Sam, I really like your branding for Cheddar, and you have a consistency about your personal brand as well. And you're stirring the pot dude! That counts for something.
Personally, I think the $1000/hr isn't too much, especially if someone is getting branding advice from you.
Gladwell has managed to combine the best parts of reading a book about Vietnam and watching Rambo: First Blood Part II. You get the virtuous smart-person feeling of the former and the escapist fantasy of the latter.
I think you nailed it here. This is why I enjoy reading Gladwell - his writing inspires me, and without the fist pumping bravado of motivational speakers.
But do we really need an open source social network? Do we need more/different online social networks when there is so much out there already?
Why don't people just use preexisting technologies like email? What's the obsession with social networks anyway? Let's rethink this and come up with something radically different.
There is a alternative, all inclusive solution right under our noses...
It's not a low goal if you're just starting out, it's a realistic goal.
It takes time and triangulating over a lot of ideas before one gets good at coming up with passive income winners. I think the author is right on track and he has a great giver mcgiver attitude.
Also, the marriage proposal app is a pretty good idea FWIW.
Ping is a flop of biblical proportions. It was almost painful to see Apple try and marry off such hideous offspring to all it's iTunes users. We all just laughed.
Now Apple wants to go exclusive with Twitter, the sexy "it" girl that everybody wants to court. It makes sense to me. It's the only thing that could possibly atone for Ping.