Off The Hook

2006-12-02T23:23:00.000-08:00

Christmas is near. The tree in Bryant Park (42nd St. and 5th Ave., NYC).

Happy Holidays!

2006-12-02T23:17:00.000-08:00

Fred Wilson was the speaker at the first CBSAC masterclass. NextNY.org has a recap of this event here.

2006-12-02T23:11:00.000-08:00

The Pitch Contest at Pace University.

2006-11-09T16:39:00.000-08:00

I was so glad to see democracy at work on Election Tuesday. American people have spoke, and we send a clear message to President Bush - we don't like the direction that he has lead us to. Now lets see what would happen in 2008.

Btw, I found Senator Barack Obama's Myspace page. I'm wondering if Hillary or McCain also has presence on MySpace...

2006-11-09T09:06:00.000-08:00

This month's NY Tech Meetup was hosted at Google's NYC office. It was a very interesting meetup at a very interesting place. One of the attendees blogged about this meetup. You can read it here. I took a couple of photos with my camera phone too.

Jen Houser getting ready to present MotionBox

Google's NYC office at 76 Ninth Ave.

Here are more photos of Google's NYC office posted by Allen.

2006-11-01T22:47:00.000-08:00

This is a stupid "choking aide" sign in Starbucks. I'm making fun of the drawing on this sign...click on the photo to go to Zooomr.com and see my notes...

2006-10-31T08:53:00.001-08:00

Accessories Nov06 detail
Originally uploaded by Off the hook.

Ippie's earrings (you can buy them here) is featured in Nov 06 issue of Accessories Magazine.

movie shoot in chinatown

2006-10-29T09:59:00.001-08:00

movie shoot in chinatown
Originally uploaded by Off the hook.

The crowded streets in Chinatown just got worst when a movie crew moved in to building a set there. Wonder what movie were they shoot...

gridfold presentation at video 2.0 meetup

2006-10-29T09:57:00.001-08:00

gridfold presentation at video 2.0 meetup
Originally uploaded by Off the hook.

Drew and Jerry presented Gridfold's P2P video streaming technology at last week's Video 2.0 meetup. They did a good job.

2006-10-24T16:15:00.000-07:00

Ippie design was featured in the Ladies Who Launch’s LIVE event in New York City on Oct 19th 2006.

2006-10-21T23:50:00.000-07:00

Donny Deutsche interviews Donald Trump on "The Big Idea." This clip in on the topic of George W. Bush...

2006-10-19T22:59:00.000-07:00

Jets almost blew a 20-3 lead to the Dolphins...luckily they managed to held-on and won the game.

Rutger University Marching Band at halftime

2006-10-19T22:48:00.000-07:00

I attended the DigitalLife at Javits Center last Saturday...more video game companies were represented at the show this year...

Windows Vista

The Game Zone

Xbox 360

Xbox Live

Square Enix's Final Fantasy XII

I want to wear this custome for Halloween...

Guitar Hero battle

PacMan

PS3 NBA 07 on hi-def big screen

If someone could create a diversion for me, I would just grad this machine and run for it...lol

2006-10-19T22:41:00.000-07:00

David Rose of the New York Angels demo'ed AngelSoft at NY Tech Meetup earlier this month...

2006-10-19T22:39:00.000-07:00

I hate jury duty...been summoned to jury duty last week...waited for 8 hrs...then dismissed...I actually wanted to serve on a jury just for the experience, but didn't get the chance this time...

2006-10-14T01:58:00.000-07:00

Check out this Earrings Showcase by Ippie Design...See anything you like? You can buy them at Ippie's store on Etsy.com

2006-10-05T08:38:00.000-07:00

The Fantastic Three...missing Conde Rice...

2006-10-04T10:20:00.000-07:00

NextFest

Some of the more interesting showcases at this year's NextFest held at the Javits Center over last weekend.

2006-10-04T10:17:00.000-07:00

Video 2.0 Meetup

I hope more people would demo behind-scene technology at the Video 2.0 Meetup...

2006-10-04T09:30:00.000-07:00

Advertising Week 2006

Last week was the advertising week where the creative minds from Madison Ave. get together and set the agenda for the advertising industry going forward. This week-long event also serves as a celebration for the achievements of the ad industry in the past year.

I attended a few panels that I found most interesting to me:

In-Game Advertising for Xbox Live

USA TODAY Pulse of America: Sports - with NBA Commissioner David Stern, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, and LPGA Commission Carolyn Bivens.

Mark Cuban talking about YouTube, HD TV, and the NBA.

