The Case Against a Startup

Today was a very full news day, and so I actually had my pick of what to start out with here. I decided to go with this provocative blog post from Pmarca, a well-respected tech blogger, about why to not start your own startup. I wanted to talk about it because the startup route is one that I've considered for a while, and I only thought about a subset of the disadvantages he brings up. This is probably one of the best breakdowns of the situation that you'll find out there. The pros are what have always stood out to me: the chance to directly make a difference, not having to take nonsensical orders, being your own boss, the shot at a lot of fun, and an overall fulfilling career, on top of the power rush. I always knew there was great risk and lots of work, but I didn't think about the massive rejection you face (something I'm personally tired of), the difficulty of getting enough good talent, or the extent of the emotional rollercoaster, or the amount of time it'd take away from being with family. Still, I think I'd someday be interested in joining a well-calculated startup. If the people running the thing did their research, had their stuff together, had done enough research to know that it'll be profit, and all that jazz, I feel like I'd definitely be willing to take that sort of a jump. Of course, this is no indication of what I'll do after I graduate, because even I don't know quite yet. At least now I know I don't want to start a startup! I just don't think I'm built to be that kind of a leader, though I do want to rise to leadership positions in my career.

AMD is an underdog who I've been rooting for since I took Computer Architecture and learned the ills of the Intel-created x85 design. Unfortunately, they're in deep financial trouble and are looking at the very real possibility of contracting out most, if not all, of their chip fabrication and just focusing on chip design. That really complicates the decisions they have to make, and it's quite risky. I wish them 'good luck', because they're going to need it.

Remember how Blockbuster decided to only rent out Blu-ray in the vast majority of their stores? Well, an anonymous worker at a large retailer claims that many people have been canceling their HD-DVD player orders based solely off of this. That must be pretty scary for the folks at Toshiba who had already been seeing slow sales of HD-DVD players. Well, at least someone is on the verge of finally losing this insipid format war (where the consumers are the real losers).

Also, remember YouTube's little video editor? I had no idea that there are already several web applications out there that will do even more with your videos for free. Check them out here. I know I'm tagging it for future usage. Personally, I think that eyespot looks the cleanest.

Speaking of video online, it turns out that Google Video is no longer a repository for videos and is now just a search engine for videos on the Internet as a whole. Well, actually, you can right now, but supposedly that will be changing very very soon, and the searching itself has already been ugpraded. This definitely makes sense given that they already have YouTube, I just wonder how they'll handle the content that they've already accumulated. By the way, Google Blogscoped has a full report of their press day if you're interested, but it doesn't sound like anything useful was revealed.

Microsoft is rebranding their IPTV platform as Microsoft Mediroom and including richer PC-to-TV capabilities. If it's anything like Windows Media Center, then I hope that we start to see a lot more of it.

A new web 2.0 application based out of Austin (*sniff* home) called Thoof aims to bring forth yet another nonsensical name but incorporate fancy algorithms to provide users with personalized news content as determined by the community at large. It's going to face the infamous bias that Digg has though, in my opinion, in that it'll get overrun by young geeks (high schoolers to guys in their early 20s) and not provide the intelligent news that they intend on. More power to them if it does work, because it sounds cool, but I just think they're being a bit too idealistic.

Lastly, Yahoo CEO and co-fouder Terry Semel has stepped down as CEO and given full control to Jeffrey Yang, which has to make you wonder what exactly is going on at Yahoo that he feels he can no longer effectively lead it. Their stock only took a slight tumble today though, we'll see what happens tomorrow.

Massawyrm over at AICN has seen Evan Almighty and, true to his style, totally ripped it a new one. It killed a lot of my interest, but if you still want to see it then Yahoo has the 8 minutes of it for your viewing displeasure.

We actually have a couple of better shots of the Batpod now, but since I already showed you guys a picture of it yesterday (and a video), I thought I'd put up a new picture of the Mach 5 instead. I like it! It's very true to the series.


