I stopped by REI to pickup a special ordered compass and was surprised by the number of patrons.  It’s downright crowded today.  The popularity of outdoor sports clothing as casual wear seems to have no end :).  Then again, it’s hard to argue with the warmth of Primaloft or 800 fill power down on a cold morning.

Across the street at Caribou Coffee, all the tables are taken.  A couple sits across from me, retelling funny stories and flirting in between sips of coffee.  A table of Arab immigrants sit nearby, squeezed together and chicly dressed in thick sweaters, large sunglasses and a few tweed jackets.  A few tables down two girls work diligently with their laptops and open text books.  When space is limited, everyone huddles a little closer.

I’m stoked to try out this new compass, a Brunton 54LU, a uniquely accurate, small and light sighting compass.

1. Facebook Phonebook Exporter Greasemonkey script: This script will export phone numbers from a Facebook friend list.  WARNING: This script currently uses a remote service to process contact information.  So unless you plan to host the web app portion on your own server (code available on github), you will be sending some potentially private information to a remote server.  Instructions on how to use this script are available.

2. Linkedin VCF file export: Linkedin offers VCF exporting of all contacts through the standard web interface.

3. AddressBook Sync: This Mac app will synchronize Facebook and Address Book contact pictures, birthdays and locations.

After running these tools, the Address Book had a few duplicates, and more then a few contacts that needed minor editing (usually involving moving firstnames and lastnames to their respective fields).  Overall this is a huge time saver for a Mac/iPhone user since all contact information is now in one easy to access place.

I began the MBA program with the goal of learning everything I could.  Two very challenging years later, I can say I succeeded.  To many an MBA program has certain connotations, often shaped by mass media portrayals of business school programs, and those who choose to attend them.  Having finished the program I can promise anyone entering an MBA program that you will not find a simple path to a well paying yet non-challenging job.  Golf is not the official pastime.  Actually, I don’t know if I really had any hobbies during the last two years.  Mostly I studied and slept 5 hours a night.

In the end, the MBA program and my classmates gave me a new perspective on the markets, people’s behaviour and their impact on the world around us.  To my teachers and my classmates, from almost every part of the world, I would like to say: “Thank you for changing the way I see the world around me.”

As Friendfeed users know all too well, the added features of Friendfeed and similar microblogging services offer a much richer media experience then that offered by more spartan services such as Twitter.  Adding functionality to Twitter through media sharing and dedicated URL storage fields will enrich the twitter user experience while matching the functionality offered by Facebook.

URL storage in dedicated fields will let users write full 140 character messages and remove the need for external URL shortening services.  These services may confuse new users and beyond click tracking offer very little added value.  A twitter operated shortening service can be used for SMS users, or one of the many external services can be used.

Media sharing is a great feature that could allow Twitter to grow its functionality while matching some of the useful features offered by Facebook.  A partnership could work well, allowing Twitter to concentrate on delivery a great microblogging experience while using a service like Picasa Web to share pictures.  This will allow Twitter to avoid the huge infrastructure costs that Facebook is now facing, while letting users share higher resolution pictures.  The facial recognition features of Picasa Web will make everyone’s life easier, as anyone who’s ever uploaded 50 pictures to Facebook and had the daunting task of tagging them will tell you.  Video sharing partnerships with YouTube or Vimeo could add more features while limiting Twitters infrastructure and development costs.

I’m sure with the addition of group support to Tweetdeck, these users will find it easier to manage their tweets and follow many more users.  But the question remains, when you follow so many others, are you hoping that they in turn will follow you? And if so, are those twitter “is now following you on Twitter!” emails more spam then informative?

In the end following those who’s tweets are interesting is both good for you and the twitter sphere.  After all, is the allocation of resources, in this case user attention, and the production of something of value, interesting tweets, that different from the free markets?  If we replaced “attention” with “money” and “interesting tweets” with “physical objects”, it would all seem like a big market :).  Rewarding the best producers will in turn support the creation of the best products.  Of course “best” would be defined by the tweet sphere, which may change significantly as twitter’s user base grows to include a more mainstream audience.

It’s tough to say, but I hope those who choose to follow me find what I have to say informative or in some way useful to them. Because really, its all about the free flow of tweets, and attention, in this oddball 140-character information market :)

MacBook Pro 17-inch Battery

Today at MacWorld 2009 Apple announced the new MacBook Pro 17-inch.  To many the rumors of an integrated battery were less then pleasant.  Many questioned the useful life of a device limited with a non-replaceable battery pack.  This was an obvious question given the often-limited life of modern lithium rechargeable batteries.  These batteries usually see significant loss in capacity beyond 300 charges, limiting their useful life to around 1.5 years for most users.

However Apple’s new integrated battery for the MacBook Pro will change many user’s expectations about the capacity and longevity of their batteries.  With over 7 hours in battery life and over 1000 charges before significant capacity loss, the new MacBook Pro appears to have solved many of the common problems faced by notebook users.  A user can now expect a full day’s usage out of a battery and a battery life exceeding the likely useful life of their notebook (given an upgrade every two to three years).

In the near future a user will reach for their notebook in the morning, pulling it from the dock.  The device will be used throughout the day as needed, and at the end of the day, simply reinserted into its charge station.  The battery life of the device will not degrade noticeably during the life of the device, and the user simply will never worry about it.  He or she will plug the device in to charge, take it anywhere and after a few years will recycle/discard it when a newer and better model comes out.