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There has perhaps never been this much anticipation around a new company before…ever. Early last week the science community AND business community had rumor mills spinning at a violent clip as news spread that a mysterious new company was about to announce plans to change the world on Tuesday April 24th.

The company, dubbed Planetary Resources, is about as intriguing as it gets. Why? Simple:

Mission: “The company will overlay two critical sectors – space exploration and natural resources – to add trillions of dollars to the global GDP. This innovative start-up will create a new industry and a new definition of ‘natural resources.’”

Woah, that’s some heady shit. But why should we believe them? Well…

Company Founders/Backers: Filmmaker James Cameron. Space god Peter Diamandis. Google CEO Larry Page. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Microsoft legend Charles Simonyi. NASA legend Chris Lewicki. International Space Station co-founder Eric Anderson. Ross Perot Jr.

Okay okay clearly they have money and connections going for them.

What are these guys gonna do? Asteroid mining (presumably).

What is asteroid mining? Asteroid mining is some shit straight out of science fiction films. It literally means sending a crew up to an asteroid, setting up a mining operation on the actual asteroid, and sending the mined precious metals back down to earth.

Why asteroid mining? Theoretically, some of these asteroids contain as much as $200 Trillion worth of precious metals. Also, these asteroids are abundant in outer space–we could access them all the time, indefinitely. Also, Peter Diamandis, the mastermind behind this whole thing, is a futurist. I believe he’s the head of Singularity University. And as he recently told Forbes, “since my childhood I’ve wanted to do one thing, be an asteroid miner.”

Okay, but is asteroid mining even possible? Well, according to the science community, not for another 20 years at least. BUT, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t start trying–I mean, you have to start somewhere, right? Otherwise it won’t get done. Diamandis is doing this to to try and stir up attention and start a gold rush, which will only help expedite the process.

So what is this company gonna do for 20 years until asteroid mining is realistically within reach? Planetary Resources is a company. A company with a bottom line. They must make money. If they were just pouring all efforts into 20 years of crazy expensive R&D, then this wouldn’t be a business model. I believe that in the long term, Planetary Resources will strive for asteroid mining, but in the meantime they’ve gotta put together products that can generate some revenue while also being building blocks towards the ultimate goal of asteroid mining. The company hints at renewable energy as one of it’s main missions. I would speculate that the team’s catalyst for this Tuesday announcement is that they’ve had a breakthrough in some other area of renewable energy from outer space. Perhaps they’ve figured out an efficient way to harness solar energy in space and send it back down to earth.

I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.

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As of today, April 17, 2012, Entrustet has been acquired by SecureSafe, a part of the family of the Swiss software security company, DSwiss. On a personal level, this officially marks the end of an era for me. Almost exactly three years ago, co-founder Nate Lustig and I could be found hopping between open classrooms in the UW business school, appropriating whiteboard markers and other miscellaneous office supplies along the way–a scene straight out of some stereotypical documentary on young aspiring entrepreneurs. But hey, our tuition was helping to pay for those markers. And those markers cost about $10/pack. And $10 saved meant another 3-4 drinks at the Kollege Klub to blow off some steam after one of our marathon brainstorm sessions.

The mission of Entrustet from the get-go was to open the world up to the concept of digital estate planning–in other words, the notion of protecting your digital assets (passwords and computer files) in a similar way to how we’ve been protecting our traditional assets in wills and trusts for centuries. We strived to build and market the premier SaaS (Software as a Service) product in this emerging web industry–an industry that just 3 years later consists of over 50 companies directly and indirectly involved in digital estate planning-esque services. We envisioned a product that securely and painlessly let the masses decide what will become of their most sentimentally and economically valuable online accounts and computer files when they die. And in doing so, hopefully offer these people some peace of mind.

After a couple of years building the product, marketing it to the public, partnering with several companies, and selling our software to attorneys, we decided that the Entrustet product as-is was great for helping people after they die but not so much while they were alive. We felt like the company that would provide the best product in the ‘digital death’ industry is going to be a company that provided one single software that added value to its users’ lives while they were alive just as much (if not more) than when they die. In other words, a software product that emphasized digital asset protection during a persons’ life, with the added ability to protect these assets when they die.

Enter SecureSafe. Perhaps our biggest international competitor, SecureSafe offers an Entrustet-like product with expanded features and an incredible reputation for security. SecureSafe is a part of DSwiss, a rather large software security company, which means in addition to incredible site security, they also likely enjoy a healthy financial situation. SecureSafe does quite well in Europe, but was looking to expand operations into the U.S. What Entrustet could offer most was both an enthusiastic userbase of common folk as well as estate attorneys, and arguably the biggest brand name in the still rather nacent ‘digital death’ industry.

This acquisition is a classic win-win. For Entrustet, we melt our site and users into the leading international competitor. It’s a company with software we respect, a profitable bottom line, good financial backing, excellent security, and an impressive management team–we could rest easy at night that our users were getting a top-notch alternative. On a personal level, we’re excited to help with the transition and then to explore other projects and experiences.

For SecureSafe, they get to acquire a leading international company with a similar product, a great reputation and strong brand name. Above all, this makes it obvious to the world that SecureSafe is serious about being the winner in this space. It remains to be seen how much press this acqusition gets, but there is a good opportunity to pitch this story as an indicator that the nacent digital death industry is beginning to mature. Entrustet also brings with it a dedicated userbase of people as well as estate attorneys–so SecureSafe is acquiring two much-needed sales channels.