I didn't report on this because I didn't think that it was important at the time, but the controversial Michael Moore film Sicko (this time controversial for illegal footage shot in Cuba), was leaked to online movie pirates, and so Lionsgate and Weinstein Co. have decided to move up the movie's release in Manhattan one week to this weekend. A mildly smart and risky move since a flood of bad reviews could mean disaster, but I guess they figure that's better than people getting it online? People are going to get it online anyway though, so I really wonder how much this will help them.

The director of Bond 22 (only a codename, don't worry) has been decided: it's Marc Forster of Monster's Ball and Stranger Than Fiction fame. He's definitely a diverse director, so I look forward to seeing what he does with 007.

Indiana Jones 4 has begun shooting! Nothing else to say, it's just very exciting.

Legendary Pictures has picked up the rights to make a movie out of famed Blizzard third-person action franchise Diablo. I used to play the game so I know that it's not exactly heavy on plot, which makes me wonder what the Hell (no pun intended) they're going to do with this one. It's a battle between Heaven and Hell with nondescript characters. Then again, they were behind 300.

FilmForce has some great brand new clips (new as far as I know) from Transformers over here. I personally like the "Ladies Man" clip. Optimus is so cool! IGN also has a 3-D view of a set from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix if anyone is interested.

Lastly, I have a couple of trailers. One is for Michael Clayton, but I don't understand what's going on in the trailer at all. It's definitely a drama, and it involves lawyers, but that's about it. The other trailer is more my style and is for The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. It's a documentary about a guy who always loses but is trying to beat the reigning champion of the original Donkey Kong. It may sound stupid, but I've heard good things from SXSW.

I'm going for the TMI Tuesday this week since it's less racy than usual:

1. If you were to face the Wizard of Oz, would you want more courage, more brains, or more heart?
Definitely courage. I'm not concerned with the other two, but I do wish I was braver.
2. Have you ever gone to court for anything? What for?
Nope!
3. What was the last thing you did that you previously told yourself you wouldn't do?
Have extended fantasies about my girlfriend while at work.
4. Did you ever have a summer fling while on vacation?
NO!
5. Have you ever done anything sexual with someone who's name you never knew?
Ummm, ew. No.

Discontent with M$

I think today was the first day in a while where I got like barely any schoolwork done and instead did chores and ran errands. I should probably get back on the wagon tomorrow, huh? It looks like when it comes to disappointment with Microsoft, Paul Graham isn't the only one with an opinion. Jeff Atwood brings up the case of some developers who are sick and tired of the Micro$oft way of life. Apparently, it's increasingly common nowadays for developers to grow weary of Microsoft's anti-competitive practices and quit their products cold turkey. However, I have to agree with Jeff: this is ludicrous. I don't think it makes sense for anyone to whole-heartedly support one camp blindly. Open source software has its place in our world just like proprietary software does, and Microsoft will not disappear from our lives anytime soon nor does it really need to. Granted, they're likely to continue to lose power, but that doesn't change the fact that some of their applications are almost standard, and Visual Studio still stands to be an amazing IDE. Sitting on your high horse and dictating how the world should work doesn't change things, and fighting tooth and nail to prove your ideals by suffering with shoddy tools doesn't really prove anything. I admit that I'm kind of glad that I didn't get the internship at Microsoft because I would've felt like a sell-out, but a software developer's first priority should always be to do to his best create beautiful tools for people. Yes, I call software beautiful when it's done right, deal with it. I think this is, at the least, an important lesson in open-mindness. No one is perfect, and no school of thought is perfect, so why not mix and match?

Joost is doing pretty well right now. Not only do they have all this new content, but they got $45 million from various investors (including Viacom and CBS) to keep on trucking. Their future looks pretty bright (I guess these investors are hoping to latch on to the next YouTube), in my opinion. I like the new content (lots of great music stuff), but they need an easier, quicker way to navigate it. Clearly, their scroll bar for seeing programming on a channel is not suited for when you have over 50 items in the list.

Apple hinted to its shareholders that they may soon be seeing video rentals on iTunes. I'm honestly surprised that this hasn't happened by now, and figured that it must've been in the works. Seems odd to add video content to compete with all these other movie download sites if you can't even match their features. Speaking of iTunes, Sir Paul McCartney will be pre-selling his new album on iTunes, the first of the Beatles to release content on the service. Remember, Apple Corps (owner of the Beatles music library) and Apple had bad blood for a while, so getting that music on iTunes is tricky, but this is probably a good sign for progress.

