Let me know what you thought of my MIT Startup Bootcamp talk "East Side Story" [vid]

After a last-minute cancellation, I was invited back to MIT to speak at this year's Startup Bootcamp with another lineup of fantastic startup folks. They've recently posted the video of my talk "East Side Story" (slides here) and if you're curious about that shirt I'm wearing, it's a breadpig product you can buy for yourself and support EFF in the process (as with all breadpig products, all the non-sustainable profits are donated).

Thanks again to all of you who came out for this great day of startup fun. And to my hosts for letting me go back to back (here's the video of last year's talk).

Great interview with the Alien Blue iPhone/iPad developer

7. What do you think is the future of Reddit? What other features would you like to see on the site?

What can I say about Reddit? The people who run it really care about the community. The admins clearly favor their users over profits and most of their decision making revolves around what makes redditors happy. The guys in charge could walk out of that building and probably earn twice their salary elsewhere, but it’s their passion that keeps them there.

If not already, I think we’ll see Reddit becoming a household name. With thousands of subreddits and support communities, Reddit will become a single point of news/advice for a lot of people. “There’s something for everyone” is a tired cliche, but I think Reddit is a website that can genuinely carry out that promise.

via theapplegoogle.com

Congrats on the press, Jason. You've built a couple superb apps. Check out AlienBlue.org

More not-for-profits need to emulate DonorsChoose: Turn mountains into molehills

Stuff like this is why DonorsChoose is such an impressive not-for-profit. Personal note, photos, makes relatively small donations feel like they're making a big difference (because they are - it's just a matter of perspective). And breaking down a big budget into achievable smaller goals is a huge psychological win when it comes to a person giving their hard-earned money. Think about it the next time your alma mater sends you that letter asking for a donation...

On a related note, reddit & the Colbert Rally just broke $400,000!

Dear BREADPIG!!!!!, 

The communication center arrived just in time for Back to School Night. It was exciting to introduce it to my parents. I then watched as they began to use it every day to check in on the classroom and what we were doing. The students love it too. They each have their own little cubby where we put their "mail" each and every day. I want to thank you for helping me empower parents to help their children. Parent involvement is a key factor in the successful education of a child. So thank you for assisting me in ensuring that it happens.

With gratitude,
Ms. W.

How Hipmunk.com almost became BouncePounce.com (and why you should keep your eyes on Hipmonk.com)

Let me just say right now that I'm not even going to try to create a mascot for "hipmonk." And I have no idea what a BouncePounce would've looked like...

Here's the video interview.

Located on a nondescript block in San Francisco’s Mission district is HipMunk HQ, a simple townhouse with a dark green trim. The travel startup’s operations are concentrated in just the first two rooms on the first floor— the rest is living space for Hipmunk’s co-founders, Adam Goldstein and Steve Huffman, formerly of Reddit. The approximate 300 square feet is more than enough space for the fledgling flight search engine, which is made up of three full-time employees (including the co-founders) and a couple of part-time workers.

Buddhas galore at Wat Si Saket!

Wat Si Saket features over 2000 Buddhas! Though we didn't count them all.

Thanks to the prolific bombing of Laos during the Vietnam War, a number of salvaged (ruined) statues are collected here as well, but the ones that aren't are a striking display along and inside the cloister walls. Taking photos here felt too easy.