A few weeks ago, Ben Casnocha showed up in Boulder to spend three months with us. I’ve gotten to know Ben over the past four years after having been introduced to him by Greg Prow as “hey Brad – you’ve got to meet this guy Ben – I bet he’ll remind you of you when you were his age.” Having known Ben for four years, all I can say is that I fantasize about having been as together at 18 as Ben is today. 

One of the really cool things about entrepreneurship (and life in general) is being open to new people and new ideas. I’ve written about my random days policy in the past. Today I got the following note from Ed Sullivan, CEO of Aria. Hello Brad, According to your blog you’re on the East Coast. If by chance you’re in Philly, I’d love to buy you lunch, dinner or coffee. I’ve gotten amazing value from your blog: YEO, tools to negotiate my financing, corporate mission statement, life review etc. and I’d love to meet you face to face and shake your hand. I promise not bore you with my business plan (I’m funded).

Another day, another city. At least I saw a really cool sculpture today. Ryan just posted Reason #73 He Hates Airports. Hint – “Caution, the moving walkway is nearing its end, please watch your step. Thank you.”

Yet another Hackathon at FeedBurner (#4). Guys – you really need to cut back on the sugar and caffeine. Eh – never mind – keep consuming! Eric (one of FeedBurner’s founders and CTO) dissects the hack he did (an “Event Feed” service.) It’s kind of like “Being Eric Lunt” in the spirit of “Being John Malkovich.” Plus we get a cool new FeedBurner service (on the Optimize Tab under Event Feed for those of you following along at home.)

Jack Bauer was very busy last night. I didn’t realize his family was so large, or so evil. I expect his reunion with his dad won’t be as enjoyable as mine was. I’m on the east coast somewhere today enjoying real cold but little snow (unlike Ben who is merely enjoying the unreality of snow in Boulder) plowing through my email and feeds before my day starts. My friends at NewsGator have given me yet another way to read RSS feeds with their new NewsGator Enterprise On-Demand (NGEOD – or NGOD for those of you that are atheists) product. If you want to try out enterprise RSS for free for 30 days and like Software as a Service (or On-Demand, or – if you are old school – ASP), now is your chance.

Air travel generally sucks these days. It starts when TSA tells you that you cannot have your toothbrush in the same ziplock bag as your toothpaste (liquids only in the quart bag Mr. Traveler), continues on the filthy plane (thanks for the nice smelling oder killer thing in the bathroom, but did you notice that the sink doesn’t look like it has been washed in a year), and finishes as you sit in the airport during yet another weather or mechanical delay.

I’ve written plenty about patents in the past, including a provocative post titled Abolish Software Patents*.* I was having a conversation with John Funk, a partner in Evergreen Innovation Partners, at the end of last year after a catch up lunch. We got into a serious conversation about the fact that so much of the software patent good vs. bad rhetoric seems like it’s more about opinions, anecdotal experience, and agendas – rather than a comprehensive review of the facts. So – we decided to take it up a level and see where the conversation went.

Following is an exchange I had with a friend and someone I like to co-invest with. Me: You’ve been awfully quiet lately. Is everything ok? Just checking in and saying hi. Friend: Thanks for checking in. Yes, all is well. Just busy with an office move, some projects at home and work with my companies. I am expanding beyond web 2.0 as an investment strategy so spending time with peeps outside of our traditional network. Will tell all about it during our next dinner.

Amy and I are huge fans and supporters of the new Denver Art Museum. Part of our gift to the museum in 2005 was used to fund the Bubbloo exhibit. In addition to being cool and clearly the family safe equivalent of “drugs for little kids”, it reminds me of the product from our portfolio company Reactrix which is especially neat.