Month: July 2011

Vieques, Puerto Rico

My vacation in Puerto Rico had a short solo leg in San Juan (photos) followed by a week on the island of Vieques with some of my family. It was at the same time relaxing and adventurous, filled with trips to Vieques’ myriad beaches, a rainy night in the bioluminescent bay, and rum cocktails on the Malecón, the Esperanza village’s harbor promenade.

Google ending experimental “labs” offerings

While we’ve learned a huge amount by launching very early prototypes in Labs, we believe that greater focus is crucial if we’re to make the most of the extraordinary opportunities ahead.

Translation: “We need to leave ‘release early, release often’ behind.”

I wonder if it’s because they catch too much flak for exposing prerelease features to the public, or because they’re trying to adopt a more holistic approach to their product cycles.

via Official Google Blog: More wood behind fewer arrows.

PicPlz Sold Out: Why, Again, Are We Letting Fickle Startups Own our Content and Relationships?

I missed this last week: PicPlz is barely live as a service, and it’s already been spun off in a cash deal so its makers can be done with it.

These little mobile apps combine convenience with effortless social interaction, but the final loyalty isn’t to the user. I’m hoping that the social sharing experience for stuff like this becomes less dependent on proprietary services that try to own the social interaction. In the meantime, I’ll be trying to find more effective ways of recreating these rich experiences on platforms that let me own and control my content.

San Juan

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I’m staying in the old colonial part of San Juan, Puerto Rico for a couple days before meeting up with family on Vieques, a small island east of the main island of Puerto Rico. I’ll post more photos once I’m not on a capped 3G plan.

This place is insanely reminiscent of Andalusia. I immediately felt at home.