James Siminoff

Tumblr Staff: News!

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:25:34 -0400

Everyone, I’m elated to tell you that Tumblr will be joining Yahoo.

Before touching on how awesome this is, let me try to allay any concerns: We’re not turning purple. Our headquarters isn’t moving. Our team isn’t changing. Our roadmap isn’t changing. And our mission – to empower creators to…

Congrats to David and the Tumblr team. Awesome job on building a awesome company and now a awesome outcome!

laughingsquid: George Takei Responds to Teenage ‘Traditional’...

Mon, 20 May 2013 00:55:10 -0400

laughingsquid:

George Takei Responds to Teenage ‘Traditional’ Marriage Fans With Humorous Signs

fishingboatproceeds: 1. Shailene Woodley is a brilliant actress...

Sat, 11 May 2013 12:26:03 -0400

fishingboatproceeds:

1. Shailene Woodley is a brilliant actress and Golden Globe nominee. I cannot think of any 18-year-old actress who has received the kind of critical acclaim that she has (she also won an Independent Spirit Award).

She auditioned for The Fault in Our Stars not because she needs the part (I mean, she’s in the new Spider Man movie, for God’s sakes) but because she loves the book. Her depth of understanding were immediately obvious in the audition and for me there could be no one else to play Hazel. (There were a bunch of really good auditions, but Shailene just understood Hazel as I imagined her.)

I am not particularly concerned with physical looks; Hollywood can fix that stuff. (Remember when Nicole Kidman became Virginia Woolf?) I’m concerned with whether she can embody the voice and experience and life of Hazel. She can.

2. Ansel Elgort is also a huge fan of TFiOS (it is, in fact, his favorite book). He was a high school basketball player who also happens to be a very intellectual guy. Most importantly, when he auditioned, he became Augustus. Watching him audition with Shailene, he was just Gus and she was just Hazel. He understood Gus, and clearly had a very deep and thoughtful relationship with the book. Honestly, I’m a bit confused as to how you can dislike an actor whose work you have definitionally never seen, since his first movie isn’t out yet.

3. Novelists do not cast movies, so these were not my decisions (although I did have a lot of input). But I’m defending them because I think they’re both perfect for their parts (and I’d tell you if I felt otherwise).

4. There seems to be some concern that Ansel and Shailene are playing siblings in a different movie. I guess I can understand that, but they’re actors. They can play different roles. They’ll look different and act different and be different. I mean, no one watched Silver Linings Playbook and thought, “When did Katniss move to the suburbs of Philadelphia?”

If the movie works, you’ll sit down in the theater and you won’t say, “Oh look it’s Shailene Woodley,” or, “Oh, look, it’s Tris from Divergent.” You’ll say, “Holy wow Hazel Grace.”

Erin’s latest movie is cast. I can’t wait to see this one.

"We need to be angry and empathize with the victims without being scared. Our fears would play right..."

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 08:17:08 -0400

“We need to be angry and empathize with the victims without being scared. Our fears would play right into the perpetrators’ hands — and magnify the power of their victory for whichever goals whatever group behind this, still to be uncovered, has. We don’t have to be scared, and we’re not powerless. We actually have all the power here, and there’s one thing we can do to render terrorism ineffective: Refuse to be terrorized.”

- The Boston Marathon Bombing: Keep Calm and Carry On - Bruce Schneier - The Atlantic

Inspired by this. And I’m gonna run the fucking boston marathon next year.
(via bijan)
I was thinking the same thing. Time to run Boston.

spiegelman: irrigatin’ some herbs, son

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 08:43:21 -0400

spiegelman:

irrigatin’ some herbs, son

vpbiden: In which Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan explains...

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 23:32:15 -0400

vpbiden:

In which Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan explains menopause to an anti-gay marriage lawyer

"In other industries, this is called predatory pricing, and many forms of it are illegal because..."

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 19:52:00 -0400

“In other industries, this is called predatory pricing, and many forms of it are illegal because they’re so destructive to healthy businesses and the welfare of an economy. But the tech industry is far less regulated, younger, and faster-moving than most industries. We celebrate our ability to do things that are illegal or economically infeasible in other markets with productive-sounding words like “disruption”.”

- Marco

Tupperwolf: Wealth, risk, and stuff

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 09:47:56 -0400

Tupperwolf: Wealth, risk, and stuff:

vruba:

I run into some version of this essay by some moneybags twig-bishop about once a year, and it bugs me every time.

Here’s the thing. Wealth is not a number of dollars. It is not a number of material possessions. It’s having options and the ability to take on risk.

As with carrying, so with owning in general. Poor people don’t have clutter because they’re too dumb to see the virtue of living simply; they have it to reduce risk.

When rich people present the idea that they’ve learned to live lightly as a paradoxical insight, they have the idea of wealth backwards. You can only have that kind of lightness through wealth.

I was looking at this photo from the 1950’s. It is crazy...

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 20:48:25 -0400

I was looking at this photo from the 1950’s. It is crazy to think how much has changed since then in everything except airplane design. The Cesna pictured has almost had no exterior design changes in over 50 years.

"After four and a half intense and wonderful years as CEO of Groupon, I’ve decided that I’d like to..."

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 23:17:30 -0500

“

After four and a half intense and wonderful years as CEO of Groupon, I’ve decided that I’d like to spend more time with my family.

Just kidding - I was fired today.