I have learned so much over the past few years and I owe it to so many people, but mainly to Nate. We shared a lot of commonalities but also had very complimentary skillsets. This kid is a walking newsreel of information. I always admired him for that. I was so disinterested in politics that I never paid attention when he would go into his powerful and clever political discussions, but respected his ability to digest information and spew it out on demand nonetheless. This acquisition is largely due to Nate’s listening and vetting when companies began to knock on our door. I can’t thank him enough for his work over the past 3 years. It’s been quite a ride.

We also had so many complimentary interests, that our friendship grew tremendously over the years as well. In fact, despite all the moves that we made on a business front, I find myself looking back on the Entrustet experience and mostly remembering everything we did together outside the office. That’s where real partnerships are made.

And of course, I have so much love for all the family, friends, partners, advisors, investors and everyone who supported this entire project from the get-go. I’ll also specifically call out our lead programmer, Tommy Juszczyk. Tommy has been incredible. As the lead programmer, Tommy’s vision for the product was well beyond his years. His ability to learn and grow as a programmer and a businessman in front of our eyes was incredible to see. We’d not have been able to do this without you. Another huge thanks to Nathan Dosch and Joe Boucher, two of the finest and kindest lawyers a startup could work with–and two men who I’m proud to call friends. Allan Stern and Adaptive Engineering. Our advisers at Merlin Mentors, led by the inspiring Amy Kasper. Our 2010 intern class. Our 2011 intern class.

I first pitched the idea for Entrustet at a Northwestern University business plan competition as a first-semester senior. I was a runner-up. I was defeated. If it weren’t for all these incredible people supporting me along the way, I’d never had had this experience. If I’d never had this experience, I would have been missing out dramatically. The people I met along the way. Speaking at South by Southwest. Madison. NYC. San Fran. Austin. LA. Santiago, Chile. Raising money. Hiring employees. Building a product. Selling a product. A truly remarkable PR campaign. The list goes on.

I am feeling rejuvenated again. I am feeling lucky to be alive right now. I am feeling a lot of love all around. I am feeling supported by the universe. Thank you all.

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Only four entities in the history of the world have successfully launched a rocket into orbit and returned it to earth: The United States, China, The Soviet Union, and now, Elon Musk. Well, to be fair, it’s not just Musk, of course it’s the entire team of engineers and poached NASA astronauts that he’s assembled at Spacex headquarters in Hawthorne, CA. In just two weeks from now, Spacex will attempt to become the first ever private company to launch a rocket ship that rendezvous and actually docks with the International Space Station (ISS)*.

But simply sending cargo to the Space Station is just scratching the surface of Elon Musk’s grand plan: to build a self-sustaining colony on another planet; namely Mars. That’s right–people. People living on Mars. And this is something Musk discusses very candidly discusses in his interview with Jon Stewart (at 0:16 in part 2) (Interview part 1, and part 2). And in the meanwhile, until there actually is a human colony on Mars, Spacex will undoubtedly be sending astronauts and likely common tourists to space.

But wouldn’t you imagine Musk would be worried that this audacious venture is goinna be like really, really hard to to do? His response to that: “(If it fails) then the worst-case scenario is that the light of consciosness is not extinguished.”  Instead, Musk prefers to focus on the positive potential of the project. Pursuing a human colony on Mars would, in his words, “create a forcing function for improving space transportation technology and ensure the continued existence of humanity and consciousness.” These are some heady words. These are clearly the words of a guy who is in this for a whole hell of a lot more than money. Such esoteric words are reminiscent of the late Steve jobs. Musk firmly believes that the sheer aspiration of such big dreams are directly linked Human Kind’s innate desire to explore and evolve our collective consciousness. Hard to argue with that.

Elon Musk will soon be as much of a household name as Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, and Bill Gates. And it’s entirely conceivable that he is one day on an Albert Einstein level in terms of sheer impact on science and humanity. The world seems to always have at least a few truly revolutionary entrepreneurs alive at any given time. But Musk stands out for me. He’s got a lot of things going for him: he thinks on the biggest scale, he follows his intuition, and he’s incredibly persuasive without exuding any sense of marketing gimmickiness or salesy vibe, and perhaps most importantly, he’s likable. His dreamlike fasctionation with the world and humanity muddled with his clearly brilliant business intuition draws out the 5 year old in me–or perhaps the 25 year old int me who recently spent 4 hours carefully arranging 150 glow in the dark stars on my bedroom ceiling in imaginary constellations.

And at just 41 years old, Musk has already achieved more than an entire career’s worth. Musk co-founded PayPal, eventually selling it to Ebay for a cool $1.5 Billion in 2002. He then went on and started Tesla motors (luxury electric cars) and Solar City (solar panels). Then of course there’s this whole Spacex thing. That means he has dominated the worlds of online payment, electric automobiles, solar panels, and hopefully soon he’ll be able to add space travel/transportation to that list. Why did he choose these different particular industries? In college, Musk believed that there were 3 areas during his lifetime that would most affect the future of humanity: the Internet, sustainable energy, and space exploration. Whatever the project du jour for musk, he’s someone to watch, to say the least.

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*The mission’s purpose is straightforward: Spacex’s Dragon vehicle must successfully deliver cargo to the crew on board the ISS. This, mind you, is no small feat. In fact, it’s celebration-worthy enough that Spacex’s Dragon and Falcon rocket ships were able to pass NASA’s mandatory safety requirements check. After all, the International Space Station (ISS) is a $100B asset. Plus, of course, the lives of astronauts on board and the entire importance of the ISS…it’s understandable why such a big effort is put forth in the safety compliance arena.

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The pigs head for 4 at The Cannibal

Kuma Inn - Asian tapas – Lower East Side – BYO – Cash Only – I’ve eaten everything on the menu…many times over…and it’s all unbelievable. Be sure to get the chinese sausage and the rice crepes. Figure like 2.5 tapas per person when ordering.

