National tests the blog-o-sphere

Our own Mike Mitchell and Nathan Grey had a meeting with one of bloggings leading lights, Joi Ito, last week. They exchanged ideas about blogging and the ACS. Joi blogged the meeting on his site and asked for comments. If you read Ito’s post make sure you read the comments that follow.

SXSW

SXSW

It’s that time again. SXSW is coming to Austin from March 12-21. But more importantly is the Interactive Portion of SXSW. Whether your specific area of expertise is design, content, blogging, usability, copyright, streaming media, gadgets, or programming, you will find yourself inspired and invigorated by the wealth of new ideas you learn from the top minds who converge in Austin for this exciting event.

In addition to the four days of panel programming, SXSW Interactive includes a three day Trade Show where you can see the newest hardware and software developments, plus make new connections with various other companies involved in convergent technology. Equally enticing is the full array of evening activities that range from art openings to cocktail parties to the Web Awards to the informal late-night bull sessions that inevitably occur at area bars and restaurants. This year, don’t just read all the post-event reports and wish you were there: Make plans now to come to Texas in March and be a participant in all the SXSW fun!

Should FI Center "Google" best ideas?

Google, a company that doesn’t let grass grow under its feet, keeps an internal list of “top 100 ideas” generated by its staff. The top execs at Google track the list.

Google’s co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, addressing a technology conference in Monterey, California, on Saturday, said they encourage their employees to pursue their own ideas and projects. The company tracks the results with an internal list known as the “Google Top 100,” they said.

“For 20 percent of your time, if you’re working at Google, you can do what you think is the best thing to do,” Page, 31, said

Other perks:

Google meeting rooms have silent projectors built in to the ceilings to avoid the hassle and time of setting them up. At the meetings, employees use a Google meeting software to email meeting notes immediately to anyone who could not attend, they said. Google’s own Web site says the firm prefers “high density clusters” for its engineers “with three or four staffers sharing spaces with couches and dogs. This improves information flow and saves on heating bills.”

What (if anything) We Learned In The New Economy

Fast Company has done a retrospective of sorts about the lessons of the “New Economy.” And why not; FC along with Wired, was one of the foremost proponents of the New Economy hype. Their name is ample testimony to that. My impression is the magazine has barely survived the bust. There are some reflections on what the truth turned out to be behind ideas like “Free Agent Nation,” “move first or die,” and other buzz. They maintain there are some lessons learned.

I’m a little skeptical about the learning claim. My intuition is that a lot of people are just waiting for the return of the go-go energy of the stock market. There supposedly is a bumper sticker appearing in Silicon Valley that says, “Just give us one more bubble.” I think the lesson some people got from the cycle is: “Get rich and get out, but quicker.”