Miles.Lennon's blog

Calling all sports enthusiasts (and people who should know a bit more about sports): there is a new tool on the market worth checking out. DailyTailgate is a refreshingly simple and witty email newsletter that features hot sports topics as well as personalized sports information in your inbox every morning. Each newsletter features a mix of quotes, facts, witty editorial, schedules, results, and analysis giving you the conversation fodder you need to avoid awkward silence during work lunch or appearing clueless in the eyes of your friends.

I had a chance to ask Michael Corcoran, DT's Editor-in-Chief, a couple of questions about the newsletter:

CM: I want to know more about sports. Why should I read subscribe to DailyTailgate?

You should subscribe because it gives you a quick shot of sports right to your inbox every morning. It's free, informative, relevant and fun. And you can customize it to give you scores and news of your favorite teams.

CM: How does DT fit into my daily digest of ESPN.com, Yahoo! Sports, and other sports news websites?

Well, we aren't a website for one, and you don't have to go looking for us, we come to you. We're not trying to deliver a comprehensive epic about the world of sports each day. Instead, we give you a dose, and do it in ways that will make you laugh and give you some unique insights and useful info to talk about with your friends who are into sports.

I'm not a sports fanatic, but I'm definitely a casual fan. What I like about DailyTailgate is that it gives you just enough to stay in the know about what matters. If you're the type of person that scours ESPN every free minute you get at work then this newsletter is probably not for you. But if you'd like to be able to shoot the shit with your friends and coworkers or be able to contribute to the mid-game conversations this football season, then do yourself a favor and take the two seconds necessary to sign-up for DailyTailgate

This past weekend Novophage took first place and bagged $135,000 at the University of Texas at Austin's annual Moot Corp Competition. The prize money breaks out like this:

1. $25,000 in cash;
2. the Austin Technology Incubator Launch Package worth $25,000, featuring a one-year membership, which includes strategic business consulting services and mentoring from a team of industry experts, office space, and access to discounted legal, accounting and businesses services from top-tier providers;
3. consulting with the UT's McCombs School of Business entrepreneurship faculty worth $25,000;
4. a full page ad in Inc. magazine worth $60,000.

Novophage has developed patent-pending bacteriophages (viruses that infect and destroy bacteria) that will increase the efficacy of antibiotic treatment and extend the lifetime of antibiotics. The phages attack bacteria, significantly delaying the onset of antibiotic resistance. The phages are designed to complement existing antibiotic treatment of infections.

According to the company, they have observed 30,000-time increases in bactericide (the killing of bacteria) of antibiotics, when combined with Novophage-engineered phages against various types of bacteria, which are obstacles in antibiotic treatment. The company also boasts an increase in the survival rate of E. coli-infected mice from 20% to 80%, when phages are used in conjunction with traditional antibiotic therapy.

Novophage is comprised of a stellar team of PhD, MD and MBA candidates at top universities in the Boston area, including MIT, Harvard and Boston University.

Related links:

• Novophage
• Moot Corp Competition

Here are some great quotes from Berkshire Hathaway's 2008 Annual Letter written by Warren Buffett with the help of his managers:

"By the fourth quarter, the credit crisis, coupled with tumbling home and stock prices, had produced a
paralyzing fear that engulfed the country. A freefall in business activity ensued, accelerating at a pace that I have never before witnessed."

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"In poker terms, the Treasury and the Fed have gone 'all in.'"

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"Moreover, major industries have become dependent on Federal assistance, and they will be followed by cities and states bearing mind-boggling requests. Weaning these entities from the public teat will be a political challenge."

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"...we were paid $2.8 billion to hold our float during 2008. Charlie and I find this enjoyable."

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"That’s the good news. But there’s another less pleasant reality: During 2008 I did some dumb things in investments."

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"Whether we’re talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down."

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"Though Berkshire’s credit is pristine – we are one of only seven AAA corporations in the country – our cost of borrowing is now far higher than competitors with shaky balance sheets but government backing. At the moment, it is much better to be a financial cripple with a government guarantee than a Gibraltar without one."

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"At age 78, I’ve concluded that speed afoot is a ridiculously overrated talent."

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"Derivatives contracts, in contrast, often go unsettled for years, or even decades, with counterparties
building up huge claims against each other. “Paper” assets and liabilities – often hard to quantify – become important parts of financial statements though these items will not be validated for many years. Additionally, a frightening web of mutual dependence develops among huge financial institutions. Receivables and payables by the billions become concentrated in the hands of a few large dealers who are apt to be highly-leveraged in other ways as well. Participants seeking to dodge troubles face the same problem as someone seeking to avoid venereal disease: It’s not just whom you sleep with, but also whom they are sleeping with."

I am pleased to announce the first of many Hackathons we will be hosting here at CollegeMogul.com. Each Hackathon will introduce a problem or series of problems (small or large). Participants will be required to build a functional prototype that attempts solve the problem(s). The top submissions will make it to the finals, after which the community will be asked to vote for their favorite solution. Voters alongside the CM staff panel will determine the winning team, which will be granted a prize that will vary depending on the Hackathon.

