Wednesday: Catherine and I had lunch with a professor/VC who gave us some very good feedback. But also raised some questions about our direction. Need to narrow down and make choices that I hadn’t thought of before. I had thesis class later that day. The best suggestions were to go ahead and start wireframes and mockups. And develop user scenarios. And the best advice of all: divorce the creative process of Soko as my ITP thesis from the “how will you make money” demands of the biz plan competition. The best advice I’ve heard this week.

Thursday: Feedback session on the biz plan draft at Stern. We scored an “excellent” on the exec summary, “good” in the other sections. We need to tweak the financials, but we have a roadmap. Got some excellent advice about using principles of game design to incentive users to participate in SokoSquare and as a way of visualizing and communicating social currency on the site, i.e. how can you trust someone. Lots of crazy ideas in my mind right now. Time to type them up, more soon.

Ok, that was free-form and stream of consciousness, but I’m on a roll. Now back to work…

Photo by Chika Iijima @ ITP
Hipstamatic for iPhone

Photos by Daniel in the Lion’s Den via Flickr.

Videography and off-camera commentary by Kris Hartley.

Latest documentation here (PDF).

SCORE meeting notes with Judith Katz:

We need to find out from potential users how much they are willing to pay for SokoSquare. Judith, the advisor, suggested that we do another round of Survey Monkey for this.

No need to deal with incorporation for the biz plan competition. She suggested S-corp or LLC if/when we get funding, but in our case, LLC might be better because for an S-corp, all members must be at least US permanent residents (sorry Catherine). LLC is ok for foreigners though.

We really need to hammer out the details of our marketing plan. And I need to be better off the cuff with this too, as it is the weakest part of my shpiel right now.

Judith loved the pop-up stores/gallery idea. And the “fun and community engagement” part of SokoSquare, so I will develop that aspect.

We should get some sort of faculty advisor at Stern, even if the prof’s name isn’t attached to the project officially. I am getting advice from a couple profs at ITP, but it would be good to have a Stern perspective as well.

I met with Elizabeth today to discuss the to-do list for building the prototype. Here’s what we came up with:

Lee-Sean to-do

All CSS and blog theme (March 1st)
Change header logo
Change menu font color
Add twitter and facebook widgets to header
Fix up email copy
Photoshop mockups for March 1 venture fair

Enter this list into issue tracker

Elizabeth Dev March 1
Migrate files !!!! – before this weekend
MySQL errors on welcome page (generally need to clean up page, maybe add a suggestions section of what to do next.)
tweak layout of text blocks in search results page
Fix up match search (current search is one matching on an individual basis) <- I would like to get Peter involved in the matching algorithm.
Stop allowing algorithm to match null fields
Specify user name in matching results

Delete suggestions as the have / want lists get filled out.

LONGER TERM – to be assigned
human readable URLs
Set up user control bar for easily acessing and editing haves, wants, and matches.
Include a user profile pic, general reference links option
Add “new users” and “featured users” bars on the bottom of the front page (Doesn’t make sense to worry about this until there is enough users to fill this space)
Enable user to “follow” other users
Integrate with Linked in, Twitter, and Facebook APIs
Allow descriptive explanations of haves and wants
Set up user submitted questions and matching answers section to help people better understand what values are important to them.
Enable one click alerts for questionable content.
Integrating a list of users opt in for notifications (sourced)

Add functionality to rate users
Add functionality to visualize users social graphs
Add functionality to allow users to create embeddable SokoSquare widgets for their own blogs/sites
Create mobile version of the site. iPhone/Android app?
Add geo-coding functionality to allow users to act hyperlocally (possibly integrate with mobile version)
Transition to Drupal or Ruby on Rails? – do research
Create API or standardized machine-readable XML convention for expressing user into to allow for third party mash-ups of data

