Here's a really good article by Jason Freedman re: finding a technical co-founder. An interesting side nugget from this piece is that low level to middle of the road engineers and designers (specifically web developers/designers) need to very very afraid. Towards the end, Jason talks about getting a prototype built using off-shore engineers and design services from companies like 99designs.com and PSD2HTML.com. I myself have been using oDesk talent to build not only prototypes but actual live products for a while now. The more and more I use these services, the more and more I see the blurring of the lines between US based engineers and off shore ones. Initially, you could only expect to have low level work done off shore and almost never any design work. However, the world is catching up. It was the case that you could never find a good Python or RoR developer via oDesk. Today, there are literally hundreds (if not thousands) of them there. As for design, I've found designers in Pakistan and Eastern Europe who actually do better work than 75% of the designers I've used stateside. The kicker is that they're also about 60%-80% cheaper. In the face of this level of competition, it's just economically irresponsible to spend $5K-$6K a month on an average web designer when I can spend a third of that for the same level of work overseas.

I have mixed feelings about this. As an Amazon affiliate (I send clicks to Amazon and when someone buys something via that click, I get a percentage of the sale - about 4%-6%), it makes me angry that I won't be able to collect any revenue from recommendations I make re: products for sale on Amazon. However, as an Amazon customer, I'm happy that I can still buy stuff from them without the 9.5% sales tax that would otherwise be charged. Here's a great open letter stating the case against Amazon for shutting own it's affiliate program in California. In total, I've made less than $500 from being an Amazon affiliate. I have probably saved three times this amount though in sales tax from stuff I've bought from Amazon. Could I have bought the same items from another out of state retailer? Of course, but I won't get the same customer service and feeling of security I get when ordering from Amazon. In the end, it doesn't affect me as much. I'll still buy from Amazon but I will no longer be an affiliate of any body. It's just too much hassle since there's no "all-in-one" online retailer I can link to as easily as Amazon.

Everyone has been saying that Klay Thompson's drafting means that Monta Ellis is leaving. Here's a good article from BDL with a more measured take. Given that I don't think the Warriors can find a good C or SF in a trade, there's no point in trading Monta at this time. Thompson will play the SG/SF reserve role and give more rest to Monta and Wright who play close to 40+ minutes each night. If he can reduce their minutes to about 35 each night, that will help the W's in the long run by reducing injuries and allowing the starters to play more "peak" minutes than have stretches of being gassed on the court. Plus, I don't see a Curry/Thompson backcourt being any good next year. Monta may eventually go but not next year unless there's a blockbuster trade that brings in a significant upgrade to their front line.

This was somewhat expected. Not sure how he'll fit in since the Warriors have Ellis, Wright and Reggie Williams at SG. Again, not a ton of expectations so we'll see how this turns out when/if the season gets started.

NBA Draft is going on now. First three picks were pretty much as expected - Irving, Williams, and Kanter. Cleveland's second pick at #4 is Tristan Thompson from Texas. Somewhat of a reach since most draft boards had him in the 6-9 range. Maybe the contract issues of Jonas Valanciunas scared them off. Toronto who picks 5th is high on Brandon Knight so Valanciunas might slip to 6th to the Wizards.

UPDATE:  Guess I was wrong...  Toronto chooses Valanciunas at 5th.