It's Steve (now in blog form)

I can finally talk about what I’ve been working on.  Fortunately, my fearless Product Ninja Max wrote a great summary of the project on his blog.  I figure that since he works for me that it’s fine to crib it with attribution.  Check out the original post on 8bitkid.com.

I know I’ve been off of the radar since I left MySpace, and I’m happy to finally be able to talk about my newest project: gravity.com. We’re officially out of stealth now, and it is a great feeling to be able to now talk about something I have been pouring my heart and soul into over the past six months. We’ve assembled an amazing team here, and today we’re unveiling the site and the problem we are tackling.

The online conversation space has been historically undeserved, with outdated tools that create fragmented and unwieldy discussions. Our mission is to help people engage in meaningful conversations about their passions. Be it gadgets, cooking, Voltron, or whatever you may fancy, Gravity will provide users with a place to have discourse with other people who share their interests. Traditional tools like forums, group email lists, and collaborative blogs haven’t offered users with simple, functional, and fun way to interact and share. When we talk about what we’ve built, we like to describe it as a turn-based conversation site. This isn’t about allowing for chatter, but instead about creating a destination where we provide a framework for people to better share and communicate. We’re focused on building out the Interest Graph for the web to help people connect with their passions and discover people and topics that are personally relevant. Additionally, we’re embracing the distributed nature of the web, current movements in open API’s and technology, and are looking at how we open up our technology while inter-operating with others.

Please check out this TechCrunch post that delves into more detail on the company and our mission, and be sure to follow us on Twitter at: @gravity. This is an exciting moment for me personally and professionally, and I can’t wait to share more about the project, and more importantly, give everyone a chance to play with the product and tell me what you think.

I admit it, there are times when I wonder if the things I do will have any lasting impact on the world.  Can I, as an individual, really make any sort of meaningful difference?  Well, ladies and gentlemen, I have been been inspired.  Allow me to introduce you  to Thomas Midgley, Jr.

Midgley was an inventor.  Celebrated in his lifetime, he died with over a hundred patents and accolades from his peers.  He also singlehandedly jacked the environment six ways to Sunday. Midgely became a household name for solving engine knock by adding lead to gasoline. His tireless efforts to show how safe high lead levels could be, despite the numerous deaths from lead poisoning in refineries, legitimized the process and landed him only briefly incapacitated for lead poisoning (he publicly demonstrated the safety of lead by running his hands through a lead solution and nearly died after the press had gone home).

Now, the wide dispersal of lead throughout the environment for the next several decades is quite a legacy, but Midgely would not simply fade into obscurity. Remember that hole in the ozone from all of the Freon and CFC’s? Well Midgely is up in heaven right now looking down at you through it. He invented those too. Yup, the lead in the gasoline guy is also the CFC guy.

On an interesting note, in his later life he contracted polio. In designing an elaborate system of pulleys to help get himself out of bed, he became tangled and was strangled (the whereabouts of Captain Planet cannot be accounted for that day).

So the next time you run into someone going insane because their well was a little too close to leaky gas tanks, or you see a polar bear who misses the snow, remember one man really can make a difference.

Some of you have probably already figured out that deep down I’m actually a nine year old science dork.  It was entirely clear when I went to DC a couple of weeks ago and managed to fit in a few hours at the Smithsonian.  How can you possibly pass up a chance to see dinosaurs and spaceships on the same day?!?!?  All the pics are here. Now I just need to figure out how to get to Space Camp….

Why does DC have a truck that delivers salt? How much are they using?

I got to touch a moon rock.  Sure it’s just basalt, but it’s SPACE BASALT (that’s the best kind of basalt).

If nuclear armageddon had happened in the 80’s, this is the last thing you would have seen.

This is where all the Tang goes

All of the non-tech dorks can skip this one.  For the rest of you: Holy Shit! That’s a CRAY!!!!

I like dinosaurs…a lot.  How did I ever manage to get married?

These two pics make me laugh.  The fossil processing lab has been turned into an exhibit.  I like their sign

I just missed feeding time.

So there you go, my science dork afternoon in DC.  Stay tuned for our next dork adventure: LEGOLAND!  (I’m a little embarrassed about all this actually.  No idea why I feel compelled to share.  *sigh*).

I’m feeling very science dorky this year.  I have to add these t-shirts and clock to my list.

A hoodie with a dozen hidden pockets specifically designed to hold electronics?!?!? Oh god, must have.

The doctor wasn’t 100% sure, but he thinks we’re having a boy!!  You should all take a moment to either be overcome with joy or commiserate with my wife.  Here’s his picture.