We have more rumors that the next Zune will let you download tracks from WiFi hotspots and that a Flash-based Zune to compete with the Nano is also on the way. Supposedly, we'll be getting more official word next month to offset the iPhone release, but it had better be pretty damn awesome if they want to take attention away from Apple, and it had better be before the iPhone drops or else no one will care (even if the iPhone flops, it'd be bigger news, because that's how the tech media operates).

Does that not look cool? I'll admit, not the Optimus Prime fans of the series likely have pictured, but I'm still going to give props to Michael Bay's visual flare. Anyway, he put up high-res images of other transformers on his blog. I like what he did with Bumblebee, also. By the way, the original show is on Joost and is stellar (I still have unlimited invites to the beta, by the way).

Yahoo Movies has what I think is the worst trailer I've ever seen: the trailer for Bratz. It gives away like half the movie as it is, and that half is horrible, even by kid movie standards.

The owners of the rights to the Terminator series have sold those rights off, and it looks like we'll be getting another sequel. Then another. And then, one more. Do we really need three more Terminator movies though? Isn't there a point where it gets tiresome? I don't even care to see a T4, to be honest.

It looks like one of the performers at this year's ACL festival could be the next Bond girl. Up and coming British jazz artist Amy Winehouse is supposedly being ogled by the movie's producer, but this could just be speculation. Still, it doesn't sound that far-fetched, though I don't think she necessarily fits the archetype.

Lastly, it looks like Sony is willing to create 3 more Spider-man movies due to the massive success of the latest installment. However, no one has said that they're returning, so I guess re-casting would be theoretically possible. Personally, I'd like to see someone other than Tobey take a crack at being Spidey. Still, this sounds like a bad idea because they're trying to come up with ideas out of a desire for money; they don't actually have any good ideas already.

Now for a Thursday Threesome:

Onesome: Super-- heroes and comic book characters? Have you seen "Spiderman 3" yet? Will you?
I have not, but I plan on it...eventually.

Twosome: Mario-- Brothers led one gaming revolution: are you a gamer? Online? ...or is this one of those things you just don't even notice?
I used to be really into video games, but I just don't have the time for them anymore! Maybe I'll try to beat Devil May Cry 3 this summer? It's so freaking fun! If Starcraft 2 happens, I may have to try that out if it's still an RTS. I used to love RTS games.

Threesome: "Brothers-- in Arms"? Just listening to some old Dire Straits this evening: how about something new on your music radar you can share with the gang!
I just downloaded some Damien Rice (O) on Ruckus and it's really awesome. I'll probably get music from other ACL artists soon, as well.

I Met Limas Sweed!

So I was walking out of Accounting today and I saw a big Black dude walking out with a Texas backpack, which kind of caught my attention. I looked closer, and it had a tag that said "#4 Limas Sweed". I thought that was something maybe the Co-op was selling. It couldn't be him, right? But no, it freaking WAS HIM! So when he confirmed it I flipped out and blurted something like "ohmygodyou'refuckingawesomeIloveyouyou'reawesome!!". So he kind of laughs and says, "Have you met my homeboy, the QB, Colt McCoy?" And sure enough, standing right there is Colt McCoy. So I flip out again and say a much cornier line that I will not repeat here. For those of you who don't know, Colt is the Texas QB (Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year) and Sweed is not only a Texas Wide Receiver but probably one of the best in College Football. This is a guy who probably makes secondaries piss their pants and he shook my hand! He was really nice (Colt was a little quiet), and was comparing answers for the group assignment with me (don't worry, it was already turned in, no cheating!) and they let me take pictures with them! So nice of them to appease a little fanboy like myself. Here they are:



If you guys actually somehow read this, I hope I didn't scare you guys! I'm just a guy who loves his Texas Football. Oh, and today was the Career Fair. I did alright at it, but I probably should've dressed up more. Oh well, we'll see what happens. Maybe there's hope for me getting a Google interview yet? I'm going to continue with the format of yesterday's post because I kind of liked that and have wasted a little too much time tonight.

