Kyle Brady: A Blog

Since I am an avid follower of Smallville, but do not watch it on the TV itself, per se, I wanted to somehow contribute my two cents to both the network and the show… the rumors that this is the last season are far too depressing, given how amazing the last 8 episodes have been, to let them be true.

So I wrote them a note expressing just these feelings.

I just wanted to let you know that this season of Smallville is BY FAR the best season yet, no matter what some of the critics say.

This is what I have been waiting for:  seeing Clark Kent start to develop the Superman character, and slowly realize what that means… along with the “Lois and Clark” dynamic that is so absolutely crucial to the characters of both Clark Kent and Superman.

I would even go as far as to say that having Lana, Lex, and Lionel out of the picture is a good thing (despite how I felt at the end of the last season), because this allows more room to focus on the core of the show, and the reason it was created in the first place:  Clark Kent -> Superman.

I’m a little sad because I know that Chloe will most likely die by the end of this season, or the next (”God willing” there’s another season), because of the continuity, but I understand this.  Do not let fan emotions cloud the judgment that is necessary to execute both fully and properly the needs of the show.

I believe that this should NOT be the end of Smallville, but rather the beginning of the end, giving Clark time to fully develop into Superman.  Another season, at minimum, would be required to do so in a believable fashion, and I hope that both you (the network) and the writers realize this.

The ratings for the past seasons may have been slowly slipping, and I’m not aware of the current ratings, but I hope not being “the top slot” does not dissuade you from completing what is, at this point, very obvious and necessary to both the legions of fans and the mythos of Superman himself.

In my eyes, and the eyes of many others, you have done for Superman what the recent Batman movies have done for him:  reinvigorated a concept that had fallen on hard times, allowing those of us who grew up with these characters to once again find them all too real.

posted on November 9th, 2008 at 11:14 pm by Kyle - Comments

Tags: Open Letter, Smallville, Superman, The CW, TV

Something I just fired off to the powers-that-be at ReadWriteWeb:

Dear Read/WriteWeb,

I was poking around, and I came across Tim O’Reilly’s response to the R/WW post about Google being “spread too thin”, and in one of the first comments beneath it, he states that the latest batch of writers aren’t up to par.

I’ve been a fan of R/WW for awhile, and have voiced my opinions about you guys going the echo-chamber direction, and I applaud you for avoiding that disaster over the last few months, remaking yourself into something else entirely.

But what, exactly, is the direction you’re going?

You continue to cover startups that have little to no value (to anyone)… mashups of mashups, aggregators of aggregators, etc.  And then you have posts like the “Web 2.0 Grizzled Entreprenuers” (or whatever it’s called) that make absolutely no sense… you can’t be in the Web 2.0 world and be anything but happy with sunshine breath, and “riding the economy” is really not important, or even relevant, to these same people.  The only thing that matters is where their money comes from, and most of them have enough to go for at least a year, thanks to the investors I’ve previously ridden so harshly for their pack-mentality.

Web 2.0 is dying, and it seems that only a few people are seeing it.  Not that it was ever truly “alive”, but the recent economic events have made some realize the insanity of what was/is going on.  And this means that your content will change.  Again.

So, my suggestion to you is twofold:

• Reign in your writers. Just because they have access to a high profile blog doesn’t mean they should go writing whatever comes to mind.  Even I don’t do that, and I barely have an audience.  The image and brand of RW/W is going to be upheld or destroyed on an individual post basis, and, as O’Reilly proved, one false step in the wrong direction can make a bigger impact than having many great posts.
• Focus on important things. At this point, I’m not sure anyone cares (least of all me) about “MuxTape dying, but it’s going to be revived, and, oh, by the way here’s a few writeups about other places that are “the MuxTape for YouTube!”.”  Focus on the people who are actually doing difficult things.  Things that matter.  Ted Dziuba may be nasty and sarcastic, but he has the right idea.  Not to mention actually doing something interesting and, God forbid, programmatically difficult.

