Creative Commons deserves your support even if you can’t go to the event. Donate here.

But to the rest of you: Happy Thanksgiving, our finest holiday.

Who knew?

Ballmer and Gates teased the next version of Windows, showing some multitouch features that have appeared on Apple’s iPhone. Interesting, but people asked, “Is that all?” Best coverage is from Wired News.

Mainly, the Blackberry IMAP connection is pathetic, a kludge that is almost worse than nothing. It doesn’t understand folders. It doesn’t reflect answered messages on the server. All this is because Blackberry pretty much makes you go through its own servers to use email, and because its maker is only seriously interested in working with Exchange.

So I’m looking for an acceptable IMAP mail client for the Blackberry OS, one that connects directly via the Internet to my personal mail server and others. I don’t need fancy, just usable — and I’ll be delighted to pay good money for it.

Send me an email if you know of anything useful.

A new disclosure: I’ve invested in Seesmic, a Web video company that in my view has the potential to take conversational online video to a new level. The company’s founder, Loic LeMeur, is a friend and a top European Internet entrepreneur.

He has 10 rules for startup success, which I’m reprinting below:

1. Don’t wait for a revolutionary idea. It will never happen. Just focus on a simple, exciting, empty space and execute as fast as possible
2. Share your idea. The more you share, the more you get advice and the more you learn. Meet and talk to your competitors.
3. Build a community. Use blogging and social software to make sure people hear about you.
4. Listen to your community. Answer questions and build your product with their feedback.
5. Gather a great team. Select those with very different skills from you. Look for people who are better than you.
6. Be the first to recognise a problem. Everyone makes mistakes. Address the issue in public, learn about and correct it.
7. Don’t spend time on market research. Launch test versions as early as possible. Keep improving the product in the open.
8. Don’t obsess over spreadsheet business plans. They are not going to turn out as you predict, in any case.
9. Don’t plan a big marketing effort. It’s much more important and powerful that your community loves the product.
10. Don’t focus on getting rich. Focus on your users. Money is a consequence of success, not a goal.

Great stuff, and I hope my new students will take it to heart.

I’m in Arizona, unpacking boxes. Postings will remain light for the next few days as I get settled.

We need more pilgrims and fewer turkeys.