Ideatrotter

When we think of geeks, we usually think of Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking and  Bill Gates etc. But beyond the recent present there is a name that we now but not always remember - Nikola Tesla. Sometimes considered the father of the electrical age, Tesla had pioneered inventions ahead of most people’s imaginations. For example: Marconi the winner of the noble prize for physics for creating the radio, based his work on Tesla’s research. I believe the infographic, provided via the title link, speaks to his contribution to science and how we should reconsider him as the one of the top 5 innovators in history. 

Google uses a very small portion of global electricity. In an independent report, Stanford consulting professor Jonathan Koomey estimated that data centers use between 1.1% and 1.5% of global electricity (Growth in data center energy use 2005-2010). From Google’s own accounting, they have concluded that Google’s data centers use about 1% of Koomey’s worldwide data center estimate. This makes Google responsible for about 0.01% of global electricity use. At half the energy use of average data centers, Google’s energy techniques work; tips of some of the techniques employed have been provided in the Youtube videos provided by the Google team. 

A generation crippled by payback terms; where education is secondary and payback is primary. This thought sounds depressing, but is very real. Student debt has surpassed $1 trillion and the average lifetime to payback has changed dramatically.

Back in 1993, only 45% of students borrowed loans for school. Today, that number has reached 94%. The average debt hovers around $24,000, with 10% owing more than 54% and 3% owing more than $100,000. If you are not responsible for your own payments, then this maybe something to overlook. But, for all those responsible for their own debt, this hampers not only their entrepreneurial spirit to take on more risk, but it has left them bitter as the terms for the loans have spiraled out of control. 

Many anti-traditional revolutionists have called for the “higher education under microscope” treatment. Is all that debt really worth it? If tuition can rise by 8% YoY, but wages rise only 5% since 2001, there is a very real problem. Maybe these business models have become antiquated. Young speakers like Nikhil Goyal, at 16, have already expressed alternate methods to education, calling for a “learning movement”. Maybe, we can finally accept the dropout way of life; atleast then we can control all the terms. 

Please click on the title to see an interactive data graph about how education has changed and affected us over time. 

Dave McClure represents that egregious class of geeks whose success makes a suit consider the so-called “hoodie” path. Beyond founding 500 Startups and Geeks On A Plane, Dave has gone on a bender, trying to discover entrepreneurs in different corners of the world, bringing their emerging talents to the forefront.

Heading Paypal’s marketing in the 2000s, McClure was later given $3 million to manage the Founder’s Fund and Facebook Fund. This small pool of money led to the birth of 500 Startups. Why not help launch startups for cheap earlier where the cost impact can be minimized? Now McClure hopes to take his success to destinations like Latin America and India, where startup-dom is the new wave. Gigaom’s link provides a nice in-depth article into why McClure’ boyish dream may actually become a reality.