13 Products You Can Make From Your Instagram Snapshots [PICS] →
on.mash.to
From bangles to iPhone cases and everything in between.
March 2012
33 posts
6 Things Rich People Need to Stop Saying →
bit.ly
A must read for anyone running for Presidency ;)
“If you want to be in business, then you need to be online. But if you’re doing a bad job of it online, you have no business being in business in the first place.”
— Jon Gelberg, Small Business Website Design: Ditch the Templates | Inc.com
Flawsome: Why brands that behave more humanly, including showing their flaws, will be awesome.
OK OK, I admit it. I’m a sucker for two words made into one. [While my boyfriend can spit out many in a matter of seconds, I struggle to come up with one that doesn’t sound ridiculous.] Trendwatching’s March brief is all about flawsomeness. “Human nature dictates that people have a hard time genuinely connecting with, being close to, or really trusting other humans who (pretend to) have no weaknesses, flaws or mistakes,” they write, arguing that it applies to brands as well. I tend to agree and think they’ve done an excellent write-up on the topic.
Bonus: SXSW
Even if it’s not your first time, I’m crazy about these two guides.
I support all things on this list from Edelman: Ten Things to Do at SXSW and on this Pinterest guide from GSD&M: A SXSurvival Guide
Each year, there’s a battle for a new app that reigns supreme. Who are you watching?
I’m keeping my eyes on Picle & Highlight
Use this stress-free RSVP service.
My friend Kaitlyn started RSVPX, a $99 RSVP service for SXSW parties. She’ll let you know what you’re getting in advance and you won’t have to worry about the stress of RSVP-ing or missing out on the best parties. You’re welcome ;)
Be lucky - it's an easy skill to learn →
tgr.ph
This week’s ‘Blast From The Past’ pick is all about getting, er, being lucky. Nearly a decade ago, Richard Wiseman set out to investigate luck - Why lucky people consistently encounter chance opportunities and why unlucky people don’t. After many years of research and experiments, Wiseman has come to the conclusion that you can, in fact, teach yourself to be a bit more lucky.
TV is Broken
A great blog post from Patrick Rhone illustrating just how broken TV actually is by sharing his experience watching TV with his four year old daughter. She’s confused by commercials, why her programming is frequently interrupted and why she can’t watch whatever the commercial is advertising at the moment she sees it. I’m with her:
After scrolling through what seemed like a hundred options in the built-in program guide, I finally found a channel that had something on that would hold her interest — Shrek.
I turn to that, Beatrix approves, and we watch. Then, a few minutes later, a commercial comes on. The volume difference is jarring to say the least. I would safely guess it is fifty percent louder than the show. I hurriedly reach for the remote and turn it down…
“Why did you turn the movie off, Daddy?”, Beatrix worriedly asks, as if she has done something wrong and is being punished by having her entertainment interrupted. She thinks that’s what I was doing by rushing for the remote.
“I didn’t turn it off, honey. This is just a commercial. I was turning the volume down because it was so loud. Shrek will come back on in a few minutes” I say.
“Did it break?”, she asks. It does sometimes happen at home that Flash or Silverlight implode, interrupt her show, and I have to fix it.
“No. It’s just a commercial.”
“What’s a commercial?”, she asks.
”It is like little shows where they tell you about other shows and toys and snacks.”, I explain.
“Why?”
“Well the TV people think you might like to know about this stuff.”
“This is boring! I want to watch Shrek.”
“I know, honey. It will be on in a bit. Just be patient.”
The show eventually comes back on. I reach for the remote to turn the volume back up. We can barely hear it now. The difference in volume between the show and the commercial is shocking and I don’t remember it being this bad when I did watch television regularly. Perhaps it is only like this on kids channels. I wouldn’t know.
Of course, not more than ten minutes later, the movie is once again interrupted by a round of commercials.
“Why did they stop the movie again?” Beatrix, asks. Thus leading to essentially the same conversation as before. She just does not understand why one would want to watch anything this way. It’s boring and frustrating. She makes it through the end of the movie but has little interest in watching more. She’d rather play. The television is never turned on again during our stay.
A few days later and on our way back home, after a long day of driving, we arrive at a hotel. We check in, unpack the car of our essentials, make it to the room, and settle in for the night. There was a television in the room with some select Cable TV stations and Beatrix asked if she could watch a show. Sure, I said, so I turned it on, and flipped it to what appeared to be a kids channel. There was a commercial on.
“Is this a show?”, she asked.
“No. This is a commercial, we have to wait for the show to come on.”
I now realize, in hindsight, that she did not understand that all televisions work this way. She thought it was only the one in my sister’s place that was “broken” and “boring”. In her mind, this was a new TV and thus should work differently.
Then, a commercial for The Secret World of Arrietty comes on.
“This! I want to watch this!”, Beatrix exclaims.
“We can’t honey. It’s not out yet. It’s just a commercial.”, I say. She seems more confused so I try an analogy.
“You know when we go to a movie theater, and they show you previews of movies that are not out yet before the real movie? It’s like that.”
“Oh.”, she resigns. Not sure she gets this but I think the television executives and I have finally worn down her curious resolve.
When the commercials are over, it is some live action teen show. She is not impressed.
