Startup School

I got accepted for Startup School , along with Jason and Josh . All three of us are going to go to Boston, October 14-17. I think it's going to be very informative, as well as a lot of fun. The school is on Saturday, so on Sunday we should have time for some sightseeing. We were thinking of taking a Boston Duck Tour . Anyone have other suggestions for things to do in Boston?

Video Games Live Concert on Thanksgiving Weekend

A few days ago, Jason told me about Video Games Live . It's a concert tour featuring music from video games performed by a symphony. There is a video promo available. While looking at the tour dates, I noticed that it was coming to Cleveland on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Tickets go on sale this Friday.

I'd really like to go, and I already talked to David and he said he's interested too. I want to order the tickets right after they go on sale, so if you want to go, let me know sometime tomorrow (Thursday). The concert is at 7pm on November 26th, and I expect tickets to be around $20.

Cleveland Sports and MLB.com

Today was a good day for Cleveland sports. In Cleveland: Indians 11, Royals 0. In Green Bay: Browns 26, Packers 24.

I've been following the Indians pretty closely for the last few weeks, as they've been on fire and are now leading the wild card race in the AL. A few days ago I signed up for a free trial of MLB.TV , which means I can now get live streaming video of their games. Cleveland has a huge three game series versus Chicago starting tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have time to watch those games.

One note to the guys at MLB.com : You guys have lots of great features, but your marketing and explanation of them absolutely sucks. The features available are: live and archived streaming audio, live and archived streaming video, condensed games (video of only plays that resulted in a hit, run, or out), and highlight reels (short video recaps of a game). All of these features are cool, especially the condensed games. But, guess what? Signing up for MLB.TV does not give you access to condensed games. For that, you need to buy something called MLB All Access. This fact is so deeply obscured that I didn't realize it until after I had already signed up for MLB.TV. Also, with MLB.TV you do not get access to the radio feeds. That requires buying MLB Gameday Audio. All of this is incredibly poorly explained on the MLB.com site. MLB.com: pull your heads out of your asses, explain what you are offering and at what price, and simplify your damn packages.

Freakonomics

After being on the library waiting list for a few months, I finally got Freakonomics and read it last weekend. It's a great book (starting with the awesome title) which focuses on using analysis of raw data to reach unexpected conclusions that are often in conflict with "conventional wisdom". For example, the book discusses at length how the declining crime rate in the 1990s was attributed to many causes, such as "innovative policing strategies", when it was actually due primarily to the fact that abortion had been legalized about 20 years earlier.

My favorite chapter discussed the economics of selling crack. Based on the analysis in the book, most low level crack dealers make less than minimum wage, while a few highly placed people make hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars. The motivations of the dealers are similar to people in other industries with similar economics, such as acting and professional sports. Making it to the top results in a very glamorous position, so people are willing to work long hours for little pay for a chance to make it. At least they are willing to do it for a few years, then they drop out and look for a less glamorous but more dependable job.

Rating for Freakonomics : 4 out of 5.