Interesting piece at the NYTimes on how GroupOn distinguishes itself from on the copycats that are cropping up in the hundreds:

Any Web site can offer a daily deal, and in the wake of Groupon’s success just about everyone is. There are hundreds of knock-offs and imitators, some of them trying to undercut the original by charging the merchant less than Groupon does. Others try to cater to specialized audiences (babies, gay people). Groupon’s closest competitor, Living Social, is backed by Amazon, the retailing giant that has a history of winning.

“We’re not at all concerned any competitor is going to come in and start writing like us,” says Mr. With. “They try but fall flat.” (Living Social declined to comment.) In other words, words will save Groupon. Many more words. Mere words.

Like all the companies that have copied the iPhone over the last 4 years, the companies copying GroupOn are copying surface qualities. To other companies, GroupOn showcases deals, when the reality is owners of GroupOn adds value beyond the ‘group coupons’ they offer.
I respect GroupOn for trying to create a great product.

NYTimes: Lionel Messi: Boy Genius

Tall and lean, Busquets jogged languidly from the circle into the space between Madrid’s central midfield and defense. Messi’s return pass was sharp and direct. Busquets received the ball, pivoted and tapped it lightly. What seemed unthreatening a few seconds earlier now became a menacing give-and-go.

“I saw some options,” Messi said. “I always try to create danger.”

During the careers of the greats to whom Messi is most often compared — Pelé of Brazil and Diego Maradona, a fellow Argentine — the pace of the game was slower, with more space to operate and more chance for flamboyant playfulness in the flowing dribbles known as gambeta.

Today, soccer increasingly relies on size and muscle and speed. The best players must be able to operate in claustrophobic spaces. That is the mesmerizing skill of Messi, slithering through these airless openings in top gear, changing direction, providing as well as scoring, his left foot tapping the ball on each stride with blurred and evasive touches. At such moments, the ball becomes an extension of his foot.

I need to start watching more soccer.

ComputerWorld: Amazon challenges Apple with Mac app download store

Amazon today launched a Mac-specific application download store that will compete with Apple’s nearly five-month-old Mac App Store.

The new subsection of Amazon’s massive online store, dubbed “Mac Software Downloads,” kicked off quietly Thursday. Amazon has long offered software downloads for both Windows and Mac customers, but this was the first time that the company called out its Mac-centric “store.”

Yeah! Take THAT, Apple! We challenge you!
. . . by providing people with another marketplace download software for your operating system and help increase it’s popularity.

1967 Oldsmobile Toronado by Precision Restorations, so lovely . . . both sides:



via Carscoop

Jason Oberholtzer defends his Lost Generation over at Forbes:

I reject any notion that my generation is afraid. However, I think it is fair to suggest that a generally mistrustful view of adulthood has become more common, and for defensible reasons. One can make a case-by-case argument that every institution we have been taught to hold in esteem has, in the last decade, given us ample reason to question their integrity.

The Church (already struggling to connect with progressive youth) is still dealing with the fallout of widespread pedophilia scandals; The Military is stuck in two unpopular wars (to be clear, the general opinion is that this reflects on the leadership and on the institution itself, not on the soldiers) in which a decisive victory seems to be impossible; The Government is viewed with such cynicism that being able to “run as an outsider” is a more important quality than “being literate,” -corruption is expected, fidelity is antiquated and politics play out like a gladiatorial event where campaign promises are “moves” and “countermoves” to which no elected official is held accountable; and finally, The Market has been handled so irresponsibly that we now have Amanda M. Fairbanks writing about us as The Lost Generation.

Well fucking said.

Electronista: Acer stalls 7-inch tablet after realizing UI is too small

Acer’s decision to delay the Iconia Tab A100 may have come from learning a hard lesson from Apple, sources hinted Wednesday. The tablet was moving from its June target to either August or September as Acer had discovered that Android 3, an OS designed primarily for 10-inch tablets, wasn’t working properly on a seven-inch design. With many apps not working properly, Acer was waiting in the hopes Google will have solved the problems later, Digitimes heard.

As my father and John Gruber like to say, measure twice, cut once.

I learned a new word this morning:

NYTimes: As Lenders Hold Homes in Foreclosure, Sales Are Hurt

Over all, economists project that it would take about three years for lenders to sell their backlog of foreclosed homes. As a result, home values nationally could fall 5 percent by the end of 2011, according to Moody’s, and rise only modestly over the following year. Regions that were hardest hit by the housing collapse and recession could take even longer to recover – dealing yet another blow to a still-struggling economy.

The Telegraph: HP talks up forthcoming Touchpad tablet

Speaking at a press conference in Cannes, Mr Cador said that “In the PC world, with fewer ways of differentiating HP’s products from our competitors, we became number one; in the tablet world we’re going to become better than number one. We call it number one plus.” Apple’s iPad is currently the best-selling tablet around the world.

One plus?
What are we, five years old?
Just put something on shelves already.

Influencer: MacBook Pro (unibody design), introduced 2008

Influenced: Dell XPS 15z, introduced 2011

via Daring Fireball

An interesting phrase:

May you live in interesting times, often referred to as the Chinese curse, is reputed to be the English translation of an ancient Chinese proverb and curse, although it may have originated among the English themselves (or Americans). It is reported that it was the first of three curses of increasing severity, the other two being:

May you come to the attention of those in authority (sometimes rendered May the government be aware of you). This is sometimes quoted as May you come to the attention of powerful people. (Alternately important people.)

May you find what you are looking for. This is sometimes quoted as May your wishes be granted.

via Twurts and Geekery