Caracas - Arepas (arepas are Venezuelan dish…doughy corn cakes topped with insanely delicious things) – Lower East Side – No reservations, so go to a bar in the area while waiting – Might be cash-only – GET EVERYTHING ON THE MENU. YOU CANNOT GO WRONG. God, I love this place so much.

The Breslin - ACE Hotel (29th & Broadway) – Classic fatty English food – This place is quite pricey, but I never go there to order anything expensive, that is, I only go there for the famous lamb burger (best $21 you can spend in NYC). You don’t need anything there besides this burger and the fries that come with it. It’s perfect.

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This past April, my buddy Matt Glazier a.k.a. Matty Leftovahs (of the infamous Roman Restaurant Bible) called me and asked if I had any interest in going on a road trip of epic proportions. 8 days of driving around an unexplored part of the country, taking in some great nature, and eating at the best local joints with one of my best friends from home? Sign me up.

I feel like the quintessential cross-country roadtrip is something I’ve often talked about but never actually done, so I was super excited. As the saying goes, this trip was about the journey, not the destination–and the journey started months ago when we brainstormed our route and places stop along the way. We settled on an itinerary that started in Chicago and ended back in Madison, would last 8 days or so, span some 3,307 miles (53 hours of driving), and bring us to places across the Mountain West that we’d always wanted to see. From there, we split up the remaining logistics. I was in charge of car details, and planning the Boulder and Yellowstone portions of the trip. Glazier was in charge of Cheyenne, Big Sky, and Jackson. And we would share the restaurant planning responsibilities–perhaps the most important part of the trip, and thus the most exhausting topic of research.

Chicago, IL

2:30 am: The Roadtrip Begins

The road trip starts off at 2:30 am when we decided we were too restless to go to sleep, and would just rather be on the road already. Obviously I was going to be the MVP of the trip, and in true MVP style, I took the first driving shift as Glazier slept peacefully in the front seat. Before we knew it we were in…

 

 

Omaha, NB

Lunch at Dixie Quicks

Dixie Quicks proudly boasting Guy Fieri at the front of the restaurant

No offense, Omaha, but there just isn’t much goin on there. The only reason we stopped there was because a) it was on the way, and b) Omaha is home to Dixie Quicks, as featured on Food Network’s popular show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. It didn’t disappoint. In fact, this was one of the better meals we had on the whole trip. Glazier had a ridiculous omelet with brie, green apple, and bacon. The tart green apples were julienned, which was a great touch, and cut perfectly into the creamy melted brie, and the whole thing was rounded out with the smoky thick-cut bacon. I had the cactus scramble simply because I’d never tasted cactus and was curious. It tasted sweet and vinegary, and went well with the black beans perfectly cooked eggs, which I then wrapped in the warm corn tortillas. The biscuits were also perfect–flaky, warm, homemade, and obviously slathered with butter. Great start to the trip. Thank you for that, Omaha.

 

 

Boulder, CO

Dinner at Mountain Sun

Another 8 hours of driving and we crept up on Boulder just as the sun was melting into the mountains. If you haven’t been to Boulder, please go. It’s got a bit of everything–the youthful energy of a college campus, great food, great beer, great music scene, and a friendly and perfectly quirky population. It reminded me a lot of Madison and Austin. We met up with Sam and Lindsay, my longtime friends from home who have been living in Boulder since graduating from college. We started off with a great meal at Mountain Sun, which is known for its great beer and burgers. Glazier got a great burger with bacon, cheese, sauteed mushrooms and onions, and a roasted garlic mayo. I got an awesome portabella mushroom burger and we split the blackened chicken quesadilla.

Breakfast at Lucilles

We woke up and went to Lucille’s for breakfast. Best meal of the trip in my mind. Glazier got the blackened salmon special which came topped with 2 perfectly poached local eggs. I got the special omelete with fennel sausage, zuchinni, and pepper jack, topped with cinnamon syrup. The biscuits were the best I’ve ever tasted. The side of cheesy grits was absolutely unreal. And to top it all off, homemade catsup, pepper jam, and blueberry jam. Literally one of the best breakfasts of my life.

Hike at James Peak

me overlooking the lake atop the James Peak trailhead in Rollinsville, CO

It was time for a hike. The James Peak trailhead at the Moffat Tunnel opening in Rollinsville, CO was where Sam tipped us off to. A little off the beaten path (about a 25 minute drive from Boulder), but completely worth it. It was a Monday, and we were the only ones on the trail. We were told it would take us 5 hours roundtrip, but athletic specimens like Glazier did it in under 3 hours of actual hiking. The trail took us through the forest and up a mountain, ending at a pristine lake all to ourselves. We sat for a bit, played some music, and went back down. The air was thin, but really we were just out of shape, so it was an exhausting but worth it start to the day.

 

 

 

Movie on the rocks

The Goonies at Red Rocks

Every Monday night at the famous Red Rocks Amphitheater, they invite 2 local bands to play during sunset and then roll out a gigantic screen and play an epic classic movie. We were lucky enough to be in town when they played The Goonies, one of my all-time favorites. I had heard about Red Rocks for years, and the Dave Matthews Live at Red Rocks is one of my favorites, so seeing it in person was a dream come true. It lived up to the hype, though. Really an absolutely beautiful place to take in a show. Great acoustics and just a ridiculously good looking setting with huge red rocks on both sides and a view of downtown Denver in the background.