CONTENT
Generate a FAQ page with how tos and justifications (how to edit your profile, how to contact a user, why you should fill out your profile, who has access to what information, clarify what kind of emails to expect from us so that users know if phishing occures)
Get some sample user pictures to spice up the pages (organize a photoshoot with props?
Fix up email copy
Add a confirmation page or word filter to cut back on spam bots.
Beef up the “about us” section with blurbs on the creators

Here are a few more milestone/deadlines:
February 17 – Draft of SokoSquare business plan due for Stern contest
End of February – Draft Revisions Due
March 1 – Stern Venture Showcase, finish to-do list for prototype by then, and have a pitch deck first draft
March 31/April 1 – Stern Strategy Feedback Session & Pitch-off Practice – have pitch deck completed and practiced
April 16 – Semi-Final Pitch Off
April 30 – Final Pitch off and award ceremony

This is what we had:

Yam Samun Phrai ($9.00)

Special Northern Thai herbal salad with ginger, carrot, parsnip, betel leaf, basil, lime leaf, sawtooth, fried shallots, cashews, peanuts, sesame seeds, dry shrimp, ground pork and Thai chilies in a coconut milk dressing.

I’ve never had anything like this before, but it kind of reminded me of a Japanese kinpira on acid. A definite party going on in my mouth. A taste revelation.

Coconut Rice ($2.50)
Definitely necessary to counteract the atomic Thai chilies masquerading as scallions in the salad

Sii Khrong Muu Yaang ($11 – not pictured)

Carlton Farms baby back ribs marinated in whisky, soy, honey, ginger and Thai spices. slow grilled over charcoal and served with 2 spicy dipping sauces.

I’m not usually a ribs person, but these were very well executed. They kind of reminded me of jerky or Cantonese char siu, in a good way.

Khao Soi Kai ($11.50)

Northern Thai mild curry noodle soup made with our secret curry paste recipe, natural chicken on the bone and house-pressed fresh coconut milk. Served with pickled mustard greens, shallots, crispy yellow noodles and roasted chili paste. Chiang Mai specialty, with Burmese origins.

My favorite Thai noodle soup! It’s not on many Thai restaurant menus in the US, but it should be. Pok Pok’s khao soi is rustic, with big chunks of chicken on the bone, falling apart tender, and a perfectly balanced coconut broth. I wish there were a little bit more broth though, ’cause I downed every drop.

Sankhaya Fak Thong ($6.50)

Steamed Kabocha pumpkin, filled with coconut-palm sugar custard scented with pandanus leaf.

The kind of expected this to be warm, or at least room temperature, but it came cold. Still really good though. I think maybe just a dash of salt would have offset some of the sweetness and made the flavor of the kabocha really pop, but that would be gilding the lily. BTW, the desert portion was more than enough for 2 people to share.

Pok Pok
3226 se division, pdx : 503 232 1387

The Awesome Foundation NY has made our first selection! It was tough NY – you completely blew us away with amazing incredibly brilliant ideas.

But – this month, for our inaugural grant, we’ve picked a LASER TWEEZER that makes amoebas eat bacteria.

Awesomeness to the MAX.

No – really, its a laser tractor beam that prods amoebas. We’ve awarded January’s $1000 grant to Ben Dubin-Thaler’s Cell Motion BioBus.

We’ll be celebrating with Ben at the First AF-NY Award Ceremony on Monday February 8 at 8 pm, at the Apple Bar, Waverly at Greene. Come and join us for a beer, meet the NY Micro Trustees – and we’re working on getting the BioBus there too. Beyond Awesome.

Read more

Lee-Sean Huang: “Mumbo Jumbo Maracas” from Nisma Z on Vimeo.

“Mumbo Jumbo Maracas” at Southpaw in Brooklyn, NY on December 15, 2009. This was for the NIME (New Interfaces for Musical Expression) class, taught by Greg Shakar and Hans-Christoph Steiner at NYU’s ITP. Video by Nisma Zaman and Minette Mangahas.

Last night the Trustees of the Awesome Foundation New York met in person for the first time to get the ball rolling.

