In his first blog post, he explains the blog name: “Welcome to my personal blog. While Google is a play on googol, too is a play on the much smaller number - two. It also means “in addition”, as this blog reflects my life outside of work.”

In the second blog post, he gets a little more serious. He talks about how DNA startup 23andMe (cofounded by his wife Anne Wojcicki) has shown he has certain gene mutation that is tied to Parkinson’s Disease - G2019S. While the mutation is rare in people with Parksinson’s, in some ethnic groups it accounts for a substantial proportion of familial Parkinson’s. In other words, if you have it, there’s a good chance you’ll get Parkinson’s.

He says based on current available data he’s 20%-80% likely to get the disease. And he can now do something about it:

After getting annihilated for exposing some of the tricks that get normal YouTube videos to go viral, Dan Ackerman Greenberg asked for another word. And we gave it to him. His second effort was much better - he said some people do those things, not him. Readers attacked again, mostly for backpedaling, but not as […]Source:Techcrunch
Tonight I bit the bullet and bought a DNA test from 23andMe’s new Personal Genome Service. This wasn’t an easy thing to do. Quite frankly I fear what may be disclosed to me after spitting in that plastic cup and sending it off for analysis.
On the one hand, I can’t wait to find out interesting […]

Below are five of the newest startups according to Killer Startups for the period ending November 23, 2007. Check out previous Killer Startups posts.

MindBites.com - Share Knowledge

What are you good at? We are all good at something, either you have good fashion sense or can play an instrument. Whatever you talent is there is someone out there that could benefit or enjoy learning about it. At MindBites.com you can share your knowledge and talent with others and look for lessons that interest you. MindBites.com features video lessons that range from cooking to making bath salts. read more »

Shopwiki.com - Your Everything Shopping Guide

Care to shop 2.0 style? ShopWiki is a community based shopping wiki/search engine with some very modish, social features. First and foremost, there’s the engine which combs through more than 180,000 online stores for products and prices. Searches may be refined by price range, brand, sites, and even color. Users can create wikis for any product—whether it be candle making sets or computers; alternatively for a little extra help check out the Wiki buying and Gift guides. read more »

23AndMe.com - Find Out What You Are Made Of

All of us—that is every human being– has 23 pairs of chromosomes. Those chromosomes tell us how we will develop, whether we’ll be left or right handed, whether we’ll become bald or have attached earlobes, whether we’ll get cancer, they’ll even tell us where we came from, who are ancestors were, where they lived—it’s all in the genes. Now with 23andMe you can get a whole write up of how your genes function—your potential for developing various conditions along with traits such as athletic ability or how your grandmother’s intolerance for lactose was passed through your mother. read more »

FlashPhone.ru - Free Calls From The Web

FlashPhone.ru is a free service, from the Russian company "Innovative Systems of Communication", that allows you to make international calls from the internet on your computer. All you need to make these calls is a computer with functioning internet, the adobe flash player, and a headset. To begin you must register with the site, filling out some general information. Then you are ready to go and can make your free international calls. read more »

Lootist.com - Specialist Guided Shopping Recs

On Lootist you’ll find recommendations for products, hobbies and interests. Members of Lootist can make recommendations, browse for ideas, build wish lists, or declare specialties. For those of you wondering what to buy on this massive shopping day, Lootist specialists are there to help. For instance, if you’ve got a friend who enjoys architecture, you could get personal shopping advice from an architect. All recommendations and suggestions are user-submitted. read more »