 

 

A Fork in the Road of Life–sorry to get poetic on you

I found out that night that I got the job in NYC I’d been hoping to get. What a boost to an already amazing trip. We had jokingly said going into the trip that the purpose of the trip was for Glazier to talk me out of moving to NYC, but clearly now this was the move. Sorry Madison. I love you and the last 6 years has been amazing, but I’m moving on.

Cheyenne, WY

The road trip was off to an awesome start, and already it felt like we’d done a week’s worth of stuff in just over 24 hours. So that Tuesday morning we packed up our stuff (including our newly purchased cowboy gear), said bye to our friends, and headed north to Cheyenne, Wyoming. Turns out Cheyenne is only a 1.5 hour drive from Boulder, and after a 16 hour drive, I felt like I could crush a 1.5 hour drive in my sleep.

Frontier Days

Glazier and I outside the rodeo in Cheyenne

 

Originally Cheyenne wasn’t even on our itinerary–there’s practically nothing to do in that town. But to his credit, Glazier came across the fact that every summer Cheyenne is home to the Frontier Days fair. Country music, rodeos, bull riding, 8 pound turkey legs, and lots of beer. Sign me up. I had never been to a rodeo before, but let me tell you, it’s a fucking site to see. You haven’t lived til you’ve seen a cowboy chase down a steer, lasso it’s horns, dismount his horse at 40 mph while the steer’s neck spaps back in a flash of violence, pile drive the beast into the ground, and tie it’s legs…all in under 14 seconds. Watch this crazy video below to see what I’m talking about.

 

 

 

So after a long day of drinking Coors and rodeo activities, we went back to the hotel for a quick nap. We woke up and started back on the Coors train like true champions. It was back to the stadium for tonights’ event: bull riding. The only thing more entertaining than watching guys try to stay on a clearly pissed off 800 pound bull was the crowd in the stands. Needless to say, we stuck out. We couldn’t tell people we were from Boston, so we picked the most neutral place imaginable–Kenosha, Wisconsin, and went with that.

glazier crushing the turkey leg

After some good bull riding, it was time to hit the country bar. I watched on in awe as these country folk busted out seemingly choreographed dance moves worthy of So You Think You Can Dance. We made friends with everyone, bought them beers, and answered questions about what it was like growing up in Kenosha, Wisconsin. “I remember those frigid winter days on the farm helping dad keep the cows warm like it was yesterday,” I would tell them. I met one of the bull riders’ mothers. Apparently her son is #8 in the world. She demanded that I Facebook her son on the spot. It’s been 20 days and the friend request is still pending. The surprise of the evening was how good the food was. The corn dog was battered to perfection, and the funnel cakes were greasily delicious. But the winner of the evening were the slow-smoked turkey legs. These things were HUGE.

The day came to an end with me begging every employee in sight to let me take home their staff t-shirt as a souvenir. No such luck. I’m still salted about that.

Lander, WY

Lunch at Gannet Grill

great pizza at Gannet Grill in Lander

So we wake up Wednesday morning and crush out of Cheyenne early. ***Note to all interested in doing a roadtrip: leave early in the morning on days of long driving. It sucks waking up, but you’ll be so happy you did when it’s over. If you’re tired, sleep in the car–it’s more productive than sleeping in bed.***

We decide to disregard Google’s suggested route, and instead opt for a more scenic route that our friend Martin tipped us off to. This one brought us through Lander, MT, a “quintessential mountain town,” as Martin put it. We had an unreal meal of brick-oven pizza with chicken, garlic cream and bacon at the Gannet Grill, followed by a great cup of coffee at the local coffee joint. Great tip, Martin. (Martin would later come up huge again on several fronts…MVP of the trip?)

Somewhere 15 Minutes Outside Lander, WY

Casino stop

made $9. #winning

Glazier and I decided from there on out to say “yes” to everything for the remainder of the road trip. Accordingly, when we passed a little roadside casino on our way out of Lander, we stopped…and I won $9. Great little afternoon we had there.

Dubois, WY

sure are opportunities at the opportunity thrift store in Dubois

Sticking with our commitment to say “yes” to everything, we just had to stop in Dubois when we saw what appeared to be an absolutely epic store–The Opportunity Shop Thrift Store in Dubois, WY. I mean, I had no idea what the hell they meant by “opportunity,” but I was damn sure intrigued by this. We ended up making out like bandits. I got 3-4 epic Wyoming t-shirts, my favorite of which was the 2004 Dubois, WY D.A.R.E. program shirt. We also got a $10 grill, which we intended on using in Yellowstone…until it didn’t work. More on that later. And to cap off the experience, we got 10% off our monstrous $20 bill just by liking them on Facebook, which I conveniently did right there in the store on my iPhone.

We said goodbye to Dubois and headed out through the Tetons and Yellowstone en route to Big Sky, MT.

Big Sky, MT

they call it Big Sky for a reason

They call it Big Sky for a reason–the skies are fuckin’ huge! I think it’s just cuz there are obviously no buildings and the mountains look so distant that the sky just opens up forever above. Anyway, we’d heard about Big Sky as having some great hikes, good golf, interesting food, and friendly people. Check, check, check, and…check. So even though it was realistically a bit out of our way as far as the route was concerned, we felt like we had to check it out. And I’m sure glad we did.

