The game, asks you to guess how old Santa is, you have to guess from 1-60 until you find the ride number. I’ll embed the game here once I learn how to do that :)

###

print("Guess Santa's age.")
from random import randint
secret = randint(1, 60)
guess = 0
while guess !=secret:
g = input("How old is Santa? ")
guess = int(g)
if guess == secret:
print("You win")
else:
if guess > secret:
print("Too old.")
else:
print("Too young.")
print("Now he'll bring you presents.")

CNN highlights the efficiencies of getting around in Uber

CBS covers the recent news about Uber’s C&D’s

I’d like to start using one blog for all of my posts.

I’d like the videos and pictures from http://ryangraves.org to go to the same blog that I write more thoughtful posts, like yesterdays on Job titles and recruiting. I see no reason to split them up. Because I have friends at Posterous and it seems, after great review, to be the simplest platform, I’d like to use it to drive the blog. But I want to keep it on a custom domain & I want to keep this theme, it’s simple, relatively new and I still like it a lot. So here’s the details…

Specs wanted:

• one blog for all content types
• custom domain (probably ryangraves.org)
• driven by Posterous
• must have this theme

Problem is, I’m not sure how to keep this theme on Posterous. I’m not sure which domain I should make the main. And I’m not sure if the aggregation of blog is a good idea from an audience/community perspective. I write/post to engage people in things I find interesting. If that dies because of some change, it wasn’t worth making.

Can you guys provide any thoughts or feedback on these Q’s?

In hind site it’s really too bad that these interviews didn’t come with any equity exchange because our third interview was with now CEO of Groupon, Andrew Mason. Andrew shared his ideas for his startup ThePoint.com, which transformed from an idea to bring people together for collective action, to a company focused on bringing people together for collective purchase, Groupon.com. Both brilliant ideas but the latter turned out to be incredibly profitable.

In the interview Andrew talks a bit about how ThePoint secured their first funding and how and where the team worked. It’s always fascinating to see the origins of startups and I’m super happy for Andrews incredible successes over the last couple of years.

Also, please excuse the amateur nature of the intro. We were Gary V inspired and really excited about ActionsTalk :)

The image above contains some of the most interesting data a business could have on an individual. This is heat map of my foursquare checkin’s in San Francisco. It’s powerful data, and it’s only static. Here in lies the info to make assumptions & predictions about my behavior that will changes services I use and businesses I interact with drastically. As a location drivin transportation company it is data like this that will allow us to fundamentally disrupt our market.

This information did not exist even 12 months ago. The services that now collect this data with decent contextual awareness are just recently being enabled by the right devices & the right changes in user behavior. The checkin is a beautiful thing & not just for the foursquare’s and Yelp’s of the world; it’s services like ours that may stand to benefit the most. Here are a few areas that I get most excited about when contemplating how to apply this data to make your life easier and our business stronger…

Marketing

Think about how accurate user location data changes the marketing game. If presumably I checkin to 50% of the venues that I visit on a daily basis, this map does a pretty good job of showing someone where not to advertise if they’re trying to reach me. It’s clear where I spend my time, and it’s clear where I don’t. Now I know not everyone uses these social location services but when this data gets aggregated across a particular demographic or user population you get very targeted results on how to reach that customer group offline.

When applying context (which I discuss next) in these marketing channels you can almost tell what a person will be doing, where they’re doing it, and when. The advertising dollars saved are enough to get excited.

Context

The next factor of awesomeness that this particular map doesn’t yet capture is a sense of contextual awareness. How easily, with foursquare’s new categorical breakdown of venues, could you tell me where are the bars I’m going to, where are the business meetings I’m attending, where are the houses that I’m hangin’ at, etc. What is context:

• time
• activity type
• social

These contextual filters provide yet a deeper layer of understanding to the consumers behavior. Each layer of context that is added to this map the more powerful it will become. The opt-in checkin that foursquare has created is brilliant because it enable someone to feel very comfortable with sharing tons of data. Which in turn allows services to create more value for those users.