This is important to you, now more than ever.  Not only because of the changing tides, but also because you have an audience larger than before.

Who does not know how great you used to be.

Disclosure:  I’ll be publicly posting this on my blog.  A reader manifesto is still a manifesto.

posted on September 29th, 2008 at 8:16 pm by Kyle - Comments

Tags: Open Letter, R/WW, The Internet, Web 2.0, Web Startups

[This is an "open letter" to Bill Gates.  The chances of him reading it are the same as me being an American President, but who cares.]

Dear Mr. Gates (Bill?),

You don’t know me, but I’m a 20 yr old living in Silicon Valley who has what only can be described as a “love/hate relationship” with you (not in a sexual sense, but intellectually and philosophically).  And I thought I’d put it all in writing.  For the ages, as it were.

The earliest I can remember using a computer was about 17 or 18 years ago, back in Maryland (yes, that makes me either 2 or 3 yrs old).  I can remember learning how to type commands in DOS, not Windows 3.1 yet, that let me run my games that usually involved Sesame Street.  After that, we got Windows 3.1 and I thought it was the best thing ever.  Keep in mind this was way before the Internet was publicly used, so all my activities involved playing games or messing around with Windows itself (I actually got in alot of trouble, up to when I moved to California, for changing settings, specially configuring things, and “exploring” … get it? … how everything worked).

All of this set the foundation for what was to become an obsession and fascination with computers, and ultimately, how they worked.  By 4th grade, I remember being “that guy” who the teachers asked to fix computer problems… even the computer teacher.  By middle school, my “that guy” status had increased to include physically fixing hardware problems as well, and extended to almost everyone that knew me.  By high school, I was heavily into the Internet and programming (learning HTML wasn’t enough… I immediately jumped into web-based languages).

So you see, I can only credit you and my father for this.  Him for his genes (Engineer) and having the computer around, and you for creating “the right thing, at the right time”.  But I’ve also had a fascination with the stories of your personality and success,  often hoping that I would be the “next Bill Gates”:  coming from nowhere to eventually rule the computing world.

But as my computer abilities progressed, I discovered Linux, and became increasingly frustrated with the speed and access constraints that are so often associated with Windows.  In fact, I am now officially a Linux “geek”, and only use Windows when I have to (i.e. I have a PC for the Adobe Suite, because I hate Macs more).  And with this glowing new relationship with Linux, I’ve discovered the freedom and security that comes with moving away from Windows.  I won’t bother with the details, because I’m sure you’re aware of the old arguments, but they are anything but myths.

You might see my problem by now.  I detest Windows, and most other Microsoft products, and avidly suggest friends and family take alternatives (Linux vs. Windows, iPod vs. Zune, Firefox vs. IE, etc.).  Just yesterday I came across the issue of Fortune that features your wife, and found this quote:

Reading the article, Bill learned about the World Bank’s 1993 Development Report, which calculated the cost of these disease.  He got the 344-page document and read it several times.  [Page 50, Right Column]

I actually tore that page out, highlighted it, and it’s going on my wall.  Why?  Because it so perfectly describes what I’ve always admired about you… the attitude.  “Cut the crap, get to the point” is something I have lived by for years, and the willingness to devote massive amounts of time to something you believe in is not a common human trait.

To wrap this up, I find myself often comparing myself to you (goals, personality, and, hopefully, intelligence), while hating almost everything that Microsoft does.  Except the XBOX.  That was a stroke of pure genius, so congrats on that one.  And now, with your philanthropic efforts being mixed with your foresight and attitude, I can only hope that my goal to become the “next Bill Gates” one day comes true.

Except for the Microsoft part.

Sincerely,

Kyle Brady

posted on January 21st, 2008 at 1:36 pm by Kyle - Comments

Tags: Bill Gates, Me, Microsoft, Open Letter