Venture Capitalists are brainless, visionless bankers. They will invest money if it looks/behaves like something else that has already made money.

Business plans? they are a dime a dozen. There are companies that will produce an incredible business plan for you, and with the better business plan companies, you won't even have to answer too many questions - they will do the research and produce the projections for you. And it will be "VC Ready".

If I was in your shoes, I wouldn't even try to sell this to VC's. I would first create and expose an API for content companies to pass their clips through, charging a few cents per 100 frames, and returning to them an improved version of their clips. Now suddenly you have a product, and you can start offering this product to web sites that accept clips from users. Score one or two such customers, and your business plan people have incredible stuff to work with to make your business plans look extremely appetizing.

And if you decide you do want to do that API thing and turn your technology into a product, I can help you guys. Just contact me here :-)

This thinking is flawed. There were human beings alive 1000 years ago who were 1000 times smarter than the average human being living today. The simple truth is that most creatures prefer to have fun and be lazy.

A remote alien race wont be comprised of a population that is 100% smart. It will be more like what we have: 1% or less of the population are smarter than all the rest.

They will want to experience our culture, if only to mirror their own to themselves. Out of curiosity, out of wanting to have fun, out of wanting to experience something new. And maybe just because they can!

Just stick with Ubuntu 12.04 with the default window manager. Imagine you got a new Mac and you are getting used to a new UI/UX. It is actually quite usable, and very stable. Everything just works, and you get a very friendly App store concept just like you get with Apple products.

I find all the other distros are just not as user friendly as Ubuntu for newcomers.

One more thing to consider is how Ubuntu is now branching to Tablets, Phones, and TV's. It's not inconceivable that in the next 6 month, you'll have a totally seamless experience with your content being accessible from all those mediums (Should you choose to also get an Ubuntu TV device, and an Ubuntu Phone or Tablet).

They are going the Apple way, in the sense that you're going to have a fully working ecosystem where all devices speak perfectly with each other and everything just works out of the box.

It's amusing how with all their detailed explanations, you realize that the iPhone is exactly that. Not overwhelming with complex "multi tasking" stuff. Focusing on full screen apps. Simple UX, with simple visuals. Badges. And yet, a powerful graphics engine that enables "enchanting" animations. The iPhone is enchanting, useful, and helpful.

All this shows is that even if you try to go through the whole journey of researching this, you eventually get to the same conclusions about how to build it. Because the users are the same (human beings), have similar requirements overall, and face pretty much the same challenges.

Pass this into law immediately. Thank TSM for that.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Google making a shitload of money from all those "emasculated" people?
And have we already reached the stage where Google tells us what to do with our bodies? :-)

Excuse me, but I'm from the planet where coders use a regular keyboard because it's faster than that junk rubber keyboard that Microsoft came up with, and also where coders use a netbook or a laptop because the screen can be set at any angle. I also want to belong to a planet where the disaster that's called "Windows" is either completely fixed beyond recognition, or is simply erased from the pages of history. A planet where a person like Ballmer is replaced with a better CEO that has an actual vision of the future, in which Microsoft actually innovates instead of copies. If I was a government that cares about the corporations of my country, I would outlaw Windows entirely in my country. And while at it, I would also outlaw Adobe Flash.

I know it's not going to happen any time soon, but it's totally OK to dream of better world!

Right, and you write Python under Windows... Quite the Python hacker, you are!

I totally agree with you. And I think by the way that the disease starts at a much earlier stage - at the Venture Capital stage! You see, VC's do the same thing to high-tech ventures in the early stages of the company, as Wall Street does to large corporations at their later stages. This is why I have always favored Angel investments to VC's (or better yet, if you have the money to bootstrap it, just use your own money).

I think a small company should be able to create a solid, working prototype of their product, and bring it to the stage where the product can start selling and making money, without the help of a VC. That's also why I really like the Kickstarter/Indiegogo model, among other things because it's kicking VC's in the butt and showing them how flawed their operation is. Today's VC's are nothing more than glorified bankers - The word "Venture" does not belong there.

I hope that Wall Street and VC's, at least the way they operate right now, will disappear and be remembered as a bad episode in human history.

Good for Dell. Bad for Wall Street. By not looking beyond their noses, and caring only for short term bottom line, the Wall Street culture is going to either destroy companies by forcing them to focus on profits rather that quality, or make them run away and go private, like Dell is doing right now.