Amped to be one of the lucky @bonobos gents at tonight's @Tagstand powered @cocktailclassic

Tagstand, the YC-backed company focused on making NFC a more mainstream technology, is getting some action at a pretty big black-tie event in New York this weekend which will see its technology used to enable some nifty actions for the 3,500 guests, like tapping to tweet, posting pictures to Facebook and registering “likes” for the cocktails they’re drinking. Sounds like (kind of geeky) fun!

via techcrunch.com

Here comes the seersucker! Grats to the team at Tagstand for pulling this off and thank you to Bonobos for the swag. I'll never have been this preppy before in my life -- and I went to UVA.

TIL: Urban legend about eating carrots for night-vision was created to defeat the Nazis

An urban legend says eating large amounts of carrots will allow one to see in the dark. The legend developed from stories of British gunners in World War II, who were able to shoot down German planes in the darkness of night. The legend arose during the Battle of Britain when the RAF circulated a story about their pilots' carrot consumption as an attempt to cover up the discovery and effective use of radar technologies in engaging enemy planes, as well as the use of red light (which does not destroy night vision) in aircraft instruments.[4][5] It reinforced existing German folklore and helped to encourage Britons—looking to improve their night vision during the blackouts—to grow and eat the vegetable.
via en.wikipedia.org

That is awesome. Excellent use of propaganda, Brits.

NYC Has Fastest-Growing Tech Industry in U.S. @NYTimes reports

The study, “New Tech City,” conducted by the Center for an Urban Future, concluded that the technology industry is growing faster in New York City than anywhere else in America and that the city now trails only Silicon Valley as a hub for the development of new technology companies. The study’s authors, Jonathan Bowles and David Giles, identified 486 technology companies that had been founded in the city since 2007 and determined that the financial crisis and the recession that followed did not slow the industry’s growth.
via nytimes.com

These streets will make you feel brand new //
Big lights will inspire you //
Let's hear it for New York

Yes. I went there.

A Weekend Offline, Surrounded by the Internet #ROFLCON3 @Jennydeluxe nails it

The Beauty of ROFLCon
My favorite thing about the gathering of the memes – I’ve attended each year in some incarnation since its inception in 2008 – is that it feels almost like a support group, being surrounded by people with the same kind of intrinsic knowledge and hobbies. It’s a rare and magical validation of the hours sunk into laughing, recoiling in horror and sharing things online. It is especially true because most of us experience the Internet physically alone, even though we are virtually connected to millions of people.

Like the rest of the Web, Internet culture has its growing pains, and ROFLCon is the one time each year we can gather and dissect and discuss the communities, forums, images, GIFs and videos that circumscribe the way we share information, ideas and humor online.

It’s a rare and safe space to explore these themes – although it might be a dying breed itself. The organizers, Tim Hwang and Christina Xu, said this was their last year putting on the event.

“See you guys the next time the Internet gets together,” said Mr. Hwang, as a final farewell.

via bits.blogs.nytimes.com

I was honored to be on the final panel with my fellow Internet advocates, but it's on all of us to make sure the memes (and Internet) are safe forever-ever.