Fishing for the Big Idea with CMOs from Johnson & Johnson, GM Pontiac, Travelocity, and Philips Norelco.

Mobile Advertising

USA TODAY Pulse of America: Money - with Patrick Barry of Yahoo!, Tracy Dolgin, President and CEO of YES Network, Lisa Judson, SVP of Marketing at AOL, Gene Kelsey of Panasonic, and Michael Weaver of Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions

2006-09-26T12:00:00.000-07:00

Looking at the below social networking apps, did you notice a trend in naming their services?

MySpace

YouTube

Meebo

2006-09-25T16:04:00.000-07:00

Video Game Music Videos from YouTube:

"Cool Games"

"People of Battlefield 2"

Anime Video:

"Anime Dance Off!!!"

Cool cosplay Pic of the day:

2006-09-25T14:31:00.000-07:00

I was reading VCMike's blog this morning, and he linked to a super cool "Anousheh Ansari Space Blog." Anoushen Ansari (the first woman to buy her own ticket to space) = true pioneer.

2006-09-22T22:02:00.000-07:00

Photos from OneWebDay...

OneWebDay (nyc) celebration at The Battery Park...

Speakers (from left to right): Craig Newmark (craigslist), Scott Heiferman (meetup.com), Drew Schutte (WIRED magazine)...oh, and the crowd...

Contest winning design of global icon for Wifi hotspot...

2006-09-20T15:28:00.000-07:00

These are some of photos I took via my cellphone in the last couple of days...

Automatic fastfood vending machine on St. Marks...

Closeup view...

Jets vs Patriots at the Meadowlands...

A shoe repair stand in Chinatown...

People sitting on the sidewalk of Bedford street while eating pizza...

"TV on the Internet" panel at the NYTVF (New York TV Fest)...

Chartreuse (BETA) has a great blog post

2006-09-20T08:42:00.000-07:00

Paris Hilton
Originally uploaded by cuda00002.

Chartreuse (BETA) has a great blog post on how to market a website - by using an analogy of "Why Paris Hilton Is Famous." Good stuff...

2006-09-13T12:15:00.000-07:00

I just read a great blog post on "VC Mike" called "Marketing Myopia." It quoted a paragraph from Theodore Levitt's Havard Business Review piece to make its point...

“The railroads did not stop growing because the need for passenger and freight transportation declined. That grew. The railroads are in trouble today not because that need was filled by others (cars, trucks, airplanes, and even telephones) but because it was not filled by the railroads themselves. They let others take customers away from them because they assumed themselves to be in the railroad business rather than in the transportation business. The reason they defined their industry incorrectly was that they were railroad oriented instead of transportation oriented; they were product oriented instead of customer oriented.”

One of my mentors once told me that Godiva Chocolate is not in the chocolate business--its in the luxury food business. Thats so true. Godiva is NOT competing with Hershey's, but rather other gourmet and luxury foods.

The blog concludes with the point that in marketing its important to define your market based on how your product or service can solve the need of your customers rather than the types of your customers

2006-09-05T05:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my first time in Westchester (invited to a friend's party), and check out what I saw at the shore in Larchmont...the storm on Saturday did some damage here...

2006-08-01T00:35:00.000-07:00

Ann coulter must be the ugliest woman in America.

She is exactly the opposite of Tom Friedman. While Tom Friedman uses his knowledge to sell books, Ann Coulter relies on her ignorance; while Tom Friedman presents positive solutions and ideas in his columns and books, Ann Coulter spreads hatred and calling names; while Tom Friedman (a Jewish American) has been covering the Middle East situation for over 20 years, Ann Coulter has never set foot inside Iraq, Lebanon, or Gaza.

Below are some YouTube clips of Ann Coulter interviews. See for yourself of her ignorance and stupidity.

2006-07-20T20:44:00.000-07:00

I recently started to read Mark Pincus’ blog. Mark is from Israel, so I’m surprised to see he wrote the following paragraphs…but I think this pretty much sums up the reality of the current Middle East crisis...

“Why can't we all take a breath and take an even handed approach?

That starts with acknowledging that what hezbollah and hamas did in killing and kidnapping israeli soldiers was wrong and deserved some response. Since the UN has never condemned one act against israel. She must act for herself.

Second, israel's response is also too much and is wrong. Civilians shouldn't die…”

Mark also posted a comment left by one of his regular readers which reminded me of a political science paper I wrote in college that echoed similar sentiments.

