Soda Popinski

8/11/08

The 4×100 freestyle relay last night at the Beijing Olympics was the first time I’ve screamed at the television since football season last year. For those who have not seen the race, it is worth watching.

On Saturday I attended the All Points West Festival at Liberty State Park in New Jersey.  (The festival was actually from Friday through Sunday).  For those in the New York/New Jersey area, I highly recommend the festival in coming years. It was one of the most organized festivals I’ve ever been to, and the lineup was amazing, with bands like Radiohead, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and The Roots performing during the day.   The views of the Statue of Liberty and the New York skyline made it all worthwhile.

A quick check of Springwise today introduced me to a Dutch company dedicated to making stylish bike helmets called Yakkay. Even though there are such health risks associated with riding bikes without a helmet on, I find that I rarely wear one and I know most of the people whom I know bike do not either. A lot of bike helmets are clunky, and in a rare vain moment for me, look ridiculous. It is a shame that I put my vanity in front of my health but that is that. A quick Google search of stlylish bike helmets yielded little, so unless Yakkay can sell their helmets online, they can’t get my business.

Finally, in more news that Google may be becoming an “Evil Empire”, a New York Times online article is stating that Google’s own Wikipedia competitor, Knol, is getting a possible advantage in searches. For example, it seems that Knol’s pages are being places higher than more possibly relevant search results. I checked a few phrases, including the one in the New York Times article, “buttermilk pancakes”, and found the Knol result to be third on the list, and others to be near the middle of the page.

-Amit

akooner@brilliont.com

8/8/08

I know that I’ve been hearing that a worsening economy would lead to higher MBA applicants, and the Economist today confirmed the story.  So as corporate America is hurting, another business is thriving (the business of education that is).

With stores like American Apparel and Urban Outfitters profiting off of selling hipster merchandise in a store, they have totally destroyed the fun of shopping at thrift stores.  I remember going to thrift stores as a kid with friends and finding shirts with phrases that seem so out of place at school (but undoubtedly made sense to the previous owner).  But the American Apparels and Urban Outfitters of the world mass produce fake vintage shirts.  I was glad to find a company called Threadless that is a site for artists to design creative shirts and also sell prints of their artwork.  I am sure that I am the last person to have found this site, but I found it through my favorite site Springwise.  My list of frequently visited sites is short, but Springwise is quickly making its way to the top (along with New York Times, The Economist, and The Onion).

-Amit

akooner@brilliont.com

8/6/08

I’m just going to assume this sign was posted by a cuil.com employee.

There is a fascinating story in the New York Times online today about a tragedy on the mountain K2.  I’m unsure of how big of news this will make in the United States, though there were a few U.S. climbers in the group.  I still remember when there were eight climbers who perished on Mount Everest in the mid 1990s with the book Into Thin Air written about the event.  That might have made bigger news here because of the flamboyant Dallas doctor who was in the group.

Finally, in shocking news, Freddie Mac has apparently posted a fourth straight quarterly loss.  Let’s see how long investors hang on for this one.

-Amit

akooner@brilliont.com

7/14/08

At this point it should be blatantly obvious that I have just learned of the tool that allows me to insert pictures into my blogs.  For the first two weeks of blogging here at Brilliont I was simply typing my blogs into Microsoft Word and then copying and pasting them into our blog editor.

I found an interesting article in the New York Times today about the reaction to a trailer for the upcoming movie “Beverly Hills Chihuahua”.  It seems that a lot of dog lovers have posted videos of themselves on YouTube watching the trailer to the movie in disgust.  This article really struck me for reasons other than Hollywood has clearly run out of movie ideas.  Sites like Google and YouTube have really allowed people to be creative in such new ways.  I think that Google lets us be creative and answer questions for ourselves that we may be too embarrassed to ask others.  With Google’s simple start page we are not distracted and can just search for the information we crave.  YouTube lets video posters be “stars” and watchers be voyeurs.  Google’s algorithm and YouTube’s user interface are really innovative because they have been able to dominate their respective marekts even though there have been search engines and video posting sites for many years.

Speaking of innovation, there are scientists at MIT who are experimenting on how to make solar cells more efficient and economical for wide-spread use.  The biggest hindrances to solar cells are clouds and rain, so these scientists have invented a luminescent solar concentrator (LSC) which uses dye to trap sunlight for the solar cells directly.  While there are issues with this innovation presently, it is certain that the energy crisis will lead to more ideas flowing on alternative energy sources.

-Amit

akooner@brilliont.com

6/30/08

“…if people were rude to me then I used to give them their milk last… so it was warm.”

-Gareth Keenan (“The Office”) referring to being a milk monitor

I quickly scanned the New York Times business section today to find some positive story in the news.  I did find one that ties into the work I’m doing here at Brilliont.  One of my assignments here is to find innovative “green” companies.  While I did not find a green company, I found a new green concept at two major discount retailers.

According to today’s article “Solution, or Mess? A Milk Jug For a Green Earth?” both Wal-Mart and Costco are unveiling newly designed milk cartons which they claim are cheaper to ship, better for the environment, costs less, and above all the milk is fresher.  These new jugs have no spout but seem to be harder to pour for many customers.  However, the traditional jug has been deemed “inefficient and labor intensive” and the new jug has gotten praise even with its difficulties.

With rising oil prices and a very volatile market/currency, we all will be really inconvenienced, but usually such hardships spur innovation and this is one small step towards greater efficiency in our lives.

-Amit

akooner@brilliont.com