Dinner at Bucks T4

Red deer with truffle risotto

We got tipped off by Glazier’s buddy that we had to go to Bucks T4 for dinner. I was a bit put off by the name, but was willing to overlook it as soon as I saw the menu. This place was IT. Neither of us were dying of hunger, so Glazier starts off with the summer watermelon salad. Let me say that this yellow watermelon was literally the most delicious watermelon I’ve ever tasted. Topped with some red onion and citrus vinaigrette–it was great. He made fun of me for my “boring selection” of the house salad, but this was no ordinary house salad–the cinnamon roasted pumpkin seeds and the cherry vinaigrette were so good that I neglected the fact that I am allergic to cherries (I would survive in the end). Really, the highlight of dinner was the red deer with truffle risotto, which we split. Neither of us had had red deer before, but it was surprisingly tender, lean, and ridiculously good. It came rare, with port wine butter sauce slapped all over the truffle risotto and fresh asparagus. Probably my third favorite meal of the trip.

We asked the waitress where to go hiking and she immediately snapped back with “go to Lava Lake. You won’t regret it.” So we decided to wake up super early and do it up before our round of golf at 11:30. We got back to the hotel where Glazier passed out immediately while I watched an episode of Locked Up Abroad. I set my alarm for 6:30am. Tomorrow would be a long day.

Hike at Lava Lake

Lava Lake in Big Sky

It was now Thursday morning, Day 5 of the trip. We were going strong, which was good because today would be the most activity ever crammed into a 16-hour period. We awoke at 6:30 that morning, and set off to crush Lava Lake. I especially liked the concierge’s directions to the lake: “Head about 15 minutes up-canyon, pull a U-turn at the crik (they pronounce ‘creek’ like ‘crik’), and park near the river. It was the most physically challenging hike of the trip, but again, we are athletic specimens, so equipped with an Albuterol inhaler, we ascended into thin air. It took us about an hour 15 to get through the dense forest and up to the lake at the top, where we were both out of breath. But holy shit was it worth it. This was the best hike of the trip.

Look at that view! Seriously. Unreal. We hung out for a half hour shooting the shit and talking about how we both used to be fat. Then we argued over who was the better Fatlete (Fat Athlete). I conceded the Fatlete award to Glazier, but only after he conceded that people liked me more when we were both fat (and probably still do now). That’s a tradeoff I’m happy to make.

Golfing

calling my shot...right into the weeds

There was only enough time to pound a burrito before our 11:30 am tee time at Big Sky Country Club. It was pretty expensive ($110 w/cart and clubs and balls), especially for me who doesn’t like golf that much. But it was literally perfect outside, so I figured what the hell. It was actually a ton of fun. We bet on who would win more holes. The stakes? Loser buys all the meat to grill when we camp out at Yellowstone. Glazier won, but he was on performance enhancers–kid was packing lips all round. He also went to private school, so he’s been surrounded by preppy golfers his whole life. I, on the other hand, went to public school because the $200 million Newton North (most expensive public school in history) was good enough for me.

Fly Fishing

fly fishing in Big Sky with Martin and the family

Hadn’t ever been fly fishing before, but when our friend of a friend Martin told us he’d take us out for a sunset fly fishing session with his son and wife, how could we say ‘no?’ So we put on whatever we thought fly fishers would wear–hiking boots, shorts, sweatshirts, and lots of bug spray. Now I had no idea what to expect. I had always thought that it was called “fly fishing” because of the something that had to do with the way they cast the line out. Wrong. It is because the bait they use looks like flies.

Also surprising was that the fish you are going for are like 1 pound striped trout–not exactly the “big catch.” That said, it’s more about the relaxation and zen-like flow of casting the line out into the stream. So I stood alongside the banks and froze my toes off in the water for 3 hours focusing on my breath and watching the sun melt into the mountains overlooking Big Sky. It was pretty meditative, actually. And guess what?! Right at the end, we both caught little stripers. What an end to the day. Plus, we made great friends with Martin and his family. They were amazing. When it was all over, we all went out to a great dinner, too…

Dinner at Corral Bar

If want a quintessential burger join in Big Sky, look no further than the Corral Bar. This place just runneth over with a classic mountain west vibe. Friendly people and laid-back bar area are the perfect setup for an awesome meal. Glazier got the buffalo burger, which was awesome. I got the sirloin steak. I just needed a steak, even if it wasn’t what they were known for. We ate and talked with Martin about his hunting hobby, which ended in him insisting on giving us pounds and pounds of red deer leftover from his last hunt. He shot the deer himself, gutted it himself, and then had a local butcher come over and package the fresh meat. We obviously took him up on the offer. This would become our dinner both nights at the campsite in Yellowstone. Unreal. Martin for MVP.

Pony, MT

ATV riding

Glazier atop his ATV at the cabin overlooking Pony, MT

Pony, MT is an old gold mining town that is all but a ghost town. Why go 1.5 hours out of our way to stop here? Glazier has a friend named Chip who’s family is a part-owner of a farm in Pony where they have some badass ATVs. So Chip arranged for us to take the ATVs out for a spin around their property. I had never been on an ATV before, but I’ve heard they can crush through absolutely any terrain. Still, I was a bit frightened because like a motorcycle, you’re not strapped in to anything. Plus, we didn’t have helmets. But Lezlie, the farm’s caretaker, assured me that her “13 year old daughter takes them for a spin all the time.” If a 13 year-old girl can do it, I figured I’ could, too. I was only sort of correct on this one.

About 15 minutes into the event, I was scaling up a steep grassy hill when I accidentally ventured slightly off the beaten path, hit a big bump, flew up on right my right 2 tires, and literally came within inches of bailing the vehicle, completely totaling the ATV. At the last split-second I was somehow able to gather my balance and come to a stop. I don’t know who Lezlie’s 13 year old daughter is, but these things are dangerous beasts that sorta scare the shit out of me. The video below is moments after the event. I could laugh about it when it was over, but I won’t be running out to ride ATVs again any time soon.