2006-07-11T19:00:00.000-07:00

French soccer star Zinedine Zidane showed the world how to resolve conflict (the Zizou -way)...check out these video clips :D

2006-07-07T09:02:00.000-07:00

This year's Hotdog Eating Contest was a close call. I was in the crowd at Coney Island on July 4th to witness the great Kobayashi set a new world record - 53 and 3/4 hotdogs in 12 minutes! Joey Chestnut, a rookie to the competitive eating circuit, finished slightly behind with 52 hotdogs.

Although I really enjoy the Hotdog Eating Contest, I didn't like how the event became so commercialized and how the host kept drag the event on and on for hours (the actual contest only took 12 minutes). 4th of July was a hot and humid day, many of the crowd felt dehydrated after 2 hours standing directly under the sun on the street of Coney Island, waiting for the "show" to start. The host of the contest squeezed in gibberish announcements, prolonged contestant-introductions, and boring musical performers (Eric Booker's rap performance was so bad we thought it was his strategy to affect other contestants' appetite). Later, ESPN wanted them to re-do the introductions for TV, so we had to watch it all over again. And since ESPN broadcasted the event live, there are many commercial breaks, which added to the wait.

Anyway, once the actual "eating" started, the contest quickly became intense. Joey Chestnut was neck-in-neck with Kobayashi, and even took a two-hotdog lead for quite some time. But at the end, the great Kobayashi showed his experience and patience. He charged ahead of Joey's pace after both hit the 40-hotdogs mark, and never looked back.

Next year, I would probably watch this contest on TV, so I don't have to endure the other nonesense that went on.

2006-07-05T15:19:00.000-07:00

I went to see “Superman Returns” on iMAX 3D yesterday (only 20 min of the movie are in 3D), and was somewhat disappointed by the movie. It has less action and more melodrama than I expected. And I am puzzled why on earth would Superman work a day job at the newspaper. Shouldn’t he be “save the world” fulltime, 24-7?

Popular blogger, Jeff Jarvis (buzzmachine.com), asked us “who is Superman?” I think the question should be – “what is Superman?” Superman represents many things on many levels. Is he the comic book version of Jesus, the son of a superior being, send to earth to save us? Is he the manifestation of American ideologies, albeit a little “played out” in the post-9/11 era? Or, since Superman saves people all over the world, not just Americans, is he a reflection of our point-of-view on American Globalization?

Like many other comic book superheroes, Superman fights for “truth and justice”. But he's also different from...let say, Batman, who “gets things done” his way, and often terrorizes his foes. Superman is too “good-hearted” in comparison. Also, unlike Spiderman, who can be easily distracted by too many personal issues, Superman is more focused when it comes to “save the world.”

So, is Superman the perfect superhero, and do we need Superman? Why is Lois Lane’s Pulitzer winning editorial (in the movie) called “Why we don’t need Superman anymore”? I think the world today is far too complicated for a “perfect” superhero like Superman to handle.

Back to the movie, I think the screenwriters didn’t get “Superman.” When it comes to a “perfect” superhero like Superman, people don’t want to see him get tangled-up in a love triangle, and (here is a spoiler) has to deal with an illegitimate child. We just want to see Superman battle villains, save people, and all that stuff. This explains why the movie only grossed $74 million over the weekend (not counting the 4th of July holiday).

2005-12-14T12:31:00.000-08:00

My buddy forward me this story about Matt Leinart...

"quick story you guys might enjoy. Went to a party at laurens on saturday night...about 20 people. Half of us went to some random bar, the other half went to this upscale place called Marquee. Anyways, these 2 pretty girls who were visiting lauren from texas. morning, lauren calls me and says "Do you know some guy named Matt Line Hart?" I laughed and say yeah and don't bother to correct her. she says, well he was at Marquee last night, and hit on one of the girls from texas all night, danced with her, and then was so drunk he groped her....she turned around and slapped him, and left. I said yea yea, I doubt it even though it kinda made sense that he would be in an upscale club getting trashed after losing the heisman. I told her I'd believe the story when I saw pictures. well, here they are..........

2005-10-02T00:16:00.000-07:00

Myriad Search

If you are like me, wary of the reliability of Google's popularity-contest-searches, then you may find Myriad Search helpful. It returns search results by harnessing the power of the top four search engines and allows you to determine how much, if any, each one's magic should influence the ranking. Check it out.

http://www.myriadsearch.com/

Posted by Henry. The below sentence lies. Don't be tricked.