“Can I choose?”, Beatrix asks. She’s still confused. She thinks this is like home where one can choose from a selection of things to watch. A well organized list of suggestions and options with clear box cover shots of all of her favorites. I have to explain again that it does not work that way on television. That we have to watch whatever is on and, if there is nothing you want to watch that is on then you just have to turn it off. Which we do.
I then do what I should have simply done in the first place. I hook up the iPad to the free hotel wifi and hand it to her. She fires up the Netflix app, chooses a show, and she is happy.
This, she gets. This makes sense.
February 2012
41 posts
3 Ways To Predict What Consumers Want Before They Know It →
bit.ly
Steve Jobs once said, “It’s not the customer’s job to know what they want.” An excerpt from Scott Anthony’s The Little Black Book of Innovation: How it Works, How to Do It, says it’s about the following three things: Get to context, watch for workarounds and focus on nonconsumers.
Does Facebook commerce actually work? →
bloom.bg
I think Sucharita Mulpuru, an analyst at Forrester Research, sums it up perfectly:
There was a lot of anticipation that Facebook would turn into a new destination, a store, a place where people would shop. But it was like trying to sell stuff to people while they’re hanging out with their friends at the bar.
Silicon Valley: The rise of the adolescent CEOs →
reut.rs
CEOs are getting younger and younger: Some aren’t even legal drinking age! While they may have trouble signing leases, as Brian Wong (19, CEO of mobile rewards company Kiip) says, “You’re expected to be limitless. Kind of destructive.” And I think we can all agree that when it comes to advertising/media, we need more people thinking like that.
“Tyler Clementi’s suicide is a tragedy. We should all be horrified that a teenager felt the need to take his life…But in our frustration, we must not prosecute [his roommate] Dahrun Ravi before he has had his day in court. We must not be bullies ourselves. Ravi’s life has already been destroyed by what he may or may not have done. The way we, the public, have treated him, even before his trial, has only made things worse.”
—
As we aim to stop bullies, are we being bullies ourselves?
Danah Boyd, a senior researcher at Microsoft Research and an all around kick-ass woman, wrote this piece (with John Palfrey) on bullying. She argues that as we aim to stop bullying, we’re often bullying in the process.
The myth of the eight-hour sleep. →
bbc.in
Did you know that people used to take breaks between sleeping? Stephanie Hegarty for the BBC explains why 8-hours of sleep may be more unnatural than we’re willing to admit.
Friends Investing in Friends: When It Comes to Startups, Is the Fix Already In? →
bit.ly
I’m loving Rick Webb’s new column on BetaBeat. Last week he tackled the tricky subject of the startup world relationships, and how it impacts which companies succeed. I think he hits the nail on the head with, “It’s an insiders game, but anyone can join.
The less money you have, the more creative you can be. →
bit.ly
Edward Boches (& Daniel Stein) on why sometimes the most creative results are yielded on the smallest budgets. Like Elf Yourself - which had a production cost of less than $30k!
The age of big data - and what that really means. →
nyti.ms
I’ve always been fascinated with data and what it can tell us - and in this day and age, it turns out that’s quite a bit! The amount of data we have is more than doubling every two years and data streams or sources are constantly increasing as well. This NYTimes article shows how big data accelerates advances in computing, creates new jobs and furthers how we conduct research.
“We’re So So Sorry”: An Apology Form Letter For Startups →
tcrn.ch
As Alexia Tsotsis points out, it seems like there’s a new apology being issued from a startup each week. So she’s saved them the time by creating a form where they (or you?) can fill in the blanks for a quick & easy apology.
Happiness Is The Ultimate Economic Indicator innovation →
bit.ly
Increased economic growth doesn’t always lead to more fulfillment. And the percentage of Americans describing themselves as either “very happy” or “pretty happy” peaked back in the 1950s. Richard Heinberg on why GDP shouldn’t be the most important success factor - and a look at other countries who are already starting to measure happiness.
The temporary, pop-up corporation →
bit.ly
In this day and age, corporations are coming and going. Entire industries are dying out. Jeff Jarvis explores why this is happening and the idea of pop-up corporations.
How the myth of the algorithm fools the market. →
bit.ly
Rick Webb, co-founder of Barbarian Group, shows that in the tech world, the idea that more money is coming from fewer people is nothing but a myth.
Why Yelp advertising is a rip off. →
bit.ly
Rocky Agrawal explores why Yelp advertising is a total rip off when it comes to CPMs for small businesses: They’re charging a 100x premium! Even if you’re not working with small businesses or buying ads from Yelp, this is an interesting read.
The Internet Identity Crisis →
bit.ly
Personal data is growing into a multi-billion dollar business, where real names & demographics are desired. But shouldn’t it be your choice whether you use your real name or not? Do avatars or anonymity really promote abuse? What if I told you that when people look for recommendations online, strangers’ expert opinions trump friends? Ki Mae Heussner explores the internet’s identity crisis.
The Seven Most Interesting Startups At 500 Startups Demo Day →
tcrn.ch
Seven of the most interesting startups.
Want to know which startups to be watching in 2012? TechCrunch visited the offices of 500 Startups (a company, not literally 500 different startups) and then interviewed the seven startups they thought were most interesting. Among them? An Instagram for reviews, gamification of household chores and a Foodzie clone with a charitable twist.
Upgrade and Speed Up Your Computer This Weekend →
lifehac.kr
Time for some early spring cleaning! Lifehacker covers a few easy ways to upgrade your computer’s speed without shelling out the big bucks for a new machine.
