:Michael Anuzis

My last three weeks have been spent writing, deleting, & rewriting about what is possibly the most exciting idea I’ve had in my life. It’s gigantic. I’m having trouble writing it concise enough to spread like the wildfire I’m hoping for. Well, I’ve come up with a solution.

Last night around 2am I threw down the cash for a digital video camera. It was only $130 and it came with 100 raving reviews on Amazon. Skeptical of the low price, I checked all (three) of the negative reviews and concluded it was the perfect buy for vlogging. As a moderately-ok writer, but a spazzed-out passionate speaker, video seems like the optimal route to unleash this upcoming idea to the web.

The camera’s in the mail. I’m refining the presentation-sequence\strategy. Stay tuned for some stuff!

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Five days ago I said it would be a good idea for somebody to make a web2.0 site that enables anyone to raise funds dynamically. People should be able to embed the widget on their own site, supporters should be able to take action right from the widget, and preset options should be provided to format the widget for different sites.

Looks like that solution already exists, and exactly to my previous specifications. How convenient! My next step in the process of trying to raise $15 million for Kiva.org (a 2007 goal) would be to find out if the two can integrate. ChipIn works perfect for 99.9% of fund raising initiatives where people give money and it’s never returned, but what about with Kiva where your money is a loan that’s paid back to you over the next year? Could this gadget coordinate payment tracking and get people their money back as well? I’ve e-mailed the dev. team @ ChipIn and it turns out it can! Perfect!

Stay tuned as I follow this project & I’ll share the code to embed this gadget. With this kind of tool at our disposal, I’m confident we’ll raise the $15 million. Don’t you love how things can work out?

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I hadn’t planned on a 3rd part to this series, but a team of U.N. researchers revealed an option within anyone’s power that has a bigger impact than switching to a hybrid Toyota Prius. Here are the highlights:

- the emissions generated by feeding, transporting, & slaughtering livestock exceeds that of all the world’s transportation combined
- animal agriculture takes up 70% of all agricultural land, 30% of the total land surface of the planet
- animal agriculture accounts for 37% of our methane emissions and a whopping 65% of our nitrous oxide, with 23 and 296 times more warming power than carbon dioxide, respectively

I quit red meat long ago, but with this I’m going the rest of the way. Thanks, Ted, for the article.

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One of my goals for 2007 is to raise $15 million for Kiva.org, a non-profit site that turns cash into microcredit then returns it to the lender. My first tactic was a potentially viral facebook group called “We’ll invest $25 in microcredit per 100Kth member”. Do the math and 300,000 members means $15 million raised.
The idea was based off the group “For Every 1,000 that join this group I will donate $1 for Darfur” that reached over 480,000 members within about 6 months. Unfortunately, after a couple weeks our microcredit group has only got 150 supporters and the momentum’s just not there. I’ve been brainstorming the challenge since day 1, and the best solution I’ve come up with involves a potentially lucrative web2.0 company that I don’t yet have the programming skill to create.

The idea’s similar to fundable.org, a site that helps groups of people raise money for their cause. Rather than require everyone interact directly with fundable.org, however, the site I envision allows people to embed a fund-raising gadget on their own site.

Look at the fund-raising gadget Wikipedia uses as an example.  It updates in real-time as donations are made, it’s easier for visitors to trust since it’s embedded right on Wikipedia’s site, and it’s successful at raising money (it’s got over a million in donations already!).

Imagine all the other sites\organizations that would love to have such a simple\effective fund raising application on their site, but don’t know how to program all the complex back-end processes to process transactions and post real-time updates to the web. If one website allowed people to register their fund-raising initiative with it and they were given a simple piece of code to paste onto their site to make it work it could benefit thousands of organizations. Take 1% of the money for providing the applet and you could be rolling in an automated revenue stream that could easily make a few families well-off.

Another function that would enhance the site’s success is allowing people to choose from a set of pre-made fund structures. Is this a one-time event like Wikipedia, or are you raising money via a 3-tiered structure (e.g. donate $25 per 100K members, up to 300K members total). I’m sure there are ten other creative\effective methods that could be used if you thought it through. Also, allow people to customize the graphic from some pre-set models. Do they want a horizontal bar like Wikipedia? or would a vertical bar embed better on their site? Perhaps an image of their choosing is slowly revealed as they approach their fund-raising goal.

To leave you with one last idea, such a site would spread the surface area of fund raising exponentially. Rather than hosting your fund-raising applet locally only, organizations could encourage their supporters to post the applet on their personal website, myspace profile, or w/e else they prefer.

Seems like a great idea to me. If anyone makes this happen please let me know. I think we could help Kiva raise $15 million with it – and that would be just the beginning…

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Going out to dinner and a movie is okay, but honestly I prefer setting up knowledge management systems and optimizing internet marketing campaigns. If you or anyone you know has an NPO that could use some help with their IT, I’d be happy to offer my assistance.

