PingMe

PingMe takes a unique approach to keeping track of things you need to do – it’s mobile and interactive. Just create a Ping, set a date and you’ll receive a reminder by E-mail or TXT to your phone. Not a good time? Pings are interactive! Just reply to the message to reschedule for a later date or time. You can even create new Pings on-the-fly from your mobile device, or tag your Pings to create contextual to-do lists. Pings are also social! Our new contacts system allows you to share, send and receive pings with other users. Coordinate tasks and collaborate with friends, family, and colleagues while staying flexible and in-touch.

]]> http://brettmkaufman.wordpress.com/2008/08/11/cool-site-of-the-day/feed/ 0 brettmkaufman http://brettmkaufman.wordpress.com/2008/08/07/lack-of-posts/ http://brettmkaufman.wordpress.com/2008/08/07/lack-of-posts/#comments Thu, 07 Aug 2008 02:35:38 +0000 brettmkaufman http://brettmkaufman.wordpress.com/?p=76 ]]>

Sorry for the lack of posts. Life has been crazy with visitors every weekend and lots going on at Sprout. I have lots of posts ready to go, just need to get them all written.

So being in SF there are a lot of Stabucks and just as many Peet’s. I think both taste good, I’m not a big coffee lover. I have heard a lot of people say on occasions that Starbucks owns Peet’s and that is not true. There are some close ties. This link explains the history of Peet’s. I’ll point out some of the more interesting parts that’ll clear this up.

In 1984, the year espresso machines made their appearance, Jerry Baldwin bought Peet’s, adding it to a portfolio that included Caravali, a wholesale coffee brand, and a small Seattle chain known as Starbucks. Inspired by Peet’s, Baldwin and his two partners, Gordon Bowker and Zev Siegl, had pulled together $8,000 in cash and loans in 1971 to found Starbucks. That was when Baldwin first met Peet; in 1971, he and his partners traveled to Berkeley to learn about Peet’s coffee before Arthur Peet would sell it to them for use at Starbucks.

In 1987, Baldwin sold off Starbucks, which then had only six stores, to Howard Schultz, a former Peet’s employee who had left Peet’s in 1986 to start his own coffee company, Il Giornale. Baldwin’s reason for selling off Starbucks was that it would never be as good as Peet’s. The deal included a noncompete agreement, which expired in 1992, the year that Starbucks went public and began its astronomic expansion worldwide.

Looks like the Stockton Sheraton is being foreclosed because the owning company owes too much debt on it. Anyone who has ever been to Stockton could have suggested that a $50M+ development project was a bad idea to begin with. Why do people think they can put nice things in bad places? I don’t remember seeing a W Hotel in Compton anytime recently.

Adam sent this to me and I thought I would share it with all of you. Pretty funny. Happy Saturday.

My Dad sent me this link to 14 Classic Tech Rivalries which I think is very well done. Below are my picks, let me know yours!

Mac versus PC
Sony PlayStation 2 versus Microsoft Xbox
Nintendo versus Sega
Laptop eraserhead versus notebook touchpad
Lotus 1-2-3 versus Microsoft Office Excel
Amazon.com versus your local bookstore
Intel versus AMD
Gates versus Jobs
Inkjet printers versus laser printers
Microsoft Office versus Google Docs
Netscape versus Internet Explorer
Ballmer versus Torvalds
Microsoft versus Google
Cable versus DSL

Yesterday was my last day at the Honolulu Sprout office before returning to SF. It was time well spent working with my boss and getting to know the other members of the team out here. It is amazing how much more you can get done when the person you are working with is across the room and not 2500 miles away, haha. I’ll miss the office here, but I’m excited to get back to my normal SF routine as well. Next week everyone from Honolulu is coming to SF for a week of hardcore developing so it’ll be fun to have another week with the guys.

After work last night I went for an early evening swim. It was amazing that at 630 the water was warm, but the sun was down. It was very peaceful and relaxing. After coming back to to shower, I went to Cheese Burger for Dinner. It was a tasty restaurant that started here and now has 6 locations. I’d check out their location in Las Vegas if you’re looking for huge burgers at a good price. I ate my burger and fries on the outdoor patio while sipping on a large piña colada and enjoying the Friday night fireworks show over the ocean. It was quiet a nice way to end the week. Later that evening Kent and I went down to the beach for a late night swim and walk. Even at 9pm the water was so warm, this is the type of beach I love.

Aloha for now

I have walked by their Hilton Hawaiian Village location everyday on my way to the beach, so I thought I would post this. The founder of Benihana has died. Benihana’s was pretty tasty, a bit overpriced for comparable food and service. It was interesting that they owned RA Sushi, not many people knew that. RA Sushi is certainly good, but compared to some of the sushi I have had this week in Hawaii it makes me cry.

Greetings all!

Well another day of working from Hawaii has wrapped and I’m sitting on the balcony working, sipping on a drink, and relaxing. It is pretty enjoyable. Only thing could be better if there was a college football game on at the same time, haha. Honolulu and the Waikiki area that I am at are gorgeous. It is like a mix of Miami, Vegas, and Carlsbad. There are massive hotel towers and then dumpy apartments, like Vegas. There are expensive mansions and then little shanties taking up price space, like Carlsbad. There is warm water, like Miami@ When I went out for a morning swim around 8ish there was nobody on the beach, very odd. They all were having breakfast getting ready to go out. The beach was amazing, so clean and freshly raked. There weren’t many waves, which was a bummer since I don’t like to just float around but it was still very worth it.

Aloha for now!
BK

http://live.waikikitimes.com/

That is the beach across the street from the condo where I was at this morning. Nothing like getting up, going for a swim in the ocean, then coming to work. Maybe I should move to Hawaii next, haha.