March 2009
35 posts
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“Good idea generation is like a muscle that you are constantly flexing....”
– http://www.sachinrekhi.com/
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self-fulfilling research
See below for an email from Glue about why I haven’t been using their service much. I’m writing about it here because I found the “survey” they included in the email interesting and totally incomplete. If I’m being negative, I find it uninsightful and self-fulfilling.
As you can see they only provide three choices, which from their perspective must be the only three...
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inspiration is elusive with an organized Internet
From Wikipedia:
Inspiration refers to an unconscious burst of creativity in an artistic, musical, or other intellectual endeavor such as the invention of a new scientific theory. Literally, the word means “breathed upon,”
Typically I find myself inspired by what I read, view, or otherwise stumble across on the Internet. But lately I’ve been feeling as if my Internet...
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“The wires between the brain cells, the connections, are the things that you can...”
– npr.org
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thoughts on twitter: editorializing
In a post titled, “New Gatekeepers Twitter, Apple, YouTube need Transparency in Editorial Picks”, MediaShift nicely summarizes what’s been happening:
Twitter began listing Suggested Users a couple months ago for newbies who weren’t following anyone and didn’t get how the service worked. By highlighting popular Twitter feeds from news organizations such as the New...
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WatchYoutube “Good Video” contest.
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“4. Engage beginners and attract experts.
Designing for many people...”
– Google User Experience Principle #4
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“Brands using online video ads have seen lifts of anywhere from 20 percent to 40...”
– NewTeeVee quote of Gian Fulgoni
This is funny. I thought the argument was that online advertising was better because it was more “accountable”, whereas TV ads are ignored and not accountable. I guess online ads are becoming more like TV ads, but that’s probably not what should...
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“As an editor and a lover of books, I sympathize. But why should a civilization...”
– Slate
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“according to consumer research firm GfK Roper Consulting, about 40% of those...”
– businessweek.com
WatchAnd here’s a video of him performing the same song live at SXSW, 2008.
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“The idea that you can give things away online, and hope that advertising revenue...”
– economist.com
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WatchBecause Southwest Airlines gives their employees freedom, this kind of thing can happen.
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“Understand your users. That’s the key. The essential task in a startup is...”
– Paul Graham, Startups in 13 Sentences
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“But above all else, the whiteboard is a place for collaboration. It’s a...”
– agile-software-development.com - this sums up why I love using white boards.
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-3-15) →
Deer Tick (9)
Samamidon (7)
Horse Feathers (7)
Phosphorescent (6)
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy (6)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
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prolific experimentation
We often rely upon so-called futurists to dazzle guide us with their vision of what the future holds. They are often correct, but many times not, and all of us that are not futurists just sit back and soak in their predictions as quasi entertainment / information.
We envy the ability futurists have to spot trends, understand how they will shape the future and convince us of their predictions. ...
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The Internet turns twenty today (3.13.09) →
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“Don’t take yourself too seriously. Most of the points listed above stem...”
– advice on blogging, via Chuwe::The Blog
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WatchInteresting gesture-based UI for TV viewing. This would be nice as we would no longer lose the remote control, and would hopefully be more intuitive to use.
Potential problem: inadvertant use (waiving to a friend - turns on the TV instead or playing with children pauses the playback).
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“A study by the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech predicts that by 2025...”
– Fast Company
“People tend to generate their predictions by thinking about the particular,...”
– overcomingbias.com
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attention: attract it vs. demand it
Example #1: attract attention
http://www.twittershouldhireme.com/
This woman made a website / blog dedicated to why twitter should hire her and has been getting mentions around the web because of it. Who knows if she’ll get a job with twitter, but this is a unique way of standing out in a time where it’s easy to blend in and not be noticed.
Example #2: demand attention
The...
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My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-3-8) →
Raffi (2)
Sufjan Stevens (2)
Grace Chicago Consort (2)
Led Zeppelin (1)
Erykah Badu (1)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
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Modern addictions
I’m not sure this thought is either original or interesting, but I want to share it nonetheless. It seems that a new crop of addictions are beginning, but they aren’t entirely new, just different than their age old cousins.
We’ve been addicted to work, relationships, and escaping our reality for a long time, but now they are all virtual. We have virtual addictions.
Work -...
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“Because the startup culture has caught this disease that there’s something...”
– 37 signals
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Watchkey quote on innovation:
We think the 20 percent time is really the only way we’ve been able to maintain our innovation as we have gotten larger. What normally happens with technology companies is the initial founding team gets older, you bring in traditional management, and although it becomes a better managed company, much of the creativity and the flair and the joy did get lost in the...
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“One of the things I benefited from when I started this business was that I...”
– Michael Dell’s entrepreneurial tips
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“All of which means that Hollywood, network TV and the cable companies have no...”
– All Things Digital
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-3-1) →
Micah P. Hinson (12)
Andrew Bird (12)
Jason Anderson (5)
Ben Kweller (4)
Deer Tick (3)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz