On being a gentleman and treating women
Social
WebeTalk: A chat room for web entrepreneurs
There has to be an IRC channel for entrepreneurs, I thought. Many months ago, I had searched all around the web for one but to my surprise I couldn’t find any.
But last month, I came across someone mentioning WebeTalk on an online community which I’ve already forgotten the name of.
It’s a simple but elegantly designed website with a web-based IRC client in the middle with the banner text,
“We are a group of web entrepreneurs who like to talk with each other about new ideas, internet topics, and various other things. Come join us today!”
It’s mostly quiet when I’m logged in, but I also happen to be on the other side of the world, assuming that most of the chat members are from North America. But having just logged in at 1:20PM (UTC/GMT +8 hours) there seems to be some short bursts of activity.
Not sure if you want to join this small WebeTalk community? You can find interesting stats on the channel here: http://webetalk.com/stats.php like my favorite, Longest Monologue.
See you there!
Build what you want with all the tools you need with hackerspaces
Hackerspaces are perfect for entrepreneurs who like to work with their hands. So, what is a ‘hackerspace?’
“A hackerspace or hackspace (from Hacker and Space, sometimes referred to as a makerspace) is a real (as opposed to virtual) place where people with common interests, usually in science, technology, or digital or electronic art can meet, socialise and collaborate. A hackerspace can be viewed as an open community labs incorporating elements of machine shops, workshops and/or studios where hackers can come together to share resources and knowledge to build and make things.”
Surprisingly, hackerspaces are easier to find than you think. They’re all across the world and there’s at least one in many big cities. Here’s a list of all the locations you can visit: http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/List_of_Hacker_Spaces
So, if you ever need a place to build a prototype of your next product or need some expertise in building it you know where to look!
PS: There is one at Waterloo called the Kwartzlab and another in Toronto called the HackLab.
More Proof that my Generation has ADD
If you’re around my age (21 years old) or younger, than you’ll more or less enjoy this Flash game called PongOut. The game has two screens: one for Pong and the other for Breakout. The objective of the game is to play both games – at the same time.
Back in the 70′s, Pong was a fairly fun game even though it seems as a ridiculously slow-paced game now. With so much stimulus around us we just can’t use enough of our brains.
PongOut makes an excellent comparison of how attention-deficit the younger generations are compared to the older generations. And what makes this game fun is that it challenges players to focus on two relatively complicated things at once, each of which has it’s own gameplay.
Now, if only there was a third screen…
Peter Kao
The $700 Billion Bailout Plan: What it Really Means
I read a lot of interesting crap on Digg.com, but this is one that I need to show you.
$700 Billion Bailout: How it Really Works
Peter Kao
Velocity, I’ve Arrived
Yes, I've arrived
Just moved into Velocity, Canada’s first (that I know of) student incubator residence. I first wrote about it in January (see Velocity – The UW Student Residence for Undergraduate Entrepreneurs) and now I’m living in it.
At first glance, the Velocity building doesn’t look like a student residence at all, rather it looks like an University staff building, but upon entering you are presented with a nice slab of glass that lists impressive sounding areas of the residence. You also get a top-view glimpse of the Rogers Wireless Device Lab which, sadly, is still in construction. I can already imagine it looking stunning though.
Entrance Slab
Device Lab in Construction
The residence will have several rooms that are completely at our disposal. Rooms such as the Device Lab, Great Hall and Conference Room will help entrepreneurial students like me collaborate on projects without having to worry about space or technical limitations.
My only peeve are the old-fashioned rooms and how everything is laid out. Don’t get me wrong, the rooms look nice and habitable. It’s decently sized as well. It’s only the old wooden cabinents and tables and the un-usable layout of the plugs that bother me. First off, the ethernet jack is at least 2 meters away from the today, so you’ll need an extra long ethernet cable to access the LAN line. The other thing is that when sitting down at the table, you irresistibly feel like you’re in a prison cell. There are no windows visible. Maybe it’s just the layout of my room, so let me know if yours is fine, but from what I’ve seen from my friends a lot of the rooms feel very secluded. These problems are small and won’t be a bother once you get used to the room, but I thought I would lay it out for those interested in joining us next term.
My Room! MH-225a
My Room (again)! MH-225a
Door Room Vanity
Here are some more pictures:
My Cheesy Looking Room Door
Sexiest Looking Kitchen I've seen on Rez
And here’s a video showcasing the world’s most advance window at Velocity! It’s a rod attached to a window…
The people are nice, the facilities look nice (though some are still in construction) and the energy is superb. Can’t wait till we have our first Velocity meeting tonight!
PS: News is that we’ll be hooking up an XBOX 360, PS3 and Wii on the big screen TV in the lounge! Man, how are we going to get work done in this place?
Peter Kao
I’m now Impact’s Co-Director of External Communications
Finally! I’m part of Impact, which is of course Canada’s largest student-run entrepreneurship group.
After they wow’d me at the Leadership Conference in 2007, I’ve been wanting to join a group that shares the same goal of helping fellow entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneur with all things surrounding entrepreneurship and start ups.
I’m proud to be part of the team and I can’t wait to help out on the side of marketing!
Peter Kao
ADD – Do we all have it?
I came across an article from Wired magazine today that explains how ADD is becoming the”official brain syndrome of the information age.” Ironically, while reading the article I had about a dozen distractions and a burning desire to stop reading and send off an email or two.
Could we all have ADD?
Yes. It’s entirely possible that ADD is simply an evolution of the mind to access and decipher the plethora of information that bombards our daily routine. We are born in an age where stimulation is freely accessibly. We have the Internet to stimulate us when we’re bored, and we have TV to stimulate us when we’re bored of the Internet, and we have homework to stimulate us when we’re bored of both, although the latter is sometimes compulsory. This extreme load of stimulation applied throughout our lives keeps us constantly busy and when we run into situations where our minds have to sit in one place, we feel the urge to do more. It doesn’t even matter what it is. We just want to keep ourselves busy.
Here’s the article again: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.06/interrupt-driven_pr.html
What do you think? Do we all have ADD? Or is it just Waterloo students? 
Peter Kao