2005-09-26T09:56:00.000-07:00

More Katrina-related Foul-ups

The world has gone mad. Did you know that, in the calamity of Hurricane Katrina, the US military has lost 36 armed attack dolphins? Did you even know there were such things as ARMED ATTACK DOLPHINS?? They are trained to shoot their toxic dart guns, which are attached to special harnesses.

Anyone who has watched the first two minutes of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" will remember the claim that dolphins are the second most intelligent species on Earth (first are alien rats) and have decided to leave the planet. Someone please rent it for the army.

Source

This is Henry sitting in for Chenster.

2005-09-25T05:04:00.000-07:00

I have been selling a lot of stuff on eBay lately. All this pack and ship has reminded me to recommend you a great way to waste a few minutes. Especially if you're obsessive-compulsive. Here.

-Henry, taking over the Chenster blog (until he wakes up and deletes all my posts).

2005-09-25T04:51:00.000-07:00

YOUR PENIS IS A THERMOMETER (quote, unquote), claims “Best Life” magazine. Their slogan is what matters to men and I say I can’t agree more. Anyways, they apparently did a poll that links erection problems to major illnesses. Guys: faced with Why are you putting it there!? you can cite the publication (practically a journal) and explain you’re just trying to get an accurate reading of her.

Gals: The article also reads “’The penis...is the thermometer of men’s health,’ says Ridwan Shalbsigh, M.D., an associate professor of urology at Columbia University.” That’ll make him think twice.

“Best Life” October/November 2005, pg. 28
My name is Henry W.

2005-09-25T04:39:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers:

While Chenster is, I'm sure, soundly asleep on what he believes to be an innocent Sunday morning, I have decided to make my surprise attack. haha. This is executed wholely in a drunken stupor and partly in response to his censorship of my past labor. As I doubt he will read his own blog often, I recommend you not tell him why you snicker so.

Warning: these posts are only suitable for the irreverent. Sorry for the late warning.

My name is Henry.

2005-09-23T11:35:00.000-07:00

Since I did not write any blog for this entire week, I think I should recap what I experienced in this past week…

First, an announcement (some of you already know this):

$4 Cocktails @ 125 Bars All Next Week - RSVP For Pass

http://www.toasttonewyork.com/bars.asp?rf=E3

Chenster’s Week (9/19 – 9/22)

Monday:

I went to the Saints vs Giants football game on Monday Night with Marc, Joe, Chris Blackhall, and Ben Lerner. Below chronicles the night:

5:30pm – exited NY1 Plaza

5:35pm – entered Korean deli; purchased three bottles of tonic water and three bottles of Coke

5:45pm – entered Ben Lerner’s apartment; mixed gin with the tonic water and coke we just brought

5:55pm – got on subway heading to Port Authority Bus Terminal; Joe, Chris, and Ben started to work on the beverages we just mixed

6:15pm – arrived at Bus Terminal; ran into Marc Taubman; while waiting for the bus, Joe purchased beers for himself and Marc; both men started drinking on the street; a police officer spotted them and ordered the two men to discard the beers; they went into Port Authority and finished the beers anyway

7:15pm – got on a bus heading to Giants Stadium; Joe, Ben, and Chris continued drinking on the 45 min bus ride

8:00pm – arrived at Giants Stadium; Marc and I were the only sober members of the group; all of the beverages we have mixed have been finished by now

8:15pm – inside the stadium, we went on line to purchase more beers as Joe, Ben, and Chris each purchased multiple bottles

9:15pm – half time; Joe, Ben, and Chris went on line to purchase more beers, again, multiple bottles for each

11:00pm – mid fourth quarter; crowd started to head for the parking lot as the Giants had the game in hand

11:30pm – we got on a bus full of passengers, no more seats, standing only; Chris started to sing, Ben joined; some passengers on the bus actually liked their singing; but most were shocked to see heavily drunk men singing at below karaoke level

12:15pm – backed to Port Authority Bus Terminal; Chris and Ben wondered around the bus terminals while still singing with lyrics such as “I am totally wasted, yeah, I am so wasted!”

On my way back home, I realized why people like to go to football games…

Tuesday and Wednesday

Joe and I went to a two-day class (16 credits!) called “InterActive Influence” in midtown. The class was great, as we learned how to listen, start a mutual conversation, network, and use techniques to influence decision making at work place…

I missed the premier episode of Martha Stewart’s Apprentice.

