Tretakoff Musings

I recently got into a kick of listening to the James Bond themes, triggered by Billie Eilish releasing her latest version in advance of "No Time To Die". It got me to do some reassessment of my own previous rankings: some came down, some went up. In no particular order: No Time To Die , Billie Eilish. I don't particularly see the appeal of this young wunderkind, but that's cool. I was particularly amused when I saw the description of the song as "James Bond ASMR." Perfect. However, her breathless, quiet voice is undeniably amazing pared with James Horner's orchestral score. I should hate this, but I find myself grudgingly admiring it, and wondering if, in the future, this becomes an all timer. I'll confidently put it in the lower end of the second tier of themes. Writing's On The Wall , Sam Smith . I originally panned the hell out of this, thinking it sounded l ike a mashup of a musical number with a Bond theme. However, time has been ki...

In case you missed it, professional football is back. Ok, at least semi-professional football. The XFL, having burst on the scene years ago as a half baked cocaine-induced, steroid fueled reimagining of football and professional wrestling. It went about as well as you can imagine, lasting a single season with nothing to show for it than " He Hate Me " jerseys and Tommy Maddox's improbable redemption. It's biggest curse was not the insanity of it's additions, but the poor quality of football play: it was all style and no substance. This weekend, XFL 2.0 kicked off, and they have learned from the past iterations. I took in all 4 of the inaugural games, and tweeted my observations. I've collected them here, and augmented, so enjoy! Thoughts on the #XFL2020 so far: - Love the kickoff change. Much safer. - Post TD choices are silly. - Houston's uniforms look fantastic. LA's & DC's look completely generic. Seattle's look surpris...

The evolving world of home automation.  Amazon's Alexa has firmly captured my world: she controls lights, heat, power, entertainment, even our refrigerator! What I find fascinating about this is another example of Amazon using it's leadership position to undermine brands. For example, I have 7 or 8 kinds of devices from different manufacturers, but the only way I interact with them is through Alexa. That means the brands of the devices themselves are immaterial, which makes the only thing that they can compete on is price. But wait, it gets worse. Amazon sees what devices people are buying. Let's say something gets really popular in the Echo ecosystem, like a Phillips Hue light. Amazon can now manufacture a similar device under their Amazon Basics line, brand it as "Designed by Amazon for Echo," and put it up for sale at half the price. So long, Hue. I recently had a Twitter discussion with Rakesh Agarwal (@rakeshlobster on Twitter) about an article a colle...

Yes, I realize it's been four years or so since I last updated this. I will be happy to regale you with all the tales of boring day to day details since then. Ready? Waits to see if everyone has left... Ok, that got rid of most of you. For the true diehards, here are just some assorted thoughts that 140 characters have not been able to capture: Samsung Dex. I'm a big fan of the Samsung Galaxy line of phones. The form factor is just right, and the features are bleeding edge. One thing they added a year ago or so was Dex: the ability to see and work with your phone on a desktop. Intriguing, but there were some drawbacks: you needed a special dock, you needed to have a dedicated monitor and keyboard. Wasn't worth it. Fast forward to a few months ago: Dex is now an App! You can throw it on your PC, connect your phone through USB, and voila: your phone as a desktop. It's surprisingly useful, and really well thought out. For instance, you can pin whatever apps on yo...

Disclosure: I consulted for OpenTable for some time. Every now and then, restaurant reservations juggernaut OpenTable sees an article about how their stranglehold on online reservations is under attack. The latest is this article in SFGate , and follows the usual narrative: OpenTable is too expensive, plucky startups are trying to show there's a better, more restaurant-friendly way to do business, and maybe one of them will be a success. There were a raft of "pay for play" reservations services that would allow the diner to prepurchase vouchers that would get them a seat; most of them have gone away (although Reserve , in this piece, has clearly pivoted from that). There was SeatMe , a really innovative product, which was gobbled up by Yelp years ago. There were even efforts by credit card companies to provide a concierge to do this. And this is the latest. But most of these articles miss the point altogether. Put yourself in the shoes of a restaurant owner: you ...

So, it's now been years since smartphones have become ubiquitous in the US. We've also seen the growth of Waze as a nav app, specifically because of it's combination of crowdsourced traffic, speedtraps, and road conditions; so much so, Google and Facebook fought each other for the right to buy them (Google won). So, we have a perfect blend of market, community, and technology to be able to report and share vital driving info. Right? Um, TrapTap doesn't think so. Nope, these folks are introducing a small physical device that uses visual and audio indicators to tell you that there's something  to watch out for. Could be a speed trap, could be a school zone. Oh, but you see that cop you just passed at 20 miles faster than you should be? Well, just before he pulls you over, just tap twice on this gadget and everyone else will get hooked up with the info on their  TrapTap. So why my gripe? Well, first you're creating a boil the ocean problem: in order for...

In my ongoing newfound desire to share my unrequested opinions on various crowdfunding projects, I bring to you today another entry in the supposed "smart" products. Now, unlike my last screed, this device actually fits the more accepted definition of "smart;" it has sensors, adds functionality to address a problem, and enhances the use of existing solutions. Ladies and gentlemen, meet the Bluejay, the worlds' "first" smart mount. Now, upon first glance, this gadget seems to be a winner. Beautifully engineered out of aluminum and carbon fiber, clearly designed with an attention to upgrade the ungainly other solutions, and a plethora of functionality, the Bluejay offers to make the mount for your smartphone in your car far more advanced. There's a clear focus on balancing impressive design with technological wizardry, no wonder it made it's funding goals. What does it do? Well, in addition to offering mounting options on the windshield, da...