Reliable sources are claiming that Microsoft intends to release a Zune-based phone this holiday season (surprise surprise). Does this mean it'll be touch screen? Probably not. I'm sure they're going to try to compete with the iPhone with a different interface, probably one more in line with how the Zune is now (it actually does have a decent UI, I've used it). It looks like they're considering connectivity with the Xbox 360 for transferring media and such, which would be awesome, but it doesn't sound like it'll include Windows Mobile. Not like anyone would care though. Good luck, Microsoft!

Having been involved with web development so much over the past several months, I was naturally drawn to this comparison of PHP, Java, and Ruby. What's sad is that it looks like PHP is only great for scaling, and I wonder why that is. I'm still starting to learn Ruby, but I guess being interpreted really hurts it. No surprise that PHP is dead last for maintainability though, because it's a challenge for me to make the NSC site easily maintainable, despite my best efforts. Anyway, it's short and a good read. If you're interested in Ruby on Rails, you can read more here.

There's hope for the iPhone name yet: Cisco and Apple have agreed to push back the deadline for Apple to respond to the iPhone lawsuit, which means that they're probably in talks again. Should be interesting to see how it ends up.

Quentin Tarantino has picked up an ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year award, which I had to mention because I admire his work way too much. I feel that he's sometimes underappreciated, but that's probably just the fanboy in me.

The next 007 movie, Bond 22, does not have a director. Martin Campbell isn't interested in coming back, which is probably a huge blow to MGM after the acclaim his Bond movies have received. Filming is supposed to start next January, so they'd better hustle on a script and director.

Lastly, there's a trailer online for Knocked Up and it's slightly funnier than I thought. I'm still skeptical, but I do like Katherine Heigl and Paul Rudd. After all, Judd Apatow has given us some classics in the past.

Now for the 3x Thursday meme:

List 3 things in your life that need changing (from mode of transportation to places to live to work to anything else you can think of), tell us why, and describe how/if you're going to change it.
I need to stop cluttering, and I can change that by just focusing more on it. The reading has helped somewhat, but I need to work more at it. I need to do more outside projects so that it'll be easier for me to find a job. And I need to get out there and date more so that I don't feel like I'm just leaving a void open in my life.

Yahoo TV Gets a Makeunder

Sorry about missing the Sunday post, but it was a hard test, and I've been kind of vegging out for quite a bit of tonight because I'm tired of studying for it. I'll probably hit Automata after this post though until I go to bed. I didn't really miss a whole lot of good news over the weekend though, fortunately. Yahoo decided to completely redesign its Yahoo TV site, and so now it's cluttered and clunky. When they made an announcement on their blog about it, it attracted a lot of negative comments, and rightfully so. Whenever a site has to load a video at the homepage, I know that it's a bad site. Not an skippable intro, mind you, but an embedded video. I have a pretty fast computer and a decent cable Internet connection and it takes a little while for it to load even for me. It definitely looks like they tried to hard to be a cool site, and they put together all these elements that work well separately but when you throw them together it's just tacky. From first looking at the site, I have no idea what use this site is, especially compared with TV.com. The good news is that they actually read the negative feedback and maturely fixed some things while promising to look further into others. I guess we'll see if they keep their word soon enough!

I really do feel bad to keep picking on the Zune, but Microsoft just keeps doing stupid things. On the left you see a special pink Zune that they've hidden in 100 boxes for lucky consumers. So if brown wasn't bad enough, you may get an even worse color! I guess it's ok for a girl, but that pink is way too bright for any guy to like. Speaking of weird product decisions, if you go to Sony's Vaio page there's a little ad at the right sidebar that implies that the Vaio is a hot chick compared the to PC or Mac guys from the Get a Mac ads. First off, way to attribute yourself to a despised ad campaign, and second of all, way to alienate female consumers. Oh, and a Vaio is still a PC. If you're looking to build your own computer, I definitely recommend reading this, but don't spend too long reading about the God box with your credit card anywhere near you. In case you haven't heard, a CNet editor and his family hadbeen missing for a little while now. Just a little while ago though, his wife and kids were found. Apparently, they got stranded after taking some treacherous roads and he went to get help. Keep praying that they find him! Lastly, if you hate stirring, you'll love this.