Even if your IT systems are already solid, there’s about a 100% chance I can help make them better. It’s what I love to do. Don’t be shy – drop me a line. I look forward to hearing from you.

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If you’ve seen TV, you know what it feels like to be dumbed down by mindless trash. Let’s face it, most mainstream media undermines your intelligence. Humans are capable of great thoughts & creativity, but exposure to crappy media causes our minds to stagnate.

As streaming video takes hold on the internet, we’re presented with a new option. For the first time in history, humanity’s most powerful and intelligent media is available at your fingertips. You need only know it’s there.

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I have had outstanding sex in my life. I have loved with all my heart. I feel a deep spiritual connection with everyone I meet, and I’ve developed compassion for all living creatures. Yet, there is something I recommend more than all this.

This may come as a shock for those of you unfamiliar with what I am about to say, but I am absolutely convinced that Japanese high school dramas are the best thing in the history of the universe. Words can’t express how much inspiration and raw enjoyment I get from watching Great Teacher Onizuka and Gokusen.

It is an odd scenario to consider, but if I had to make a choice between never having sex again and never watching one of these shows again, I would have to give up sex. There’s no question. I won’t spoil anything for those of you who haven’t seen these shows, but some parts are like a 10-minute orgasm, only better.

Some of you might be thinking that having something talked up this much might spoil it, and with anything else that may be true. But in the case of GTO and Gokusen your expectations will still be exceeded. Don’t even worry about it.

As a small warning, some parts of Gokusen might also be the corniest things you’ve ever seen, but if you can look past them you are sure to enjoy it overall. As it stands, both of these shows are available free on YouTube. I recommend them in either order: Great Teacher Onizuka & Gokusen. If you like things that are better than sex, you may want to check them out.

Addendum: To help you pick which you want to watch first, two sentences on each:

GTO: The main character is high school teacher Eikichi Onizuka, former leader of the most notorious motorcycle gang in Japan. GTO’s a pervert, a virgin, and (IMO) a saint.

Gokusen: Main character is high school teacher Kumiko Yamaguchi, granddaughter & heir to the Oedo Yakuza family (Japanese mafia). I intend to marry her.

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Last month I committed to adopting a 1:1 sustainable lifestyle after learning it would take 2.3 planets to survive if everyone lived like me. I dug around for a while and am ready to share some findings with you.

I started with a book called “Worldchanging: A User’s Guide for the 21st Century“. Turns out this is one of those phenomenal books you wish everyone you know has read. (more on this in an upcoming post!)

Long story short, tracking your ecological footprint is harder than I expected, but I’ve come up with a few things that I’m pretty sure will put me at or below at 1:1 sustainability ratio.

First up, now that I’ve graduated it’s time to think about where to make a living. I used to think urban areas were rough on the environment, but it turns out their large infrastructures are way more efficient than suburbs on a per-person basis. Combine this with my fate to work at Google and my primary choices are San Francisco, Ann Arbor, and perhaps Dubai at some point in the future.

Second, living in an urban environment is possible without a car. In Ann Arbor it was natural to drive less than 10 minutes per week (only to shop at Trader Joe’s). I could walk anywhere. Back in the suburbs of Oakland County with my parents for a couple weeks, I drive at least 2-3 hours/week just from day-to-day activity, and I actually do less. Places are simply much farther apart. Put 2 and 2 together, & I’d like to live in a city where I can live without a car.

Third, I used to always gravitate towards the most foreign\exotic foods whenever I’d get groceries or eat out. If a fish was caught in Alaska, or a pomegranate imported from Europe, the sheer novelty of global commodities made them more desirable than local stuff. I never considered the energy required to ship that fruit overseas so I could eat it. Now, I choose local options whenever the opportunity presents itself.

It’d be fun to cut down on some massive need-more-stuff-mindset purchasing craze that I have, but I already buy pretty much nothing and am content with just my go board, Kung Fu, Tai Chi, a fat cat, and some internet access… Not much else to cut out.

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I write down and share my goals at the beginning of each new year. Looking at years past, I tend to achieve around 90%. This year, I’ve kept the goal count low and hope to achieve them all. Thanks to those of you who help keep me accountable.

“Whether you believe you can or believe you can’t, you are right.”
- Henry Ford

Professional:
- Employment at Google in a Knowledge Management related position, likely affiliated with their recent JotSpot acquisition.
- Plan B: Implement five knowledge management systems in university settings, or for companies with over 100 employees.
- Enrollment in UofM’s School of Information if not working for Google in CA.

Personal:
- A romantic relationship with an intelligent, funny, & beautiful girl.
- Become 3rd Dan in Go.
- Program three Google Gadgets in Python that are used by at least 10,000 people.

Spiritual:
- Meditate 10 minutes daily.
- Practice two Kung Fu forms daily.
- Practice the first loop of Tai Chi daily.

Community:
- Raise $15 million in donations to Kiva.org, one way or another
- Design and live an ecologically sustainable lifestyle.
- Implement wikis for five NPOs.

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