On the eve of the passing of the massive “economic stimulus package” (I was really hoping it was going to be more than 1 trillion so Dr. Evil could start saying “1 trillion dollars”) we are hearing “broadband broadband broadband.” I’m going to be spending the day tomorrow at the Silicon Flatirons Conference titled The Digital Broadband Migration: Imagining the Internet’s Future and I’m speaking at 9:45 on the panel titled Overview Panel: The Internet’s Challenge to Policymakers. It’s clear that I’ve been set up as my co-panelists are:

There are so many reasons to love Valentine’s Day. My favorite is that on 2/14/09 the Unix Time will be 1234567890. This happens at exactly 00:31:30 CET. Yeah – it’s a little bit of a cheat since CET = GMT+1 and – correspondingly – it will still be 2/13/09 in the United States. Just another good reason to go to Paris for Valentine’s Day. (Thanks ScottM).

Every now and then I run across someone who is still using software that we wrote at Feld Technologies. Some of this software dates back to 1987 – a fact that never ceases to amaze me. And – no, I can no longer provide tech support at any price. We didn’t have much swag at Feld Technologies. In fact, I think the only swag we had, other than a few t-shirts which still make their appearance every now and then, is the mug pictured above. A fraternity brother of mine from MIT emailed me this picture recently – apparently this mug sits on his desk and serves a very mug-like purpose. 

I’m really proud of my Congressman Jared Polis. Jared was one of the first people I met when I moved to Colorado in 1995 (we met in early 1996) and have been good friends ever since. Jared has a great article about his first few weeks in Congress up on the CNN website titled Commentary: Congress is like going back to college. There’s also a fun video. Jared – you look very serious in that suit and tie.

I watched Rafael Nadal play two incredible matches at the Australian Open over the weekend. In the semifinals, he defeated Fernando Verdasco in a 5 hour and 14 minute match 6-7(4) 6-4 7-6(2) 6-7(1) 6-4. He returned to the court a little over 40 hours later and defeated Roger Federer 7-5 3-6 7-6(3) 3-6 6-2 in a match lasting 4 hours and 23 minutes. If you are a tennis player, you know this is an amazing physical and emotional achievement.

Slice of Lime is looking to for Flash/Flex/PHP designer who is also a programmer at heart. If this is you, apply now!

Rocky Radar has a great schedule of a bunch of entrepreneurial events happening from 2/2 – 2/9 in and around Boulder. I’ve been getting lots of questions lately from people recently asking “how do I get involved in the Boulder entrepreneurial scene” – the short answer is “show up!” I’m participating in a couple of the events this week. Tuesday @ 5pm: Feld on Finance, Wolf Law, Boulder: Phil Weiser, professor at CU Law and the head of the Silicon Flatirons program, will be interviewing me on finance (aka “whatever questions Phil feels like asking me.”) Tuesday @ 6:30pm: New Tech Meetup, Wolf Law, CU-Boulder: I’m going to participate in this month’s New Tech Meetup. I’ll be doing Q&A on VC / financing for as long as Robert Reich chooses to keep me on stage. Sunday @ 9:45am: The Digital Broadband Migration, Wolf Law, CU Boulder: The Internet’s Challenge to Policymakers – part of the Silicon Flatiron program “The Digital Broadband Migration: Imagining the Internet’s Future” Also, this month’s Boulder Open Coffee Club is happening on Tuesday 2/3 at 8am at The Cup. I can’t make it because I’ve got a board meeting at StillSecure, but there’s always a good crowd (and some great coffee).

Venture Capital in the Rockies (VCIR) is the key annual Venture Capital / Entrepreneurship conference in the Rocky Mountain Region. It’s held in late February / early March each year; this year it’s happening from March 3 to March 5th at Beaver Creek. There’s a full day of keynotes, presentations, and networking, along with two good nights of networking and partying, and a full day of skiing (followed by a party).

I view it as a good thing when people start writing about solutions rather than problems. Here are several good ones for you today. Remain Aggressive: Will Herman is a long time friend (we’ve known each other since 1984), a fantastic CEO, and a dynamite board member. He’s also a huge Patriots fan so his Belichick quote: “If you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse” is expected. He also reminds us of the old Warren Buffet standard: “Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful.” If you are a CEO, read carefully.