Thursday

Did anybody saw ABC’s Primetime last night? The program had actors perform scenarios such as domestic violence, child abuse, and shop lifting in public, and had hidden cameras capturing the bystanders’ reactions. Most people did not help…

For those that helped and intervened, women outnumbered men. Does this mean women have more empathy than men do? However, when the domestic violence scenario was a woman hitting a man, no one intervened. When asked why, the bystanders said they assumed that the man been hit have cheated, thus deserve the punishment…how interesting…

Friday

Everyone, have a great weekend! Hope no major tragedy will be caused by Hurricane Rita…and our federal government…

2005-09-23T08:09:00.000-07:00

My friend Henry is writing the blog for today, please see his two posts below...

Take a Hike

Last night I rented the uber-witty "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and was surprised by the subtle messages imbued in the eye candy adventure. It features an alien race of greasy, fat, bureaucratic slobs that blew up the insignificant planet Earth to clear the path for their hyperspace travel. Could this be a faintly disguised attempt to criticize Bush's America and Afghanistan (via Michael Moore's assertion that we--yes WE-- bombed the country to clear a path for oil lines)? Read: oil = travel.

Of course not. After all, Douglas Adams released the story on BBC Radio in 1978. Even with subtexts and parallels aside, it was a highly enjoyable movie that I very much recommend for the entire house.

http://www.hitchhikersmovie.com/

Hurricane evacuation of elderly turns deadly

What the fu*k is wrong with our country? Can't we do anything right anymore? This morning's breaking news involves the death of 20+ elderly evacuees on a bus headed away from Hurricane Rita to avoid the ill fate of those senior citizens who were left to die during Hurricane Katrina. The only news of relief is that some managed to escape the exploding bus. As of the time of writing, the cause of the fire leading to the explosion has not been confirmed, but it is speculated to be due to the bus's braking system leading to oxygen canisters exploding (as reported by CNN).

We're keeping an eye on this, but this much is clear: those responsible for hurricane evacuation need to get their act together.

2005-09-15T12:05:00.000-07:00

History of Coffee

I saw an program on the History Channel last night on the history of coffee. Some interesting take-aways from this show:

1. There are two types of coffee beans - Arabica and Robusta. Robusta is the low quality coffee beans used in most canned and instant coffees you find in supermarkets (e.g. Maxwell, Folgers...etc.). Arabica is the good quality coffee beans you find in most gourmet coffee shops (e.g. Starbucks...).

2. Starbucks is actually behind Dunkin' Donuts in total coffee retail (but first in premium beverage retail). Dunkin' Donuts sells approx. 30 cups of coffee per second.

3. The most expensive coffee in the world is called Kopi Luwak (approx. $300 per pound). It is a very rare gourmet coffee from Indonesia made from coffee beans passed through the digestive system of an Indonesian animal called Palm Civet (a cat-like creature that likes to ingest the ripest and reddest coffee beans, which also happen to be the ones best for brewing). The cat eats the outer covering of the beans in the same way that is accomplished by de-pulping machines. Something happens to the beans in the journey through the cat's intestines that gives it a flavor that is celebrated by coffee drinkers.

4. Each coffee tree could produce one pound of coffee beans (approx. 4,000 beans).

5. Below are some common coffee drinks...

Espresso A small but potent coffee served black, in a small demitasse cup or glass. Characterised by a flavour and aroma so intense they bite. The perfect Espresso can only be created by forcing water at 9 bar pressure and 88 C through a tightly compact wad of 8 grams of freshly ground coffee beans, producing 1.7 fluid oz of coffee in exactly 22 seconds. Such precision is crucial for what is the base of most speciality coffees.
Espresso con Panna Short, strong and sweet. Full bodied Espresso with real whipped cream served in a demitasse cup or glass.

Macchiato A small strong coffee with a delicate first impression created by placing a small amount of foamed milk on top of the Espresso crema. Served in a demitasse cup or glass.

Mocha A delicious medley of pure Espresso and real chocolate filled with steamed milk and crowned with a swirl of whipped cream. Completed with a garnish of sweet chocolate powder or real chocolate shavings. A rich and indulgent chocolate experience, served in a tall straight glass.

Ristretto An extra strong variation of the Espresso, using the same amount of coffee but half the quantity of water. Typically served in a demitasse cup or glass. Not to be confused with a double Espresso.

Caffee Latte A long refreshing coffee, usually served in a tall glass. The fresh espresso and steamed milk should always be topped with a small amount of frothy milk, to seal in the warmth.

Cappucino A decadent combination of strong Espresso smoothed out with equal quantities of steamed milk and foamed milk, creating a luxurious cap that can be garnished with either chocolate or cinnamon powder. Usually presented in a large classic cup.