What we’re excited about is tying checkins together and realizing that certain combinations of checkin types require different types of transportation and different experiences. By understanding context around checkins we can understand how best to serve our users and be efficiently available for them, when they want us, without them having to tell us ahead of time. For example, you’re at your favorite sushi restaurant with your significant other, we think you’ll likely head to the movie theatre and we’re happy and ready to take you there :)

Logistics Optimization

With an understanding of where our users spend time, and when during the day those transitions occur, we have the ability to offer an incredibly efficient and simple service. As MG at TechCrunch said this week in a post about social location features; the check-out feature or the designation that you’re actually leaving a venue, will likely come very soon. Great! This makes it even easier for us to offer service at the exact times, in the exact locations, that users may want.

With our Uber fleet that is growing quickly, it’s quite possible that we can use information like this that is either publicly available or shared by our users for this specific purpose, to never have to wait for a cab again. With a single click we may know what type of service you would want depending on the context of the venue your checking into & out of.

###

The opportunities for this type of contextually filtered data to influence location driven services like ours it unreal. I’m so excited for things like background processing in iOS4, and check-out features from our beloved check-in apps. The real time monitoring of this data is really where it’s at and the better the technology gets and the more transparent the user behaviors become, the smoother overall experience we’ll be able to offer.

Quick background on the last 10 years of my life…

At the end of high school in 2001 I wanted to stay in Southern CA and attend USC. I didn’t get in. That turned out to be the best thing that would happen to me. I headed out to the midwest to go to Miami OH & had the time of my life. I partied my ass off, learned the basics of business, and specifically Economics, but more than anything, I learned TONS about myself. I learned what I needed to do to be personally successful and feel fulfilled. Then at the very end of college I met someone “more awesomer” than anyone else, @mollstar.

Because of Moll, I decided to move back out to Chicago after a short stint at home and see if the relationship would work. It did and 5 yrs later we married, and it’s awesome. Now for the purpose of this post, the start of the next chapter.

We’re moving to San Francisco

At the end of June, Molly and I are packing up and heading west. It is a move that I always knew would come, but a huge change none the less. We couldn’t be more excited to blaze a path of our own and quite frankly pull ourselves out of a very comfortable situation in Chicago to a brand new life with new friends, jobs, and experiences. But that’s what I love so much about life, the ability to put yourself in new situations and have new experiences with new people. That’s the gold.

The toughest part for both of us will be moving away from Molly’s family who are beyond amazing. They have not become ‘in-laws’ but truly my family that will be painful to leave. The excitement of being on our own is just one side of the coin. The proximity to such an amazing support system will be tough to go without.

But, both professionally and personally this is a step in the right direction. You all have followed our progress with UberCab and the exciting ride (no pun intended) it has become. We’re breaking ground on a space that is ripe for disruption and yearning for innovation. It’s ready for people like us who may not know the market as well as others, but that naivety may be our strongest asset to our ability to change how things work.

The startup community in SF is particularly exciting. The opportunity to meet, literally every week, with some of the smartest business and technical minds on the planet is not something I’ll take for granted. Through my Uber relationships and the many startup meetups in the Valley, my opportunity to learn from the SF startup community is almost unbelievable. Not to mention the guys I’m going to have an opportunity to work along side. The team we’re building at UberCab is already shaping up to be of extremely high caliber and the quality and experience of our advisors & board may be second to none.

I probably don’t need to even speak to this next topic, but I’m pretty damn stoked to leave the winters. I’ve been through now 9 full winters in the midwest and the ability to hang my snow coat up and away is a welcomed change. Next time I pull that coat out will be for a vacation back to our cabin in WI or a weekend trip to Tahoe…which both sound pretty nice.

Lastly, to our friends. We’re going to miss each of you dearly. As Moll & I moved from Miami to Chicago it was the most natural extension of college. In fact when we first got here it basically was college, except we got paid for it. Then as we (believe it or not) matured, we found out that we are actually making legit contributions to the world. I couldn’t be more proud as I look around at each of my friends and what they’re now accomplishing personally and professionally. Somehow I feel that I chose some of the best people back in college and those guys (and gals) have become the creme of the crop. Got lucky I guess. Please know that even though we’re sort of far away, we’ll always work hard to stay close, stay in touch and keep what we started back at Miami very strong.

Our goal for all UberCab users, called clients, is for you to feel like a baller every time you use UberCab. We want you to not only arrive at your destination safely, simply, and efficiently, but we want you to arrive in STYLE.

UberCab clients typically use their iPhone application (also works via SMS) to request a black car limo service within a matter of minutes.

