New Haven – PechaKucha Night.

Thanks to Matthias Kretschmann for publishing a nice tutorial for configuring a file server. And thanks to the Ubuntu community for sharing tips in the forums.

Sure this may seem like tinkering, but it represents an attitude that I want my kids to embrace as they grow up – one that I need to practice again. I want them to look beyond brands and see the physical materials that they can turn into anything. A 1.5MHz chip, a 32GB hard drive and 500Mb of RAM, all objects that might have been considered “so 2001″, were resurrected into a stellar utility for the home. It’s tough for a brand to do that. And, it’s nowhere near as satisfying as crafting something with your own hands.

Business-to-business social media will be extremely valuable in the next couple of years, as more people become comfortable with conducting non-core business in public. Because so many of today’s businesses ventures are built on strong relationships and niche experience, we will need sources of real information on our colleagues, partners, customers and vendors. A resume will not be enough. A web page won’t provide the right information. We’re going to need data, over time, that gives a little insights into someone’s thought process. Blogs, profiles, twitterstreams, I think, do just that. They prove that an individual is thinking, processing, editing, developing, etc. These media may not always have the polish of a presentation piece, but they show the character of individuals, which is more than a resume or purchase order ever could.

Other takeaways from panelists:

• Don’t be a shameless self-promoter
• Share just enough non-professional information to remind people that you’re a human, full of thought and not under the control of some PR machine
• Share your experiences. You never know who else could benefit, or be inspired by you. And, when someone gets to the point of soliciting business, you could be top of mind.
• Go and experiment.

In spite of the short-lived discount, this little price adjustment begs the question: “How much of the price we pay for goods is compensating for the credit purchases of everyone?” Shouldn’t my grocery store give me a discount for using greenbacks? Is every merchant that takes credit cards factoring in this expense? While I’m sure a number of people need to use revolving credit to purchase a load of groceries now and then, the majority of folks I observe use a debit card. It’s convenient and safer than carrying around bills. But, is it worth an extra $3 fee to MasterCard on $100 of groceries. Probably not. Time to start asking.

If you’re spelling my name phonetically, here are some of the ways you might have spelled it:

Kluskevitch

Kluskevich

Cluskevich

Cluskevitch

Cluskiewicz

The constant rise in food prices is proving that suburban living is unsustainable. With the average piece of food travelling 1,500 miles to get to our plate, alternatives like this are going to sprout up everywhere.

Source: Cool Hunting

This is the second time I’ve ventured down to NYC for Tisch’s Interactive Telecommunications Program Spring show. And again, it was an inspiration.

What’s so unique about this show is how it highlights the importance of art in technology. Not art as in fine arts, though quite a number of the projects display that talent as well, but artistic expression. Many of them gave people creative outlets: the ability to generate poetry, the ability to paint with small movements and the ability to generate visual art and video from your dance moves.

As we try to transmit bigger and bigger ideas, databases aren’t going to matter quite as much. As this show proved, sight and sound can convey millions of nuanced bits of information in a single second, much quicker than the narrative we’re used to.

Check out the projects, here.

There are two reasons to index small, local markets. First, they would give us a better idea of how our local communities’ economies work. Do we help new businesses grow? Which ones thrive here? Which ones prosper? Second, they would help increase investments in local communities. Typically, only angel investors and venture capitalists can tolerate risks associated with early stage companies. But if that risk is spread out, just as it is with a 401k, those early stage investments become far more accessible, providing more capital and a chance for smaller investors to enjoy a big reward. Local investment is particularly valuable because those companies are likely to become your clients, employers and neighbors. The localization of investment provides an excellent opportunity to become involved with the economy that will have the greatest impact on your wealth and quality of life.

State tech councils fostering innovation and bootstrapping early stage businesses are beginning to collect all the information needed to create small indices – maybe even exchanges. This kind of local investment could open the doors to a real innovation economy.