and so here I am: still standing in the arena, in hand-to-hand combat with demons mostly of my own making, aiming to make a small dent in the universe. nowhere near a great success story, yet fighting the good fight and perhaps helping others to achieve greatness as I attempt a bit of my own. I’ll be 46 in a month, well past the age when most folks have already shown what they’re made of. but I’m still grasping for that brass ring.

A honest reflection and introspection by Dave McLure into his career and place in life. I’ve been feeling a lot of this lately. I’ll be turning 30 soon and am not a VC, but most everything else rings true to how I feel, especially the part about combating demons of ones own making. It takes a lot to be so refreshingly honest and for it to come from someone I admire gives me hope. Thanks, Dave.

late bloomer, not a loser. (I hope) by Dave McClure

(via Instapaper)

late bloomer, not a loser. (I hope) by Dave McClure

Take a hard, critical look at it and you will see that ODI cricket has slowly but surely helped rid the game of pace, swing, spin, and harmed the techniques of batsmen and bowlers, and negatively affected the basic cricketing skills that made the game worth watching.

Finally some cricket pundits are taking note of what I blogged about right after India won the last world cup. Get rid of the ODI

Sanjay Manjrekar: Is it time to bury the ODI? | Opinion | Cricinfo Magazine | ESPN Cricinfo

A great history of Winamp, the rise and fall of Llama ass whipping.

Winamp’s woes: how the greatest MP3 player undid itself | Ars Technica

When it dies, the primary causes of Nokia’s demise will be well known. It will be the same force that killed RIM, the same force that’s ravaging Sony. It’s the all-powerful software platform.

Farhad Manjoo’s excellent take on the decline of Nokia. It’s not about the device, it’s about the platform. Only if Sony had realised that 10 years ago, my favourite electronics company would’ve perhaps been in a better place.

RIP, Nokia (1865 – 2014) | Farhad Manjoo in PandoDaily

Here’s why I stick with Three UK. Between this and the unlimited data in the UK, I see no reason to switch.

Three UK launches unlimited roaming data in Europe for £5 per day | The Verge

A revolving imperfect sphere floating in space, being reshaped by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, and being dragged around by gravitational forces makes rotation somewhat irregular. An extra second is being added to the end of June to bring UTC back in alignment with solar time. This will only be the 25th leap second ever.  

Sleep an extra second

“…what is really happening is a government effort at Internet “behavior modification” through a process akin to an experiment involving caged monkeys, bananas, and ice water. Put four monkeys in a cage and hang a bunch of bananas on the ceiling. Every time one of them climbs up to reach the bananas, you drench all of them with ice water. Soon enough, the monkeys will start policing themselves — attacking anybody who tries to reach the bananas, making it unnecessary for their masters to deploy the ice water. “This is why the government is being so aggressive so early on, with only 10 percent of India’s population online,” says Abraham. “If you start the drenching early on, by the time you get to 50 percent [Internet penetration], every one will be well-behaved monkeys.”

Agreed. Most Indians are monkeys.

The War for India’s Internet – By Rebecca MacKinnon | Foreign Policy

This judge is brilliant. Apple lawyers are seriously batty for insinuating that a tap is a 0-length swipe. The faster the American patent system is flushed down a poop-filled toilet, the better.

Famous judge spikes Apple-Google case, calls patent system “dysfunctional” — Mobile Technology News

A market driven system creates an investor class and a poorer working class. There’s no “trickle down”. What a surprise.

Taxi Medallions: How New York’s terrible taxi system makes fares higher and drivers poorer. – Slate Magazine