HellaFrank

Yesterday I rocked out with about half the state of New Jersey at Bon Jovi’s free concert in Central Park and it… was… AWESOME…

50,000 people were at the Great Lawn to watch and seeing all the old tour t-shirts, Bon Jovi tatoos and hearing stories about concerts people had been to reminded me how this guy was THE MAN back in the day. He is still a pretty big deal, especially among the Jersey crowd, but it seems like his music is now mostly played in bars, sung along to by drunk 20-somethings that were probably a little to young to have really been engaged during his hey-day… Myself included. But his music has transcended decades and as was apparent yesterday, he still has a massive fan base and can easily fill 35 acres of park with fans (see photo above!).

Made me think I should have taken all of my childhood guitar lessons a little more seriously and been a rockstar. Now I’ll just have to wonder what it’s like to see women with a heart with a sword through it tatooed on their back with your name above it… Umm, yeah, I saw about 5 of those.

From my phone’s camera (regular camera’s were not allowed!)…

David Pogue wrote yesterday about the iPhone and points out that the hardware has not changed that much since the first go-round. The actual form of the phone is now a little more manageable, and the voice quality has increased dramatically, but other than that and a very simple GPS feature, the hardware is pretty much the same iPhone as before.

But it’s the software and the iPhone App Store that’s now really making the iPhone special. Any developer can now offer applications, after an approval process, for iPhone users to add to their phones. The actual iPhone itself and its large, beautiful touchscreen serve as the vehicle to deliver the app functionality to the user.

While making the internet connection speed faster with 3G helps, the software is what’s really empowering the iPhone now. Most handset makers are creating new ways to hide keyboards and slide different parts of the phone various ways to make them more usable and fun, but it’s software that can have the most impact on usability.

Think of something you wish your phone did that it currently doesn’t. Hardware issue or software? Software right? If the answer is hardware for some reason, I’d like to hear what the issue is in the comments.

With software essentially defining the  functionality of the iPhone, and all phones for that matter, I guess you could say that developers are the artists, with the iPhone as their canvas. Umm, a really really nice canvas… With a monthly fee……

Also posted on LaunchSquad’s Exclamation Blog

A teacher in high school once told me that often times I’ll see things come in threes. I’m not sure how much I’ve noticed this phenomenon since then, but last week it was in full effect.

The topic that came up each time was a green startup called Project Better Place. First I had dinner with a friend who was interning there this summer and told me all about it. The next day a ringer on LaunchSquad’s softball team brought up the company over dinner at the lovely Frankie’s Bohemian Cafe. Third, the next day I stumbled upon and article about Project Better Place on Earth2Tech.

Project Better Place has a very grand vision: “We see an oil-free future and a healthier, safer planet.” They want to accomplish this by bringing electric vehicles to the public and building the infrastructure to make it  easy and sustainable. While the vision is a big one, it also seems to have a good chance for success.

The CEO, Shai Agassi, was once up for CEO of SAP, the fifth largest software company in the world. He left to start Project Better Place. The company has also gotten some serious funding ($200 million to start, for their work in Israel) and buy-in from auto manufacturers including Nissan, Renault and potentially Daimler.

This is definitely one of the most intriguing green companies to watch. It will be a long road, but so far the company seems to be well on the right track. Gavin Newsom wants the San Francisco Bay Area to be the first U.S. region to participate in Project Better Place, which seems appropriate.

The prospect of electric cars has always seemed ideal, but ultimately, not realistic. But technology and companies like Project Better Place and Tesla Motors are finally working to making widespread electric car use possible. Definitely rooting for these guys, and looking forward to following how things progress. Sounds like Denmark is next…

Also posted on LaunchSquad’s Exclamation Blog