Todd Pinkerton

 Dan Ariely, behavioraleconomist   *ok, so maybe it's still partly about economics. But a recent talk by Dan Ariely shed some light on the quirky, human aspects of our financial decision-making.  A few days ago I saw Dan Ariely speak at MIT as part of the Media Lab's Center for Future Banking.  The Center is sponsored by major banks like Bank of America,  so in that context Ariely spoke about his research and how it relates to the current financial problems we're facing.  Ariely is known as a 'behaviorial economist', which is to say he studies how people relate to money.  I've been following his work for a few years now, but recently he's been getting a lot more attention for his book Predictably Irrational and regular NPR radio series.  So Ariely's big thesis is that we incorrectly assume people behave rationally, always acting in their own self  interest and maximizing their personal gain. As a society we enact policies that assume these economic principles.  For example, we increase penalties as crimes get bigger, because we assume people will weigh the risk vs. reward and decide the increased jail time is not worth the payoff.  But reality is different. People do not always behave ...

Today Google made available the Android SDK, which makes it possible for developers to build applications for the Android open handset platform.  There is a new section for Android on code.google.com, and a video showing off the capabilities of the platform. I haven't yet installed the SDK, but it looks promising.  Google also announced a $10M prize purse for developers building Android apps, although I'm not sure the fires really need all that stoking -- the media buzz around this platform has captured enough interest that I'm sure we'd see some amazing handset apps even without the prizes. If you haven't read my previous post, be sure to check out the Android demo at the upcoming MoMo Boston event.

Next week (Nov 13) my good friend Alan Blount will be demonstrating what the press has been calling "the gPhone", or "Google Phone". In reality, what Google has been working on is the Android mobile phone platform and SDK, not a specific phone. Also in the discussion is the Open Handset Alliance, the industry organization (including tech and mobile companies) to bring about a better user experience by leveraging the Android platform. The event is being held in conjunction with the Mobile Internet World conference in Boston -- free passes are available, details on the MoMoBoston site. This may very well be the first time the public gets a glimpse at the Android platform, so it should be a fun evening.

I feel like it does little good to blog about events after they happen. But better late than never, right? This weekend was Harvard Business School Cyberposium 13, a conference of technology and business leaders. It's interesting in that the entire conference is organized by students, and draws a pretty diverse crowd of MBA-types, tech-types, and startup entrepreneurs. The Philip Rosedale (founder of Linden Labs, makers of Second Life) talk was more interesting than I expected. His talk walked us through the virtual world of Second Life, as he described how the simple rules of the world led to some very interesting emergent behavior when the user population began to grow. For example, SL users can earn real money by creating and selling virtual goods within the SL world, to a truly global marketplace of buyers. Unlike the web there are no currency or language barriers, since SL has its own currency and a visual mode of interaction. I didn't stay for the whole conference, instead I wanted to see John Palfrey speak at the Leadership Institute on the other side of campus. Palfrey heads the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law school. ...