But the ATV scare was worth it when we got up to the cabin that overlooks all of Pony. It’s owned by the farm and the view is just spectacular (see picture above). On the way down, though, there were more challenges to come. First, Glazier’s ATV died while scaling up a hill. We had to ride 2 people on 1 ATV, which isn’t the most comfortable thing in the world when you’re driving over big rocks, deep ditches, and through muddy swamps. Then, Glazier led us off-trail. He claims to be so good at directions, but he was straight up wrong this time. Following his lead, we tried to go back to the farm straight through a swamp. The ATV got stuck 3 times, each time having to be pushed from behind by someone ankle-deep in mud as the ATV’s tires kicked up grime in their face. We finally got back to the main road and coasted back to the farm. On the way, though, we stopped dead in our tracks as a huge moose ventured into the road. 30 yards separated us from this beast and Glazer and I looked at each other like “what the fuck do we do?? Is it going to charge at us?” So we sat there staring down this moose for a good 30 seconds–an eternity when you’re wondering if an 800 pound animal with antlers is going to attack you. Alas, it scampered off into the woods, allowing us to proceed home with caution. Good times, good times.

Pony Bar

In need of a drink after my near-death experience, we headed to the infamous Pony Bar. If you could imagine what a bar in the middle of a Cowboy ghost town looks like, this would be it. $3 beers all the time, a couple pool tables, and homemade jerky were the highlights. They also had an amusing sign that read: “Please don’t throw your cigarette butts in the urinals. It makes them wet and difficult to smoke.” Classic. We headed out from there to Bozeman, MT to pick up our deer meat from Martin. From there we would head straight to Yellowstone.

Yellowstone National Park

this buffalo stopped in the middle of the road through Yellowstone, holding up traffic for 30 minutes

10 notes on Yellowstone:

1) It’s massive. It took us 2 1/2 hours from entrance to entrance.

2) Accordingly, things are not close by. Old Faithful is an hour’s drive from the canyon, for instance.

Glazier tries to move the beans with our impromptu spatula--a snow brush

3) Book campsites far in advance.

4) It gets freezing at night, even in the heart of summer.

5) Don’t try to plan your activities in advance–there are too many to choose from. Get there and tell a ranger what you wanna do, then they’ll guide you.

6) Old Faithful is a waste of time. See video below for an exact replica.

View from one of the trails at the canyon

7) The canyon/waterfall is amazing. Our best activities at Yellowstone are canyon-related, especially “artist’s point.” And look how close you can get to the 350-foot waterfall (video below)!

There are legit so many different landscapes there from desert, to tundra, to forest, to meadows, to plains, and everything in between.

9) Buy stuff before you enter the park, especially firewood–it’s a ripoff inside.

10) If you’re gonna do Yellowstone, do the Tetons as well (more on that later).

Tetons

The Tetons were unbelievably beautiful, and perhaps even more visually stunning than anything we saw in Yellowstone–especially Old Faithful. So we decided on our last day of the trip to go for a little canoe across Lake Jenny in the Tetons. It was a pretty peaceful place to brainstorm menu items for our 2-bite sandwich bar concept in Manhattan. If we’d had more time here, we’d have gone for some hikes–which I heard were epic.

Jackson, WY

The last stop on the trip was Jackson, WY, where Glazier’s friend’s family part-owns a ranch and golf club. This is where my storytelling ends, however, as I spent only one quick night here before taking off back to Madison in the morning–an 18 hour driving extravaganza that I was less than looking forward to. Part 2 of this post will be about my trip back and ultimately my trek back East to start phase 2 of my professional life.

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I was shocked to recently find out that my grandma smoked cigarettes while she was pregnant with my mom. I couldn’t believe it. “You really used to smoke when you were pregnant?? Didn’t anyone know how bad an idea that was? But that was only like 60 years ago! Wow.”

It reminded me of the fact we must also be doing something today that we’ll one day look back on and be like, “what the hell were we thinking?” And sadly, I actually feel like we’re probably doing way more than one. I’ve had this exact conversation with friends several times, and ultimately the conversation always ends with us shaking our head in resignation. “O well. It’s definitely true, but what’re we really gonna do about it?”

There’s no real way to know exactly what these things are, but I’ve got some (perhaps obvious) guesses:

• Something about cell phone signals being close to the brain
• Our postures are all fucked up from computers and laptops, as the hotly debated “people staring at computers project“
• All these prescriptions
• Our eyes staring at screens too often
• Energy consumption

I can already imagine the conversation with my grandchild. “Grandpa Jesse, did you really used to put a computer on your lap and use your fingers to type?? Didn’t anyone know how bad that was for your wrists, eyes, and spine? But that was only 60 years ago! Wow.”

So, what are we doing today that will one day make us say, “wow what the hell were we thinking?” Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

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Google, as we once knew it, is over. The Google+ project is just about 1 month old, and at an estimated 20 million users already, it could be here to stay. To me, at a high-level, Google+ indicates a potentially massive tectonic shift in Google’s overall strategy that will directly affect pretty much all facets of the company. Google’s search technology has always (loosely) been about an algorithm interpreting your search and spitting back the results it thinks are most relevant to you. This old search and find process was only the beginning of search technology, and Google is making a bold bet that the real future of this technology looks a whole lot more social than this.

Google has long acknowledged the need to evolve into the social networking space, but has been 0/2 on attempts thus far with both its Google Buzz and Google Wave products. But as great companies and people often do, Google is learning from its mistakes, and is storming back into the social media arena with a vengeance. And this time, they ain’t fuckin’ around.