Photo (clockwise from top left): Jesse Chan-Norris, Lee-Sean Huang, Sam Lessin, Steve Rosenbaum, Douglas Repetto, Dawn Barber, Clay Shirky, Colin Nedercoorn, Brandon Kessler, Catherine White, and Chris Dixon

Reminder: Grant applications are due at midnight tonight! Tell us why your project is awesome and deserving of a $1000 dollar grant. Submit proposals here.

Next course was Ash-e joe, a thick soup with lentils, black eyed peas and mixed greens, topped with yogurt and fried onions.  Healthy, hearty, and delicious.  The soup could easily be a meal in itself and is perfect for a cold day rainy day like the day we visited.

Then I had some tongue sandwich.  I love tongue for its chewy, meaty texture, and go for it every time I get Japanese or Korean BBQ.  The tongue at Attari was different though.  It was almost falling-apart tender, like the best pot roast or pastrami.  The sandwich itself reminded me a bit of banh mi in the best possible way.

In summary, Attari has generous portions, reasonable prices and an authentic Persian experience in LA.  Definitely check it out.  I heard that they have brain sandwiches there too, try it if you are feeling adventurous.  My dining companions weren’t ready to deal with that when I went.

Attari on Yelp
Review of Attari in the NYTimes

I checked out Kogi, the much-hyped Los Angeles Korean BBQ Taco truck when I was in town visiting the family last week.  We followed them on Twitter and drove out to Encino to wait in line for the Korean/Mexican fusion food cart.  They have multiple trucks that park at different locations in LA on different days.  All I have to say about the experience is “Yes!”

Yes, the place has a lot of hype, but the food was great.

Yes, it’s fusion, but it’s fusion that just works.

Yes, the lines are long, so get there early.

Yes, the truck was late, stuck in traffic on the 405, but this is LA…

Yes, it’s cheap. Two bucks for a taco and five for a quesadilla.

I tried the tofu and spicy pork tacos and the kimchi quesadilla.  The tofu was flavorful with Korean marinade and seared to make it taste “meaty” rather than gelatinous.  Worth trying even if you are a total carnivore.  The spicy pork was great too: spicy, sweet, meaty, and fatty.  I have to admit this one was an easy sell for me.  When I go to Korean BBQ, I prefer the pork belly to the usual beef dishes like kalbi and bulkogi.  The quesadilla was amazing too.  The umami that comes out of the ménage à trois of kimchi, sesame, and melted cheese is divine.

Kogi Official Website
Kogi on Twitter
Kogi on Yelp

More NYE photos on Flickr.

Above: a light sculpture by Matthew Richard.
Below: Thomas the Barrel by Meredith Hasson.

Below: Life Dress by Elizabeth Fuller. Featured in Gizmodo.

More pics on Flickr.

Here’s a haiku I tweeted last week while I was on vacation in Arizona, now with a photo to illustrate.

Rented SUV
A tourist in my hometown
Concrete Blonde CD

The Awesome Foundation for the Arts and Sciences is kicking off 2010 by announcing the official launch of the New York City chapter.  I will be serving as the NYC chapter’s Dean of Awesome.  More details on The Awesome Foundation Blog.

The current micro-trustees of The Awesome Foundation NYC chapter include:

• Catherine White
• Caterina Fake
• Chris Dixon
• Sam Lessin
• Clay Shirky
• Colin Nederkoorn
• Jesse Chan Norris
• Douglas Repetto

With 2 more to be announced!

Here is a portrait of me drawn by artist and illustrator Gideon Kendall.  I bartered it in exchange for customizing the theme on his Wordpress blog.

Here’s a new HEPNOVA track I finished tonight with Tsar Nicholas. It’s a menacing electro instrumental track called Rasputin.

An eerily impressionistic and grainy photo of my Mumbo Jumbo Maracas performance at ITP NIME 2009 by Derek Chung.