Yammer Envy and the San Francisco Startup Dream

Yammer's new digs in downtown San Francisco are the epitome of startup chic

Yammer’s new digs in downtown San Francisco are the epitome of startup chic.

Visiting a colleague at the plush 80,000 square feet that enterprise social network provider Yammer now calls home, I felt pleasantly barraged by sensory stimuli. The foodie in me wanted to gobble down the complimentary baked salmon with cucumber dill sauce and garlic-encrusted green beans; the man-child wanted to beeline to the full-size Street Fighter II machine; the photographer wanted to shoot away at the industrial-themed backdrop, silhouetted by a windowed city skyline. And the consultant wanted to start handing out business cards—or, better yet, shut down my freelance operation and apply for a full-time position.

Yammer relocated to the Twitter office building on Market Street earlier this month, adding to the starring role of tech in downtown San Francisco. Thank the City for its revised tax code aimed to lure star tenants to run-down areas, not to mention its confluence of social and cultural offerings, from Burmese food trucks to Opera in the Park, that’s tough to match. To hip newcomers, San Jose just ain’t that hip.

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New Media Expo 2013: Four Quotes to Remember

Aside

NMXNow in its seventh year, the annual New Media Expo (formerly Blogworld  & New Media Expo) convened in Las Vegas last week for another of round of socializing on social media, where clever takeaways and pithy bullet points were posted, tweeted, liked and Google+’d at rapid-fire. For those not in attendance, here are four quotes to remember, lightly paraphrased:

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Best Way to Enjoy Las Vegas is Via Conference, not Decadence

No bucket list of U.S. cities is complete without Sin City. Its infamous strip of colorfully themed hotels that double as casino mega malls are, depending on your point of view, either an iconic row of breathtaking splendor or the ultimate symbol of Western excess.

Trade shows are a great way to make friends AND soak up the sights.

Trade shows are a great way to make friends AND soak up the sights. From left: NMX attendees Brian Jarvis, Jen Lee Reeves, Tinu Abayomi-Paul and Mona Holmes.

But there’s a reason The Hangover was set in Las Vegas, and even the most disciplined among us can fall prey to its temptations in a state where gambling and prostitution are both legal and aggressively solicited. Want to see Vegas without flattening your pocketbook or your self-respect? Try seeing it during a convention or trade show. Here are four reasons why:

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Nostalgic on Newsweek: My last words to the #LASTPRINTISSUE

I owe my career to Newsweek magazine. Long before it launched a tablet format—or any online format for that matter—the iconic news magazine published on its “My Turn” page an essay I wrote when I was 16.

I was 16 when publishing an essay in Newsweek magazine landed me an appearance on "Good Morning America" with Dana King.

I was 16 when publishing an essay in Newsweek magazine landed me an appearance on “Good Morning America” with Dana King.

When that issue hit the stands in May 1993, my entire high school suddenly knew my name—and face, as the article included my picture. The essay centered on the fact that students at my ethnically mixed campus self-segregated themselves by race as they got older, and offered ideas of what schools could do to improve race relations. Teachers across the country assigned the essay to their classes and debated its merits. Two local TV stations interviewed me on campus. Next thing I knew, Good Morning America flew me to New York to discuss racial issues with then-Senator Julian Bond. I came home to find hundreds of letters sent from around the world. I was never popular in school, but for a week I came close. That was the same week I knew I wanted to earn a living as a writer.

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Worried Your Phone May Get Stolen or Go Screwy? Take These 4 Precautions Now

Posted @ Funny-Picks.comWhile traveling on business recently, my iPhone suddenly went blank. Pressing the touch screen produced only blurry lines. Facing a full schedule of meetings the next day, I had no laptop, no car, and no Apple Store within 100 miles. Epic fail, anyone?

Let’s face it. Sooner or later your smartphone may go kaput. You might drop it one too many times, or leave it on the floor of a cab. Or it could be snatched out of your hands, as happened to my former roommate while on a bus. Cell phone theft is on the rise; so is nomophobia.

The only thing worse than losing your smartphone is being unprepared. Consider the following four steps to save yourself a coronary if it does happen:

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