Google+ is pretty nifty

With an estimated 20 million users just weeks after a private beta launch, Google+ is almost certainly the fastest social network of all time to reach this figure. Right now, Google+ just early-adopters (read: tech geeks), but I think it’ll be a household name before long. If you’ve used Google+ already, then you know it’s pretty slick–so slick, in fact, that it really almost looks like an Apple product. And if you haven’t used Google+ yet, then trust me–it’s pretty slick. But the purpose of this blog post is not to run over the tech specs of Google+–you can familiarize yourself here if need be. Rather, these are just some ramblings on some things I find noteworthy about Google+ and some thoughts about the future.

The ‘folding in’ of Google’s software products

A major piece of this whole Google+ frenzy is the fact that Google is going to fold all of its current software products under the same Google+ roof. That is, services like Blogger, Google News, Adwords, Analytics, Picasa, Youtube, and Google Docs, etc. are all going to be accessed from within Google+, as opposed to existing as standalone products. By bringing all of it’s services under one roof, Google is making the following statement: “The web is too spread out. It’s time to consolidate and simplify everything.” I have to say I agree with this. Hopefully the days of having contacts, web apps, and news sources spread out across a million different places will soon be behind us. The “next era” of consumer web is all about consolidation. The ways I receive and share information on the Internet will all be wrapped together under fewer and fewer roofs.

The sharing strategy behind Google+

The million dollar question these days seems to be: is there room for Google+ in the already crowded social media space? That is, with the likes of Facbeook, Twitter, and Email so heavily ingrained into our daily routines, is there even room for Google+ as yet another content sharing and discovery source in our daily lives? I recently read this brilliant article by Jonathan Allan of SearchEngineWatch.com which goes into great detail on this subject from a network theorist perspective.

One particularly interesting conclusion from the article was that Google+ very well could exploit a currently gaping hole in online communication: the one-to-few level of communication. The article goes on to explain how email has essentially mastered the art of 1-to-1 communication, Facebook & Twitter have mastered the art of one-to-many communication (aka broadcasting or ‘over-sharing’), but nobody has mastered the art of one-to-few communication. Facebook hasn’t been able to succeed at this mainly because of its confusing sharing and privacy settings. (Does anyone actually use Facebook lists anyway?). But Google+ is all about this idea of leading the user to make a conscious decision about who particular information is shared with instead of just making it as easy as possible to broadcast to as many people as possible.

The profile psychology behind Google+

Christian Oestlien is Google’s product manager behind this whole Google+ shindig, so I was excited to find and follow him on Google+. I was reading his wall one day and stumbled upon a very interesting quote. See below.

Facebook is about who you are, and Google+ is about who you want to be.

I have no idea who ‘OH’ is in this post, but I do know that Christian makes a bold and curious statement here, and I’m a bit surprised that it wasn’t picked up and written about because it’s such a bold distinction he makes here and it really sheds some light on the long-term vision behind Google+. It also makes a bold statement about the whole psychological approach Google is taking when it comes to its users’ Google+ profiles. To me, this is Google saying they want to be the “most authentic” version of you on the web that exists. They want to put your creativity and personality on exposé as well as your professional status and whereabouts. (And they’ll achieve this by bundling all of the Google software products under the Google+ roof so your profile can boast more robust versions of your photos, writings, music, links, etc. than Facebook can).

Finals thoughts

There’s no doubt that Google+ has passed the initial ‘cool test.’ Twenty million users in like a month is absolutely nucking futs, even if they are geeky early adopters, is enough to classify this as a smashingly successful product launch. Google+ already officially occupies a permanent tab on my browser. And considering that until now, I only granted “permanent tab status” to email and calendar, this is an impressive feat in the world of Jesse Davis.

The big question is obviously whether or not they’ll continue to penetrate quickly into the next round of users–the casual user. I dunno, I don’t really see this happening in the traditional way. That is, I don’t think Google+ will just grow via the network effect like Facebook did. Instead, I predict Google+ will grow via the backdoor route–by forcing current Google product users to join Google+ if they wanna keep using the products. Case in point: my dad uses Facebook, Gmail, and Picasa. He has no intentions of signing up Google+ because from his perspective there’s no need–one social network is enough. He would, however, join Google+ if all of a sudden Google said “you are gonna have to create a Google+ account in order to keep using Picasa and Gmail.”

Last thought: Google is going to know everything about me. And ya know what? I’m fine with that. I’ve got nothing really to hide and to me, the value of their services outweighs the potential loss of personal identity. But what do you think?

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Over the past 3 months or so, I’ve witnessed an unprecedented amount of change going on in both my life and my friends’ lives. Tv-room talk is frequently centered around changing careers, changing locations, changing eating habits, and changing desired qualities in girls. But regardless of the specific topic, change in some form or another is frequently at the heart  of the conversation.

I wondered, is there such a thing as a quarter life crisis? Apparently, it may actually be a real thing after all.

It makes sense that there would be such a thing as a quarter-life crisis. And it makes double sense that my generation would be experiencing the symptoms of it right now. We were released into an abismal workforce environment in summer ’09, leading drones of fresh graduates to unanticipated graduate/law school, or taking jobs they weren’t crazy about. Fast forward 2 years. Two years is just about the exact amount of time it takes someone to start really reevaluating some shit. Do I really wanna keep this sales job? Do I really wanna live in this hectic city? Shouldn’t I be out dating more seriously by now?

So is there such a thing as a quarter life crisis? I think so. But it isn’t necessarily a “crisis.” I mean, you can certainly apply the tag “crisis” to it if you’d like, but you could also just be a time when people are really figuring their shit out.

