Personal Globalization: A friend of mine in Germany told me about this incredible slate of incentives the Chilean government is offering tech firms that want to relocate there.
The country that led the way in nationwide pension reform (for better or worse) is trying another experiment to lure tech-saavy folk down to one of the most beautiful countries on earth. They’re THROWING BIG MONEY at people who create tech jobs. What’s the catch? You gotta learn Spanish…and that’s about it. | Chile Wants Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses, Your Tech Entrepreneurs |
| Are you an immigrant who is fed up with waiting for years for a green card which you may never get? Or a tech entrepreneur looking to dramatically cut costs? I’ve got a suggestion for you. Move South. No, I don’t mean to Los Angeles or San Diego, I’m taking about way down South in Chile. They’ll welcome you with open arms and offer you incentives which will cut your burn rate more than half. And you’ll get to live in a land which makes even California look drab. |
| But first, you want to check out the country, right? The government will give you 60% of your due diligence costs, or up to $30,000, to visit and explore Chile. And they’ll grant you another $30,000 to launch your company in Chile. If you work from one of their tech centers, the government will pay for 5 years of rent (up to $1 million) or split the costs if you want to locate elsewhere in this gorgeous country.Read more at www.techcrunch.com |
Neighbors lending to neighbors… In addition to getting your loan back with interest, community lenders get the employee discount of 30% off all purchases at Greenlight until the loan is paid in full. And they’ll get special “community lender privileges” like advance notice of author appearances, sales and other store functions throughout the life of the bookstore. |
After conferring with our lawyer and accountant, Rebecca and I have finalized the new terms of the loan and promissory note for community lenders. Basically, we’re giving lenders the option of choosing their own interest rate, between 2.5% (just above the minimum required by the IRS) and 4% (just above the prime rate). The loans of $1000 or more will be paid back by Greenlight Bookstore with quarterly payments over five years, beginning one year from the opening date of the bookstore (this gives us a grace period during the traditionally difficult first year of business). Interest begins to accrue on June 1, 2009, and will be compounded annually. Read more at abookstoreinbrooklyn.blogspot.com |
Put your feet on the desk and WORK! Here’s some truly rigeekulous fashion hacking from those geniuses over at NYC Resistor. I had a blast today at Diana’s fashion hacking event, and I made these nifty pants that sort-of function as a keyboard. I can play tetris at least! It was fun to make them, and if you’d like to make your own you can download the files from Thingiverse. It was nice to spend the day working on a goofy project with no real value with my friends. Oh, and now I have some super-sexy nerd magnet shorts. Awesome. Read more at www.nycresistor.com |
Great article on HacDC and hackerspaces in general. And, of course, I’m quoted in it. Where Tinkerers Take Control of Technology |
These guys are hackers, perhaps, but not in the bad, steal-your-passwords meaning of the word. Hacking, in the HacDC sense, refers to the act of tearing into the latest technology to build or do something not originally intended by a device’s creators. A couple of years ago, I wrote about a guy who’d figured out how to wirelessly control his Roomba vacuum cleaner with a Nintendo DS. That’s the sort of activity we’re talking about here.
“Hacking is about discovering possibilities,” said Nick Farr, the group’s founder. “It’s what Benjamin Franklin did. It’s what Thomas Edison did.”
Read more at www.washingtonpost.com |
…when I thought we might get thrown out of the church… | Massive polytheistic breakthrough |
Polytheism promoter Johannes Grenzfurthner gives a talk in the Sanctuary of St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church (1525 Newton Street NW, Washington DC 20010, USA). |
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Mr. Chinitz argued that the abundance of small, independent companies in New York created a culture of entrepreneurship. Banks came to specialize in financing start-ups. There were lots of independent suppliers that catered to new firms. A poor kid, like the great Abraham E. Lefcourt, could start out shining shoes, then rise in a small clothing company, take it over, and then become Manhattan’s greatest skyscraper builder in the years before the Great Depression.
By contrast, Pittsburgh had large, fully integrated steel companies that sucked up the financing, labor and practically the air itself in the city. Who, in those days, would want to compete with U.S. Steel?” How Competition Saved New York |
Only two of the nation’s 10 largest cities have more people today than they have in 1950: New York and Los Angeles. The growth of Los Angeles is no puzzle. The city practically defines sun and sprawl, which are two of the biggest correlates of population growth in the postwar era. The puzzle is New York City, which — alone among the country’s older, colder cities — has managed to grow. Read more at economix.blogs.nytimes.com |
It was struck by lightning almost a year ago. This was the greatest day in my friend George’s life. He is making a USB weatherball, along with his other projects. The Weatherball was reportedly struck by lightning during a thunderstorm on June 5, 2008. The lightning scrambled the colors of the ball, until it was turned off and reset by WZZM Weatherball technicians. This was the first time the Weatherball had been struck by lightning. (source)
Read more at viget.org |
Shockingly, many people inside Detroit and GM still like Rick Wagoner. I’ve noticed it as a bit of an undercurrent, but this article does a great job of explaining the Detroit v. Wall Street v. DC battle. Wagoner Didn’t Deserve It
GM’s ex-CEO is a scapegoat. The problems with the auto industry aren’t one man’s fault. Why should he pay when so many Wall Street CEOs remain?
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| In reality, Detroit is actually one of the victims of the financial mess. Terminating Wagoner with extreme prejudice makes exactly as much sense as shooting the witness to a murder and saying the crime has been avenged.
Read more at www.businessweek.com |
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