As an UberCab client you’ll get:

• one click iPhone requests
• location based dispatch
• on demand limo service
• in app billing – no cash needed

For Drivers

Drivers working with UberCab are able to turn down time into profit. Simply, we’ll keep you busy and making money.

UberCab operates as a lead generation service for limo companies. By using our iPhone application drivers become available for client requests that are designed to come from clients closest to you.

As an UberCab driver you’ll get:

• immediate ride requests
• never worry about billing
• direct client communication
• a supplement to your existing business

For Partners

There are huge benefits to being an UberCab partner. These are the companies that have multiple cars in their fleet and want to join/partner with UberCab with multiple cars.

When you have multiple cars driving on the UberCab platform you’ll receive actionable analytics about your cars and the trips they’re taking. Better analytics and visibility means better management and more profit!

As an UberCab partner you’ll get:

• real time fleet analytics
• detailed trip logs
• direct customer feedback on ALL trips
• simple billing solutions for fleets

For more information on UberCab or the UberCab team check out our About page, or follow us on Twitter and our blog. Our app will be in the iPhone app store VERY soon too, so keep an eye out!

This is as much of a post about sharing Evernote with you as it is an apology to Evernote for not giving you a chance until now. My mistake and my loss, learn from me and your gain. The simplest way to explain Evernote to those of you who don’t know is that it’s a database for you brain. If you have ADD (like me) it’s a must have tool! Evernote collects information in almost any format that you could ever want to throw at it, and it creates the ability to log, categorize, and store that info. Then, when you need to find something from a random though a few months back, you can search and the search is amazing! One crazy example of the technology is that you can write your name on a white board, take a picture of the whiteboard, then save that picture to Evernote and search for your name. Evernote will pick-up the text from the picture and make that text searchable…incredible!

For so long I had heard about people using Evernote for notes, picture search, and other menial tasks and I dismissed the service. I was actually using the Notes iPhone app and TextEdit saving files in this format, “4/22 notes”. That was dumb. Now that I use Evernote I can tag thoughts, search history and “appear” to the world that I have a great memory.

As a person with brutal ADD, this web service may become my most valuable. I’ve only been using it a week but I’m in love already.

Here’s a little tip on importing old notes into Evernote:

1. Download RTF/TXT Evernote importer

2. Install the application

3. From Evernote, make sure these preferences are selected.

4. File > Import … select all your files and your entire ‘Notes’ history is searchable, backupable, and awesome!

Let me know if you have any questions ryan [at] thedreaminaction [dot] com

This was job #2 to cut up the basketball hoop pole so that we could hide it in the trash so it would be taken away…sneaky…I was the helper on this job but the pics turned out pretty sweet.

The main job was to fix the jump in my Nissan Pathfinders passenger window. My car got broken into months ago and ever since when you roll the window all the way up, you have to hold the auto-up button for a 30+ seconds to keep it up, otherwise it would jump back down 1/3 of the way. Apparently it’s a safety feature gone bad. We couldn’t find the fix anywhere until this post (http://jensbits.com) which I’ll just re-explain here.

The auto windows on both sides make it “pretty classy” but this little glitch was driving me nuts. Here’s what you do to fix it.

The issue

The window basically doesn’t know it’s up. Like I said, it happened to me when my car got broken into and they broke the passengers window with a rock (those dick bags). It activates some safety mechanism to pull the window back down. This feature wouldn’t come in handy in 6th grade when I got by fingers caught in the window of my parents friends Volvo, then she turned the car off and I was screaming…this prevents that.

The fix

Get a tool, like a flat head screw driver to pry off the armrest on the passenger side door. You think it’s going to break but it will pop off. It’s probably best to loosen it around each edge then one will lead and go from there. Make sure to leave all wire plugged into both the door and the arm rest.

Down in the arm rest there is a little reset button. You may not be able to reach it so get that screw driver you used to pry the armrest off and hold that reset button down. As you’re holding execute these steps:

1. Window in up position

2. Roll window down (all the way) but don’t use the auto feature

3. Release reset button

4. Roll window all the way up w/o the auto feature

5. Use the auto feature and it should work! It was literally that easy for me.

Also, Jen from Jensbits found this little manually that is awesome (Haynes manual for 1996-2004 Pathfinders).

It was a really fun, not tech project but it’s this kind of around the house maintenance stuff that makes you feel like a useful male :)

Then we cut up a basketball hoop pole…I was the assistance on this job but the pics turned out pretty sweet.