A couple of months ago, I decided I wanted to move locations and start taking on new opportunities professionally. I was extremely shaky for the couple of days after making that decision. I mean, what was I gonna do now? What if I don’t have enough money? Where do I wanna live? Will I make friends there? And on that note, why don’t I still talk to my old friends as much anymore? The world can look like a pretty unhelpful place with this attitude.

Around that time, I was in San Francisco visiting my friends Amit and Nicolas. I told Nicolas one day about all this change going on in my life and the big decisions that loomed ahead–just talking about it made me anxious. And as I finished explaining all this to Nicolas, his eyes lit up and a grin came to his face as he said–and I’ll never forget this–”wow, that’s exciting!”

And with that line, my universe was flipped on it’s head. Ya know what? It sure fuckin is exciting to be 24 years old, single, looking for a different job, and able to pack my whole life into a Honda Accord.

This is my car. His name is Roger. All my belongings fit in him. This makes me sublimely happy.

I remember at one point feeling like everyone else but me had their shit together. Then I realized that in reality, no one at my age truly has their shit together. Some 24 year olds happen to make a ton of money, but are working their bodies and minds to exhaustion doing something their not passionate about, while others love what they do but are constantly complaining they don’t have enough money. Go figure! Some 24 year olds love the city they’re living in but feel they have no friends, while others love being surrounded by their friends but hate the city they’re in. Go figure.  Some 24 year olds are happily married (or basically wifed up by a girlfriend) but miss spending as much time with their other friends, and others are happy bachelors but growing less interested in the party scene and becoming continually impatient for the right person to come along. Go figure.

I don’t think anyone at my age hasn’t had serious doubts about whether certain aspects of their lives are in line with their priorities. But that’s legit, and it’s healthy, and personally it feels like an important time to really pay attention my gut feeling on things. Important to note that this is a markedly different mindset from saying “I wanna go out and make as many mistakes as possible because I’m an invincible 24 year old who can bounce back from anything.” No, it’s not that. I’m saying I’m tryna pay close attention to how my personal boundaries and interests are changing, and then genuinely and carefully act on them.

As many smart people have noted in the past, change is constant. My body is literally not the same as when I started writing this post. In fact, my body is not the same as it was a millisecond ago. And the  same holds true at a macro level: One day I decide I want to stop eating meat because I feel better without it, and the next day I’m eating steak. One day I decide I should be more educated on current world politics, so I start reading the Economist. The next day I decide politics suck (which they do), and take up photography with my newfound free time. One day I decide basketball is the best workout for me, the next day I trade basketball in for yoga. Bottom line is, I change my preferences all the time–sometimes even multiple times a day. It’s healthy. It’s part of being 24 years old. It’s part of being alive. It’s literally my life unfolding before my eyes and onto a computer screen–and it’s a lot of fun to watch.

Is it time to pull a Jerry Maguire in your life?

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I just love me some Science Daily. Science Daily is awesome because it presents breaking science news at the level of the lab, which means that by reading it, you’ll be hearing about science breakthroughs at their most nascent phase. Typically, things that get talked about on Science Daily are years from being commercialized into household products and the likes. The best part about Science Daily is that the articles are written in such a way that even the most recreational science lovers can understand. For everything from astronomy to psychology to quantum physics, SD has become basically my only science news source (okay, okay, I read Pop Sci occasionally).

Without further adieu, I’d like to present two particularly interesting recent scientific breakthroughs that I found particularly curious…

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source: http://bit.ly/mvxJyV

We’ve made a huge step forward in being able to stop diseases like cancer and cystic fibrosis by literally altering our genetic code. All of us are the way we are because of the way our DNA instructs our bodies to make proteins. Playing a critical role in this whole process is messenger RNA, or mRNA, which take instructions from the DNA and actually direct the steps necessary to create the proteins. Now if there were some way to alter these instructions, we’d be able to make sure that certain disease-causing proteins never got made, effectively eliminating the disease before it starts…and this is just what researchers have successfully done at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

The research team figured out a way to create “guide RNAs” that latch themselves onto specific mRNAs and alter their instructions (if you’re interested in reading about how the guide RNAs actually carry out this function, be sure to read the full article). Personally, I couldn’t believe that there wasn’t a bigger deal made about this. I think this is a huge step forward in our eventual ability to re-code our DNA from the inside out, allowing us to both avoid diseases as well as improve our physical and mental attributes. Of course, the latter of the two is where ethics most clearly come into play. I mean, it’s one thing to alter our DNA as a means toward avoiding disease. It’s a whole ‘nother ball game when you start talking about altering our DNA to create a superior physical and mental human race. It might sound outlandish, but how could you see this technology going in any other direction? For realz.

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source: http://bit.ly/dJgudA

Since our brains are the most powerful and complex computers that exist, it makes sense that computer scientists have been on a quest to create computers that essentially mimic the human brain. To date, one of the biggest advantages our brains have over computers is the fact that our brains can both process and store memory simultaneously, while computers still have to separate the two functions, thus inefficiently consuming time and power.

Well, now researchers at the University of Exeter have successfully demonstrated simultaneous information storage and processing–a MAJOR leap forward in creating computers that function like our brain. This discovery is noteworthy for two reasons. First off, it marks a certain level of understanding of the way that our brains work. These researchers were able to accomplish this result by literally recreating the synapses and neurons found in our brains. Secondly, this breakthrough is the most obvious leap forward I’ve seen in creating a computer that mimics our brain, opening up a whole new world of computer function. If computers could work like our brains do, the power savings and computing abilities of computers would grow exponentially to a point where computers can accomplish scary levels of function beyond our wildest dreams. This is what Ray Kurzweil talks about when he forecasts a sentient computer than could can AIDS in under a second, or build blueprints for interstellar spaceships, for instance.