This is interesting, Happy Feet dominated the box office for the third weekend in a row with just $17 million for over $120 million total. Casino Royale followed close behind though, and all the new releases (Van Wilder, Turistas, The Nativity Story) pretty much tanked, though Turistas didn't cost very much to make (isn't that amazing?!). In case you care, AOL has the trailer for Mimzy about some special kids who have some crazy abilities, but I believe it's only the teaser so hopefully it'll make more sense later. It doesn't look too bad, and will probably aim to be a family flick. And lastly, some Transformers pics have leaked.

Now for some Monday Madness:

1. I wish people would just _____.
think before they act
2. My biggest pet peeve where other drivers are concerned, is _____.
not using turn signals
3. I will probably spend about _____ on holidays this season.
$150
4. I really hope to _____ by the end of this calendar year.
put myself back together again
5. I make about _____ resolutions each year, and keep _____ of them.
three, maybe one

The Wii's Peaceful Release

Man, getting back to real life after a wedding sucks! I spent half the day thinking about the weekend, and I'm just glad that I only have 4.5 hours of class left before I go home to a barbecue tomorrow. Fortunately, it doesn't seem like I missed a whole lot over the weekend. The news I felt drawn to the most today was about the Wii, so let's start with that. It sold out handily over the weekend in North America without any reported violence, and Nintendo made a promise I have an easy time believing: four million units before the year is up. It'd be a miracle if we saw very many more PS3s before 2007, so don't get your hopes up. The Wii doesn't seem to be reselling quite as well on eBay (at least not with the same sex appeal), but I can definitely see the Wii going into the new year with a more positive buzz. Not all the first impressions are quite so rosy though, I've seen several complaints about the speed of the internet service, lacking component cables, and just overall problems with the virtual console (for playing older Nintendo titles). I wouldn't be too concerned though because I don't know of a console launch that has gone off without a hitch. The important thing is that they address these shortcomings sooner than later so that they can really get a leg up on the competition. Also, good to know that they haven't been indirectly responsible for people getting physically hurt yet.

Bill Gates is being quoted as praising the iPod still and claiming that the Zune really isn't so much a rival as a catalyst to get people to subscribe to the whole "sharing is caring" after school special. I could believe that given how much they push the WiFi feature over everything else, but they still handled the Zune release inexcusably sloppily. Meanwhile, Apple is preparing for their Black Friday sale and have assembled a handy holiday guide. I'm only plugging this because I didn't realize that the Apple store actually did a Black Friday sale with some pretty decent discounts. If you're a computer scientist (or one in training), or even a general math nerd, you'll love this pdf cheat sheet detailing stuff that I've spent many a time digging through old notes for or Googling for. I'm going to have to snuggle with this puppy late at night before big tests. Lastly, as an avid DRM hater, I like to plug articles like this criticizing the stupidity of DRM. I totally understand that piracy is wrong and all that, and I don't endorse it at all, but to alienate your customers to make a few more bucks (it really is just a few, in the end, when you think about it) is annoying.



Harry is just a little excited about the release of the teaser trailer for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It was a pretty good teaser, though I personally preferred the last movie's teaser. Anyway, it has some pretty good scenes in it, so it's worth checking out. In a surprising turn of events, the winner of the box office this past weekend was Happy Feet edging out Casino Royale, which I've heard was the better movie, by just a couple million bucks. Oh, and Borat managed to hang on to the number 3 spot. Not much new this coming weekend though that's notable except for the low-key movie The Fountain, so I'm curious to see what happens. Peter Jackson is officially off the project to bring The Hobbit to the big screen. I wasn't the biggest fan of the LOTR movies, but I don't see how anyone but him could make this one. Lastly, a pretty good trailer for Curse of the Golden Flower is online (featuring Gong Li and Chow-Yun Fat), but I was a little insulted by the obviously westernized background music they chose (you may recall it from Spider-man promotional materials).

