Bill Gates gave the commencement speech at Harvard today.  He also received an honorary degree, finally making him a college graduate.  His speech is fantastic and worth reading.  His call to action is clear:

In line with the promise of this age, I want to exhort each of the graduates here to take on an issue – a complex problem, a deep inequity, and become a specialist on it. If you make it the focus of your career, that would be phenomenal. But you don’t have to do that to make an impact. For a few hours every week, you can use the growing power of the Internet to get informed, find others with the same interests, see the barriers, and find ways to cut through them.  Don’t let complexity stop you. Be activists. Take on the big inequities. It will be one of the great experiences of your lives.

Remember, Fear is the mind-killer.  Let’s get on with it.

Via a member of my fraternity (ADP) at MIT, I discovered the geek test v.3.1.  I scored 32.34714% rating me a “total geek.”  Yes – this was sent to me via a listserv.  My lack of affinity for all things Star Trek appears to have lowered my score.

I have a superb packing algorithm.  I can pack my magic blue bag (think “Felix the Cat’s bag”) with seven days worth of clothes in under five minutes.  This used to annoy Amy since she believes that packing should expand to fill all available time until you must leave for the airport right now damnit now now now but she has mellowed with age.

I always either wear my running shoes or pack my running shoes since – well – I’m endlessly training for a marathon.  I got up at 4am yesterday, speed packed, and flew to Las Vegas.  I wore dress shoes on the plane since I had a meeting in the morning and then kept them on all day since the gang I was with (aka “The Last Horseman Down Bachelor Party”) went out to a nice restaurant last night.

Imagine my surprise this morning when I went to grab my running shoes and discovered another pair of dress shoes.  I stood stunned for a minute in my running clothes, trying to process what to do next.  Eventually, I realized I had a day off.

I think this is the first time this has ever happen to me in 20+ years of travel as a grownup.

Sometimes you’ve got to read between the lines in emails – this classic from Ze Frank is worth watching.  (Thanks Will.)

On the outside, he is a quiet calm of a man.  Watching him sitting and contemplating the madness surrounding him, you sense a deep serenity.  Inside, however, the fires burn with hot intensity.  Sometimes they burst out to the surface – a head twitch here, a leg shake there – but it’s never more apparent then when you look in his eyes. At first glance, you see a deep peacefulness.  At closer inspection, you see a fire burning bright, forged deep in his soul.  Everything is lighthearted; nothing is casual.  He considers the Barkley Marathon.  What would Francisco d’Anconia do? (Thanks Herb.)

Scott Yates won a copy of Ben Casnocha’s book My Start-Up Life: What a (Very) Young CEO Learned on His Journey Through Silicon Valley with the best haiku in the contest I had last week.  There are 20 of them – many great.  Ben chose the winner – it’s as follows:

startups, like parents,
get heaps of good, bad advice.
which bits to ignore?

Nicely done Scott.

Is it “whither” or “wither?”  I guess you’ll have to read the Onion article titled Even CEO Can’t Figure Out How RadioShack Still In Business to determine which it is (hint – both?)  I’m not a daily reader of The Onion – I rely on my friend Dave (who I think reads it cover to cover – or “every page” in webspeak) to send me the ones that will make me laugh.  This article is a perfect description of the anacronism that is RadioShack.  (Thanks Amy, Maureen, and Dave for the editorial, grammatical, and content help.)  And thanks RadioShack for all of those gold tipped cables and wide array of battery choices.

The motto for my first company was “We Suck Less.”  It’s one of my favorite lines and I think it’s a valid aspiration for many tech companies since so much that’s out there sucks.

Apparently today Mel Karmazin – the CEO of Sirius – told investors at his annual meeting in response to XM that “we suck less.”  Brilliant.  (Thanks Bill for the link.)

In the spirit of those awesome Apple / IBM ads (and the Apple / IBM spoof ads), Nick Denton at Valleywag (yes – I read Valleywag – doesn’t everyone?) has put up a great San Francisco vs. Silicon Valley ad.