I know many of my blog readers are Warren Buffett fans as a result of the numerous requests I get for the Annual Letters of Buffett Partnership, Limited, 1957 – 1970.  I got a request tonight from a reader who kindly included a link to CNBC’s Warren Buffett Watch complete with an RSS feed for your subscribing pleasure.  This web thing is really cool.

Recently I bitched about Active’s "upgrade" of CoolRunning (which they acquired) to Active Trainer.  I loved CoolRunning; I hated Active Trainer.  Oh well – life with software.

I went on a search for a new running log.  I got a wide range of great suggestions from readers of this blog.  Thank you to everyone who commented – I tried almost all of the systems.

TrainingPeaks wins.  It is spectacular and worth every penny.  In addition, the folks running the company are incredible responsive – they didn’t have a specific CoolRunning importer, but I sent them my data and a week later all of it automagically appeared in my TrainingPeaks log as though I’d be using it from the beginning.

Their log software is superb (and entirely web based, which is a requirement for me.)  They have awesome mapping software and data visualization with the software and several client side products for importing all your data from your watch (I use a Garmin Forerunner 305 and it works perfectly) as well as a new release of the WKO+ software which provides extensive data analysis for data nerds like me.

My hat is off to the TrainingPeaks guys – what a great product.  As a special bonus they are based in Colorado.  I can once again satisfy my data obsessed running desires.

Love it.

Today is my dad’s 70th birthday.  Without him, I wouldn’t be around.  That’s an unexpectedly deep thought that just sent me down a weird mortality rat hole.

Except for a brief period of time during 7th grade, my dad has always been one of my best friends.  I have hundreds thousands of memories pre-college of things we did together that shaped my future.  We’ve had plenty of arguments, but they were usually healthy, constructive ones which taught me how to think critically and helped me understand that it was ok to have a different point of view.

I have a key memory during my freshman year at MIT that sticks in my mind.  My parents came to visit me during the MIT equivalent of parents weekend (maybe it’s actually called parents weekend – I can’t remember.)  I was depressed and homesick – all of my high school friends were at UT Austin and having a blast and I was at MIT getting brutalized.  During a walk in Concord on a crisp fall day, my dad turned to me and said "look – just give it a year.  If you don’t want to stay, call it after a year.  But at least give it a year so you have enough time to really figure it out."  I stuck it out for a year, discovered I loved the place in some sick, twisted way, and never looked back.

My dad was a partner in my first business with me and Dave Jilk – who also happens to have a birthday today.  Dad was the adult supervision / business mentor and Feld Technologies wouldn’t have been as successful as it was without his help.  He helped me early in getting grounded in "doing the right thing all the time – even if it is hard" in a business context.

I finally had my childhood rebellion in my mid-20’s after I got divorced, dropped out the MIT Ph.D. program I was in, and sold Feld Technologies.  He appropriately realized what was going on, so he backed off for a few years and when I got through my stuff our relationship was stronger than ever.

The last 10 years together have been awesome.  I’ve continued to learn an amazing amount of stuff from him and his experiences, and he regularly tells me how much he learns from me.  Our time together is precious – especially our annual weekends and the Feld Men’s trip where chocolate ice cream is consumed in huge quantities.

Happy birthday dad.  You are dad #1.

My partner Ryan just pointed me at FigurePrints.  If you are a World of Warcraft fanatic and want a physical instantiation of your favorite character, you are $99.95 (plus $14.95 shipping and handling) away from happiness.  As a special bonus, you get a nifty protective glass dome also.  Very cool.

I loved watching Lindsay Campbell on WallStrip.  I was bummed when she left to go do MobLogic.TV (although Julie Alexandria has stepped into her shoes quiet nicely.)

I just watched Does Client #9 Get 86’d for 69? followed by B*#tch, Please.  These two pieces go together great. 

B*#tch, Please – wow – right on the money.

Amy and I just finished watching Good Night, and Good Luck.  Wow!

We both sort of knew the story of Ed Murrow taking on U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy during McCarthy’s anti-Communist crusade while chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.  The movie has motivated me to Kindle a Murrow biography and read it.

The movie was fantastic – Amy and I kept shouting at the TV during it which is always the mark of a successful movie in our house.  David Strathairn was incredible as Murrow and George Clooney did a great job as his counterpart / coproducer Fred Friendly.

One of the awesome things about the United States is that due process matters.  Another is that freedom of speech is a valid construct – and even more so in today’s web saturated universe.  So far in my 42 years on this planet I’ve never been afraid of speaking my mind.  I’ve often been wrong – and will admit it publicly whenever I am – but I love the fact that I can state my thoughts without fear.

As the midgame of our presidential election reaches a climax, this is powerful stuff to consider.  Marc Andreessen wrote a superb post last week titled An hour and a half with Barack Obama.  I’ve been supporting Obama in the primaries (even though I’m Independent – my party affiliation is "unaffiliated".) Marc’s post totally nails why I’m supporting Obama.  Regardless of who you support, it feels great that it’s acceptable in this country to write (and watch) what we think.

To Mark Cuban, Todd Wagner, and Jeff Skoll and their respective colleagues who produced the movie – nicely done!

My partner Jason pointed me to the announcement that Jack Bauer gets early start with "24" prequel.  I have high hopes for this season given how much last season sucked (until the last four episodes.)  It’s either going to be fantastic or be over.  Joel Surnow has apparently already voted with his feet, so this one will be high risk / high reward. 

I’m at TechStars for a Day watching my partner Ryan McIntyre give a presentation on Excite where he was a founder.  Each time he gives this presentation, it reminds me of the very first web spider – at least that I’m aware of.  Can you name it?

It’s the World Wide Web Wanderer (also known as W4 – which created the Wandex index.)  The creator was Matthew Gray which was one of the co-founders of NetGenesis – my first angel investment.  Matthew was one of the gang (including my close friend Raj Bhargava – now the CEO of StillSecure) who showed me the web (and Freshman Fishwrap) for the first time at an Athena Cluster in the Student Center at MIT in 1994. 

Ah – nostalgia.  Matthew has some great old stats up on his old MIT page, including a summary of web growth.  According to Wandex, on 6/93 there were 130 web sites.  130.  A year later on 6/94 there were 2,738.  By 6/95 the web was up to 23,500 and by 6/96 it was 230,000.  Oh the way we were.

It’s amazing what has occurred in the past 15 years.