Now for some Monday Madness:

1. In order to protect my computer from viruses, I use _______.
Zone Alarm and Claim-Free
2. I also use _______ for protection from spyware.
Spybot SnD
3. I don't spend nearly enough time _______.
playing guitar
4. The first person I usually talk to in the morning is _______.
myself (I don't talk to someone consistently in the morning)
5. It takes me about _______ to get ready in the morning.
30-40 minutes (including eating)
6. I keep all my appointments in/on _______.
my school planner
7. It takes me about _______ to fall asleep at night.
5-10 minutes

PS3 About to Fight Wii

You knew it was coming, the big battle between good and evil. By good and evil I of course mean the battle between the Wii and the PS3, in no particular order though ;) Anyway, the PS3 launch is a couple of days away and the Wii will be just a couple of days after that. In commemoration of the event, 1Up (which has some fun podcasts, by the way) has an article comparing the biggest aspects of the next-gen consoles from downloadable content to game outlook. It's a great read if you know nothing about either console because it shows you how sharply different they can be. What I love about this little battle here is that people buying either console aren't getting the same bloody thing with a few different games and slightly different graphics, but they're getting completely different machines for completely different types of games. You're getting a lot more power with a PS3 and some crazy RPGs and a great media machine since it can play Blu-Ray and DVD discs. With the Wii, you're getting a machine completely and utterly focused on the gameplay, including games from the past couple of decades, for about half the price in the end. One thing I feel it's important that people not do at this point is rank one above the other. I'll admit that I'm biased towards the Wii, but I don't think it's fair to compare it directly the PS3. Rather, appreciate the strong points of both and wait another 6 months before you start passing judgement on what's stronger.

Sorry, but I've got a bunch of Apple articles today to share. They're partnering with some big airlines to offer iPod integration, which sounds cool because then you could watch TV shows or movies on a screen on the back of the seat in front of you and charge your iPod as well. It's kind of ridiculous how widespread the iPod is becoming, and as cool as I think it is I think that Apple runs the risk of alienating the crowd of people who fear the mainstream. But screw them, I'd totally want to watch The Office or Diggnation on like a business trip on a real screen. Unfortunately, iTunes doesn't allow you to re-download purchases, which I believe that Microsoft's Zune Marketplace will allow. On one hand, I think it makes sense that once you buy a song from them that you should be able to download it as many times as you want on authorized PCs since it's not like you can P2P share them or anything, but it really is the responsibility of the consumer to have the brains to back up their data. You can do it while you sleep, it's so easy. So why put the burden of stupidity on Apple? Ars Technica has a review of the new Shuffle, which I'm plugging because they have the best reviews of products (although I think they get just a tad too nit-picky on this one). Lastly, Amanda Congdon of Rocketboom fame has actually gotten a job at ABC hosting a weekly vlog and making appearances on newscasts as well. Not too shabby for an Internet celebrity, and the producer of Rocketboom should be kicking himself for letting her go the way he did for that new chick (who sucks, by the way).

The only movie news I have today is Bond related. AICN's Massawrym got to see Casino Royale and gives as true a review as you'll read on it stating explicitly that this is not the mainstream Bond you've come to know over the years. This is a first Bond movie (a prequel of all the movies, if you well), not just another sequel. Walk into this one understanding that, and maybe you'll enjoy it as much as he did. You can see the intros to all the Bond movies over here. I can't seem to get it to work, but I suspect that it's down at just this moment. When it does work, I'm sure it'll be totally sweet because the Bond intros are really fun.

Now for the Ten on Tuesday meme:

10 Things You're Thankful For
10. A cool service like Blogger for me to keep doing this for free.
9. Having discovered how fun dancing is.
8. Having met the people in CS I've met who I can geek out with and struggle through homework with (it is a heartwarming feeling to see your friends in Taylor basement the night before a big test to study with, I don't know why).
7. Having a handful of friends willing to stand by me when I really need them.
6. Knowing what I want to do for the rest of my life.
5. The strength to pull through and do well even in my harshest classes.
4. Going to school in Austin.
3. My brother finding the love of his life and said person being really awesome.
2. My family, especially both parents still being alive.
1. Being alive! I should've died like 3 times by now (seriously).