, nice dress irina :)

(was feeling a little tired, decided i just wanted to spend the evening with the wife and kid.  he's getting to be pretty cute these days)

anyway, hope everyone had a good time and look forward to hearing about all the fun at Widgets Live, Web 2.0, and Web 2.2 next week.

Tolerated Use vs Fair Use?

so i came across Tim Wu from his airport review page (blogged previously), but then i read a really interesting post on 'tolerated use' that he wrote about how copyright is evolving:

...we are seeing a slow a change in how copyright works — a gradual move from a system where its a illegal to use other people’s works without prior permission, to one where its illegal when people object. This is something I call "Two Touch Copyright" or "Tolerated Use." We’re seeing it in the DMCA 512 area, but also the orphan work debate, and also the Google book search litigation.

The basic idea is this: sometimes, the practice seems to suggest, it is better to have a system where potential infringers need seek forgiveness than permission.   In other words, be allowed to act, so long as there aren’t objections.

that sounds like a great idea.  in the vein of Lessig's riff on free culture.

definitely copyright & patent law have overstepped their bounds, and need to be reined in.  no longer are the rights of authors, artists, & inventors being defended, but rather Disney, Big Media, & Big Pharma are locking up their respective markets for decades upon decades. 

this is NOT what original copyright & patent law envisioned, and US law has basically perverted that initial intent to  protect inventors & creators so far that we now support entrenched incumbents & status quo over innovation.  i'm all for markets & capitalism and financial reward, but we would all likely benefit from tolerating a lot more invention & entrepreneurship and a lot less litigation...

3 Good Books on Japan, Economics, Open Source

just got back last week from Japan for a visit with my wife's family... while i was there i took some time to read a few books.  all three were terrific:

• Dogs & Demons / Alex Kerr
• Undercover Economist / Tim Harford
• The Cathedral & The Bazaar / Eric Raymond

Dogs & Demons is a rather tough assessment of Japan, focusing on how bureaucratic national politics & the Japanese construction industry have created significant obstacles for the nation to overcome.  It's a shocking criticism of how the Japanese built their key political, industrial, and cultural institutions after WWII ended (and to some extent, starting before that after the Tokugawa Shogunate / Edo Era ended).  While i don't necessarily agree with all conclusions drawn by the author, the discourse is certainly an eye opener.

The Undercover Economist is a fun read, and provides an excellent way to think about the science, rather than the art, of Economics.  If you enjoyed Freakonomics, you'll similarly enjoy this book.

The Cathedral & the Bazaar was originally authored in the late 90's (updated more recently in early 2000/2001) and chronicles the birth of the open source movement.  Although i considered myself somewhat familiar with open source concepts & products, this book gave me an entirely new perspective on the subject.  Great companion piece to Paul Graham's Hackers & Painters.