Hackathon #1: Who's side are you on?

Client: I want a new type of Poll plug-in for my blog. When site visitors vote and then comment on the post in which poll resides, I want to label the commenters based on how they voted so that when the discussion ensues I can tell which side people are on. Put simply, I want to tie the comments to the votes.

Requirements:

-Available as a plug-in for a popular blog platform (e.g. Wordpress or Drupal)

**All other decisions are being left to the participants. The more elegant the better!

Prize:

-Feature post on CollegeMogul.com

-Use of the product on CollegeMogul.com (if in Drupal) and partnering sites

-Introduction to one Venture Capitalist

-Pride

Hackathon ends:

March 11th

Questions and/or participant submissions:

Drop them in the comments!

"Entrepreneurs don't need degrees like lawyers and doctors do. They are credentialed by virtue of their track record. The first startup is hard but if they make that one work, they end up with something much better than a college degree. They have a notch in their belt. They've got a track record of success. Even if the first one is a failure, I'd say that they've got something more than a degree. They've shown they can start something from nothing, build a team, a product, and maybe even a business."

There you have it. One of the most influential investors in the United States believes that actions speak louder than CVs in the startup world. I especially appreciate his acknowledgement of the tremendous learning experience gained from failing as well as succeeding in ventures.

Out of Fred's 21 portfolio companies at Union Square Ventures, 7 have founders that did not graduate from college. The point of his message, and the purpose of my reiteration of his message, is not to encourage mindless abandonment of education. In fact, here at CM we discuss how educational institutions provide a lot of resources to young entrepreneurs looking to build businesses. The purpose is to encourage follow-through on huge opportunities, regardless of what status quo or social pressures dictate.

Whether I'm on or off the pot, I appreciate content written by folks who believe that every word counts. That's why I love reading TheToiletPaper (TTP). TTP gives me commentary, facts, humor and good ol' man talk in a New York minute. Each day the free email newsletter sends me concise content with a high entertainment value per word ratio that nicely balances my daily long-form reading. In the subway or in the John, TTP is a must-have for men who are looking for a smart, witty escape from the monotonous and dry work (and news) world.

In the spirit of TTP, I'll get to the point: check it out my fellow moguls.

Philanthropy, disease control, artificial intelligence, groundbreaking interaction design, music, art. If I told you these were session topics at TED 2009, you'd probably say something along the lines of, "Yeah, that makes sense. I should probably go check out this year's presentations on YouTube or TED.com." But what if I told you porn was a scheduled item? I'm not so sure.

As she has presumably done many times before, Cindy Gallop fearlessly went where no normal man or woman would even conceive of going (especially not at TED). Today's greatest minds sat uncomfortably, yet admiringly, watching Gallop courageously present the vast difference between what is done in porn and what women and men actually like doing in bed. Her new website MakeLoveNotPorn.com is designed to reframe the sex education problem by cleverly addressing the issue of widespread hardcore porn adoption among today's youth and how it affects the perception of acceptable behavior in real world sex. Anybody can submit a myth that has been propagated by good ol' porn followed by a real world description of how it should actually happen.

The best part about this is that Gallop isn't suggesting that we stop watching porn. No no no. She knows that would send people running for the hills. Rather, she argues that humans just need to understand that porn sex is for an entirely different purpose and thus conducted differently. For instance, she points out that certain porn star positions are actually not optimal for pleasure, but are used to get better camera angles.

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, check out what men and women really feel about porn sex versus real sex.

Also check out Robin Williams' reactionary, impromptu stand-up routine.

The Way I Am is a not-so-surprisingly entertaining look at Marshall Mathers' improbable rise to fame. The autobiography is intelligent and thought-provoking, providing deep insight into the man himself. If you are (or were) an Eminem fan, you must buy this book. It has never-before-seen photos, unpublished lyrics and other rare memorabilia that are quite fascinating.

Like College Mogul? Like Alex Lindahl (the co-founder)?

Well, he turns 23 today so wish him a Happy Birthday in the comments below! (i.e. make fun of him profusely)

I'm recommending everyone sign up for Boxee. Boxee scans your computer for videos, pictures and music, grabbing any artwork, descriptions or metadata it can find about the files. The system supports almost all file formats (including HD) and even goes out and grabs information about the media such as synopses and lyrics from various sources across the web. The viewing and navigation experiences are much like TV systems today, with on-demand programming, trailers and widescreen viewing.

One of the best features in Boxee is the ability to aggregate all online media services into one place without dealing with the pain points of media consumption on the web. Pull in photos from Flickr, music from Last.fm and videos from Hulu into one beautifully designed media viewing client. If you are a social power-user, Boxee lets you publish your activity stream to Twitter, Tumblr and FriendFeed, while viewing that of others to discover new media.

Boxee is an open source application. Developers can create applications and channels within the interface to customize the experience and content.