John Perry Barlow 2.0: The Thomas Jefferson of cyberspace reinvents his body -- and his politics.

Via Hack the Planet comes this story in Reason.

Allways thought provoking.....

here are some quote-lets

Every existing power relation is up for renewal with cyberspace, and it was only natural there would be an awful lot of fracas where cyberspace met the physical world.
...
Physical objects have a completely different natural economy than intellectual goods.
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Lawyers, doctors, and architects don’t work for royalties, and they’re doing fine. Royalties are not how most writers or musicians make their living.
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The one thing that I know government is good for is countervailing against monopoly. It’s not great at that either, but it’s the only force I know that is fairly reliable.
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We have a deeply symbiotic relationship with large corporations. I wouldn’t want to eliminate them, because they are the engines of our economic well being at the moment.
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The Constitution doesn’t say anything about national security. The Fourth Amendment is the Fourth Amendment, and they’re gonna have to show me that it isn’t. Right now they are refusing to answer subpoenas.
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Most libertarians are worried about government but not worried about business. I think we need to be worrying about business in exactly the same way we are worrying about government.

Boing Boing mentioned it too

VC Cliches

Via Feld Thoughts

Sales

* We need to clarify our messaging: Our customers and prospects (and probably our employees) have no fucking idea what we do. This usually also means the VC doesn't know what the company does.
* We need to do a better job of filtering our sales prospects so we don’t waste our time on bad leads: Our marketing / demand generation sucks - we're not targeting the right prospects. This is often a result of a nice pipeline, well presented and formatted, but with no resulting sales. Sometimes this is a marketing problem; sometimes this is a sales problem: often it's both.
* We need to strengthen our sales pipeline: We're doing a crappy job in sales, but I've decided to be nice today either (a) because I'm in a good mood or (b) I don't want to demoralize a team that knows it's having trouble bringing it home. I put this phrase in the "yellow warning flag" category - you usually don't get to hear it twice (unless your VC is a very blissful person).

Management Team

* You need to focus on your core business fundamentals: You guys have no clue what your priorities are. This is a cliche born out of frustration that often leads up to a more serious discussion with the CEO about the systemic problems in the business (or more specifically, why the business is melting down.)
* You need to get alignment among your management team: This one means two things: (1) One or more people on your team suck and need to go and (2) You - as CEO - are doing a sub-par job of leading the charge - and it shows.
* You need to upgrade your management team: If you have the ability to read between the lines, this often means "if you don't fix your management team, we'll focus on 'fixing' you."

Term Sheet Negotiations (Ode to Matt Blumberg's Post)

* We bring more than money to the table: Uh - yeah. What would that be again?
* That's an industry standard term: Hint - there are no industry standards in the venture business.
* Don't worry about pre-money - we'll take care of you later: Did your mom ever says, "Honey - don't worry about the water - c'mon in, it's not too cold."?
* Don't focus on percentages: This is kind of like saying to a 747 pilot "don't bother paying attention to where the runway is - just land where ever you want."
* Don’t worry about that term, we’ll never actually enforce that: Um, right.

Reasons to Pass on Investments

* It's not in our sweet spot: I'm still looking for my own personal sweet spot - maybe that's why I'm so sarcastic feeling today.

IT Myth 1: Server upgrades matter

From InfoWorld

Reality: Don’t pay extra for upgradability; you’ll never need it.

You Might add HD or memory, but that's about it. After 3 years (or less?) it's cheaper to Replace than upgrade.

Genetic Screen Identifies Compounds That Might Slow Aging

From FuturePundit comes word that statin drugs are known to activate PPARalpha

CR (Calorie Restriction) diets have been shown to increase average life expectancy.

But who wants be hungry all the time and look like Flynn Boyle?

Now Some researchers have found a some already used drugs may induce a metabolic state that will extend life expectancy by the same mechanism that CR diets extend life expectancy.

and that's a good thing.

"Sir, I feel that I need to confiscate this book."

Via BoingBoing comes a story of a fellow getting hassled for carrying a Book by "security" doing are manditory bag searches happening on the NJ-NY Ferry, thanks to the RNC.

This morning, they're doing bag searches again to get on the ferry. And the guy doing the searches pulls me aside and says, "Sir, I feel that I need to confiscate this book."

I pause and say, in that tone of voice that most people would recognize as meaning, "have you lost your grip completely, chuckles?": "You need to confiscate... a book."

"Yes. I feel it's inappropriate for the other people on the ferry to be exposed to it."

What might they do if confronted with say the US constitution (and the Fourth Amendment) let alone a "Library" (dangerous thing those libraries...)? That would be an exercise of Orwellian proportions.

To hard for them

Forbes.com Best of the Web in reviewing The Standard complains that

The site lets you subscribe to RSS feeds, a complicated, XML-related way of reading news which doesn't serve much purpose here.

earth to Forbe's...HELLO clueless...Pat I'd like to buy a vowel or a brain cell.....or go to google...type RSS News readers....no dinner for you...

Inconspicuous Goods

How not to buy happiness (kottke.org)

Considerable evidence suggests that if we use an increase in our incomes, as many of us do, simply to buy bigger houses and more expensive cars, then we do not end up any happier than before. But if we use an increase in our incomes to buy more of certain inconspicuous goods -- such as freedom from a long commute or a stressful job -- then the evidence paints a very different picture. The less we spend on conspicuous consumption goods, the better we can afford to alleviate congestion; and the more time we can devote to family and friends, to exercise, sleep, travel, and other restorative activities. On the best available evidence, reallocating our time and money in these and similar ways would result in healthier, longer -- and happier -- lives.

Escher meets Audi

audi illusions

Illusions', a new spot for the Audi A6, is worth a second glance. Or two. Indeed, the more times you see 'Illusions', the more the sophisticated visual trickery concealed beneath its serene surface becomes apparent.

The spot features an Audi A6 traversing a cityscape that seems at first to be quite normal – mundane, even. But gradually the eye tunes in to the strangeness – warps and transformations of the streets and buildings that create impossible paths and spaces, optical puzzles that challenge the eye and the mind.

Usually the sort of thing that Vowe Dot Net finds first. Not this time!

NASA Gives OK to Fix Hubble Telescope

NASA Gives OK to Fix Hubble Telescope

(for some reason I want to shout) "Thunderbirds are a GO!"

This is why it's important, and things like this, although it's almost too late give that one of four major Hubble instruments, the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS), has stopped working

It's "Evolution in Action" for the Music Business

Via "Tim Oren's" Due Diligence and his "Electronic termites are chomping out the support beams of our music culture" comes a link to Contra Costa Times : Here comes the MP3 revolution By Tony Hicks

They (artists) are able to get their music out without having to have a record contract. For anyone who wants to get off the hook to record companies, this is a miracle.
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What Prince is doing with his last record is really fascinating (giving out copies at concerts, writing the price into the ticket, and having them count as record sales). It shows how irrelevant the chart system is going to be.
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The record companies had a choice to be proactive a few years ago, or hang on to their death-hold on the business.

(just use BugMeNot to bypass brainless registartion)

In light of how clueless the Canada ( Canadian RIAA calls for stronger copyright measures than in the US) and USA (Induce No More) Recording Industry continues to be, they will hopfully die off soon, before they clear cut the culture.

Elector

Another installment to Charles Stross' series "Accelerando" , the Novelette "Elector" has made an appearance in the September 2004 issue ofAsimov's

This all started back in "Lobsters" (June 2001) which started with this.

Read it on line here at (on) Asimovs : Lobsters and get hooked (esp if you have over-dosed on Slashdot), and Nightfall is still online