If you’re wondering why… you haven’t been paying attention.

”

- Andrew Mason’s goodbye letter is pretty awesome. (via daryn)
I think Groupon just went from being in trouble to totally fucked.

thisistheverge: Self-driving trucks tested in Japan, form a...

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 08:59:33 -0500

thisistheverge:

Self-driving trucks tested in Japan, form a close-knit convoy for fuel savings

As Google and others ramp up their plans to develop self-driving cars, one government-funded corporation in Japan is already making headway with autonomous heavy duty trucks. In order to save fuel, the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) has programmed a convoy of four trucks to drive just four meters (about 13 feet) apart. That cuts down on air resistance, reducing drag (and thus improving fuel efficiency) similar to drafting with a race car.

Autonomous vehicles are going to create massive change. Love seeing this stuff.

Google is owning the next wave of big things. Self driving cars...

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 14:23:42 -0500

Google is owning the next wave of big things. Self driving cars and glass are both going to be huge.

This video is amazing when you realize that this is something that is actually working today.

The Fault in Our Stars has a director

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 23:07:43 -0500

The Fault in Our Stars has a director :

This is Erin’s movie. It is a awesome book and I think it is going to be a amazing movie.

fishingboatproceeds:

I like Josh Boone so much, and I think he is the perfect director for TFiOS. He understands the book profoundly (as you can tell from his comments in the story above), and he is also tremendously talented. I am so excited!

This needs to be fixed…

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 15:45:04 -0500

This needs to be fixed…

The above video is from Qwiki’s new iPhone app. All you...

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 07:00:26 -0500

The above video is from Qwiki’s new iPhone app.

All you have to do is take a bunch of picture and/or video and Qwiki’s app will put it together a video and then suggest or allow you to choose music.

Today I took Oliver on a hike and took a few pictures and videos. Then opened the Qwiki app and in a few seconds this video was made.

I have been a adviser to Doug and Qwiki for a while but this post has nothing to do with that. I am so impressed by what they have built, it has been a long time since something hit me with that wow factor like this app has.

Congrats to Doug and the team for hitting this one out of the park!

theonion: Postal Service: ‘And Wait Until You Cocksuckers See...

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 17:25:46 -0500

theonion:

Postal Service: ‘And Wait Until You Cocksuckers See What We Do With Wednesdays’: Full Story

If I shorted stocks (which I don’t) I would be shorting...

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 22:57:54 -0500

If I shorted stocks (which I don’t) I would be shorting Facebook right now. They are growing their mobile ad revenue but the quality of it is total shit. This is a ad from one of the “buy my system and make money” scam artist ass hats.

Facebook can not build a big sustainable company on shit like this. They need to figure out ways to truly leverage the community.

The Insourcing Boom

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 00:56:37 -0500

The Insourcing Boom:

Even a small shift in manufacturing will have a huge impact on the US economy.

When you take some of the macro things that are happening like this and energy independence the US might actually be heading for some good times in the future.

Who knows maybe we will even be able to pay off our debt…

parislemon:

Chales Fishman for The Atlantic:

GE wasn’t just able to hold the retail sticker to the “China price.” It beat that price by nearly 20 percent. The China-made GeoSpring retailed for $1,599. The Louisville-made GeoSpring retails for $1,299.

Time-to-market has also improved, greatly. It used to take five weeks to get the GeoSpring water heaters from the factory to U.S. retailers—four weeks on the boat from China and one week dockside to clear customs. Today, the water heaters—and the dishwashers and refrigerators—move straight from the manufacturing buildings to Appliance Park’s warehouse out back, from which they can be delivered to Lowe’s and Home Depot. Total time from factory to warehouse: 30 minutes.

American manufacturing seems poised for a comeback. Not for everything, but for a lot of things.

"Right now, there are brilliant students from all over the world sitting in classrooms at our top..."

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 00:46:04 -0500

“Right now, there are brilliant students from all over the world sitting in classrooms at our top universities. They’re earning degrees in the fields of the future, like engineering and computer science. But once they finish school, once they earn that diploma, there’s a good chance they’ll have to leave our country. Think about that.

Intel was started with the help of an immigrant who studied here and then stayed here. Instagram was started with the help of an immigrant who studied here and then stayed here. Right now in one of those classrooms, there’s a student wrestling with how to turn their big idea—their Intel or Instagram—into a big business. We’re giving them all the skills they need to figure that out, but then we’re going to turn around and tell them to start that business and create those jobs in China or India or Mexico or someplace else? That’s not how you grow new industries in America. That’s how you give new industries to our competitors. That’s why we need comprehensive immigration reform.”

- damn straight

President Obama in Nevada today, laying out a four-part plan for comprehensive immigration reform
(via barackobama)

Yup

"We just had the best quarter of any technology company ever. The only companies that report better..."

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 01:01:50 -0500

“We just had the best quarter of any technology company ever. The only companies that report better quarters pump oil. I do not know about you all, but I do not want to work for those companies.”

- What Tim Cook reportedly said to employees at the latest Apple Town Hall event this past week. (via parislemon)

I still think it is incredible how the market has reacted to Apple’s last quarter. I am a happy shareholder at 460 and look forward to the day (which will probably not be too long from now) that everyone thinks Apple is a unstoppable company again and pushes the stock to 700 (I am not a crazy believer so I will probably sell around 600-650)